I think the trajectory is upwards. Neary, EOD , Morahan , Irwin are showing up well. Hession going well this year. We have a few key players close to returning. I’m optimistic.

The main thing to realise is that our square of players is as good as anything out there….it is simply wrong to think that the other teams are some level above us talent wise…we just need to be managed effectively.

Like a lot of people I too am impatient with the current management however they deserve a little bit of breathing space until this season is over. For example there was a lot of very negative comments at HT re management but those comments were premature when you considered the wind factor. In addition, the idea that the team ‘ignored’ management is silly commentary- the wind advantage in the second half had a lot to do with the change in style.

WJ- Do you notice also that there are never as many comments when we win as opposed to when we lose?

People cannot have ‘both sides of the argument’ with management.

Btw, what about the big news….back to the old championship format next year!

Tyrone giving kerry a right game our win over them was hard fought even though awful to watch!!

Tyrone winning would not be good news at all for us

Tyrone seemed to have found some form..not good news for us.

Not good news for us no but they have a new manager bounce..

D.Clifford doing his best to rectify things.

David Clifford is not a bad auld player

Clifford is an absolute joke, incredible player. Putting a very average kerry team up on his back again here.

Be no harm to see kerry win this, I think our point last night will see us safe. Derry look doomed and there is every chance they are relegated before we meet then, we would have tyrone on a head to head too.

I'd be sticking David McBrien on him next Saturday..

Galway and donegal both seem to be resting key players today, last few rounds of the league will become farcical with teams trying to avoid a final. Ridiculous state of affairs.
It's a simple fixture tweak from the gaa to give teams room to go full tilt for a national title

Not a bad display by young Clifford today. Once again again a game of 2 halves. Wonder were some of the Kerry public laying into team and management at half time ???

Clifford is carrying that Kerry team. Wonder will he be able to do it all season.

Said ir beforr bit wothout clifford kerry are average.

Spotlight - absolutely nail on head. Some people here had completed our end of season review in Mid Feb. Management and the team should be supported to the season end. Constant sniping doesn't do anyone any good. Its all about championship. Anything between now and then should be limited to constructive criticism IMO

Kerry are a bit of an enigma, they all look like good footballers but flatter to deceive as a team. Paudie and David Clifford are their key players, defensively they look weak and can be got it. If we win next weekend then will have put ourselves into a strong position for league survival.

@spotlight. Which format would that be?

Breeze will be a HUGE factor in Salthill
Donegal will have it second half
And Murphy to bring on ……

I doubt if wind was ever on the agenda for the FRC! Galway will be aiming to be 15-20 points up at half-time by the looks of it.

Absolutely farcical scenes in salthill, honestly it must be one of the worst venues for football in the country, always completely distorted by conditions there. Not to speak of the difficulty in driving in there on a match day. Really would be better if galway brought games back to tuam stadium

McGuinness and rest of the management needs to go after this. I wouldn't even have them for the next round.

I'd say f all chance of Galway not sticking with Salthill based on this match Supermac!

If we get Galway in the final would it be in Salthill?

We'll have to put some stands up in Tallagh for plan b.

Talking about game of 2 halves and 2 pointers, current score in Salthill Galway 17 Donegal 1 and still 5 to go to half time. They’ll need to change the 2 point rule to with and without the wind the way things are going.

Mc Guinness will have to go !!! Oh it’s not half time yet and Donegal after scoring . Salthill bad enough with the old rules in Summer It is a disaster with the new rules on a windy day

Harsh enough red there Tierney Was not nearly as nasty as the hit on DOC in our game c Galway

Roscommon with a 7 point loss to Meath.

Last Monday Tommy Rooney from off the ball was calling them all Ireland Contenders and others were saying they are now 2nd best team in Connaught.

A lot can change in a weekend.

I can safely say I've never seen the wind so strong up here...
16 points will probably not be enough..especially with 14..
Looked harsh from the stand on Tierney

Wouldn’t have thought that was a red card for tierney.it was the follow up from Maher that caught him in the face

arm to the head-red card sll day

Definite red card for Tierney; very dangerous hit, nearly took the head off him and Johnny followed up with another belt just to be sure he was hurt.
It will be hard for Galway to hold a 16 point lead. It’ll be halved by 50 mins and Murphy will be on.

