Consistency of performance and continual improvement. I'll be happy with that.

Fergal Kelly is a very poor ref and a real home town ref as well.

I think there should be a nationwide ban on discussing referees before a match.
Very interested to see today's bench. If none of 3 amigos are listed, you'd start to worry about what impact they could have this year.

Wouldn't be expecting them

Best of luck guys it's will be a dogfight and a hard match think we will do it though mayo by one or two!

What kind of injury does Tommy conroy have? That guy doesn't catch a break.

Big insult to both supporters and sponsors when full panel is not available at nearly 11am on watch day. BOTH deserve better treatment.

Tough encounter ahead. Can't see anything between them at the hooter.

If Gizmo says the 3 lads won’t be on the bench, I don’t expect them either.

Hello All,

I wouldn't not be bothered about last year or the other years. I got the impression that footballers are encouraged to only focus on next ball. Today is today to be enjoyed, and may the fortune be with the green and red or whatever colour/s they are sporting.

I truly appreciate being able it to watch it on TV shortly. It is a long trek to Derry and don't want to be a nervous wreck.

Hoping again

https://x.com/MayoGAA/status/1901237955001196820?t=11l8qQdM0pOUdhV1VIXs2w&s=19

I'm with you there Nephin... he's seldom far out.

@Nephib also agree Gizmo is usually always spot on.

Cant see why so much speculation about injured players. Paddy Durcan can hardly be expected to becanywhere near fit for a while after such serios injury. He'll be back when ready. Same for Tommy. Get the most out of whats available is enough to be going on with. Putting pressure on currently injured no help to the injured or the lads taking their place.

Maybe we should ask WJ for a dispensation for Gizmo from the rules as regards the bench. I’m certain we would have the subs a couple of days ago.

Looks like a decent size Mayo crowd turning up here.

@Mayo forever: Human nature.

When a manager says all 3 of the lads missing will play league minutes (a couple of times for some of them), it'll anchor expectations and drive the expectancy to see them.

@Mayo forever in fairness McStay said Durcan is coming along really well now and should be back any day and that we will see him at some point in the league.

It's only natural then for supporters to wonder when then.

Safe journey to all, hopefully a win with no injuries. Maigh Eo Abu.

Point taken TsuDhoNim and Clare. Maybe McStay too forthcoming with updates. Playing lads just back from injury should bexa cautious process. Looking at Galway for instance cant help but thinking Comer, Kelly, Walshe, Finnerty and McDaid being
asked to do so much in the league. Time enough seeing those lads versus Roscommon. Need to be protected from injury setbacks. Walshe limping off at half time last night case in point.

Not much fire power on bench. I'd worry where scores will come from..
Think Derry will want to put in a performance today and will win by a few

Expect 2 to 3 changes before throw in, likely two with couple bench changes.

Two changes - Jack Carney and Conor Reid start, Davitt Neary and Darren McHale don't.

James Horan constantly said that certain players were very close to coming.it’s just what managers say .in any case I don’t think the management have ever disclosed what injury Tommy conroy actually has

@Mayo forever your right there maybe McStay shouldn't give us expectations with updates.

Your right no need to rush them back Durcan won't be near his best this year but he's such a leader.

Really don't know, but is there a possibility that Derry have already accepted their fate and are now focused on Ulster

5 midfielders starting n the forwards today.

Some good score taking by us so far, by Mattie and Ryan anyway, unfortunately cancelled out by the concession of the goal. One worry is that we seem to be struggling with the pace of the Derry forwards in wide areas especially, haven’t managed to slow their advance on our goal or get a hand in too often.

Ruane continuing his excellent form is very encouraging for the championship

@KM79 great to Ruanne coming back to his best!

Jack Coyne getting another roasting by Derry today,Eoin O D a far better corner back.

Couple of kickouts went skaways and all of a sudden we’re four down. Good response though.

We seem to be going route one a bit more to Big Aido and Frank, which is bearing a bit of fruit. Nice also to see Ryan returning to form, shooting boots are on today!

