Well done Kerry. Richly deserved today.

Treaty_Exile (Limerick) - Posts: 386 - 30/08/2014 21:54:52    1644972

I was shouting for Kerry, I usually do, but the ref gave them some ridiculously soft frees in the first half of ET when it looked like Mayo might pull away. Looked like he was trying to make it an exciting finish.

ballydalane (Kilkenny) - Posts: 1246 - 30/08/2014 22:00:16    1644980

Fair play to Kerry on winning yesterday's intriguing game.
I really didn't see that result coming.
To all the Kerry posters - I had a slice of humble pie. :o)

Kerry subs made a difference and ihe old heads had a huge contribution.

Gonna be so difficult for Mayo to come back from this.
A team can only take so many defeats in semi"s and finals.

Thought the negative tactics on show ruined the spectacle slghtly but it had tension & intensity and must have been some game to be at.
A lot of cuteness on show by Kerry throughout and their game plan won the day.

Shows once again you can Never write Kerry off.

Fionn (Dublin) - Posts: 3733 - 31/08/2014 08:43:58    1644999

I was saying it before the game. When we drew with Armagh in 2000, the replay went to extra-time and we won out. Yesterday was history repeating itself, except for the fact the replay was not in Croke Park and different opposition obviously!

Moran was awesome. He has been a huge loss in recent years due to injury. Star was fantastic. I wasn't sure if it was the right approach to take from the start but it worked out. I said at the beginning of the year we'll focus on getting to the final first. Some quipped was that our ambitions. Not all all was my response! Sure ye have to get to the final first if ye have ambitions to win it! Our opponents in the final will be favourites. We have no qualms about that whatsoever. Our last three semi-finals, the capital last year and Mayo twice this year, have been three great games. We've lost one, drawn one and won one. We're still a team in transition. It's not often a team like that makes a final. Sure look we're there. Bring it on!

legendzxix (Kerry) - Posts: 7868 - 31/08/2014 08:44:40    1645000

That game was like a royal rumble, a battle, almost old school, great stuff and rare enough in the modern game!

realdub (Dublin) - Posts: 8596 - 31/08/2014 09:17:50    1645019

Kerry were very cynical at the end of the game. Very cynical. But none of their players deserved within the rules to be red carded.

I posted last night about this but it never made it past admin - I assume because I actually cited players.

Instead I will water it down and say look at a replay of the game and make your own mind up. I will point you directly to extra time and two incidents the clock reading 19:42 and the clock reading 20:06 and I ask you is this or is it not eye gouging?

Unlike previous post I am not making an accusation here but simply looking for peoples opinion.

If it is eye gouging surely that constitutes red cards?

Naysayer (Antrim) - Posts: 2071 - 31/08/2014 10:18:08    1645037

Devastated totally drained after that and I can only imagine how our players and James Horan feel this morning. Thanks for four great years. Mayo supporters were increadable at the game (bar the one or two Egeits running on the field) but it was frustration from the decisions and antics on the field, still no excuse. Kerry were slightly better and more cute than us. Got horrid abuse from a few Kerry fans after the game rubbing salt into the wounds calling us losers and will never win anything... Maybe they are right....

Talk of Mayo falling of the cliff into the abyss are way of the mark though. We always come back.

yew_tree (Mayo) - Posts: 11236 - 31/08/2014 11:10:24    1645065

Hearts are breaking. Kerry were supposed to be on the decline. Fitzmaurice has brought an unheralded young team to an All-Ireland final and they're in the minor final too. Even if they win neither, it's not bad for a dying football county, eh? People believe what they want to believe. I wouldn't take much notice of posters who think Dublin would hammer Kerry either. 90% of people backed Mayo to win, that didn't work out for them. Keep knocking Kerry... that's what they need you to do!

Treaty_Exile (Limerick) - Posts: 386 - 31/08/2014 11:13:24    1645070

yew_tree
County: Mayo
Posts: 6008

1645065
Got horrid abuse from a few Kerry fans after the game rubbing salt into the wounds calling us losers and will never win anything... Maybe they are right....

Yew_tree, that's not on at all, sorry you had to put up with it. Mayo have nothing to be ashamed of after a titanic tussle yesterday.

