galway v donegal

[Rossfan]

The disgrace was dragging 25000 people from donegal,Tyrone,Galway and Sligo to croke park in the 1st place.

Absolutely.
Especially with 3 Counties from the Western seaboard.

[Hound]

25,000 from so called big counties like Tyrone,Donegal and Galway is a disgrace,for a Championship game.Hiw many band wagon jumpers from each of the above counties will be moaning about All Ireland Final tickets should their county reach that stage?

The disgrace was dragging 25000 people from donegal,Tyrone,Galway and Sligo to croke park in the 1st place.

You said it, so much for the Gaa being of the people. No consideration for the time and expense put on Tyrone and Donegal supporters on consecutive weekends. Plus the swing of business to local economies in Enniskillen and Castlebar. I suppose their hands are tied with the Sky contract and have to drag both games into headquarters.

Absolutely nothing to do with Sky! They covered last weeks qualifiers in provincial locations without any problems.

There's an expectation from premium and box ticket holders to have games on the Saturday and Sunday of the BH weekend. That's why it was fixed for Croker. 

[Teo Lurley]

The GAA is a business lads. Making money is important but the interests of regular supporters should be number one. The game is being ruined by moneymen. We'll see more evidence of that in Croke Park today.

[BluestackBoy]

25,000 from so called big counties like Tyrone,Donegal and Galway is a disgrace,for a Championship game.Hiw many band wagon jumpers from each of the above counties will be moaning about All Ireland Final tickets should their county reach that stage?

The disgrace was dragging 25000 people from donegal,Tyrone,Galway and Sligo to croke park in the 1st place.

You said it, so much for the Gaa being of the people. No consideration for the time and expense put on Tyrone and Donegal supporters on consecutive weekends. Plus the swing of business to local economies in Enniskillen and Castlebar. I suppose their hands are tied with the Sky contract and have to drag both games into headquarters.

[BluestackBoy]

25,000 from so called big counties like Tyrone,Donegal and Galway is a disgrace,for a Championship game.Hiw many band wagon jumpers from each of the above counties will be moaning about All Ireland Final tickets should their county reach that stage?

The disgrace was dragging 25000 people from donegal,Tyrone,Galway and Sligo to croke park in the 1st place.

You said it, so much for the Gaa being of the people. No consideration for the time and expense put on Tyrone and Donegal supporters on consecutive weekends. Plus the swing of business to local economies in Enniskillen and Castlebar. I suppose their hands are tied with the Sky contract and have to drag both games into headquarters.

I rarely miss a Donegal game but I also work on Saturdays so that was that.  A lot of Donegal people were unimpressed with the game being in Croke Park, two late Sat nights in a row is a bit much when it could have been avoided.
I take the point about AI final tickets though. Same every year.

[DJGaliv]

Well done Donegal. I thought we had a chance there early in second half when we looked like we had weathered a few attacks and Donegal hit a few wides.
I'm not sure how many wides ye ended up with but their profligacy is something that could stop ye the next day.
Despite the scoreline I felt we looked more in the game or more likely to win the game than against Mayo.

We should learn a lot from yesterday, perhaps we are missing an inside forward. Michael Meehan would have been ideal in there.

My viewpoint was on the 21 yard line and could see the way Galway were setting up defensively in the first half. Whereas in the game beforehand Tyrone had two sweepers playing in front of the full back line we played man on man and had one of our half backs for the first 25 mins half playing an ineffectual sweeping position.

It was quite naive and allowed Donegal to pop little simple passes over our half back line which ended up with Donegal kicking 1-4 without too much pressure. We then tightened up and got back into it. Perhaps it took us too long to adapt.

I thought we were too loose in half back line. McFadden really stood up along with odhran. Midfield were decimated in second half. Watching the first half and the breaks I didn't see us winning one break from the half back or half forward line. Yes conroy caught some ball clean but the dirty breaking ball was all donegals. The two long lads in midfield were good at winning clean ball but you could see in second half when we were crowded out of it we couldn't gain primary possession.

I'd say half the problem is when you are playing alongside two man mountains you don't necessarily practice the skill of winning the dirty breaks. We might get away with that earlier in the season but not against the serious sides.

