Strong start from Galway but Mayo really turning the screw in the last 10 minutes.

Dominant from Mayo but 1-9 to 1-7 ahead at half time. Not sure what that last free in was for…?

Looks like Mayo will have the aid of wind in second half can anyone at the game clarify ?

Some really good stuff from Mayo. Have brought the shooting boots so far.
Ref pretty fussy for both sides.

Seamus Howard has caught some famous ball and Lydon is on fire inside.

Should be a lot more in front , Galway with a couple of soft scores

Yew tree the last free was 3 man up rule.

Wind is a bit cross field. Lydon going well but we can thank his endeavour for our goal. He chased in Cronin‘a mis-hit and that caused the Galway defence to spill it. If he hadn’t chased it in, we don’t get the goal.

Disappointed with goal we conceded. It was sloppy. Overall we’ve been the better team. Long way to go

That wind would definitely suit a good left footer for a couple of two pointers….I wonder have we a decent citeóg on the bench!!??

Mayonaze would expect to see him before the 40th minute

We’ve not come out 2nd half

Forward play and movement very disappointing 2nd half. Completed different to 1st. Just sloppy all over. Cmon boys!

Great win !

Great win! What a 2 pointer off the left from Darragh beirne to win it. I see Galway mgmt making a beeline for the ref at the end. Couldn’t really see much to complain about at the end. The ref was nearly a minute over the 4 and our penalty was def justified. Great win anyways on a Wednesday evening.

Very tight game. Galway missed a 2 pointer there for a draw right at the end. Was close. Thought our late penalty was a bit soft. Mayo lad slipped and fell and as he was getting up the Galway lad ran into him but he was chasing after the loose ball. Was more a collision than anything. One you’ll take if it’s for you but you’d be annoyed if it’s against you.

Understand people being critical of certain aspects of our game but we’ve beat ros and Galway so far , they’re a really decent side with some really lovely footballers . Sometimes it’s nice to just relax a biteen when results are going our way and enjoy it . Ya can see half a dozen or more of them having the potential to play senior . Personally as a supporter I’m over the moon to see the type of player we have coming through. Up Mayo well done lads

Lucky win.
Galway got down the center with the ball far too easy.

You'd take that ref again :)

I agree Sean. They kicked great scores, went behind under pressure and came back and won the game in Galway.....like the odd time its ok to be satisfied

Wouldn't say it was lucky JR. We gave them plenty of problems too and looked dangerous.
Great score to win it.

Congratulations lads and well. Thought it was gone as Galway took control for a while second half. Great left footed 2 pointer to win it. A concern, same as Donegal, the ease at which they cut thro' our middle. Lots of promising lads on display. And, in contrast to previous years, we are playing with pace, purpose and directness.

That's a quality Galway side Jr they are going to make it look easy at times especially with new rules

Galway minors won the all Ireland 3 yrs ago , not that we need reminding I’m sure but they are a quality side like

I thought it was a penalty. The Galway defender bumped into him and not on the shoulder. It was clumsy by the defender.

I was much more impressed with our 1st half. I don't think we played well at all 2nd half. Aside from a few cameos by Beirne, Hurley and Lydon our general forward play was very lethargic are movement off the ball was poor. Defensively Galway cut through us too many times and we simply cannot be happy with the way we defended.

Good to get the win, but there is a lot more in this Mayo team. I'd give our first half 7/10 and our 2nd 5/10.

Galway complaining about not getting a free at the end. Didn't look like a foul to me. I thought the ref gave them a lot of soft frees in the first half and one against McMonagle in the 2nd (which was a really good tackle). The ref had his back to play.

The dig out wins are always that bit sweeter,and that was one of them. If our penalty was a tad lucky,they seemed to get away with a huge amount of steps in lead up to 3rd goal,so fair result for me.

Great enjoyable game..
Some scoring .
We missed Shay McGlinchey in midfield I felt, a few head scratching calls by the ref during the game, but hopefully we'll meet again.

Galway did win the minor AI 3 years ago but they’ve lost some of their best players from that side to rugby, hurling, etc, since. McGlinchey is injured I think. Still a quality side though.

Very good game though. Not many wides from either side. Wouldn't be a surprise if they met again in the final.

McGlinchey was a massive loss to Galway. He is pure class.

What was the final score

Stagg fella from ah ref pod had the number of players from minor 3 yrs ago , Galway had 8 and Mayo 5 (starters)

7 mayo (apologies)

Great to get a win in a tight battle. Other than Darragh Bierne I didn't think the subs had the impact you'd hope for. As regards the penalty they don't come much more nailed on than that one.

I think it's an absolute disgrace

Hey WJ - just checking in I posted a comment on this thread after the game and said was in moderation and hasn’t been posted. Just checking is there an issue, haha I don’t think I’ve said anything controversial ever? Thanks!

McGlinchey is a loss alright but bigger losses for me are Tomas Farthing MOTM in the All Ireland Minor Final in 22 who’s with Connacht Rugby and Cillian Trayers the centre back in 22 whos with the Galway hurlers . That game will bring both teams on a ton. You could see on both sides Duffy and Beirne for Mayo and Ross Coen and Ryan O’Donnell for Galway were better than the players that started

Joe G you’re right about the subs today. A bit rusty perhaps.

It’s just the central defensive zone we need to protect better. Several of our defenders struggled when run at and just seemed a bit flat footed. Definitely an area to work on technically. They’ll see it when they watch it back.

