I went into super value to get my tickets for Sunday. When i went to pay,Jo King the cashier said they were free as a gesture of goodwill from mayo county board to help supporters and try to get a big crowd to mchale park on sunday to cheer on the mayo team.

Reading rochfords words in the mayo news there , I could be in wishful thinking territory but maybe Tommy and paddy will see game-time in the Connacht final if we make it .

@jimbo,I think I read somewhere that Seamus' new best mate Jarley said he'd cover the tab for all tickets this weekend.
A nice wee gesture that.

Yknow with a few brave changes I think we can be several scoreboard pts better.
- better in midfield
- less turnovers
- better kickpassing
- more scoring
Get a few % better in each of those three and we go up a lot.
We learned a lot about what doesn't work on Sunday. It was pretty stark.

Would be great to see Paddy & Tommy back in the final if we get there .

Onto Sligo who will be tough but we should do it .

Agree that we should have given other keepers game time Philips did well when he came on with no game time in fairness to him.

6 and 11 very vital positions with the new rules, they always have been but more so now, just look at the way paudie c controls games..great footballer but Tyrone and armagh and Dublin curbed his influence by man marking..mayo struggling very badly to find a good 6 and 11 to spray ball inside to lads who are starved of possession.

Interesting pod. No positivity for management regarding team selection and style of play. Hard to argue when signs of improvement in recent games being ditched for the mind numbing lateral bs we've had to endure since this management team took over.
For some players it's hard to keep their place no matter how well they are playing while for others their places are safe regardless of form.

My eye test player to come in and make a difference is John MacMonagle at wing back.
He's got pace, size and he can kick pass with both feet. He plays with his head up. Yes he's u20, but he's around 6'1" and one of the more physical u20s.
We cannot be going into the summer with only runners in the half backline.
There's also no point trying to get a running wing back to kick it. Select a kicker from the off.
We need a left foot freetaker so Cian McHale must return.
I'd play Diarmuid at 11.
Play ROD inside with Aidan.

Management Team will be judged on what happens in the next few weeks. The league has been managed and can be parked until next season. Take the learnings from it and especially from the League Final performance. We will find out in time if Mayo were holding back or not. Kickout strategy and quick ball into forward line needs to be worked on. An area where we can greatly improve is the breaking ball, which does not require big fielders, more rapid Kevin Mc Loughlin / Alan Dillon type.
Possibly a silly question but is Conor Loftus opting out for the season or is there a chance of seeing him back at some stage. I haven't heard any noises either way.

when does the All Ireland series start ? - Groups

Cian McHale broke his wrist and we won't be seeing him anytime soon. That's why he disappeared from the match day panel.

11 is a problem and DOC is a good solution. I'd presume all defenders are capable of kick passing with a reasonable amount of accuracy, though our game is so lateral that they are not called on to deliver that incisive kick pass. In stark contrast to the kerry boys. Carney seems to be the goto man in any case. The problem is it's old rules style football.

I expect a player management meeting tonight and if players are going to take the hit, then they should be the one to determine how we play.

Sunday is a day to let it rip, a certain amount of caution to the wind, give our full forward line something to work on by landing good ball into them.

Players need the bounce back factor to bury the league performance. Best way to bury memories of a league final we were (un)fortunate to be part of.

The positive from the league is that we got first hand exposure to the standard we need to get to, physically and mentally.

Thanks Jimbo. I went to SuperValu in Maynooth and got two free of charge. Unfortunately I won’t be able to go, so I’ll give them to a good home.

CONNACHT:

Quarter-Finals - April 5/6: New York v Galway; London v Roscommon; Mayo v Sligo

Semi-Finals - April 19/20: Leitrim v Mayo/Sligo; New York/Galway v London/Roscommon

Final: May 3/4

All-Ireland SFC: GROUP STAGE

Round 1: May 17th-18th (Saturday/Sunday) or May 24th-25th (Saturday/Sunday)

Round 2: May 31st-June 1st (Saturday/Sunday)

Round 3: June 14th-15th (Saturday/Sunday)

Preliminary Quarter-Finals: June 21st-22nd (Saturday/Sunday)

Quarter-Finals: June 28th-29th (Saturday/Sunday)

Semi-Finals: July 12th-13th (Saturday/Sunday)

All-Ireland Final: July 27th (Sunday) (Replay: August 9th (Saturday))

The PR officer for Machale park has stated that they fully expect the crowd on Sunday to exceed last Saturdays Rugby match.

Oisin Mullen spotted at Dublin airport , Rochford escorted him into a 251 mo Range Rover and they sped off with a Garda escort

Not Dublin Airport but Ireland west Airport Sean

In reality did Mayo unearth new talent during the league?
Davitt Neary maybe the only one, I'd imagine he'll start this weekend.
Not using another goalkeeper was mind boggling..
Conor Flaherty in goal got two games for Galway, and Matthew Thompson maybe another option in the forwards.
Team selections this weekend will be interesting

A new stadium to rival Croke park is going to be built in Athlone : Centre of Ireland

@Tuamstar I would say Frank Irwin elevated himself into the championship reckoning certainly as a squad player although I’d have doubts around his pace and aggression levels at senior inter county level.