The neck on Joyce trying to intimidate ref going in at ht , leaned his shoulder on him too . Galway line been at this craic a while now , divily I think it is over the other side roaring at every decision . It needs to be addressed , they never stopped during Connacht final last year , it’s completely out of order

Salthill as a venue is not fit for purpose

Every match Mayo have played in Salthill since Galway moved back there in 2003 has been muck bar the time we hammered them in 2013.Home of Galway football is Tuam Stadium.At least they should be playing all there League games there.As Galway footballers dont bring massive crowds.

The Galway no. 12’s tache is way more dodgy than Jack’s. I think his is actually quite passable.
Galway look like they could bag 3 or 4 and Donegal won’t bridge the 12 point gap. Could be wrong. Gleason on at HT for kickouts. Probably doing better than the Donegal goalie did 1st half.

Give me Salthill any day of the week over Tuam!

Ye just have to know how best to get to Salthill (there are quick ways which I have posted up here before that allows you to avoid a lot of traffic and get out quickly if you need to get home fast by walking to the ground via two pedestrian lane ways). There are pubs and restaurants 5 mins walk from Pearse Stadium. Tuam has nothing near the ground.

On the match....Galway look really impressive. Battlehardened. They are definitely favourites this year for me in championship, but I also think Joyce wants to win the league. That group of players have lost too many finals in Croke Park. They need a win and they have a nice holiday to NYC after.

Are referees ever going to pull for no gumshields. The amount of players who put gumshields in their sock when they come on is crazy. I'd love to see a ref take issue with it. On another note would anyone agree a team who have a player carded should have to keep 3 back all the time otherwise the card isn't that big of a punishment as they can still have 12 players defending same as if they still had 15 on the field.

Surprised Meath beat Roscommon.
Perhaps Galway going to well too soon.

Ya I think that rule will prob change where u have to keep 3back /3up all the time even if u have a black/red

Some of the contributors on here are gas, there’s no ability to be objective when it comes to Galway.

Galway as tough as old boot leather. And the big names turn up on the day. Unbelievable point by Walsh with his left foot into the wind.
Any chance of 4 quarters by 18 to 20 minutes switching ends after each quarter to negate the wind factor?
We are a couple of years away from a steely team that can compete for Sam.

There was a plan in Galway I heard to sell Salthill and build a new stadium out at the old airport.
That would make a load of sense but hasn't happened.....could have a top class football and hurling stadium out there with easy access on motorway from everyside

At the risk of being banned,and I have always said that it is Willie Jones blog but after three years of listening to the rubbish about Stephen Rochford and Donegal coaching,who is to blame for today?

Galway are AI favourites , not runaway but the most consistent and with plenty of leaders. If Donegal had the cavalry it would have made a big difference but Galway had no Conroy or Comer and they played 20 mins with 13 men into the gale but ye wouldn’t think it. Kelly and Maher are 2 top players. Walsh had fun out there. Took two frees into a gale off the left; nearly scored one and nailed the2nd from the ground with ease from 40m both on the wrong side of the goal his weatherman instincts were good.. judged the wind perfectly when deciding to use his left. Deserved MOM and despite misgivings in big games is a serious talent to have on a team.

No risk at all, Corick Bridge, it's a fair question to pose.

Shuffly Deck - Galway aren't favourites with the bookmakers. Kerry (3/1), Donegal (15/4) and Dublin (4/1) are all ahead of Galway (5/1) in the betting. Before anyone asks, we're 8th favourites currently at 16/1. All prices from Paddy Power, gamble responsibly and all that.

@ Corick Bridge - do you mean Donegal's performance today? If so, I don't think you can judge a manager on one league game. Interesting that when Donegal won in 2012 they had a very ordinary league campaign, losing more games than they won.

