Galway v Sligo - Connact SFC semi final 27th June

[galwayman]

May be a little early but might as well get the ball rolling on this one. Who do ye think will win it?
Personally I find this one very tough to call. I have heard on the grapevine that Meehan won't have recovered from injury in time - and that is not a smokescreen either. Massive loss to us as he is a class act and I reckon would definitely have the measure of Maguire. His loss also robs us of our only real long distance dead ball threat. He is well capable of pointing 45's which no other outfield player with the possible exception of Armstrong can.

Without MM we are still capable of winning this game but we will need to step it up massively from our league performances and obviously from the New York game.
Midfield in particular will need to really step it up as Sligo look to be very strong around the middle third of the field.
Armstrong and the 2 Joyces will be key also in replacing Meehans scores.

If this game was in Sligo I would fancy Sligo to win but I think we may sneak it with home advantage.

[An Fhairche Abu]

36 pages from the Mayo and Sligo lads before the Connacht Q-final threw in, doubtful that we'll get through that many pages before the semi-final!

We'll put up a better showing than Mayo did the last day with or without Meehan I'd say and home advantage has to be worth a couple of scores but Sligo are a serious outfit and we'll be doing well to get a result out of this match.

[SLIGONIAN]

Connacht

[GalwayBayBoy]

To be honest I have no idea how we are going to be on the day of this game. Galway played the league without Padraig Joyce and then Meehan, Armstrong and Bradshaw got injured half way through the league campaign. At that stage they actually did well to survive in the division. Armstrong has at least played a couple of games recently but now there are rumous that Meehan won't make the semi-final. No Meehan would put a completely different complexion on the game as he is the one player on either side that could win the game by himself almost. Has Kernan timed things right and kept his light under a bushel? Galway have been going well in challenges but they count for feck all really. Would need to see who's going to be fit and available. Kevin Walsh certainly won't lack for knowledge of the Galway players. You still see him regularly at Galway games as long as they are not clashing with Sligo's fixtures.

As well Sligo played the last day especially in the 2nd half, Mayo were desperately flat on the day. My suspicion is Galway won't roll over as easily at home especially now that they have been well warned but whether it's enough to actually win I don't know.

[shaund10]

I can see this going 1 of 2 ways. Galway playing like they can and should and winning by 6+. Or them serving up the usual mediocre stuff from the last few years and getting pipped by 1-2. Galway produced one of these performances up in Sligo last year and scraped a win. A repeat this time round will end in defeat.

The team has been unlucky this year with regards injuries. Its kind of hard to predict a team at this stage, but i'd start with thinking that Alan Burke will play in the corner to pick up David Kelly. Burke might be the only one with the speed to deal with Kelly, bar bringing Bradshaw back from half back. Hanley was excellent against Sligo last year and hopfully has picked up some form and confidence since the league.

Diarmuid Burke will play centre back imo, and still looks a solid option there. There has been a lot of calls for Bradshaw to be moved to No.6, but I cant see the attraction, he hasn't the physique to hold the middle and it will just curb his brilliant attacking tendencies.

Coleman and Conroy looked the best option at MF in the league, especially if we also play Bergin to drop in and add a bit of height at kickouts. Conroy in particular had a great league campaign and looks nailed on to have a big year.

The loss of Meehan in the forwards is huge. There is no telling the advantage of knowing that when a ball gets put out for a 45, or long range free, that 9/10 times it will result in a point. Besides that, he is starting to look awesome from play. Every time he got the ball against Cork and the 20m against Kerry, he looked unstoppable. If he can destroy their best backs, there is no telling what he could do against lesser teams. But anyway, lets hope we edge out a win and have him back for the final.

PJ is still a class act and will always grab a couple of scores and create even more. Now we come to the players that will make or break our year, Armstrong and N.Joyce. Both have the potential to be up the with the best but have yet to prove it. There are signs that Armstrong is starting to come to the boil, but he needs to be more consistent. Up to now there have bneen flashes of brilliance and then him quiet for the next half hour or so. He badly needs an injury free period. Nicky is very hit and miss. In the space of 7 days last year he was terrific (Mayo) and Appaling (Donegal). Again though, has the potential to be special if he gets his head right. With those 4 forwards playing well, we can beat anyone.

