Great that durcan is there. Kevin quinn has been on the panel for something like two years and hasn’t kicked a ball in championship or league. Maybe he can be our jody devine haha

Great to see Paddy listed, Eoghan McL hopefully will be a late addition on Sunday as I believe he is an ideal player for this type of game, big loss if he is missing though, we could look static coming out of defence. Bench looks strong...

Bench might look strong but not as sure about the lads sitting on it. Not many with experience or not any pup/nuisance to rattle a few cages. It's wait and see time.

Good to see Paddy Durcan back .One more thing on the team selection I would bring Fergal Boland on just before half time .He is very good at taking the long distance points also he is very nippy and hard to mark . And good taking his scores. near the goal

Diarmuid will probably start I'd be thinking, but where? Wing back or midfield??

We will not be seen Eoghan McLaughlin for awhile, maybe quarter finals. Good to see Brickenden back, and Conal Dawson is a forward who can score two pointers.
Great battle between McBrien and Maher. The one big plus for us will be if we play new rules football, fast breaking from defence, mix of long footpass to ff line with more deliberate build ups occasionally.
Easy to see why Galway are raging hot fans, just compare subs benches

Regardless of bench Strenght the differential in odds is massive given we basically the same team that should have won last year, Just Tommy missing which a smaller loss than who they are down v last year.
Shows Galway have come on, embraced the new rules etc.
If Diarmuid starts i would guess he start at midfield.

Durcan back is a huge positive, lets hope he gets a half and has an impact. Delighted to see his name on the 26

Imagine Eoghan McLaughlin injured if not on panel, as he definitely be in my 26 player squad. Brilliant to have Paddy back, and I nearly start him, as he a big game kind of player. But in fairness he has been out a long time and throwing into this might not be a smart move, but if he going well in training, play him.

I can't see Durcan starting. throwing him straight in for connacht final v Galway would be crazy.
the last 15 mins we might see him

@Ontheditch
Is that a confirmed injury for Eoghan McL ? I hadn't seen or heard of it

We may see some articles appear tomorrow but it has been eerily quiet regarding Mayo in the press.
Perfectly poised for an ambush.

Is the minor semi final on any stream this evening?

Yes here is the link yew_tree

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhDUxUPscfo

Yew Tree - as I flagged earlier on, I've embedded the YouTube stream here on the blog as well.

Strange panel selection. Brickenden. Quinn Reid. Yet to see anything great from those three. Poor final last year from Brickenden. For me for us to have a chance we have to pull aos doc and flynn to midfield. Put carney inside. Stop the crazy possession football. Sideways and back. Go direct and through the hands. We can win. If we do all those and most importantly handle there half forward line.

I am not worried about the Group of Death All I want is to beat Galway. Am I confident? Not really I cling to the hope that it’s Mayo v Galway so anything can happen. Should we lose, a home game v Cavan is far from ideal. They are the weakest team but they’ll be coming in fresh against a flat Mayo and I’d have serious doubts about us getting anything from the other 2 games . So as someone said earlier it’s Nestor or Nothing. I like the Connacht Championship and love beating Galway and would especially like to stop their 4 in a row. Sunday is our season. It’s win or bust

Best of luck to Mayo on Sunday,safe travels to all and looking forward to a great game,MAyo by three

Great to see Durcan back but Eoghan Mc is big loss. Hard to not see a few changes but positional and personal before the start. Otherwise it'll be harder to get on the team than to lose your place.

Quietly confident tbh and that's in spite of management not because of them. I just think the players as a collective will get the job done. As others have said it's fantastic to see Paddy back with the group. I hope they'll not take any unnecessary risks with him. A fully fit Durcan would be a massive boost.

And as expected, better tickers are released on the Friday evening for Sunday.
The Gaa never ever ceases to amaze

Just watched Marty interview Alan Mulholland predict a big summer for Galway, are we just going to let them shit all over Castlebar on Sunday, saunter in, take the Nestor Cup and celebrate on the pitch and jibe us after, remember the team of the last decade no backward step. Time for Mcstay to earn his corn that we can trust he's capable of producing a tactical game plan to topple an all Ireland contender.

Its great to see Paddy Durkan back in the squad, I doubt surely that McStay will risk him in a non-knock out match, last thing we want to see is Durkan going off injured. I suppose its the same with Comer and Walsh for Joyce, whats the point, ok you win Connacht but we cant afford no more than Mayo to lose players at this stage to injury. I would be surprised if any of the three named feature, it would be different if the loser was out for the year.

In 2026 Galway won't have a overseas team Mayo vs London & Roscommon vs New York in the Connacht football championship the rest will uncertain for half a year I guess.

Thanks Martin, was just wondering about that.

There will be flights from knock too tubber .

I think we might win this in a close finish. Throughout, I'll have the usual banter with the Galway fans and at the final whistle will shake hands and wish them well. In GAA circles we tend to take it for granted that although we're rabid in our support of our clubs and counties we can still all be Irish and have the craic no matter how bad we're hurting. Long may it continue. If I'm still around if segregation of the fans (as is commonplace in soccer) becomes a thing I'll give it a miss.
There's nothing as exciting as neighbours at war but knowing that the war stops with the final whistle is something we in the GAA should be so proud of.

This has all the markings of the game in Pearse two years ago..
Galway favourites, but hampered by a few injuries...
Mayo odds have shortened and Durcan back gives them a huge boost..
Mayo by 3..

On a side I'd say Damien Comer's career is coming to an end...
He just cannot keep himself fit..
Another 6 weeks I'm hearing with a hamstring issue..

Bad news for Comer personally, good news for defenses nationally!

Odds really shortening in, the generous early odds obviously leading to money going on for Mayo, especially with the amount of Galway personnel down.

