Connacht Senior Championship 2018

[whitey]

Galway pressing up in the second half shouldve been the gameplan to begin with. Once systems went out the window, the gulf in class was quickly evident. Flynn's really becoming a man this year and Kerin is a wonderful little corner back now. Walsh obviously was superb, and Army very lively off the bench. Don't think we'll ever have a half as bad as the first again. To endure that, be hit with two sucker punches of goals and still win by a comfortable margin in the end is positive.

Shoutout to the crowd of drunken muppets behind the goal. The type of fans that gave Roscommon fans a bad name around the turn of the century, but an element I thought was gone as ive seen nothing bad the last two years. Perhaps it was because the game was in the Hyde, as I suspect theyre the type of lads that dont make it out of the small town too often

Same shower that were abusing Andy Moran in Croke Park last summer. Theyd be better off to stay at home

[Itchy]

Shoutout to the crowd of drunken muppets behind the goal. The type of fans that gave Roscommon fans a bad name around the turn of the century, but an element I thought was gone as ive seen nothing bad the last two years. Perhaps it was because the game was in the Hyde, as I suspect theyre the type of lads that dont make it out of the small town too often

No harm to the decent Rossie fans that were in my area of the terrace but them clowns were absolute apes of the highest order. I genuinely don't know have I ever heard such personalised targeting of a player at a match before, struggling to recall anything similar.

What's the story, who were they targeting and why?

[moysider]

Congrats the Galway lads.

Good game and would have been a savage second half if Roscommon had a kick in them at the end but they had nothing really - which is surprising. The Compton injury was a big hit for them I think and they got beaten up around the middle in the second half. Harney is good but he looks short of conditioning - I know he's just back from injury. The Smiths seemed to disappear? I know that Galway might have more natural pace but I thought in general Ros legs were shot last 10 mins. Galway looked far better conditioned imo.

Kevin Walsh gets a lot of criticism for being negative. I think he will be pleased his tactics worked today. A lot of pundits saying Galway played their natural traditional game in second half today. They didn't. It was as un-natural as their 1-13-1 se-up in first half. That intensive high pressing game can't be sustained for 70 mins. So a manager decides when to do it. Galway did it today when Ros had thrown their best shots but hadn't pulled away. Galway won pulling up in the end. Roscommon players looked shell-shocked by the literally hands-on intensity of some Galway players. How Bradshaw was let away with bear hugging fellas is beyond belief. There is supposed to be a card for that kind of thing? Checking a player making a run. Coldrick and his team did not have a great day and I thought Ros came out on the wrong side of it, but mostly can have not much complaints about result. 

[weareros]

Well ''twas a long, miserable day in the Hyde today. To stand for six  hours and get beaten in two Connacht finals by both Mayo and Galway with about ten different showers of rain and forget to bring a flask of tea... and then to be reminded of the team that bate us in the worst ever Connacht final in 1993... and have Oh the Green and Red of Mayo blast out  over the Tannoy only goes to prove a long held theory that God is not a Roscommon man, or maybe that he hates us for once stealing the lamb of God.

Well done to Galway. As I had hoped, they would play defensive but even I could not believe they would play so defensive with that first half wind, which was tricky but Mayo had put to great use in the second half of U.20. At half time, it was ours to lose. But Galway pushed up in second half and we lost composure after a few bad wides, the loss of Compton,  and the intensity Galway brought. They were far the better team in the end and Tom Flynn who had a nightmare in Salthill last Summer for me was the man of the match.... and it was dispiriting to see us lose so many of our kick outs.

While we have never won a qualifier as a losing provincial finalist, I still back this team to change that. And of course congrats to the Mayo team of 92/93 that was honoured, some fine footballers.

[Cunny Funt]

Far from a classic Connacht final those set of players can show so much better IMO. Galway won that game due to the individual performances of Tom Flynn,Ian Burke and Shane Walsh. While Roscommon lost due to losing Compton to injury and some awful shooting and shot selection in that 2nd half.

Galway will still need to give a good account of themselves in the last eight to consider this years championship a success while the rossies have up hill task to pick things up and try to reach the last eight but surely their shooting won't be as bad in a round 4 tie?

[GalwayBayBoy]

Those are almost the most satisfying wins when it seems you are beaten twice but pull it out of the fire. Nightmare first half going in 3 points down after having a big wind at our backs. Standing off Roscommon players and letting them thread little passes around their forward line. No pressure on their kickouts at all. Roscommon then get the first score of the second half to go 4 clear. A comeback didn't really seem on given the circumstances but Roscommon wasted a few chances shooting from bad positions like they expected the wind to do all the work for them. Galway begun to get to grip on things in midfield and slowly worked themselves back into it and hit 6 points on the spin. Roscommon then reeling but get the penalty out of nowhere to go 1 up again. I thought that might swing momentum back in Roscommon's favour but Galway were impressive to be fair in closing the game out. Another 5 points on the spin and had the game gone on longer it seemed more likely that Galway would have extended the winning margin rather than Roscommon make it closer.

