All Ireland Gaelic Football Final 2014 Kerry v Donegal

[armaghniac]

RTÉ weren't especially critical of the game today, it wasn't easy on the eye. Sky viewers probably just don't know much about football.

[tyroneboi]

Terrible game. When teams try to mirror Donegal this can happen. Still feel if Donegal had have started McBearty and Toye they would have won. In the end the breaks went Kerry's way and they won.

As for footballer of the year. I have to go with Connolly too.

JOD has it in the bag lads- we'll be lucky to get any all-stars with the Kerry love- in in the media this week.

Even after today's performance?

I thought O'Donoghue did quite well today under the circumstances. No way was a forward going to be allowed to shine close in to goal.

Agreed I thought O'Donoghue played rightly today got on a lot of ball and used it well IMO.

[AZOffaly]

Terrible game. When teams try to mirror Donegal this can happen. Still feel if Donegal had have started McBearty and Toye they would have won. In the end the breaks went Kerry's way and they won.

As for footballer of the year. I have to go with Connolly too.

JOD has it in the bag lads- we'll be lucky to get any all-stars with the Kerry love- in in the media this week.

Even after today's performance?

I thought O'Donoghue did quite well today under the circumstances. No way was a forward going to be allowed to shine close in to goal.

Agreed I thought O'Donoghue played rightly today got on a lot of ball and used it well IMO.

I thought he did okay but he was turned over a couple of times which is a cardinal sin against Donegal. Having said that, he came out the field and foraged well, and sacrificed his scoring game to work for the team further out.

[balladmaker]

A poor All Ireland all round, shocking level for two finalists.  Donegal had it in them to raise the tempo for long periods, but for some unknown reason, they only responded to Kerry goals.  Will be hard for JMcG to figure out that one.

Congrats to Kerry, deserved it on the day, they won't win many handier than that one. 

BJ Keane should hang his head in shame, Kerry had the All Ireland in the bag and Keane tarnished himself with that act of poor sportmanship, disgraceful and long may he be remembered for it.

[INDIANA]

Terrible game. When teams try to mirror Donegal this can happen. Still feel if Donegal had have started McBearty and Toye they would have won. In the end the breaks went Kerry's way and they won.

As for footballer of the year. I have to go with Connolly too.

JOD has it in the bag lads- we'll be lucky to get any all-stars with the Kerry love- in in the media this week.

Even after today's performance?

I thought O'Donoghue did quite well today under the circumstances. No way was a forward going to be allowed to shine close in to goal.

Looking at it objectively JOD was outstanding against Cork, Mayo twice and was decent without being spectacular today. Today was a write off for him  as Fitzmaurice was smart enough to know you're wasting your time with a pace in the full forward line against Donegal.
Cononolly was decent in most games and outstanding in one game and that won't be enough. Flynn probably had a more consistent graph of performance but probably again won't be enough.

It was an exceptionally poor year for Gaelic Football this year- semi finals aside the entertainment value was rubbish. The poorest standard of an AI since 2004 IMO. But that's why Kerry have 37 titles because they are very good in picking up titles in the shite years.

[Hardy]

A poor All Ireland all round, shocking level for two finalists.  Donegal had it in them to raise the tempo for long periods, but for some unknown reason, they only responded to Kerry goals.  Will be hard for JMcG to figure out that one.

Congrats to Kerry, deserved it on the day, they won't win many handier than that one. 

BJ Keane should hang his head in shame, Kerry had the All Ireland in the bag and Keane tarnished himself with that act of poor sportmanship, disgraceful and long may he be remembered for it.

Ah come on. You make it sound like crime of the century. He didn't kick or bite or hurt anybody or fall over for nothing or pretend to be injured or any of dozens of other things you see in matches that are worse.  He ran over and poked the ball off the kicking tee. Just silly and it made me burst out laughing. And he probably caused the ref to add 30 seconds more than he would have.

[tonto1888]

BJ Keane, f**k you you little worm.

Did a Donegal player not do something similar in the Semi final? Sideline ball or free to Dublin and ran off out of play with the ball in the last couple of minutes?

Don't remember that, but I'll take your word for it. Did he run ten yards to kick it away?

Didn't McBrearty? Do it against Armagh? Kicked the ball away when it was a sideline giving Armagh the chance to level with last kick? Still doesn't compare to what that Kerry lad done today right enough

[heffo]

BJ Keane, f**k you you little worm.

Did a Donegal player not do something similar in the Semi final? Sideline ball or free to Dublin and ran off out of play with the ball in the last couple of minutes?

Don't remember that, but I'll take your word for it. Did he run ten yards to kick it away?

