Has a championship look to that starting team and options off the bench. I think Mayos only league win away to Donegal was the last meeting when Donegal was in a bit of a mess in 2023?

Great to see Conor Loftus on the bench.

Strong team . Fergal Boland deserves his start he has been good. So great to Conor Loftus back .

Are McBrien and Conroy injured or just rested

Close to championship team. Big big test for mayo midfield on Sunday. Expect change s

That's correct, Mayomagic - we've drawn there a good few times (including the twelve steps to heaven draw in 2018 when Kevin McLoughlin's late leveller staved off relegation) but our only win against them up there was that 2023 meeting.

Yes great to see Conor Loftus back best of luck to the team and management. It will be a tough test but we might just win

Conroy is injured
Not sure about McBrien

@KM79, is Conroy's injury short term or otherwise? A good man to have in the 26 come April....and beyond

Hamstring so hopefully just a tweak after long layoff

We still have Cillian O’Connor, Tommy Conroy, Matthew Ruane, Darren McHale, Frank Irwin, Conal Dawson and Seán Morahan. We have great depth this year very promising to see

Good strong team. McHugh at 6 is interesting. Good to see Diarmuid O Connor starting and we have strength in depth.

Great to see a Mayo team win a connacht schools title this evening

@Paddyjoejohntom: Nice to have A, B, C & D all secured now. Some going by the PPS lads.

Shame no McBrien for this one... I would have liked to see himself and Langan face off, would be a good test for both.
That role will probably fall to Diarmuid now, unlikely to get a full game from him just yet though.

Is it only the A final on midwest radio tomorrow.?

I'd say you'll be seeing Diarmuid in the 6 role on Sunday as that's where McBrien was playing so far with Jordan moving to Midfield. Michael Plunkett and Stephen Coen were playing the 10 role in first 2 games, they mite put Fenton Kelly in that role on Sunday to mark stop a Ryan McHugh/Finbar Roarty/Peadar Mogan etc. Think Sam Callinan matches up well with Ciaran Moore. Interesting game.

Good spot @mayo4698 had earmarked Kelly before the team was picked to do that job. Think he marked Gavin White last year in the league game in Castlebar and done a good job.

That’s a strong Mayo bench. Really looking forward to this on Sunday. It’s going to be a serious physical tussle. Mcbrien is a big loss in that regard hopefully nothing serious.

Let’s hope the weather in the Hills doesn’t let us down and the game goes ahead.

Regarding Nathys:
Anyone know what the mayo Roscommon split is for that side?
Conor Moriarty a fine Mayo Minor on a strong Ballagh team last year. I remember the Casey lad being an excellent player from Roscommon too.

Anyone need a ticket for the match? It’s going free to a green and red fan?

@Clubman51: Their 'official' 36 has 14 Mayo, 14 Sligo, 10 Roscommon across the panel.

10 Mayo, 4 Roscommon & 1 Sligo in the starting 15 tonight.

Like the look of the team as I also did against Dublin who I thought we’d beat with a bit to spare. This time depends also on who Donegal pick, Dubs were more experimental than us. We should at the very least be in the mix with the starters and panel.

The C schools final is been streamed on connacht gaa too for anyone wondering a lot of good players on both teams.

Wishing Andy and the lads the best of good luck but something tells me we might come up short here. If we do all is not lost. Its as much about a performance. Donegal by 3-5 points

To mayomadrob.
I will take that ticket off you if still available.
I live up here in Donegal.
Tickets are as rare as hens teeth.

12 steps to heaven...lol. I remember that well, it didn't go down very well with Donegal at the time.
Looking forward to tomorrow's game and being there to see it unfold. Might be a tough day for us though but will be a great experience for some of our new lads. I'd take a draw right now but we might be 2 to 3 points short on the day.
Wooly knickers and hot flasks of tae will be the order of the day for sure!!!

Came up to stay with a friend this morning and there's a serious frost just lifting now in the inishowen peninsula. I'd love to know the thinking of the govt of the time (60s I believe) behind shutting the railways down in the extreme northwest. I've been told there's a concerted campaign to develop a train network on from Derry to Letterkenny but something tells me I'll be occupying an ethereal plane myself by then.

Donegal playing their best team tomorrow, looks like McGuinness is going for a big win

I'm one ticket short for tomorrows game from my season tickets. If anyone has a ticket they are not using.
Could you email me at aongus2020@gmail.com.