Sice looks very solid at 10 and is playing very well. A shoe in I would say. He can curb the attacking instincts of Sligo very good No.7. Davey I think. All's leeft now is the most frustrating player playing atm, Bergin. He can be terrific, but its no more than 1 game out of 4. In the other 3 games you will see him solo into people constantly, try to kick points from everywhere (and fail) and misplace passes. He can be very good though and is our primary ball winner from kick out's.

I would be confident of a win, a lot to do with it being in Salthill. With Mayo going out, we can now step through the championship quietly, a good quarter draw and we could suddenly find ourselves in an All Ireland semi. A 50/50 break of the ball from MF against Sligo should see us win, but anything less than a good performance will see us in a qualifier field littered with mines.

[SLIGONIAN]

Alot of the GALWAY confidence is based beacuse the game is in Salthill. Interesting, from a Sligo viewpoint its hard to respect that point. Its lazy naive and shows a lack of knowledge of us.

We are delighted the game is in Salthill and not Tuam, and we actually prefer it to Markievicz as its wider. We played better in Croke Park than last sat, for reasons we want more space.

This is a hugely improved Sligo team compared to last yr, Last yr we had ewing marking armstrong which was always going to be a disaster, mcnamara is replaced by Cawley this yr. And lets not forget we brough Donovan out of the FB line to mark Joyce weakening us further. Midfield had improved alot and Gilmarting is new addition. McGee another new find.

The 11 week break last yr did us no favours and we looked rusty at the start, which i think resulted in us being 8-2 down after 20mins.

There is really no weaknesses in Sligo team at the minute, with a bench of Coen, Marren, Quinn and Mullen,... to come on, i think Sligo are better and more balanced team.

Like with Galway, youve Bradshaw coming back from a long lay off, Meehan maybe aswell, is Eoin Concannon, Conroy, Cullinan, O Donnell up to it. Armstrong wont get the same space as last yr with Donovan or Harrison marking him. I rate Nicky Joyce highly but he is hit and miss. Yere defence will have job watching Kelly, and Costello will be hard stopped.

Im expecting a Sligo win.

[Rossfan]

Im expecting a Sligo win.

What a surprise 
The herrin chokers are forewarned and will hardly be as lacking in spirit as Mayowestros( and Bellaghy  ) were so it's hard to see Sligo winning it.
Still remember Laythrum in 1994 had to do it the hard way beating the (then) big 3 so it's not out of the question.
Hopefully we fulfil our side of the bargain( and that is pretty doubtful) to make it a Sligo/Ros final.
Only downside of such a Final  is Sligo having choice of venue are unlikely to opt for the Hyde so it's either the hell hole of Castlebar or the endurance trip to Salthill.

[An Fhairche Abu]

Alot of the GALWAY confidence is based beacuse the game is in Salthill. Interesting, from a Sligo viewpoint its hard to respect that point. Its lazy naive and shows a lack of knowledge of us.

We are delighted the game is in Salthill and not Tuam, and we actually prefer it to Markievicz as its wider. We played better in Croke Park than last sat, for reasons we want more space.

This is a hugely improved Sligo team compared to last yr, Last yr we had ewing marking armstrong which was always going to be a disaster, mcnamara is replaced by Cawley this yr. And lets not forget we brough Donovan out of the FB line to mark Joyce weakening us further. Midfield had improved alot and Gilmarting is new addition. McGee another new find.

The 11 week break last yr did us no favours and we looked rusty at the start, which i think resulted in us being 8-2 down after 20mins.

There is really no weaknesses in Sligo team at the minute, with a bench of Coen, Marren, Quinn and Mullen,... to come on, i think Sligo are better and more balanced team.

