Not as important as all the games you mentioned WJ but the Armagh league game in 23 was another one.

Just watched the game back .my god we really did blow it big time

Kerry league game last yr same thing too. Level match, we won a free literally on the stroke of full time, ballooned it wide( because no one came looking for the short one) and in the process gave the ball back to kerry/clifford who kicker over the winner .

It's important in that it's a patern that's likely to be repeated..
We have a very inexperienced bench outside of Paddy Durcan.. what was he doing as a sub? Was it the management proving a point that he's almost there?. If he was a legitimate sub, he should have been used.
We've a few good young lads and they will gain valuable experience in the next few weeks.
Composure under pressure, is that the ingredient we are missing or is it a deeper self belief issue that runs through the team.
Wjoe, you're making it hard for us to sleep by recalling those incidents...., collectively they are a nightmare, the Cork one in Limerick is bugging me now that you remind us..
We've no bad memories that involve Cavan, and we don't want one either

1948, Ontheditch!

@Ontheditch yeah agree with the Cork one was awful my God. I was fuming for a good bit after that one. After Tommy conroys great goal we just fell apart I couldn't believe it.

I think we are going to have to let the disappointment of Sunday's loss go as quickly as possible. The mistakes made, the players know only too well. The management must also know very well, their own failings.The panel we have available will remain the panel, for this season and likewise our same management . Forget about new players coming in or expecting too much from players that were injured or currently off unavailable for whatever reason. I think us Mayo fans have still a very different and very unforgiving nature since the 2021 defeat to Tyrone. And forget about bringing back previous managers again.We have done that too much this century. John Maughan was brought back. Pat Holmes (with Noel Connelly) was brought back for a second time , John O Mahony RIP was brought back, and James Horan was brought back.

In all fairness, Gough has since said he got one call wrong in the Galway game last year, not a number of calls. And we have to remember the game was level at the time, it would've gone to ET

Roscommon has us beat in that 2023 game from minute 1 to minute 70 also. Not having a go at your post WJ but every team feels they should've won right games they let slip. Surely Derry felt they were cantering away with it at half time last year. Galway would rue missed goal chances etc etc

I don't think this phenomenon is exclusive to McStay's tenure. We left at least one All Ireland behind us in the 2010s. Mental fragility and an inability to seize the moment when it's in front of them is going on a long time now with Mayo football.

That's it really, a lack of composure. It's what has eluded Mayo teams on so many occasions. It often leads to errant passing and hail Mary's miles wide. Like Japanese knotweed, it spreads throughout like wildfire. I don't for one minute think it can't be taught or instilled in a player though.

Our first league campaign under McStay we played some wonderful direct football and won the league then for the championship bar the Kerry game we played some woeful football with lateral passing and clueless football it was like a new manager took over and took us in a different direction not a good one obviously. I think Kevin should have cleared out his backrooom team last year and freshened things up. I agree with leantimes when a vacancy arises its pointless going back to former managers we need someone that has actually won an all Ireland in the last 10-15 that can bring a medal into the dressing room. I think Tony McEntee even though he was a selector under Rochford would be a good appointment whenever a vacancy arises

Sure we’ve been doing the same thing since time immemorial, kicking games away from winnable positions. Certainly it feels like I’ve been watching the last thirty years as one big game on a loop! It probably reflects a gap in coaching within the county.

In terms of the squad we have, we spend a lot of time trying to convert midfielders to forwards, because at present Ryan O’D is the only consistent scorer we have.

The Football Pod has some harsh but fair words for us this week, worth a listen. Although to be fair James O’Donoghue sounds as frustrated with us as we are ourselves, at times.

Cathal Sweeney slipped when he was put through on goal in the second half... slipped or fell over?
Had that been Tierney or Finnerty receiving the ball it was a goal I'd say..
Small margins on both sides...

Any word on Tommy Conroy and eoin McLaughlin

@WJ There is a pattern of this play and lack of killer instinct under Mc Stay / Rochford and further back. The expectation for me every year is we will win Sam, whether we are true contenders or not. Just because we have failed in the past does not guarantee we will fall foul again. We were within a kick of the ball on Sunday, our substitutions, our players and our management have to take responsibility for falling short but Galway were dogged and hungry.
The difference is our bench is not for the most part equal or better than what's on the pitch. Whether Paddy or Tommy can get back and stay fit could make all the difference in tight games. Hard to see past a Quarter Final this year but if we resign ourselves to defeat we will surely end up there.

