Just thinking of the game and seeing who will pair up against each other. Any thoughts?

Trevor Mortimer - Paul Galvin ????
Keith Higgins - Gooch ?????
??????? - Donaghy
Vaughan - O'Sullivan

It would be interesting prospect with Mortimer and Galvin having a little tussle, Higgins might be our best bet on the Gooch..

Higgins is needed on Darren O'Sullivan cause Gooch plays further out the pitch these days. O'Sullivan is a massive threat inside..

andy moran-tomas o se will be some battle if o se is fit

Trevor is an injury concern what happened

In defence I would say Tom Cunniffe would have the pace and discipline to keep with Declan O'Sullivan who will roam throughout. Keith Higgins would certainly match Darren O'Sullivans for speed and Mayo need to have lads who can keep up with this pace as Kerry are sure to run at Mayo from the off. Richie Feeney marking Donnacha Walsh should be fairly even as a match up as would be a fit Trevor Mortimer on Paul Galvin. However that leaves Donaghy and Cooper. Vaughan might be better on Donaghy but that leaves Cafferkey on Cooper. Would Chris Barrett be better suited to try and man mark Copper than Cafferkey? I know Barrett had a nightmare at full back against Dublin in the league and he is really a wing back but he's that tigerish type of player that could do well on Cooper. Whats the story with Howley does anyone know?

Everyone is concerned by the matchups in defence but what about up front? Moran and Dillon are sure to be targeted by Kerry and Dillon was well marshalled in 2006 by players who he will face again on Sunday. I'm a huge fan of Moran but Mayo need someone else to step up get 5-6 points from play. Cillian O'Connor is capable of a big score if he's in around the goals but is likely to be deployed out around the middle third like against Cork. I'm not convinced that the other forwards have the strength to make the ball stick when it goes in inside.

The midfield battle

I'd not really thought about any of the individual battles until today....having a look at probable/potential lineups there are massive battles all over the pitch. It really is going to be a dogfight from 1-15. Looking at the two lineups below, one thing that struck me was so many of the players would appear to have complementary attributes in comparison with their direct opponent (e.g. Mortimer -v- Galvin = two athletic, physical players, Higgins -v- Cooper = agile, sharp bursts of pace; O'Sé -v- Moran = tigerish, physical, like to roam)

B Kealy

K Young M O'Se T O'Sullivan
C O'Connor A Freeman E Varley

T O'Se E Brosnan A O'Mahony
A Moran A Dillon K McLoughlin

A Maher B Sheehan
S O'Shea A O'Shea

P Galvin Da O'Sullivan D Walsh
T Mortimer D Vaughan R Feeney

C Cooper K Donaghy Dec O' Sullivan
K Higgins G Cafferkey T Cunniffe

R Hennelly

It's incredibly difficult to call. The Kerry management and players I'm sure are aware that this Mayo collective is very different to previous incarnations in terms of physicality, abrasiveness and endurance - hopefully after Sunday the wider media and public will realise this also. Very hopeful of an upset but realise Kerry must still be considered favourites - tradition, history and their potential firepower from 10 to 15 demands it.

cunniffe will take cooper , higgins against darran osullivan will be a massive battle both incredibly fast , higgins will have to watch darran osullivan particulalry carefully when kieran donaghy receives the ball because osullivan loves to make runs off him , mortimer and galvin will be massive should it happen both are in the twilights of their career , are brilliant under the breaking ball and play on the edge , cunniffe on cooper will also be massive , cunniffe did brilliantly against donnocha oconnor the last day but the gooch will be a step up although he has struggled badly since the limerick game in munster , vaughan will have his work cut out on stopping player of the year candidate declan osullivan who has two man of the match awards to his name out of four games , jason doherty on tom osullivan , marc ose on andy moran and cillian oconnor on enright will all be key battles ......................the biggest battle on the pitch will be that of kieran donaghy and ger cafferkey , cafferkey isnt suited to skillful and fast players , donaghy should suit him tbh

To be honest, the team lineups above are quite even in terms of match ups. The players marking each other are quite similar in style. I would worry about Vaughan on O Sullivan. He doesn't have the pace and he isn't agile enough. He is much more a robust, strong running centre half. I think the key for Mayo could be Alan Freeman. The Kerry full back line isn't huge and Freeman is very strong in the air. If he wins primary possession then he will be difficult to deal with and the two corner forwards should benefit from playing off him. I can see Horan starting with Freeman at FF and testing O Se in the air. I think we can get goals this way, if we can get the ball in fast enough. Midfield will be absolutely vital to achieve this as I think the Mayo half forward line and the Kerry half back line will almost cancel each other out. This is unless Dillon can give Brosnan a tour of the park. However, it doesn't look likely that Brosnan will start.

