Good to get another win but this was a very ordinary Roscommon team with will be a different animal come championship.
Andy picked a strong team and expect both Andy and Galway to trial alot of players who might not start for the first league match but it is an opportunity for lads to push for a spot on the panel .
Nice to beat the Rossies anytime of the year though!!

First of three wins over the Rossies this year, Andy won't let them beat us, Galway different Animal .

Nice to win but won’t be getting too excited just yet. We definitely had more potential starters than Roscommon. Good to hit a few two pointers, something we struggled to do last year

Any update on scorers or who played well today

Tedtoal - the team, subs and scorers are all listed at the end of the report!

Great to see our running attacking game again. No fear in them young lads either, not afraid to take on the shot. 2 crackin two pointers from Tom Lydon. Looking forward to seeing more of him ( not against us in club though!)

@Tedtoal: Playing well entirely subjective, but happy to share my own opinions.

A strong team performance (1 to 23) rather than an obvious list of individuals that stood out.

Jack Carney came off the bench in the 1st half (early to help allow 8 subs rather than the 6 allowed in the 2nd half) and got the official POTM on the stream. Hard to argue with it much with an outrageous 2 pointer, some strong fielding and worked his socks off as we applied a high press across the field throughout the game.

Enda Hession put in a great shift at the back (in the 1st, less opportunity to be involved in the 2nd), hitting a couple when we were under pressure against a gale, making some fantastic interceptions and constantly making the right calls on positioning in defense (not an easy task when a defensive setup is changing).

Tom Lydon came in relatively late but forced himself into the limelight kicking two fantastic long range 2s with a strong (but challenging) breeze behind him. Fantastic confidence from an u20.

RO'D did RO'D things, pulling lots of strings from 11 and constantly being a threat himself.

Nobody on our end hurt their chances much today (a couple looked rusty, especially early on, coming good eventually all putting a shift in), but with the caveat of the Rossies looking like lads that weren't in a position to really get going. All the looks of a side on empty and drained from training demands, so likely we'll see a very different level (even before the missing players return) come later games.

4 or 5 goal opportunities squandered on a last ball execution, got opened up once or twice at the back (with risks of a few more opportunities for them) and still plenty of work to be done on restarts, so plenty for the lads to dive into and work on going forward despite the scoreline.

- It was good to see Mayo use the very strong wind in the second half to get those 2 pointers.
- Rusty is indeed the word TSU, both Brick and Tommy C in the first half were very rusty.
- Robbie had some grubber kicks again today similiar to last week so defo seems to be a new style rather than simply bad kicks...highly risky though
-Galway have been using a second string in FBD while playing a stronger team in at least one challenge game.
- Not ideal both teams meeting 2 weeks in a row. League points are way more important than a FBD win in my opinion.

Tommy C kicked a class 2 pointer in 2nd half.

We had a bad wind against us in first half .

Passages of very good play today and great to see them move the ball quickly and get off shots when we had the wind behind us.

Thought the same about Robbie's kickout they are pretty low flying... maybe it's a new tactic. Looks to be plenty of options in the forwards and defense but work to do in a midfield combo or two.

Championship football and especially post provincial Championship football is completely different to fbd football it's almost like a different sport but I'd much rather see lads getting their act together now and creating a winning mentality than seeing lads struggling and bad vibes creeping into the setup. Plenty for Andy to think about over the next few weeks but possibly lots of options too.

@No doubt

Yes for sure your so right .

I am just so glad to see our attacking game back , alot more kick passing and most importantly trying to take on those 2 pointers weather they miss or not just go for it .

Hennelly had a great game one or two mustakrs but overall a great game from him . Only fbd only January we are rebuilding alot more to work on but delighted to see the lateral back & fourth style of play gone !

Enda hession looks back fit he is some pkayer when he gets going. Tom Lydon is really promising to .

Positive showing , can see Andy and teams coaching ethos and culture and lads are buoyed with confidence to kick or take on 2 pointers.
That's great to see .
New lads put up their hands, only gripe for me is lack of pace, in certain backs and established backs at that .
Brick, Coen, Plunkett haven't the required pace, you need pace for the more open games of now days .
But we have plenty pacey defenders and options besides but them boys will be exposed

In the new championship format the important thing via to get to the provincial final.
Both teams will be in the same pot with home games after.
Winners will have momentum.
Beat London and Roscommon and forwards after.