Well done To Kevin Walsh - in saying all of the above I feel that Galway  have finally progressed. We look more defensively solid at times and I really enjoyed the variety in our point of attack. A bit more working on breaks, dirty ball and primary possession, discovering an inside forward and we can start thinking about promotion to division 1 and challenging for a Connacht title.

[galwayman]

Beaten up a stick around the middle of the field for the entire second half.
That was the winning and losing of the game right there

[Put Up That Flag]

Well, if he is out, it will be a good test of this team to see how they go without him and Lacey. No point in playing him half fit. Bring it on! 

Presumably O'Reilly in to replace him. Or maybe Hugh McFadden. Actually,  probably McLoone. It's a shame the Brick opted out for the year. Big, big test of the panel.

If he's injured it's (harder but) better to rest him. As he will be completely crocked should Donegal progress. It's a no brainer really. It's a tough call  as management is always want to play half mobile star player. Galway will tell you how many times Michael Meehan played injured and how much it destroyed the lad. Same is happening to Cillian O'Connor.

Sounds like Donegal are going to do a Senan Kilbride and play someone everyone knows is injured. Worked awfully well for us..

Jesus, Michael Murphy and Senan Kilbride compared in the same sentence,  its like comparing Messi against a league of Ireland reserve player, but hey you keep living in dream land and pretend that it was because of an in injury that Kilbride was useless in the championship.

[Duine Eile]

So another year over for Galway. Overall some progression has been made but we're still well behind the top teams. We've tightened up a bit defensively and there seems to be a bit of aggression and pride there now which is great. Cathal Sweeney was this year's find of the year, he's played well in all galway's games this year, he just needs to curtail his runs forward a bit. Finian Hanley has had a stinker of a year, destroyed by both Aidan O'Shea and Michael Murphy in the space of a few weeks, enough to give anyone nightmares. He's been a loyal servant to Galway football over the years but I think it's time to call it a day. The ball that Murphy flicked down for McHugh's goal wasn't even contested by Hanley, he stayed stuck to the ground while Murphy jumped about 3 feet in the air. His best days are behind him at this stage. The most likely replacement is Colin Forde but who knows how effective he'll be after his injury layoff.  Kick outs on Saturday seemed to have no plan at all, most of them were hit and hope out to midfield which seemed to work for the first half with Conroy hanging back at midfield but completely fell apart once Donegal began to take a stronghold in the second half. Flynn and Ó Curraoin need to compete for the full game and not just in fits and starts. That said Flynn did have a better game than Ó Curraoin and brings more to the team I think. Ronan Steede is on the bench all year after having a great season with Corofin, he should have gotten a run at some stage. In the forwards Gary Sice has been our best player in championship this year. He seemed to be playing very deep on Saturday so his scoring chances were fewer. Conroy has been a disappointment this year, simple handling mistakes, misplaced passes, missing tap over frees. Micheál Lundy is being played completely out of position. He's received a lot of criticism all year for playing too deep and not scoring enough but he's obviously playing to the system or plan they've been given. His best position for Corofin has been at 11 or 14, he gets fast, quick ball and heading straight for a score is the first thing on his mind. He's lightening quick and is a fantastic passer of the ball but he's played so deep this year his scoring ability has been completely sacrificed. I'd love to see him playing off Comer in the full forward line next year. Damien Comer has the ability to be one of the top young forwards in the country but he needs to compete more and learn to catch a ball over his head instead of having to get the ball on his toe which usually ends up with him being bottled up by the opposition defence. If management can get the forward positions right they have serious potential. Kevin Walsh and his team seem to be meticulous in their preparation prior to games, we've started most games well this year but when the opposition change things up a bit they seem to be at a loss and don't know what to do, eg. Aidan O'Shea's dominance of Finian Hanley, he was given no help and when Donegal began to dominate midfield no changes were made to kick outs to avoid mid field or any extra bodies brought in to mop up breaking ball. Shane Walsh should also have been introduced much earlier. Still, it's their first year in and you'd hope they'll learn and move on from here. All in all, while we're still out of the championship before the quarter finals I do think we're in a better position than this time last year, the teams of the last few years wouldn't have ground out those wins against Armagh and Derry. The raw materials are there, let's hope they build on the bit of progress we've made. Roll on January and the FBD!

