Early January and 8 subs used . Nothing to get to excited or disappointed about. The win was a bonus .
Best of luck to the newbies trying to impress.
It’s a hard thing to do in early Jan playing with lads your not used to playing with .

Willie Joe. Good honest summary but the score line flattered us. Begs the question....is Paddy Power having us on? Mayo favourites to beat Galway in 3 weeks time!! My golden rule is never back Mayo if they are favourites. Ros to beat the Yerras at good odds is far more tempting

@Michaelincork

It was fbd nearly 8 of our main starters were not even on the team yesterday . Andy was trying new lads and that's what fbd & league is for .

Momentum was certainly hugh in the Dingle Ballyboden game. The fact that we brought in subs that changed the game is hugh plus. 5 points in last quarter were scored by subs.No harm that Seamie Howard found the going tough, he'll come on for that. Keavney and Lydon are both left sided players who impressed. Touhy has undoubted talent but to me seems to lack a bit of self belief. I'd like to see him getting a lot more involved.
It's hard to know what posters expect. We need to be patient, come in under the radar, and we'll prove tough to beat for most teams imo.
Team captain Coyne seems to be very pleased with the work of Tally. The trio including Andy and Boyle are a good fit for Mayo imo.

@Ontheditch: Interesting to see Tom being described as a left sided player there, shows how strong he's managed to build that non dominant side. He'd an unbelievable run in last years 20s Championship (at least 4 games in a row) scoring from play off both feet, so very easy for a defender to be unsure either way until it comes to a penalty or him kicking a central free off his right (or himself and DB splitting frees on either wing).

Was interesting to see a UL League game this year where the UL commentators thought Niall was a lefty too after kicking a couple of early scores on his 'weak' side. All 3 of the 20s lads inside last year (Lydon, Hurley and Beirne) had games kicking off both from play as part of the Championship. With Darragh Reilly from the 20s the year prior (& in the dev squad against Longford iirc) another very (significantly above average for all 4) comfortable kicking scores off both. A real positive to see.

Can't say I'd have been too worried with a defeat or get too excited with the win... this time of year it's great to see them trying to build on some of the right kinds of things (poor first half, but 3 or 4 opportunities where they almost cut Sligo open and the final pass or finish just didn't come off). Hearing the (very vocal) encouragement at shooting and positive reinforcement when the shot is the right choice but missed from poor execution [we suffered a lot more of the latter - only 2 of the former standing out - which is a slight positive in terms of trying to 'fix'] a real shot in the arm for confidence of things to (hopefully) come.

Loads to work on and all sorts of things to improve (plenty to keep coaches busy on restarts, defensive gaps down the middle, runners from deep cutting through and offensively getting the execution that bit sharper), but nice to come away from a game where 4 of this years upcoming u20s saw minutes and 15 lads who didn't see any kind of minutes last year all have a few under their belts and still managing a result while only playing for ~20 minutes (with all the caveats of Sligo's split squad and the changes they made going into that last 20) in most eyes.

Interesting to see how the pack might get shuffled for next week, especially after Andy's comments on the pod that sounded like everyone but the 3 lads he mentioned (as short term outs) were available. Especially loved his comments around players who might have had a tougher day at the office (could easily have named 5 or 6 in that boat), exactly what lads should hear so they out the following day with confidence and not feeling their county career is on the line.

What's happening with our CEO appointment??

@FreeTheEastBank: The window to submit an Expression of Interest closed on the 20th December (according to what was officially released in November), 2 weeks ago, so you'd expect little chance for them to have held the interviews with candidates yet given the impact of the holidays/availability over those 2 weeks.

Junior Club Championship Serious Revamp

I watched the all ireland junior club semi final yesterday .
Kiltimagh where lucky they didn't receive an awful hammering with the tyrone coughing up and least 5 goal chances near the end. How can there be such a gap between the tyrone /mayo junior champions.

The answer lies in the format of the junior c-ship in mayo.
Kiltimagh where beaten by tourmack at home and beaten by northern gaels , narrowly avoiding being relegated to the junior B competition.

Obvious the standard is pretty poor .

We have a Junior A championship in which senior/intermediate teams play there second teams , the standard of this competition is much higher and yet there is no benefit in winning this competition.

