Gaillimh -v- Ros Comáin

[magpie seanie]

We know well we'll have it all to do to take Mayo in Castlebar(assuming there is no hitch this weekend) but we will not travel without hope. We're well aware of the deficiencies in our side and hopefully they won't prevent us winning. As for Mayo and Galway - yes, they have probably more talented players then us but teams win games, not individuals. A lot of people seem to think cos the great Messiah is at the helm that Mayo will suddenly become class. As a Sligo man I see no McDonald and no Howley and I get hope.

Galway sowing it into a 14 man dispirited and disorganised Ros team is no indication of their true worth either. Galway lost against us last year for a couple of reasons and one was they were cleaned at midfield. Has this improved? I would say no. MM and the others can kill teams but they need the ball.

Finally, don't be giving it the "Sligo lads - win one Connacht title and never shut up" routine. We're entitled to voice our opinions as much as the blue bloods.

[IolarCoisCuain]

Well would you expect anything different from me? I never had that comeback before and it doesnt get any sweeter or maybe it does.

Infairness to Sligo people MAYO and GALWAY are always mouthing about we caught Galway on the hop etc and we won connaght because it was poor. It doesnt look too great this yr either. Yee never know ye might be caught on the hop again God forbid .

Fair play to yourself and Seánie Sligonian, keep that flag flying. You won Connacht fair and square and the title is yours until someone takes it off you. Please God Mayo will give you a good chasing in four weeks' time or whatever it is, but until that time you deserve the respect due to what you are - Connacht Champions.

[Galforever]

Very poor performance by Galway. I realise that in the end we won easily but there was a lot wrong with our performance. I think the fact we were playing Ros made us look a lot better than we actually were.

1. P. Doherty: Made two very good saves but his kickouts were terrible. I do not think he has the ability to vary his kickouts at all. With our current midfield, It would be good if we had a keeper that could place the ball towards a wing-forward. I wasnt overly keen on Alan Keane when he was in there but in fairness, his kickouts were pretty good

2. K. Fitzgerald: A decent performance and hopefully he can improve on it as the summer progresses

3. F. Hanley: Extremely poor in the first half when KilBride was giving him a good roasting. Luckily for him, very little ball went in the second half. Poor game but he is a class player and will have a good year

4. G. Bradshaw: Looked a little suspect when Ros were on top. Sending off suited him as he ended up being the extra man and wasnt confined to corner back. Still very much untested at No.4

5. D. Meehan: Very poor performance. Lost his man too easily for Roscommons first goal chance. Contributed very little going forward as well.

6. N. Coyne: Thought he was Galways 3rd best player, picked up a few breaks and was always willing to carry the ball out of defence

7. G.Sice: Like Meehan, I thought he was ineffective throughout the game. When Ros were on top, Sices man was causing a lot of damage. I noticed Joyce giving him a bit of a blinding during this time as well.

8. Cullinane: Terrible in the first half but improved a lot in the second half. He is our best midfielder at the moment but he needs to learn so much. He should have been sent off as well for a really stupid kick when you are already on a yellow card. That was at a time when Galway were not on top and could have been costly. Can we rely on Cullinane not to something like this in a more important match aginst a better team?

9. M.Lydon: Poor, Will need to improve to keep Coleman off the team. Bergin would displace him straight away as well.

10. D. Dunleavy: He went off at a strange time. Was he injured? He didnt do much in the first half. Sammon seems to have a lot of confidence in Dunleavy as he has done nothing to earn his place so far.

11. P. Joyce: Decent game, sprayed the ball around nicely

12. P. Conroy: Awful first half, Looked like nerves (Remember his first free) but a really top notch second half. Looks like a class act. Bizzare to see him start corner forward and then switched out to half forward after about 5 minutes

13. M. Clancy: Our best player today. Won so many breaks and got a few nice scores

14. M. Meehan: Poor game, Needs to improve big time as the summer goes on. Also, this thing he does of dropping the ball on purpose when hes about to get blocked will catch up with him

15. F. Breatnach: Again, the jury is still out on him. Really needs to get score more to justify his selection. But he started wing forward, then was moved into the corner and at the start of the second half was out wing forward again. Management need to realise that this will affect a players performance

Look, I realise that Galway won very easily but this was not a good performance. They were extremely bad in the last 15 minutes of the first half. They improved a little at the start of the second half with a couple of quick points that put them 5 points up. Then the sending off came which really did have an effect on the match. (Galway would have won anyways but that sending off made Roscommons heads go down). The quick points at the beginning of the second half & the sending off is what beat Roscommon. Suddenly they were 10-04 down and they hadnt played too badly!

