Don’t expect us to win today but looking for a strong performance against one of the top teams in the country at the moment.

Will be a big test for the likes of Darragh Beirne so hopefully he can continue his upward trajectory. Would also like to see another strong outing from Bob Touhy at midfield. Huge challenge for him today against one of the best midfield combinations out there.

Will be interesting to see who takes Roarty and Moore. Both are phenomenal runners.

Good luck to the guys will be a big battle. Also not expecting a win but you never know .

Hello,

Greetings to John Mc who has not blogged for a while.

Also very impressed with Galway yesterday

Ciaran 2.

Hoping the streak continues today

A better return from restarts will give us the possession we need to get a result. Donegal looked Super fit in their games to date, it is the game we want at this point. We are not the only county with newbies, both kerry and Galway are awash with good young lads. Safe travelling everyone.

We have a strong team and panel named .
It will be a great test of skill and fight ..
Think Andy will go full throttle for the win , with the panel named , we should have enough for them

Donegal always hard to beat at home but I think Mayo will take this one by a few points. McHugh maybe used to mark Langan

Absolutely lashing rain here outside buncrana en route.

Outside ground now...sunshine but cold

Best of luck to all today Mayo by five,safe travels to all

Good luck to mayo today I have spare tickets for today game anyboby interest

Good luck to Mayo today. Let's throw everything at them and keep the momentum going

Stand full when we got here, 90 minutes before throw-in!

Strong breeze !

And getting stronger as the time ticks down to throw-in too.

AOS starts instead of Fergal Boland.

I prefer to see Fergie coming in when game becomes a bit more open, probably makes more sense to start Aido.

Do Mayo have wind in first half

Mayo have a wind, really bad start we keep kicking the ball away.

That wind is bad enough by the looks of it

Ya, Mayo have yet to get off the bus unfortunately.

How many turnovers already, donegal looks so much faster then us too.

James Carr needs a curly finger.

This is a hard watch. Need half time to come .

4/5 point lead will be plenty to win a game like this where 2 pointers are going to be much harder to get. We look very poor.

Mayo look leggy, did they travel today or yesterday?

Donegal are different class they are genuine all Ireland contenders along with Kerry and Galway We are a work in progress but even so our shot selection is way off and Donegal are getting through us too easy

That first half was men against boys to be honest. And Mayo with a gale of wind behind them. Hopefully can dig in and show something second half because that was one way traffic.

Andy needs to let them know that first half performance not acceptable. Aido needs to be in at full forward as too slow out the pitch. Changes needed as we are well off the pace and Donegal likely to kick plenty 2 pointers in 2nd half with that wind.

Too many slow lads on team , can't have no pace in modern game.
Hession who has loads of pace needs to tighten up .
Poor use of the ball , donegal dont look any better than us so elements have a big say but get few faster lads on and go hard at them as we did for Sam's point where conor loftus ran upfield .
Durkan for Brick and Thornton or AOS , try get bit of control .
Kelly to corner back no point him at 10

Did someone say that Mayo have the wind?

We got such a scutching in that first half I assumed that Donegal had whatever wind was going.

23 minutes to get a score from play says everything.

Donegal look like they're only in second gear.

The only good thing was seeing Conor Loftus back nice that he got a cheer when he came on .

Diagonal wind generally favouring Mayo in that half

One word for that first half performance-awful. We are being given a football lesson, outplayed in every aspect, outfought and giving away possession cheaply. No pace, no aggression, no tenacity. And against the wind second half. Please tell me that Donegal won the toss and elected to play against the wind?

Wind is so hard to judge but I’d say Donegal probably had more of it. It’s blowing from in behind the stand but is swirling and when the rain is added in it’s quite something.

Not good at all, no point in Mayo going a long journey to admire Donegal doing training ground football, second half will tell a lot about this Mayo team & management. They just seem off today for some reason.

Really poor half but let’s see the game out before we writing lads off for the season.

Hold fire folks

Not going great so far, but can we please not lose our minds over one poor half of football in the middle of February?

I never thought I'd hear myself say this, but in the second half, we should probably kick the ball a bit less and take on fewer shots ...

Paddy's on

I'm afraid we could be heading for a real trimming here. I hope Andy gave them a right bollicking. Whatever about the final result, we need to show heart, passion and pride in the second half and make a game of it, at least.

Ya immediate impact from Conor... great to see.

Been showing up badly today,

If Ryan isn't having a good game we will struggle to win any game we play.

I hope we trained hard the last week or two (this morning even). Because we look like we are stuck in 1st gear. So leggy. And completely outmatched physically.

Great to see Loftus back. And he's one of the few lads who look sharp

Our lack of physicality in the tackle is worrying. We don't seem to be able to hold our own there at all, the number of turnovers in every game we play is criminal.

