Search Results for 'Lee Keegan'

Opinions are like a certain body part - everyone has one - or so the saying goes; and since 3.34pm last Sunday - when Aidan O'Shea swung left and headed back towards the Davin Stand, plenty of them have been expressed on where he headed and where he stayed for the next 70 odd minutes.

Dear me, not again. The winners of this year’s Sam Maguire will have their name etched on the famous trophy but there is absolutely no doubt Mayo’s 2017 championship campaign will command the most paragraphs in the championship 2017 yearbook. Bizarre does not even go close to explaining it. Mayo supporters again travelled in their tens of thousands clogging the N5 and N4 all the way to the capital from early morning. It is very obvious that football is more important than Christmas for the supporters of the green and red who now have to contend with a ninth championship game in 2017 after another heart stopping semifinal clash with Kerry in Croke Park. They will not have a cent left for the festive period.

There’s no easy way to win an All Ireland, and boy are Mayo doing it the hard way. It’s back to headquarters on Saturday for another swing at Kerry as the look to book an All Ireland final date in Croke Park in September.

Not long after Mayo rattled in their third goal in the first half of their All Ireland quarterfinal replay win over Roscommon, the thoughts of plenty of Mayo supporters wandered to what will we do to stop Kieran Donaghy, the man who has inflicted more pain on Mayo in recent years than probably anyone else on big days.

Early season predictions would have envisaged Dublin, Kerry, and Mayo making it to the semifinal of the championship with Tyrone getting a few hesitant votes because of a poor ending to their league campaign.

After what had happened in Croke Park the previous Sunday, there were not too many expecting to see Mayo dish out the hiding they did to Roscommon last Monday in the replay. It was one of those days, where almost everything went right for Mayo and nothing went right for their opponents. The reason for that was not luck or fortune, it was because Mayo attacked the game in the right way — from the very first ball and never let up.

A week is a long time in politics, bu it seems that eight days in football can be even longer. Having struggled to impose themselves for long enough periods to win the first day against Roscommon, Mayo hit their neighbours with everything they had on Monday and ran out more than convincing winners. Right from the throw-in four days ago, you could see that this Mayo team were a very different animal to the one that that had turned up eight days previously.

“Mayo football is in a critical state,” “the players are finished,” “the management aren't up to it,” “I hope Roscommon beat us to put us out of our misery.” They are just a small example of what I listened to last week in the build up to the replay against Roscommon. Fast forward three days and the Mayo for Sam bandwagon is in full swing. “That was Mayo's best performance in Croke Park,” “This is the strongest squad Mayo have ever had,” “every player played well,” “Rochford is a tactical genius,” “I think we'll win the All-Ireland this year.”

Monday's All-Ireland SFC quarter-final replay ended in bitter disappointment for Roscommon as Mayo cruised to an emphatic 4-19 to 0-9 win at Croke Park.

Stephen Rochford was a happy man not long after the full time whistle in Croke Park on Monday, but he knows that Mayo have to keep improving with Kerry coming down the tracks in 13-days time.