Even with Davitt Neary, his appearances were somewhat limited and nobody really knows his level yet

At this point I’d be hoping to see some of the u20s in squad yet during the senior championship . Even based on club championship last season, I think some of them in MacMonagle, Hurley and Beirne are as good as what’s in there now with much higher ceilings

@Tuamstar: The league tends to play out pretty differently when missing players early & fighting to the last game for survival.

Last year Galway used the 1 keeper throughout, an equally small panel, even fewer different starters, far more key players playing every minute or featuring every game and only about 66% of the minutes to newer entrants to the panel. Obviously it's far from ideal, but not sure if it's too baffling glancing at what teams tend to do year to year.

Think we need to be brave on this front. There's loads of time left in this season.
We are far far from the finished article. This team and mgmt have not shown the consistency and performances to be settling things down into our chamlionship first 18 players, starters and the always brought in subs.
I see clear as day that MacMonagle is in the best 24 players in our county.
I won't comment in detail on Cian McHale injury but he got it several weeks ago, were still at start of April. We had a mish mash league that a handful of players emerged with credit from.
I'm looking at Seamus Howard and his springy 6'3". He'd by a decent build like MacMonagle.
Niall Hurley looks a lad with a bit of burst that can make things happen.
And why bloody not skip our u20 panel and look out to Ronan Clarke and James Maheady.
I'm damn near aged with the cow-towing attitude in Mayo sometimes. Terrible, terrible, no forwards.
We have players to improve this team majorly.
We have players that Sunday showed are not capable of being effective in Croke Park under the new rules. Either lack of pace or lack of quick decision making.
I used to be a young man following Mayo :)
Give youth it's turn.

Any information on championship panel yet. Will panel be cut this week.

Ask yourselves the question if Mayo management were managing Kerry what would Kerry look like. Forwards bunching in the middle and leaving no chance for runs into space, no kick passes into the forwards, defenders running up the field and getting gassed out and not minding the house. So will a few new faces make any difference. Think Donegal 2 years ago. I thought Mayo changed after the first 2 League losses but they reverted back to the Rochford way again. All I want to see is us having a go with intelligent football and let the players enjoy themselves. So what if we don't win Sam, only one team can do that. Just give it a lash, it's only sport at the end of the day.

Some more shocking news coming out of the Dublin camp. Apparently Con O Callaghan has left the panel after a bust up with Dessie Farrell. He's now declaring for Mayo using the granny rule. I'm sure we'll find a spot for him in the 24.

There are no players out there going to get into a good county team without at least a years S/C I believe that one player mentioned will probably never see a county Jersey

U20s are part of SnC prugtams. Noticing that drastic changes for them if they join the senior panel.

I hate the lateral style of play but I remember Mayo playing like this under Horan too. I have no idea why Rochford is credired with this. Think last league game against Kerry, we were beaten off the pitch by much more and that day too, we were unable to pass an invisible line and just passed the ball around. Something is very wrong but its not new with us.

Where will all the experts hide if Donegal don’t beat Derry the weekend ?

Sean Burke Any team in the top 2 Divisions can beat each other on the day but at least Donegal are playing good counter attacking football not slow pedestrian football like us. Any you thinking Donegal have gone backwards since Rochford left but remember they won Ulster last year which is no mean feat. So what's your point?

JP - just FYI, it's John MacMonagle, not McGonagle!

@kick the ball, COC grandmother is a good Galway woman.
@ jim Fleming, if only....., wishful thinking. But it's what should have happened. It's a 32 county national game best served by stadium and gaelic village central to the whole country....

@wj. A good County Donegal (Dún na nGall) surname. I hope he doesn't use any granny rule

Kerry connections, I'm told, Ontheditch! Double that hope on the granny rule.

@willie joe, would that not be John not James?

Sticks for the reel ; I just find it amusing how the media / pundits, ex player media cartel etc etc go all in on something and regularly get it wrong , I’ve noticed this since 2021 . I wish I had kept a collection of the bs and how they then change the narrative through a different angle . Don’t get me wrong I love reading and listening to all the predictions especially, it’s just this great authority with such definite tone they go on with , Derry should of won two all Irelands by now from what was been said (no Sam ) , mayo and Tyrone (both won )shouldn’t of showed up for 21 semi finals , Dublin were a spent force in 2023 (nope they actually won the all Ireland )(desperation bringing aul lads back ) , Galway will win(nope Armagh won) etc etc .I know I’ve commented like this before but it can’t be said enough nobody knows anything for certain , we tend to fawn over these personalities and journos as if their word is gospel .

Let’s take this year now , it’s all about Donegal , Galway and now Kerry too ( two months ago they weren’t been held as high ) . What if none of them even make the final .

Iets go with predictions here and come back in July for the craic .

Munster : Kerry
Ulster : Tyrone
Leinster : Dublin
Connacht : Galway
All Ireland finalsts . Dublin v Tyrone/kerry (pending semi final pairings )
Winners ; Dublin .