Thanks

Angus- I have emailed you a ticket there for the game tomorrow. I'm unable to attend

I have a ticket spare as well due to illness - email irishlol85@hotmail.com and I'll send it on. Thanks!

Posters familiar with Letterkenny will know that the traffic is pretty awful at the best of times. My advice to those travelling tomorrow is to get there early to find parking in the town. It’s a long walk to the ground but I see that a free shuttle bus will be available.
Donegal Gardai have issued this statement:

Gardai have stressed that parking at O’Donnell Park will be limited to those with relevant passes.

The area around the park is mainly residential with no parking available, however, there will be limited space for disabled parking.

People attending the game from the town side of the grounds are encouraged to arrive early and to avail of parking within the town (carparks etc.) and to walk to the grounds or to avail of the free shuttle bus which will be available from Kernan’s Spar.

Schools A final postponed , big suprise in C final

Ticket gone now.

Wasn't a big surprise in the C final final, balla SS have a much better spread of players and aren't reliant on individuals like gortnor where also the conditions suited balla because the game was a complete dog fight.

Ticket available for tomorrow. Email me at louis.gunnigan@gmail.com

Two tickets available for tomorrow' game
ballyhowleylodge@yahoo.co.uk

Galway have no one capable of doing a job on Clifford . While I think we have as good as anyone in the country in Donnacha McHugh.Great to see him back tomorrow.

I thought patten had a great game for balla, is he still minor..should have got motm..

Hard luck to Gortnor Abbey . Agree that Galway have no one that can mark Clifford. McHugh does a great job at marking Clifford and Clifford knew that going into the league final last year .

Dara patten from mayo gaels would be 18 this year so he wouldn't be minor, he was very good.

Fair play to Galway the way they came back

Tickets gone

They are scoring a lot of goals
Still dangerous

Patten was immense, held Kobe very quiet and kicked 1 point early in first half and another before half time, was called into minors last year as a sub goalie but refused as he prefers outfield. Defo MOTM today

Galway looking very good. They were missing a lot when they played us and still could have won that game. They will have a big say this year.

Hernon did a good job on Clifford n second half - kept him to one point and got forward himself to get a goal

Anyone still looking for a ticket?

Galway looking good but maybe kerry took the gas off a little bit when they were 11 points up and Galway then got the momentum . I'd say the weather plated a huge part not syre if there was a bad wind or not there . A game of 2 halves really. Still very early on in the year to tell how far teams will get. Galway were not missing that many players when they played us.

For me I don’t think we really know which Mayo player can and can’t make Clifford until you face him in an All Ireland semi or final. There’s a world of difference between a cold league game in Feb/March and those high stakes games in June/July.

Galway will be in the mix come championship. No Comer, Walsh, McDaid, or Silke. Finnerty didn't even score. They're adding a lot of good depth with Hernon and McGlinchey. Keeper spot is still a big weakness for them.

Galway only playing in fits and spurts. No consistency to their performances. They have a lot of improving to do.
I think they had their chance in 24 and blew it!
@Clare - both teams were missing lads. Some big Mayo lads didn’t play that day either.
But to say they weren’t missing many is false.
Tierney
McDaid
Maher
D’Arcy
Conroy (he is back training according to Pj)
Thompson (back either for a Connacht final or for the All Ireland series depending on who you listen to)
Walsh (came on for 20 mins that day nowhere near fit yet).

Those 7 named above are all in Galway’s top 11 players like.(along with Finnerty McGrath Kelly and McHigh).
I haven’t even mentioned Comer there because I have heard from a reliable source it’s very unlikely he’ll be seen this year due to his injuries.

@,Shrulelad

Fair enough
We were also missing Donnacha McHugh, Coyne ( played yes but was only back from injury didn't play for long not fully fit ) , Diarmuid O ' Connor , etc and more missing for us to.
But yes I get what you mean .
Galway always say they are down lads and wont go well etc 24 comes to mind haha
It's very early days sure .

Tommorow will tell us alot where we are at. Bit aprehensive about it but sure we
will learn alot either way. So long as we put up a good fight and you never know sure with us !

Galway's equaliser today was a 2 pointer that was tipped over the bar by the kerry goalie, has that rule changed since last year? Last year in connacht final, a 2pt free attempt by ROD was already going over when gleesons hand tipped it and only given as 1 pt

@borderline - that rule was changed for this season.
I believe if it gets touched by another attacking player it’s one point. But if a defensive player touches it - it remains a two pointer

I have a spare ticket for Donegal v Mayo if anybody interested

Galway won't be in any mix later this year.
They don't have the cojones when it comes down to it & their best chance has come & gone imo. Comer & Walsh have rarely shared the field & they're probably 12 years playing together. Time waits for no man.