There should be no shortage of motivation when lovely Leitrim pay us a visit next week….

Just a query..
I'm heading to New York next week and as of now don't have tickets for the game.
Just wondering from your experiences last year, do they becomes available over the weekend?
Or will it be fairly relaxed at the game to maybe get in..
Ticketmaster sold out in seconds yesterday!

Mayonaze that's correct but as you say that can be rectified. What puzzled me was how we allowed the Galway keeper to get so many short retakes away when they were struggling on his long ones. If a keeper is in trouble with his long kickouts you have to push up and force him to do what suits you. That's down to management not the players but hopefully they also learn. I must say I'm impressed with the Mayo physicality so far in this campaign.

Tuamstar. When we were over in NY although we had tickets they were very much available. Enjoy your weekend.

Tuamstar - not sure. I was not there last year but in previous years we paid at the gate on the day. I suggest you get there early or maybe contact the New York clubs…Galway and Mayo both have NY clubs.

Tuamstar there will be tickets for sale in Gaelic Park

Tuamstar I think everyone pretty much gets in. You’ll be sorted Im sure

What was the final score tonight

How does the under 20 format work , top two into Connacht final ?

Mangochutney - your comment is up now, I’ve no idea why it ended up in moderation but it’s out now. Apologies, I’m only back online now, I was stuck at something else this evening.

Good win for Mayo any day you leave Tuam beating Galway. Mixed performance , great 20 min in first half and very patchy in second. Will give coaches plenty to work on. Nobody will get carried away with themselves after this in Mayo. Have to balance big lads in middle with ability to defend and stop runners when we don’t secure primary possession from kick outs. It worked well for us in first half however second half we were exposed badly in middle and half back line …too many runners let get through and not enough pace to match them…..in fairness we made substitutions and corrected it somewhat and individual forward play won out…but little between these 2 and unless there are upsets …could be a cracking Connacht final on the way at the end of next month. Great advert for u20 football in Connacht and thousands tuned into it on TG4 YouTube .

Good to hear Nigel on the pod say exactly what I was saying earlier about our central defence being flat footed, not having the correct body-position and technically not getting it right on tackles - it made it easy for Galway’s to carve through. That’s the big area of improvement required if this team have ambitions.

@Sean Burke: Top team goes into the final.

2nd vs 3rd in a semi-final to join them.

Just checked in again with Ticketmaster and still offering only the worst seats. Is our organisation the GAA the only one that actively works against it's members? The shite we have to put up with from those that take our money is beyond a joke!

One thing I loved in that game tonight and I’m surprised Sean Burke hasn’t mentioned it. We had a 45 and our goalie was preparing to take it. A Galway lad was loitering close to the goalie putting him off as he was lining up his kick. Our number 5, ran straight over and shouldered him out of the way and to the ground. Something we have been calling out for years with the senior team to bring that ‘edge’ to our game. We still missed the 45 but I didn’t mind that at all! Why we don’t use these dark arts at all levels I never know.

Does the team who tops the group for the Connacht u20s get home advantage for the final ?

Going by last year the final will be played in neutral venue so if a repeat of tonights match Galway v Mayo in will likely be played in Hyde Park.

Another aspect of this evening’s game was our desire to attack from the back whenever possible . Gilmore scored an inspirational point from full back in the first half when we were 3 down taking it all the way from his own back line and playing a one/two with the other corner back Mortimer… I would like to see him further up the pitch as he’s more to offer offensively. If I’m not mistaken he was one of the 4 lads that won an all star minor award at u17s playing as an attacking half back .

@Paddyjoejohntom: No, as MO2023 mentioned it'd be a neutral venue (same for any semi-final).

There was great craic over that entire mess last year, where the table was wide open heading into the final round and no clear details available on the rules.

"The team that finish top of the table will qualify straight for the final. Teams 2 and 3 on the table will meet in a semi-final. Both the semi-final and final will be played at neutral venues."
https://www.roscommonherald.ie/sport/gaa/criteria-confirmed-for-deciding-connacht-u-20-football-finalist-and-semi-finalists_arid-14035.html

Galway 3.13 is an iconic score in Tuam.
I remember in 67 Mayo beat the Galway three in a row team in a Connaught semi final by 3.13 to 1.8
I am getting very old.

Thanks a million guys for the responses

Fair play for putting the Youtube links to the 20's game WJ, making it easy for us as always.

JR
You know you are getting old when you can remember about 40% of the games in The Archive.........you might not be far off.........
I think 67 was a big year in where we thought we might make the breakthrough

Of course I forgot the match was on and logged onto YouTube with it in injury time. Frantic Galway efforts to get a two pointer but Mayo held on. I will have to set reminders for myself, sadly as I'm getting older, I'm getting more forgetful. Enjoy the match Tuamstar I'm sure you will get a ticket. Just don't tell the lads at customs you are over to watch the match and do a bit of block laying, I hear they are fierce contrary these days.

Sorry to comment again but I note Big Mikes comment about Tomas Farthing going to the rugby. I recall his man of the match performance, it's an awful loss to the GAA when minority sports like rugby can take such a promising player. It's not like Galway or indeed Mayo can afford to lose players as ye did with the Aussie rules.

@chesneychet.a nice post but I'd never stop a Galway player switching to another sport in fact the more the merrier I say.