Treaty_Exile (Limerick) - Posts: 386 - 31/08/2014 11:28:03    1645084

I do not post often, (I'm sure that comment will receive a few 'thank gods' from the narrow minded after my next remark), because I get annoyed at some of the bitterness and outright disregard for opponent sometimes voiced in postings. Craic & banter are fair and welcome in sport but thickness? I thought we left that in the trees a few millennia ago? Fair play to Kerry, they are a great footballing county. regardless of what mode the game will veer towards as its new style of play, they adapt to the changes very well & consistently. Get it in your heads, they are the best footballing county, no arguments please. Others come & go, great teams indeed, but class is eternal, not a fleeting moment. Here is hoping that the Dublin v Donegal match today is half as good as what Mayo and Kerry provided us with in their epic semi final struggles of late. Well done Mayo and Kerry. Up the Dubs and good luck Donegal.

lostintime (USA) - Posts: 533 - 31/08/2014 11:35:14    1645088

One more viewpoint, who have been in three of the most (if not the most) exciting games of the past twelve months? Astounding it is those cynical players from Kerry!!! Last years semi final against the Dubs and these two Mayo matches, scintillating encounters all. Terrible those Kerry folk are, they should be banned from the Championship-ha. That of course is a shot of sarcasm intended for those who knock Kerry football on these pages.

lostintime (USA) - Posts: 533 - 31/08/2014 11:49:46    1645091

Both games provided fantastic entertainment, Kerry were just that little bit cuter which is why they are in the final.I thought the ref let a lot of fouls go in trying to let the game 'flow' .Its not the job of the ref to let it flow, he's there to enforce the rules fairly for both sides.
Ultimately Mayo can only blame themselves, they were too cautious in the first half of the drawn game, then they blew a 5 point lead in the last 5 minutes.
They can't complain about any cynicism from Kerry, they have shown themselves more than capable of the same.

Condorman (Dublin) - Posts: 983 - 31/08/2014 12:00:43    1645094

Got to laugh our northern cousins for years said us simple Kerry folk had no backbone and a soft centre, as soon as we play hard and fair we get knocked. Fair play to some Dublin cousins on here are give honest opinions on the game. We are team rebuilding at the moment, so a final experience this year is a bonus. Mayo are missing a top class forward, every county needs two to win Sam unfortunately Mayo have one in C O Connor, Mayo have some good underage teams the past few years, they will be back next year. I rank Dublin No 1 , while Mayo Kerry and Donegal are on the next level down.

kerryrowz (Kerry) - Posts: 833 - 31/08/2014 12:11:34    1645102

Hard luck Mayo, Lads stay together, yous have a good team,and with young player s yous wont be far away,all the best to James, in what ever he does now, it s heartbreaking, but i feel we have not heard the last of Jame s or Mayo, well done Kerry and good luck in the final.

mchugh11 (Donegal) - Posts: 242 - 31/08/2014 13:01:44    1645135

From a Mayo perspective Ger Cafferky was exposed big time when asked to mark Donaghy in both games. I thought Cafferky was better than that. He looked to be a token presence beside Donaghy much of the time and any time he competed for the ball it looked like a half-hearted effort. Donaghy was shrugging him off with ease. I would argue if Mayo had a man good enough to even compete 50-50 with Donaghy , they'd have won comfortably.

Lee Keegan was also poor after the reprieve he got during the week. He's always been one of Mayo's best competitors but he seemed off the pace yesterday. A bigger performance from him could have tipped the game in Mayo's favour.

Two Mayo players who must be shoe-ins for AllStars are Colm Boyle and Keith Higgins. They should surely take consolation in bowing out like they did.

I don't know why Ritchie Feeney was brought on and if anyone can answer that, they might also explain why he wasn't taken off straight away. He added nothing.

Former_Poster (Meath) - Posts: 394 - 31/08/2014 13:11:16    1645141

The hurt is immense and it never gets any easier. We offer no excuses because this Mayo team does not deserve to be patronized - they are too serious about their football for that. Only the coward looks for excuses and there are no cowards on this Mayo team - we had the opportunities over the two games to win and we failed to take those opportunities.

Kerry were ahead at the end on the scoreboard but for raw courage and heart Mayo and Kerry are and were inseparable. Both sides deserve massive respect and thanks for the entertainment they provided. Mayo and Kerry have earned the right to be respected - so respect them!