[moysider]

So another year over for Galway. Overall some progression has been made but we're still well behind the top teams. We've tightened up a bit defensively and there seems to be a bit of aggression and pride there now which is great. Cathal Sweeney was this year's find of the year, he's played well in all galway's games this year, he just needs to curtail his runs forward a bit. Finian Hanley has had a stinker of a year, destroyed by both Aidan O'Shea and Michael Murphy in the space of a few weeks, enough to give anyone nightmares. He's been a loyal servant to Galway football over the years but I think it's time to call it a day. The ball that Murphy flicked down for McHugh's goal wasn't even contested by Hanley, he stayed stuck to the ground while Murphy jumped about 3 feet in the air. His best days are behind him at this stage. The most likely replacement is Colin Forde but who knows how effective he'll be after his injury layoff.  Kick outs on Saturday seemed to have no plan at all, most of them were hit and hope out to midfield which seemed to work for the first half with Conroy hanging back at midfield but completely fell apart once Donegal began to take a stronghold in the second half. Flynn and Ó Curraoin need to compete for the full game and not just in fits and starts. That said Flynn did have a better game than Ó Curraoin and brings more to the team I think. Ronan Steede is on the bench all year after having a great season with Corofin, he should have gotten a run at some stage. In the forwards Gary Sice has been our best player in championship this year. He seemed to be playing very deep on Saturday so his scoring chances were fewer. Conroy has been a disappointment this year, simple handling mistakes, misplaced passes, missing tap over frees. Micheál Lundy is being played completely out of position. He's received a lot of criticism all year for playing too deep and not scoring enough but he's obviously playing to the system or plan they've been given. His best position for Corofin has been at 11 or 14, he gets fast, quick ball and heading straight for a score is the first thing on his mind. He's lightening quick and is a fantastic passer of the ball but he's played so deep this year his scoring ability has been completely sacrificed. I'd love to see him playing off Comer in the full forward line next year. Damien Comer has the ability to be one of the top young forwards in the country but he needs to compete more and learn to catch a ball over his head instead of having to get the ball on his toe which usually ends up with him being bottled up by the opposition defence. If management can get the forward positions right they have serious potential. Kevin Walsh and his team seem to be meticulous in their preparation prior to games, we've started most games well this year but when the opposition change things up a bit they seem to be at a loss and don't know what to do, eg. Aidan O'Shea's dominance of Finian Hanley, he was given no help and when Donegal began to dominate midfield no changes were made to kick outs to avoid mid field or any extra bodies brought in to mop up breaking ball. Shane Walsh should also have been introduced much earlier. Still, it's their first year in and you'd hope they'll learn and move on from here. All in all, while we're still out of the championship before the quarter finals I do think we're in a better position than this time last year, the teams of the last few years wouldn't have ground out those wins against Armagh and Derry. The raw materials are there, let's hope they build on the bit of progress we've made. Roll on January and the FBD!

I dunno Duine Eile. I thought James Horan's column today was very good. He had a separate bit about Galway and his conclusion was he didn t see any real progress at all. I'd have to agree. And I agree with your assessment re Lundy. Not his game what he was doing and Ryan McHugh had a huge bearing on the game. Massive actually. Wouldn t be as optimist though about Comer as you though. Look this was a breakthrough game for Galway if they were good enough. Tactically a bit shy but not convinced about a lot of players as well.

[From the Bunker]

