NFL Division 1 - 2020

[GalwayBayBoy]

Curate's egg of as game in Salthill marred by a very poor display from Maurice Deegan who seemed hell bent on making the game as close and as long as possible.

Galway, bar a short spell early on, led pretty much the whole game. Difference at HT was Robert Finnerty scored a fine goal for Galway while Monaghan missed a penalty. Was a well hit penalty actually but a great save from the keeper. Confusion over the award of it as Deegan blew for a free, seemed to play advantage and then signalled a penalty almost immediately.

Galway started the 2nd half on top. Finnerty again clean through one on one with the keeper and he somehow blazed over the bar to put 5 between them. I'll be diplomatic and say the next 20 minutes Galway found it extremely difficult to get a decision from Maurice Deegan. Frees were only going one way and it gave Monaghan a foothold back into the game as they got it back to 4, 3, 2 and then 1. On a cold day I'll give Deegan this much, he got the crowd fired up anyway.

Game level with 10 or so to go. Galway edge ahead again. Have a couple of good goal chances that they again blaze over and another punched over. Monaghan have a great goal chance that beat the keeper I think and a Galway defender (Mulkerrin I think) seemed to catch it right on the line. I think a goal then would have put Monaghan ahead approaching the end of normal time.

About 10+ minutes of added time played. Multiple stoppages. Throw balls. Players down injured. I think someone ran on to give Deegan an earful at one stage in the middle of it.

McManus started for Monaghan in the end. They had a pretty strong side out. Galway obviously still missing any Corofin players and Flynn cried off before the start. By the final 10 minutes I think we had 3 or 4 U-20's from last year on the field. Mulkerrin was good again. As was John Daly. Varley again some man to show for and win ball out in front before he tired.

On the debit side if Galway are going to play more open they are going to have to track runners religiously out of defence. There is no blanket there to meet them now and Monaghan had some joy out of corner backs and wing backs sneaking up the field unmarked into space to kick scores.

[GaillimhIarthair]

Maurice Deegan.

He was beyond bad.  It's just so hard to understand his thought process when awarding frees.  We went through a sustained period in the second half where it looked like he decided we were getting no frees and it really brought Mon back into the game at time when we had pushed 5 ahead and it should have been further but sin sceal eile! A win is a win BUT an awful lot to improve on if we are to get anything out of the next 2 games, seems unlikely on the basis of what Kerry and Donegal produced last night.

[galwayman]

Maurice Deegan.

He was beyond bad.  It's just so hard to understand his thought process when awarding frees.  We went through a sustained period in the second half where it looked like he decided we were getting no frees and it really brought Mon back into the game at time when we had pushed 5 ahead and it should have been further but sin sceal eile! A win is a win BUT an awful lot to improve on if we are to get anything out of the next 2 games, seems unlikely on the basis of what Kerry and Donegal produced last night.

Any semblance of a kick out strategy today?
I had to make do with radio coverage - but sounded like we struggled a bit around midfield?
Flynn, O Curraoin, Duggan, probably Steede and maybe Tierney to come back into that sector I guess so all is not lost.
How did the fullback line in general do?
Big step up next week.

[GalwayBayBoy]

Maurice Deegan.

He was beyond bad.  It's just so hard to understand his thought process when awarding frees.  We went through a sustained period in the second half where it looked like he decided we were getting no frees and it really brought Mon back into the game at time when we had pushed 5 ahead and it should have been further but sin sceal eile! A win is a win BUT an awful lot to improve on if we are to get anything out of the next 2 games, seems unlikely on the basis of what Kerry and Donegal produced last night.

Any semblance of a kick out strategy today?
I had to make do with radio coverage - but sounded like we struggled a bit around midfield?
Flynn, O Curraoin, Duggan, probably Steede and maybe Tierney to come back into that sector I guess so all is not lost.
How did the fullback line in general do?
Big step up next week.

Thought D'Arcy did alright in midfield actually but 90% of Galway's kickouts in the 2nd half were just short dinks to the spare man. Beggan is really brilliant at picking out runners. Amazing accuracy at distance so Galway couldn't really get at Monaghan's kickouts. Too much standing still at Galway kick outs. Needs to be more players making runs into space.

