Mayo V Tyrone: All-Ireland Semi-Final 25/08/2013.

A week away today, the stage is set for one of the biggest questions of the Championship.
Are Mayo the real deal or is there a sting in the Tyrone tail.

A novel pairing, two sides experiencing different pathways to the S/F.

Mayo haven't been out of third gear thus far, cruising past Galway, Roscommon, London and Donegal with a mixture of ease, style, composure, excellent scoring statistics and strong work ethic.
They know their best 15 since the early rounds, the return of Cillian O'Connor and Andy Moran has added a settled look to their forces. Aodán O'Shea has been a revelation at m/f and there have been a continuous stream of polished performances from Cafferkey, Higgins, Keegan, McLoughlin and Freeman among others.

The unanswered question of course, is how they would react to slipping 3-5 points in arrears, particularly against such known closers as Tyrone. Horan has opted for "team players", lads who will stick to the script, eschewing the more flamboyant, white-booted characters associated with past Mayo teams.

Tyrone come into this on the back of a long, draining campaign, quarrying out victories by a meagre 2 points on the past 4 occasions. Their success in progressing this far is largely attributed to the performances dished up by Sean Cavanagh. Big Sean has rolled back the years in tremendous style this summer. His scoring feats aside, his fitness levels are truly awesome as week after week he puts in lung-bursting runs for the full 75 minutes. A serious issue for Tyrone must be the dearth of scores the front 6 are contributing from general play. SON is regularly double-tagged and hasn't sparkled as brightly as heretofore while work-rate aside, the other 5 are finding the going tough at times.
Mickey Harte is struggling to find the 15 that will see them contest on A/I final say. He's tweaked here and there without finding the expected fluency, the right side of the defence looks creaky at times but they're still hard nuts to crack.

A novel feature is the possible match-up between the rival sets of brothers in midfield where the O'Sheas will be likely pitted against the Cavanaghs. It's unlikely that this has been a feature at this level heretofore and is just one of the contests we'll be looking forward to next Sunday.

Any opinions lads?

Boxtyeater wrote: They [Mayo] know their best 15 since the early rounds, the return of Cillian O'Connor and Andy Moran has added a settled look to their forces.

Mayo have their squad in rude health, just at the most crucial time of the year.  Their goalkeepers aside, the only absentee of late has been Michael Conroy, and he has been back training over the last few weeks.  They are at virtually full strength.

Tyrone have several concerns, some injury enforced and some self-afflicted.  I'd classify these as follows:

Definitely out
Niall Morgan - his loss could be felt heavily in this game, not only for his freetaking, but also because Mayo will put a lot of pressure on Pascal McConnell's short kickouts, forcing him to go long while, at the same time, trying to avoid Aidan O'Shea.

Paddy McNeice - I'm not a huge fan of McNeice, viewing him more as a decent player rather than being a difference-maker at intercounty level.  Ironically, though, his best performance for Tyrone this year was in the league at Castlebar.  His absence reduces our options of workers off the bench.


Probably Out  
Martin Penrose - Tyrone are contesting the technicality on which his appeal was denied, and we know that many appeals are won on technicalities.  Although he had a half from hell against Monaghan (he committed 6 fouls in 35 minutes), Mickey would like to have him available to combat Mayo's pace around the middle.  My feeling, though, is that the appeal is more of the lip service variety, sending out an 'everyone is against us' message to the squad.

Justin McMahon - In this year's league, Justin made his first back-to-back starts in 2 years.  However, this proved to be a false dawn, and he has hardly trained since the end of the league.  He hasn't been deemed fit enough to even appear off the bench in recent weeks.  Justin is still only 27 and, at his best, is an exceptional footballer, but I'm beginning to wonder if we'll ever see the best of him again.


Doubtful
Joe McMahon - a groin injury forced him out of the Qtr Final just after half time and, as of last week, he hadn't trained since.  Mickey indicated at the press night that he should be ok, but he's hardly likely to say otherwise at this stage.  Joey's size, experience and footballing skills would be impossible to replace, but having him plodding around at anything less than 100% would be a liability against such a fast Mayo side.  


Other question marks
Darren McCurry & Stevie O'Neill - Tyrone's FF line has been very poor over the last few games, both in scoring return and ball-winning.  O'Neill has trained only sporadically since injuring his ankle in the league final, and while I wouldn't advocate dropping him, he certainly needs to be much better on Sunday.  McCurry has nice skills and a bit of pace, but his contribution has really been limited to kicking close range frees from the right.  I would advocate a change there, with McAliskey, Coney & Ronan O'Neill being the 3 options.  If Penrose wins his appeal, he too could play there, with someone else replacing him further out.

i've heard a rumour that Aidan O'Shea is struggling with a hamstring injury and is rated doubtful for Sunday

bocerty wrote:i've heard a rumour that Aidan O'Shea is struggling with a hamstring injury and is rated doubtful for Sunday

I read something that implied a concern about his fitness somewhere but, after all, it's silly season for such talk.  We'll not really know who is playing for either side until the throw in.

to be honest i think Tyrone have over achieved to get as far as we have, we are at best an average side and yards behind Mayo and Dublin.