Interesting by Sammon to put Bane on ahead of Nicky Joyce. Coleman & Mullahy should have been introduced earlier as well. Both looked very eager for action when they came on. Also, Why was Barry Cullinane brought on again? Why not bring on Diarmuid Blake or even give a debut to Tom Hughes? Surely, this would have given them a boost & improved their morale. As the months go by, I can see Damien Burke coming into the number 4 position, Darren Mullahy in at half-back, D. Blake at midfield and N. Coleman at no. 10. Nickey Joyce will also be brought in for F. Breathnach. It is terrific to see such competition but I worry that Sammon will go tinkering too much (as he did this week in his team selection for the Ros match)

[magpie seanie]

Interesting by Sammon to put Bane on ahead of Nicky Joyce

Heard a strong rumour that Nicky was caught - how is it put these days - "breaching team discipline" the week/weekend before the game. That might explain that.

[GallBoss]

Relax Maroon and White I wasn't saying Tom Hughes wasn't a genuine club player I think hes a good club player just not good enough for senior inter county level especially when he couldn't get on the U21's. Apologies for any confusion. As for Healy I stand by what I said about Healy he hasn't featured much for Salthill now he finds himself on a Senior Inter County panel now thats an insult to "genuine club players".

[Death Valley]

Very poor performance by Galway. I realise that in the end we won easily but there was a lot wrong with our performance. I think the fact we were playing Ros made us look a lot better than we actually were.

1. P. Doherty: Made two very good saves but his kickouts were terrible. I do not think he has the ability to vary his kickouts at all. With our current midfield, It would be good if we had a keeper that could place the ball towards a wing-forward. I wasnt overly keen on Alan Keane when he was in there but in fairness, his kickouts were pretty good

2. K. Fitzgerald: A decent performance and hopefully he can improve on it as the summer progresses

3. F. Hanley: Extremely poor in the first half when KilBride was giving him a good roasting. Luckily for him, very little ball went in the second half. Poor game but he is a class player and will have a good year

4. G. Bradshaw: Looked a little suspect when Ros were on top. Sending off suited him as he ended up being the extra man and wasnt confined to corner back. Still very much untested at No.4

5. D. Meehan: Very poor performance. Lost his man too easily for Roscommons first goal chance. Contributed very little going forward as well.

6. N. Coyne: Thought he was Galways 3rd best player, picked up a few breaks and was always willing to carry the ball out of defence

7. G.Sice: Like Meehan, I thought he was ineffective throughout the game. When Ros were on top, Sices man was causing a lot of damage. I noticed Joyce giving him a bit of a blinding during this time as well.

8. Cullinane: Terrible in the first half but improved a lot in the second half. He is our best midfielder at the moment but he needs to learn so much. He should have been sent off as well for a really stupid kick when you are already on a yellow card. That was at a time when Galway were not on top and could have been costly. Can we rely on Cullinane not to something like this in a more important match aginst a better team?

9. M.Lydon: Poor, Will need to improve to keep Coleman off the team. Bergin would displace him straight away as well.

10. D. Dunleavy: He went off at a strange time. Was he injured? He didnt do much in the first half. Sammon seems to have a lot of confidence in Dunleavy as he has done nothing to earn his place so far.

11. P. Joyce: Decent game, sprayed the ball around nicely

12. P. Conroy: Awful first half, Looked like nerves (Remember his first free) but a really top notch second half. Looks like a class act. Bizzare to see him start corner forward and then switched out to half forward after about 5 minutes

13. M. Clancy: Our best player today. Won so many breaks and got a few nice scores

14. M. Meehan: Poor game, Needs to improve big time as the summer goes on. Also, this thing he does of dropping the ball on purpose when hes about to get blocked will catch up with him

15. F. Breatnach: Again, the jury is still out on him. Really needs to get score more to justify his selection. But he started wing forward, then was moved into the corner and at the start of the second half was out wing forward again. Management need to realise that this will affect a players performance

Look, I realise that Galway won very easily but this was not a good performance. They were extremely bad in the last 15 minutes of the first half. They improved a little at the start of the second half with a couple of quick points that put them 5 points up. Then the sending off came which really did have an effect on the match. (Galway would have won anyways but that sending off made Roscommons heads go down). The quick points at the beginning of the second half & the sending off is what beat Roscommon. Suddenly they were 10-04 down and they hadnt played too badly!

Interesting by Sammon to put Bane on ahead of Nicky Joyce. Coleman & Mullahy should have been introduced earlier as well. Both looked very eager for action when they came on. Also, Why was Barry Cullinane brought on again? Why not bring on Diarmuid Blake or even give a debut to Tom Hughes? Surely, this would have given them a boost & improved their morale. As the months go by, I can see Damien Burke coming into the number 4 position, Darren Mullahy in at half-back, D. Blake at midfield and N. Coleman at no. 10. Nickey Joyce will also be brought in for F. Breathnach. It is terrific to see such competition but I worry that Sammon will go tinkering too much (as he did this week in his team selection for the Ros match)

Interesting analysis, but no mention of Galways most influential player on the day - the miserable kunt of a ref 

[GalwayBayBoy]

Very poor performance by Galway. I realise that in the end we won easily but there was a lot wrong with our performance. I think the fact we were playing Ros made us look a lot better than we actually were.