See Colm Boyle has already come out and said next weekend will be used for showing who wants to put their hands up for the game v Galway in Salthill the next week nothing more . That game in Salthill is the one couldn't care less if we loose next weekend if we win in salthill which will be a tough ask

Re the comment on Brick, Coen and Plunkett, we don’t have to play all 3 at the same time. The simple fact is they all have something to contribute. If 2 make the starting lineup at the business end and prove their worth, that’s what we need. I’d rather clever consistent players than lads that mix the inspiration with frustration in equal measure. Also good to have options. The 2 point rule is ideal for Plunkett.

I don’t understand why we are starting hession, Durcan, ROD, O Shea etc in early January for a FBD game

Galway have a third string team out at the moment. Bar the goalie, Molloy and Thompson none of the rest of them even featured at all last year. It’s a total novice set up.

The final is going to be a complete farce if we field a similar team against psedo Galway team.

We just have to ensure we are in peak condition for the Connacht championship…

Some of them are fighting for their place driveitlong&hard.....

I get playing experienced players alongside inexperienced but it is ridiculous how strong our team is. McStay did the same thing 3 years ago. You’d never see kerry or dublin playing the bulk of their first ream. Grand with conroy, plunkett playing, but O’Shea playing is a a joke. Not a complaint against him as a player but there is no need to play him this early. No need to risk the likes of O’Donoghue to injury. Can someone please explain the rationale behind playing these players this early, in a meaningless competition

I think there's a fair bit of rotation going on and will be again next week. Lads not involved with Sigerson need a bit of game time...and you can get injured in training just as easily.

Lydon plays with a real swagger, a delightful arrogance in his play. Always good to have a wildcard player like that to call on for the last 20 minutes of a game, playing with no inhibitions and not afraid to take a pop.

Good to see people on here staying fairly level headed on the fbd games and nor getting carried away, would read very little into them as they are just open door training games really but the big positive and its imperative for me is that we are seeing forwards shooting at long last and scoring 2 pointers.

If you are a forward now at county level which aspirations on being a top 4 team you have to be scoring regularly. End of story

Those two scores by Tom Lydon are as good as you’ll see all year, same goes for Adam Barrett’s effort from miles out. It is encouraging to see players take on the shots and also to receive the encouragement to take them on.

As for comments in relation to playing the likes of ROD and Aido, we can’t just throw all those young lads in to the mix with no senior players around. A comparison to Galway doesn’t work either, this is Andy’s first year working with the players, Joyce can afford to experiment a lot more.

Agree with MayoMayo I think blending youth and experience is the right way to go. Albeit they could have pulled ROD sooner yesterday. He was my MOTM, tirelessly tackling until the last minute of injury time. A real leader, elite mentality. Need more dogs like him.

Roscommon very under strength and their work rate was abysmal at times. Lads jogging back. Their number 9 Conor Ryan looks a player.

For us, it was evidently a lot of work done on the press and fast transition. A lot of fast hands, dinky hand passes and runners coming with intent off the shoulder.

Impressed with Darragh Beirne again, I think he could go for his own scores more but that’s no bad thing.
Cathal Keaveney really smart and comfortable on the ball. He played most of his football in the forwards. It seems Andy is going for a similar look to Monaghan last year with footballers in the HBL EG: Conor Mc Carthy and DessieWard. It makes sense too, nobody touches the ball more.

Would assume we will see Towey/Coyne/Boland/McHale/Livingston or Phillips/ Carr/ DOC next week blended in with a few younger lads again.
The early signs are positive

I was only following on score beo so didn't see what happened with Paddy Durcan to cause his withdrawal after 25 mins, did he pull up with something or just being hyper cautious?

A fully fit paddy durcan remains essential when we get to the business end as he remains the best big game player in the squad

No, it was a planned substitution similar to the Sligo game. Paddy looked sharp and assured. Would be confident he will get a block of minutes in again next week and be ready to start in Salthill.

A half back line of Durcan - Plunkett - Morahan would be very strong with Keaveney off the bench when the game opens up.

Supermac - max of 6 subs allowed in 2nd half, so to play as many players as possible some subs brought on in 1st half.

Don’t think the Rossies were as bad as all that. Got one goal and could have got three. They shut us out as a goal threat, and Conor Ryan is impressive.

I loved our movement all over the field - a joy to watch. I was quite critical of the way we were brushed aside regularly by Offaly and Sligo, so I think it’s the right approach to blend in the newbies with the experienced crew. It gives the newbies a chance to express themselves, as we saw in the long range efforts in the second half.

Some have mentioned Brick’s rustiness. I have to say he’s vulnerable in one-to-one situations, but he has some great attributes: long range passes, kicking from distance, and one I spotted yesterday, a monster fisted pass that split the Rossies wide open.

