Great display from Mayo for 50 minutes of play today.

Great display from Dublin for 20 minutes.

Dublin finished the match with a stronger team than they started it with.

An unfit Alan Brogan should have been left off with O'Gara or Kevin Mc coming on earlier instead, easy to say that now in hindsight as it was a fair enough move to bring on their most creative forward when trailing.

Can't help but think that if lads like Kilkenny had more game time behind them earlier in the year then maybe it might have taken the pressure of Bernard and seen the young lad as more of a go to lad in the full forward line.

Macauley made a huge difference when he was moved out to midfield. The though of playing your best players in their best positions springs to mind on this one, and he's starting to come from being an underrated midfielder into a player who is hugely important to Dublins gameplan.

Mayo kicked some great scores today, and their fullback line played excellently. They could have scored more had they taken their goal chances but just as easily could have conceded more were it not for their keeper.

No need for the Dubs to be too down about today, hurts to lose alright but looking at the underage teams and the young lads that were introduced into the senior set up this year, there's no reason to believe that they won't be back hungrier again next year.

if_in_doubt (Kildare) - Posts: 3692 - 02/09/2012 22:02:10    1257695

Look today was mayos day, but calm O'Rourke said after the match that in his opinion VB had got bigger than football and his football suffered as a result. But I think it highlights one thing that the media build up of players is wrong they don't have the handlers to bat this stuff away, as said before I think VB is a awesome player and im sure he wil be back to his best soon,but for gods sake keep the media at bay for the lad,
Ps if anyone is in walkinstown can the check in on liam as I can't see him on hear

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 02/09/2012 22:04:28    1257696

A***pirate
County: Mayo
Posts: 71

1238396 Let the banter begin! Jackeens v the Culchies, going to be a tight one.

HaHaHa why would you call yourself A****pirate!?

FairShoulder (Armagh) - Posts: 333 - 03/09/2012 08:47:21    1257712

royaldunne
County: Meath
Posts: 2343

I agree Royal that Bernard Brogan is a good player but this year shows he is not a great player. Yes he has been promoted constantly and talked up by the Media and as a result too much was expected of him. Great players like Peter Canavan played well how should i put it, played bloody great year in and year out. There is a serious step up in class between a good player and a great one.

cacsmckilly (Tyrone) - Posts: 1294 - 03/09/2012 08:49:32    1257714

I agree Royal that Bernard Brogan is a good player but this year shows he is not a great player. Yes he has been promoted constantly and talked up by the Media and as a result too much was expected of him. Great players like Peter Canavan played well how should i put it, played bloody great year in and year out. There is a serious step up in class between a good player and a great one.
cacsmckilly , 03/09/2012 at 08:49

Bernard Brogan will be back as good as ever. You can be sure of that.

Culann (Dublin) - Posts: 2306 - 03/09/2012 09:00:43    1257723

dublin are were they deserve to be now , out of the championship, yesterday was another bad performance and you cant get to all ireland finals playing poorly all championship, yesterday their defense was bad , midfield was bad and the forwards were bad, and the team management was bad, playing with a midfielder in the forward line doesn't work !

boyblue (Dublin) - Posts: 90 - 03/09/2012 09:40:31    1257758

As predicted Mayo delivered!!!!!!!!!
Delighted for them.

traleeexile (Kerry) - Posts: 732 - 03/09/2012 09:44:26    1257763

Well done Mayo, a great performance overall. To kick 19 points when you supposedly don't have the same strength up front without Andy Moran is something else. Had a feeling in the pit of my stomach that Mayo could have one of those days in Croke Park where they simply couldn't miss and for 50 minutes of that game that's exactly what was going on. Some of the scores that Mayo got in the first half were out of this world. Great to see a team play quality football like that.
I think Dublin can still hold their heads up, a great fight back at 10 points down and had Brogan taken his chance it could all have been so different. But who cares about the what if's. The fact is the Hardy Bucks of Mayo will be fighting for the All-Ireland title in 3 weeks time and best of luck to them.