To blame for today.well management teams have to take responsibility for how their teams are lined out and the tactics employed on a given day .both sides today played weakened teams which suggests the result wasn’t of paramount importance to either side .Galway to their credit coped much better with the conditions as you would expect playing their home ground and I would imagine they would have been favourites to win the game in any case.i doubt mcguiness will lose alot of sleep over the result.managements can only be judged over the course of an entire season

Mayonaze I'm in the car stuck in traffic in Salthill, but I have to stick up for Tuam..
The Rustic Vaults is a two min walk from the stadium, newly renovated and a super spot, also the Woolstore in the Square , newly renovated also and a super spot for food and a few pints after a game, noylt to mention Junies bar on Shop Street.
Tyrone come to Tuam next Sunday so not far for me to walk thankfully..
On the game, our work rate was terrific, and Walsh is always worth the entrance fee, the scores of his weaker foot into the breeze are unbelievable.
Now for home......

A lot of posters on here worrying about Donegal.
Obviously they didn't listen to the Donegal player being interviewed after last week's win and he said they had reached their goal of 6 points which gave me hope immediately that we could beat them. I heard from someone close to the Donegal setup that they did heavy training this week so if I was Galway I wouldn't get carried away. If my Irish is right they said on TG4 that Michael Murphy had a prior arrangement made so he wasn't available this week. Both Donegal and Galway will be around at the business end of the Championship and if Mayo play like they did in the second half last night we will be there also. Ryan when interviewed mentioned that we created a bit of chaos. So forget about Rochford Ball and go for it and let no-one on here compare Rochford to McGuinness as it's futile.

@sean burke fully agree!

Galway on the rampage after loosing the final!

They will do a Derry on it and run out of come summer & championship!!

Corrick you can't really say the questions posed about Rochford are rubbish.
People see parallels with how Donegal played when Stephen was up there and how Mayo play now which is different to anything I ever witnessed and I am watching them since the 70's.
Now having said that this ticket was popular appointment and Stephen and McStay get to play it how they like butthe results have been poor enough and that's going to draw negetive criticism and while I am very much in the stay the course line and I think they will improve things alot in the coming months with the new players brought on and others coming back, TC, DOC, Paddy etc there are valid questions and one shite day for Donegal in a gale in Salthill is not a fair way to judge McGuinness if 3 years of poor results is nor a fair way to judge Rochford

Hard to see a new stadium in Galway anytime soon, especially with the sports grounds being done up currently.

Your right Clare... hopefully we'll win the league, head to New York and then get bet by the Rossies.. players will be wrecked by April...

@Tuamstar you never cease to amaze me haha

Stop being a smart arse tuamstar . Perhaps Clare is incorrect in her analysis but your attempt at being sarcastic is typical & full of Galway arrogance . I know your liked in here and it will prove unpopular for me to say this but imagine first thing you do is post on a mayo GAA platform on your way home from a Galway v Donegal game .

@sean burke thanks for that! : )

Nobody wants to be in the final.. Galway and Donegal for me- with the caveat... nobody wants to be there.

Thank you very much Willie Joe,I will just put it out there that we are in a very good position,as someone of seventy five years of age who was there in in the sixties and since I believe that we have a great team and chance of winning this year

No doubt. Your banging my drum. Impossible to get young lad's to wear gumshields when every week they see their role models on TV putting the gumshields in their socks/ waistband.
Akin to u8s putting their arm up in the air taking a corner in soccer.

Imagine that Sean..... a GAA fan posting on a GAA forum...
Lighten up ....

Was there any word on Paddy,Diarmuid or Tommy?

@Corick.
I love your positivity. If we don't think we can win then we most likely won't win.

Roll on next Saturday

Thank you very much mind the house,but as someone who lived through the sixties and onwards I am always optimistic,I was as bad as all the posters back in the day,but when I found out that one of our better managers used to cycle out over five miles to get a player into training and the player let him down and ended up in America,I decided that that I didn't know what went on,so now I give the management the knowledge to know what they are doing,I believe that we are in a very good position

You got to take ur hat of to shane Walsh what a footballer , galway are well and truly knocking on the door ,Joyce has put steel in them ,
They are at where we were in 2017,
Long way to go but ill stick my neck out and say its between the jacks v tribes