So another year over for Galway. Overall some progression has been made but we're still well behind the top teams. We've tightened up a bit defensively and there seems to be a bit of aggression and pride there now which is great. Cathal Sweeney was this year's find of the year, he's played well in all galway's games this year, he just needs to curtail his runs forward a bit. Finian Hanley has had a stinker of a year, destroyed by both Aidan O'Shea and Michael Murphy in the space of a few weeks, enough to give anyone nightmares. He's been a loyal servant to Galway football over the years but I think it's time to call it a day. The ball that Murphy flicked down for McHugh's goal wasn't even contested by Hanley, he stayed stuck to the ground while Murphy jumped about 3 feet in the air. His best days are behind him at this stage. The most likely replacement is Colin Forde but who knows how effective he'll be after his injury layoff.  Kick outs on Saturday seemed to have no plan at all, most of them were hit and hope out to midfield which seemed to work for the first half with Conroy hanging back at midfield but completely fell apart once Donegal began to take a stronghold in the second half. Flynn and Ó Curraoin need to compete for the full game and not just in fits and starts. That said Flynn did have a better game than Ó Curraoin and brings more to the team I think. Ronan Steede is on the bench all year after having a great season with Corofin, he should have gotten a run at some stage. In the forwards Gary Sice has been our best player in championship this year. He seemed to be playing very deep on Saturday so his scoring chances were fewer. Conroy has been a disappointment this year, simple handling mistakes, misplaced passes, missing tap over frees. Micheál Lundy is being played completely out of position. He's received a lot of criticism all year for playing too deep and not scoring enough but he's obviously playing to the system or plan they've been given. His best position for Corofin has been at 11 or 14, he gets fast, quick ball and heading straight for a score is the first thing on his mind. He's lightening quick and is a fantastic passer of the ball but he's played so deep this year his scoring ability has been completely sacrificed. I'd love to see him playing off Comer in the full forward line next year. Damien Comer has the ability to be one of the top young forwards in the country but he needs to compete more and learn to catch a ball over his head instead of having to get the ball on his toe which usually ends up with him being bottled up by the opposition defence. If management can get the forward positions right they have serious potential. Kevin Walsh and his team seem to be meticulous in their preparation prior to games, we've started most games well this year but when the opposition change things up a bit they seem to be at a loss and don't know what to do, eg. Aidan O'Shea's dominance of Finian Hanley, he was given no help and when Donegal began to dominate midfield no changes were made to kick outs to avoid mid field or any extra bodies brought in to mop up breaking ball. Shane Walsh should also have been introduced much earlier. Still, it's their first year in and you'd hope they'll learn and move on from here. All in all, while we're still out of the championship before the quarter finals I do think we're in a better position than this time last year, the teams of the last few years wouldn't have ground out those wins against Armagh and Derry. The raw materials are there, let's hope they build on the bit of progress we've made. Roll on January and the FBD!

I dunno Duine Eile. I thought James Horan's column today was very good. He had a separate bit about Galway and his conclusion was he didn t see any real progress at all. I'd have to agree. And I agree with your assessment re Lundy. Not his game what he was doing and Ryan McHugh had a huge bearing on the game. Massive actually. Wouldn t be as optimist though about Comer as you though. Look this was a breakthrough game for Galway if they were good enough. Tactically a bit shy but not convinced about a lot of players as well.

I as well don't think Galway are improving. They are in dangerous territory of clapping themselves on the back for having a run of games in the back door. Nothing of real (and I mean real note) was achieved more than last year. Mayo still have ye at arms length. Ye brought more aggressiveness to the Mayo game this year. But intensity and discipline is what ye need. Anyway I could be patronising and tell ye what ye need to hear, But feck us Mayo hoars are in the same boat at another level. And we sure as sh1te hate being patronised about how close we are and so on! Anyway time to take a break,, take stock and get ready for a Div 1 assault!

[Duine Eile]

I get what ye're saying but there is an element of aggression and team spirit in this team that has been lacking the last few years, even something as simple as that is progression from where we were this time last year, in my opinion anyway! I don't think anyone in Galway thinks we're anywhere near the level of the likes of Mayo and Kerry in terms of All Ireland contention hopes but even to see lads playing with pride in the jersey this year was an improvement on the last few years. They have plenty of time to go away, take stock, see what worked and didn't work this season and plan for next year. One position we really need to nail down early is goalie, it's a joke at this stage, we used something like 7 different keepers from the start of the FBD through to the championship, madness!

[Jinxy]

Beaten up a stick around the middle of the field for the entire second half.
That was the winning and losing of the game right there

Your two primary midfielders are way too 'nice'.