Mulkerrin was good again. Seems to his spot now until proven otherwise. Not sure if Duane and Heaney will be corner backs come the championships but who knows. Seems like those spots are up for grabs.

[GaillimhIarthair]

Maurice Deegan.

He was beyond bad.  It's just so hard to understand his thought process when awarding frees.  We went through a sustained period in the second half where it looked like he decided we were getting no frees and it really brought Mon back into the game at time when we had pushed 5 ahead and it should have been further but sin sceal eile! A win is a win BUT an awful lot to improve on if we are to get anything out of the next 2 games, seems unlikely on the basis of what Kerry and Donegal produced last night.

Any semblance of a kick out strategy today?
I had to make do with radio coverage - but sounded like we struggled a bit around midfield?
Flynn, O Curraoin, Duggan, probably Steede and maybe Tierney to come back into that sector I guess so all is not lost.
How did the fullback line in general do?
Big step up next week.

I'm sure there is a strategy but it's not very well thought out or executed from what was on display today.  Anything into the middle of the field is 50:50 at best and putting them on top of a small lad like O'Laoi doesn't make much sense either.  Mid range kick outs were not too effective either and we seemed to resort to a lot of short ones after that.  D'Arcy and Comer did field 2 great balls in either half but they were the exception.  To be honest, I think a big part of the problem is that there are zero runs being made to get on the ball for our KOs.  Mon schooled us in that dept today. A lot of work needed for sure.

[galwayman]

Maurice Deegan.

He was beyond bad.  It's just so hard to understand his thought process when awarding frees.  We went through a sustained period in the second half where it looked like he decided we were getting no frees and it really brought Mon back into the game at time when we had pushed 5 ahead and it should have been further but sin sceal eile! A win is a win BUT an awful lot to improve on if we are to get anything out of the next 2 games, seems unlikely on the basis of what Kerry and Donegal produced last night.

Any semblance of a kick out strategy today?
I had to make do with radio coverage - but sounded like we struggled a bit around midfield?
Flynn, O Curraoin, Duggan, probably Steede and maybe Tierney to come back into that sector I guess so all is not lost.
How did the fullback line in general do?
Big step up next week.

I'm sure there is a strategy but it's not very well thought out or executed from what was on display today.  Anything into the middle of the field is 50:50 at best and putting them on top of a small lad like O'Laoi doesn't make much sense either.  Mid range kick outs were not too effective either and we seemed to resort to a lot of short ones after that.  D'Arcy and Comer did field 2 great balls in either half but they were the exception.  To be honest, I think a big part of the problem is that there are zero runs being made to get on the ball for our KOs.  Mon schooled us in that dept today. A lot of work needed for sure.

Kick outs were such a massive issue under KW as well.
D'Arcy not going to make that team from what I've seen over the past few seasons - just seems a bit short of county senior standard to me.
Interesting to see if they try Steede out.

[GaillimhIarthair]

Maurice Deegan.

He was beyond bad.  It's just so hard to understand his thought process when awarding frees.  We went through a sustained period in the second half where it looked like he decided we were getting no frees and it really brought Mon back into the game at time when we had pushed 5 ahead and it should have been further but sin sceal eile! A win is a win BUT an awful lot to improve on if we are to get anything out of the next 2 games, seems unlikely on the basis of what Kerry and Donegal produced last night.

Any semblance of a kick out strategy today?
I had to make do with radio coverage - but sounded like we struggled a bit around midfield?
Flynn, O Curraoin, Duggan, probably Steede and maybe Tierney to come back into that sector I guess so all is not lost.
How did the fullback line in general do?
Big step up next week.

I'm sure there is a strategy but it's not very well thought out or executed from what was on display today.  Anything into the middle of the field is 50:50 at best and putting them on top of a small lad like O'Laoi doesn't make much sense either.  Mid range kick outs were not too effective either and we seemed to resort to a lot of short ones after that.  D'Arcy and Comer did field 2 great balls in either half but they were the exception.  To be honest, I think a big part of the problem is that there are zero runs being made to get on the ball for our KOs.  Mon schooled us in that dept today. A lot of work needed for sure.

Kick outs were such a massive issue under KW as well.
D'Arcy not going to make that team from what I've seen over the past few seasons - just seems a bit short of county senior standard to me.
Interesting to see if they try Steede out.

