The majority of Man of match awards has been Ryan or Aiden. Not good overall. Well done

Fair play to you Ryan. You're a gem of a lad.
Thanks for turning up day after day for us.

Well done Ryan you never gave up . Your a class act as always .

As others said you turn up most games for us day after day and get man of the match most times on the blog .

Your a warrior .

Honestly it does hurt still from yesterday. Though there are positives to take from yesterday is well .

Mchugh , hession, Neary all had a great game they put in some performances .. Towey well at least he tried to shoot in fairness to him.

We are a one man show unfortunately. Ryan always perform s.

McHugh and Hessian go about their business quietly,
We got the most out of our lads yesterday.
Stop complaining about McStay.
What a turnaround from the league game.
Holding Nearly back from the limelight was good management.
Brickenden in for his height in his best position.
Love to have 2 or 3 McHugh's to plug holes in defence.
Championship starts now.

Well done Ryan All last week was about Johnny McGrath having his number. In fairness McGrath is a class player but so is Ryan. Another chap who really impressed me yesterday was Darren McHale. Very good return of 1. 2. Watch the goal back. Set it up with lovely kick pass and made great run to take the return and score. McHugh also very good yesterday and lots of our backs did quite well. Davitt Neary did well yesterday and looked lively throughout . Made a few errors at times but he is young and had a very good first Connacht final. In fairness to both teams there were some heroic performances on both sides. As well as McGrath, Conroy and McDaid were excellent as well. We are all devastated to have lost but if you look at the match in a neutral fashion both sets of players gave everything they had. It is easy to point to individual errors by individual players but in the heat of battle errors are always made. What could not be questioned was the endeavour and effort from all the players. A credit to themselves, families clubs and counties.

On viewing back, more positive than I thought I’d be.
Several excellent performances, Ryan deserved MOM followed by Neary, McHale and Hession in whatever order. McHugh also did well. Would not blame Towey, the first was a 2 point attempt not far off under some pressure and the rationale is go for them when the opportunity arises because 1/2 is break even point. The 2nd he showed good composure to dummy and was put under strong pressure for the kick. Would be more disappointed if he didn’t shoot. The block was a piece of heroism (McHugh came out of nowhere) and Galway still had to show great guts all the way up to make the score under huge pressure from us. On the goal chances, Hession maybe should have blasted it but he was trying to be composed and placed well; a brilliant save I’d put it down as. Neary’s I didn’t spot our 2 free men in real time but think he should’ve gotten it under the crossbar regardless.
The ref was good apart from an over fussiness on steps. Both teams got punished unfairly for that rule, one being the turnover of Neary who took two steps before hopping. Aido mis controlled three times and won a marginal free for one which Ryan missed. Molloy should be sanctioned. In slow mo you can see he was trying to do damage in an otherwise sporting game.
Very enthused by Neary who looks a bit like Tommy C in style and McHale had his best performance in a Mayo shirt especially first half. Flynn had an off day with 3 mistakes.
Kickouts still an Achilles heel despite doing overall almost as well as can be expected against the best aerial team in the championship because one bad mistake cost us. Officials also need hawk eyes to spot all the blocking for the long ones. No issue with subs. Neary may have been pulled for his miss. No issue with that. Cody or Kiely would take off a lad for that, Joyce did it for Walsh and Finnerty Galway a few games back.
Beat Cavan and we could be in with a chance of resurrecting the year. Much improved from the 3 previous games and huge learning in it. Wouldn’t be overly afraid of Ulster winners. Galway are as good as both those teams. Game 1 is huge.

I thought Jack Coyne and Mchugh done very well yesterday. Unfortunately picking a player who hasn’t played since earlier in the league, on one of the biggest days of all has cost us.
Matthew Thompson had a stormer. Kicked a lovely score under no pressure in there first half.

Any sign of Sean Morahan?
Would be surprised if he wasn’t picked based on ability/form.

I think Frank irewin shoud being brought on in the second half for he can kick points from far out

@shuffly I agree on Molloy. His move putting Jack coyne in to the advertising boards deserved sanction. I thought Galway did their best to get Jack sent off after his yellow at half time. Thought he played very well, brings a quiet steel to defence. We seem to have tempered our backs raiding forward as much which is a positive.
Think we need to consider bringing Irwin and Carney in to the half forward line for the Cavan game for height and long range kicking.
Lifting the lads for the next game is massive now. Losing on Sunday was a ball breaker, but we raised our performance and there us still room for improvement and fellas to come in..

It was reminiscent of Ramos going in Salah where an opportunity arose to do damage and Molloy locked Coyne’s are and tried to slam his shoulder off the hoarding. Looked 50 50 in real time but only evident what he was up to in slo mo. In rugby he’d be sanctioned for that. The Ulster commentator made a half joke acknowledging it. The same lad that got players mixed up naming on the opposite team. Calling Conroy Ruane and vice versa and a few more. It was non-player Marty that spotted the goalie touching the ball behind the bar. I’m not one for getting fired up over foul play but that one looked dangerous for opposing player welfare. Luckily Jack didn’t get badly hurt.

No issue with Bric picked if 100% fit and may be performing in training but was a bit lax on the ball a few times as was Aido. Both got their pockets picked and one of Bric’s led to a point.
Said ref did well in earlier comment as he got a lot right but one crucial mistake where Hession was banged under the armpit should’ve been a free in from 21 yards. Not sure if they scored from the turnover (I think they did) but two pointer if it was. He also got the Neary (only 2 steps and took the other 2 to hop it) call wrong. One he did Aido for was also wrong although Aido but did overdo it a couple of times or was on the edge at least including a point he got penalised for. He did Galway a couple of times in the wrong too on that rule. It’s something that infuriates fans. If there’s a lad hanging off you there needs to be some leeway. I think the Neary call may have led to the penalty so big mistake if it did.

No offence to my esteemed fellow Mayo fans but Jack Coyne only getting 38 votes and Donnacha McHugh only getting 97 votes are two of the most ridiculous things I've seen on here. Both were absolutely brilliant.

Won't name names but some of the other votes are just hilarious. Like do people even watch the match or just vote for the same people every week?

Again on Aido , came 5th on the poll. His handling was loose (it was more often a mistake than good Galway defending the dispossessed him) but he did hit some excellent passes including a brilliant one to set up Hession. Right call to let him take the sideline free. About a 40 60 at best on your strong foot, a 20 80 from the wrong side, only missed by a foot or 2, so whoever was Jesus weeping about that in an earlier post that would be better off on the Joe Duffy show where there’s loads of space for moaners.

Congratulations to Ryan on another totally committed performance, providing the inspiration and leadership we need on the field. Lets take the good stuff from Sunday, we easily could have won against a much fancied potentially all Ireland winning side. Let's move on now and there is no reason we can't win our group in the qualifiers.

