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I'm not sure that there has been much talking up of Mayo, apart from a cute Kerry lad and that Flynn lad from Meath. Agree with you about the two horse race. Tyrone despite the League position are probably vying for third with Galway but a considerable distance behind the front two. In racing parlance it would be Dublin by two lengths followed by Kerry with Galway and Tyrone a further five lengths back and the rest nowhere.
Llaw_Gyffes (Mayo) - Posts: 1113 - 25/02/2019 21:19:17 2168170 Link 1 |
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That's more like it. Much better than the Dubs saying nice things about us. That's when you know you're on the way out!
Llaw_Gyffes (Mayo) - Posts: 1113 - 25/02/2019 21:26:50 2168174 Link 0 |
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Sur we all know Cooper wasn't trying to pull the Mayo lad down, he was only trying to give him a cuddle. Clondalkin it's what the black card was brought in for. To stop the cynical fouls and that was about as cynical as it gets. Some Dubs think they're gods gift to the GAA
cluichethar (Mayo) - Posts: 517 - 25/02/2019 21:36:03 2168180 Link 3 |
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We will be there or thereabouts fella... There is no doubt about that.
cacsmckilly (Tyrone) - Posts: 1294 - 25/02/2019 22:05:22 2168190 Link 0 |
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I think Jim Gavin's motivation in playing his strongest hand available was to dent the morale of the younger Mayo players. The Dubs have benefited from being able to introduce younger players into a winning team. Confidence separates winners from losers and is worth 4 or 5 points between talent equals. The only question is if he misplaced his anticipation of where the main threat to the Dubs five in a row will come from, or if there's any real threat. Maybe he just fears complacency? Pericles (Mayo) - Posts: 2521 - 25/02/2019 22:17:38 2168191 Link 0 |
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Agreed. Dublin miles ahead . They toyed with us in final , could have been a cricket score but kept it respectable for sake of the game. Kerry think they're good but not good enough... Dublin showed glimpse what they are all about swating aside mayo..we are all on a serious up hill challenge .... Against what is best county team ever to play the game ... Dublin are awesome .
cacsmckilly (Tyrone) - Posts: 1294 - 25/02/2019 22:21:00 2168194 Link 2 |
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So you'd have has no problem Harrison going off for the exact same tackle on Mannion? Or perhaps you didn't see it? Your last sentence is childish in the extreme btw.
Jackeen (Dublin) - Posts: 4097 - 26/02/2019 01:41:39 2168224 Link 3 |
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Wow I don't know how you got "dubs think their God's gift to gaa" from my answer , I said it's a ridiculous rule but the rule is you have to pull a man to the ground on purpose. I've been on here giving out about the rule since it was introduced saying it's ridiculous that you can cynically pull a man back but if he's not pulled to the ground then it's not a black card crazy rule. In Coopers case the ref by the letter of the law got it right that's all I'm saying. clondalkindub (Dublin) - Posts: 9926 - 26/02/2019 02:41:16 2168226 Link 4 |
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Reape was poor against The Dubs in Croke Park, his first serious test. He has a lot of work to do as you say and may ultimately never make it. But he's worth holding onto and should be given as many opportunities as Loftus or Regan. Coen was a great underage player and captain. I'm definitely missing something because I don't know what he brings that's so different or better than his teammates. I have to admire the man's dedication as many players would walk away if they're not getting regular gametime. Would be great to see a championship midfield of Ruane or Vaughan with Diarmuid but I think the less mobile Seamus O'Sé with less football ability will return and Diarmuid back on the wing. Horan could do just as well if not better this summer by trying something different. Same only brings us so far. GreenandRed (Mayo) - Posts: 7923 - 26/02/2019 10:04:12 2168255 Link 2 |
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If you are Cacs, then let's hope for something less passive from Tyrone than we've seen the last couple of years. How many of these lads would trouble your noughties team for places? Apart from Peter Harte and arguably one or two others who might be worth a bench place, they're just not proving to be the same class.
