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Galway, Armagh & Dublin all looked lifeless. Group of death took its toil, will be glad to see the back of the group stage. You'd wonder if McGeeney regrets putting that much effort into the Galway game, as for Galway the manners of the games didn't help and eventually caught up with them.

I was happy enough at half time as thought it looked like a deliberate tactic in the first half to slow the game down and conserve energy but apart from a crazy 4 minutes in the 2nd half Galway never looked comfortable. Meath fully deserving winners.

Imagine we'll hear in the next few weeks if Joyce will stay on, I hope he does.

If there's one thing you have to hand to Galway it's the confidence they bring and respect they have from all n sundry whilst doing absolutely nothing .  Scrapped by a very average (general feeling not mine ) mayo team in Connacht final
Beaten by the beaten docket of the dubs (again the general feeling )

Scrapped a draw against again not a fancied Derry team .
All this on top of bottling an all Ireland final last year (bottling it , is losing a final when odds on to win it )

Yet they still strut their stuff as if they've won 3 in a row , it's admirable if nothing else . Media never stop fawning over them , it's quite incredible the amount of superlatives have been used to describe each and every Galway player .

It's an awful shame the dubs didn't have their shooting boots on the last day and Con missing was massive too cause Armagh would be all out next day if they needed a result . Find it hard to believe Armagh would be foolish enough to go all out to win a dead rubber now the way it's panned out
. Galway win in that one , Dubs / Derry hard to call .

Donegal and Tyrone victories in our group will see our bucks bow out for the year im afraid . Mayo won't cope with the counter attack speed of Donegal , they'll cut us right open down the centre for 3-18 id guess (4 two pointers ) . Murphy will have a tussle with mcbrien, Murphy will complain to man in black and mcbrien will then receive a red card . Its Murphy's rules out there his receding hairline brings an aura of authority like an old school inspector.

Tyrone were lethargic against Mayo , that one week turnaround is an awful hindrance , they'll easily account for Cavan .

Galway are one lucky devil's of a team. Poxed how they avoided defeat at the weekend which would have knocked them out of the championship and now face Armagh who are already into the last 8.  Galway also lucky to win the last two Connacht finals against your lot and All-Ireland series games against Donegal,Dublin last year. Given their luck one can't rule them out in the All-Ireland series, as they say better to born lucky than rich.

As for Mayo,  you comfortably beat Tyrone in Omagh can be no excuses not to get at least a draw against Donegal in your home from home venue in Hyde Park.

Aye really lucky, 3 years in a row their reward for winning Connacht was to be drawn in the toughest group. Lost Finnerty 10 minutes into last years final with Walsh & Comer already a shadow of themselves due too injury and their captain Sean Kelly nowhere near fit enough either, so exceptionally lucky!!

TBH
your comments are generally thoughtful and articulate,
IMO last years all Ireland final was a massive screw up by Galway management, starting three players not fully fit and bringing on another who was in similar shape.

I can see why people might think that but I wouldn't be as harsh, Walsh had scored 2 frees against Donegal as had Finnerty and prior to coming off injured Finnerty had scored a free in the final.

Finnerty getting injured was a bigger issue then playing Walsh & Comer. Thompson has come in this year and made a huge impact and Cooke has returned but still think Galway are a bit short in the forwards. Culhane is another player who can't keep fit, plenty in Galway would have hoped he'd have made the same impact Thompson has had but he's has had so many injuries.

On Down its clearly the draw Galway hoped for but lets see what Galway turns up first, Galway have had long periods in the last 2 matches where they've been exceptionally wasteful. Walsh hit 9 points but when they look back at his performance he'll be disappointed it wasn't 12. 3 of the 5 chances he missed were well within his range.

If there's one thing you have to hand to Galway it's the confidence they bring and respect they have from all n sundry whilst doing absolutely nothing .  Scrapped by a very average (general feeling not mine ) mayo team in Connacht final
Beaten by the beaten docket of the dubs (again the general feeling )

Scrapped a draw against again not a fancied Derry team .
All this on top of bottling an all Ireland final last year (bottling it , is losing a final when odds on to win it )

Yet they still strut their stuff as if they've won 3 in a row , it's admirable if nothing else . Media never stop fawning over them , it's quite incredible the amount of superlatives have been used to describe each and every Galway player .