InExile - It’s the same story repeating itself — we pushed Galway, Dublin, and Derry close last season, but couldn’t get the job done. There have been plenty of brave performances, but we keep falling short at the crucial moments. There’s clearly a mental block somewhere either by the players or on the sideline; we just can’t finish games off, and that’s been evident since the Armagh league clash in 2023. I’ve no doubt we have the talent to go all the way, but with our current injury list, I’m not sure we have the squad depth to sustain a serious challenge. If we can get the likes of Tommy, Paddy, Diarmuid, and Eoghan McLaughlin back on the pitch, I’d be far more confident about our chances of doing real damage later in the season.

On a different but important note. What is it with the wall of silence around Tommy conroy. Is he close. Will he make championship 25. What's his injury. To progress we need him more than anyone. Apart from Neary we have found nobody.

Well deserved again, time for other players to stand up and put pressure on him for this award. Still can't understand why Neary, McHale and O Connor were taken off in this game, while a few other players were no more than spectators.

Ryan always shows up and, like Aidan, we won't be able to replace him when he's gone so enjoy him.

The dust has settled for me and the disappointment has moved onto analysis and fair questioning of players and management. I think it was obvious to anyone who was there that both sets of players gave everything they had in that game. That was full metal jacket, Championship football. Blood and thunder both on and off the ball. As such, going down the straight tired bodies and fuddled minds will make mistakes. We made more than them in this period but they had the extra man in that middle sector of the field so it's no surprise they regained dominance in that area over the last 10 mins. We still had to leave 3 up, which left 10 mayo v 11 Galway outfield players. Their bench had a far greater impact than ours and it is here that management must be asked fair questions because a couple of things have puzzled me over the last number of team selections.

1. Where did Brickendon come out of? He hadn't played for Mayo since February and hadn't even made match day panels. On what metrics was it deemed right for him to come in before Morahan or O'Donoghue? Brickendon, in my opinion, is nowhere near the level required for Mayo and was our weakest link in defense even before Reape hung him out to dry with that terrible kick out. If I was Morahan or O'Donoghue I'd be livid.
2. Where was Irwin? A player who played throughout the league, scored in every game, can fetch and play different positions was left on the bench at the very time we needed help in the middle third and a scoring threat up top. If he was injured then he shouldn't have taken up a bench position. So what was their thinking about NOT introducing him?
3. Where was Durcan? Like Irwin, if he wasn't fit to feature then he should not have been on the bench. He was exactly what we needed when we hit the wall in those final 10 mins and what a lift he would have given. Like Irwin, he could fill in the middle third, drive forward and is also capable of hitting long range scores. So where was he?
4. This is the 3rd consecutive Championship game where Reape has hurt us badly when going short, including the League final it is the 4th game in a row. On each occasion it has cost us scores and on Sunday and again v Kerry in the League it has gone a long way to costing us the game. Why was a second choice keeper not used during the League?

These are fair questions to be asked of management and maybe they have genuine reasons for making the decisions they did. But I for one would love to hear those reasons because from my seat in the stand it was obvious what we needed but management didn't seem to think so.

Unstoppable I have said it before that the voting is crazy and it does seem that some vote for the same players every week. There were only 3 players that were head and shoulders above everyone else on Sunday and the rest should have no votes. I didn't think Coyne was that good even though he was better than he had been all year. Then Mike on the podcast makes Sam Callinan Man of the Match. What match was he at. And I had a text from a Kerry friend at halftime saying Mayo are still losing without my favourite player !!! Stephen Coen.

@TonyF and Craggy - I agree with most of that. On Sunday however our issue wasn't the forwards we were getting good scoring chances (agree 16 scores not enough to win very much in the long term) but more worried about our ability to win primary possession in the middle of the field against the likes of Galway, Donegal etc. We'll need to at least win at least 80% of our own kick outs to be able to feed the forward line to make the scoring chances. Big men are back in the middle! He is a half forward but I was looking at the physical size of Cillian McDaid beside Lee Keegan in the interview after the match.

Its all still to play for here. What advantage have Galway over us by winning Connacht. None, they are in a tougher group. The championship only really starts at the pQF or QF stage. We are good enough to get there at least. Thought Neary and Mc Hale were very decent yesterday and we were unlucky with some of the decisions.
If Galway are contenders for SAM then why are we not. We had the beating of them Sunday despite all the massive hype around them. As Mc Stay alluded to, no one is talking about who won Ulster Last year. I think the group stages are completely unnecessary and in the end only 4 teams are knocked out. What we are really missing is belief, we weren't steamrolled as most commentators said we would be. While we do have a habit of losing tight games, so did Armagh. Dublin could beat Galway in the first game and how quickly the roles are reversed. To me Donegal look to have the most momentum but why are we quitting before the race starts. Keep the Faith and Hon Maigheo.

@Bonni Boyler absolutely spot on, well said!. OK we put in a massive effort on Sunday and came out the wrong side but a load of positives to be taken and I think we are still built to outlast anyone in Croke Park.

Bonnie boyler good post .

@Bonni Boyler

Great post your so right spot on!

All to play for still pity Durcan didn't get game time but I'd say we will see him v Cavan !

Pebblesmeller.
Couldn’t disagree with one word of that.

@ Clare, yep Durcan could have been the difference, even just to lift the crowd. 1 score ties it, or if only Hession had buried that goal. Very fine margins if you take a step back from the emotion of it all.

We cant get Galway again until semi finals at the earliest (and even then will avoid them if draw allows), same will be the case for Tyrone and whomever wins donegal. We could end up with a very soft run yet………or Kerry as a 3rd game in 3 weeks like two years ago!

The depression is slowly lifting

@Km79 yes it is lifting. When the emotion goes and start thinking logically about it there's no need to despair and plenty reason for optimism here.

@Bonni your right again there

I think he was warming up was he? But probably decided against it when we got the black card .

The dust is starting to lift a little as others said to .

When you think about it without all the emotion and hurt there is alot to be positive about .

The guys really gave it there all and showed fight and spirit . Most on here wanted a performance as we didn't think we would win anyway and we certainly got a performance from the guys !

We still can't close out tight games but once we got the black card that just killed us .

Anyway onwards and upwards were not far off at all.

@Pebblesmeller also agree with everything you said.

@ Pebblesmeller 100%

If you think about it we last that game due to errors - some ours, some official. Consensus from the pundits that was not a penalty and it was a 2 pointer (that in itself is a 4 point swing). Our big error was the short kick out that led to the black card and here I recall one definition of madness (doing the same thing over again and getting the same outcome at Pebblesmeller points out above). No excuses, no blame here, just making the point that the performance was good, we can control our errors going forward, and with a bit of luck on another day the other calls go your way.

Does anyone think that Brickenden should have gone for the ball and taken the free , when it wasn’t going to reach the arc. He would have avoided the card and it was a free in anyway. Ok, it’s a tight call whether to wait for it and hope Finnerty doesn’t get there first.

@Nephin isn't it even better to do like they do in Rugby - the goalie to kick it as far out the field even if it goes dead over the sideline than at best a 50:50 ball with no other defender between the goal and opposition player.

Agree 100% InExile, but I’m talking about when Reape has one of his brain farts, which he’s doing too often for my liking. As you said, even if we lose it we have time to get our defence organised.