What should happen to improve junior championship in mayo is that the the 2 finalists in Junior A are promoted to the exclusive club junior championship and the who every finish bottom of there group (exclusive junior cship) play off to get 2 teams relegated to the Junior A championship.

This way you will improve the quality of exclusive junior football and the team that goes on to mayo are still an exclusive junior club of a higher quality that what represented mayo yesterday.

Congratulations to St Brigids on a great win today. Roscommon football is on the up at all levels.. I expect a decent year for them.

@The new departure I think your being relatively harsh on Kiltimagh and the junior championship in general.
It didn’t happen for them yesterday no doubt about that and you are correct in what you say that it could have been a hammering..
But maybe the occasion just got to them,they didn’t play the way they played against croans or aughavas.
The midfielder for them was just after kicking an inspirational two pointer to bring them back into the game and minutes later he got what looked like a serious head collision going off Tv screens.
A goal for Clogher came from the resulting kickout and the game was over after that and all shape was lost
As far as I’m concerned Kiltimagh ran into a team that were better on the day and handled the occasion far better,calling for a revamp of the whole championship for me is OTT
Is the fact that the Connacht champions got beat twice in mayo not a sign that the competition is healthy and competitive?

Thanks for all that additional information TsuDoNim. These guys will be needed over the next few years.
Sigerson takes centre stage this week. Just wondering are any of the games live streamed
Sigerson Round 1
(A) TUS Midlands v MTU Kerry - Tues/Wed 06-07/01/26 @ 19:30
(B) TU Dublin v DkIT - Tues/Wed 06-07/01/26 @ 19:30
(C) St Mary’s v Maynooth - Tues/Wed 06-07/01/26 @ 19:30
(D) UCD v ATU Galway - Tues/Wed 06-07/01/26 @ 19:30
(E) Queens v UoG - Tues/Wed 06-07/01/26 @ 19:30
(F) ATU Sligo v UCC - Tues/Wed 06-07/01/26 @ 19:30
(G) MTU Cork v UL - Wed 07/01/26 @ 19:30
(H) UU v DCU - Tues 06/01/26 @ 19:30

Agree largely with that new departure, something needs to be done at junior level, but can't see the junior clubs allowing as it was them that voted for this system to exclude other clubs second teams, and resulting in an odd numbered, often lopsided junior championship, with some big hidings received by clubs over the years since it started, scores that couldn't even be put up.
Knockmore have won or been in final of that A championship nearly every year since it's inception. Their reward? Over half the adult footballers in the club (and the other clubs with 2nd and 3rd teams players) finish up for the year early in the summer and have 6 or 7 months off. Madness.

@The New Departure ,a transfer from club success to county success does not always happen.
Meath in their hay days were very poor in the club provincial championship.

@JR

Exactly. Same with us when we were reaching finals / semi finals consistantly we were not great in club outside of connacht. St Bridgits will put it up to the kerry club but I expect Kerry club to have to much for them .

@Ontheditch: The Higher Education YouTube channel will normally cover one and often a couple of games a week for free. Though no sign of a schedule yet to give any insight for the coming weeks (they've always been fairly short on notice for games).

https://youtube.com/@higheredgaa

This year we'll also have ULGAATV & DCUGAATV offering a few extra paid (a very reasonable €6 a game) streams over & above the free HE ones. So hopefully a chance to get a few looks at some of the (29 at first draft of the lists - across UL/UCD/DCU/UoG/ATUG/ATUS - with a few names missing from that early list who might make it yet in final lists [the likes of Lorcan Silke with DCU wouldn't be at all out of place]) Mayo lads in action.

Good man TsuDhoNim, don't know how you do it...
St Brigids were brilliant today, opened up a good lead from limited possession and were mentally strong enough to maintain that lead to the final whistle. Heroics from the panel and it will definitely stand to them in the county team. We just don't seem to have the appetite for club championship and it's our loss

One of the problems with the poor standard of football in our club games is that some players are been hyped up a bit too much because they perform reasonably well in a club championship where the standard is so poor.
When these lads go in against better teams and better opposition- they struggle big time.

On a separate note - between FBD league, national league, sigerson cup and club championships- the top players are playing more football in January and February than they are in July and August. Mad stuff - and we wonder why players pick up so many injuries.