It's an awful shame the dubs didn't have their shooting boots on the last day and Con missing was massive too cause Armagh would be all out next day if they needed a result . Find it hard to believe Armagh would be foolish enough to go all out to win a dead rubber now the way it's panned out
. Galway win in that one , Dubs / Derry hard to call .

Donegal and Tyrone victories in our group will see our bucks bow out for the year im afraid . Mayo won't cope with the counter attack speed of Donegal , they'll cut us right open down the centre for 3-18 id guess (4 two pointers ) . Murphy will have a tussle with mcbrien, Murphy will complain to man in black and mcbrien will then receive a red card . Its Murphy's rules out there his receding hairline brings an aura of authority like an old school inspector.

Tyrone were lethargic against Mayo , that one week turnaround is an awful hindrance , they'll easily account for Cavan .

Galway are one lucky devil's of a team. Poxed how they avoided defeat at the weekend which would have knocked them out of the championship and now face Armagh who are already into the last 8.  Galway also lucky to win the last two Connacht finals against your lot and All-Ireland series games against Donegal,Dublin last year. Given their luck one can't rule them out in the All-Ireland series, as they say better to born lucky than rich.

As for Mayo,  you comfortably beat Tyrone in Omagh can be no excuses not to get at least a draw against Donegal in your home from home venue in Hyde Park.

Aye really lucky, 3 years in a row their reward for winning Connacht was to be drawn in the toughest group. Lost Finnerty 10 minutes into last years final with Walsh & Comer already a shadow of themselves due too injury and their captain Sean Kelly nowhere near fit enough either, so exceptionally lucky!!

Galway will beat Armagh handy enough, Armagh will be playing a lot of lads that need game time and haven't got much football. They will be trying to win the game but a lot of changes plus not needing a result usually ends one way. The Tribesmen to win by 4-5pts in the end after an Armagh rally late on to bring the score line down a bit and put some respectability on the scoreboard.

How likely are Armagh to rest first choice players if they'll be idle for 4 weeks in total before the 1/4 finals?

Padraig Joyce's big dilemma is what team to pick. Has to change it significantly from 5 - 9 at least. Unlikely he'll change goalie at this stage but it maybe in his mind.

I like Daly at 6 but don't think he's fit enough too start, like the idea of him and Comer coming on together. Think he found Comer with 2 long balls against Derry.

McHugh & Silke not hit last years levels of form, would have assumed we'd see more of O'Flaherty since he had a good league but we've not. Hernon who's always impressed was poor against the Dubs and Molloy certainly hasn't done well in his few cameo's. Just can't see any changes in 5-9, D'Arcy will certainly start instead of O'Neill who apart from a decent score had a really poor start to the game and was deservedly hooked. Would like to have seen Sweeney get more time at wing back in recent years but Joyce just doesn't see him there although thats what I think is his best position.

Just can't see him dropping Conroy or McDaid either, what to do with Walsh is another issue. He just doesn't look fit, a case could be made for him coming off the bench with 20/25 mins too go with Sean Kelly playing further forward.

That Galway performance nowhere near as bad as many have made out, Derry excellent and practically scored everytime they went forward; Only 2 wides and 1 shot dropped short throughout the match.

Galway had 9 wides and 7 shots dropped short and thats not taking into account Molloys pathetic attempt that ended up going for a 45. Galway won 18 kickouts in the 2nd half whilst Derry won 7, they destroyed Derrys kickout winning 11 out of 16; D'Arcy was outstanding winning so many again, makes his non performance against Dublin harder to understand.

Galway's issue was their decision making & kicking was so poor in that 2nd half with 12 missed attempts. Conroy, Walsh, Tierney & Cooke responsible for 7 of those misses, I didn't think any of them were crazy attempts either although Tierney opting for a 2 pointer attempt when Galway had the chance to hit a 21 metre free to close the gap to a point with around 7 minutes remaining was daft after missing so many.

It was a far better performance then in every aspect apart from the shooting then against the Dubs. I thought Thompson again was outstanding, still only 20 but he's had a huge impact.

If 3 teams end up at the top of a group on 4 points will they use scoring difference from all games in the group or just the games between the 3 teams at the top?