Pericles (Mayo) - Posts: 2521 - 26/02/2019 10:19:14 2168261 Link 0 |
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I respectfully disagree and point out that if what youre saying was the case then Stephen Cluxton starts the game and you probably play MdMcA in midfield as the more experienced one ahead of Darren Gavin and you dont leave someone who scored high 90's in terms of % of frees last year on your bench. I dont think JG is the type to be into psychological mind games. Fact is the absolute vast majority of that Mayo starting team and bench are not newcomers at all. Theyre all very experienced bar maybe 3 players last Saturday evening If JG is into making statements then Tralee was the time to send out messages and dent confidence as they played a far more inexperienced side and in their own back yard too. Jim Gavin doesn't really care about sending out statements, Jim cares about Dublin and improving Dublin and you can see yet again he is evolving the team like he always does by giving Evan Comerford, Darren Gavin and Cormac Costello a run in the team. Dublin picked a very strong team because their league preperations are well under way now (like everyone else) and if we dont get to a league final, weve potentially only 4 games left before last Saturday evening to get players up to scratch for the summer. You got a performance from Dublin on Saturday that continued the upward trajectory of what weve seen so far this year and put it all together. We started the game well against Monaghan in week 1 and fell off a cliff, 2nd games v galway we where better, down in Tralee we finished the game well towards the end knocking over 5 of the last 6 scores and last weekend was a more complete display in terms of all round intensity for my money. We will be better against Roscommon, Tyrone and Cavan in the aspects of game management and fitness and that's the aim of the league, getting to a final would be a nice little bonus if it happens. waynoI (Dublin) - Posts: 13654 - 26/02/2019 12:52:55 2168328 Link 4 |
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I take your point in relation to Dean Rock, Wayno, though maybe a little less in relation to MDMcA, who hasn't been a first choice for a while now. I'm not accusing Jim Gavin of anything devious, far from it, that's for sure. Handing out a good beating would have a value in the context of the younger players on the Mayo (or any other) side, whereas nothing that happened on Saturday evening would have phased the likes of Keegan, Durcan, Harrison etc who are in their prime with enough experience to have seen it all before. It might have created some doubts though amongst the older lads on the cusp of hanging up their boots, that this year won't be bringing the reward they've stayed on hoping to collect. Before the league started I wondered if the Dubs would be looking to step things up for the Mayo match, and I think there's no denying that's what we saw the last night. That might only have been blowing away the cobwebs and Mayo just happened to be on the menu the way the fixtures fell but, whether planned, or incidental, there's no doubt that JG places a value on the psychological. What made Mayo competitive against the Dubs for all those summers was the core belief that they could go man for man, that they were individually good enough. The reason other sides didn't do that is because they suffered damage when last they did. This then rendered them tentative and negative for future meetings, in other words most of the way towards being beaten before taking the pitch. All good sides in all sports like to do damage to ease their task in future and the reason they do is because it works. The question is whether Mayo were genuinely looking for something out of the game at the weekend (in other words, not like the past 3 or 4 years) and I suspect JH might have been.