So yew_tree, killer_88, master, 51longago, WB and all the rest of the Mayo posse on here, well done, will be shouting for yis in the final boys. I don't think anyone would begrudge ye an All-Ireland

NavyNBlue (Dublin) - Posts: 1357 - 03/09/2012 09:50:04    1257775

Mayo were the better team by a mile, some very suspect refereeing allowed the dubs back into the game, and how Dublin finished the game with fifteen on the pitch is a mystery.
Hope the injured Mayo lads recover for the final.

bryanadams (Kildare) - Posts: 733 - 03/09/2012 10:00:48    1257786

sedico
County: Kildare
Posts: 734

I beg to differ. They are a totally different team to last year. IMO they now look an ordinary team.
If that hurts your feelings then so be it.

if they were a totaly differant team to last year and look an ordinary side why did you think they would win the all ireland only 3 days ago when you started a thread titled dublin for two in a row?

hill16no1man (Dublin) - Posts: 12665 - 03/09/2012 10:38:13    1257832

i think some people are being too harsh on bernard as regards media stuff when he is interviewed he gives nothing away he talks the other team up and says they will be tough to beat no harm in that,where as liam rushe and ryan o dwyer for the hurlers talk themselves and the team up thats what does damage in my opinion.
bernard has been the hero on many of our big wins over the last 3 years and yes his confidence was on the floor right from the start yesterday and he was the one guy on the day that you didnt want the goal chance at that time to fall to but he is a top player and will be back next year to prove it.

hill16no1man (Dublin) - Posts: 12665 - 03/09/2012 10:42:44    1257838

the people who didn't see mayo's win coming know nothing about football............i've said it he before leinster football is poor...........dublin beat 4 leinster teams to get to the semi final...........they just ain't ready for Mayo yet............donegal will have to get themselves a new plan of action now.......they would have been preparing for a game with dublin but mayo's style will be totally different to that of dublins............the blanket defence wont inconvenience mayo.

Gammy_Knee (USA) - Posts: 1482 - 03/09/2012 11:21:37    1257894

yep Gammy Knee , leinster football is weak a bit like Munster only 2 teams in it!! Any comments on Mayo's time killing tactics and cynicism towards the end of the match. and before you all start this is not sour grapes - any team in their position with the present rules would do the same. I just suspect that if dublin or Donegal had employed such tactics that mcstay and the rest of the media would ha ve made a much bigger deal of it!!!

fingalman (Dublin) - Posts: 233 - 03/09/2012 11:38:50    1257915

Jeez hill16 you're a bit over sensitive altogether.

I, like many othrers thought that Dublin were ready to peak for theit two remaining games. They had looked ordinary ip to that but I expected a different team yesterday. It seems I was wrong.

No problem admitting that I was wrong.

sedico (Kildare) - Posts: 1682 - 03/09/2012 11:51:33    1257939

Soo delighted with the overall performance yesterday. Credit due to Dubs who nearly turned it around. Need to sort the mini collapse but for the moment its great to bask in the glory of a good Mayo performance in Croke Park.

mod (Mayo) - Posts: 859 - 03/09/2012 11:53:19    1257942

Yew_Tree , 51longago , Paddyogall , pericles and the rest of the Mayo boys on this , Well played , the better team won , no complaints , no arguements , Delighted for yous and i hope you go on and win the final now.

What can i say about yesterday. Think its still all a bit raw at the moment

Woke up this morning thinking today was the day of the game and yesterday was just a dream/nightmare whatever way you want to look at it.

Im gutted like everyone else , Dublin where poor and as many people have said now , their performances where so poor all year that it was hard to just switch it on and when we came up against half decent opposition we where found out for the first 50 minutes serious credit to Mayo, Credit must go to the Dublin lads aswell for making it exciting in the final twenty minutes. They gave everything to get back in the game but unfortuneatly it just wasnt meant to be.

Them lads owe us nothing , Even if they didnt win sam last year , They put serious amounts of effort , hard work , graft and committment in all year round and what do they get in return ? criticism from most corners.. Both sides played their heart out yesterday , credit to them ..

As for people giving out about the cynical carry on, Get over it , whats the point in arguing the toss over it , Was it right ? probably not , but if the shoe was on the other foot i wouldn't mind Dublin doing the same in order to stop the oppositions momentum. That said alot for Dublins performance in the last 25 minutes that Mayo resorted to that. But i dont blame Mayo for that , they where worthy of their win , nothing can change that now. Both sides got what they deserved yesterday ..

waynoI (Dublin) - Posts: 13655 - 03/09/2012 12:00:18    1257950

Being a neutral at the game yesterday first off can I say that both teams and supporters should be credited for a fantastic game and atmosphere - shows up how great gaelic games are compared to soccer etc.

Now on analysis the game I think Mayo out smarted and won the sideline battle hands down - I'm not sure how big an influence Mickey Whelan was for the past couple of years in the background but some of the decisions by Gilroy yesterday and indeed in the lads leading up to the game were baffling.