So just to be clear corrick because a manager cycled 5 miles back in the sixties and the player then let him down has what relevance to the modern game .i have been going to games since the seventies and you know what that was my choice and I don’t look for praise for that .mcstay and rochford have been wearing long trousers for some time now and know full well the ups and downs that come with that.i have said from the word go I was in favour of this management getting the job and I would be delighted to see them win an all Ireland and in fact I wouldn’t care who was the manager as long as we won it once in my lifetime but the bare facts are that our championship performances over the last two years have been very poor .nobody made that up and nobody on the blog are responsible for those performances.For gods sake we didn’t even make the last 8 last year.we can’t live in the past .yesterday evening was encouraging and hopefully that will continue next weekend but you have to call every individual game as you see it.Anyone would think you are related in some way to members of management

@martin it's feb still they maybe knocking on the door but seriously think they will run out of gas come summer..

Time and time again counties go all out for league and they go flat come summer us in 22... Derry last year league form doesn't mean much

Meaning to peak at right time does we were flat out last year after running same 15 right up to summer ran out of gas it will happen to Galwegions to.

@Corick.

I always chuckled when they used to say there was a lot of hype in Mayo. There was never any hype where I was. It was hope not hype and if there was no hope then there was no point at all.

I'll carry on following Mayo through thick and thin until someone tells me otherwise. I'm a hopeless case to be honest. Can't wait for next Saturday.

The stars will align for us one day and that is the day I live for.

- Where there is fight there is hope and there is plenty of fight in most of those Mayo Players and they showed it in the second half.
- The wind did not seem strong at all, it was calm at the Terrace end so more likely change of tactics and Armagh black card were more impactful.
- Carney did help in mid field but we had plenty of possession in the first half and had lots of attempts at scoring with too many failing.
- I thought McQuillan did a lot of damage as did Stefan Campbell when he came on.
- ROD, Eoin, Mattie and Neary were aggressive and tbe most influential..
- Every inter county team has and still are playing lateral at times. Our issue is that we are doing so EVEN when a ball is turned over and we have opportunity for a quick break.
- i would drop Eoghan Mc, Towey and McHale for the Kerry match, glue Donnacha to David Clifford and get in their faces from the throw in.
- We owe Kerry, let's make it a dogfight.

A penny for the managers private thoughts.

4 games in recent times we've gone into the final few minutes ahead and won none of them. Dubs,Galway,Derry and last night.
Relatively easy late chances missed to beat Derry and Armagh.
Fine margins and all that. There's still plenty we're doing right.

Olive,I thought Darren McHale won a massive amount of breaking ball - was almost like his clubmate Kevin McLoughlin.
It was the most positive performance I've seen from him in a Mayo jersey.
I'd probably agree with you on the others.

So we roll on to Castlebar next week.

Been an up and down league but Kerry are enjoying the new attacking rules, 10 goals in 4 games not bad for an average team apparently.

I wouldn't be happy with aspects of how we are playing but it was a great win and great to see David back.

It'll be a tough ask next Saturday.

Well done, Mayo!. May Our Lady.of Knock continue to intercede for ye ?.

Clare what's the difference in the following?
A. Going all out in the league to win it.
B. Playing well in parts of games but just having better players to adapt to scoring and getting a few results.

I don't get this going all out.. nobody is privy to what goes on at training sessions, and Galway were probably the last group that started back training as they were in Mexico until early December.

I agree with Clare. Theirs a seirious whiff off the last huraahh from Joyce. Its like he sat in a room with coaches last November and said this is my last year, lets go full trottle from the off and see what we win.

They will walk the league, and to a lesser extent Connacht, but in terms of winning Sam they seem to be playing a dangerous game. As Clare points out, theirs too many examples of teams being a good bit ahead in league and wilting come the seirious heat of championship.

Also, its not the shrewdest managerial move to have your team kicking 2 pointers galore in February. Joyce giving the like of McGuinness and O’Connor plenty of tape to analysise and time to formulate a plan to stop them when it matters.

Let the Galwegians worry about whether Galway are going too hard too soon, or whether they are the real deal.
We have enough to figure out with our own team

@western gale thanks for that! You are so right..

Happy to have Galwegions in full swing and hype around them meanwhile we are getting better but not going full tilt & with Durcan, Conroy and Diarmuid o connor to come back if we come good in championship ( a semi) I will be happy!

