The news on David Brady and Kevin O'Neill isn't great and it looks as if we'll have to do without both of them for a few matches. Speaking after the game, Johnno told the Western People that DB's calf injury was "severe enough" and that he'd be out for a few weeks. He confirmed that KoN's problem is a hamstring and that he'll also need a few weeks to recover.
It's almost certain that both will miss the trip to Clones to face Fermanagh on Sunday week and, most likely, we'll also be without them for the extremely difficult away clash with Cork two weeks after that. They could, I suppose, be back for the Dublin game but fitness will be a problem at that stage. Realistically, we may have to do without them for the remaining four league matches.
DB's absence is a big blow. Since his (latest) comeback, he's established himself as a key man for us - in my view, he's now the first name on the teamsheet. When he's on the pitch, we don't get bullied or bossed around the place and his snarling, Alpha Male presence in the middle seems to give heart to everyone around him. Look at the effect he had on the team when he came on against Kerry last September: he arrived at the scene of a car crash but he quickly put manners on Donaghy and, for a brief while, we were back in the game. Last Sunday, our early fluency left us once he went off and a better team than Limerick would have made more productive use of all that primary possession they were winning off McGarritty and Harte in midfield.
These two - especially McGarritty - have a huge responsibility to take on in Brady's absence in the next few games. If they can't do this, then we need to start looking elsewhere for midfielders. I'd be hopeful that Harte is up to it but I'm not so sure about Ronan, not least because of his basketball commitments. Don't get me wrong, Ronan is a talented player but 2006 wasn't a great year for him and he needs to start providing proof that he deserves a place in the first fifteen. As things stand, I have my doubts.
KoN will also be missed. According to Sean Rice in the Mayo News, his placing on the Forty was a big success last Sunday, resulting in plenty of quick, accurate ball into Campbell and Moran. It's true that, in his absence, we have lots of different options in the forwards (Mort, Austie, Killer and Conroy could all come in) but we're still lacking an intelligent playmaker and if KoN was shaping up well to take on this role, it's a pity that the experiment can't be continued with over the next few matches.
Elsewhere, Conor Mort is talking about the new regime and Andy Moran is interviewed about Sligo IT, with whom he's been playing a starring role since the start of the year (which included helping to inflict defeat on Mayo in the FBD League!).
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Monday, February 26, 2007
Mayo 1-10, Limerick 0-7: early scores prove decisive
Mayo secured two valuable league points yesterday at Castlebar but their six-point win over Limerick was anything but convincing. The visitors kicked ten wides and twice hit the posts late on so the winning margin flattered us somewhat. It's worth noting that while the 1-10 we scored yesterday was good enough for a win, the same score a fortnight ago up in Ballybofey saw us lose by three points. The quality of the opposition yesterday - in a county where gaelic football only ranks fourth in the pecking order (after rugby, hurling and soccer, in that order) - was clearly not as high as the previous day. This fact was also confirmed yesterday by Donegal's quite comfortable win over the hapless Dubs.
Still, the points are in the bag and, if we manage two more against Fermanagh up in Clones on Sunday week, the nightmare prospect of Division 3 football next year should be avoided. A step up in form will still be needed, however, if we are to retain Division 1 status next year.
There were a few positional switches from the team announced in advance, with Kevin O'Neill swapping places with Ger Brady and Trevor Mortimor coming out to left-half forward and Alan Dillon taking his place at full-forward. KoN's original placing in the half-forward line was strange enough but moving him to centre-forward was even more odd. However, that paled beside the switching of Alan Dillon to full-forward. Messiah, what you up to?
It's difficult to know how the rejigged lineup would have fared but an early injury to DB (after only nine minutes) meant that we wouldn't get the chance to find out. Up till then, Mayo were cruising - they had raced into a 1-2 to 0-0 lead, Trevor getting the goal - but once the Main Man departed (to be replaced by clubmate Pat Harte), gone too went much of the coherence in Mayo's performance. When the Skipper limped off shortly before half-time, Mayo lost another leader but by then, with the score at 1-6 to 0-2, the points were more or less secure.