Kevin Walsh gets fairly tetchy about any criticism he receives for the way he sets his team out tactically but I can't believe he really thinks the approach they took in the first half with an almost gale at their backs was the right one. I mean they won in the end so he might say the end justifies the means but they put themselves in a hole of their own making. Really the only thing that kept Galway in touch in the first half was some Shane Walsh magic.

[moysider]

Far from a classic Connacht final those set of players can show so much better IMO. Galway won that game due to the individual performances of Tom Flynn,Ian Burke and Shane Walsh. While Roscommon lost due to losing Compton to injury and some awful shooting and shot selection in that 2nd half.

Galway will still need to give a good account of themselves in the last eight to consider this years championship a success while the rossies have up hill task to pick things up and try to reach the last eight but surely their shooting won't be as bad in a round 4 tie?

Tom Flynn went to town on Ros kickouts. Why was the kickouts anywhere him, even though I know they had to be long - nowhere near him? If ye play Dublin, Cluxton wont have him cherry-picking! Why did the Smiths influence disapper? I dont go along that the individuals you listed did ye. Ye should have been fresh but Ros. couldnt handled the press and intensity in last 20mins. Looked leggy and while Galway pressed Ros players seemed to go into a shell and lose the fight. Good luck going forward but I would not like to have to lift that team after that last 5/6 minutes in particular. As a neutral ( rooting for Ros. this time but could have been Galway on other occasions) I was disappointed with Ros capitulation at the end.

[moysider]

Those are almost the most satisfying wins when it seems you are beaten twice but pull it out of the fire. Nightmare first half going in 3 points down after having a big wind at our backs. Standing off Roscommon players and letting them thread little passes around their forward line. No pressure on their kickouts at all. Roscommon then get the first score of the second half to go 4 clear. A comeback didn't really seem on given the circumstances but Roscommon wasted a few chances shooting from bad positions like they expected the wind to do all the work for them. Galway begun to get to grip on things in midfield and slowly worked themselves back into it and hit 6 points on the spin. Roscommon then reeling but get the penalty out of nowhere to go 1 up again. I thought that might swing momentum back in Roscommon's favour but Galway were impressive to be fair in closing the game out. Another 5 points on the spin and had the game gone on longer it seemed more likely that Galway would have extended the winning margin rather than Roscommon make it closer.

Kevin Walsh gets fairly tetchy about any criticism he receives for the way he sets his team out tactically but I can't believe he really thinks the approach they took in the first half with an almost gale at their backs was the right one. I mean they won in the end so he might say the end justifies the means but they put themselves in a hole of their own making. Really the only thing that kept Galway in touch in the first half was some Shane Walsh magic.

Maybe Walsh got his tactics spot on? Wind not really a big issue any more - Ros have some good kickers of the ball and couldnt score from play with it! Ros only scored 8 times v Galway 16. Just saying. First half Galway played a lazy zonal defense. They didnt have lads running around chasing lads and dummy runs. They expended little energy and conceded only 1-5. That is a good result. If things ended at ht the Galway lads would not even have to shower. Their energy levels in last quarter blew Ros. away. So, good tactics imo. Unfortunately for Ros. Galway would have decked how Mayo went to town on Ros in replay last year. Up the intensity and run hard. Play football with them and they will give it loads. They will do well now to recover from that.

[Blowitupref]

Congrats to Galway deserved winners on the day. 2 Connacht titles in 3 years their best run for over a decade in the province and with the age profile of the team and players to come through they could well be the best in the west for some time.

A strange game of two halves where both sides played better against the wind than with it. I think with each wide and ball that dropped short in that 2nd half the energy sapped out of Roscommon while it energized Galway. If Roscommon were to pull off another upset win today they needed half the wide count they had. Their bench made little or no impact and i'd wonder if at least one or two are county standard at all? and where was Niall Daly today and why wasn't experienced players Ian Kilbride and Sean McDermott not brought on? still serious issues on the kick outs for Roscommon, Lavin errors resulted in a few points for Galway today costly errors in a game that was only lost by 4 points. He's too slow with his re-starts and just boots it down the middle when kicking long without even looking for a target it seems.