As I said yesterday on another thread there are plenty of positives to take from the game, defensively excellent bar the marking on Conroy. Mayo can take a lot from that game for sure. Also we now have 3 or is it 4wks to to get injured players back (Diarmuid, TC, Eoghan, Paddy - even to have 2 of them for Tyrone and all available for the last group game or quarter. That would be great if at all possible). Didn't here an official update on McBrien but I'm assuming he is ok. Galway on the other hand appear to have mounting injuries and a slightly tougher draw on paper anyway

Darren McHale and Enda Hession on team of the week. Well done to both.

Agree that Ryan was by far our best performer . I thought Coyne and McHugh were very solid . As i see it , reape is a bit slow taking his kickouts and the problem in going long most of the time is that we simply don't have good high fielders . We badly need Durcan back . I would not underestimate Cavan but I would expect us to edge them. Would love to be meeting Galway again at the end of the of July!!!

@Nephin that in itself is great encouragement for players like to Darren and Enda with only a few seasons under their belt to be up there in lights top players from Kerry and Galway.

That's a good point Nephin re the kickout.
If brick has his wits about him the best of 2 bad options there was to just knowingly grab the ball inside the arc, thereby coughing up a tap over free for finnerty (give reape both barrels afterwards). Better then the alternative of giving up a spare man and the tap over free which was a killer blow at that juncture

The biggest mistake of this management team was the refusal not to play Cillian at full forward from McStays 1st season and play Aidan at 14 who is not a natural scoring forward.Yet McStay decided to fuck around with 2 of our best forwards Cillian and Aidan Orme limited game time and has lost them both.Everyone in the County in 2023 knew the best full forward line was ROD, Cillian and Tommy Conroy and Aidan Orme as back up ,O'Shea would have been grand out at 11.
3 of the best 5 scoring forwards in Mayo Cillian , Orme, and Darragh Beirne all remain outside County Panel.Still no left footed free taker after 3 seasons Orme or Beirne would have nailed that free Aido took the last day.

I think the reason Brickenden didn't grab the ball was because he was in total shock that it was coming his way...
On the subs used/not used as pebbles said Irwin left on the bench when we needed fielders,I think it was,ade more for Thornton at that stage, assuming he wasn't injured he would have won dirty ball when others were flagging... anyway all buts and maybes now. Let's move on to the Breffni boys.

A few high level points and thought provokers.
Let's say we won this game on penalties.
That could easily have happened or won by 1pt after extra time.
The amount of posts referencing :
- showed character
- dug it out
- showed we van still beat the big teans
- in a good place going into the groups
- mgmt deserve some kudos for their brave calls
- Aidan never stopped showing even when things going wrong
- Brickendon with a huge moment winning that 50:50 ball
- Darren McHale stepping up a level
My point is the post match performance talk on the individuals, mgmt and tram is just so incredibly scoreline based.
Season to date, I think what we can state with confidence :
1. Selection, substitutions and the team are very unsettled. This needs to be addressed by the time the knockout in group or PQF or quarter final comes around.
2. We need more depth of Division one players all over the field. We're around three division one players short of really being at the pitch of these big games. I never felt comfortable that we were really about our business on Sunday.
3. Our attack coaching and plays are not division one standard. There's a lack of setup the shooter. Aidan got almost all his ball running wide and away from goal.
And that's like about it. Those three points.
Selection has been chaotic and mgmt have to eat that because it's simply the case.
The attack coaching is not fixable.
The u20s in terms of plays have far superior attacking play. Some of that is the quality of player.
The substitutions, there's not been one actual impacting wild card move like two big athletes introduced after 20mins.
We're short of players and yet we never try to innovate our quality with things like planned first half substitutions.

I think they should scrap the the rule re 2 pointer relegated to one pointer should a defender get a finger touch to it. We lost out a point at a vital stage but I think it was balanced by a two pointer we were given that got a finger tip block. Impossible to regulate without var and also it's a good two pointer anyway if it's outside the arc

The dust has settled after Sunday and I seem to be going the opposite direction to every one on the Blog!

I'm not optimistic at all going forward. I think the reality for me is that Galway were there to be beaten and we couldn't do it. In fact, we haven't been able to do it in tight games for 3 years now and there is absolutely no evidence that we're just going to start now.

Galway will play a lot better than they did on Sunday but I'm not sure we can. I think we played nearly as well as we could have.

When you step back and look at us as a team, we are weak in the two areas that you need to be strong at with the new rules. We don't score enough and we don't have ball winners in the middle. We aren't going to fix this in the next 6 weeks. We spent the league and early championship picking tall lads to be ready for Galway and they still absolutely cleaned us out.

5 of our 19 players used scored the last day and one of them was the goalkeeper. The guys who people have wanted to get a go in the forwards all spring both came on and didn't manage a score between them. I think Durcan will obviously be a good addition but there's no saying he'll hit the ground running. And thankfully my memory is still decent so I can remember that half of last season was spent discussing Tommy Conroy's poor form so there's no guarantee he takes off either.

I hope this post doesn't sound like I'm having a go. I'm not trying to. I just think when you actually analysis us and try and remove the emotion, we just aren't that good and are maybe expecting too much from the team.

Hello Cavan, goodbye Galway!

I hate losing, but the All Ireland series doesn't care who won or lost on Saturday. On Saturday week we could be on two points and Galway on none. Our self-belief shouldn't suffer, or by that stage should be back to normal. I don't think our management had a great day on the line on Sunday, but I'm backing them. Remember the crowd who actually won the AI last year? Losers, proven losers, with a manager who should have been shown the door years before. It really is all to play for. Strong panels are vital and ours is building. Tommy will have another two weeks and Paddy should be ready for some action. Brickednon was ok on Sunday and his size is important and management were right to accentuate the negative there in countering Galway's strong-arm approach. However critical issues to be addressed are:

* ball-winning around the middle: we are being slaughtered here by most teams. If we sort this out a lot of our problems disappear. Solutions? Thornton, Irwin and mostly getting our big men under ball.

* Decision-making: these are what really cost us on Sunday. Aido taking that free, Ryan popping ball into the goalkeeper's hands, indeed Ryan taking on every free even when Colm is making his way up the field. Paddy's return could steady that ship.

We are 20/1 now with the bookies. This is tempting me far far far more than it should !

My mind is more settled now too after Sunday.

I think Galway won that game on very good defensive play all over the pitch and on intensity.

I don’t think it was their forward play that got them over the line.

I believe we were on course to win, we had done enough, and Galway needed to be very very good - absolutely tenacious - to stop us. I’m thinking of the save of Enda Hession’s goal attempt (crucial if we had got it), a block down on one of our point attempts near the end, forcing Towey wide (normally prized for his accuracy). They had be completely tuned in.

I cannot quibble with Galway winning on that tenacity. I have to respect it. But Mayo were almost over the line, and that gives me hope.

Galway knew it took a huge fight to win that. I saw the signs of relief from the Galway players once the game was over and ball went dead.

