1. Mayo must guard against complacency
THEY TOOK A different path this year but the destination is the same. Mayo find themselves in a sixth straight All-Ireland semi-final. There’s plenty to admire about that achievement, but they know it will count for little unless they take that final step in September.
They thrived in the role of underdogs for the quarter-final win over Tyrone, but now Mayo face the test of being overwhelming favourites to extend their season for one more game. Tipperary have upset the odds all year and Liam Kearns has kept his squad motivated throughout the championship by constantly referring to the fact they are being written off in the media.
Mayo will need to use all their experience to make it to a third final in five years.
2. Fearless Tipperary get a shot at immortality
Tipperary are a confident, vibrant bunch. And why wouldn’t they be? A squad peppered with All-Ireland minor winners and plenty more who played a role in their journey to the All-Ireland U21 decider in 2015.
They play a free-wheeling, fearless brand of football that has been a breath of fresh air to the football championship. And, most importantly, they thrive on the big occasion.
They don’t come much bigger than an All-Ireland semi-final against such seasoned campaigners. Win this game and these players would go into Tipperary folklore.
3. Mayo’s tactical flexibility under Rochford
What’s been notably different about Mayo under Stephen Rochford is their tactical flexibility. They came through tricky qualifier games against Fermanagh, Kildare and Westmeath by showing only brief glimpses of quality. Then the Mayo boss picked a team and rolled a system specifically designed to beat Tyrone. He become the first man in 2016 to successfully plot the downfall of Mickey Harte’s side.
Rochford trusted experienced lieutenants Alan Dillon and Andy Moran to carry out the game plan against the Ulster champions. Dillon delivered early, quick kick passes into Moran and O’Shea inside before the Red Hand had time to set up the blanket.
Keith Higgins returned to his natural home in the full-back line, Lee Keegan was excellent in his man-marking role on Sean Cavanagh and Kevin McLoughlin is settling into the sweeper position.
Rochford will jig things around once again in a bid to take out Tipperary’s key men, most notably the the twin aerial threat of Conor Sweeney and Michael Quinlivan in the full-forward line.
4. Tipperary must learn from Tyrone’s mistakes
As good Mayo were against Tyrone, they coughed up a number of chances for the Ulster champions to kick an equalising score. Had Tyrone’s talisman Sean Cavanagh still been on the field the result might have been different, but we’ll never know.
Tipperary won’t get anywhere near as many chances as they did last time out against Galway and they’re going to have to be clinical in front of goals. Quinlivan and Sweeney will be key but the rest of the Premier’s forward unit must continue to chip in with scores.
5. Are Mayo timing their run to perfection this time around?
They were kingpins in Connacht for five years running, but Mayo were never quite able to double up as All-Ireland champions under the Noel Connolly-Pat Holmes ticket or James Horan before that.
The Westerners rode their luck on occasions in the backdoor, but they wouldn’t be the first team to take home Sam after struggling in the qualifiers.
Tomas Ó Sé questioned their mentality after witnessing a laid back warm-up in the opening league game against Cork. But that was January and this is August. Mayo, more than anyone, know that this is the time of year that counts. They appear to be only beginning to hit their peak as a team. That’s pretty promising.
The most pleasing part of their win over Tyrone was how the main men delivered big performances. A similar display from Aidan O’Shea, Cillian O’Connor, Colm Boyle and Lee Keegan should leave them 70 minutes from the crowning glory.
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Put me down for a quarter page
Someone tell mattress mick
“Old Mr Brennan” wont be happy with this development..
It’s just a massive money grab, It’s not even a competitive fight, we already know Mayweather wins. But it really doesn’t matter, Win lose or draw, both fighters will make the ten’s of millions, In Floyd’s case hundreds of millions.
I predict the ‘fight’ itself will be over in less than 10 min. An early and easy KO/TKO win for Mayweather
Look, the fight is what it is! It’s just a money making stunt. I don’t care who wins the fight, I admire two men who can put themselves in the position to make millions in a matter of minutes! It’s bloody brilliant. Fair play to Conor for getting himself to a place where he has the opportunity to do that. Not one person on this page would turn down the opportunity to make that kind of money. It’s win win for them both, I genuinely hope Conor wins, probably won’t happen but anything can happen in a good knock. If he looses who cares, he won’t, he’ll be too busy counting his money to give a toss!
Very bad for boxing ….
@Jah: How? More attention, more newcomers doing their research to familiarise themselves with Mayweather and his previous fights and therefore becoming more interested in the sport in general. It’s a mismatch but everyone already knows that and it’s a huge event for boxing all the same. Even if McGregor somehow won then the public will be satisfied (general feeling is people are rooting for him) so there would be plenty of happy customers in that extremely unlikely scenario.
@Brian: i was hoping my ‘…’ would translate as sarcasm. Alas, I have failed in this endeavour
@Jah: Genuinely. You need to put /sarcasm\.
Now. You wanna scrap on the undercard? We can a pokemom card battle or something.
“pokemom” ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
@Jah: ah… very silly of me
@Brian: if people research Mayweather not only will the discover what a great boxer he was but what an incredible low life woman beater he is too.
@Paul O Mahony: jeekers
@Paul O Mahony: you obviously didn’t do your full research either. would never condone such behaviour but context is key. read into actually what happened including from witnesses and you won’t feel the same I guarantee it.
@Brian: hmmm…..he pleaded guilty on a number of occasions in court and done time for one. Would you plead guilty if you didnt do something? I wonder why he was sent to court if he was innocent? He also came to settlement with other women to keep them out of court. Do you really believe he never touched a woman? What context makes it ok to beat a woman in front of your children?
@Paul O Mahony: Brian has his tin hat on
Look, the fight is what it is! It’s just a money making stunt. I don’t care who wins the fight, I admire two men who can put themselves in the position to make millions in a matter of minutes! It’s bloody brilliant. Fair play to Conor for getting himself to a place where he has the opportunity to do that. Not one person on this page would turn down the opportunity to make that kind of money. It’s win win for them both, I genuinely hope Conor wins, probably won’t happen but anything can happen in a good knock. If he looses who cares, he won’t, he’ll be too busy counting his money to give a toss!