The second half performance was ragged enough, with Limerick cutting the deficit to four points and missing further chances to get closer. Still, we managed to close out the game effectively enough and the six-point winning margin also helped to boost our points difference, taking us above Tyrone to third in the table (behind unbeaten Donegal and Kerry, who have a slightly better points difference than us).
The negatives from yesterday were a continuing lack of fluency in the forwards and the way our game plan came asunder once DB and KoN went off. There were some positives, however, notably encouraging debuts from Enda Devenney and Aidan Campbell, both of whom bagged two points. Andy Moran also weighed in with two points and he set up Trevor's goal early on. His excellent form both for Mayo and Sligo IT will make him hard to ignore in any team selection from now on.
Champagne football it wasn't but it was a valuable win. Next up is the trip to Clones against bottom-of-the-table Fermanagh on the 11th of March, another must-win match.
Still, the points are in the bag and, if we manage two more against Fermanagh up in Clones on Sunday week, the nightmare prospect of Division 3 football next year should be avoided. A step up in form will still be needed, however, if we are to retain Division 1 status next year.
There were a few positional switches from the team announced in advance, with Kevin O'Neill swapping places with Ger Brady and Trevor Mortimor coming out to left-half forward and Alan Dillon taking his place at full-forward. KoN's original placing in the half-forward line was strange enough but moving him to centre-forward was even more odd. However, that paled beside the switching of Alan Dillon to full-forward. Messiah, what you up to?
It's difficult to know how the rejigged lineup would have fared but an early injury to DB (after only nine minutes) meant that we wouldn't get the chance to find out. Up till then, Mayo were cruising - they had raced into a 1-2 to 0-0 lead, Trevor getting the goal - but once the Main Man departed (to be replaced by clubmate Pat Harte), gone too went much of the coherence in Mayo's performance. When the Skipper limped off shortly before half-time, Mayo lost another leader but by then, with the score at 1-6 to 0-2, the points were more or less secure.
The second half performance was ragged enough, with Limerick cutting the deficit to four points and missing further chances to get closer. Still, we managed to close out the game effectively enough and the six-point winning margin also helped to boost our points difference, taking us above Tyrone to third in the table (behind unbeaten Donegal and Kerry, who have a slightly better points difference than us).
The negatives from yesterday were a continuing lack of fluency in the forwards and the way our game plan came asunder once DB and KoN went off. There were some positives, however, notably encouraging debuts from Enda Devenney and Aidan Campbell, both of whom bagged two points. Andy Moran also weighed in with two points and he set up Trevor's goal early on. His excellent form both for Mayo and Sligo IT will make him hard to ignore in any team selection from now on.
Champagne football it wasn't but it was a valuable win. Next up is the trip to Clones against bottom-of-the-table Fermanagh on the 11th of March, another must-win match.
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Tomorrow's match against Limerick
I'm posting this far later than I'd intended to but I got caught up watching the rugby. What a performance that was, one that - unlike the France game - did justice to the marvellous surroundings in Croker.
Anyway, back to the more prosaic location of Castlebar tomorrow where the lads face a crunch match in Division 1A of the NFL against Limerick. With Tyrone losing unexpectedly down in Cork tonight, we'll take the field tomorrow back in fifth spot in the table, as Cork's better points difference puts them into third place. This goes to show, yet again, just how tight this Division is going to be.
I gave details of the team yesterday but I'm still trying to figure out what Johnno is up to, given the many changes he's made. From the back, Clarke is obviously being punished for his costly error against Donegal and O'Malley deserves a chance so I suppose now is as good a time as any. The full-back line is starting to look settled but only if they perform a bit better than they have so far. Kilcullen has shown some promise in the no.3 spot but has yet to provide convincing proof that he's the man for the job. The half-back line now looks positively exciting, with BJP improving all the while and now flanked by two real speedsters. Devenney has loads to offer (and he's keeping Heaney out of the side into the bargain) but now's the time to start showing that he can do it when it counts.