I’m thinking now - is this our back door run just like a few years ago?

We do seem skinny and scrappy as a team but who knows how things will go? We need a big panel to accommodate the next games and maybe we have that.

Genuine question, do ye think Galway are much better than Mayo for real ?

Here's an outlandish that we ignore because we're nice guys and we like to play more than fair.
The Mayo second strip should be mainly white to give us an advantage in hot weather in the summer.
The evening we got beat by Kildare we baked in a dark color jersey compared to their white. Light colours refect more heat and dark colours are more absorpent.
But, yknow we're Mayo and we'd never innovate to gain an advantage.

Unstoppable, that is fair. It's a long time since we won a game of significance.
We have put ourselves in the position to win big games so often, but it's just that lack of taking simple scores at crucial times that always seems to catch us.
How many times do we find ourselves saying 'shoot' but the moment goes and we recycle. It must be psychological at this stage. This is an area we definitely need a new approach on from the line but that is a conversation for another day.

After Sundays game mayo management should be happier than Galways despite the loss and onfield and off field mistakes. @seanBurke for me Galway are a little better than mayo but not much better (more seasoned). Last week they had got inside your head I'm wondering has your opinion changed?

After reading most of the posts above it appears a lot of the blame is targeted towards our management team for making the wrong call on substitutions in those crucial 10 minutes when the game was in the melting pot.
And that's not the first time this has happened, almost like they're not seeing the full picture from the sideline.

They've 4 connachts in a row Sean Burke and 2 finals in 3 years. We've two quarter finals in 3 years and took a tanking in both of them

The only evidence to suggest otherwise is our shooting costing us a game we should've won Sunday. But that happens so often it can't be put down to coincidence. The game clearly mattered to them but mcstays interviews have clearly said our year pretty much revolved around it. The two teams respective start to the game said as much

@Sean Burke they are a little better then us .

But they are not way ahead of us.

The biggest stumbling block is that we didn't push on when we levelled things up, with a gale at our back. Cavan will keep that in mind going down the stretch.
The plus is that we have three tough games, invaluable for our younger players.
Bit disappointing that we haven't a settled bench, Akram is there one week. Quinn is in the next. Dawson is a player of the future, but every member of the bench needs to be able to make an impact. Welcome back Sean Burke, would launching Paddy Durcan as response to Cook have stirred up the Mayo patrons on Sunday?

If I was told last week that we would play so well very nearly win and end up with Cavan in our group I would have taken it.
Playing well was key.

@Sean Burke - I think we do well against Galway because its Mayo-Galway and because of the rivalry. Just like they beat us 2016-2018 but we were still a far better team than them.

If you ask the other big teams in this years championship who they think is better, not one would prefer to play Galway in an All Ireland semi final. We have beaten a big team in Championship twice in four years (Galway and Kerry in 2023). In those four years, Galway have beaten Mayo x3, Armagh, Derry x2, Tyrone, Dublin and Donegal. And they've won four Connacht titles in a row.

There's absolutely no doubt that they're a fair bit better than Mayo...

I know this sounds mad but it’s a bit of thinking outside the box.

If we are losing the kick outs isn’t it better to blast the ball over the sideline preferably outside sideline scoring range. By the time the opposition is ready to take the sideline at least your defence is regrouped and the chaos and fast counter attack is nullified. I know it’s giving away cheap possession but you’ve a better chance defending an opponent side line kick than a fast counter attack (imo).

I’m all for outside the box thinking. The Nordie teams are always a bit ahead on that one.

If that were the case, we'd concede possession for every kickout. We didn't lose every kickout.
@km79. I'd go each way just in case.
Great to see Hession and McHale on team.of week. MCDonagh and Callinan not far off, imo
It's all about Cavan for us now. They will see beating Mayo as their best chance of staying in the race.
Underdogs are performing well under new rules....

Galway were also missing 3 of their best players when the game was there to be won the last day. What damage would a fit Walsh and Comer have done? Walsh easily might have kicked 2 or 3 two pointers with that wind in the first half and Galway would have been out of sight by half time.

McHugh and Callinan

On not closing out tight games I think in fairness on about 3 occasions in this year's league we did win or draw coming from behind so I wouldn't agree that was a huge issue on Sunday.
I'd more put it down to the few individual mistakes and being a man down. Problem is,as stated above we don't seem to realize when we are having our purple patch and really drive it home. As anyone who has ever played at any level knows you have to go for the jugular when the chance present themselves... for that period, however long it lasts everyone is energized including the crowd,and you have to capitalize on it fully. Sometimes the smallest thing sparks it, like a block ,or a bit of magic from Rod or Neary , pedal to the metal then and put it to bed.
Decommission the handbrake.

I still don't think Galway would have been out of sight at half time even if they had walsh & Comer it's always a tight game between us.

I think Galway are a good lot better than us at the moment.
They have excellent individual players all over the field, while our lads are not yet at that stature (they might need more seasoning). Just pick two randomly, Maher and McDaid. They’re warriors. Then Finnerty, Molloy, Silke… I don’t know them all. Gleeson has a great kick of the ball and is FULL of confidence.
Our lads are good but they’re not seasoned warrior types yet. I do say ‘yet’ because I do believe it can come. It can take a few years, as it has for Galway.

Then Galway is playing with noticeable self-belief and confidence. It has to be based on a system they’ve developed. See how they had the belief to cut through Dublin last year and keep going strong to the end of the game. They believe in each other too. They know they have teammates that can do great things on the field, and they can rely on them.

They also have strengths that gain them power and influence in the current game - big men in the middle and many who can take two point scores. That gives swagger.

They showed the last day that they want to win - they will fight hard and defend their lead with intensity. They will dig in and not fold - a sign of a team on another level.

Mayo aren’t floating about with all those strengths. We don’t have a big midfield and as a consequence our goalkeeper has more pressure with kickouts. Aidan has to stay inside and come out to the middle. We have ball handling errors. We aren’t blessed with a plethora of scoring forwards.

But what we do have is agility - I mean we have the ability to unleash a fast, disruptive, mobile gameplan, we can “weave and wiggle”, and we can beat a good team with that.

We’re not a colossus but we are agile. smart, annoying and capable (at times, when we can pull it together.) That’s something!

Any chance the GAA will tell us when the Cavan game is on?

No chance, Pod Fan!

@Swollow I am hoping that agility will still stand us well in Croke Park. Remains to be seen, but I still think because of our speed we are potentially one of the most dangerous CP teams where player size can be negated on a wide open pitch (remember Castlebar wasn't our favorite as its a bit more compact that CP). We just need to figure out how we deal with getting possession in the middle.