Rossies have always been strong in club championship and it has not always stood to them in county . County is a differnt ball game altogether .

@Ontheditch: Gas timing after us just mentioning it.

2 live Sigerson streams this week (with a 3rd Fitzgibbon on Thursday):
Tuesday January 6 - @UlsterUniGAA v @DCUDocEirGAA - 7.30pm in Jordanstown
Wednesday January 7 - @MTUCork_GAA v @ul_gaa - 7.30pm in Cork

All being well you'd expect some Mayo representation (Finbar McLaughlin & Darragh Joyce) on Tuesday for DCU and almost certainly some (Cathal Corless, Cathal Keavney, Conal Dawson, Cian McHale, Dylan O'Brien, Eoin McGreal, Frank Irwin, Jack Melvin, Hugh O'Loughlin & Sean Morahan) for UL on Wednesday.

That UU vs DCU game on the Tuesday could be a cracker. Two solid sides that'll have an eye on a big run this year, whatever happens on Tuesday.

(A nice dress rehearsal for the 2026 All Ireland Championship structure with the way the Sigerson plays. TL;DR you can lose once but not twice in the early stages until it becomes straight knock-out, with undefeated teams getting the preferential draws where available)

Great stuff TsuDhoNim. Tuesdays game is indeed a cracker. Finbar is another one of those natural two footed players who has been so unlucky with injury.
And Wednesday, Cónal Dawson and co. Will come out all guns blazing. Thanks again for taking the trouble to root out the info.

Interesting point for me was , Andy did try to hide ROD going to 11 as a tactic and it will be a tactic as its all to easy for teams to close space on front of him if he remains in the corner .
He's such a good player , he needs to be on the ball and flicking in and out between 11 and 14 will suit him , just need an accomplice to suit the role and Carr and Irwin should thrive in that type of role

Also interesting was how Andy said the progress of Liam Donoughue , was forcing him to rethink , progress from development squad .
Again it mightnt be this year but great to hear lads making progress..

Also same with Keaveney and face Andy said he's thriving in the wingback role .
He may well be a foil for Dawson but id like to see a speedster , low gravity man at no 10.
Neary showed impact speed at 10 can have , we won't have him but say that role is free be interesting to see who puts their hands up for it .
We have alot of rangey halfforwards come midfielders and then small player maker, halfforwards who are honestly slow, so to mix it up a speedster who can run direct would be nice to see , maybe it is Dawson or Keaveney or dont know if Niall Coggins is still there but variety is spice of life for this Mayo team

Would have to think that none of the sigerson lads will play fbd at the weekend so will probably give game time to some who might not get it otherwise. It really is crazy all the football that's on this time of year on bad pitches and very little when the ground dries up as stated by another poster...even the farmer will take the cattle of the land this time of year and let them off in April on the dry sod...maybe the 2 sectors could run together.

The blazers never cease to amaze.

We all know about the compressed season, clubs being looked after and so on. Mayo and others proceed with their championship at a stately pace and finish when the clocks go back. All leading to the great innovation of club semi finals and finals - in sub zero January, brought forward from mid March. And, as posters have pointed out, Sigerson games coming in a flurry mid-week, with half our panel playing in Cork

@Catcol: Personally, I wouldn't be too worried about lads playing Sigerson. A great opportunity for more lads to see some 'competitive' minutes at a time when so many will be hoping to make an impression on management.

We've an extended panel (senior & dev - including lads who might just be in temporarily on trials, with the lines between the 2 groups being refreshingly loose for now) of at least 63 players at the moment (I say at least as there are a name or two we'd hope to be involved we've not yet seen or heard confirmed as part of the panel for the year - fingers crossed).

18 members of that extended panel are involved in Sigerson (with a few more involved with Freshers/PPS & possibly Trench Cup - leaving something from 20 to 23 potentially out of contention with competitions other than FBD or National League).

Listening to Andy's views, I'd expect (and be delighted to see) that entire group written off for the upcoming weeks and the other ~40 lads (or slightly less than 40 if we exclude Cillian, Donnacha and Mattie that Andy mentioned as a bit away from action just yet) left to balance the demands of the FBD and the early league fixtures.