We are depending on one man for scores and as Boxty rightly points out our forwards are MIA, they just arent contributing anything worth talking about and that has to be a concern going into Sundays game.

I can see anything other than a Mayo win here they have so many options over the field that i fail to see how we can curtail them, unless of course Mayo have one of their Croker Choker days, but i think these guys are made of better stuff and thats not likely to happen.

bocerty wrote:to be honest i think Tyrone have over achieved to get as far as we have, we are at best an average side and yards behind Mayo and Dublin.

We are depending on one man for scores and as Boxty rightly points out our forwards are MIA, they just arent contributing anything worth talking about and that has to be a concern going into Sundays game.

I can see anything other than a Mayo win here they have so many options over the field that i fail to see how we can curtail them, unless of course Mayo have one of their Croker Choker days, but i think these guys are made of better stuff and thats not likely to happen.

Ah Boc, have a little confidence! I'd be surprised if Tyrone are 'yards' behind Mayo & Dublin. We were supposed to get 2 hidings from Dublin in Croke Pk in the league, but held our own in both games. Dublin will have pushed on since then, but I don't believe that they will have made greater relative improvements than Tyrone. Mayo have probably been building more slowly, but they still haven't had a match where they've actually been pushed beyond half-time.

I've read a lot about this being the best Mayo side since the 50s and the best Dublin side since the 70s. Well, perhaps 2 incredible teams have come from nowhere in the same year, or perhaps all we are seeing is 2 sides that are very good at beating bad opposition. We'll know more over the next couple of weeks.

I think Boxty has it spot on with the draining aspect. Think Mayo have a lot more gas in the tank.

emmetryan wrote:I think Boxty has it spot on with the draining aspect. Think Mayo have a lot more gas in the tank.

Tyrone won 5 games in 6 weeks, but have had the last 3 weeks off.  If we lose, it won't be mental or physical fatigue that beats us.

That's a fair argument (hurriedly rewrites preview column) but loosely related to that I think Mayo have a big speed advantage, not just in raw pace but in distribution, shooting, passing, and closing players down.

emmetryan wrote:That's a fair argument (hurriedly rewrites preview column) but loosely related to that I think Mayo have a big speed advantage, not just in raw pace but in distribution, shooting, passing, and closing players down.

The one thing I'd look at hopefully is that Tyrone, when they get to the latter stages of the championship, always come with pace. Even in 2008 when a lot of our players were older, we still matched Kerry & Dublin for raw speed. I'm optimistic that the 3 week break will have brought Tyrone on a lot in that regard.

Thomas Clarke wrote:

bocerty wrote:to be honest i think Tyrone have over achieved to get as far as we have, we are at best an average side and yards behind Mayo and Dublin.

We are depending on one man for scores and as Boxty rightly points out our forwards are MIA, they just arent contributing anything worth talking about and that has to be a concern going into Sundays game.

I can see anything other than a Mayo win here they have so many options over the field that i fail to see how we can curtail them, unless of course Mayo have one of their Croker Choker days, but i think these guys are made of better stuff and thats not likely to happen.

Ah Boc, have a little confidence!  I'd be surprised if Tyrone are 'yards' behind Mayo & Dublin.  We were supposed to get 2 hidings from Dublin in Croke Pk in the league, but held our own in both games.  Dublin will have pushed on since then, but I don't believe that they will have made greater relative improvements than Tyrone.  Mayo have probably been building more slowly, but they still haven't had a match where they've actually been pushed beyond half-time.

I've read a lot about this being the best Mayo side since the 50s and the best Dublin side since the 70s.  Well, perhaps 2 incredible teams have come from nowhere in the same year, or perhaps all we are seeing is 2 sides that are very good at beating bad opposition.  We'll know more over the next couple of weeks.

Tyrone will give Mayo plenty to ponder in sundays semi final,you are right take positives from the league final Tyrone stayed with the Dubs for the whole game during the final only losing out to a couple of late scores,if Tyrone are going to cause an upset it will be from turning over ball from the mayo h/b line that love to go forward leaving huge gaps at the back,as for the Dubs best team since the 70s to early to tell but without doubt the best squad they have EVER had

bronco wrote:

Thomas Clarke wrote:

bocerty wrote:to be honest i think Tyrone have over achieved to get as far as we have, we are at best an average side and yards behind Mayo and Dublin.

We are depending on one man for scores and as Boxty rightly points out our forwards are MIA, they just arent contributing anything worth talking about and that has to be a concern going into Sundays game.