Pericles (Mayo) - Posts: 2521 - 26/02/2019 14:46:33 2168377 Link 0 |
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I was more thinking MdMcA for the experience and obvious quality he has, but JG went for the inexperienced Darren Gavin over what would have been the easier option of MdMcA. In the same way he picked young Evan over Stephen Cluxton. I know you aren't accusing JG of anything devious, I wasn't suggesting that you were at all Pericles. You ask if the question is whether Mayo where genuinely looking for something out of the game ? I cant answer that as im not in the camp, but id suggest that having not beaten Jim Gavin's Dublin in 13 attempts prior to the weekend (almost 7 years), a lot of the more experienced players and James Horan would have looked at it and gone, Lets at least rattle them. Its no excuse, but it is a fact that Dublin aren't back as long as Mayo, Its a fact that Dublin hadn't had a great start to the league result wise, and It would have made Dublin worry (genuinely) about relegation and while the league isn't the be all and end all, Its no coincidence that teams that perform and get a bit of momentum in Division 1 generally tend to have decent championship campaigns, and while I don't believe Dublin worry about whether they get to a league final or not, I do believe that the prospect of relegation brings a different pressure that they've no experienced as a drop to D2 and all of a sudden a drop in standard of opposition in the spring for Dublin could be an issue then come the following championship. Another Dublin defeat also makes people take note. 3 defeats in 4 and even Mayo who never beat a JG team beating them would boost confidence of others not to mention the Mayo lads. Even after all that, it wasn't the fact Mayo lost that was disappointing, It was the manner. 3 pts from play in 70 minutes is dour stuff. waynoI (Dublin) - Posts: 13654 - 26/02/2019 16:20:35 2168432 Link 2 |
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The only consolation Wayno, if there is one, is that there's no hiding from a performance like that... a fairly even share of possession I thought, but just 3 points over 70 minutes is pretty stark. I thought Comerford had a good game the last day... found his man every time that I can remember. Our lads didn't really test him too much in any other dept... Probably not the worst thing that we've got Galway at the weekend. We might be having a hangover if it was any other team, but whoever JH puts out on the pitch the next day will be focussing on maroon and nothing else. We've got to get that spider monkey off our backs even if we couldn't ditch the gorilla! Pericles (Mayo) - Posts: 2521 - 26/02/2019 16:51:41 2168448 Link 0 |
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you made an idiotic statement saying Cooper didn't mean to bring him down. How do you know what he meant to do. The outcome was he dragged him to the ground, it was a cynical foul, the exact thing the black card was brought in to discourage. Mayo got 2 black cards for far less infractions. I now know that you know what a foolish comment is by calling me out on my last sentence of my previous post, so you should also know that your take on the ref getting it right with Cooper is also foolish.
cluichethar (Mayo) - Posts: 517 - 26/02/2019 17:49:05 2168464 Link 0 |
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Your obviously a wum ,good luck.
clondalkindub (Dublin) - Posts: 9926 - 26/02/2019 18:06:58 2168470 Link 3 |
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Who me, never.
cluichethar (Mayo) - Posts: 517 - 26/02/2019 20:38:12 2168501 Link 0 |
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Looks as if Horan is going to have another shot at it with the old reliables though. If you look back at the team that started the 2013 final all bar three, Tom Cunniffe, Alan Dillon and Alan Freeman got a run out on Saturday. Horan is in a difficult position to be fair as he is struggling to find the quality to replace the lads he has. His big problem is that he has no ready made replacements. Normally you would expect to have lads who have been on the fringes of the panel for a few years, with the requisite strength and conditioning, ready to step in to replace the older lads. These would usually be in the twenty four to twenty eight age group and would be in, or coming into, their prime. In our case the lads who would fit that bill just don't seem, for whatever reason, to be good enough. I'm thinking of the likes of Shane Nally, Danny Kirby, Conor O Shea, David Drake Caolin Crowe and a few others. These were supposed to be the next generation but it just hasn't happened. Therefore Horan has to turn to the likes of Plunkett, O Donoghue and Reape from the winning U21 team as well as even younger lads like McDonagh and Diskin and it will take time to get them up to speed. So does he go ahead with his best team, have a shot at the super eights and with a bit of luck maybe get as far as a semi final. Or does he start the rebuild now by giving the youngsters more game time and introduce the likes of Janes Durkin, Ryan O Donoghue and Cian Hanley down the line. He may not get as far in the Championship but it would make next years task a lot easier. I would be tempted to hope he goes with the former but I think we are just too far behind the Dubs and probably are behind Kerry and Galway as well. If he goes with the latter we could be in for a few lean years with no guarantee of ultimate success. As my old neighbour used to say "may God direct him to the best".
Llaw_Gyffes (Mayo) - Posts: 1113 - 26/02/2019 22:46:55 2168528 Link 0 |
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Llaw, the likes of Harrison, DOC, Eoin O'Donoghue, Conor Loftus, Regan have all been integrated into the side since 2013 as well. Gleebo (Mayo) - Posts: 2208 - 26/02/2019 23:36:30 2168540 Link 0 |
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On that basis O'Shea should have seen red in the first half......
witnof (Dublin) - Posts: 1604 - 27/02/2019 07:36:04 2168564 Link 0 |