Ran about 50 yards away with the ball out of play. Did Donegal not do the same in the Qtr final v Armagh, Armagh chasing the game and they deliberately kicked the match ball out of play up into row z of the Hogan?

I'd say Keane got a few ideas when they were watching the video analysis of Donegal

Again, I don't know what incident you're talking about from Dublin game. Its not even clear from your description what happened: did he carry on running with the ball after it had gone out of play?

As for McBrearty against Armagh, first, it was instinctive: the ball dropped right where he was standing. Second, I'm on record on that thread for calling his act idiotic. He was correctly punished, and his punishment nearly gifted Armagh the draw when the ball was moved  closer in towards the goal, instead of it being a sideline ball.

Sorry I'll try and be clearer, this is from memory as I havent watched any replays or highlights of the game.

Near the end of the Dublin game with Dublin trying to get a goal they were awarded a free or sideline ball. With the ball out of play, a Donegal player grabbed the ball and ran off with. It was exactly the same as Keane doing what he did except it wasted more time.

Coupled with the Armagh time wasting, it's looks a little hypocritical of you to complain.

No, it would be hypocritical if I condoned what McBrearty did. I didn't.

But... my words about Keane were probably a little strong under what were emotional circumstances.

So were agreed that Donegal are quite happy to do the exact same as what Keane did today then

[ballinaman]

Jaysus Martin Carney and that finger!!!

Kerry by 2 in a horrible game of football!

Close...



Farr, Hefo and AZ taking "delight" in a Kerry win. Sort yourselves out lads will ye, sake.

[tonto1888]

I blame RTE.

I watched Sky's coverage, and while it wasn't the best game I've ever seen it was hardly the worst. It was quite entertaining, especially when it was looking like a draw. I was a bit taken aback to see so many of my friends on social media talking about "Gaelic football has been destroyed" and "absolute muck." This isn't the first time I've watched a game on Sky and seen RTE viewers react completely differently.

All this talk about abolishing consecutive use of the handpass. The only thing that needs abolished in Gaelic football is RTE's live coverage of it. They're a useless shower of unprofessional cowboys. There's two other terrestrial networks in Ireland that deserve a chance to show the games in a positive light if RTE aren't going to do it.

I wouldn't say their live coverage needs abolished. Just their punditry

[Jeepers Creepers]

Kerry were hungrier for if today, regardless of how the game was. Peter Canavan pointed out on his half time analysis an off the ball incident were the young bucks of Kerry squaring up to and pushing Michael Murphy around. Donegal were more worried about Kerry's high ball option that it totally disrupted any game plan they has. McBrerety & Molloy brought on to late. I also hear the Super Bowl are looking a blueprint off Croke Parks half time show 

[heffo]

Jaysus Martin Carney and that finger!!!

Kerry by 2 in a horrible game of football!

Close...



Farr, Hefo and AZ taking "delight" in a Kerry win. Sort yourselves out lads will ye, sake.

Just as 95% of this board can delight in a Dublin defeat, I can delight in a Donegal one. I don't like them and haven't since McGuinness took over their U21's - I'm sure he couldn't give a fook.

[AZOffaly]

Jaysus Martin Carney and that finger!!!

Kerry by 2 in a horrible game of football!

Close...



Farr, Hefo and AZ taking "delight" in a Kerry win. Sort yourselves out lads will ye, sake.

Why? I am delighted for them and their freakishly long arms. It's probably the weight of carrying Sam around all the time 😄

[BluestackBoy]

Full congratulations to the Kerry folk on a fully deserved win today.

We never really got going or more to the point were never allowed to get going & yet were the width of a post away from a draw we wouldn't have deserved.

A big thanks to Jim & the lads for everything. It has been a great year & I for one am very grateful to them.

[Syferus]

Worst AI in history IMO. Even worse then 2003 and 2004.

Just curious, did you watch on RTE?

I was at the match and largely agree with Indy. It was better than any washout but the standard was really poor for an AI final. Dublin and Mayo will be sick as dogs after watching the level of performance that was required to win this year's final.

Kerry have learnt their Ulster lesson mentally but their execution still leaves a lot to be desired. I suppose it's something to work on for next year.

So it's a given that Dublin or Mayo would have performed better? How so?
The game was sore on the eye because of the ultra defensive game plan Donegal use.
If Mayo had reached the final they would have had to either play open football and the chances are got ate up by Donegal or met fire with fire resulting in what we witnessed today.
If it was a Dublin Mayo final or a Dublin Kerry final I'm sure it could have been a classic with much more open attacking football.
Kerry done what they had to do to beat the 'monster'.