2025 they lost to a poor Dublin side. Knocked out by Meath. We nearly bet them ffs & we were desperate last year. Why is there such fuss about them?

God I hate them!

Galway living rent free in a lads head.

@Rusty Bridges

Good post fully agree .

@Chesneychet

I like your posts on here and you are very level headed and fair in your posts. But Rusty bridges is just saying it like it is tbh .

Theyve edged a lot of close games against big teams for a side with no cajones, including the last two Connacht finals against us lest we forget. Games we should've won 99 times out of 100 down the stretch

Understandable there's fuss about them. They're our closest neighbor and rival and they're going for 5 Connachts in a row. The majority of our year will live or die on stopping that feat id imagine. Certainly losing last year's game spelled the end of our season, even if there was still a group series to play

Strongisvlooking team out against Donegal, which will be a real test for us, especially for our defence/full-back line, which I still have concerns about. I think Ryan has found his best position at 11,where he acts like a quarter-back and this positional change was suggested by a number of posters on here over the last few years. Delighted to see James Carr keeping his place, as I thought he did very well against Dublin and he will improve with games. Great to see McHugh at 6 and will be interesting to see how he gets on.. This game will give us a good idea of where we're at.

Rusty Bridges - what’s your definition of having no cojones then? Not winning the All Ireland is it?
Plenty of past Galway teams could maybe have been accused of lacking cojones but I don’t think the current team should be put in that category personally & I’ve seen a helluva lot of Galway teams in my time.

For what it’s worth - I also don’t think we’ll be in the mix in All Ireland terms this year. I think a lot of our key men (Walsh, Comer, Conroy) are past their best and/or cannot stay fit. Don’t think we have enough quality in the backup cast to make up for that.
But it won’t be for lack of cojones imo.

Most of the Mayo team were in Matt Molloy's on Sunday night after the Dublin game and boy do we have some tall guys-I don't know what they are feeding young lads nowadays. I knew we had tall young lads, Aido, Jack, Rory is a big lad and obviously Bob is tallest of all, but who most surprised me is McBrien-I knew David was tall, but he is close to being up there with Bob. PS. In case anyone is worried, Andy came in later, to keep an eye on them-no, it was all very relaxed and well behaved.

Galway seem to have an abundance of forwards but they are conseed too much.
Some of their defense not suited to the new rules.
A great result for them.

Galway with John Maher are a completely and I mean completely different team. That was his first game since getting injured in last years club championship. Unbelievable performance

Kerry at this time of year you can never tell where they are at sure did we not beat them in league rounds last year? And we were well off it then kerry went to win all Ireland . Just to early to tell where any team is at including Galway .

That’s because John Maher has cajones.

Just back from Tralee and what a gutsy performance from Galway in the second half. Kerry's strenght is always: fabulous fielders and excellent finishers. They too, have a lot of key players to come back. However, lots of positives for us and a work in progress. I must say Kerry have great supporters and always great banter after games. Best of luck tomorrow v Donegal.

There's some very fair self analysis on here from Galway fans about their own team, fair dues to them. It's pretty silly to be referencing All Ireland chances at this stage, even though I've set my own stall out regarding Kerry being a cut above the rest. Logic dictates one should examine the teams that have been high achieving at underage levels and Tyrone must be in that mix either this year or next.
I'd be fairly sure Andy would be quick to quieten down any talk of anything else other than giving a good account in the league and coming through relatively unscathed for a tough Connacht campaign.

Going to Armagh and Kerry and not getting beaten takes plenty of bottle and Galway will definitely be in the mix again this year. Surely a football blog should be respectful to others (unless we're playing them) and that respect should be returned.
Today's game will be about as tough as can be for this early in the year and while a win would be great I think players that have shown well so far need to do it again in a game where we're likely to suffer at times. If we compete for the full seventy and maintain the kicking game it'll be a worthwhile outing whether we win or not.
With Donegal's strength around the middle sector our kickouts need to be nearly flawless and hopefully we have a strategy in place that clicks.
We're leaving shortly so good luck and safe journey to everyone else travelling.

Best of luck to the team tomorrow. Not so sure how this one will go but will definitely give us a better idea of where we are at. Great to see Conor Loftus on the panel. Wishing him all the best.

Not sure here is the place to be telling tales on where a mayo team go in there spare time