Glancing at that current 63 (across Galway/Meath/Longford/Sligo games or mentioned by Andy when discussing the panel):
- 25 lads that saw competitive minutes last year
- 7 still eligible for u20s this year
- Avg age (on 31st Dec): 24.79, Median age: 23 (we'll have 11 lads hitting 30 or over this year, much higher than recent years, but a huge number of young lads at the other end too balancing it out to skew young overall. Great to see age not being a barrier at either end of the spectrum)
- 31 that would hope to be playing their first competitive minutes this year

A Sigerson medal will be the highest achievement in Gaelic Football for players from many counties including Mayo. I expect mayo lads will be allowed to get on with Sigerson and not be used in FBD/early League matches. Going by club championship games at the weekend, there is more to Gaelic football than inter county. And the new rules have revitalised the game as a spectacle.

Great summing up there Tsu our panellists in stats. Am I right in thinking that Parke/Crimlin have three on the panel?

Just on a slightly separate note, looking at wall to wall news coverage of the craic in Venezuela, I'm thinking Trump could be the man to take back for us that annexed former Mayo territory......Ballaghadereen...

@catcol: Yeah. Colm Lynch, Cathal Keaveney and Darragh Reilly all pushing away there.

Interesting to see what they do with the couple of 20s lads like Colm for the year ahead. You'd make a strong case to release them all to Keith and the 20s when the time comes, but at least a couple you'd say could find themselves in that first 26 (or even first 15) and given the depth available at 20s too it wouldn't be the end of the world, even missing lads of the talent of Kobe or DB. Could see that call going either way for a few lads.

I agree Tsu. I think that Beirne, Lydon and Kobe should be ring fenced.

On that note too, am I right in thinking that the following (panelists) should/could be included next Sunday - i.e. they haven't got a run yet, at least not in a 'proper' game, or are they Sigersoned?

Philips
McMonagle
O'Loughlin
Melvin
McLoughlin
Hurley
McDonald

@catcol: Phillips isn't in with a Sigerson side, but Andy mentioned his recent wedding in passing on the pod so could be out of action for a while after that.

The others, yeah. All pretty much that we'd expect cup-tied:
MacMonagle - UoG
O'Loughlin, Melvin - UL
McLaughlin - DCU
Hurley - UCD

McDonald still at PPS (secondary school) level. Gortnor Abbey look [can't find confirmation of it anywhere, but glancing through Connacht GAA fixtures and putting a few jigsaw pieces together it seems to be the case] due to be facing St. Clare's Manorhamilton on the 14th January in a Senior C Quarter Final, so possible he'd be included at the weekend but potential they'd leave him to focus on that knockout game for the school. 50/50.

Can't imagine too many sides nationally at C that'd be keen to see that Gortnor Abbey side coming if they can keep everyone fit.

Two good club semi finals at the weekend and fair play to St Bridget’s for getting over the line. Nice to see Mayo win also with lots of new lads getting a chance. The FBD and similar competitions are ideal for giving lads the opportunity in the county jersey. Some may never play at a higher level for the county but any day you get the opportunity to wear the green and red is an honour, Sigerson takes centre stage midweek ( thanks to Tsu for all the excellent information re Mayo players, fixtures TV coverage etc. ) Lads playing Sigerson can’t play for their county in any midweek fixtures and there are some midweek fixtures in other provinces. It’s the right decision as regards overload for these young players though it does leave “weaker “ counties in a bit of a dilemma as they are often reliant on a strong core of college players whereas the stronger counties have an abundance of players even if missing their student players

@MartyK

Unless they discover a big load of Oil Trump will have no interest in Ballaghaderreen

I see Johnny Heaney and Tommo Culhane have opted out of the Galway panel for the year.

Speaking of Gortnor Abbey, strange they they were in the A league competition but now in the C championship. Hopefully they get a good run in the competition.

Delighted to see Andy's comments in the Mayo News that he feels we have plenty of 18-20 year olds who are ready to play senior football now and all that old hat about a few years of S&C required is no longer a factor.

He's right. Both with the new rules and pretty much all of them on programs for years at this stage.

Thankfully we have a very talented pool in that age group so I'm really excited to see what the Spring brings now.