It looks that way Rusty. Out basic ball skills are terrible and we've never been at the pace of the game.

Hurson is determined that Jordan Flynn won't make a tackle today... ridiculous frees against him.

No harm. A reality check for many.

From the first few minutes it had the look of a game we just wanted to be done with and move on from

Conor Loftus has been our best player by a distance.

Honestly? I'm not too worried about this result. Donegal are operating at a different level right now compared to our lads. We're still pretty much a work in progress and at the end of the day, our focus must be on winning a Connacht title and getting to the last 8 (Quarter Finals) if this season is to be any success (worst comes to worst, I'd take a Quarter Final appearance over a Connacht final appearance). Having said that, if after this result we start to slide down in form, then alarm bells will certainly be ringing.

We're moving in the right direction so far from what I can see. The league is a great platform to strengthen our squad and experiment with our style of play.

Decision making today you wouldn't see at u 15s match

To be fair the lads haven't stopped trying and we would be a lot closer if we had taken some of the goals opportunities. So good having Loftus back his pace and ball carrying are massive will be interesting where he will play because he has to start.

Major difference in level between these two teams. As someone said the difference in physically is stark. Come championship this is will be critical.

2 hops, don't be worried about the referee when you're watching that performance from Mayo.

Yes this result not important but cant understand why we didn't hold ball and kick score with wind.
Conor Loftus was only positive from today

some of our lads are dreadfully slow and ponderous and we were too loose around the middle. conor loftus was our only good performer

That was depressing but yes result doesn't matter end of the day it was always going to be a tough ask today. Conor Loftus was by far our best player.

Were not that far off them, we just didn't play to are strength in first half witg wind,

Still, hate to see a player being singled out Wilbury.

Stop will ya, we were way off them today. in every department.

I'm afraid we are miles off Donegal.

Wasn't expecting a win but was still shocked at the sheer gulf between the teams. We are nowhere near their level, physically, tactically or skill-wise.

What bothers me more is our approach in possession. We carried ball into traffic all day and hardly ever kicked it in first-time. Talk about playing right into their hands. Anx what happened the new policy of going for two-pointers?

Need to inroduce Cillian and Kobe asap.

Looked like a team that had used the 2 week break to train heavy, probably thinking we have 4 points, let's bank good work and focus on round 4.

Looked flat in our footwork in the tackle (pitch didn't help) and consistently made the wrong decision of when to switch off our man and when to follow. Thats a mindset, focus and communication issue that is relatively easily addressed.

All in all a reality check for some, but Donegal had a strong team and are in a good place. We will learn and move on

It wouldn’t be the league if people didn’t overreact. It’s February, people need to get a grip

We hit three goal chances straight at the goalie, another two disallowed for square ball offences. You’re always going to struggle if five goal chances go a-begging.

We have a poor record in Donegal anyway and they played in the most recent All-Ireland final, so are operating at a higher level to us at the moment. Onwards and upwards.

Wouldn’t get too wound up about the result but we started the game with absolutely no urgency especially as we had the wind .To take 24 minutes to get first score from play was fairly shocking.we needed the 6 point lead at half time to have any chance and Donegal were basically able to play the second half under absolutely no pressure.still a good lesson for alot of the younger lads today

Positive goalie good, thought we enough of the possession from our midfield. But that really that all positive

Sam Og forget about Cillian and Kobe, Kobe is doing his leaving cert and heading to Australia id leave him where he is until his exams are over we will probably be knocked out at that stage of June Cillian is past it give youth a chance and be patient with the rebuild its the only anwser

It means nothing to me- This is our first league defeat to Donegal in 10 years so not sure what you mean by poor record.

Will someone tell our lads it's a contact sport, nothing for standing back admiring Donegal players , just get close and physical, forwards have to be more direct, few goal chances today but not enough aggression to score them. Was expecting a beating today by about six pts but was hoping for a better fight from our players, however better to loose today and win in Championship .

Wouldn't worry too much about today's result. 4 points out of 3 games and another 2 in the next 3 games should see us retain division 1 status. Easily outplayed today but a new management takes time to apply the new strategy for the team, early days yet. And dare I say that a wake up call today might he no harm. A few comments on here hyping the team up a bit too much after 2 wins in the league.

Everytime they went forward they got a score .
Coyne and Brick badly exposed .

We had goal chances but no game plan for such a team nor such conditions.
Big learner , but please if we haven't gameplay or ball to stick in forwards then pace is our friend .
Halfbacks as ever our best line Sam conor and paddy is as good as is around.
Mcbrien back around middle will help .
Dawson in halfforward will add pace and one of jack or flynn, all in tough lesson but need to sort fullback line and be ready for the Kingdom or else they won't be as easy going as donegal

2 out of 3 ain't bad.... give it a rest lads. I'm even more certain that Donegal will fall on their own swords with this level of fitness so early in the season. No team can keep it going through winter and summer. People need to check their expectation barometers. It's February FFS.

