Sam Maguire Group 4 - Derry, Clare, Monaghan, Donegal

[An Watcher]

God imagine the time when a defender has to defend one on one!!

[tbrick18]

Gallen was fantastic.
Derry really improved from the last two games.
Mcloskey, cassidy, mcgrogan, mcfaul were so much better than previous games.
Heron played well too but could have had a goal.
Glass I felt played a bit within himself and that backpack to nobody was very unlike him. We were lucky got away wit it.
Lynch was excellent, really tried to force the game.
Rogers was excellent. One of the top footballers in the country.

We just need to run up a big score against clare now to finish top. Based on how they did against monaghan we could have a game o  our hands there too.

Donegal are greatly improved. If they get mcbrearty back fit and keep playing the way they did today, they are heading in the right direction.

Decent game. No dirt. I did think the ref favoured donegal in that they go their frees a lot easier, but maybe I'm biased.

Sean Cavanagh is a dose.

[lenny]

Gallen is a serious operator class he deserved MOTM.

Tremendous game between 2 good attacking sides. Derry could've scored 3 or 4 more goals and Donegal should've had another couple. Lots of great points taken also. Great to see football played like that with 2 teams going for it.

[Champion The Wonder Horse]

Right - Permutations. I reckon

- Clare definitely gone. Best they can hope for is to finish level with Donegal, but would lose out on head to head.
- The three other teams can all still finish 1st, 2nd or 3rd in the group.
- Derry or Monaghan will top the group if they win their last match by a bigger margin than the other.
- Donegal can still win the group, but would need to beat Monaghan and Clare to beat Derry.

Interesting couple of games ahead.

[Main Street]

The first Derry goal looked a nice piece of work,  2 clinical passes onto players moving at speed or was it just poor defending?
I don't know if Donegal have improved, could be just flattering to deceive. We'll see what's what in a fortnights time.

[Mario]

Great performance by Derry. Needed one like that post RG. A bit annoyed at conceding the late goal given its going to come down to score difference but we've an easier task than monaghan next day against an eliminated Clare

[Schkite]

I'd imagine Derry will beat Clare handily enough. As much as they came to Clones today with real purpose and put on a great performance, Clare are mathematically out of the championship now so the Derry game is a dead rubber for them. So I doubt they'll be half as up that game as they were today. Derry should be strong favourites to top the group

[imtommygunn]

Derry could have won that game by a lot more - they messed about a lot. Gallen when interviewed said they should have won it - dunno what game he was looking at. I'd expect Derry to finish top.

[screenexile]

Derry could have won that game by a lot more - they messed about a lot. Gallen when interviewed said they should have won it - dunno what game he was looking at. I'd expect Derry to finish top.

Yeah there was a crowd of us wondering the same thing!!

[HiMucker]

Ach I just think Gallen was a young lad trying to say the right things in an interview. He had a cracking game, and I suppose Donegal were in it for large period, but the better team won by bit to spare and should have won by more IMHO.

[screenexile]

Can anyone confirm to me the rule about the advantage?? Ref gave advantage and Donegal advanced an extra 20-30 yards before the ref blew the whistle. Surely the free has to be taken back then?

[HiMucker]

Well that's what happened in the first half with Cassidys goal effort. Ref pulled it back for the free at the edge of the d. That was a soft one for us.

[JoG2]

Can anyone confirm to me the rule about the advantage?? Ref gave advantage and Donegal advanced an extra 20-30 yards before the ref blew the whistle. Surely the free has to be taken back then?

Yes, brought back to the place of the original foul (when the refs hand went up) regardless if there's another foul in the intervening 5 secs in a closer / more advantagious position 

[Angus MacGyver]

Not one free given for an overcarrying call in the Clare Monaghan match today, and 7 or 8 points scored from handy 20m frees. No wonder we had a high scoring game in Clones because tackling in all forms was banned.

[restorepride]

Gallen was fantastic.
Derry really improved from the last two games.
Mcloskey, cassidy, mcgrogan, mcfaul were so much better than previous games.
Heron played well too but could have had a goal.
Glass I felt played a bit within himself and that backpack to nobody was very unlike him. We were lucky got away wit it.
Lynch was excellent, really tried to force the game.
Rogers was excellent. One of the top footballers in the country.

We just need to run up a big score against clare now to finish top. Based on how they did against monaghan we could have a game o  our hands there too.

Donegal are greatly improved. If they get mcbrearty back fit and keep playing the way they did today, they are heading in the right direction.

Decent game. No dirt. I did think the ref favoured donegal in that they go their frees a lot easier, but maybe I'm biased.

Sean Cavanagh is a dose.

Mmm ... Stephen McMenamin?  And Hugh McFadden trying to batter Conor Glass from the start, just couldn't get nearer enough to him as the game went on.  The lack of consistency in refereeing is shocking.  Compare some of the frees Donegal got today in the first half to the 'foul threshold' v Monaghan!  Big increase in scoring chances created by Doire which is refreshing and a relief!  Finally we can now get out of Ulster v An Clár.