1. P. Doherty: Made two very good saves but his kickouts were terrible. I do not think he has the ability to vary his kickouts at all. With our current midfield, It would be good if we had a keeper that could place the ball towards a wing-forward. I wasnt overly keen on Alan Keane when he was in there but in fairness, his kickouts were pretty good

2. K. Fitzgerald: A decent performance and hopefully he can improve on it as the summer progresses

3. F. Hanley: Extremely poor in the first half when KilBride was giving him a good roasting. Luckily for him, very little ball went in the second half. Poor game but he is a class player and will have a good year

4. G. Bradshaw: Looked a little suspect when Ros were on top. Sending off suited him as he ended up being the extra man and wasnt confined to corner back. Still very much untested at No.4

5. D. Meehan: Very poor performance. Lost his man too easily for Roscommons first goal chance. Contributed very little going forward as well.

6. N. Coyne: Thought he was Galways 3rd best player, picked up a few breaks and was always willing to carry the ball out of defence

7. G.Sice: Like Meehan, I thought he was ineffective throughout the game. When Ros were on top, Sices man was causing a lot of damage. I noticed Joyce giving him a bit of a blinding during this time as well.

8. Cullinane: Terrible in the first half but improved a lot in the second half. He is our best midfielder at the moment but he needs to learn so much. He should have been sent off as well for a really stupid kick when you are already on a yellow card. That was at a time when Galway were not on top and could have been costly. Can we rely on Cullinane not to something like this in a more important match aginst a better team?

9. M.Lydon: Poor, Will need to improve to keep Coleman off the team. Bergin would displace him straight away as well.

10. D. Dunleavy: He went off at a strange time. Was he injured? He didnt do much in the first half. Sammon seems to have a lot of confidence in Dunleavy as he has done nothing to earn his place so far.

11. P. Joyce: Decent game, sprayed the ball around nicely

12. P. Conroy: Awful first half, Looked like nerves (Remember his first free) but a really top notch second half. Looks like a class act. Bizzare to see him start corner forward and then switched out to half forward after about 5 minutes

13. M. Clancy: Our best player today. Won so many breaks and got a few nice scores

14. M. Meehan: Poor game, Needs to improve big time as the summer goes on. Also, this thing he does of dropping the ball on purpose when hes about to get blocked will catch up with him

15. F. Breatnach: Again, the jury is still out on him. Really needs to get score more to justify his selection. But he started wing forward, then was moved into the corner and at the start of the second half was out wing forward again. Management need to realise that this will affect a players performance

Look, I realise that Galway won very easily but this was not a good performance. They were extremely bad in the last 15 minutes of the first half. They improved a little at the start of the second half with a couple of quick points that put them 5 points up. Then the sending off came which really did have an effect on the match. (Galway would have won anyways but that sending off made Roscommons heads go down). The quick points at the beginning of the second half & the sending off is what beat Roscommon. Suddenly they were 10-04 down and they hadnt played too badly!

Interesting by Sammon to put Bane on ahead of Nicky Joyce. Coleman & Mullahy should have been introduced earlier as well. Both looked very eager for action when they came on. Also, Why was Barry Cullinane brought on again? Why not bring on Diarmuid Blake or even give a debut to Tom Hughes? Surely, this would have given them a boost & improved their morale. As the months go by, I can see Damien Burke coming into the number 4 position, Darren Mullahy in at half-back, D. Blake at midfield and N. Coleman at no. 10. Nickey Joyce will also be brought in for F. Breathnach. It is terrific to see such competition but I worry that Sammon will go tinkering too much (as he did this week in his team selection for the Ros match)

Interesting analysis, but no mention of Galways most influential player on the day - the miserable kunt of a ref 

Not sure what the ref did that was so wrong? Cullinane could have been sent off alright but so could Donie Shine. He let them both off. Gary Cox had to go. Not only was he yellow carded but he picked up a tick after that too even before his challenge that got his his second yellow. He can't have any complaints.

[ross matt]

Cullinane tripped a player when he was lying on the ground. He was already on a yellow at that point. He also smashed O'Neill in the face with an elbow when they were both going for a high ball. He was quick to throw himself to the ground when Cox barely made contact with him and was quickly up again to pat him on the back after he got him sent off. As they said on the Sunday game Cullinane didnt even deserve to be on the pitch at that point. He has deliberate thuggish streak in him which he deserves to get caught out on.