Fair enough catcol but surely being pretty solid when defending one on one should be the most important thing you want in a full back? A good fist pass is a basic skill learned at u12 level.

I would assume the reason for playing Ryan, Aido etc is to see how the newbies cope in a more normal scenario. I think if we lump 23 really good prospects together without that guidance you will learn little. Ryan is masterful at running the show.

This comment about blending the youth with experience. Did ye see starting team at the weekend? Four new players started Golden, Keaveney, Howard, & Beirne .

I just don’t see why he wouldn’t do it the other way around . Start 4 or 5 experienced players not 11. And give the senior lads a few minutes at the end.

I just feel Andy is very enthusiastic about the job. But we don’t want him jumping the gun - going flat out in the FBD and National league then flat on our heels in the championship

We have seen this happened before…

History has a habit of repeating itself.

This is not criticism, just an observation

Well it's great Andy is so entuastic ad it really feeds off into the players .

Our guys also need to adopt better to the new rules and practice 2 pointers after the disaster of last year. So I can see why they are been given game time now before the real stuff happens .

I think Andy knows what he doing to be fair .

Not a bad day out. Nice to get a result and good to get more of a sense of how Andy wants the game played. There were a couple of feral Rossies around us that seemed unaware that this is fact, just a pre-season competition, but you love to see it all the same. It added an extra dash of entertainment to a damp but satisfactory day.

Nice to have a final to look forward to, and a chance to see a few more new faces, because I doubt very much we will be naming our strongest/most available 15 until the following week in Salthill. Of course we need to play some of our senior players , so our younger players can learn to play alongside them. That's just common sense surely, and none of them are being flogged. Aido seems to have the engine of a man half his age. Ryan seems mad for road, as you'd expect. 11 suits him, he was magnificent yesterday, as was Jack Carney.

Catcol, I agree that Brickenden's hand pass was fantastic. It really stood out. I would be still worried about his vulnerabilities in defence but will reserve judgement at this early stage of the season.

The moment that summed up the game for me was when, after missing an incredibly easy shot in front of the posts not long after coming on, young Adam Barrett then proceeded to take on another shot from further out and scored an outrageous two-pointer. That to me summed up the new mentality that exists. If you fail, try again. Keep trying. Ditch the fear. Tom Lydon, also. A joy. The culture now seems to be an attacking one, not a conservative one. It's so refreshing after what we spent the last two years watching. Cast off those shackles and go for it.

If I'm not mistaken, we have already well surpassed our 2025 two-point year total, two games into the FBD.
Booked the flights for London on the way home. The boom is back!

👍 Anne-Marie. Am thinking strongly of making the London trip. I have in mind boat and train - like the old days!

Anne Marie - Are there any suitable flights from knock?

Donedeal we are flying out on Friday and back on Monday from Knock. Not cheap mind, Shannon could be an option also.

Anne-marie, steady up now!

Kicking a two pointer when you are 10 points up against a second string Roscommon team with the wind at your back is a lot different to kicking a two pointer when you are two points down in a Connacht Final up in Salthill

Let’s steady the ship, stay in division one, test out some new players. Play some positive football and then rip into the Connacht Championship and then tear down a few trees in last 16 and get to a semi final

Just to provide some background detail on two-point scores, last year and so far this year.

Last year we scored 11 two-pointers over the eight games we played in the League. We scored just three two-pointers in the six Championship games we played. Of those 11 two-point scores in the League, six were from placed balls by Ryan O'Donoghue (five frees and a sideline ball). Two of the three two-pointers in the Championship were also frees converted by Ryan.

In our two FBD games this year we've scored nine two-pointers. Two of these (both against Sligo) were frees by Rob Hennelly but the other seven were from play.

When Jack came back he played very strong teams in the McGrath Cup.

He wanted some level of momentum and a bit of confidence so I can see why Andy would do likewise.

That was a once off but it was needed at the time.

Interesting Mayo scored more 2 pointers on Sunday than they did in 2025.

That's a good start.

@Driveitlong&hard: "Bar the goalie, Molloy and Thompson none of the rest of them even featured at all last year. It’s a total novice set up."

A bit off there. Along with Flaherty, Molloy and Thompson, Cian Hernon and Cillian Ó Curraoin started with Colm Costello off the bench that all saw competitive minutes for them last year.

So we played Roscommon, a D1 side, with 9 lads used who saw a competitive minute last year while Galway faced Leitrim with 6 lads who saw competitive minutes last year (+1 to both sides in theory with Conroy and McGlinchey that both would have seen minutes bar injury). Relatively comparable on that front, though it's a fairly irrelevant measure of anything.