Derry might be in a bit of bother if their second keeper doesn’t recover.

Why is Aidan hand passing that ball to McBrien, he should be drilling the ball low and hard to the net there.Still a lack of confidence with him in front of goal.

Weird feel to this game
The sooner they tweak the calendar the better
A draw would be ideal
If we win then the Donegal game will be a farce

Some of the wides are woeful.

Great new rule on the hooter...yow!

What a goal!

Our lack of quality forwards is glaring once again.
The half backs are now pushing up too crowding
everything and leaving us wide open...

Jordan just burried one... as I'm typing but still

Hon Jordan flynn. Still over reliant on certain players. At least they’re going for scores instead of lateral shite

Jordan Flynn class as always!

For anyone at the game....is Mattie stationed at half forward today?
He's shooting the lights out from wherever!

What’s the story with hooter?

Super first half from Mattie. Having him back to his very best would be an enormous benefit to us.

Was the hooter gone and game still continued how is that

Love the new hooter rule where the game ends when the ball goes out of play, we are playing some lovely football fenton kelly doing brilliant at half back, mattie with 4 from play, flynn and rod brilliant, that turnover from rod for the goal was just unreal. Would like to use oshea more he looks like he has the beating physically of his man every time.

Is there much of a breeze up there for those at the game?

Hard to judge that so far. Ruane doing really well. Aidan effective. Generally we are doing ok but we had to work a lot harder for our scores whereas Derry created several easy tap overs. We look very vulnerable when attacked quickly and that’s a concern for championship. We’ve done ok once we’ve halted their initial phase one attack. Midfield ok. Take Ryan out of attack and we are lacking scorers up top.

Frank should have scored a point and Fenton Kelly had to bury that chance. Only keeper to beat. Jack I’m a bit of bother in the corner

@tsudhonim.thanks for explanation on previous thread regarding mark incident possibly the pass was inside the 45.another question from today. Why was the ball brought up for tapover for breach of the 4v3 rule when they tell us it's from where the line is crossed?

Ah there a terrible miss by mcBrien…momentum changer (hope I’m wrong!)

Great goal there for us! Derry are there for taking now if we can keep the foot on the gas

Delighted for Matty, great player who doesn't get near the credit he deserves

We should have this game put to bed...
Have we learned?

Derry have started shooting like some of the Mayo teams of yesteryear, anywhere but between the posts! Goal seems to have knocked the stuffing out of them.

Man of the match .Matthew Ruane. Can i give him my 3 votes?

Irwin shoot has been very poor. And still end match with 1.01

Ruane has been fantastic, a standout performance from him.

I wonder what has happened to Derry, though. They were very impressive in winning the league last year, but Jimmy McGuinness did a job on them last year and they don’t seem to have recovered since. The personnel seems to be mostly the same, so maybe it’s not a happy camp?

Anyway, they look like they’re going down, and hopefully we’re safe now.

Jesus derry in this 2nd half have been atrocious between wide after wide and constantly turning the ball over in there forwards.

Derry a beaten docket. They'll be scratching their proverbials as to the extent of their demise. Donegal will obliterate them in the Ulster opener. Even McGuigan looks like he's had it.

Good job McLaughlin didn’t block that ball or it was a stonewall penalty
Ridiculous

..we are doing that thing

Mayo can never bury a team. Back to the lateral bull again.

That was a lamentable wide from Eoghan McLoughlin, and far from the first time it’s happened. He badly needs to improve that facet of his game, as it negates the good he does and will cost us down the line.

@yew _tree: I’m convinced it’s a mental thing, it’s happened so many times over the years, at all grades.

Mayo Galway league final is my prediction

Wins a win but the shake of the head from Ruane at the end says ot all

After the start we had to the league and all the complaining we could end up in a league final hahaha. One massive massive thing i notice is getting enda hession back fully fit hes man marking and absolutely flying up and down the pitch let's hope he stays fit.