The ref was very poor. Cox and Joyce were yellow carded for harmless hanging out of each other early on in the match. Kieran Fitz and Ger Heneghan for the same in the 2nd half. Michael Meehan constantly over carried and played for frees without being punished. Like Tohill said the ref was very fussy and never gave any leeway in the slippery conditons. Donie Shine got a yellow card which is all his hit on the keeper deserved.

The ref had a bearing on how competive the match would be. Wouldnt have changed the overall result like I said before but he definitely hurt Ross alot more than Galway.

[magpie seanie]

Cullinane could have been sent off alright

Honestly now GBB that's not very fair. Cullinane should have walked, plain and simple. I think to say otherwise is very incorrect.

[GalwayBayBoy]

Cullinane should have gone alright but he's not a thug and it would be unfair to label him so. He is however fairly clumsy and is prone to making awkward challenges. He doesn't have a temper on him like Niall Coleman though.

I thought Donie Shine got away with it personally. The replays from in front of the goal show he led with the forearm/elbow to the head of Doherty who was laid out by it. I'd say a combination of the ref being unsighted and it being put down to the overeagerness of youth meant he got away with just a yellow. In fairness to the ref at first I thought it was just a shoulder that Shine hit on the keeper. It was only on replays that you can see it wasn't. And in fairness to Shine I think he probably gets the benefit of the doubt in that he may have just mistimed his challenge.

Gary Cox can't have any complaints really. Yes the first yellow he got along with Joyce could have been avoided by the ref but shortly after that he picked up a ticking and then finished it off with an completely unneccessary paw into the face of Cullinane after the ball was long gone when he should have been minding himself.

I think to blame the ref would be disingenuous even though he maybe should have adminstered a few stern talking to's early on instead of flashing the yellow cards. In fairness to him the first half especially was littered with persistent fouling and if the ref sees a foul he has to blow for it. It's all very well saying he was fussy but when players are being dragged down and mauled he has to blow for it. The yellow cards for the pushing and shoving early on is where he should have maybe given a few warnings.

[SLIGONIAN]

Well would you expect anything different from me? I never had that comeback before and it doesnt get any sweeter or maybe it does.

Infairness to Sligo people MAYO and GALWAY are always mouthing about we caught Galway on the hop etc and we won connaght because it was poor. It doesnt look too great this yr either. Yee never know ye might be caught on the hop again God forbid .

Fair play to yourself and Seánie Sligonian, keep that flag flying. You won Connacht fair and square and the title is yours until someone takes it off you. Please God Mayo will give you a good chasing in four weeks' time or whatever it is, but until that time you deserve the respect due to what you are - Connacht Champions.

Yes I will keep the flag flying like every year, put it up on the aerial last week, hopefully wont have to take it down till august like last yr .

On the ref thing, I was disapointed with alot of his decisions especially 1st half against ros. Was very hard on ros and did contribute to there downfall but it would of happened regardless just copperfastened IMO.

[heineken_on_tap]

In fairness the ref was bad on sunday, any Galway or Ros people I talked to after the game agreed on that. However he didnt kick 10 points for Galway so as everyone has said already he was not the reason why we lost.

He did however influence the game and IMO he had a negative influence. GalwayBayBoy is right, Cox had to go - under the current rules and if you apply them strictly then the sending off was correct. However did Cox do anything dirthy? I think any ref with common sense would agree that he didnt and was unlucky to get sent off. Perhaps it is time to look at the rules again and perhaps introduce a 'sin bin' for such incidents.

Players train hard for the year and dont deserve to get sent off for nothing challenges.... 

[Galforever]

I was surrounded by Ros fans on Sunday.

strangely enough during the Junior match, they thought the ref was bad in that as well. Didnt hear a Ros fan say anything about the ref after it was over!

[Rossie11]

Cox was stupid to get involved with Joyce for the 1st yellow. It was typical Joyce gamesmanship.
Take the yellow and know that your man was going to be under pressure for the remaining 65mins.
Cox pulled out of 2 tackles after he was ticked. He knew he was on a tight rope.
It was a pity as I thought he was doing ok on Joyce (as well as anyone we had on the pitch could have).

All in all the ref didnt beat us but I believe we would have stayed competitive for longer if it remained 15 V 15 or was 14 V 14.

[GaillimhIarthair]

I was surrounded by Ros fans on Sunday.

strangely enough during the Junior match, they thought the ref was bad in that as well. Didnt hear a Ros fan say anything about the ref after it was over!

That ref from the junior is always brutal!!  He is one of the worst inter county refs around to be honest.  A couple of the Sligo lads on here are not big fans of his either judging from some comments earlier in the league.