Could be good craic and toss of a coin Sunday.

@JoeG.
You’re spot on. Mad rivalry on the pitch but when it over it’s over. We’ve all stood side by side with supporters of all different counties and not a word.
As a matter of fact, I felt downright insulted by some clown in Croke Park telling us all that there would be blood on the streets, if the Newbridge or Nowhere game went ahead. We lost and all walked out together and I actually complimented the Kildare people on their stand. They also appreciated the fact that Mayo stayed completely out of it.

I would be saying Thornton and Neary shouldn’t play. If we want to win put on the best 15 and that accounts for experience too. DOC all day long before the 2 lads. Maybe the thought is he’s a good sub and a bit injury prone to be risking for 70. I’d have either Boland or Towey in; the latter put his hand up lately and be good to have a lad who really wants a cut at getting scores. Again could be an argument if we start them we’ve less experience / impact to bring on. Paddy has to get game time seeing as he’s fit enough to be on the panel. Wouldn’t start him but one of the 1st subs on I’d hope.

Neary plays for me, after his wonder goal in the league mcstay took him out of firing line, he's played here and there since. Tomorrow is a massive chance for him to show the undoubted potential

Fergal Boland being ignored constantly by McStay and Rochford bemuses me. Fergal has to start. He adds fire power out at the 40, that we simply don't have without him. Also his kick passing is second to none. His shooting potential pulls out the defence creating the space we need inside.
I have been sadly disappointed in this management team. McStay has, at least got the best out of AOS. But overall, there have been blind spots, and the Boland saga is just one of them. Our two pointer scores from play this year have been almost nonexistent. Leaving our best long range shooter out of the team certainly doesn't help that.
They have also, up to now, had disastrous kick out failures, on our own ball.
If we get those two areas working, we would be a much better team, and would beat this Galway side.

Claremorris 1951, are we even really trying for them though? Despite the statistics showing you still work out better to try them even if you miss more than 1 pointers, the game plan doesn't seem to allow for trying them much like other counties.
What was it management said about new rules at start of year? Galway seem to have embraced the rules, as have a lot of other teams, we seem to be living in the past still.

Tommy is only player missing from team that started against Galway last year. Galway are down a good few heads from players they've been using this year, so I expect this to go down to the wire.
If our lads throw off the shackles I think we will win. The odds have come right down since Galway panel announced and so many players not available.
It could be a good bank holiday yet.

D O Connor should probably start, come in for Neary or McHale, Neary be a good option to come on like what i said about McLoughlin, Neary pace and directness be dangerous. McHale hasnt done enough to think he is a nailed on starter, but he is good on breaking ball.
O Shea and Carney inside will be dangerous if ball is kicked in and i would have the 2 of them and O Donoghue rotating between 2 inside and one at 11. O Donoghue needs to be moving around and drag McGrath with him.

I can see where some of ye are led to believe thar a pacey player might be is big loss.

The new rules are about all out skill and that’s what’s needed anymore so just having one decent part of your game isn’t good enough anymore (imo) and I suppose the management are already stuck with 3 players that aren’t good enough anyhow but appear to be un droppable.

Thankfully the young lads u20’s and minors coming through have no shortage of skill and congrats to both teams, let’s get this year over and move these new lads onto the 3rd coming.

Gizmobobs - you’re going to have to stop posting unconfirmed stories from within the camp. If not, I’ll have no choice but to stop you. As I’ve made an abundantly clear for years, this isn’t a clearing house for rumours, regardless of what the veracity of any particular story may be.

The same goes for the rest of you who are fishing for rumours. You’re as bad as those posting them.

@Willie Joe apologies on my part .

Can't believe the premium tickets that are available now on ticketmaster. Those of us who are season ticket holders had to purchase tickets before 10:00am on Wednesday morning with only 108 or 109 available. Needless to say never again.

It's seriously frustrating how quickly people are writing off Mayo and hyping up Galway. The truth is, there's very little between the two sides when the game is played. Sure, Galway might have a stronger panel on paper, but that doesn’t automatically make them the better team—despite what everyone seems to be saying, both in Mayo and around the country. I really hope the players and management are taking note of all this talk and using it as fuel to deliver a big performance tomorrow.

I really don't know what m uppet is in charge of the decision re distribution of stand tickets for sale, but it is a joke. Today, day before the game the best tickets in the stand for sale...a week ago when buying tickets could only get up in the corners...whoever makes the decision are idiots. The complete and utter disrespect or regard for people is shocking. Why should people with families to bring and the cost of doing so have to stalk ticketmaster for 10 days hoping to gey half decent tickets. Here is a suggestion for the idiots, if they want to sell the sh..it tickets in corner of stands, etc, PUT THEM FOR SALE ON A REDUCED COST, at least give people who are living on a budget and want to bring kids to the games a chance. Because if they continue on with this sh it people will stop bringing kids to games and the gaa will go into the sh it...sorry, rant over.

@Tony Feeeman

I totally agree !

My mood is starting to swing in our favour for this game .
I think we are going to do it. Before I was like def Galways to loose but now that Walsh & Comer are out I think we will sneak it .

Also that Durcan back is a massive boost for us .

I think all the writing off of our guys will just give them the fuel they need to go out and throw off the shackles and throw the kitchen sink at our biggest rivals !

Mayo by 3 .

Some serious rumour circulating now . Christ .

@Sean always rumours with Mayo.

@JR that's so true!

Moyside. It's unreal. Season ticket holders had to buy there ticket by 10am last Wednesday. 24hrs before throw in, they release the good tickets. Mental

No Walsh . No Comer. Playing at home. No excuses.

Hope Barrett starts ?