The same problems in midfield emerged again.we don’t have ball winning midfielders but it’s baffling why the same players keep getting picked in that area .Matt ruane is simply not a midfielder and when you don’t leave the ground it’s very difficult to win a ball .His point attempt at the end was ludicrous when the ball had to go dead to end the game.i actually haven’t a clue where we are at right now.There doesn’t appear to be any semblance of a game plan

Match will be on Saturday evening - Mchale park - only question is the time
Galway hurlers are out v Antrim on the saturday at 13:30 and they wont want a double header with Dublin but munster hurling is on the Sunday and RTE will want Galway v Dublin live

THey could go for kicking the hurlers out at 15:30 and brining the footballers back in at 7

Saturday 17th
Kerry v Roscommon @ 3:00pm
Mayo v Cavan @ 5:00pm
Galway v Dublin 7:00pm

Sunday 18th
Clare v Down @ 3:00pm

I can’t understand how people are more upbeat today than at the weekend. Fair play to those of you that are.

For me, we put everything into that game and still lost it because the same old failings were not addressed. Still no physical players around the middle to win ball.

We had to beat Galway yesterday with Comer and Walsh out, and especially when Maher went off injured. I think the main reason people are happy is because we got a performance. The only reason we are happy is because the standard set by management has been so low over the last 12 months. The performance against Sligo and Leitrim was so bland.

Yes we have a nicer side of the draw but we aren’t improving. The decisions on the sideline are also shocking at the best of times. Sunday was a case in point of that. Our panel depth is non existent compared to Donegal, Galway and Armagh. And our S&C looks to have completely fallen off.

Yes we got a performance, but still lost. In YEAR 3 we still haven’t found any left footed free kick taker. It’s just not good enough. We aren’t acting like other counties. I’m confident Malachy Orourke in Year 1 will have a longer championship in Tyrone this year then we will have.

I hope the cavan game isn't on to late on the Saturday maybe would it be 4 or so hopefully!

I agree Mattie Ruanne is not a midfielder wish they would try him as a forward!

Reape did make mistakes with the kick outs but wonder was he doing the short kick outs cause of poor midfield .

InExile, fingers crossed! It’d be great if we could get to Croke Park. I like the hopeful nature of your post! Couldn’t getting to Croke Park be a good realistic and motivating next goal for us, therefore? We might see more of what we can do there.

1985, I was wondering how management would address the midfield issue that we knew would be there against Galway. I was throwing an eye at it as soon as I could. I noticed Mayo really digging in, massing and scrapping a lot under the dropping ball. They had a lot of intent there. I wonder was it enough of a strategy and what posters saw and thought about Mayo’s scrapping for kickouts.

Diarmuid was dedicated in this regard when he was on but he went about it a bit wildly and recklessly sometimes. I couldn’t fault that. He was rusty maybe.

Tirawleybarron, GAA+ have two games. Presumably they will have Galway v Dublin and Kerry v Roscommon. RTE are not showing any, so will be off air.

I guess it will be Saturday, but may be Sunday too with under 20s playing. There is a huge number of games on the Saturday and very little on the Sunday. This crazy calendar!

On the points about us being built for Croke Park, sadly I think all of the evidence is that this is not true. We used to be a Croke Park team but don't think we have the strength, energy and ability to match up against the best teams now on biggest stage. Since the All Ireland Final our results in Croke Park (P8 W2 L6 F 4.91 A 8.114 Difference 4.23):

2022 League Final v Kerry lost 3.19 to 0.13
2022 Qualifiers v Kildare won 2.13 to 0.14
2022 Quarter Final v Kerry lost 1.18 to 0.13
2023 League Final v Galway won 0.14 to 0.11
2023 Quarter Final v Dublin lost 2.17 to 0.11
2024 League v Dublin lost 1.17 to 1.15
2024 League Final v Kerry lost 1.18 to 1.12

Tirawalybaron. I think Gaa+ have first say on Group stage games. They are contracted to show 2 first round games and Galway v Dublin will be there 1st choice.
Not sure Rte will show any 1st round games live to be honest, i could be wrong

@1985. Galway actually did a great job of only giving Mayo a shooting option wide on our right knowing we didnt have a shooter from that position so would not be too hard on Matie. He was brave enough to have a go. Someone was going to have to shoot at some stage. In my view the big error was not bring Paddy on who would be someone recognised as a shooting threat from that zone. Would have kept Galway honest in having to cover the arc and perhaps freed up an opportunity in another zone. Thats the thing when you have to get a last minute score. You have to shoot at some point, and a man down, the longer you keep the ball the bigger the chance of getting turned over.

Galway 8/13 to win their opening game in all Ireland series , we are 1/6 to win ours . Just an observation, not suggesting group will be easier or not , it will be equally as difficult to top and that’s probably all that matters . Still though , ummm I’ll wait . Lots of things could go south for fancied teams that’s all .

A lot being made of Galway winning 4 Connacht's in a row - Aiden has 8 Connacht medals including. 5 in a row !’

Another left field thought from my thick head..... I actually think that Thornton was a big miss for us last Sunday. His ability to compete in the air was missed and anyone who saw his second half performance v McNulty in Carrick, will have a seen a player that broke approx. 5 or 6 Leitrim kickouts straight to the ground. I couldn't help but think, watching that in the drizzle in Carrick, that he was being primed to come into the middle at some stage v Galway. He didn't even attempt to catch one ball, it was just "up you go, a big thump on the ball, and down she came".
Against Cavan we should see McLaughlin and Paddy at some stage. Hopefully McBrien will be back along with DOC. That's over 25% of a team and more options. Aim to have Conroy back on the bench for Tyrone and then we could look a different animal for that final group game.

Pebbles, I love that description of Thornton’s skill v Leitrim. More of this from our lads across the board, please.
Seán Burke, part of the excitement of the present AI structure for me is that it can throw up unexpected results. I’m kind of hoping for one or two. (Said with the demeanour of a child about to get an ice-cream!)

@Swallow Swoops,
And a great day for ice cream it is.

Pebblesmeller, LOL!

@ tirawleybarron. That's a great idea to beat cavan and throw the other two games ensuring we are fresh for preliminary quarter final. We did not do that thr last three years so that should be the plan for this year. I don't know why i didn't think of it. Btw we were out shouted by Galway supporters on sunday which is very disappointing on our home pitch.

Agree Pebbles - it's all about the strongest panel from now on.

Speaking of which, does anyone know what the situation is with Bob Tuohy?

O'Rourke has probably set this yr aside as a squad building mission, greenandred. I agree with most of what you're saying though. Tyrone are a dangerous team even now, but they'll be a force next year for sure. Kerry aside, I'd be looking at the pair contesting Ulster this weekend as the most likely to lift Sam. Kerry's lack of top tier opponents in the group stage might be their undoing.
It's good that there's no real way of seeing how it'll unfold though, I feel anyway.
Derry must be cursing the county board for not nailing O'Rourke down as manager considering he was in situ with Watty Graham's/Glen. He'll make Tyrone formidable in the coming 12 months.

@Jimbo - we were outshouted (no medals for shouting last I checked) because (a) most of the county have given up on these players/management - they just don't get over the line on big days and (b) because Mayo only played well in patches - its hard to find something to shout about when Galway were dominating form the 10th minute to half time and from the 53rd minute to the 70th. Mayo play in patches and dont play at all when things go against them.