A quick glance at Galway's panel versus Westmeath in a previous challenge had 15 of last years lads involved. All the lads need minutes. Try managing a panel and telling the likes of Jordan, Aido or Shane Walsh they'll not see game time for a few months and see how far you'd get.

- 10 of the 23 that saw minutes for us had never played a minute for Seniors before this year (with 3 lads still u20 for the coming year and 8 lads that were part of last years u20 panel).
- None of the lads involved, regardless of experience, had ever played that type of defensive game (Horan's old press comparable on intensity or work-rate, but the nuances needed to accommodate the new rules still a new challenge) transition game, attacking game or taking on the shots they did at a senior county level.
- None of the lads involved outside of midfield had ever played with the lads in the lines they were selected in at any part in the game, new faces and pairings throughout.

All sorts of tactical and interpersonal tweaks and fixes to be made at this time of the year, along with shaking off the rust and the cobwebs. Nothing better than getting lads on grass to have a look at how a plan pans out once it makes contact with someone else's plan.

"Let’s steady the ship, stay in division one, test out some new players."

1. Feels like it's tipping away nicely. Within and without the panel. Having someone saying they enjoyed seeing the encouragment given to a shot and the confidence to take that shot on (while still an u20) is very different to celebrating that shot in that context. It's the positive environment leading to it being (rightly) cheered.
2. I'd be fully team Nigel on that one. Irrelevant. Couldn't give a hoot whether we stay in D1 or not as long as there's some positive signs on what we're working on, what the lads are attempting to do on the grass, how the lads on the line are reacting to it and how we're rounding out the panel for a push at the Championship.
3. Absolutely.

TsuDhoNim is our very own Factchecker!

Yes fair play @ TsuDhoNim

I usually find your posts Tsudinimh but it's a fair stretch to be using them Galway youngsters like Thompson, henon, o'currain and Costello (have those two even played championship?) and using them as a comparison point to playing Hennelly, Durcan, O'Shea, ROD, Coen, Coyne etc etc

Andy played an experienced team. I don't see why we have to be sugarcoating it or making strange comparisons to excuse it. He obviously saw the benefit of getting near the first team a run out together before the league. Nothing wrong with it so I don't think it needs explaining

@Stephebaite: No sugarcoating involved.

I corrected an incorrect statement on the Galway lads that played against Leitrim who featured last year, and provided a more accurate game versus game comparison. Then pointed out it was meaningless and ultimately irrelevant given a different challenge game for Galway would have had very different numbers.

There was no attempt to excuse it, as you've said it doesn't need any - lads should and need to play, simply to apply some more accurate details to an inaccurate post that mentioned numbers I knew were off.

Along with disagreeing with the premise that experienced lads shouldn't have played, with them (correctly) getting minutes for teams across the country. Sometimes in the pre-season comps and sometimes in challenges outside of those, quite often happening at the same time.

Apologies for a couple of simple typos in my original post @TsuDhoNim

Id suggest you work on your own subtlety

Looking at the team and argument around playing experienced players makes for interesting reading:

1. Hennelly (championship starter, hopefully other keepers are given some minutes in the league)
2. Hession (starter)
3. Brickenden
4. Golden
5. Durcan (starter)
6. Plunkett
7. Keaveney
8. Tuohy
9. McBrien (starter)
10. Duffy
11. ROD (starter)
12. Howard
13. Beirne
14. AIDO
15. Conroy

By my reckoning it was a team with only five championship starters, all others will be looking over their shoulder. You can obviously make an argument for Conroy and Aido, however, Lydon, Barrett, Carr and Cillian I’m sure will have something to say also. In that vein and under new management working on new things such as kick out the team selection isn’t all that surprising.

What exactly is your gripe Stephenite?

"Having someone saying they enjoyed seeing the encouragment given to a shot and the confidence to take that shot on (while still an u20) is very different to celebrating that shot in that context. It’s the positive environment leading to it being (rightly) cheered."

Thanks TsuDhoNim, for this interpretation - it's exactly the point I was making above - before I got slapped on the wrist for getting over-excited.

God forbid after the drudgery and negativity we've experienced since 2021, that anyone celebrate any small cause for optimism around these parts. Down with that sort of thing!

Watch out, Anne-Marie - the no-hype police will be out again in full force before we know it!

I dont see why people get all upset about seeing a "strong team". Remember Mayo haven't played a serious game off football for 7 months and spent the 6 months before that playing a defensive, ponderous game.
So when you actually look at it. The whole panel needs to get some experience in both the style of play and the level of competition , which is a lot higher than Mayo senior club championship.