Another thing that was blatantly obvious today was Monaghan's tactic of using their runner (fella in the yellow bib) to fill space on the pitch around the 50 on almost all of our kick outs for the last 20 mins or so of today's game.  Our sideline were very naive in not bringing it to the refs attention or at least dealing with him themselves.  It's definitely something that needs to be clamped down on.  Sherlock for Dub was a master at it under Gavins reign. 

[charlie linkbox]

No, I can't let this narrative go unchallenged, that Galway were somehow superior throughout and that Deegan kept Monaghan in it.

He was bad, but Monaghan felt it too. We won a free along the sideline in the second half your your selector with the orange bib encroached on the field, got involved with Kieran Hughes (he knew the right man to target anyway, I'll give him that) and Deegan throws the ball up. Your defender (Heaney was it?) wrestles McManus to the ground as Monaghan break up the field in the second half and..... nothing. Your No. 6 lay down for a minute or two during stoppage time at the end of the game. Was the time added on?...... No.

Also, I'll see your couple of goal chances (that you got points out of by the way) and I'll raise you a missed penalty, a goal chance for Jack McCarron saved in the first half, the mark taken by Kieran Hughes on the edge of the square in the second half where he hit it on the turn and it went just wide, the chance from Christopher McGuinness at the end that was saved on the line by one of your backs......... my point being that on another day we hit two or three goals too and win the game.

It was a very even entertaining game and in my opinion Monaghan left at least one point behind us today.

[An Fhairche Abu]

Only Round One of the league but it looks like Galway will have a huge job on to ensure they remain in Division One, could easily and maybe should have lost that match today on the balance of chances, those two points will be crucial in hopefully staying up.
I was at the Dublin-Kerry match last night as well and the difference in standard to the two teams in Salthill today was stark, I wouldn't give them a prayer in Kerry next week going by the matches this weekend. We badly need Monaghan and Meath to keep losing the rest of the way anyway.

Deegan has been highlighted here already but he was simply ridiculous in the second half. After the (by rule completely correct) black card he decided that Monaghan would need as much help as possible to even it up. Monaghan were pulling and dragging off the ball all day long, got called for it once. Galway couldn't buy a free for about twenty minutes and it took a pure dirt hit by Carey on Shane Walsh after the ball was long gone before Deegan then figured it was time to maybe play the game by rule again and Galway got a scorable free literally 20 seconds later. The injury time was definitely more than 5 minutes but if he left it to 7 minutes that would have been the maximum possible I'd have thought, the way things were going I was flabbergasted that he didn't just give Monaghan the free in after the hop ball on the 21 as it looked for all the world that he was dying to get the match to a draw.

Gleeson is clearly an excellent shot stopper, that was a good save from the penalty, and he is a much more imposing figure than the likes of Power or Lavelle between the sticks.
The most important factor is the kickout though and the jury is really out there, I'd give him a bit of a pass because the movement outside of him is nonexistent but the trajectory on his kicks is a bit too flighty as it is.
The only well worked kickout all day was when there was a load of space left in the middle and Walsh ran from the opposition half to cleanly mark it between the 45 and the 65, although I suspect this was Walsh just making the run when he saw the space rather than a designed play, either way they need to get more of this happening or Galway will be short of the Super 8s again this year. Just pumping it out and expecting Conroy, Comer and D'Arcy to pluck Hollywood catches from the skies as they each did on occasion today is a recipe for long term failure. Beggan in contrast gave a kick out masterclass at the other end, it's not all down to them but Beggan and Cluxton provide such an advantage to their respective teams in this area.

Midfield wasn't great today outside of the kickout either, Conroy hit a nice score but himself and D'Arcy are too one paced to play together and neither has the engine of Flynn, they would be killed on a faster track later in the year.

John Daly was excellent and Mulkerrin very good at FB, and they'll have to keep that up every match because we're wide open at the back and getting a lot of trouble from deep runners now without the blanket, a better team than Monaghan would have filleted Galway on several of the overlap chances they had. McDaid getting into it much more today, one terrible kick pass to no one in the first half aside.
Gary O'Donnell unsurprisingly was far better out in his usual position than he was on his brief trial in the full back line.