The fight our guys showed last night gave me hope!

Clare I think Joyce is long enough on the go to know the answer to that question as are the players their a bit down the road to that scenario
I'm not trying to big any one up but to be fair the stand out teams are galway and dublin ,
I for 1 wud love to see mayo doing well which I think there is great footballers there but in my opinion we will never get there , the teams who win it the most are teams who can score from distance , dubs , kerry used to have it , the armagh will shoot from distance,
We had that in Darren coen , Andy moran and a few lads in the past that had a back bone, but in mayo football now we haven't got that,

@No Doubt- congress has ratified a change back to the previous championship format next year- 3 rounds of qualifiers after provincials. There lose two games..and you’re out.

Interesting that Galway are only team in Division 1 not to concede a goal, and Donegal the only team yet to score one.

Kerry the goal kings with 9 so far, Tyrone next in line with 5.
Joint 2nd last on goal charts are ourselves and Galway with 2 apiece. Galway have scored 22pts more than us and conceded 21 less.

Games still averaged 3 goals a game this week (div.1), 2.3 a game about (div. 2) and 3 a game (div.3). Thought the 2 pointers may impacted goal tallys, but they seem healthy enough.

Gizmobobs - 10 for us !

Jaysis west Kerry, leave some for the rest of us :)

I see GAA League tables have been updated to that fact as well:
https://x.com/GAALeagueTables?t=punN8zauYqCssm1XrAm-5A&s=09

Saw the two best exponents of Gaelic football in action today. Clifford v Tyrone and Walsh v Donegal, Both were outstanding and played brilliantly in brutal conditions. I expect Galway to win the league and be in with a real shout for Sam as they have built up a really strong panel, are battle hardened and have some outstanding players. Having said that they can be beaten by anyone on the day especially our good selves. I believe they should try to win league they are without a national title for a long time. If they win it, it may impact them negatively as it did ourselves and Derry or it may impact them positively as it did Dublin on a number of occasions. I know Tuamstar doesn’t need me to defend him and I don’t particularly like defending Galway people anyway but I don’t think he said anything wrong here after game. He just wants his county to do well like the rest of us. Anyway as someone else said here we have plenty to concern our own selves with rather than worrying too much about other counties. Last night was a definite improvement and it’s good to be getting a few of the experienced hands back with each game while continuing to give the new lads valuable experience. Winning the league is not for us this year. Staying up and finding a few players is what matters and that is still a possibility after four rounds of the league.

Walsh is stone mad for 2 pointers. If he stays fit and on form with Comer to return as well it looks ominous for the others as regards all ireland chances. We'll be just like the noisy neighbours for a few seasons I'd say.

Seán Hurson is the ref for the Kerry game. That'll make it four Ulster refs in five games for us. Too many whistlers from that part of the world!

@spotlight. Ok thanks for clearing that up I'm not sure how i feel about that. The older way of quarter straight after provincial was probably the best.

Regarding Galway let them belt away for a while and see how they get on sure I'll always be grateful as they gave me the best 2 weeks i had in football for years last summer with 3 final losses and the further they go this year the closer I get to another party and if they go all the way well that's for another day.

Watched the game back this evening and it’s strange that we didn’t seem to have any particular period of dominance in pulling the lead back but suddenly it was wiped out .the two pointers really change the whole dynamic .Ryan o Donaghue’s general play and point scoring is excellent and his pass out to reape at the end deserved a better outcome.Ruane was much more effective on second viewing than I initially thought.much more aggressive than usual but definitely his strength is getting on the end of attacking moves.jack carney may well turn out to be the answer in midfield as he looks to have bulked up quite a bit .mchugh is probably the most likely to mark Clifford and possibly move Hession out to pick up paudie Clifford and try to drive him the other way.certainly far more optimistic about our chances for the rest of year after yesterday

1985, I didn't say that it was the sixties,it was much later,one of our for managers,who gave his very best to Mayo,I believe that the player let him down and hi self down,but after I decided that the management knew much more than I did

Ruane was good but that was a needless swing he made and was close to a red in all fairness . He has a higher ceiling than we think and could be very big for us if he reached that ceiling imho , needs an upward trajectory of performance level as I believe he’s a confidence player . Just keep going mattie