[mouview]

So another year over for Galway. Overall some progression has been made but we're still well behind the top teams. We've tightened up a bit defensively and there seems to be a bit of aggression and pride there now which is great. Cathal Sweeney was this year's find of the year, he's played well in all galway's games this year, he just needs to curtail his runs forward a bit. Finian Hanley has had a stinker of a year, destroyed by both Aidan O'Shea and Michael Murphy in the space of a few weeks, enough to give anyone nightmares. He's been a loyal servant to Galway football over the years but I think it's time to call it a day. The ball that Murphy flicked down for McHugh's goal wasn't even contested by Hanley, he stayed stuck to the ground while Murphy jumped about 3 feet in the air. His best days are behind him at this stage. The most likely replacement is Colin Forde but who knows how effective he'll be after his injury layoff.  Kick outs on Saturday seemed to have no plan at all, most of them were hit and hope out to midfield which seemed to work for the first half with Conroy hanging back at midfield but completely fell apart once Donegal began to take a stronghold in the second half. Flynn and Ó Curraoin need to compete for the full game and not just in fits and starts. That said Flynn did have a better game than Ó Curraoin and brings more to the team I think. Ronan Steede is on the bench all year after having a great season with Corofin, he should have gotten a run at some stage. In the forwards Gary Sice has been our best player in championship this year. He seemed to be playing very deep on Saturday so his scoring chances were fewer. Conroy has been a disappointment this year, simple handling mistakes, misplaced passes, missing tap over frees. Micheál Lundy is being played completely out of position. He's received a lot of criticism all year for playing too deep and not scoring enough but he's obviously playing to the system or plan they've been given. His best position for Corofin has been at 11 or 14, he gets fast, quick ball and heading straight for a score is the first thing on his mind. He's lightening quick and is a fantastic passer of the ball but he's played so deep this year his scoring ability has been completely sacrificed. I'd love to see him playing off Comer in the full forward line next year. Damien Comer has the ability to be one of the top young forwards in the country but he needs to compete more and learn to catch a ball over his head instead of having to get the ball on his toe which usually ends up with him being bottled up by the opposition defence. If management can get the forward positions right they have serious potential. Kevin Walsh and his team seem to be meticulous in their preparation prior to games, we've started most games well this year but when the opposition change things up a bit they seem to be at a loss and don't know what to do, eg. Aidan O'Shea's dominance of Finian Hanley, he was given no help and when Donegal began to dominate midfield no changes were made to kick outs to avoid mid field or any extra bodies brought in to mop up breaking ball. Shane Walsh should also have been introduced much earlier. Still, it's their first year in and you'd hope they'll learn and move on from here. All in all, while we're still out of the championship before the quarter finals I do think we're in a better position than this time last year, the teams of the last few years wouldn't have ground out those wins against Armagh and Derry. The raw materials are there, let's hope they build on the bit of progress we've made. Roll on January and the FBD!

Fair summation DE. Agree that Cathal Sweeney has been very good this year, yet I can't escape the feeling that he's played above himself a bit. Made a couple of silly mistakes in possession v Derry and was turned in a circle a couple of times by McFadden the last day; also, like his brother, not sure how outright pacy he is. Still, I'd cut him slack as it was his first year. Duane and Hanley have just both been poor. Bradshaw poor enough the last day, O'Donnell one of our better performers this year but still doesn't stop enough at no. 6. Silke should be tried in the FB line next year. Don't think being too 'nice' is midfield's drawback, just not good or consistent enough. Enda Tierney looks promising and should push both for a spot next year, while Headford's Michael Day might also be worth a look. Conroy has had a really poor year also, but may benefit from a switch back to midfield. Sice, good but now wrong side of 30. Lundy as you say employed in a different role for Galway than for Corofin. Cummins made the same mistakes he's always made in Croker, fonging the ball high into the sky, hoping that it will land somewhere judiciously. He's been doing this for Galway always and I simply don't think he's a top level player at this stage. Adrian Varley wasn't too bad the last day and looks more economical than Cummins. Comer is powerful and strong on the ball but scoring goals v Donegal etc. is not as easy as scoring v Roscommon, Leitrim etc. He's not a prolific scorer anyway, but time is one his side. A prolific scorer is what we need in the forwards, a PJ, Meehan or even Niall Finnegan, someone that can be relied on for 5+ points everyday.

But of those not on the panel, who else is there to come in? Corofin's Michael Farragher and Ian Burke are well good enough to be there but somehow foolishly were lost from it earlier. Ronan Steede is there and not a bad player but was given no game time and I'm not sure how mobile he is. Joss Moore if injury-free should come back into the reckoning for a central position and his clubmate Michael Daly will also be brought in next year I feel. Very few others around the county though that we don't know about.