Thanks for correction Willie Joe. I've noticed lots of commentators skip the second M.

Tuamstar
Just on finding new players as Corrick said its not too likely to unearth a guy that makes an impact in one season more likely you improve 2nd year or 3rd year guys by 30% occasionally you get a guy that's slots right in and we have had a few of those AOS, Cillian,Lee and Neary might be one of those also. More likely patch is a guy like Irwin or Bob Touhy who has Benn around a few years and then makes the breakthrough.Bernard Brogan was like that for Dublin Colm Boyle was like that too for us.

It should indeed, Westernfan101. I’ve corrected my earlier comment to avoid adding to the confusion!

They do alright, JP, including the guy commentating on TG4.

Kick the ball....
That's the best news I heard in years.....I always though Con was a half back though

Ulster of course the tough one to predict. This year is interesting in that there are a lot of 'second tier counties' capable of causing an upset here and there in the groups. Monaghan, Rossies, meath, westmeath.. just to mention a few.
Sunday, we need to throw away the shackles and play by the new rules, 'he who dares wins'
Another dash of kerry blood on our panel won't do us any harm

Paudie and David Clifford
Darragh Canavan
Ryan O Donoghue
Ryan Mchugh

Would it be fair to say these 5 are the best footballers in the country at the moment?

Sean Burke. Get your point now about the media and the pundits. The main stream media are running the country as we all know or should know let alone the sports narrative. Look at all the hype over the new rules and while they have improved the game marginally not by the amount the media claims because they have not limited the basket ball. If 8 teams can't bring 40000 to Croker there is still a lot wrong with the product. Come to think of it does anyone know of any other team field game where players are prohibited from using all the pitch.Soccer, rugby, hockey and basketball can all attack or defend at the one time. On predictions I still think we could take Connacht and of course no one tipped Armagh last year.

Willie Joe in the results archive for 2022 U17 campaign MacMonagle and MacGonagle seemed to swap places regularly. Lol.

Thanks, JoeG - that's another job that needs sorting so! I'll add it to the list.

Is Robbie Hennelly really getting a call? Why are so many people on the street talking about it happening. Not a bad idea if ya ask me.

The problem with Carney, Flynn and Ruane is that they are a mix of a midfielder and a half forward,
When they play well, it’s cos they score a lot like carney v donegal and Ruane v derry,
None of three will dominate in the skies unfortunately and that is the problem. SOS and Parsons were your typical midfielders who dominated in the are but did not score that much. We don’t have those type of players at the moment unfortunately and will continue to struggle around the middle. Scoring is all good and well but we need ball winners badly,

I was hoping we wouldn’t qualify for league final. I felt it was obvious we would lose and every time we lose it has to be someone’s false. So McStay and Rochford are not up to it again. McBrien should be full back (despite Donnacha playing fairly well) Reape can’t kick the ball out and now he has injured his finger so it’s management fault for not blooding other goalies. Hessian who had played fairly well in earlier games couldn’t live with Paudie. Sam was tired. Our midfield were cleaned out. Our forwards couldn’t score and went lateral.We wouldn’t kick the ball to Aido ( though he scored 3 points) Conor Reid started. Davitt Neary didn’t start. Jordan should have been rested. Ryan should have been red carded. We now know we are miles behind Kerry and are unable to adapt to the new rules in Croke Park. We only got to league final because Donegals B team let us through, missing a penalty and deliberately hitting the crossbar when it was easier to score. Really wonder if there’s any point even going to McHale Park at all on Sunday or even taking out a subscription with GAA plus. Maybe it’s time for Mayo to opt out of the championship for a while til all the above are fixed . Happy April 1

@ to win just once we'll said

I was pissed off leaving croker but after I go sure we didn't really want to be there anyways ..

Sligo all that matters and they are gunning for us after our beating to.

Was so deflated but we go again and oh yeah Ryan did not deserve a red .

Ryan o D top scorer of league to & top scorer of championship last year we are lucky ky to have him.
Lost the head last few minutes v kerry ( he is still human sure ) very frustrating game hmm.. he's still a class act...

@seanBurke. I'm a bit surprised by your choice of Dublin as all ireland winners i wonder is it an April fools joke. I think most people would just about have them in the top 5.then again maybe my own choice is as surprising as I'd have Tyrone as the ones to put a few euro on. Good goalkeeper, tigerish defence, strong midfielders and a few class forwards so if they could all click it wouldn't surprise me to see them walk up the famous steps in July.

Fair point Sean in relation to the media bigging teams up. Sometimes one gets a feeling about a thing and I'd one last year when Derry were ambushed by Donegal. I don't have the same feeling this time that Derry will reverse the outcome. I think Derry went into freefall before Harte stepped in and I'm not going to elaborate on that as some of it has been thrashed about by more media experts etc.
I don't care for McGuiness' guru-like status within certain quarters but he's great at instilling self-belief in a team. Not too many caught Jim Gavin on the hop and I was at that infamous semi in 2014, to accompany my wife and a few relations, I might add. The Mrs said before the game that she thought Donegal were going to catch Dublin out.....
Nobody knows who'll win, but I'd be watching Ulster this yr with great interest, as there'll be a few phoney wars in the mix. A car mechanic from Donegal told me not to back his county until Ulster is over as he reckons if they do prevail in Ulster that they won't win Sam.
I'm ruling out Dublin, Mayo and others because I don't think they're up to it. Love dearly to be wrong but Tyrone or the tir chonaill men for me with the caveat Ulster might be so bruising that Galway might just do it this year. Of course, Kerry can always spoil a party as we know too well.