Boyle doesn't look up to this level at all based on his appearances to date, no surprise he was hooked straight away in the first half after another mistake when he hung around waiting for the ball to come to him and got blown out of it by the Monaghan back, you get no time for that type of play at Senior IC level.

Varley is great at getting out in front of his man as an outlet the past 3 matches in 2020 and he played well for about 45 minutes, lovely mark that he scored from in the first half that he called before he even had the ball in hand. Being ultra critical he still flubbed on 3 balls played into him in the first half that he should have absolutely controlled and made stick, given the amount of long passes Galway are now looking to play forward and the greater likelihood of losing possession as a result from this more difficult skill to execute, anything that should be caught up there simply must be.

Shane Walsh pure class again today from open play and is clearly going to be targeted by the opposition so PJ needs to do what Dublin and Kerry are old hands at by using plamas/pressure as required to get the message through to refs that he needs to be protected from sledgers on the pitch. On a less happy note he missed a right footed near gimme free off the outside of the post again. Rock and O'Shea miss nothing, he isn't in this calibre as a free taker and Galway really need someone to be.

Galway shot conversion rate went through the floor in the second half, M Daly, Brannigan and a few more missed really good opportunities after good work to put them in the position to execute. Galway have to tidy this up. Finnerty showed beautiful composure for his goal in the first half, the same was required for his point that should have been a low, hard shot to the back of the net. Didn't cost Galway today but against the best of the Division they have to be nailed.

Saw a tweet that Monaghan were denied a goal when a Galway player (assuming Gleeson or Mulkerrin, I'm trying to think back when it could have occurred) went over the line with the ball, is there any validity to that claim at all? Massive, game changing mistake by the officials if true.

Another thing that was blatantly obvious today was Monaghan's tactic of using their runner (fella in the yellow bib) to fill space on the pitch around the 50 on almost all of our kick outs for the last 20 mins or so of today's game.  Our sideline were very naive in not bringing it to the refs attention or at least dealing with him themselves.  It's definitely something that needs to be clamped down on.  Sherlock for Dub was a master at it under Gavins reign. 

Huge bugbear of mine the past couple of years, the Kerry minor team runner in the semi final last year was the biggest disgrace I've seen but the Monaghan buck was doing his best to match him today.

No, I can't let this narrative go unchallenged, that Galway were somehow superior throughout and that Deegan kept Monaghan in it.

He was bad, but Monaghan felt it too. We won a free along the sideline in the second half your your selector with the orange bib encroached on the field, got involved with Kieran Hughes (he knew the right man to target anyway, I'll give him that) and Deegan throws the ball up. Your defender (Heaney was it?) wrestles McManus to the ground as Monaghan break up the field in the second half and..... nothing. Your No. 6 lay down for a minute or two during stoppage time at the end of the game. Was the time added on?...... No.

Also, I'll see your couple of goal chances (that you got points out of by the way) and I'll raise you a missed penalty, a goal chance for Jack McCarron saved in the first half, the mark taken by Kieran Hughes on the edge of the square in the second half where he hit it on the turn and it went just wide, the chance from Christopher McGuinness at the end that was saved on the line by one of your backs......... my point being that on another day we hit two or three goals too and win the game.

It was a very even entertaining game and in my opinion Monaghan left at least one point behind us today.

Absolutely agree that Monaghan had more than enough chances to get a result, Galway could have very easily lost today but any suggestion that Galway did better out of or broke even from Deegan's decisions over the 81 minutes is frankly absurd, he couldn't possibly have added on any more time for ye at the end either.

[straightred]

No, I can't let this narrative go unchallenged, that Galway were somehow superior throughout and that Deegan kept Monaghan in it.

He was bad, but Monaghan felt it too. We won a free along the sideline in the second half your your selector with the orange bib encroached on the field, got involved with Kieran Hughes (he knew the right man to target anyway, I'll give him that) and Deegan throws the ball up. Your defender (Heaney was it?) wrestles McManus to the ground as Monaghan break up the field in the second half and..... nothing. Your No. 6 lay down for a minute or two during stoppage time at the end of the game. Was the time added on?...... No.