Fair enough corrick but everyone has different opinions that’s what makes this blog interesting

Galway are, to my mind, the best team in the country right now. WJ - the odds you quoted there are tempting. I never win a bet though, so I steer clear. Tuam star and the rest - you don't want me betting on ye!
I know things can change after the league but Galway don't have any chinks in the armour that I can see. Solid across the pitch, big strong lads, misery defence and free flowing forwards.
I am so impressed with how they've come out swinging after the one they left behind them last year. Their squad depth is immense.
Honestly think they'll win it this year.

"Olive Kerrigan says:
February 23, 2025 at 7:32 pm
– Where there is fight there is hope and there is plenty of fight in most of those Mayo Players and they showed it in the second half.
– The wind did not seem strong at all, it was calm at the Terrace end so more likely change of tactics and Armagh black card were more impactful.
– Carney did help in mid field but we had plenty of possession in the first half and had lots of attempts at scoring with too many failing.
– I thought McQuillan did a lot of damage as did Stefan Campbell when he came on.
– ROD, Eoin, Mattie and Neary were aggressive and tbe most influential..
– Every inter county team has and still are playing lateral at times. Our issue is that we are doing so EVEN when a ball is turned over and we have opportunity for a quick break.
– i would drop Eoghan Mc, 'Towey" and McHale for the Kerry match, glue Donnacha to David Clifford and get in their faces from the throw in.
– We owe Kerry, let’s make it a dogfight.

Tubberman says:
February 23, 2025 at 7:54 pm
Olive,I thought Darren McHale won a massive amount of breaking ball – was almost like his clubmate Kevin McLoughlin.
It was the most positive performance I’ve seen from him in a Mayo jersey.
I’d probably agree with you on the others."

Olive and Tubberman,

I just rewatched the second half, I suggest you do the same thing.
You both would drop Towey, ?? for the next day.
While he had what I would say was a average/poor first half
In the Second half, he was on for 25 mins
He had 17 possessions, 2 pts, fouled yet passed the ball back to ROD for his 2 pointer, set up a number of shooting opportunities for others,
McHale in 43 minute, (narrowly wide)
Carney in 51 minute (same result)
Very apparent, he and ROD are gelling.
What do you base your analysis on. Please feel free to respond.
Tubberman once again you are consistent with your lazy analysis.

To summarize, it was a great second half performance, McBrien and Ruane stellar performances, both were out on their feet at the end such was their effort. AOS presence was huge ,
Tremendous group tackling by backs in last 10-15 mins.
We made three mistakes in last six minutes that cost us the win,
How did Reape (who in fairness to him had a fine game supporting the outfield play) not pass to his clubmate Darren McHale who was two yards away from him and open with 30 seconds left.

Well after todays game between Galway v Donegal the 2 point has to go.it simply is not doing anything for the game and can make things very lobsided especially with a strong wind.
What if the wind had subsided for 2nd half or even switched directions.

Still would keep the arc in where the kick out has to go past.

Tap and go would keep
The 3 up would keep but it needs total clarity for certain situations .
Bringing the ball forward 50 metres has to go
Like the idea of not passing back to keeper.

Throw in I would revert back to 4 contesting and should be the 4 midfielders.

I stop the keeping moving outside the arc that currently in place for the 2 pointers unless he coming up to take a free.

Mayo performance yesterday was mixed.first half was woeful especially last 20 minutes.

2nd half was excellent.move the ball quick with the foot and runners coming from deep that’s a joy to watch.

Neary was excellent as was ROD. Carney made a big impact off bench.

Mayo are a work in progress and learning each week.still positions that are not nailed down. Still think we need more clinical options in the inside forward line.

Fair play to Towey yesterday.he had a very poor first half , could easily being taken off at half time but he helped to get Mayo back in game in 2nd half.

Hopefully there be a good crowd on Saturday to get behind the team and management.remember it’s all about building for championship.

After all the trials and tribulations of this league so far, I'm actually now confident we'll stay up. It's reasonably obvious that Donegal don't want a league final with the Derry game in Ulster a week later. So we should get two points on the board in our final game. That could well be enough, but not as is we'll be big underdogs in the Derry game either. It may all turn out ok...