With you on that one glory days.
I'd clear out at the end of the season. McEntee with Andy moran as forwards coach. Move heaven and earth to get Caroline currid in too. Focus on integrating a crop of young lads and making us a team capable of winning it in a few years. We can't keep looking back at previous coaches who nearly did it in the past.

@wj, 1948, before my time, but I did read about controversial referee blowing it up a few minutes early when mayo were only one point down and a gale at their backs
The referee for the 1950 final was Simon Deignam, who played for Cavan in the 1947 and 1948 finals, we won it of course with a 'freak goal' towards the end.
I agree with leantimes above, we have to make the best of it with current management and panel for this year.
The three league games are vital, imo, giving us clues to where we may be waving 'slán go foil' to Sam. It's important we don't lose impetus because of Galway defeat. We have to get over it and push on because Ulster champions are not far down the road for us.
McLaughlin back for Tyrone game would be a boost but strength in depth is worrying.

Look at Northampton. Not a feckin hope of winning but by christ they were not going to be beaten. It's time we grew that hurt and muscle and unquencheable desire. Simple as. Believe in ourselves. Back ourselves and go out and take the bloody game. Just don't accept defeat. I am convinced we have a team good enough to win anything. But do they believe it? Does their manager or coach... they shouldn't be there if they don't!

Mo-Direach Interesting that Tony Ward called Leinster the Mayo of Rugby. I agree with not going back to previous managers but I have no faith in the suits who wouldn't appoint the late great Micko or Jim McGuinness. Anyway I'm going to enjoy the rest of our campaign and hope Kevin puts his stamp on the team and see where it takes us. With Durcan and McLaughlin back it will strengthen the half back line and who knows what will happen.

There is no doubt that Mayo have gone backwards in the past 3 years and are not able to close out any kind of close game - indeed we don't even push home and give a beating to teams that should be given one. A real lack of a killer instinct manifests itself no matter the opposition.

However, the inability to close out tight games is not a new phenomenon and is 75 year old problem.
Even when we had the best team we might ever have, they couldn't close out tight matches either. Since Mayo announced themselves as a serious football county in 1996 by beating Kerry in an All Ireland semi - its been a lot more miss, than hit when it comes to tight matches

Big match failures in tight matches
Meath 1996 x2, Roscommon 2001, Westmeath 2001, Fermanagh 2003 and 2004, Galway 2005, Laois 2006, Galway 2008, Tyrone 2008, Meath 2009, Longford 2010, Dublin 2013, Kerry 2014 (twice), Dublin 2015 (replay), Galway 2016, Dublin 2016 (twice), Galway 2017, Roscommon 2017, Kerry 2017 (we drew against Rossies and Kerry in 2017 before hammering them in the replay) Dublin 2017, Galway 2018, Kildare 2018, Roscommon 2019, Tyrone 2021, Galway 2022, Cork 2023, Galway 2024, Dublin 2024, Derry 2024, Galway 2025 - 34 in 19 years

The only tight matches in that period that we won were Sligo 1997, Sligo 2001, Limerick 2002, Fermanagh 2004, 2006 (Leitrim, Galway, Laois, Dublin), Galway 2009, London 2011, Roscommon 2011, Sligo 2012, Roscommon 2014, Cork 2014, Tyrone 2016, Cork 2017, Armagh 2019, Galway 2019, Donegal 2019, Galway 2020, Dublin 2021, Louth 2023, Galway 2023, 23 - in 19 years

I you discount the Weaker counties that have never won an all ireland, its 30 failure and 16 wins

In over 20 years - we generally lose 2 out of 3 tight matches - 33% success rate
McStay has managed to win 2 out of 7 - so a 28% rate - poor, but not a million miles of his predecessors.

Not that we havent won big matches in that time frame, its just we either over power a team or we wont win.

No matter how you dress it up, in all that time, we never have had a reliable free taker from both right and left and never had a goal scoring forward who could get you a goal against the run of play to keep you in it, or change momentum. We havent had a reliable long range free taker (who can kick a 45) since Maurice Sheridan retired.