McBrien does off in the 9th minute - the arse falls out of the good start to the first half
Brickenden gets a black card - the end of the second half fight back.

Mayo were on top for 8 minutes at the start of each half and lost their way in both halves.

Also, don't worry if you didn't think of an obvious solution - you could get the start on the Mayo management team with that kind of thinking.

Looking to the Cavan game - what is going on there - oddschecker has Kildare at better odds to win Sam (with some bookies) and they aren't even in the competition

https://www.oddschecker.com/gaelic-games/gaelic-football/all-ireland-sfc/winner

Very good analysis here by Paul O'Brien in the Times, particularly of our last play - with good photos. Here's the link, but it may be paywalled: https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/gaelic-games/2025/05/06/tactical-analysis-mayo-need-method-rather-than-madness/

A few observations.. i think Galway played well in parts, but we're slow to get going in both halfs.
The subs made a massive difference , and we showed more composure in the main moments..
Delighted with the finding of Thompson, he looks such a natural, and he had the grit to shoot for goal in the first half, and Reape did well to save..
Finnerty really did well, kicked his few points, but the assist in the last score for O Conghaile was terrific. Galway can get so much better and I expect us to do just that, Maher and Walsh should be available for the Dubs.

On Mayo, I listened to Mc Stay after and he was absolutely crestfallen, as he said this was the game we pinpointed 9 months ago, everything was aimed for it and they failed.
I'd worry that they might not get up to that point again.
Cavan game is very dangerous.. they hit 20 points against Tyrone and took them to extra time. They are not as weak as last year's game.
If Mayo play like they did v Leitrim they will get turned over.

@Tuamstar - When did they take Tyrone to extra time? They lost by 7 points after 70 minutes. And scored the last 3 points of the match when Tyrone were done...

They did do well in Division 2 though but Mayo should have more than enough.

@Tuamstar congrats on the win .

Galway we're releived to win that game could see it on the players faces at the final whistle.

You had to fight hard to get that 2 point win also .

Mayo will get back up to that same kind of performance as we saw on Sunday as we have stuff to work on .

Won't underestimate Cavan but we should beat them .

Fair play to our guys again best performance that I've seen in a good while and there's more positives to take for us from this then negatives .

Seeing Durcan warming up was a big positive .

Onwards and upwards not the end of the world. Armagh should beat Galway I'd say watch out for them Tuamstar if that's who you get .

Its just so hard to get over the line lads. I think this is the best team we have had since the Joyce, Donnellan, Ja Fallon era but twice now we have failed to get over the line with last year being the best chance we may ever get. As ye know in Mayo its just so difficult for teams outside of Dublin and Kerry to win an All-Ireland. Its set up nicely now but so many matches to remove 4 teams is madness. I agree with Tuamstar that Galway are starting slowly and it will cost us yet, I cant pinpoint why. Thompson has come from left field and looks very good. Cooke has potential to turn matches so hopefully we will see more of him. I'm glad to see from the many informed comments that ye have relaxed on Mayos performance, I thought ye were very good just final execution needs improvemnt but ye have 3 games now to build on what was for me a strong performance. I think Tommy Conroy is a big loss, even though his form as lads have pointed out can be in and out he has that x factor like ROD and its badly needed. I think McStay made the right call not bringing in Paddy Durcan as I admire him as a player and would hate to see him get another knock when he is so close. Finally my view is that Aidan O Shea was gassed in last 10 minutes yet as the all time Mayo legend he is, he battled on as he knew ye had no one to bring in of his calibre to replace him. I am worried about the Dublin game as they are capable of a backlash if they can get their injured players back but perhaps it will come too soon for them. We have beaten them once is it in 90 years yet people are writing off the Dubs but no real Galway fan would be cocky going into play Dublin. As I said yesterday, McStay needs to gee up players, they performed at a very high level on Sunday and just fell short, the same level of performance against Cavan will make for a difficult afternoon for the Cavanmen.

We don’t have enough of quality forwards to compete at this moment in time. That’s the bottom line. That’s said I don’t believe this current management team is making the most of what we have in terms of team selection and tactics either. Yes we played well in the third quarter on Sunday and had the good start but hit a series of awful wides and the standard drop short kick. When the game was in the melting pot we melted. Yes we can get get out of the group, yes we could win a pre lim quarter but that’s as good as it will get. It’s just a matter of when the season will end again for a third year in a row.

@seanburke, who apart from maybe Rod would make the Galway team? I honestly don't think any of them would. Galway didn't play great but still won..Mayo done better than most people thought but still if ya can't get up for a connacht final v the auld enemy in your back yard, there's something wrong.

McHugh far superior to the Galway FB.

Larry David - They showed up for the Connacht final and were well up for the game, fighting back from an 8-point deficit to draw level. But once again, they couldn’t see it through—same old story. Outside of Ryan, no one stepped up to keep the scoreboard ticking when it mattered most. These are the games where we miss the likes of Kevin McLoughlin, Cillian O’Connor, Lee Keegan, and Paddy Durcan—leaders who always delivered a crucial score when it was needed most.

@Tony Freemam well said fully agree .

Not much of a difference there now JR to be fair. Anyone else?

Unstoppable I think you have made valid points there. I think Mayo played well on Sunday but I expected them to do just that because in a Mayo Galway championship match with very few exceptions we have really close games. Mayo can get well up for those games just like Galway did against us 8 or 9 years ago when we clearly had a better team than they had ,yet they turned us over in Castlebar in 2016. The Connacht final is a different animal than Mayo or Galway playing some other opponents. It’s a game to be won and Galway will rightfully be delighted to have achieved the 4 in a row in Castlebar. An earlier poster made a brilliant point about the small margins. If Mayo had won they would rightly be lauded for their comeback, resilience etc but the fact we lost, colours our judgment of everything. Really small margins cost us dearly- the extremely soft penalty, the one point only return from Ryan’s free, the short kick out leading to a black card and point concession, the great goal chances at the end. Any one of those could have made the difference. But when we lose ,someone must be blamed and of course the easiest target is management. Now I might not agree with everything McStay did but he was in no way responsible for for the things I mentioned above. As for the subs he made, there was logic to bringing in Towey and Boland, guys some here have been advocating all season. They are both capable of scoring. Unfortunately Towey missed with 3 shots and Boland got no shot away. Possibly Jordan could have been subbed but then there would be moaning as to why you take a big man off when we are being cleaned at midfield. Neither is our management responsible for the size and ability of Conroy, Maher, Darcy, McDaid, Tierney and Cooke, all huge men around the middle third. If you do not have the physicality to complete against them ( even though we did not do terribly against them either) then you mix up the restarts and alternate between short and long. Reape went short successfully with a few but is being lambasted for the one that went astray. Despite conceding massive advantage around the middle, we did well there in the first and third quarters. For the short kick out, it would have better influence Brickendon just fouled the ball by touching it inside the arc. Just a free and no black card, but the Galway chap was on the right side to get there first. As for the future I’m not too confident. Mayo were excellently prepared and primed for last Sunday and delivered a decent but not good enough performance to win. We will be desperately deflated playing against Cavan who will relish coming to Castlebar before a smallish Mayo crowd and a low on confidence team. Meanwhile Galway will have a major spring in their step as they face Dublin. They have built up a great panel with some of their heavy hitters to return and must be considered as having a brilliant chance to win Sam. We shouldn’t be deluding ourselves that just because we gave Galway plenty of it last Sunday that we are just as good as them. And a final point, a number of posters have said that Galway outnumbered us and out shouted us on Sunday. Well that certainly was not the case from where I was sitting. Certainly Galway had a big support but so had we. There is still a support for the county team despite what some negative people might think. It’s so easy to sit at home, criticise and be proved right when we lose. If people have fallen out of love with the Mayo team or are still suffering a hang over from 2021 or whatever, that’s fair enough but hardly an excuse to lash out at players and management every time we lose. They are our team, they represent us. I was desperately disappointed Sunday night but didn’t feel the need to blame all and sundry. We are a reasonable team who played well against a better team at this moment in time and we lost in a good sporting game. That’s sport, that’s local rivalry. The wheel will turn and we will get the better of them again.