Firstly naming Alan Brogan in the starting line up, I guess was to protect Kilkenny from a media circus but I think only lead to flat atmosphere from the Hill for the start of the match when they realised he wasn't starting. You should never under estimate the influence of the Hill when it is on song and up for the match!

It was clear from where I was in the Cusack that Dublin were being destroyed down our wing in front of us in the first half- Cullen was being by passed and that corner forwards were switching corners with Fitzsimons chasing shadows. The delay in recognising this cost the Dubs in the last 15 minutes of the first half as Mayo stretch their lead. The subs at half time should have been made quicker and might have lead to a reduction in the margin at h-t.

Given that Alan Brogan wasn't fit to start throwing him on and then taking him off meant Dublin wasted a sub - criminal at this level. The Mayo sideline rightly or wrongly were smart enough to use the blood sub rule to their advantage and had plenty of fresh legs on the pitch - Dublin put on an injured player while leaving Kevin McMenamin on the bench for far too long and an All Star player like Barry Cahill on the bench completely for the whole match while they were getting cleaned out at midfield. The Fennell chap was shown up big time yesterday. I think at one stage in the second half he jumped out of the way of Alan Dillon where he should have check his run to stop an easy point opportunity - rather navie play while you could see there was no way the Dubs were getting a goal with the Mayo players hauling down the Dubs once they were within the 21.

I can understand why the Dubs won't be critically of Gilroy as he brought them the holy grail last year - hell if Kildare won we set up a shrine to the manger but if we look at the performances this year alone the sideline has to be called into question. The players at his disposal should mean that they are competing for League titles and Sam every year.

I think Bernard Brogan played so so - won a few dirty balls in the final 20 mins when Dubling had 15 fit players on but didn't score from play at all. Could easily have been taken off before then. He seems to have lost a bit of bottle -would have slotted the goal chance easily a couple of year ago instead of blasting the ball close to the Mayo goalie yesterday - as a kid you are thought to keep the ball low along the ground and there is no need to burst the net - instead he was looking for the "Hollywood" net buster goal!


Anyway that's it - it'll be interesting to see how Leinster pans out next year - will Kildare, Meath and Laois be able to take over remains to be seen. I for one would love to have Kildare play Dublin early in Leinster next year - as they are still a top 4/5 team and Kildare need to beat a team of their calibre if we are to progress ourselves.

roast (Kildare) - Posts: 143 - 03/09/2012 12:06:13    1257957

Jesus I'm sick of all the women on Hoganstand giving out about Cynical fouling. Mayo were dead right to cynical foul yesterday fair play to them and for being physical aswell, that's what all Ireland winning teams do. I'm cheering for Mayo in the final cause they play the game in the right way unlike Donegal who are going to ruin the game I love. Hard luck to Dublin yesterday Bernard Brogans miss will haunt him for years to come. Our underage teams are hammering teams out the gate it's only a matter of time before we dominate. Again well done Mayo the best team won and I hope you beat Donegal.

clondalkindub (Dublin) - Posts: 9926 - 03/09/2012 12:11:41    1257959

its not mayo people are complaining about for the cynical fouling its the rule book that is to blame people have said it all year in fairness it should be a straight red card if you are in on goal and you haul a player down,the dissapointing thing from mayo was the play acting rolling around pretending they had cramp everytime dublin got a point it overshadowed there 50 minutes of great scoring before that,still for all that had bernard rounded the keeper and slotted it in the net we would more then likely be still in the race for sam

hill16no1man (Dublin) - Posts: 12665 - 03/09/2012 12:17:49    1257970

Mayo were by far the better team. Unfortunately, unless you're super human like Kilkenny, it's near impossible to be able to win back to back All-Ireland's in this day and age. From the first game in the League against Kerry, you could see this Dublin team lacked the hunger and intensity of last year. I'm not one for kicking lads when they are down, but two lads in particular looked like they enjoyed the celebrity lifestyle a wee bit too much and it showed all year. Felt sorry yesterday for McAuley, Cluxton and Flynn who have been class all year and Kilkenny who stood out yesterday as a bit special. But it's not all doom and gloom for Dublin, underage teams are flying, Brigids won the Féile double and if Gilroy steps aside, Jim Gavin, the brains behind the under age success will step in. Congrats to Mayo, fully deserved their win and I wish them the best, although I think Donegal could be close to unbeatable, but you never know ~PHS

Pope_has_spoken (Dublin) - Posts: 138 - 03/09/2012 12:37:14    1257997