Also, I'll see your couple of goal chances (that you got points out of by the way) and I'll raise you a missed penalty, a goal chance for Jack McCarron saved in the first half, the mark taken by Kieran Hughes on the edge of the square in the second half where he hit it on the turn and it went just wide, the chance from Christopher McGuinness at the end that was saved on the line by one of your backs......... my point being that on another day we hit two or three goals too and win the game.

It was a very even entertaining game and in my opinion Monaghan left at least one point behind us today.

Just watched the highlights. Unclear if that monaghan shot was over the line. Didnt have a good camera angle. Speaking of the ref how did he miss the galway pulling at the 2nd half throw in. Nearly ripped the jersey off the monaghan midfielder. Galway went straight down and got a point and probably should have got a goal

[greatpoint]

He’s far better than Murphy already and only 21. Imagine how good he’ll be at 22.

[GalwayBayBoy]

Saw a tweet that Monaghan were denied a goal when a Galway player (assuming Gleeson or Mulkerrin, I'm trying to think back when it could have occurred) went over the line with the ball, is there any validity to that claim at all? Massive, game changing mistake by the officials if true.

They just showed it there. Didn't look over the line anyway and the umpires couldn't have had a much better view of it. Granted they usually don't see much at the best of times.

[An Fhairche Abu]

Seen it myself there, no possibility of knowing for sure so I think it's a bit much for any Monaghan fan to suggest it was definitely a goal.

[Manning18]

Great write up An Fhairce, always enjoy reading them and think you're spot on with most/all written there.

@Charlie, I can definitely see the point that Monaghan missed plenty, given Mccarrons chance, the pen (was the foul, if one, not outside? Not seen it back) and the Hughes chance. Can you claim a mark from a delivery from a free though?

In saying that I thought Galway were the better team fairly comfortably. They created 5 goal chances, and more chances overall from less possessions, given the Beggan kicking exhibition. A number of easy point chances missed. Monaghan needed wonder frees from McManus and one from Beggan. I know that's to be expected with those two wonder players but in open play I thought Galway were a fair bit better. Deegan rode Galway aswel, no question about that. It was a more inexperienced Galway team also missing plenty of players, to counteract the advantage of being at home

Plenty of time added on also. 5 mins added and he played 7.40 I think. Thought it would never end

[joemamas]

Only Round One of the league but it looks like Galway will have a huge job on to ensure they remain in Division One, could easily and maybe should have lost that match today on the balance of chances, those two points will be crucial in hopefully staying up.
I was at the Dublin-Kerry match last night as well and the difference in standard to the two teams in Salthill today was stark, I wouldn't give them a prayer in Kerry next week going by the matches this weekend. We badly need Monaghan and Meath to keep losing the rest of the way anyway.

Deegan has been highlighted here already but he was simply ridiculous in the second half. After the (by rule completely correct) black card he decided that Monaghan would need as much help as possible to even it up. Monaghan were pulling and dragging off the ball all day long, got called for it once. Galway couldn't buy a free for about twenty minutes and it took a pure dirt hit by Carey on Shane Walsh after the ball was long gone before Deegan then figured it was time to maybe play the game by rule again and Galway got a scorable free literally 20 seconds later. The injury time was definitely more than 5 minutes but if he left it to 7 minutes that would have been the maximum possible I'd have thought, the way things were going I was flabbergasted that he didn't just give Monaghan the free in after the hop ball on the 21 as it looked for all the world that he was dying to get the match to a draw.

Gleeson is clearly an excellent shot stopper, that was a good save from the penalty, and he is a much more imposing figure than the likes of Power or Lavelle between the sticks.
The most important factor is the kickout though and the jury is really out there, I'd give him a bit of a pass because the movement outside of him is nonexistent but the trajectory on his kicks is a bit too flighty as it is.
The only well worked kickout all day was when there was a load of space left in the middle and Walsh ran from the opposition half to cleanly mark it between the 45 and the 65, although I suspect this was Walsh just making the run when he saw the space rather than a designed play, either way they need to get more of this happening or Galway will be short of the Super 8s again this year. Just pumping it out and expecting Conroy, Comer and D'Arcy to pluck Hollywood catches from the skies as they each did on occasion today is a recipe for long term failure. Beggan in contrast gave a kick out masterclass at the other end, it's not all down to them but Beggan and Cluxton provide such an advantage to their respective teams in this area.