Like with Galway, youve Bradshaw coming back from a long lay off, Meehan maybe aswell, is Eoin Concannon, Conroy, Cullinan, O Donnell up to it. Armstrong wont get the same space as last yr with Donovan or Harrison marking him. I rate Nicky Joyce highly but he is hit and miss. Yere defence will have job watching Kelly, and Costello will be hard stopped.

Im expecting a Sligo win.

I would expect that home venue has to be an advantage in some shape, even if it's just familiarity of match day routine, surroundings etc. and anyone who mentioned this was merely trying to reflect this I'm sure.
I think you need to drop the fixation with posters from other counties precived "lack of knowledge" or "lazy" analysis regarding Sligo, you might have had some Mayo hype merchants expecting to steam roll past ye last Saturday but anyone who has seriously watched the Galway football team against quality oppostion in the championship over the past 5-6 years will not be going into this game expecting anything but an absolute dogfight to try and get over a very fine Sligo team that are going really well for the past 18 months, especially as our best player in Meehan will not be playing.

[SLIGONIAN]

Alot of the GALWAY confidence is based beacuse the game is in Salthill. Interesting, from a Sligo viewpoint its hard to respect that point. Its lazy naive and shows a lack of knowledge of us.

We are delighted the game is in Salthill and not Tuam, and we actually prefer it to Markievicz as its wider. We played better in Croke Park than last sat, for reasons we want more space.

This is a hugely improved Sligo team compared to last yr, Last yr we had ewing marking armstrong which was always going to be a disaster, mcnamara is replaced by Cawley this yr. And lets not forget we brough Donovan out of the FB line to mark Joyce weakening us further. Midfield had improved alot and Gilmarting is new addition. McGee another new find.

The 11 week break last yr did us no favours and we looked rusty at the start, which i think resulted in us being 8-2 down after 20mins.

There is really no weaknesses in Sligo team at the minute, with a bench of Coen, Marren, Quinn and Mullen,... to come on, i think Sligo are better and more balanced team.

Like with Galway, youve Bradshaw coming back from a long lay off, Meehan maybe aswell, is Eoin Concannon, Conroy, Cullinan, O Donnell up to it. Armstrong wont get the same space as last yr with Donovan or Harrison marking him. I rate Nicky Joyce highly but he is hit and miss. Yere defence will have job watching Kelly, and Costello will be hard stopped.

Im expecting a Sligo win.

I would expect that home venue has to be an advantage in some shape, even if it's just familiarity of match day routine, surroundings etc. and anyone who mentioned this was merely trying to reflect this I'm sure.
I think you need to drop the fixation with posters from other counties precived "lack of knowledge" or "lazy" analysis regarding Sligo, you might have had some Mayo hype merchants expecting to steam roll past ye last Saturday but anyone who has seriously watched the Galway football team against quality oppostion in the championship over the past 5-6 years will not be going into this game expecting anything but an absolute dogfight to try and get over a very fine Sligo team that are going really well for the past 18 months, especially as our best player in Meehan will not be playing.

If Galway have been as consistently poor as ye are making out, maybe ye are a poor side. Yeve had the odd decent performance maybe that wasnt a  true reflection of ye. And if Sligo win of course it will be down to Galway being so poor again and not much to do how good the Yeats men were. Or is it just my imagination again.

[seafoid]

Sligonian- that is very defensive talk. If you want to win the all-Ireland you need to be more positive.

[An Fhairche Abu]

Alot of the GALWAY confidence is based beacuse the game is in Salthill. Interesting, from a Sligo viewpoint its hard to respect that point. Its lazy naive and shows a lack of knowledge of us.

We are delighted the game is in Salthill and not Tuam, and we actually prefer it to Markievicz as its wider. We played better in Croke Park than last sat, for reasons we want more space.

This is a hugely improved Sligo team compared to last yr, Last yr we had ewing marking armstrong which was always going to be a disaster, mcnamara is replaced by Cawley this yr. And lets not forget we brough Donovan out of the FB line to mark Joyce weakening us further. Midfield had improved alot and Gilmarting is new addition. McGee another new find.