I can see anything other than a Mayo win here they have so many options over the field that i fail to see how we can curtail them, unless of course Mayo have one of their Croker Choker days, but i think these guys are made of better stuff and thats not likely to happen.

Ah Boc, have a little confidence!  I'd be surprised if Tyrone are 'yards' behind Mayo & Dublin.  We were supposed to get 2 hidings from Dublin in Croke Pk in the league, but held our own in both games.  Dublin will have pushed on since then, but I don't believe that they will have made greater relative improvements than Tyrone.  Mayo have probably been building more slowly, but they still haven't had a match where they've actually been pushed beyond half-time.

I've read a lot about this being the best Mayo side since the 50s and the best Dublin side since the 70s.  Well, perhaps 2 incredible teams have come from nowhere in the same year, or perhaps all we are seeing is 2 sides that are very good at beating bad opposition.  We'll know more over the next couple of weeks.

Tyrone will give Mayo plenty to ponder in sundays semi final,you are right take positives from the league final Tyrone stayed with the Dubs for the whole game during the final only losing out to a couple of late scores,if Tyrone are going to cause an upset it will be from turning over ball from the mayo h/b line that love to go forward leaving huge gaps at the back,as for the Dubs best team since the 70s to early to tell but without doubt the best squad they have EVER had

we turned a lot of ball over against Meath but we played endless balls into O'Neill and McCurry who were being marked by 4 men - we werent getting enough men forward at speed to support those two.

TC there is a gap between ourselves and Mayo and Dublin whether you like it or not - if you were to put the 3 squads together and try to pick oyur best 15 from that how many Tyrone men would you pick - Cavanagh and Joe McMahon would be the only 2 that tells you something in itself, yes your going to argue that its not about individuals but the sum of those 15 men and how they play as a team.

Our defence is slow we are playing with 1 midfielder - no harm to Colm Cavanagh but he is a passenger most of the time - and the only man scoring is our other midfielder. By my reckoning we have scored 2 goals in the championship Mayo have hit the net 13 times and a sh!t load of points - they have speed all over the field and i dont see where we can stop them - it will be a war of attrition and ugly football for Tyrone to win.

As regards turning ball over, Penrose will be a loss. He was poor against Monaghan, but he is generally very good at making tackles. Despite having lost a yard of pace over the last couple of seasons, he is still very fast, and I think that Mickey will look to replace him with someone who can match his speed and defensive abilities (i.e. Ronan McNabb)

Personally, I'm not too worried about Mayo's pace. Tyrone are not a slow side, at least not where it counts in the middle third. My guess is that Keegan, Vaughan, Boyle - AOS, SOS - McLoughlin, Dillon, Higgins will be Mayo's middle 8. Tyrone's will probably be McGinley, Harte, McNabb - Clarke, Sean Cav - Mattie Donnelly, Mark Donnelly, Colm Cav. There is plenty of pace in there for both sides, and that is where the game will be decided.

I do agree that Mickey has to get his selection spot on with this one. Conor Clarke did well on Aidan O'Shea in the league game, and I think he could get that role again. Certainly, he would be physically more suited to it that Colm Cavanagh. That would enable Colm to play at LHF, and he would be an option for kickouts if Mayo push up on our short ones.

Penrose must be replaced by McNabb. He could play as the sweeper and release Joe McMahon, but he could also line out at LHB, as Kevin McLoughlin will drop very deep, thus allowing McNabb to play a freer role.

Tyrone also need a change at inside forward. Mickey would love to keep Darren McCurry for his frees, but he contributed nothing against Monaghan, and I would change him. The choice would be between Ronan O'Neill, Conor McAliskey and Kyle Coney. McAliskey has fallen out of favour, for reasons that I can't fathom. He'd be my choice, but I'd guess Mickey will either go for Ronan O'Neill, or else just stick with McCurry.

In defence, Carlin will have Moran/Conroy, Gormley will mark Freeman, and McCarron will take Cillian O'Connor.

Mayo are a very good side, but I'm optimistic that Tyrone will be very competitive. James Horan won't be sleeping like a baby at the prospect of stopping Sean Cavanagh, as neither O'Shea has the pace to handle him. Cavanagh and Peter Harte could have decisive roles to play for Tyrone, as they are the most likely sources of goals (running from deep). Tyrone will probably need at least one goal to win this game and, at the same time, must limit Mayo to no more than one.

bocerty wrote: Our defence is slow we are playing with 1 midfielder - no harm to Colm Cavanagh but he is a passenger most of the time - and the only man scoring is our other midfielder.  By my reckoning we have scored 2 goals in the championship Mayo have hit the net 13 times and a sh!t load of points - they have speed all over the field and i dont see where we can stop them - it will be a war of attrition and ugly football for Tyrone to win.