Midfield wasn't great today outside of the kickout either, Conroy hit a nice score but himself and D'Arcy are too one paced to play together and neither has the engine of Flynn, they would be killed on a faster track later in the year.

John Daly was excellent and Mulkerrin very good at FB, and they'll have to keep that up every match because we're wide open at the back and getting a lot of trouble from deep runners now without the blanket, a better team than Monaghan would have filleted Galway on several of the overlap chances they had. McDaid getting into it much more today, one terrible kick pass to no one in the first half aside.
Gary O'Donnell unsurprisingly was far better out in his usual position than he was on his brief trial in the full back line.

Boyle doesn't look up to this level at all based on his appearances to date, no surprise he was hooked straight away in the first half after another mistake when he hung around waiting for the ball to come to him and got blown out of it by the Monaghan back, you get no time for that type of play at Senior IC level.

Varley is great at getting out in front of his man as an outlet the past 3 matches in 2020 and he played well for about 45 minutes, lovely mark that he scored from in the first half that he called before he even had the ball in hand. Being ultra critical he still flubbed on 3 balls played into him in the first half that he should have absolutely controlled and made stick, given the amount of long passes Galway are now looking to play forward and the greater likelihood of losing possession as a result from this more difficult skill to execute, anything that should be caught up there simply must be.

Shane Walsh pure class again today from open play and is clearly going to be targeted by the opposition so PJ needs to do what Dublin and Kerry are old hands at by using plamas/pressure as required to get the message through to refs that he needs to be protected from sledgers on the pitch. On a less happy note he missed a right footed near gimme free off the outside of the post again. Rock and O'Shea miss nothing, he isn't in this calibre as a free taker and Galway really need someone to be.

Galway shot conversion rate went through the floor in the second half, M Daly, Brannigan and a few more missed really good opportunities after good work to put them in the position to execute. Galway have to tidy this up. Finnerty showed beautiful composure for his goal in the first half, the same was required for his point that should have been a low, hard shot to the back of the net. Didn't cost Galway today but against the best of the Division they have to be nailed.

Saw a tweet that Monaghan were denied a goal when a Galway player (assuming Gleeson or Mulkerrin, I'm trying to think back when it could have occurred) went over the line with the ball, is there any validity to that claim at all? Massive, game changing mistake by the officials if true.

Another thing that was blatantly obvious today was Monaghan's tactic of using their runner (fella in the yellow bib) to fill space on the pitch around the 50 on almost all of our kick outs for the last 20 mins or so of today's game.  Our sideline were very naive in not bringing it to the refs attention or at least dealing with him themselves.  It's definitely something that needs to be clamped down on.  Sherlock for Dub was a master at it under Gavins reign. 

Huge bugbear of mine the past couple of years, the Kerry minor team runner in the semi final last year was the biggest disgrace I've seen but the Monaghan buck was doing his best to match him today.

No, I can't let this narrative go unchallenged, that Galway were somehow superior throughout and that Deegan kept Monaghan in it.

He was bad, but Monaghan felt it too. We won a free along the sideline in the second half your your selector with the orange bib encroached on the field, got involved with Kieran Hughes (he knew the right man to target anyway, I'll give him that) and Deegan throws the ball up. Your defender (Heaney was it?) wrestles McManus to the ground as Monaghan break up the field in the second half and..... nothing. Your No. 6 lay down for a minute or two during stoppage time at the end of the game. Was the time added on?...... No.

Also, I'll see your couple of goal chances (that you got points out of by the way) and I'll raise you a missed penalty, a goal chance for Jack McCarron saved in the first half, the mark taken by Kieran Hughes on the edge of the square in the second half where he hit it on the turn and it went just wide, the chance from Christopher McGuinness at the end that was saved on the line by one of your backs......... my point being that on another day we hit two or three goals too and win the game.

It was a very even entertaining game and in my opinion Monaghan left at least one point behind us today.

Absolutely agree that Monaghan had more than enough chances to get a result, Galway could have very easily lost today but any suggestion that Galway did better out of or broke even from Deegan's decisions over the 81 minutes is frankly absurd, he couldn't possibly have added on any more time for ye at the end either.

Great report as usual.
Your match reporting and honest insight in Galway football during the year are always very interesting.