What ever we are coaching our kids in those 20 years, its not how to kick a score under pressure, kick a long range free, kick with both feet or how to take a goal chance.
We have had schools of excellence for over 30 years - but they only produce runners , no "ballers" get through the system.

The current U20's look like they have a few forwards, but somehow the system in Mayo will knock that out of them or they will have been overtrained/played so much they will be half their time injured for the next 10 years.

@ Leantimes.......
This 100% "I think us Mayo fans have still a very different and very unforgiving nature since the 2021 defeat to Tyrone"

@Tuamstar....."Cathal Sweeney slipped when he was put through on goal in the second half… slipped or fell over?
Had that been Tierney or Finnerty receiving the ball it was a goal I’d say"
We could say the same about Hession’s goal effort. Had that been ROD it was a goal I'd say.

Don’t judge the players fully until you see them under a different management team. Look at Monaghan this season versus last

I don't think you are as far away as you think. You just need that moment to build the belief. For us Kevin Mcs goal in the 2011 final changed everything. I also think that the pressure of wearing a Mayo jersey, gets very heavy, a lot of it internally. We have just Lost to Meath and you have lost to Galway. The scrutiny the Mayo players are under after this is like nothing I remember in recent times. Our lads haven't had that negativity after losing to Meath. The point is get behind them and you never know what can happen.

Galway had the edge because they dug deeper when it was most needed.
Well be asked to dig deep in 3 league games and if we are learning our lessons the players will responses clean slate time of the season. On to the next hurdle

That Tony Ward headline really wound me up i must say, because i can't think of a more overhyped, coddled, pampered bunch of failures, then the Irish and specifically the leinster players with unlimited resources and advantages at their feet

Unfortunately we are going to continue to be the punchline until we land sam

ROD is our most consistent performer. IMO his greatest attributes are guts, determination and a confidence and ability to take on shots. Other players on the team are equally good players but lack ROD's attributes

@Bonni Boyler and Pebbles both great posts fully agree !

Cavan game on the Sunday 18th at 2.30.

Absolutely agree Pebblesmeller..
One thing I spotted also was ROD let Johnny Mc Grath off for the penalty, he didn't track him , PJ gave Johnny free reign for long periods in the game, probably with an idea that ROD may not follow and this was the case for the all important penalty..

@Hill16 also a good comment always enjoy your comments!

I still wouldn't write the Dubs off just yet either . I'd say you will still get out of the group of death as they call it!

The dust has settled for me now anyway . Onwards and upwards to Cavan won't underestimate them but we should do it.

@Hill 16.good post. Well said. I think if mayo lost by 8 to 10 pts they would have got an easier time saying Galway are far better than mayo. For me they showed great fight and great intensity in the tackle and showed there's something there yet so for me the season starts with the cavan game.

Ever the optimist says:
May 7, 2025 at 6:13 am
That’s it really, a lack of composure. It’s what has eluded Mayo teams on so many occasions. It often leads to errant passing and hail Mary’s miles wide. Like Japanese knotweed, it spreads throughout like wildfire. I don’t for one minute think it can’t be taught or instilled in a player though.

@Ever the optimist: That last sentence doesn’t sound too optimistic !

But I certainly agree with your point 100% that composure is the missing ingredient in Mayo football forever.

However,composure can indeed be coached. In any endeavor on earth that requires composure good coaching is eventually effective.

Just look at Rory McIlroy.He too was called Mayo-like.I wish.

Or the Boston Red Sox of 2004. A small group within the team recognized the problem for what it was and decided that after 81 years of the same losing pain they were going to play “loose (ice)and a little crazy(fire)” It worked. It broke the spell.They won the”World series”

They “coached themselves”to have the combination of fire and ice required in the pivotal moments. Of course they are professionals and,by definition have the underlying skill set and the coaching.

As many have alluded to,our skill levels let us down when the pressure is on.And because that is a known known in Mayo football,and has been for a long time,then you have to look at the systems of coaching. It is not just an individual thing in Mayo,it is indeed systemic.Systemic meaning it’s part of the system.

It’s ok to have a strategy that is partly based on intensity but it’s not going to be enough on its own against the bigger,and let’s be real here “better” teams.