Same old Mayo, failing to put the foot on the opposition's throat when we're the much better team. This will cost us in big championship games.

That said, that was an excellent overall performance, looking extremely fit, fast and sharp all over the pitch. Up Mayo.

Player of the Match poll is up! This will be an easy one to tally.

Mayo team doing OK but defence is not blocking Derry forwards running straight through on a few occasions & got vital goal, the last 10 minutes was very poor, Connor Glasse had too much time kicking those 2 pointers, very poor marking by a couple of backs, anyway a win is win to stay up. We'll done Mayo.

Good win the last 19 minutes were not great from us but leaves us with stuff to work on and not get ahead of ourselves.

Mattie Ruanne man of the match well deserved delighted for him!

10 min I meant!

Job done...the rest can be worked on.
Mattie , Ryan,Aiden, Hesh and Flynn ran the show I thought.
Good to see that Mattie was disappointed with the last 10, but we can start working towards the Sligo challenge now.

In theory we are not safe yet .
Ourselves Tyrone and Armagh could all end up on 7 points which would then require scoring difference to decided who goes down
Highly highly unlikely . But if Tyrone win as expected today there is still a low percentage chance of relegation :D

Alot of positives from that but amazingly Derry after being absolutely atrocious for entire second half suddenly find themselves within touching distance.the two pointers can suddenly swing a game very dramatically.been said on here numerous times that Matt ruanes strength is his scoring ability and not a ball winning midfielder and that was certainly emphasised today .God knows what teams Mayo and Donegal will field in final game .it really is farcical

Am in form ruane really helps up this year. I don't think enda hession has got man of the match this year but he has also had a great league. Between Mattie and Enda for player of the league with ROD getting very notable mention

A wins a win and safety more importantly and if we’re not careful could find ourselves in a final , I can see the concern people have with the last 10 minutes but as with matties body language the players no they dropped off for whatever reason and that is fixable but the major positive is our slow but steady improvement throughout the league also a lot of the new lads getting plenty of game time and slotting right in job done safe In division 1 definitely more optimistic for the summer

Great to get the win but shocking to witness again unmarked Mayo runners in possession inside the 'arc' but refusing to shoot and instead offloading passes.......a shit show when that happens....

Same old problem. 10 points up with 10 minutes to go and couldnt hold it. Now still in relegation problem as if we lose to Donegal and Armagh and Tyrone win their remaining games score difference relegates us as. All 3 Mayo,Tyrone and Armagh would then be on 7 pts. Only thing that could save us in that scenario is a Galway win over Kerry again unlikely that That will happen. Kerry need to win in that scenario to stay up. How winning by 10 today would have helped rather than 5.

I thought we managed the end of the game well. Derry had momentum and we killed. The perfect time to play that boring lateral passing as it saps the life out of the opposition, what the dubs used to do. I would be more annoyed that no one closed down glass for his first two pointer, it was so obvious what he was going to do. Overall happy

Only Donegal game to go Mayo Forever.......we played Armagh in Feb, draw I think.

To he fair to Glass, he was totally committed, a great player when he's on form.

I didn't think we could be relegated now. Tyrone may well end up on 7 points but as we beat them we stay up on the head to head rule?

Just this time of year it'd be great if bucks would just want put the boot in fully on a day like today. Ten up, cruising and the shlobberin starts all around the arc, back and forth.
Just as well there was only one Conor Glass on the pitch today.

Armagh can also finish on 7 points

Which Mayo player tried a fancy flick on at the end straight to a Derry man?

Forgot that Km. The Tyrone v Donegal game will tell a lot. Donegal win and our match against them next week will be like a slow bicycle race

Jr: I can’t remember but it nearly made me puke up my lunch! Shades of David Nestor trying to flick the ball on in the last minute against the Rossies back in the Connacht final in 2001, a minute later Gerry Lohan had the ball in our net.

That was a disconsolate drive home.

I think it was Davitt, JR.

Our game against Donegal could be like the game of soccer on the Simpsons !