Did anyone cop when Gavan White ( I think) took ROD down with a rugby style tackle in the second half heading for goal on Hogan side. No black or even yellow for that one. Some strange calls regarding cards in general for the league final on both sides.

Moments can change perception. If David McBrien had been awarded a free against the forward that time when he stopped the player over near the sideline we'd be on here talking about it seems to be working with him playing higher up the field.
Regardless of all that. Our main work to do in my view is :
1. At least one change to put a kicker in one of the wing back spots.
2. A centre forward that is a probkem for the opposition. I think it's Diarmuid.
3. An inside line that can feed off Aidan as a target. I think it's ROD and sorry but it's totally deflating to be missing 35 - 40 yarders for left footed frees. Bread and butter for Cian McHale when he's field ready again.
I honestly don't buy this "Ah well, that was the league settle down our 15/20/24 selection of players.
I'd be the opposite. There's loads of weeks and football left. We've not shown the consistency as a team or individuals to be conservative and settle on our 15/20/24.

@Larry David - add in Niall Morgan, Rory Beggan, Sean Bugler, Shane Walsh to that list - in terms of impact on a game - especially under the new rules!!

@Larry David, think Comer will be on list before years out. Hope I am wrong.

Yes Bonni
I assumed the ref was going back for that
Also, Clifford’s foul on reape was much more dangerous than the one Reape got booked for !

@Km79 was down that end and didn't cop it at the time. Still have to watch the game back. Several times Coldrick took out the book, but did not issue a card, for both teams. Almost like this is a challenge match and we don't want to upset anyone for championship. Its amazing how the ref's interpret the same scenario differently, once they are consistent, its fine. When 3 players surround an opposition player, it can be done for overcarrying (mostly) but also a free in. It's not a job I would ever consider as you are so open to abuse, but the fact that we focus on who is refereeing a particular match is telling.

Peter Cooke back in with Galway, could be massive for 2 pointers going forward...

@tuamstar. Is he definitely back or does yesterday's date have anything to do with the story seeing as it was reported 1st yesterday

Sometimes in a defeat, you learn more. Sunday was disappointing, but not overly as damaging as it could have been. The good first -AOS scoring in a final, that a positive Negatives -Midfield a problem, and not something I see fixed by management, we need bigger men, or at least one big man. they are not in county as far as I see. An John Maher type individual, floating around the middle be handy -And cant blame gaolie on his kick out, short or long goes astray, I think Reape in a nearly impossible position on kickouts. Tyrone a better midfield, Galway definitely has. Dublin even with Fenton gone look better, and sure other counties have better as well -Can see why didnt start Neary, as wanted a bigger middle 8, but are we robbing a treat to get possession -This one a little strange, our hand passing was way off what I usually expect of mayo, hope it a one off -Ryan was marked out of it, and we suffered because of it, Kerry have multiple lines of attack, close off one another takes over. We dont, well not in the forward division -Can we kick in a few balls to big men inside, say 20%, into our forwards, this does two things, gives us a decent change of securing possession in more attacking position, And keep opposition defence honest, Kerry had lots of defenders around arc, and were not worried about kick passes in,

Any word on Reapes injury?, hope its not back to hennelly as a poster said above

@ No Doubt https://www.galwaybeo.ie/news/galway-news/peter-cooke-gaa-future-update-10069834
Not sure if its genuine or not.

Just watched back the highlights, the advantage given to Clifford for the Hession tackle was softer than soft.

Even Trump avoided announcing his plethora of executive orders yesterday. No doubt he will make up for it today.
Not making the referee as an excuse, but I thought a foul on ROD late on in the game, was a stonewall black card. I think it contributed to Ryan's silly moment after that. We can count ourselves lucky he is lining out on Sunday and a lesson for him.
I expect we will see our reserve keeper start also. Sligo strong at midfield, Rally an exceptionally good player, but we have all the Trump cards. I'd be a little concerned about Flynn, looked exhausted, and hope the management drilled in the discipline message.
Any Sligo posters on the blog?

Sorry Bonni, I see you flagged foul on ROD earlier.
However, we have to be grateful ROD did not see red..
Sligo midfielder is Cian Lally, has featured on team of the week in the league and is no stranger to AOS, both of them all star basketball players in Sligo. Scored 5 points in Sligo's last league match, put that with 6 scored by Pat Spillane.

Agree with most of the comments made on the pod. There's not much hope coming from Billy Joe, understandably. Boyler is a bit more positive but even with him I fear it's just hoping against hope. We're in a much worse place than we were after we beat Derry, which hard to believe given we beat Donegal too!