Outstanding example of "cute-hoorism" from Bocerty here. Jaysus man, it can't be that grim surely.
Aren't yis' in the damn thing FFS and 28 others aren't.

This forum is lucky Leitrim aren't there, for I would have the heads bulled off ye' by now, between
pen-pictures of the team down to the water carriers, how many acres the lads have, histories of the clubs they come from and other important trivia.

Shocking negativity....Are things OK at home?

Boxtyeater wrote: This forum is lucky Leitrim aren't there, for I would have the heads bulled off ye' by now, between pen-pictures of the team down to the water carriers, how many acres the lads have, histories of the clubs they come from and other important trivia.

Quite right Boxty, I was almost inclined to cancel my flight after reading Boc's posts. But then I found this, and the optimism returned in spades....

Great to hear you are travelling once again TC, I hope you enjoy the occasion whatever the result...
Have you good tickets?  I ask this in relation to mine for the following Sunday.

The twins bought 4 for us as a Father's Day pressie, (the success of 2010's pressie continues).
I checked last week and was well chuffed. Lr.Hogan, about 5m. on the Davin side of midfield.

I might get the Dauber to whip up "a conversion to Kerry" type emblazonable logo for the jersey.

Boxtyeater wrote:Great to hear you are travelling once again TC, I hope you enjoy the occasion whatever the result...
Have you good tickets?  I ask this in relation to mine for the following Sunday.

The twins bought 4 for us as a Father's Day pressie, (the success of 2010's pressie continues).
I checked last week and was well chuffed. Lr.Hogan, about 5m. on the Davin side of midfield.

I might get the Dauber to whip up "a conversion to Kerry" type emblazonable logo for the jersey.

Thanks Boxty, a semi-final in Croke Park is always an occasion to enjoy. I leave the ticket acquiring to the auld fella, limiting my input to a 'stick/twist' when he tells me what is available on ticketmaster. Not unlike Bocerty, he was losing his nerve at one point when he feared all that was left was the corner of the Davin, but I urged that he hold firm and we are now heading for the upper Cusack, 2nd row from the front, 35m from the Canal End. Virtually opposite where I was sitting for the Monaghan game, and a great view.

However, yours sound tremendous, and I might have to find out where the young Boxtys unearthed such gems should we make the final!

Thomas Clarke wrote: However, yours sound tremendous, and I might have to find out where the young Boxtys unearthed such gems should we make the final!

One of the younger Boxty's had the priviledge of a Corporate Box when the mood took the little bugger and indeed his Papa was occasionally found there. Given that Boxty the Younger is clueless in matters GAA related, the addition of the paternal Boxty added some gravitas and understanding to the occasion.

He was a flawless host in terms of hospitality and Boxty was equally flawless in defining issues relative to the games in progress. But these were never pleasant occasions for Boxty, whose interest in the games were paramount. The nadir being the Leinster Final day and the Louth/Meath issues. Pitch invasions, anger and ugly scenes are hard to explain to our European allies.

Of course the little hoor has deemed this quasi-Governmental job as boring after 8 years and has struck out into the shark-infested territory of the private sector.

Up by €20k. he tells me "Da, it's about the challenge, not about money"...The wind is in his back currently.

Boxtyeater wrote: The nadir being the Leinster Final day and the Louth/Meath issues. Pitch invasions, anger and ugly scenes are hard to explain to our European allies.

Talking of nadirs, anger, ugly scenes and difficult explanations to our European allies, my one and only occasion in a corporate box was the 2003 league final, as a guest of Anglo Irish.

Hi guys

Tactical preview of Mayo vs Tyrone now up
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Emmet

emmetryan wrote:Hi guys
Tactical preview of Mayo vs Tyrone now up
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Emmet

Pretty grim reading for Tyrone fans. It'll be a credit to Mickey and the lads if they even bother to turn up and fulfil the fixture.

That's been one of the kinder responses

No refunds on the ticket TC? After reading that i'm going to delete the match from my Sky Planner, Mayo with a bye to the final then so!

bald eagle wrote:No refunds on the ticket TC?  After reading that i'm going to delete the match from my Sky Planner, Mayo with a bye to the final then so!

Flights nothing, I had the house painted red & white, and now I'm desperately looking for a tin of green paint!

Emmet is perfectly entitled to his view, and he may well be proven correct, but I think that he has dismissed Tyrone far too easily. He hasn't identified a single Tyrone positive, which I think is pretty poor analysis. Mayo could well win this game, possibly easily, but the following closing statement from Emmet's piece has little foundation:

"Tyrone have done well to make it to the last four but they are out of their depth here. A combination of injury issues on their part and significant depth in their opponent makes this a no-win situation....This really doesn’t look close to me..."

Mayo's bench has been one of the most under rated aspects of their game, by me included for a long time.