Yes, Andy's comments were great. Had to pinch myself when I heard him say 'push on in the next couple of weeks'. All we've been hearing up to this is the next couple of years!

Daragh Joyce having a decent first half for DCU v UU, against the wind in second half it will be tougher

And he seems to be happy enough to look at the other end of the age spectrum also which is a change. Thinking of Aidan, Cillian and his efforts to bring Evan back in.
No doubt he's thinking in terms of a 20 man game instead of 15. I heard his comments on the return of 1v1 defenders, high fielding midfielders / half forwards and flare players in the inside line. Could be a great opportunity for some of those younger and older players to contribute in the final 20 mins of games.
Just hope he can unearth a competitive midfield for the year ahead.

CDR, they should walk that competition really. The schools grading can be a bit of a joke with the way it is done.

@Ontheditch: Really impressive showing from Darragh. Probably the best game I've seen him play.

Nothing flashy or spectacular, but did the simple things exceptionally well. Big impact on primary & secondary possession (against some serious opposition) where DCU built their platform & the work he, McEnaney & Dunne in particular put in with DCUs zonal system was phenomenal. UU never got to grips with playing around it (though you'd love to have seen how it would have held up against a Canavan & McElholm combo).

Crazy first half in that game, not sure I've ever seen a team that dominant with such a small lead. Lorcan O'Dell putting in one of the worst 30 minute performances I've ever seen. Hard to believe it was the same lad cutting through UU so often in the 2nd.

See Dingle have O Connor released for Club Final, so looks like Kobe will be let play for us , if we are still in Championship come next Summer.

Tickets for Tooreen match and all club finals are included on season ticket.

Joyce was superb for DCU, he was part of giving them a huge platform around the middle, UU - to their detriment - opted to go short to try and avoid it. Great to see talent like this around the county. The Sigerson is a brilliant competition, a very high standard, just a pity they don’t get the best of the weather and pitches.

Looking forward to this weekends lineup and probably the addition of a few mainstays to add power to combat the Rossies .
Personally without the Sigerson lads as highlighted by Tsu id like to see something like this

1.Livingstone
2. Golden
3. Coyne
4. Plunkett
5 . Keavaney/McGreal
6. Coen
7. Duffy
8. Moran
9. Flynn
10. Donoghue
11. Carr
12. Mchale
13. Lydon
14. O Donoghue
15. Conroy/kuba

Thornton, Dawson, Towey etc probably get a run out and then maybe some of the development team like Hurley, Coggins
Be good to see maybe even a flavouring of Paddy Durcan, McBrien to add more steel also.

@Outside of the Boot: A chance any of McGreal, Keavaney, Duffy and Dawson there might be Sigersoned too (I'm assuming Darren McHale at 12, if Cian he'd be on that list too). The lads listed above were just the couple queried.

The full list would be ((club) [County Panel, underage if eligible and senior if they've appeared for dev panel or the senior challenges/games to date]):

ATU Galway
James Lavelle (Belmullet) [Senior/u20]
Jason Crean (Ardnaree Sarsfields)
Conor Reid (Moy Davitts)
Zac Collins (Islandeady)
David Dolan (Balla) [Senior]

ATU Sligo
Oisín Cronin (Balla) [Senior]
Ben Donoghue (Kiltane)
Peter Basquille (Castlebar Mitchels)
Aodán McCann (Ballina Stephenites)

DCU Dóchas Éireann
Darragh Joyce (Claremorris) [Senior]
Finbar McLaughlin (Westport) [Senior]

UCD
Sam Callinan (Ballina Stephenites) [Senior]
Diarmuid Duffy (Ballinrobe) [Senior]
Niall Hurley (Claremorris) [Senior]
Darragh Reilly (Parke / Keelogues / Crimlin) [Senior]

University of Galway
Conor Meaney (Westport) [u20]
Tom O’Flaherty (Aghamore) [Senior]
John MacMonagle (Castlebar) [Senior]
Dara Hurley (Claremorris)

University of Limerick
Cathal Coreless (Davitts)
Cathal Keaveney (Parke / Keelogues / Crimlin) [Senior]
Conal Dawson (Westport) [Senior]
Cian McHale (Moy Davitts) [Senior]
Dylan O’Brien (Davitts) [u20]
Eoin McGreal (Garrymore) [Senior/u20]
Frank Irwin (Ballina Stephenites) [Senior]
Jack Melvin (Davitts) [Senior]
Hugh O’Loughlin (Kilmaine) [Senior]
Sean Morahan (Castlebar Mitchels) [Senior]

Just as I post that I notice UL have named Colm McHale and Diarmuid Coggins on the bench for this evening, so at least a couple of additions to be added.