I think the management and team can turn it around and as someone said they have the perfect set of fixtures to do it. McStay has the luxury of sending a message to some players after the league final while still not risking a loss against Sligo, and similarly against Leitrim. All the while getting players back from injury, Like Paddy and Tommy, and getting players up-to-speed like Diarmuid and hopefully a sub goalie. Some other thoughts.

I honestly don't think Frank Irwin is inter county standard, definitely not as a forward. Lack of pace and aggression are the main reasons and you absolutely cannot have an inside forward line with him and Aidan in it - just not dynamic enough.

As others have said, the half back line badly needs a kick passer in it. I agree with the other comments, John McMonagle will be starting there next year and once the u20s are done he should be straight into the panel. I think Eoin O'D can be fitted into that defense but the management clearly don't fancy him.

Very surprised Boland hasn't seen more game time recently, he's so reliable from distance and we just don't have those players in the team right now. Again, management obviously don't fancy him. I'd have him ahead of Darren McHale all day though.

Overall, the team needs much more balance right through the field. Hopefully the selection on Sunday will reflect that.

@ Ontheditch, it was blatant pulldown and on front of the ref. Was technically a black, yellow minimum.
Didn't see the ROD reprisal one yet. Haven't seen anything of Sligo yet bar I know they started the league campaign poorly. I'm sure we will be well briefed on the threats before Sunday but as Boyler mentioned on the Pod, if were not beating Sligo at a canter we are going nowhere this year.

@Bonni Boyler yeah agree with you there if we can't beat Sligo we won't even make the quarters to be honest

Sligo has to be beaten by 6 to 7 points at least. Best team out and full trottle for full game. Get that done and then easy run to Connaught Final give that everything for a win this year, anything after that is a bonus.

This will sound arrogant but if we don’t beat Sligo by 10+ points then it’s a poor result imo. We are playing a Div3 team who were facing relegation in the latter half of the league. If we don’t beat Sligo then I think that’s it, and would actually be in favour of a change in mgmt mid way through the year. Give a new manager a month to look at players, see who is good/bad and prep for next year using the group games as essentially challenge matches. But I can’t see either happening.

Pressure very much on mgmt in Connaught this year. Mcstay needs to win the provincial at some stage and poor Rochford can’t be facing a 10th year as manager/coach without a provincial title.

There is absolutely no way any inter county management is going to be changed mid season.it isn’t the premier league.we will beat Sligo but there could be a few uncomfortable periods in the game .The fact is huge ongoing weaknesses were shown up again last Sunday and this condescending nonsense of if we can’t beat Sligo easily we are going nowhere needs to put in context .we have been extremely poor in championship over the last two years and there is no evidence there is any significant improvement.As i said before the league final Sligo couldn’t have asked for a better scenario going into this game and they actually have a few very useful players

Green&Red - talk of change of management mid-season is just nonsense, surprised to see you come out with something like that. This isn't Premiership soccer!

No question Fergie B has the distance and accuracy to kick 2pointers, my worry would be that in the white heat of championship he won't be able to manufacture the space for himself to take it on. He doesn't have ROD's swivel unfortunately and unless you can overpower you're direct opponent, you're in bother.
Paul Towey likewise,imo.

Good luck in the opening round against Sligo this Sunday I would imagine they should not cause ye too much trouble once everything is ok in the camp.
Sunday was a little disappointing I felt as it seemed to lack the bite you would expect for a National title. I would imagine that both teams were almost doorstepped with this unexpected opportunity and it was probably difficult to get the mental preparation along with the tactical plans completed satisfactorily.

Considering the conditions there was no two pointer kicked from play by either team and the final scores were lower than I would have expected before the game. I felt that Kerry would win this game but with Mayo being considered the under dog I was afraid that they would bring the chaos at some point and just go for it. Perhaps they stayed loyal to their system as Kerry never managed to pull away to a point where they could no longer reel them in without ripping up the instructions and just going for it.

I was unable to make the game so it’s hard to see whether mayo played within themselves or whether Kerry strangled their strategy. The obvious take away from watching on TV was Kerry were intent in using the ball to bypass any critical area Mayo may have used to get a defensive structure in place and this swift movement resulted in a wealth of options for quick ball into space. Kerry are developing attacking structures that use runners up the wings as options for the quick ball and this in turn allows diagonal ball into the forwards or into space that they have created for runners from deep.
I was surprised by the narrowness of the Mayo running structure, by this I mean it was as if the mayo lads were in a running box drill and the tight hand passing and maintenance of possession seemed too high on their priority list. This resulted in Kerry being able to set up a good defensive position and that that created a big problem for any player who wanted to go on a probing run for mayo as the opportunity to get the ball to them became challenging. This in my opinion added to the lateral passing back and over the pitch which I’m sure frustrated the Mayo supporters.
Jack was getting it in the neck after the first few games down here, after the dublin match his game management came in for a lot of criticism as he failed to push up on the dublin kickouts and they held the ball while playing against a hurricane. Jack rolled out the blueprints of the RFC after that and had a real good look at how they changed the landscape of the game. Kerry are playing a much more attacking style of football now but in fairness to him he always try’s to play that type of game. Donegal and Galway were very crisp at the start of the league and they looked to have invested heavily in early prep this year. They are both good sides but other teams have caught up to them now and I feel they will not get it all their own way going forward.
As always I wish ye every good fortune going forward (with one exception of course) and I hope Reape,s injury is minor. I think we may see a few more like this with keepers trying to prevent these high dropping two pointes. Safe travels and good health to all here. GC10

