Sligeach v Corcaigh - AIQF, 4ú Lunasa 2007

Owenmoresider · July 29, 2007, 06:41:56 PM

Well lads, lassies and langers, how will this one go? A repeat of the qualifier in Portlaoise two years ago, I guess both teams have improved since then, we have for sure, although the forwards aren't as reliable as one would like. Need to get the free-taking sorted in particular, Masters will be knocking them over with little fuss at the other end, so any misses will be costly. Would have regarded Cork as the ones to avoid, but the Louth game didn't convince me, whereas Meath showed more promise that day. We'll be tight and tenacious, even though HQ is slightly bigger than the Hyde, but Cork were really rattled by us in Portlaoise that day, and were not in a comfortable position, prior to a fluke goal that killed us off. Will be a tough tie, but it isn't beyond us. Prediction - Cork by 17, we'll try to keep the ball kicked out at least.

gwan-ye-boy-ya · July 29, 2007, 07:18:10 PM

cork arnt great.. they just about beat a weakened and tired louth team... if sligo can beat galway they can beat cork. they will need to battle hard for 70 mins though

Canalman · July 29, 2007, 07:27:56 PM

Seriously good draw for Cork imo. They got the weaker of the 4 provincial winners imo and (more importantly) have removed the spectre of a possible meeting with Kerri in semis.
Not slagging Sligo off for the sake of it but I feel they may be torn apart in CP.(if not by Cork then definitely at some stage in Championship).

Pangurban · July 30, 2007, 12:17:19 AM

Cork are serious AI contenders, Sligo have done exceptionally well winning Connaught, they will settle for that this year, any further ambition is unrealistic at this stage. Hope they give a good performance and or not humiliated, they would not deserve that

Gnevin · July 30, 2007, 12:19:29 AM

Quote from: gwan-ye-boy-ya on July 29, 2007, 07:18:10 PM
cork arnt great

Well that completes my set I've now heard every team left being called "Not great"

paddypastit · July 30, 2007, 12:36:35 AM

Pangur, canalman etc... keep it coming, thick and fast.

magpie seanie · July 30, 2007, 10:06:34 AM

QuoteSligo have done exceptionally well winning Connaught, they will settle for that this year, any further ambition is unrealistic at this stage

Should we even bother going up?

his holiness nb · July 30, 2007, 11:36:31 AM

Paddy power doesnt think so, 5-1 for a Sligo win.

magpie seanie · July 30, 2007, 11:54:12 AM

That's it settled so. We'll stay at home and play a round of the club championship instead.

Hardy · July 30, 2007, 12:02:20 PM

Yeah - you'd think Sligo was the only team left in it that had lost a quarter-final before.

Stagmeister · July 30, 2007, 12:29:56 PM

Good draw for Sligo if you ask me...think I would have taken Cork over Meath or Derry...hopefully its a nice low scoring game, could see us winning in that situation, obviously Cork are favourites but you'd never know, 5 - 1 on is a bit much in fairness...

sligeach · July 30, 2007, 12:31:06 PM

Quote from: magpie seanie on July 30, 2007, 11:54:12 AM
That's it settled so. We'll stay at home and play a round of the club championship instead.

Funnily enough Seanie we were too thick to listen to Paddy about the Connacht final and like a crowd of eejits we all went to Hyde Park, sher i'll see you in Croker next saturday. I guess us Sligo people just never learn do we ?

paddypastit · July 30, 2007, 04:43:41 PM

Sligeach pull in your langer - I wasn't absent from the Hyde by choice and was no more or less confident than anyone else here. I'd say the same thing about Cork now as I did about Galway then - we'll be miserable to play and score against, will win more than our share of possession - high and low - but will struggle to score. It all comes down to who wants it more. Galway lined up with more talent but had little between the ribcages so even with our squandermania we were comfortable. Winning will make the realisation of waht we can do even stronger. Cork will not really know what to expect and will have a chalenge to match Sligo's intensity which means that they will have to overacheive in other aspects of their game. Interesting...

magpie seanie · July 30, 2007, 04:54:43 PM

QuoteSligeach pull in your langer - I wasn't absent from the Hyde by choice and was no more or less confident than anyone else here

I think Sligeach was referring to Mr Power, not your good self Mr Pastit.

A good summation of the situation. Would give us a decent enough chance but they have some very talented players.

Kerry Mike · July 30, 2007, 05:24:54 PM

Sligo have a great chance in this game if they can apply the levels of intensity they had in the Connacht final but for a full 70 mins, and if they have found a free taker in the last few weeks, which will be vital next Saturday

I dont want to take away from Slligo's great achievement but with the poor displays of other Connacht teams in the qualifiers espeically Mayo and Galway you have to ask if Sligo's great Connacht win may be taken out of context, great and all as it was on the day for them, was the class of opposition poor and does this leave Sligo exposed to the threat of Cork or others in the wide and intimadating spaces of Croke Park. I hope for their sake it does not, and that there is not a big let down for their supporters.

Cork put it up to Kerry in the second half and were probably unlucky not to beat us, they have had a big problem with consistancy all year, good in parts in the league beating Tyrone well for example but flopping against lesser teams, we saw this against Louth too as well where Cork struggled for long periods and maybe thats down to Louth but I think they have a problem raising their game against what they percieve a smaller team.

They have very big men down the middle of the team and they have good football in them too, lads like Canty, Spillane and Lynch in the backs are tenacious defenders and they have a solid midfiled , Nicky Murphy will win plenty of ball and is a fine footballer and Derek Kavanagh is capable of producing on his day.

Upfront again they have a big height advantage in Pierce O'Neill and Mike Cussen, the problem with Cork is that the ball going into Cussen has been poor, there was a strong wind against Kerry and this caused problems in their deliveries with balls overshooting the target man, the ball he got he made good use of and he did score 2 excellent points for such a big man. Masters will always provide a scoring threat and will need watching and Donnach O'Connor has come on well too in recent months and will contribute from play and frees. Gould and Goulding from the U21 win are also players with speed and potential and Sligo would do well to heed their possible strengths. I think however besides Canty they have a weak full back line and MFR and Gooch created some good scoring chances against them.

They have a huge monkey on their back about winning a big game in Croke Park, having lost 3 semi finals to us over the last few years and now with us on the other side of the draw they will be looking at a potential Kerry-free path to the final, this may play into Sligo's hands.

My heart says Sligo, but I just think Cork will do enough to scrape through, I hope I'm wrong.