Not only that but the intensity approach may be masking an underlying deficiency in skills and composure.Unfortunately,in the biggest moments this underlying deficiency usually gets revealed.

If the Mayo team of 2011-2021 demonstrated anything it’s that Fire and Ice(Dublin)beats Fire alone all day every day. Especially in close games.There were so many games where we got beaten by a single point. That’s systemic-for both teams.The one that was coached composure,and the one that is still a work in progress.

Limerick were the Mayo of hurling until they became what they became.All their team and management say that a psychologist was a huge part of getting the best out of themselves. They finally have all the elements of fire,ice,situational awareness and skill set. But they were “Mayo-like ” once.

Sundays game was intense and error strewn by both sides.But Galway had two players who stood up in the important moments whose composure is worth studying.Paul Conroy and Cillian McDaid.Those two are fire and ice personified.In fact there is a third element” intuition or instinct” which they have and are in position to act on because of all the other skill training and fitness training they’ve done. They can recognize the moment AND turn momentum their way. You only need two or three of those kind of players in a team. But you do need them.Henry Sheflin was the maestro in this respect.

Our senior players on Sunday,by contrast,were unable to pull those three elements together at the required moment. Our “stand up”players were unable to do it on Sunday. Except Ryan.

Maybe we didn’t “let it slip” at all,maybe it was never ours to begin with. Now technically speaking we should’ve been ahead 1-14 to 1-13 until the two pointer was reduced,but in reality we were never ahead once we went behind in the first half.

Thinking we “let it slip” may not be exactly correct.However no one can deny that we didn’t take the bull by the horns when we drew level and our bench decisions didn’t work out on the day.

Here,the simple reality that our bench was not as good as theirs,ended up being the difference.

I think it’s unfair to say “we let it slip” because we were savage underdogs going into this game.Our performance against Leitrim was woeful.All the bookies(ice people)had us pegged. They can see apparently what we cannot!

We don’t have the depth of Galway nor the depth to go deep into an All Ireland series.Now I’m not saying we won’t get to a semi final but if we do then that will be a huge kudos to this management team.I am an optimist and I also think Mayo are due a long series of ridiculous luck.The only question is,will it be this year.

Personally I hope we get our run of luck the year we win the All Ireland.

(Look I need to get something off my chest and it’s that we’d be better off playing a no solo or one solo type of game. A la Kerry.There’s a Mayo senior player who is brilliant and who I admire greatly but when he starts soloing the ball I usually get very very nervous)

He’s been doing this his whole career yet no one sees fit to coach it out of him. Furthermore,when he’s dispossessed because of this inappropriate soloing it deflates the whole team.It’s down to lack of proper coaching.

No one player has more desire or sacrificed more to help Mayo’s cause than him and he’s an iconic figure in many ways,yet the triad of Fire/ice/intuition(and in his case situational awareness)is still a work in progress.

But I really believe in him.I believe his destiny is to lead us to victory in the end. I believe in him like I always believed in Rory.

Maybe,like most people on here,I too need a little “help”,but blessed are those who haven’t seen and yet believe. It’s a Mayo thing. I think.

We just keep coming out the wrong side of tight games where we have lined up a win.
Galway are favourites for the all Ireland and we lost to them by one score in games we had won.Its alright saying they didn't have Comer and Walsh but we didn't have Tommy Conroy or Paddy Durcan able to play a full game....and they had both against Armagh and didn't win.
They are a very good team and have developed alot of top players but Joyce had plenty of bad days but they stuck at it just like McGeeney and things improved.
In a few years of we have Hugh O'Loughlin in Midfield along with Thornton and BobTouhy feedingROD Darragh Beirne and Lydon and possibly Kobe McDonald then it's a different world.
Remember it cant change quick Dublin went from startled earwigs to champions in 22 months or so.

I am in agreement with Stephenite on this. Obviously we look at this through a Mayo lens, but this is becoming a self fulfilling prophecy more than an actual fact. Mayo showed huge mental strength and no little skills in McStay's first season by beating their biggest rivals, away from home, in a knockout game, with the last play of the game. The Derry game was one that we absolutely could have won but they were so hard to beat on the day and had absolutely nothing to lose. In so many ways, we played above ourselves against Galway at the weekend but it cannot be forgotten how good Galway were in that final quarter.