Apologies WJ, on reflection it may have been a bit of an aggressive comment (perhaps a day late on April fools). I have huge respect for anyone who puts time into IC management but I just fear this ship is sinking. If I could see improvement in style of play, using new rules to our advantage and developing more players then I wouldn’t be as critical. Only 26 players used in the league considering our injuries showed me that we aren’t trying to find new players and develop new ideas and style of play.

But regardless, I’m staying firm on anything less than a 10 point win and I’d be disappointed. I know Sligo are improving but our fitness, strength and experience should comfortably get us over the line. And hopefully a positive reaction to the league final.

No worries, Green&Red, thanks for responding.

Looking at the number of stand tickets available on Ticketmaster for Sunday an attendance south of 5000 is very possible.

@Pod Fan gaelic football being left behind.
Need a proper PR machine like Rugby and Soccer.
Teams and match day panels announced much earlier.
More access to media by all teams.
We are quickly going to a point of no return.
The world has changed but GAA in a time warp, provincial structure can not last.

@Green&Red league divisions go out the window when it .gets to provincials. Pride and all that, nobody wants to look bad against the neighbours so for reason I'd expect a massive effort from Sligo who will have been focusing on this game for some time. I wouldn't be surprised if this one is a close call at half time but I'd hope Mayo to pull away in the final quarter.

@Km79 I'd say that body check by DC on CR was the thing that got KMS so worked up. That was a black or yellow any day if out the field so why different for the goalie? In my day it was considered even more serious.

I agree @Green & Red .

Jaysus if it's close at half time we won't be winning connacht .

When we played Sligo in 2017 in castlebar we led by 4 points at halftime..we lost the all Ireland final by a point a couple of months later

If Boland or Towey arent named to start for Sunday we are going nowhere far this year, this is tge time of year thats suits them dry weather hard ground.Management really on there last legs now unless something drastically changes in Mayos play.Why not put ROD out to 11 as a playmaker outside the arc for 2 pointers and Towey in corner forward and put Fergal Boland back in the half backs, he cant be any worse than Coen is and would leave a kicking option in the half back line as we have no one in backs bar Hession willing to kick pass the ball into the forwards.

1.Philips
2.Eoin O'Donoghue
3.McBrien
4.McHugh marking Niall Murphy
5.Boland/Fenton Kelly
6.Hession
7.McLaughlin
8.Carney
9.DOC
10.Ruane
11.ROD
12.Flynn
13.Towey
14.Aido
15.Irwin/McHale

Just paid for under 20 game , bit steep though isn’t it @11.99

Very arrogant talk to be talking about winning by a certain amount of points, or if not winning by big margin at half time. Thats awful stuff to be coming out with and disrespectful to opposition. And don't give the reply that Mayo need to be arrogant, every player needs a bit of arrogance, a forward needs to think no one can mark them or stop them and a defender thinks no forward will beat him.
But talking about winning margins, or big winning margins is just ignorant and dis respectful.
Id happily take winning every game in championship by a point.

Fair comment Tommy. How we perform on Sunday will define our championship. We have yet to embrace the new rules. They were brought in to make the game more entertaining. Return of skills like high fielding, scoring from distance, calculated risk taking, and the long foot pass, it is football after all.
That team that wins Sam will be the team that embraces the new rules. Will we see a different Mayo on Sunday?? We need to. We need a player response to last Sundays defeat. Our 2 most exciting players are McLaughlin and Neary, two that escaped the clutches of coaches at under age level. Is there a message in that?

Tommy132 - No disrespect to Sligo, but if the Division 1 finalists can't comfortably beat a team that managed just three wins in Division 3—at home—then we might as well forget about having any ambitions for the summer.

What is the latest score for the Mayo v Leitrim game

Under 20 bucks cruising to victory , Leitrim just not at the same standard and mayo not out of second gear either

@Tommy132 it's not arrogance its winning mentality you'd see the same coming from Dubs or Kerry .fair enough they've actually won sam though.

Time we started to be confident in who we can beat yes hard after Sundays display I know though.

As Colm Boyle even said if we can't beat Sligo we are going no where and that's not being disrespectful .

They are up smd coming Sligo but not at our level just yet.

2000 as reigning Connacht champions we lost to Sligo.2010 as reigning Connacht champions and league finalists we lost to Sligo.2012 Connacht final we scraped over the line by 2 points in an absolute dogfight and of course we went onto all Ireland final.i think we will win by 6 or 7 points but that comment that’s thrown around every year of we can’t beat such a team we are going nowhere means absolutely nothing.The 2012 to 2017 team had many close battles against perceived weak opposition

Thanks ? Sean

Cannot believe the ref didn’t play advantage there for Hurley , incredibly poor free decision .