McGarritty's comeback is predictable but I have to say I feel a bit sorry for Pat Harte, who has scored 1-1 in the two matches played to date and who could do with a regular place in the team. However, DB is now almost the first name on the teamsheet and McGarritty's selection is probably an example of Johnno's "Horses for Courses" policy for this match, in that he's opting for the more experienced man to partner Brady.
In the much-changed forward line, there are plenty of questions. Here are a few. Why blood Campbell in a match like this? Why is KoN in the half-forwards? Why is Andy Moran in the full-forward line? Why no Killer? I can see the logic of playing Ger Brady and Trev at 11 and 14 respectively (Horses for Courses again) and the same logic applies to the dropping of Conor M and Austie (both could well come on at some stage in the match). However, I don't follow what the Great Man is up to with the other placings and I don't think we're any closer to having a settled forward line.
Limerick, by the way, will field the same fifteen that started against Fermanagh last weekend, albeit with a few positional changes. The Limerick team is:
S Kiely; S Gallagher, J McCarthy, P Browne; P Ahern, T Cahill, P Ranaghan; J Galvin, T Carroll; G Noonan, J Ryan, J Cooke; J O'Brien, D Horan, M Reidy.
Onto predictions: 3-0 to us, in short. RTE think it'll be close but that we'll do it, while Setanta and the Irish Times (no link) both opt for us as well.
Finally, the Indo has an interesting article about the betting odds for the All-Ireland, which they say show that Mayo are one of only five counties that the bookies give any chance of winning the Sam Maguire. Kerry, Dublin, Tyrone and Armagh are, unsurprisingly, the other four.
That's it - back on Monday after tomorrow's match.
Anyway, back to the more prosaic location of Castlebar tomorrow where the lads face a crunch match in Division 1A of the NFL against Limerick. With Tyrone losing unexpectedly down in Cork tonight, we'll take the field tomorrow back in fifth spot in the table, as Cork's better points difference puts them into third place. This goes to show, yet again, just how tight this Division is going to be.
I gave details of the team yesterday but I'm still trying to figure out what Johnno is up to, given the many changes he's made. From the back, Clarke is obviously being punished for his costly error against Donegal and O'Malley deserves a chance so I suppose now is as good a time as any. The full-back line is starting to look settled but only if they perform a bit better than they have so far. Kilcullen has shown some promise in the no.3 spot but has yet to provide convincing proof that he's the man for the job. The half-back line now looks positively exciting, with BJP improving all the while and now flanked by two real speedsters. Devenney has loads to offer (and he's keeping Heaney out of the side into the bargain) but now's the time to start showing that he can do it when it counts.
McGarritty's comeback is predictable but I have to say I feel a bit sorry for Pat Harte, who has scored 1-1 in the two matches played to date and who could do with a regular place in the team. However, DB is now almost the first name on the teamsheet and McGarritty's selection is probably an example of Johnno's "Horses for Courses" policy for this match, in that he's opting for the more experienced man to partner Brady.
In the much-changed forward line, there are plenty of questions. Here are a few. Why blood Campbell in a match like this? Why is KoN in the half-forwards? Why is Andy Moran in the full-forward line? Why no Killer? I can see the logic of playing Ger Brady and Trev at 11 and 14 respectively (Horses for Courses again) and the same logic applies to the dropping of Conor M and Austie (both could well come on at some stage in the match). However, I don't follow what the Great Man is up to with the other placings and I don't think we're any closer to having a settled forward line.
Limerick, by the way, will field the same fifteen that started against Fermanagh last weekend, albeit with a few positional changes. The Limerick team is:
S Kiely; S Gallagher, J McCarthy, P Browne; P Ahern, T Cahill, P Ranaghan; J Galvin, T Carroll; G Noonan, J Ryan, J Cooke; J O'Brien, D Horan, M Reidy.
Onto predictions: 3-0 to us, in short. RTE think it'll be close but that we'll do it, while Setanta and the Irish Times (no link) both opt for us as well.
Finally, the Indo has an interesting article about the betting odds for the All-Ireland, which they say show that Mayo are one of only five counties that the bookies give any chance of winning the Sam Maguire. Kerry, Dublin, Tyrone and Armagh are, unsurprisingly, the other four.