@Larry David we did show up in connacht final our guys showed fight and gave a performance. Galway did play well.

@JR I agree with you McHugh out in some performance.

@Larry David: The lads on The Football Pod did a joint team there recently, ending up with an 8/7 split between the two sides that were named to play on Sunday (so no Comer, Walsh, DO'C, Durcan, McLaughlin or Conroy considered).

Jr. Cian Hernon will be our full back going forward, and outstanding footballer...
Unstoppable sorry I meant injury time...
But I do recall them taking Tyrone to extra time in the last year or so..
I'd agree above , I think Aidan was struggling out the field in the last 20 mins... looked leggy...
Clare.. relieve and joy on the players faces..
Always good to get tested and it will hugely beneficial going forward..

@Tuamstar fair enough you were the better team end of the day we can't close out tight games .

Cavan will be tricky but don't think anyone's being delusional don't think anyone said mayo are as good as Galway .

Last week loads on here wanted our guys to show up and give some kind of performance and we all thought we would get beaten by alot including myself . It's hard to take but it's tine to move on and focus on Cavan.

No Clare, I'm saying they did show up with a better performance, I'm saying how many mayo players would make the Galway team bar Rod?

Is that right Tsu, didn't listen to it but there's no way even 3 mayo players make the Galway team, well in my opinion they don't.

@Larry david ah Ok sorry misunderstood!

McHugh would.

I think many of ye are being a bit unfair in your analysis of Sunday's game.
I was in McHale Park and witnessed some of the best Mayo defending for years, the fullback line were outstanding.
Maybe Ryan is asked to do too much even back defending on many occasions, like Cillian a few years ago.
For all the talking up of Galway, how would their defence get on against D Clifford or C O Callaghan? I'm not so sure.
It was a big improvement on the previous two games, all not lost yet, more games to come and hopefully a return of the injured guys.

He might Clare, and that's just maybe..anyone else?

@Larry david Paddy Durcan , Tommy Conroy , Diarmuid o Connor , Enda hession to when all fully fit .

- Connacht titles do matter and that is why a huge crowd of 27k turned up last Sunday. Credit to the ground staff, the pitch looked top class.
- Ref balanced out the soft penalty with some soft frees for us in the second half, I seen a stat which said Mayo got 25 frees to Galway's 14.
- There were a number of key Galway players that needed to be marked very tightly and yet for whatever reason this was not done allowing Conroy and Mc Daid to exert massive influence.
- Agree with Pebblesneller's comments on Rory B and others on the bench , this was definitely a Rochford move and for what gain in the end.?
- Bench was light physically and more importantly experience wise and that along with being a man down was our downfall in the end.
- Management need to lift themselves, the players and we as supporters need to bounce back as well.
- Diarmuid has not forgiven Paul Conroy for the melee in that league match all those years ago.!
- We can take out one big scalp yet...nothing to lose now

And congrats to Tuamstar, Chesneychief, Big Mike on others. Sunday was yere day...ours will come again

I sincerely hope Paraic Joyce doesn't follow Mayo GAA Blog as it appears 14 of the best players play for Galway and yet they could only beat Mayo by 2 points. What dribble.

Olive.....absolutely..I've said here before back in 2013 I thought we'd never ever get back.....

Agree that Diarmuid has it in for Conroy.
His flying tackle yesterday was daft.. not sure what he was at...

Tommy conroy would not nor DOC, and no mayo player getting ahead of comer or Walsh when fit, that's just the reality. Well sticks for the reek..I'll put it another way to you, how many Cork players would make the Kerry team even though they brought them to extra time and probably should have won?

I'm surprised bookies have Cavan as such outsiders

''Dribble''is right @Sticks.

@Larry David ah here . Fine fair enough haha
DOC would walk onto that Galway team so would Conroy and a good few others on our team but not arsed naming them cause at @sticks said what absolute dribble talk this is.

Clare, but you already have named them ... see your comments a bit earlier. I agree, though, it's a daft question, one that's often posed but never makes any sense to me.

@willie Joe I know apologies emotions are still a bit high after this one !

It certainly is not a daft question.

But there's some daft replies

What dont you understand about the question WJ?

It's not that I don't understand the question, Larry David, I just think it's daft and makes no sense. It's the kind of lazy-minded question you often see posed but I never see any merit in it.

Lazy minded? It's a barometer of measuring the quality of player v player and what they offer in a team. I've heard pundits and ex players say the same thing..are they lazy minded saying it?

I've heard all last week before the match, and this is from good gaa people who actually go to club games not just mayo games that they'd find it hard to pick anyone outside of Rod to make galway team currently, not injured people like paddy or Tommy or comer/walsh

It's a simplistic barometer, if so. As I've said, I see zero merit in posing such a question and, yes, it's lazy-minded no matter who does so.

Well just because you see zero merit in it doesn't mean you're right. We'll agree to disagree on that one .

Ah Larry I’d say the first 15 of the 2 teams would be all Galway players. Ryan might sneak into the match day squad while Donnacha could make the extended panel until some of the Galway lads return from injury

It's just my opinion, Larry David. As you say, we'll agree to disagree on it.

Thats ok WJ, absolutely

To Win Just Once,
I suppose it all depends on who’s the manager. If it was McStay I would expect Brickenden to be in too.

Sean Burke says:
May 6, 2025 at 1:18 pm
Genuine question, do ye think Galway are much better than Mayo for real ?

In the terms of decision making and having the street smarts and leadership to close out tight games they are much better.

Yeah its a daft question about combined teams, a point between team last year and 2 points this year, so to say only Mayo player is also daft.
Galway seem to be a better coached team or that they have found a system that suits them, Mayo don't have this. Mayo seem to lack in confidence, if one player missed a shot its nearly like they missed it and effects confidence all round.
Mayo did well in patches the last day but you cant say many players had good games, which was disappointing on the day but also leaves alot of room for improvement. McBrien was a big loss so early, and DOC was playing well aslo, good on the ball and picking up breaks, and DOC is a leader he would have been needed in the second half to calm things. Flynn, Carney and Ruane, all 3 did not play well so them 3 playing well makes a massive difference to that team. Management made few odd calls, maybe the were over thinking it but also they seem to have subs planned and don't change from it which is dangerous.