Tom Flynn really took over in midfield when Cathal Compton wasn't there and Enda Smith seemed to pick up a knock before half time and had less influence 2nd half. Shane Walsh the deserved MOTM he ended up scoring half of Galway total and some of his points from play were outstanding. Ian Burke is a big addition to Galway forward line and Sean Kelly is a real find this year for the seniors. Ciaran Duggan,Sean Armstrong, Eoghan Kerin all made telling contributions off the bench.

Should be interesting to see how Galway now fare in the super 8s, they will more than likely face Kerry in Croke park for round 1 which should be an intriguing contest. The 3 week break should be a help to Roscommon, plenty of shooting practice will be required and hope the injury to Compton isn't serious.

 

[Blowitupref]

Those are almost the most satisfying wins when it seems you are beaten twice but pull it out of the fire. Nightmare first half going in 3 points down after having a big wind at our backs. Standing off Roscommon players and letting them thread little passes around their forward line. No pressure on their kickouts at all. Roscommon then get the first score of the second half to go 4 clear. A comeback didn't really seem on given the circumstances but Roscommon wasted a few chances shooting from bad positions like they expected the wind to do all the work for them. Galway begun to get to grip on things in midfield and slowly worked themselves back into it and hit 6 points on the spin. Roscommon then reeling but get the penalty out of nowhere to go 1 up again. I thought that might swing momentum back in Roscommon's favour but Galway were impressive to be fair in closing the game out. Another 5 points on the spin and had the game gone on longer it seemed more likely that Galway would have extended the winning margin rather than Roscommon make it closer.

Kevin Walsh gets fairly tetchy about any criticism he receives for the way he sets his team out tactically but I can't believe he really thinks the approach they took in the first half with an almost gale at their backs was the right one. I mean they won in the end so he might say the end justifies the means but they put themselves in a hole of their own making. Really the only thing that kept Galway in touch in the first half was some Shane Walsh magic.

Maybe Walsh got his tactics spot on? Wind not really a big issue any more - Ros have some good kickers of the ball and couldnt score from play with it! Ros only scored 8 times v Galway 16. Just saying. First half Galway played a lazy zonal defense. They didnt have lads running around chasing lads and dummy runs. They expended little energy and conceded only 1-5. That is a good result. If things ended at ht the Galway lads would not even have to shower. Their energy levels in last quarter blew Ros. away. So, good tactics imo. Unfortunately for Ros. Galway would have decked how Mayo went to town on Ros in replay last year. Up the intensity and run hard. Play football with them and they will give it loads. They will do well now to recover from that.

Not sure about that, Roscommon brought intensity to the drawn game with Mayo and didn't seem to have anything left for the following weekend as they looked wrecked for the replay. Also in that replay Mayo got in for some of the easiest goals ever seen in Croke Park in that match making the game over as a contest at half time.

[kopite]

Niall mc was excellent..probably only Roscommon player who would walk into any county team..we did a lot right yesterday but our failure to address the Walsh issue at any stage was fatal ..he was Galway's best player in salthill last year and was fantastic yesterday..

[Rossfan]

Bad defeat yesterday.
Despite Galway's much improved 2nd half,  despite being destroyed in the middle for most of the second half, despite not looking as fit ad Galway .....we had enough attacks to have stayed ahead on that second half... another 4 points and we'd have been off to Salthill next week.
If we had tacked on a few points early 2nd half ....or got one back for every 2 if Galway's. ...
We're just not good enough for long enough against the serious teams and the prospects of facing Dublin in Croker  would tempt you to think a Round 4 defeat might be the best outcome now.
We're a "nice" team not physical or cynical enough (like Galway).

2 of our substitutions yesterday were lads who shouldn't even make the 26 as our cool clean hero gets it wrong again.
A better player than 9 or 10 of the 26 in his civvies yesterday.
Time to face the reality....we are maybe top 10 and no signs of us getting any higher.

[highorlow]

2 of our substitutions yesterday were lads who shouldn't even make the 26 as our cool clean hero gets it wrong again.

Time for Gay Sheerin to take over?

[Maroon Manc]

Sunday Game's only stat last night was that Roscommon only won 3 out of their 10 kickouts in the second half; What about the other 4 or 5?

Galway kicked 11 points in the 2nd half and had several other shots that went wide, Rossies must have had at least 14 kickouts.

[Mayo4Sam14]

Sunday Game's only stat last night was that Roscommon only won 3 out of their 10 kickouts in the second half; What about the other 4 or 5?

Galway kicked 11 points in the 2nd half and had several other shots that went wide, Rossies must have had at least 14 kickouts.

Maybe they meant longer kick outs and the other ones were short kick outs