Spot on. Donegal force other teams to ape their style of play and when other teams do we get awful games, if they don't we can get good games which Donegal win. To beat them your best chance is to ape them.

Kerry have been aping Donegal's system all year.  Since Fitzmaurice took over he's been remodelling Kerry as a southern Ulster team that leaves 8 or 9 men back at all times and regularly operates with a single isolated FF.

They are just as defensive as Donegal, indeed looking at their team-sheet they need that system more than Donegal do to paper over talent gaps at key positions.

Today's entertainment was caused by two very defensive teams parking a bus in front of each other and being clueless as to how to unlock the opposition. Someone had to win but we're all losers for having to watch two teams excute that poorly.

Nonsense. Every team is now more aware defensively and get bodies back in an organised way but nobody is as defensive as Donegal but to beat them you unfortunately have to mirror them. If Dublin or Mayo were  playing Kerry today they would have played the game very differently.

'Nonsense'. Kerry sat a lot of men deep against Mayo both days and there isn't a snowball's chance they'd have opened up wide and shipped the hammering Dublin would have given them for being that naive had they met today. Kerry are one of the most defensive teams in the country right now, up there with Tyrone and Donegal, albeit not as good at it as those teams were at their peaks.

You saw last years semi final between Dublin and Kerry I presume? Of course Kerry are more tactically astute and have a defensive system that isn't simply each man marking hi opponent but to suggest they are like Donegal is patent nonsense. Donegal force you to be negative, if Kerry were playing Dublin or Mayo they would have been far more attacking. You can't do that against Donegal and expect to be successful, bar perhaps blitzing them early. Having 8 or 9 players back in your defence at times isn't hyper defensive football but playing like Donegal is and Kerry were forced to do that today.

Worst AI in history IMO. Even worse then 2003 and 2004.

Just curious, did you watch on RTE?

I was at the match and largely agree with Indy. It was better than any washout but the standard was really poor for an AI final. Dublin and Mayo will be sick as dogs after watching the level of performance that was required to win this year's final.

Kerry have learnt their Ulster lesson mentally but their execution still leaves a lot to be desired. I suppose it's something to work on for next year.

So it's a given that Dublin or Mayo would have performed better? How so?
The game was sore on the eye because of the ultra defensive game plan Donegal use.
If Mayo had reached the final they would have had to either play open football and the chances are got ate up by Donegal or met fire with fire resulting in what we witnessed today.
If it was a Dublin Mayo final or a Dublin Kerry final I'm sure it could have been a classic with much more open attacking football.
Kerry done what they had to do to beat the 'monster'.

Spot on. Donegal force other teams to ape their style of play and when other teams do we get awful games, if they don't we can get good games which Donegal win. To beat them your best chance is to ape them.

Kerry have been aping Donegal's system all year.  Since Fitzmaurice took over he's been remodelling Kerry as a southern Ulster team that leaves 8 or 9 men back at all times and regularly operates with a single isolated FF.

They are just as defensive as Donegal, indeed looking at their team-sheet they need that system more than Donegal do to paper over talent gaps at key positions.

Today's entertainment was caused by two very defensive teams parking a bus in front of each other and being clueless as to how to unlock the opposition. Someone had to win but we're all losers for having to watch two teams excute that poorly.

Nonsense. Every team is now more aware defensively and get bodies back in an organised way but nobody is as defensive as Donegal but to beat them you unfortunately have to mirror them. If Dublin or Mayo were  playing Kerry today they would have played the game very differently.

'Nonsense'. Kerry sat a lot of men deep against Mayo both days and there isn't a snowball's chance they'd have opened up wide and shipped the hammering Dublin would have given them for being that naive had they met today. Kerry are one of the most defensive teams in the country right now, up there with Tyrone and Donegal, albeit not as good at it as those teams were at their peaks.

You saw last years semi final between Dublin and Kerry I presume? Of course Kerry are more tactically astute and have a defensive system that isn't simply each man marking hi opponent but to suggest they are like Donegal is patent nonsense. Donegal force you to be negative, if Kerry were playing Dublin or Mayo they would have been far more attacking. You can't do that against Donegal and expect to be successful, bar perhaps blitzing them early. Having 8 or 9 players back in your defence at times isn't hyper defensive football but playing like Donegal is and Kerry were forced to do that today.

Minus 1 Gooch Cooper

Minus 1 Paul Galvin

Minus 1 Tomas O'Se

Plus 1 crocked Declan O'Sullivian

Plus 1 crocked Darran O'Sullivan

...equals one seriously reduced (skills-wise) Kerry team year-on-year.

This year was the success of a system just as much as 2012 was. Kerry became what they supposedly hated and walked away with Sam.