Looking forward to tonight's game here in Bishopstown. weather is damp and cold. How many Mayo lads are on the UL panel?

@Michaelincork: 12 in total now with the 2 lads added.

6 named to start (Morahan, O'Loughlin, Dawson, Melvin, McHale & Irwin) and 5 on the bench for tonight, with McGreal the missing panel member for this evening.

Thanks Tsu. I had counted 10 out of 35. MTU not that strong this year...I think

1-05 to 0-07 MTU lead UL at HT.

Ht and good lively game.. MTU by a point but if UL sharpen up with their scoring, they should get over the line.

I note Conor Reid mentioned there TSU. Has he been dropped from panel? Haven't heard much about him, though to my mind he's big and strong and can score.

UL look to have seen this out, should have won by 10 plus but for some woeful shooting.

UL won comfortably enough in the end without ever setting the world alight.

Keavney does well when he comes in. Ul v DCU in next round. That will be tougher.

Fantastic cameo (again) from Cathal Keaveney off the bench tonight. Would have been my MOTM. Helped give UL the pace and punch they'd been missing to help swing things in their favour.

Poor night performance wise for UL (and most the Mayo lads will feel they were a little off it), but with the structure you'll take any win you can get your hands on.

@Catcol: I've only included the lads that have featured in one of our challenges/dev challenge/FBD games so no big squad info there, but that's one name I'd not expect to see added to the list as the games go on from various reports.

Was keaveny a wingback or in forward role ?
He has a great bit of cut to him , no doubt

I thought UL , who were by far the better team,made heavy work of it and Keaveney was excellent from the moment he came on

@Outside of the Boot: Seemed to come on at 7 and then got pushed in to 12 or 15 by the end... but no idea if that's where he was being asked to play or just how those transitions had him ending up.

Decent win for UCD too over ATUG (with Mayo lads on both sides of that one).

Defeats for UoG, ATU Sligo & ATU Galway leaves some of the Mayo lads playing to stay in the comp next week (losing teams versus losing teams in 2B) while the UL, UCD & DCU lads will be playing (winning teams versus winning teams in 2A) for a QF spot or a defeat taking them to a R3 playoff against a winner from 2B.

Niall Hurley 1-03, Darragh Reilly 1-01, Diarmuid Duffy 0-01 (as a sub) Sam Callinan started for UCD

UL scores . Frank Irwin 0-5( one free), Cian McHale 0-2, Sean Morahan 0-1 and Cathal Keavney 0-3 after coming on as a sub. Some return from our lads.

Round 2A (Winner goes to QF, loser faces as a winner from 2B in Round 3)
Tues/Wed 13-14/01/26 @ 19:30

MTU Kerry v TU Dublin
Maynooth v UCD
Queens University Belfast v UCC
UL v DCU

Round 2B (Winner goes to Round 3 to face a loser from 2A, loser eliminated)
Tues/Wed 13-14/01/26 @ 19:30

TUS Midwest v DKIT
St Mary’s Belfast v ATU Galway
UG v ATU Sligo
MTU Cork v Ulster University

With UG facing ATU Sligo we're sure to see a couple of the Mayo lads going out next week. Similarly, with UL facing DCU (in the tie of the round) we're sure to see a few of the lads going straight to the QF.

Catcall

Strange to see Reid dropped alright. McStay started him against Dublin in the league last year played well got a goal.
Got a lot of game time as was put in for most throw inns . Still only 22 and can score.

Maybe Mayo have a load of 6 foot plus players who are mobile , hardy , can score , 22 , can play midfield half forward full forward .(send me on the list)

Have 2 adults and a juvenile ticket to sell to any tooreen fan. 20 for all 3

Thanks TSU for the second round fixtures. I don't think anyone could complain about the format. UL. Will need to up their game for the DCU clash.