Commiserations to our gallant Mayo team and congratulations to the men from the Kingdom. Kerry lost Colm Cooper in February and had a spate of greats retiring and yet remain hugely competitive and heading into another All Ireland Final - there some county! I have no time for those begrudgers who say they want to see them wiped out in the final, I want Kerry to win the final and do justice to this epic semi-final and the effort given by Mayo.

I am so proud of this Mayo team for their efforts over the last 4 year and to James Horan you leave with your head high. This football Championship overall has been a poor one but Mayo and Kerry deserve great credit for producing a semi-final that will surely stand the test of time as some of the best games of Gaelic football ever played.

JamesH (Mayo) - Posts: 465 - 31/08/2014 13:29:50    1645154

What a privilege to be in the terrace yesterday to witness another famous Kerry win. While not most skilful game I've ever seen it had everything, huge passion, bravery, intensity and commitment. No quarter asked or given, the amount of times we had it won, lost, won and lost again before finally powering on. Epic,heroic. Just goes to show the value of tradition, no man deemed worthy to wear the famous Kerry jersey will ever leave it down.

To our Mayo friends what can I say, I hope your so proud of those men, I would be. Lesser men would simply have decided the Goods were against them and accepted the inevitable, but over 160 mins they refused to die, refused to break and kept coming back. A credit to the heather county and certainly finest Mayo side I have ever seen. Really sorry James Horan decided to step aside, although I can understand why, really liked him just got on with things, no fuss, no outbursts, no drama a real genuine fella. I hope all this is not taken as a Kerryman being patronizing,its genuine respect and that's coming from someone who never really rated Mayo teams of old. Can I just ask ye something, why in gods name can't ye play like that in a final?? You would have won handy last year if you showed that heart and intensity. I just don't understand it.

Yew-tree I'm sorry you had to put up with few morons, every county has them I suppose. how any genuine Kerry GAA person could have nothing but respect for Mayo and their team after that is beyond my understanding.

This was a game that recalled the great saga's of the past, no negative tactics, swarm defences or other bullsh**. Just 15 men on 15, physical, brave, manic, intense, 30 warriors going toe to toe and refusing to give an inch, and some great drama and great scores all thrown in!

I see a few people are claiming ref handed Kerry the match, how does this country function when so many people are so negative and begrudging. A hair's breath between both side, but Kerry were just about the better team over two games. Ref might have made questionable call of two for Kerry, last week ref did same for Mayo, things balance themselves out. As for scuffle at end, it was a bit of pulling and dragging FFS. you'd swear people were having their heads kicked in or legs broken. I guess some people just hate seeing Kerry do well.

Nothing won yet and finals are nothing new to us down here. Delighted that was clear message in all player interviews after as JOD put it so well, all this means sweet F all if he doesn't have a medal in his pocket for the winter. Lot of injury concerns too to worry us and impact on preparations. But look, be it Dublin or Donegal we will be there to meet them in the old way, the Kerry way in three weeks.

The Kingdom's men will never fear anyone in any football match. An Riocht Abu!!!

TheHermit (Kerry) - Posts: 6354 - 31/08/2014 13:35:54    1645157

As a neutral, probably the greatest sporting occasion I've ever attended. Super stuff. Kerry showing again what a great county they are, as a Limerick man, knows a bit how Mayo must feel. Well done to both teams

pj_mcmanus (Limerick) - Posts: 431 - 31/08/2014 17:02:26    1645238

Treaty_Exile
County: Limerick
Posts: 311

1645070
Hearts are breaking. Kerry were supposed to be on the decline. Fitzmaurice has brought an unheralded young team to an All-Ireland final and they're in the minor final too. Even if they win neither, it's not bad for a dying football county, eh? People believe what they want to believe. I wouldn't take much notice of posters who think Dublin would hammer Kerry either. 90% of people backed Mayo to win, that didn't work out for them. Keep knocking Kerry... that's what they need you to do!

Who said anything about Dublin hammering Kerry in the final?

Naysayer (Antrim) - Posts: 2071 - 31/08/2014 17:20:24    1645285

Only back, better team won, no excuses. We were naive again. Pity about a few supporters making a show of us. We should take our beating and move on, not good enough end of story.

TheFlaker (Mayo) - Posts: 7907 - 31/08/2014 18:57:11    1645439