Galway probably didn't too bad when in possession but just didn't have enough of it in the first half.

O'Callaghan, Kilkenny, O'Cofaigh Byrne and O'Dell were superb whereas Conroy & D'Arcy were very poor and had no impact on the game. Some of the matchup didn't work, McGrath struggled on O'Callaghan as did Hernon. I suspect they would have both done better if they'd swapped.

I know its not easy but Tierney had a relatively simple pass to Kelly when he scored the equalising point.

Culhane found very wanting for Dublins last 2 scores, not a great cameo from him.

Thompson excellent again, for a 20 year old he looks more then as ease at this level; His goal was brilliant.

Huge game in 2 weeks against Derry, hope to see a reaction. If Armagh & Galway beat Derry and the Dubs beat Armagh it would leave the last round of fixtures as a dead rubber.

Just watched the game back there. One thing I didn't notice live was that Matthew Thompson had a hand in a lot of Galway scores. For a young lad he seems to be a very intelligent player with his movement and link up play. And is very comfortable on the ball.

I watched it back too, he was excellent. Along with Conroy, McDaid And McGrath who I thought were all Galways best players. McGrath wasn't on O'Donoghue when he licked his points either, Mayo's tactic of bringing out O'Donoghue in that first half backfired as it showed that McGrath has more to his game then defending.

Thompson so calm on the ball, really looks the part in all departments.

Lots of talk about the ref, have a look at that free count; A lot of decisions went again Galway too.

Mixed impact from the bench, Molloy made some crazy decisions on the ball and Sweeney had no impact. Great to see Cooke back but he didn't much of an impact whereas Hernon was excellent when he came on, surprised Flaherty didn't come on; His ball carrying would have been a huge help during the 2nd half.

[do you not think the CB's look all at sea last night because of who was playing in front of them?]

Just baffled by what I'm watching as I am by the pundits who claim Ten Hag doesn't have a style of play, there's a clear style of play its just not working and amazed he continues with it.

Even Martinez who's been a revelation since he joined was dreadful last night, whole back 4 like against Spurs were made too look crap and thats down to the system. We are way too easy to play against, there's space everywhere and doesn't help when you've the likes of Rashford who makes half arsed attempts at closing down. I've heard countless pundit comment Rashford was brilliant last night and completely ignore his defending in both goals.

Play the same way against Villa Sunday and he's likely to be sacked on Monday, I was delighted he got the chance this season but the excesses have run out now as everyone bar Shaw is available. Thats a good squad, nowhere near as bad as made out by some and looks like he's incapable of getting the best out of them.

Go to Villa and replicate what he did in the cup final and work on tightening up his system over the international break, wishful thinking on my behalf though!

MM do you not think the CB's look all at sea last night because of who was playing in front of them?

Casimero is not capable of playing a holding midfield role on his own any more. Combine that with Dalot seemingly having a free role, meant that there was gaps every where in front of them and to the sides of them.
I would say they were glad to get off in the end.

He has to rotate the squad its just that when he does the depth isnt there. I do think with a system change there is more solidity within the squad but he seems reluctant to change.

To a degree yes and also the positioning of the fullbacks, the while setup has gaps everywhere and making good players look incompetent. Martinez now getting a slating from Keown, the lad has been brilliant since his first game and that level hasn't dropped. De Ligt had a good season at Bayern and fans were gutted to see him leave, seen enough of our new right back in the first few games to knows he's a good player and Dalot was brilliant from xmas onwards at right back. Players are been hung out too dry by this crazy system, looks like the players have lost faith in him too.

Not having this is a poor group of players, its the best squad since Fergie left. I think the depth is better then people are making out, we'll know in time. He either changes this system (won't happen) or he won't last the month.

Just baffled by what I'm watching as I am by the pundits who claim Ten Hag doesn't have a style of play, there's a clear style of play its just not working and amazed he continues with it.

Even Martinez who's been a revelation since he joined was dreadful last night, whole back 4 like against Spurs were made too look crap and thats down to the system. We are way too easy to play against, there's space everywhere and doesn't help when you've the likes of Rashford who makes half arsed attempts at closing down. I've heard countless pundit comment Rashford was brilliant last night and completely ignore his defending in both goals.