James Horan v Jack O'Connor: past encounters have seen Mayo take the field with no discernable gameplan and this has been down to the Jack O'Connor's shrewdness in bringing about mismatches and having his players exploit them to unhinge Mayo early. JH will have been studying Kerry just as closely and will be looking at finding similar advantages, just as he did when putting Andy Moran in on Shields v Cork. He'll also have been studying the way Down went about things last year and will have noted that Tyrone strictly never go man for man with Kerry at the back. Where O'Connor tends to be weak is in making changes to turn a game when it's not going Kerry's way - people have often commented the same thing about Micko, who only really had to start thinking about a plan B when he moved away to manage teams other than his great Kerry side (he hardly ever made a substitution unless for injury). If we can't be made to lie down early and can counter plan A on Sunday it'll be interesting to see if JO'C has anything new up his sleeve which he couldn't conjure up either last year v Down or in the games against Tyrone. Even Kerry against Cork this year in Munster, it was plan A in the first half and when this wasn't working in the second, it was still plan A. Hopefully our lads will put Kerry in a similar spot on Sunday... the start will be vital, as we'll have to keep Kerry out of their groove or knock them out of it as quickly as possible if we're to win the game. A big ask, but no mission impossible!

As someone who has played on this pitch, i'd be very afraid that some mayo players would have the wrong studs on their boots. Might seem like a small concern, but if i'm right, you'll see a lot of mistakes by mayo players. I'll guarantee Kerry have thought of this.

Fair play to you dandy,a true hero to us all!any other major milestones in your life you'd like to get off your chest!!!???

After speaking to a player after the cork game,studs/blades was an issue.players wore both but were still slipping so it's hard to know what to wear.many put it down to the fact that the grass was so short that it offered very little grip,esp with the drizzle it made.I'm sure they'll have thought this through as best they can,hopefully an important slip/mistake won't be the losing of the game on Sunday.

I would be very surprised if Killian Young doe not match up with Andy Moran.

If you're true to your name Kerry_Hoor that's never going to happen, is it?

Pericles
County: Mayo
Posts: 615

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If you're true to your name Kerry_Hoor that's never going to happen, is it?


Well he would be the best equipped of our backs to deal with him if he decides to wander out the field. If he plays closer to goals then Marc will pick him up.

Thanks for tactical tip-off Cute_Kerry_Hoor... I'm assuming most of your countymen and women are either not as avid as yourself or are busy discussing the match on local forums... there isn't even an active thread on the Kerry pages of HS specifically for the semi-final. Still you're more than welcome here... it's always good to get the view from the other side. Either of the lads you suggested would be better markers on Andy than Sheilds was... I've no doubt that Jack O'Connor will be anxious to shut Andy, Alan Dillon and our midfield down, probably by swarming on them... they'll need to move the ball quickly to avoid getting mugged. Our plans will be similar for Kerry's playmakers... I expect the first 20 minutes to be played at a ferocious pace, with a lot of hard hits (some legal!) going in...

Well Pericles, there is a lot of talk about the match around the streets down here, so don't be fooled by the lack of activity on the Kerry HS Forum...sure we still haven't quite figured out how to use the WWW!!! Seriously though, the team named last night is as expected by most of us and we are not expecting a walkover Sunday. Killian Young is named corner back again but I am sure that Kerry will go man-to-man with ye.

I suspect we won't be doing the same (going strictly man for man) Cute_Kerry_Hoor... I'd say the plan will be to move your defenders all around the pitch and to get numbers on the man in possession. I doubt we'll be playing with more than 4 forwards, but then ye mightn't be either. One very dominant midfielder from either side could make a huge difference. I see Liam McHale thinks it's time to start RMcG in that sector, but I'd be surprised if either O'Shea gets dropped... they've both been playing with a lot of determination, and might feel they've a point to prove on Sunday.