On Galway, if they're going all out for the league or just is desperate for the league during his last hurrah as I'm reading here, then he has a funny way of showing it

He's not played Comer atal so far despite being fit, he's rested McDaid back to back weeks, Conroy today and Walsh the first game. Those are literally his best 4 players

I'd like to see a hf line of Mattie,Rod and Davitt against Kerry.
Jack and Jordan at midfield .
I think McBrien is most suited for D.Clifford . Hession would be a good match up for Paudie but he's growing into that no.4 position and I'd be reluctant to move him now

Paudie had 55 possessions for Kerry today.
Whatever about the brother inside we simply can’t afford to give him anywhere near 55 possessions.

Anyone know for certain is the scheduled date for the Hogan Cup Final March 16/17th in Croke Park? Very dissappointed and surprised with the lack of coverage on the page here and podcast with such a big result for St Colmans and South Mayo Football yesterday. Ballinrobe CS and Rice College got great coverage a few years back on here when they made All Ireland Finals so it was very dissapointing to see Colmans not get the same attention.Hope everyone in the County gets behind Colmans now the County Board , Media coverage and Sponsors.We need to promote schools football better in the County.

@Sam og: On the '25 Master Fixture List (https://www.gaa.ie/article/gaa-master-fixtures-for-2025-published) both the Hogan Cup Final and the Hurling A equivalent are pencilled in for St. Patrick's Day alright. Always a small risk the delayed semi between Mounthawk and St. Pat's could end up shifting it - but very unlikely given the significant knock-on impact it would have on lads playing in 20s competitions.

Fingers crossed already for the lads. A massive battling performance to make it though that semi (still no idea how Mullingar didn't get 10 more cards of a variety of colours) and a massive day out coming for them in the final. Can't wait!

Mounthawk v Maghera is down for next Saturday March 1st which gives them 2 full weeks to recover which is ideal so dont see any date change for Final.

@Aidan.Totally agree with your take on the new rules-are you sure you did'nt cog my comments on an earlier thread? ?. I don't like the 2 point arc, but agree with you would keep for kick-outs only. In my opinion, does'nt bring anything to the game, skews it into two distinct halves, relocates the blanket/lateral passing, devalue the worth of a goal and has become an obsession. The game does'nt need three different value scores. While many of the new rules do improve the game, the main problem, the handpass, has not been addressed-it needs to at least be limited, if not banned completely.

@Tuamstar the difference is no one really wants to win league or be in league final..

You want to get better but not peak to soon and run out of gas come summer football.

But sure ye go for league might be some consolation for last year! haha : )

Agree performance of the weekend Colmans making the Hogan cup final for first time since 1981. I’m sure Boyler and Mike will do a pod with members of the former teams and current management to reminisce on great times past …

Hello everybody, loved that half of football from Mayo on Saturday.

I have one thing to add - I would love Colm Reape to practise his point taking in training (there are chances around the D when Colm comes forward as an extra player). This is not a jab at Colm for Saturday. It is something I have noticed in previous games. Goalkeepers are getting into these scoring positions a lot. I've noticed that Colm doesn't shoot. He should! He was a forward, after all. And the chances are there.

R O D needs to be left in half forward line, he will get a few 2 pointers from there in every game, Aiden needs a central position also to get possession and lay it off to quickly to running team mates , stop the back and side passing, direct football please.

We haven't forgotten St Colmans, Sam og, and will be featuring them on the pod soon.

I'm always conscious, when covering underage action, of the need to protect the underage players involved. More than one contributor on here can be a bit clueless in this respect and, as a parent, I know I'd be less than impressed to see my kid's performance on the field subjected to the kind of scrutiny that some appear to believe is fair game. In addition, the debate on here a short while back about the possible life choices of a different kid still in school was something I wasn't at all comfortable with and I flagged this at the time.

So, the bottom line is, sure, we'll give St Colman's the coverage they merit but this is schools football and comments posted here on it need to reflect that, without exception.