That's it - back on Monday after tomorrow's match.
Friday, February 23, 2007
Mayo calling
This post is a first on two fronts, i.e. it's the first (and hopefully not the last) that I've done while physically located in Mayo. As a consequence, it's also the first time I've tried to post using GPRS. So far, although far slower than 3Mbps broadband, it's okay but let's not tempt fate.
First, the final update on the Clare match. Thanks to the wonders of the printed version of this week's Western People (old technologies can often be best), here's the full team for the Clare match last weekend:
Kenneth O'Malley; Dermot Geraghty, Ger Cafferkey, Tom Cunniffe; Enda Devenney, Ger Brady, Aidan Higgins; Ronan McGarritty, Colm Forde; Mickie Mullins, Aidan Campbell, Aidan Kilcoyne; Marty McNicholas, Barry Regan, Mark Ronaldson. Subs: Trevor Howley (for Geraghty), Paddy Navin (for Cafferkey), Sean Ryder (for Cunniffe), Gary Mullins (for Forde), Michael Conroy (for Regan) (all half-time); Edmond Barrett (for M Mullins, 45), Seamus O'Shea (for Campbell, 45), Mickie Mullins (for Barrett, (65, inj).
In all, nine of last year's U21 team played a part in the match. Okay, enough about the Clare match.
I've just seen the team for Sunday, in today's Irish Times. There are widespread changes, as follows:
K O'Malley; L O'Malley, J Kilcullen, K Higgins; E Devenney, BJ Padden, P Gardiner; R McGarritty, D Brady; K O'Neill, G Brady, A Dillon; A Campbell, T Mortimor, A Moran.
That's far more changes than I'd expected, I have to say but the defeat by Donegal did call for a shakeup. Johnno is sending a clear message here about the consequences of underachievement - a cruel but necessary lesson.
That's enough over GPRS. More tomorrow once I'm back in broadband land.
First, the final update on the Clare match. Thanks to the wonders of the printed version of this week's Western People (old technologies can often be best), here's the full team for the Clare match last weekend:
Kenneth O'Malley; Dermot Geraghty, Ger Cafferkey, Tom Cunniffe; Enda Devenney, Ger Brady, Aidan Higgins; Ronan McGarritty, Colm Forde; Mickie Mullins, Aidan Campbell, Aidan Kilcoyne; Marty McNicholas, Barry Regan, Mark Ronaldson. Subs: Trevor Howley (for Geraghty), Paddy Navin (for Cafferkey), Sean Ryder (for Cunniffe), Gary Mullins (for Forde), Michael Conroy (for Regan) (all half-time); Edmond Barrett (for M Mullins, 45), Seamus O'Shea (for Campbell, 45), Mickie Mullins (for Barrett, (65, inj).
In all, nine of last year's U21 team played a part in the match. Okay, enough about the Clare match.
I've just seen the team for Sunday, in today's Irish Times. There are widespread changes, as follows:
K O'Malley; L O'Malley, J Kilcullen, K Higgins; E Devenney, BJ Padden, P Gardiner; R McGarritty, D Brady; K O'Neill, G Brady, A Dillon; A Campbell, T Mortimor, A Moran.
That's far more changes than I'd expected, I have to say but the defeat by Donegal did call for a shakeup. Johnno is sending a clear message here about the consequences of underachievement - a cruel but necessary lesson.
That's enough over GPRS. More tomorrow once I'm back in broadband land.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Johnno hints at changes for Sunday
No team announced yet for the Limerick match on Sunday - that probably won't happen till Thursday evening - but Johnno has already confirmed that there'll be a few changes from the Donegal game. Citing Limerick's "much more direct style", he appears to be thinking about picking a side to deal with such a playing approach. Maybe Heaney will get picked, after all. Johnno mentions that there'll be a "couple of changes" - is the Great One being literal here or are we talking two or three? - but it looks as if the reshuffle will be minimal enough. Devenney in for Heaney, McGarrity in for Harte, with a few switches in the forwards - positional as well as personnel - is likely to be as far as the changes will go. I'd say Killer and Campbell will have to be content with joining the action from the bench.