The 11 week break last yr did us no favours and we looked rusty at the start, which i think resulted in us being 8-2 down after 20mins.

There is really no weaknesses in Sligo team at the minute, with a bench of Coen, Marren, Quinn and Mullen,... to come on, i think Sligo are better and more balanced team.

Like with Galway, youve Bradshaw coming back from a long lay off, Meehan maybe aswell, is Eoin Concannon, Conroy, Cullinan, O Donnell up to it. Armstrong wont get the same space as last yr with Donovan or Harrison marking him. I rate Nicky Joyce highly but he is hit and miss. Yere defence will have job watching Kelly, and Costello will be hard stopped.

Im expecting a Sligo win.

I would expect that home venue has to be an advantage in some shape, even if it's just familiarity of match day routine, surroundings etc. and anyone who mentioned this was merely trying to reflect this I'm sure.
I think you need to drop the fixation with posters from other counties precived "lack of knowledge" or "lazy" analysis regarding Sligo, you might have had some Mayo hype merchants expecting to steam roll past ye last Saturday but anyone who has seriously watched the Galway football team against quality oppostion in the championship over the past 5-6 years will not be going into this game expecting anything but an absolute dogfight to try and get over a very fine Sligo team that are going really well for the past 18 months, especially as our best player in Meehan will not be playing.

If Galway have been as consistently poor as ye are making out, maybe ye are a poor side. Yeve had the odd decent performance maybe that wasnt a  true reflection of ye. And if Sligo win of course it will be down to Galway being so poor again and not much to do how good the Yeats men were. Or is it just my imagination again.

I'll spell it out for you. Sligo are quite obviously a good team. If Galway play poorly then we have no chance of winning because we would give ye the kind of game ye got from Mayo last Saturday, i.e. no game at all. If Galway can play well on the day then of course we have a chance although we could still lose anyway as if Sligo play to their best then maybe our best isn't good enough at this point in time.
However if Galway is the inferior team on paper, is it an absolute guarantee that every Sligo player will perform to the optimum in the Connacht Semi-Final? No, they could have an off day and some Galway players might play above themselves, this is the beauty of sport.
If you want to go around thinking that Galway supporters actually believe the only reason that Sligo could win is purely down to a poor display by ourselves on the day despite no such assertion then you run with that one buckeen and best of luck to you.

[shaund10]

Alot of the GALWAY confidence is based beacuse the game is in Salthill. Interesting, from a Sligo viewpoint its hard to respect that point. Its lazy naive and shows a lack of knowledge of us.

We are delighted the game is in Salthill and not Tuam, and we actually prefer it to Markievicz as its wider. We played better in Croke Park than last sat, for reasons we want more space.

But its just thought that a wider pitch will suit Galway as much as it will suit ye. After a few shaky years, we have started to play very well when in Salthill.

Reffering your posts above, and trying not to be patronising in any way, if Galway play to their full ability they will win this. Not that there is a whole lot between the teams, I just feel Galway have that bit more at their best. Remember last year we were good enough to come out of Markevic with a 4 point win while playing awful.

[seafoid]

Galway footballers have the advantage of a history of lording it over Sligo and 9 all-Irelands so a lot depends on how well Sligo are mentally. None of the baggage may matter but don't forget the punishment Meath got back in 2001. If Galway are in the mood it should be a good match. 

[SLIGONIAN]

I think in Tuam the history thing might come into it, but Salthill whislt we did lose there in 06 we do really have to much history there, and this current crop have beaten Galway in 07, and 3 times yere u21s in last 10yrs.. the great thing is im sure there will be revenge in the Sligo lads minds for last yr. We seemed to cope well with the history with mayo last sat, even confident enough to play against the wind first half. 2000 is timely remider too

I think more than ever its going to come down to the player match ups on the field rather than home advantage or historic hang ups. Kernan to me is a negative manager but his style doesnt suit the Galway way.

[seafoid]

I would love to see Sligo winning Connacht.