Just some things I noticed from Saturday nights game. There was a decent wind in the game that was not noticeable at the pitch level , probably because of the wraparound stands/ terraces. Both teams struggled to kick into the scoreboard end. It would account for our first half and Armagh's second.
Aido was once again heavily targeted, he was very unlucky to be penalised for picking the ball off the ground when he clearly had a toe under it and was within shooting distance. Great offload to ROD for a point and a sweet point off the left.
The ref on at least two occasions pulled us up for overcarrying when the player was surrounded by 3/4 players. Mayo quickly copped this and proceeded to do the same to Armagh. The crowd in the Stadium was worth at least 2 points to Armagh, great atmosphere in fairness.

Boland was unlucky to be done for overcarrying at the end but bringing the ball up 50 metres for not handing the ball to the opposition player is ridiculous, the punishment does not fit the crime. Clubhouse was rocking after the game, very welcoming crowd, but did help the missus being from Armagh.

Cutting off supply to big Clifford is key to beating Kerry...not an easy task though. Geaney looking as good as ever. Kerry probably will be more interested in the performance with their eyes on bigger prizes further on. I'd be confident enough with my tenner on Donegal from what I've seen thus far. Can't see any team beating them in the summer, Tyrone being the danger.

Good news from Saturday, was hoping we would be less cautious, we were for a 20 min period, however, against a team like Galway, wont allow such comeback to happen. So need this bit of bite thru out game, or for whole half your playing with elements. Also great to have AOS back, God help us the day he packs it in. Not going to get you multiple points in matches, but great at bring others into game, so good at handpassing, always puts it on a plate for other. Be still worried that we need something against Derry, last game in the League. Against Kerry, they have super forwards, especially Clifford, but interested to see how we perform in the midfield. This still a worry for me, don't have a natural midfielder as far as I can see, and this going to big problem going forward. Mattie good player, but see more like a half forward.
I'm more positive today, than after Galway match. Hope they burn themselves out come summer. Like to see us score a couple of point more than 20, even if we loss to Kerry. Think still need to be scoring more than 23/24 point in summer to win matches. But that improving

1985 I watched the game back earlier and I'd more or less agree with your summary. While it felt on Saturday evening like we bossed them in the second half, that wasn't actually the case. We definitely switched tactics and our play was far more direct, and the wind was probably more of a factor than I realised on the night. Armagh also had a very poor second half, possibly related to the aforementioned wind. We were better than I'd thought in the first half, and worse than I'd thought in the second. I'd have been of the same mind as Olive re Towey before watching it back but he did have a good second half.

I am really questioning the value of Reape's forays up the field; how often does his involvement in play directly result in a score? Clue: not often. Either that needs to be the case, or he needs to be chipping in with some scores himself. If we don't start seeing a better return on the scoreboard, he and we would be far better served by him staying between the posts and concentrating on his restarts, which are currently chaotic and too slow. The couple of times he did get a quick kick-out away we really benefited.

Judging by the expressions on McStay's and Rochford's faces after Boland conceded the free, we might not be seeing him again for a while! It's a desperate punishment, but there is no excuse - he should have known better.

I was delighted to see three scores from Ruane and that is the level of return we really need from him going forward. Jack Carney and his moustache got on a lot of ball. It was heartening to see Ryan O'Donoghue taking on the shots. Neary's workrate was phenomenal throughout and while ROD was the rightful recipient, I can see why he won the MOTM poll here.

Stevie Coen though. Who'd have thought it? Wonderful stuff.

I watched it again yesterday too Ann- Marie and I can’t disagree with anything you said. On several occasions I was screaming at the TV for Reape to kick it out. He seemed so indecisive and I felt sure he would eventually be pulled for the 20 second rule. I really don’t want to be critical, but he needs to aware of that.

Goalie going forward makes a farce out of the new rules.
Will they have the balls to change or would it be viewed as an attack on Tyrone and Armagh?
Far too much running by all teams, not sustainable.
As Boyler said the team that kick passes best out of defense and have s few tigers on the breaking ball will flourish
Clean fetching in mid field will be like a bad dream , no team will allow it, all Will try to break the ball around the middle.
You may be allowed fetch it in your own ,50 metre line.
I may be completely wrong.