They are much better sean yes, just because they put in a decent performance v galway does not make mayo a good team..they were simply woeful in the 2 games previously..look at galways ability to kick scores and then look at ours..look at flynns wastefulness and toweys inability to tap over from 25 yrds..they can't close out games, saw it time and again v Dublin in those all irelands from winning positions...and old failings still back to haunt them..relying on Rod to still kick awkward frees from right side..no left footed freetaker..criminal this day and age.

Who cares about Mayo players ‘walking onto a Galway team’? Any self-respecting Mayo fan shouldn’t be talking this kind of drivel.

If I was McStay I would read the room and realise that regardless of having another year left on my term, the reality is unless I make an AISF me and my management team are dead men walking. Going into the final year of a 4 year term with an air of negativity hanging around, major question marks over my ability to lead and create a successful game plan, and the inevitable "dressing room discourse" rumbling through the media, I would say to my self "if I'm going down, I'm going down swinging"!
I would swallow whatever pride is needed to be swallowed and I'd drive to Ballintubber and Ballina and I wouldn't leave until I got Cillian and O'Hora back on board. We need leadership and cuteness up top, and we need a dog in the pack at the back. I'm not saying these boys would last 70 mins but they'd last 35. That plus their attitude and leadership in training would benefit the group as a whole.
Then I'd pick up the phone and I'd ring the county board chairman followed by Peadar Gardiner and I'd tell them both that I'm taking O’Loughlin, MacMonagle, McHale, Armstrong, Howard, Beirne, Hurley and Lydon from the U20s into the Senior panel and that's non-negotiable. An injection of freshness, pace and winning mentality would liven the group up.
I'd cut Brickendon, Towey, Reid and Boland from the panel because I don't believe they are just good enough for where we want to go and all have been tried enough for the last 2 years. I'd drop Flynn, Coen, Ruane and Reape for the Cavan game on the basis of their poor showing v Galway. I'd bring in Phillips, Irwin, EOD & Kevin Quinn to start v Cavan and I'd introduce Durcan, Morahan, MacMonagle, Hurley and Lydon from the bench. I'd freshen the whole thing up by risking things over the 3 group games with a view to getting to a quarter final preliminary game in much, much better shape.
This management team is cooked as things stand so I'd throw caution to the wind and go down swinging.

But despite all that, Larry David, a single two-point score was all that separated the sides last Sunday.

They scored 1-3-11 to 1-2-11 for us, with their goal coming from a very soft penalty award, while ours was a very well-worked one from play. We were also denied what could well have been a two-pointer from that free by ROD. As so often when we play each other, the margins between us were very small.

But, of course, as the saying goes, history tends to be written by the winners (or on their behalf).

WJ & Larry David,
Bear in mind also that Galway regained control only AFTER we were reduced to 14 players for the final 8 or 9 mins. With the changed "3 up rule" stating we still had to leave 3 up despite being a player down, this meant that we were a player light in the middle third. This really hurt us on kickouts and battling for breaking ball.

That’s absolutely correct, Pebblesmeller, and the more you think about it, that was in all likelihood the decisive incident that swung the result away from us.

Good point Pebbles - and I like your ballsy approach to squad freshening up. However, we shouldn't forget that Galway dominated the second quarter, caught everything around the middle and destroyed us for about fifteen minutes. It was 15 v 15 at that stage.

Interesting approach Pebbles. I saw some stats earlier regarding the AI U20 top scorers this year from play only:

1. Niall Hurley 2-20 (3tp)
2. Darragh Beirne 5-10 (1tp)
3. Eoin McElholm 3-14 (2tp)
4.= Daithi Hogan 3-13
4= Paddy Kelly 4-10

McElholm is in the Tyrone senior set up so it makes you wonder if we would gamble on the younger lads ourselves. Hurley maybe the one that we might consider? Beirne was in a schools final 6 weeks ago so needs more time surely.

More stats. The top scorers outright in the U20 championship so far.

1. Seanan Carr 5-27 (3-0 pen, 13f)
A gap then to
5. Tom Lydon 2-29 (1-0 pen, 14f, 1tpf
A gap then to
7. Colm Costello 2-26 (10f,3tpf,1tp)

The reason I mention Costello is that he was on Galway's bench on Sunday,
McElholm of Tyrone and Costello of Galway are both involved in their respective senior set ups.

The U20 semi final will be number one priority but there are scoring options there alright.

Makes it obvious, if in the same situation again, either mayo or any other county, better to retrieve the ball inside the large arc and give away foul instead of trying to let it come to u n then have to comit a black card offence..

Our FB line were terrible in the u20 Connaught final.
Sideline did not cover themselves in glory either

@Mind the House: Possibly worth a note that Darragh's scores from play are on almost 1/3rd less play time than the other lads on that Top 5 (his 216 minutes versus 300 or more for the rest). His 6.39 per 60 minute game fairly off the charts there, even compared to Niall's 4.8 per 60 minutes in 2nd place (though if we were to give Niall some contribution for all the tap over frees he's won for Darragh or Tom - pushing them to 8 per game & 7 per game averages respectively - he'd possibly be well clear of the field on score contributions).

The flip side of that is we'd likely have been putting up reduced numbers if facing off against a Derry or twice against Donegal among our games. Roscommon a solid side that put it up to us, but both Derry & Donegal were genuine contenders to win it out this year with well above average (yet very different) defensive systems.

Hard to know which of the lads might be closer, despite the extra year in it. I'd say it's a toss of a coin. Play style could play would play a part there too. With Niall's stand 'em up and drive right at them likely to suffer a touch more than Darragh's wand of a left boot when making that step. Especially when that boot can potentially tick so many of the boxes we've been missing in recent years down the right.

The big caveat, way more than just ability behind those calls. Confidence, personality, physicality, maturation, injury profile and a dozen other factors we'd never get to see from the outside go into whether a lad is ready for that step or not. Beyond a "he looks ready" it's one I'd (or anyone would) struggle to ever try & judge from the outside.

Ara Catcol , I lost all respect for myself years ago, but I'm still sticking to my opinions on it.

@Mind the House I believe Eoin McElholm missed a few games with the U20 due to training and playing challenges with the Seniors. He's apparently fast tracked into their senior set up because of a fear he's off to Australia

@Mayomagic: He'd have missed 2 games for their 20s campaign so far this year. The Group Stage R4 Donegal clash when he was off in Portugal for a Senior Warm Weather training camp and then the following game against Antrim in R5 (he was on the bench if needed) when they were mostly just throwing other lads some minutes.

I wouldn't doubt they're fast-tracking to help fend off the interest from Oz (seemed to have been a done deal at one point), but no question he's (& McCullagh who they've not used yet) at the level needed either.