I think the more we go on about this, the harder we make it for the team. They have a huge opportunity to beat Cavan with a fit again Paddy Durcan, and then go beat a good Tyrone team but still a team they can absolutely beat, leaving ourselves with a one-off neutral venue game vs the Ulster champions for a place in the quarter finals and possibly a soft draw against a Clare, Roscommon, Monaghan, Cork.

There's not enough credit given to Mayo for how they competed so strongly against a team so fancied for the All Ireland. Build them up rather than just choosing to knock them down.

Cavan on at 2.30 Sunday 18th May....as per the western people

GBXI who did we beat in 2023 in a knockout game away from home with the last play of the game

In year 3 this is the best forward play McStay and Rochford can come with.I just think there time is up, Aido at 14 doesnt work against the top teams ,Cillian should have been there from the start.and how can a management team lose so many key forwards, Cillian, James Carr and Aidan Orme.

GBXI Clare will likely finish bottom of their group the rossies in danger of doing the same. Will be nothing soft against Monaghan who pushed Donegal all the way. Cork likewise after they brought Kerry to extra time plus it's not forget Cork beat Mayo by a few points to spare two years ago.

1985 - we beat Galway in the preliminary quarter-final in 2023.

Sam Og

Aido at 14 and not one high ball kicked into him all game. Absolute waste of everyone’s time.

Crazy the lack or knowledge from our mgmt on where the attacking talent is in the county. Kevin Quinn was brought into the set up off the goal he got 2 years ago in an intermediate final. Has he played a game at all since in there?

I saw him play a club league game a few weeks back, really struggled on a corner back just out of minor. Didn’t impose himself on the game a way a “county” footballer should. And he’s not the only one.

Mgmt have made no real effort to find new players. And that’s why we are going backwards. And losing players off the panel for reasons given that everyone knows are rubbish. If Cillian was so busy with work commitments how can he make every club league game so far this year and him based in Dublin.

The dam is overflowing and unfortunately only a matter of time before it bursts.

Failure to close out tight games or having done enough to win but didn’t, as others posters have pointed out, is certainly not unique to the current management team or group of players. It’s something that has haunted Mayo football for decades and no doubt has cost us a number of All Irelands. We were in a great position to beat Galway on Sunday but when the heat was on in the final quarter our players just weren’t up to the task. You only get so many chances to win big games like that and if you don’t take them you lose.

On the Sunday Game, Cora Staunton put the Mayo defeat down to the lack of composure in the final 15 minutes. How many times have we seen that in the past? Call it a lack of composure or lack of confidence or whatever you like. I always feel that many of our players are not cold-blooded enough or they lack the killer instinct to win these tight battles when they go down to the wire.

Who knows but maybe an All Ireland win would change all that. The pressure that seems to stalk the Mayo senior team every year would be released. Success brings confidence to teams and with that comes composure and a winning mentality.

Tyrone away might be the perfect game to get over the line and release the pressure on this team. You cant beat a good win to get momentum and confidence going. Not dishing Cavan but you'd feel Tyrone will be in the shake up. The way we defended the last day gives me some hope (bar Conroy's marking) and you'd feel the experienced players missing if the come available will be a major boost

I know we did Willie joe but we didn’t win it in the last play.we were 5 up and were hanging on for dear life at the end with McLaughlin scrambling the ball off the line

Should be sitting on two in a row, in Connaght titles

You really believe its work commitments with Cillian?? I dont think any player cares more about Mayo than Cillian, it came down to him getting a lack of minutes from management.

Yeah, we left him at home to play a league match, when he should have been in Limerick the day we lost to Cork.

I don't think anything has every annoyed me more than McStay, one of the first times he was asked about Cillian's departure saying 'Cillian knows how much we respect him'. It took them until the 67th minute to put him on against derry, yeah, I'd say he knows how much ye respect him alright...

GBXI you're being very generous regarding the Derry game. We were absolutely deplorable. Derry were a beaten docket that just needed to be put out of their misery & we failed to do so. That 1st half was possibly the worst half of football from a Mayo team in many a year. And we got ahead after the penalty & yet again, failed to drive it home. Is it players? Is it management? Is is both? Either way, unless we address this we are going nowhere