Rob Hennelly - hasnt played for a few years
Enda Hession - spent last season walking around holding the ball above his head.
Jack Coyne - first season as captain
Liam Golden - first season with Mayo
Paddy Durcan - hasn't played serious football for 3 years
Sam Callinan - has spent the last 3 seasons playing very defensively even for club
Cathal Keaveney - first season for Mayo
Bob Tuohy - has been a bit part player
David McBrien - being experimented at midfield
Diarmuid Duffy - first season
Ryan O’Donoghue - new position
Séamus Howard - first season
Darragh Beirne - first season
Aidan O’Shea - not sure why he is playing this early unless they actually kick ball into him - he has been a ff on a team that wont kick the ball in for 10 years - thats the only reason to play him now
Tommy Conroy - haven't seen him fit for 2 years, needs the game time
Subs:
Jack Livingstone (Breaffy), - firs season
Eoin McGreal (Garrymore), - first season
Michael Plunkett (Ballintubber), - missed last year and has never got a good run of matches to nail down a spot
Stephen Coen (Hollymount/Carramore), - don't see the point of playing Stephen this early - needs to focus on speed training for a while
Rory Brickenden (Westport), - needs to nail down a position
Jack Carney (Kilmeena), - needs to nail down a position
Dylan Thornton (Ballina Stephenites), - needs to nail down a position
Niall Hurley (Claremorris), - first season
Liam Donoghue (Kiltane), - first season
Tom Lydon (The Neale), - first season
Oisín Jordan (Balla). - first season

There is a logical reason for playing 95% of the lads above. Looks like it will be a long year of complaining about selection if lads are getting worked up about FBD matches.

I feel with the injection of u20s from last season, suddenly the squad looks quite interesting..

Fast forward to 1st round of league and I’d like to see a lineup as follows with an alternative in brackets

1. Hennelly (Livingstone)
2. Coyne (Brickenden)
3. McBrien (Golden)
4. McMonagle (McGreal)
5. Hession (Durcan)
6. Durcan (Callinan)
7. Plunkett (Keaveney)
8. Tuohy (Coen)
9. Nathan Moran (Flynn)
10. Finbarr McLaughlin (Howard)
11. ROD (DOC)
12. Jack Carney (Barrett)
13. Darragh Beirne (COC)
14. Tommy Conroy (AOS)
15. Niall Hurley (TLydon)

Some of the lads I’ve in brackets may be unavailable, not sure however it’s very hard to call some of the positions at this point

I’d also be leaning to having 3 natural scorers in the full forward line. You can be a phenomenal target man, great distributor of the ball and all of that but I feel you need to carry a genuine scoring threat in there. Kieran Donaghy used to. I’d be advocating to let the ball in fast and often

“ God forbid after the drudgery and negativity we’ve experienced since 2021”

Ann-Marie was beating Galway and winning the national league in 2023 “drudgery”? Come on!

https://www.gaa.ie/football/news/allianz-fl-d1-mayo-edge-out-galway

tirawleybaron - Diamuid Duffy started against Tyrone in the league in 2024. It’s not his first season, check your history

It’s disappointing seeing all this fake news being posted… can we please stick to the facts

https://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/gaa/arid-41339195.html

I don't see any fake news being posted on here .

@Ann - Marie

Great comment .

F the no-hype police.
I for one am intending to fully lose the run of myself first chance I get.
Two Galway games in a week sounds ideal. I can't remember the last time we beat Galway twice in one week.

"Andy's winning matches.
Boyler's winning games"

Fake news is a bit of an overstatement there, Driveitlong&hard! I’d say most people have forgotten about 2023 (understandably enough) in light of what we had to endure in the two years since. The Diarmuid Duffy example was a simple mistake - fair enough to call it out but no need to make it out to be anything more than that.

Mayo lads doing well for UL in first half in Sigerson. C McHale probably man of the match so far. Himself, Irwin, Morahan and Dawson all on the scoresheet and Jack Melvin unlucky not to get a goal.

With the greatest of respect Driveitlong&hard, 2023 was a grand day out, and a good achievement, but if the only highlight we can can come up with over the last few years is winning a competition that sadly no-one has been particularly bothered about winning since we won it ourselves in 2019 (now that was a good day), well, it kinda proves my point. Although I will concede that any day you beat Galway is a very good day!

As I recall, the win didn't do us a whole lot of good either. But props to you for your positivity about it, best be careful now with that outlook or you might find yourself getting excited about the future too, and no-one wants that 😉