Odd alright, Sean - he was in on goal there.

I'd be happy with our 6 best defenders in their natural positions. 2 aggressive midfielders. 5 out and out forwards and an extra midfielder if necessary. I'd go.....
Philips if Reape out
Coyne
McBrien
McHugh
Kelly
Morahan
Hession
Carney
Flynn
Boland
DOC
Neary
AOS
ROD
Finbar McLaughlin

Hurley showing why he's still Probably the u20s best player when push comes to shove.
Some showing, electric from play.
Oisin Cronin fantastic composure through on goal.
Duffy doing the hard stuff well but the easy stuff extremely poorly - shades of Eoghan McLaughlin
Howard and Armstrong not as imposing as you'd like.
Handy 20 minutes for Darragh Beirne to get up to speed and you're laughing into Sligo.

What is the latest score on the game please

1985 - I agree 100%. There is an arrogance among a section of our support and I don’t know where it comes from. Even the great team we had for 10 years often struggled against so called inferior opposition. Sligo should have beaten Galway last year and Galway are among the favs to lift Sam.

One thing is certain, Mayo will make hard work of the game.

Would hope and like that mayo will be bold and experiment a bit over the weekend. Just a query for anyone that might know, what timeline are we looking for Tommy Conroy regards his injury?

4-14 to 0-8, five mins of normal time left.

5-15 bto 0-8 as we go into injury time. Goal from Darragh Beirne, his second.

How's Conor Meaney doing? I'm guessing not busy but are we retaining possession from kickouts?

Sligo bt Galway by a point

@Westernfan 101 not sure of Tommy's time line return but heard on the podcast he's training but with an individual coach same for paddy they are not back in training with the team just yet I don't think .

Thanks WJ we will meet in Kiltimagh sometime

5-16 to 0-8 FT.

He just about managed to stay awake, Ontheditch! Wasn't really called into action at all, he had a 45 late on which went just wide.

Thanks for getting back wj. He is big tall lad, more experienced as soccer goalkeeper but committed to playing gaelic.
Sligo a better test for him.

Galway just beat Sligo last year. And then should have won the All Ireland. Now in fairness, Sligo were in a better place in 2024 compared to now.

I'd like to see forwards playing in forward positions. If that means, we use a Diarmuid or a Carney as an impact player for the year, then so be it. Putting too many square pegs in round holes is a pointless exercise.

But most of all I'd like to see us kick the bloody ball. The balls moves quicker than the man. And I don't care who the opposition is. If you move the ball quickly with the foot, they can't get set up defensively. If you move it slowly like we did on Sunday, then they can

@clare cheers for the update, hopefully we see the two lads back flying for the green and red soon.

Firstly well done to the 20’s on the win. Some of the forwards had great performances . But what I’m earth happened to the midfield? They didn’t show up this evening nor did we dominate the breaks until the last ten mins of the game. Thankfully when we got the ball upfront our forwards were clinical.

My concerns around this team remain the same. I think we leave too much space in our defence. Leitrim had plenty of chances but butchered most of them. I also thought there was no need for some of our defenders to be constantly galloping upfield. Gilmore did it loads of times and while he did fist over a point, he clearly got in the way a few times and by bringing a Leitrim player with him, all it did was clog up space when we should be doing the opposite. Not clever stuff.

Midfield was very disappointing though.

Why is Meany on the long range frees? He’s had 3 or 4 in the past few games and converted none. Surely one of forwards should be taking those.

Good to see Diarmuid Duffy get a start. He needs to practice his finishing.

Plenty of areas to work on for Mayo.

Another motivation for Sligo is this week is the anniversary of the passing of Red og Murphy.it’s incredibly difficult to know where mayo are at the moment.we still don’t have alot of positions nailed down.mchugh is a good man marker but is suitable at full back on certain players.mcbrien was totally anonymous on Sunday and it’s difficult to pinpoint what role he is being asked to play.we are severely lacking in height in the midfield area and there is no creativity from the half forward line .if Ryan is neutralised we have very little scoring threat.it looks increasingly unlikely that Tommy conroy or paddy durcan will see any meaningful action this year.hopefully we will see something new on Sunday.ideal opportunity to try a few long balls into Aidan.Kerry were very comfortable clogging up the arc knowing we wouldn’t kick a ball in .it should also be remembered Coolera beat ballina this year so I don’t believe Sligo have any real fear of us

Routine win for Mayo U20s, Yes I can understand Mayonaze concerns but the contest was won early and the team clearly weren't fully focused after that apart from clinical forwards.

Still work to do because if were to slip up against Sligo and the rossies win their remaining games it could be three teams on 6 points to decide who finishes first.

I'd agree with a lot of that Mayonaze. The backs look very open at times. Hurley looks a lot better closer to goal, but he really does need to improve his vision. He offloaded really well for one of the goals, but there were a number of occasions where he took the wrong option and was a little too greedy on the ball.