Jeez lads calm down to f**k. Talk about fecking over reaction!

Plenty for Andy to work on

Lads didn't see it as I'm travelling but felt before hand that Donegal would be full pelt to win this game so no shock and noone in Mayo should lose sleep as they would have done same to whoever played them today. Slowly now they will take foot off the pedal once avoiding relegation is confirmed.

I didnt expect a win today but did think it would be a little closer. I thought they looked very tired out there. Anyway. its only the league and they will learn from this. We move on now to the next game with 4 pts already in the bag.

They looked like they had a heavy two-week training. Donegal were good, no shame in that. Well done to Roscommon, a very good win over Armagh. We move to next week. Well done all

TBH I thought there was plenty to be optimistic about today. Starting with Robbie whose knockouts were very good.
I thought the effort was 100%. Add that to his shot stoping last couple of games and we have a real goalie.

We created plenty of turnovers though we gave up plenty too.I’d be very interested in the stats.

Tuohy continues a good run of form. Sam Callinan and Beirne ditto. We created more goal chances than them.Loftus was very good and very aggressive. Love it.

We were not at full strength,some looked leggy,some returnees rusty AF, and did not play the first half as clever as we should have. Aido shouldn’t have started, James Carr would’ve made a big difference in second half with all those goal chances.

The key elements of Horanball were there.Fight like dogs for every ball. Man to man. 100% effort. All good. Marry that to direct kicking like we were doing in the prior games and we will move up the ranks.

We are not potential All Ireland finalists this year imo and Donegal,Kerry and Galway( the one of yesterday) are streets ahead of us.

It’s important to be realistic. Two years ago we were about 11 th or 12 th in championship rankings imo (Div 1 status notwithstanding) Last year we were about 7 th or 8 th.

We have maybe moved up a spot(or not)but it’s absurd to be complaining about this performance like it has any great negative meaning. We are at least looking like we have a clue and a plan unlike last year.

Donegal are in year three of advanced training under a proven All Ireland winning and perennially successful manager.Andy was realistic before the game. He knows we aren’t at Donegal’s level yet and he wasn’t going to give up any secrets trying to prove anything different.

He is doing the league right based on what he has at his disposal.

Comparing us to Donegal at this point is just stupid and unrealistic. A game later in the championship might have a different flavor. Possibly.

But let’s give Andy some time to put together all the elements. That’s going to take years. This game is irrelevant but as far as it goes and ball handling and lack of cuteness playing the field properly in the first half aside, there’s plenty there worth supporting.

Put on some real goggles people !

Loads to work on defensively. Wide open, tackling, lads not tracked during basic give and gos.
Boyler will be busy

Agree with alot of that fft, we worked hard and had enough possession in first half to be in the game, kicking the ball in on wet day makes no sense, never going to stick, its a good time to experiment, plenty to work on no harm at this stage, starting 15 need to be established before championships, not sure about ROD at CHF,

I felt Mayo could have got a result today as im not convinced about Donegal but one of the non negotiable is physicality and tempo.

Mayo unfortunately brought neither and when they don't they look ordinary.

Interestingly on the TV the pitch looked big with lots of space yet they brought Kerry to a tight pitch.

Teams need to be kicking minimum 20 points in a game and when ODonoghue has a quiet game im not seeing others stepping up.

But the league is so tight that if Kerry dont win next week we are looking at potential relegation.

We were never gonna be Donegal most of us knew that. Donegal are just in a differnt place to us. We are rebuilding . 4 points out of 6 aint bad fot a new management team .
Conor Loftus stood up as soon as he came on the pitch. Bob Touhy had a decent game in fairness I thought and is improving. Sam Calinan also not bad.
It would of been a massive shock if we had beaten them up at home in Donegal today lets be realistic here . Donegal will probably make the final again .

Would people think that Bob Touhy ,at this point, is going to start come championship?

So finally you loyal mad crazy Mayo supporters might now realise that Andy has no magic wand to wave over the players.
We should never have expected to match Donegal today...AI finalists from last year and definitely with a point to prove.
I'm sure for Andy it won't be back to the drawing board kinda stuff. Just a realistic assessment of where we're at and the mountain of work that needs to be done, and for sure every player on the panel will know that too!

Good reality check for us today, we are work in progress , and will have a big challenge to dethrone Galway in Connacht. Let’s all be realistic and give Andy time to find his best 20/25 lads ….if we can put a couple of back to back Connacht titles and then build for a crack at SAM over the next 3 years that will be success in my view .

We are where we are,playing exciting football,should have got something from today

@Done Deal: We have only ever won once up there, back in 2023 when they had a lot of off-field stuff going on. Our record away to them is anything but good.