Play the same way against Villa Sunday and he's likely to be sacked on Monday, I was delighted he got the chance this season but the excesses have run out now as everyone bar Shaw is available. Thats a good squad, nowhere near as bad as made out by some and looks like he's incapable of getting the best out of them.

Go to Villa and replicate what he did in the cup final and work on tightening up his system over the international break, wishful thinking on my behalf though!

Meath were the last county outside of Dublin/Kerry who won back to backs and that was over 35 years ago. Think Armagh are the only county since outside of the big 2 who got back to the final the year after winning it.

I wouldn't expect them to do it but looking at their panel they could make 5/6 changes to the starting 15 without the quality dropping off as long as everyone hangs around, Tyrone weren't able to do that in 2021.

Armagh probably not getting the respect they deserve but that happened to Tyrone 3 years ago, their the best team in the land in the year they won and thats all that counts.

McCambridge injured for the games in Ulster?

Wouldn't surprise me if Conroy won it, it will be closer then the odds suggest.

I've heard it from plenty of people that Armagh aren't in the top 5 and Galway threw it away and thats not from Galway people. Plenty of clowns in the media, you'd swear Armagh won by 7/8 points the way Paddy Andrews and James O'Donoghue were talking on their podcast.

The game isn't like a premier league season where there's 38 games and think pundits forget that especially the Kerry ones. As Ciaran McKeever said Kerry will always have an aura but this Kerry team is nowhere near as special as previous era's.

There is a lack of respect for Armagh from some pundits, Darren O'Sullivan is an appalling pundit as is Anthony Moyles; A pair of bluffers.

Armagh have a brilliant bench, its better balanced then anyone elses. Galway have a strong squad but definitely lacking a game changed like Campbell.

As for Culhane he's not played a lot of football this year due to injury so suspect Joyce didn't think he'd last 60 minutes. Something that needs putting right for next year but the likes of Curraoin & O'Conghaile aren't 21 so would like to think they'll have bigger impacts next year

Congratulations to all the good Armagh lads on here, a lot of lads from Armagh involved down they years in my club over here who were all great fella's and had a couple of club trips to Armagh as a child so always had a soft spot for them.

Finding it very difficult shake this glumness off, god knows whats the players are going through.

I was close enough to the Galway warm up and it was very noticeable Sean Kelly was struggling, he needs to look after himself but he'll under pressure from the club has they've aspirations of going vey far this winter. In fairness his replacement D'Arcy had a great game and is another player who's continued to surprise me.

Finnerty a big loss, assume he'd have taken the free Walsh missed given he took the earlier one from a similar distance. Heaney certainly not a like for like replacement and Finnerty's natural scoring threat was clearly missed.

It will be a tough one to shake off, a huge opportunity missed and they don't come around too often. Hope Conroy gives another year, his performances suggest he's more then capable. I wonder will Joyce regret not giving O'Curraoin more game time, his free taking is outstanding and is capable of scoring from well over 50m but the lad is still not 21 yet. That last free Walsh missed was well within his range, just didn't have it in the legs; Him and Comer just don't look right at all. I know some will heavily criticise Walsh but the lad didn't go missing.

Would need to watch it again but that would be difficult, thought Silke had a chance to swing one over with his left when he was around the 21 but turned it down surprisingly.

Think someone mentioned John Daly, I was told he's carrying some sort of knee injury. Lots of rumours about a good few players needing ops, only time will tell.

There's very little wrong with the way tickets are distributed, clubs around the country won't distribute tickets to those who don't deserve them. Not a lot you can do with sponsors unfortunately, they've paid for the privilege!

I'd have an issue with the way a certain organisation (not a club) who receives a lot of tickets distribute there allocation, heard lots of stories down the years of people with zero interest in football/hurling getting them.

The Armagh county board have created chaos in their own county, absolutely ridiculous giving all clubs the same amount of tickets. Smaller clubs are hardly going to hand tickets back, I'm sure if anyone is really desperate they can approach some of those clubs and offer a bit of sponsorship in return for tickets.

What Donegal did in 2014

https://www.donegaldaily.com/2014/09/10/how-many-tickets-did-your-club-get-all-ireland-final-ticket-allocation-breakdown/