A long way off, but they look like a great bet for an All-Ireland final appearance with Connacht facing Leinster at the semifinal stage. The likes of Tyrone or Kerry will be the greatest threats I'd imagine in the end.

Leitrim tried to play a nice brand of football with some lovely kick passing and young Jack Kelly was very impressive up front for them.

Collera did beat Ballina yes a day Ballina would love to forget . Collera were far better yhen Ballina and deserved there win even though it was close in the end .

I didn't mean to be disrespectful or sound arrogant of Sligo . They are getting better for sure . I just feel after Sunday we need a big performance to restore a bit of faith and the guys will be hurting and will want prove themselves .

I expect a big Sligo crowd at it to . It could be tight who knows but I just feel we need a good win to restore the faith and not just scrape by with a point or two .

I agree clare we need a big performance but it’s all about getting through.David Kelly had a chance with a penalty to put Kerry out of the championship back in 2009 and Kerry went on to win the all Ireland.My point is no one really knows what this mayo team is made of .there are a lot of question marks over them at the minute

Like Clare, I'd expect a backlash from Mayo on Sunday. But we do need a major shift in the way we are playing. Carney is our go to man, we need to see some long incisive kickpassing from him. A plan at midfield to win breaking ball. AOS to remain in the danger zone, get ball into him, don't have him having to back into our defence to get on the ball.
Start Neary, he's the new kid on the block and he's unpredictable. McLaughlin encouraged to run at and take on defenders, I thought his solo running has improved considerably.... bit more leadership from Coen, running laterally and passing backwards, that game is gone, not singling Coen out, but we need his leadership. Hession is becoming a bit of a terrier. Pass and go is his motto. ....

Yeah it is hard to know where we are at . Questions do remain over us and it was very disappointing on Sunday .

This weekend is a big test for Mcstay I feel we really need a connacht title it will be 4 years without if we dont do it this year but weather or not we get to the connacht final is another thing .

Beat Sligo by a point and it will be fine. Galway narrowly beat them last year and made it all the way to AI F. Typical of some arrogant Mayo supporters that we look down our noses at some opponents but get the hump when the Kerrys, Galways and Dublins of this world look down their noses at us. Respect all opposition. Of course we should be well capable of beating them but take nothing for granted. Sligo u 20s beat Galway this evening. Wonder did the galwegians treat them with a lack of respect.

We were totally flat against Kerry, not interested in my opinion.
People are now talking up Kerry
Winner will come from Ulster or God forbid Galway.

The main thing is to win on Sunday and come away with no injuries.
We would have a 2 week break before the Leitrim game and you would hope we could rest a few in that game. Another 2 weeks then until the Connacht final by which time you'd hope we'd be raring to go.

Important we get our business done on Sunday. No messing about. Get on top early and keep them at more than arms length. Sligo will be no pushover and we know full well we have a habit of making things difficult for ourselves.

Jr…Galway’s chances boosted by Peter Cooke’s return. They are favourites for me, followed closely by Donegal/Kerry. Champions come from those three in ‘25.

Mcstay will have learned a lot from the way Kerry set up last weekend. Possibly presumptuous of me, but he's not going to be facing anything like that until the Connacht final.
Banana skins everywhere with the new rules and how managers improvise in dealing with them.
Funny that McGuiness and Geezer seem apprehensive about them voicing their mock disapproval in the press.

One thing we learned about facing Kerry again.
The man marker on Paudie Clifford must only concentrate on that. His man marker being involved in attacks loosened how tight he was marked.
I rewatched the first half. Stephen Coen is under instruction to wander into the full forward position. We got two scores off it, but, I think we're giving up defensive solidity for it.

Think we need to take a leaf out of the U20's book and put the Sligo game to bed early. Experiment with longer passing, transition speed and kickouts. We do have a tendency to play at the opposition level as @Mind the house alluded to, but we need to throw that in the bin. No disrespect to Sligo whatsoever. I will not fall off my chair if we struggle against them but we really shouldn't. Play as if we are playing Division 1 opposition, show them the respect they deserve, but also respect ourselves and ability and get some momentum back after LF.

@Mayonaze Galway definitely have the best panel but what % of the play do they need to get over the line.

Kerry will win it now of that I have no doubt . RIP Micko , can’t even put “a “ legend , “the” legend feels more apt .

RIP Micko, seemed like he was a legend before the term was even coined.

@Bonni & Sean B - maximum respect to a legend of the game who also spread the magic dust around to other places as well like Kildare and Laois

On Sligo - when the provisionals come around, league divisions go out the window, you are now playing the neighbours and local pride ensures nothing should be taken for granted

Inexile, tell that to the counties in Munster and Leinster that aren't Kerry or Dublin!!
RIP Mick

Micko was a great man, he was way head of his time, I heard him say " after he got the 75 panel together, he had 27 training sessions all together in 27 days! I don't know how they done but they did it, everyone of the panel came through, some achievement, it's no wonder they were super fit. Maybe our team could do that?

I think Neary is a great prospect. His pace, strides and move for that wonder goal a few matches back was class. I think he should be parachuted in as a first choice in the Championship and see what he brings us.

RIP Mick.