Donegal's '2nd team' doing ok so far...so maybe we can chill a bit more this evening.

Pullhard, if Armagh beat Derry, which is highly likely then with 3 teams, ourselves Armagh and Tyrone also possibly on 7 pts score difference I think, not head to head would leave us relegated.

What’s the panic for if we did make a league final , I don’t understand the commentary by posters , sure what about it , still unlikely but not highly unlikely . If Tyrone did win this now , isn’t it just simply a case of either Galway or Dublin losing next week and obviously we’d have to beat Donegal . Kerry could easily beat Galway for example , they were excellent v Armagh .

Sean, we need a point at least against Donegal to guarantee avoiding relegation while as you say a win could put us in the final. Either way we now need a result v Donegal. Its that tight. Tyrone beating Donegal now and if that happens we need a point against Donegal to be sure.

Well if we can’t absolutely annihilate the Donegal team that will turn up in castlebar next week we may prepare for a lot of disappointment . My main point was if Tyrone win here we are definitely in with a shout , it’s probably a 25% chance and 75% we won’t make league final , chances of relegation very slim , that’s just my opinion .

( I could also be talking through my wallet though as I backed Mayo at 50/1 each way / after Galway game to win the league ) lol

Four teams could end up on seven points.

If three/four do it goes on Points difference

If only two do we will be safe anyway!

Mayo much more likely to be in League final.

As said above, if we beat Donegal, only takes a Tyrone or Kerry win for it to happen.

If Galway and Dublin draw we won’t be.

We could also top the table.

The only that can’t happen is Mayo finishing bottom of the table if Tyrone win today.

Incredible

Sean, best if luck walletwise.
It all depends on Donegal mindset next Sunday. If they lose today which seems likely they also would probably need a result next Sunday to make final. So still Mayo in danger.

Good away win by Mayo and was only able to follow it on Midwest Radio and got a flavour of it from comments on here. Look forward to watching the recording of it later on. Not completely safe as 3 teams could end on 7 points and could go down on goal difference-at the moment we have a 6 point advantage over Armagh. Let's beat a probably weakened Donegal to make sure and keep the momentum. Of course Galway could yet relegate Kerry.

@sean burke. An inspired bet. I predict Mayo to be in final against kerry or galway or dublin.

Sean i don't think it's panic but for me we better to have a 2 week break and time to get set and prepare for a championship game (sligo or not) instead of full focus on a league final then the next week come down from the high of a win or the opposite. The bottom line is the fixture makers should be held to account for why they made such a mess of having league and championship so close together. Regarding mayo being pegged back today I'd have no problem with it. We have seen it every week with all games where big leads are reeled in but at least in this case mayo saw the game out and fair play to them.

Any word on diarmuid,/tommy / paddy for next week ? Are these lads on grass at the moment . It’s very hard to gauge , mcstay has indicated through the league campaign that tommy and paddy would get league time before the end , is that still the case and can we expect them togged next week . Great game to get a run in for players returning from absence as you’d imagine it won’t be too hard hitting .

The bet was very small I might add

@Sran Burke best of luck in the bet! Haha

Mystic Meg couldn't predict the finalists in this league.

A lot of negatives on here after what I thought was a decent display. Considering most of us thought relegation was pretty much a certainty after the Galway debacle to find ourselves in a position where we're worried about getting to the final is some turnaround in fortunes. Ruane outstanding. As was ROD. Stephen Coen was immense. Aido, Flynn, Kelly, McBrien, McHugh and Hession excellent. Reape very good overall but kickouts still an Achilles heel. Sam, Frank and Conor Reid mixing the good with the not so good. Coyne not fully at the races yet. Same for Carney.
Do management want a final? Would we better fielding a virtual 2nd team against Donegal but they might do the same.
Try to win and if we get to a final use the panel and rest most of the lads who've played most minutes? Players would want to miss out on a final appearance.
Try to win every game and make sure we have learnt from a couple of years ago.
Or.......phone Jimmy and agree to play out a bore draw?