One more nugget of information from the same story, relating to the Clare match, which was that Aidan Higgins lined out for the first time since the All-Ireland. (That's ten of the team now, only five to go!) Aidan had a great year for us last year, apart from the final (which was the case with the bulk of the team) and his return to the colours will boost our options in the backline.
Finally, also in the Mayo News, Kevin McStay reminds us just how tough this current NFL campaign is. He makes the valid point that the days of using the League to blood promising youngsters are over and that, with points difference so important in deciding final placings, every score really does count. Another reason why we need a good win on Sunday.
One more nugget of information from the same story, relating to the Clare match, which was that Aidan Higgins lined out for the first time since the All-Ireland. (That's ten of the team now, only five to go!) Aidan had a great year for us last year, apart from the final (which was the case with the bulk of the team) and his return to the colours will boost our options in the backline.
Finally, also in the Mayo News, Kevin McStay reminds us just how tough this current NFL campaign is. He makes the valid point that the days of using the League to blood promising youngsters are over and that, with points difference so important in deciding final placings, every score really does count. Another reason why we need a good win on Sunday.
Monday, February 19, 2007
Scorers from Saturday evening's match
At this rate, we might even get details of the team that lined out against Clare. As expected, Aidan Campbell got the run-out at Johnno mentioned beforehand and it looks like he played well too, scoring three points. He wasn't the only U21 medallist to play, or score, either: Mark Ronaldson got a goal and had a penalty saved later on, Killer got two points (hope he looked as happy with them as he does in the picture), while Barry Regan also made an appearance and scored two points into the bargain. Of more interest than all this, perhaps, is the news that Enda Devenney - the Hamlet of the Half-Backs - has finally made an appearance in a Mayo jersey for the new regime. He also got two points and, according to the Indo, put in a "sparkling" display at half-back. That could well be Heaney's place taken for the Limerick match. I think we can expect to see either Killer or Campbell start against Limerick too, but probably not both of them. Here's the full list of scorers from Saturday evening:
M Ronaldson 1-0, A Campbell 0-3 (2f), A Kilcoyne 0-2 (1f), B Regan 0-2, E Devenney 0-2, E Barrett 0-2, M McNicholas 0-1, G Brady 0-1, G Mullins 0-1.
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Win over Clare, next up their neighbours Limerick
We beat Clare in last night's challenge match. That's a world exclusive, folks, as I haven't seen it reported anywhere else as yet. And here's another exclusive: we scored 1-14, they scored 1-8. The text message I got conveying this groundbreaking news didn't, sadly, include any additional details as to what team we put out or who the scorers were. Hopefully, this info will leak out over the coming days.
Limerick, our NFL opponents next Sunday, were in action against Fermanagh up in Clones today, where they recorded an impressive 5-point victory over the Ernesiders (2-10 to 1-8). To my reckoning, that margin of victory puts them above us (on points difference) in the table but, more to the point, it shows that they're not a team to be messed with. We already saw that when Dublin only beat them by a single point last weekend. This could be a tricky match for us, I think.
Another result of relevance to us was last night's hiding that Donegal got from Tyrone in the Dr McKenna Cup final. Donegal beat us by three points last weekend but last night Tyrone had ten points to spare over them. What does that say about us? Not a lot, probably, but it still doesn't look too good.
Limerick, our NFL opponents next Sunday, were in action against Fermanagh up in Clones today, where they recorded an impressive 5-point victory over the Ernesiders (2-10 to 1-8). To my reckoning, that margin of victory puts them above us (on points difference) in the table but, more to the point, it shows that they're not a team to be messed with. We already saw that when Dublin only beat them by a single point last weekend. This could be a tricky match for us, I think.
Another result of relevance to us was last night's hiding that Donegal got from Tyrone in the Dr McKenna Cup final. Donegal beat us by three points last weekend but last night Tyrone had ten points to spare over them. What does that say about us? Not a lot, probably, but it still doesn't look too good.
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