Mgmt made the same mistakes Saturday as v. Mayo; team too slow in taking restarts and trying to create a bit of momentum, far too slow making changes when the tide of the game is slowly turning away. These are fundamental things any manager should know but KW seems awful slow to learn.

[Syferus]

So another year over for Galway. Overall some progression has been made but we're still well behind the top teams. We've tightened up a bit defensively and there seems to be a bit of aggression and pride there now which is great. Cathal Sweeney was this year's find of the year, he's played well in all galway's games this year, he just needs to curtail his runs forward a bit. Finian Hanley has had a stinker of a year, destroyed by both Aidan O'Shea and Michael Murphy in the space of a few weeks, enough to give anyone nightmares. He's been a loyal servant to Galway football over the years but I think it's time to call it a day. The ball that Murphy flicked down for McHugh's goal wasn't even contested by Hanley, he stayed stuck to the ground while Murphy jumped about 3 feet in the air. His best days are behind him at this stage. The most likely replacement is Colin Forde but who knows how effective he'll be after his injury layoff.  Kick outs on Saturday seemed to have no plan at all, most of them were hit and hope out to midfield which seemed to work for the first half with Conroy hanging back at midfield but completely fell apart once Donegal began to take a stronghold in the second half. Flynn and Ó Curraoin need to compete for the full game and not just in fits and starts. That said Flynn did have a better game than Ó Curraoin and brings more to the team I think. Ronan Steede is on the bench all year after having a great season with Corofin, he should have gotten a run at some stage. In the forwards Gary Sice has been our best player in championship this year. He seemed to be playing very deep on Saturday so his scoring chances were fewer. Conroy has been a disappointment this year, simple handling mistakes, misplaced passes, missing tap over frees. Micheál Lundy is being played completely out of position. He's received a lot of criticism all year for playing too deep and not scoring enough but he's obviously playing to the system or plan they've been given. His best position for Corofin has been at 11 or 14, he gets fast, quick ball and heading straight for a score is the first thing on his mind. He's lightening quick and is a fantastic passer of the ball but he's played so deep this year his scoring ability has been completely sacrificed. I'd love to see him playing off Comer in the full forward line next year. Damien Comer has the ability to be one of the top young forwards in the country but he needs to compete more and learn to catch a ball over his head instead of having to get the ball on his toe which usually ends up with him being bottled up by the opposition defence. If management can get the forward positions right they have serious potential. Kevin Walsh and his team seem to be meticulous in their preparation prior to games, we've started most games well this year but when the opposition change things up a bit they seem to be at a loss and don't know what to do, eg. Aidan O'Shea's dominance of Finian Hanley, he was given no help and when Donegal began to dominate midfield no changes were made to kick outs to avoid mid field or any extra bodies brought in to mop up breaking ball. Shane Walsh should also have been introduced much earlier. Still, it's their first year in and you'd hope they'll learn and move on from here. All in all, while we're still out of the championship before the quarter finals I do think we're in a better position than this time last year, the teams of the last few years wouldn't have ground out those wins against Armagh and Derry. The raw materials are there, let's hope they build on the bit of progress we've made. Roll on January and the FBD!

I dunno Duine Eile. I thought James Horan's column today was very good. He had a separate bit about Galway and his conclusion was he didn t see any real progress at all. I'd have to agree. And I agree with your assessment re Lundy. Not his game what he was doing and Ryan McHugh had a huge bearing on the game. Massive actually. Wouldn t be as optimist though about Comer as you though. Look this was a breakthrough game for Galway if they were good enough. Tactically a bit shy but not convinced about a lot of players as well.

I as well don't think Galway are improving. They are in dangerous territory of clapping themselves on the back for having a run of games in the back door. Nothing of real (and I mean real note) was achieved more than last year. Mayo still have ye at arms length. Ye brought more aggressiveness to the Mayo game this year. But intensity and discipline is what ye need. Anyway I could be patronising and tell ye what ye need to hear, But feck us Mayo hoars are in the same boat at another level. And we sure as sh1te hate being patronised about how close we are and so on! Anyway time to take a break,, take stock and get ready for a Div 1 assault!

Glad to see Jamesy is reading me posts lads. I was saying there was little difference in their year's Galway team after the Mayo game but I was being shouted down..