Can't see any other thread on this yet so I may as well kick it off.
Galway are coming into the match off the back of a fairly medicore performance against Westmeath while the Dubs were part of a high standard of football game against Tyrone.
That was on a marquee night in Croke Park with fairly benign conditions and a pitch in great shape for this time of year however, it's safe to say that they will get neither in Salthill.
Cullinane is I assume suspended, the Corofin lads are still out along with Nicky Joyce missing through injury. Probably will see a similar enough team to the one that started against Westmeath.
Also can anyone tell me when was the last time Galway beat Dublin in the league? It's a long time ago but couldn't be any worse than 1934 - the last championship win against the jackeens!
Cullinane is still out afaik and Galway last beat Dublin in the league in 1981 (I think '81 anyway)..
Quote from: An Fhairche Abu on February 10, 2009, 08:46:57 PM
Galway are coming into the match off the back of a fairly medicore performance against Westmeath
I wouldn't say it was a mediocre performance to be honest. They did win in Mullingar by 5 points and with only 14 men for most of the second half. I think most counties would be fairly happy with that.
Need to win again on Sunday though. Hard to see many points available in away trips to Kerry, Tyrone and Derry. Our record against Dublin is abysmal though as these league results show. They are usually very close games but Dublin always seem to come out on top by a point or two. That league game in 2000 in Tuam being a case in point. We played them off the pitch for nearly the whole game and still lost to a couple of late points and a Ciaran Whelan (I think) goal with the last kick of the game. Have always been a bogey team for us.
1981 - Galway 0-9 Dublin 0-9
1986 - Dublin 0-12 Galway 0-10
1987 - Dublin 1-8 Galway 0-8
1991 - Galway 0-7 Dublin 1-5
1992 - Dublin 2-8 Galway 0-8
1993 - Dublin 0-13 Galway 1-6
1999 - Dublin 0-15 Galway 1-12
2000 - Galway 0-20 Dublin 2-15
2001 - Dublin 1-10 Galway 1-8
2002 - Galway 1-12 Dublin 1-12
Either way Cullinane suspended who is the main ball winner in midfield. What's the story with Nicky's injury anyway? Last I heard they were waiting for the scan results.
Quote from: heffo on February 10, 2009, 09:25:02 PM
Cullinane is still out afaik and Galway last beat Dublin in the league in 1981 (I think '81 anyway)..
I think it was actually the late 70's.
With the galway injuries I would be hopeful dublin would win by a couple of points. I think Galway will struggle with the Dublin midfield on sunday but the injuries and suspensions. We badly need a win on sunday.
Hard to judge really. With a full team out I would expect to beat Dublin at home but with the Corofin lads still out along with Barry Cullinane and Nicky Joyce and even Mattie Clancy and Niall Coleman unavailable for the league it certainly decreases our options and chances a fair bit. Cullinane is a big loss in midfield. Granted he'll never be the most aesthetically pleasing footballer but he's been playing very well so far this year and is a huge physical presence around the middle.
Presume we might field something like
Paul Doherty
Niall Coyne
Finian Hanley
David Reilly
Gareth Bradshaw
Diarmuid Blake
Darren Mullahy
Joe Bergin
Gary O'Donnell
Paul Conroy
Padraic Joyce
Cormac Bane
Sean Armstrong
Mike Meehan
Jonathan Ryan
Mark Lydon may be included in either midfield or the half-forward line if they are worried about midfield.
Quote from: GalwayBayBoy on February 10, 2009, 09:41:34 PM
Quote from: heffo on February 10, 2009, 09:25:02 PM
Cullinane is still out afaik and Galway last beat Dublin in the league in 1981 (I think '81 anyway)..
I think it was actually the late 70's.
29 years and 1 week (that's over 1500 weeks ;) )since Galway beat Dublin
4 February 1980 - Galway 1-6 Dublin 0-8
A run that's due to end, no doubt.
Quote from: GalwayBayBoy on February 10, 2009, 09:40:52 PM
Quote from: An Fhairche Abu on February 10, 2009, 08:46:57 PM
Galway are coming into the match off the back of a fairly medicore performance against Westmeath
I wouldn't say it was a mediocre performance to be honest. They did win in Mullingar by 5 points and with only 14 men for most of the second half. I think most counties would be fairly happy with that.
Maybe I was a tad harsh to describe it as medicore but the performance up to middle of the second half was very patchy, a good win in the end but the goal by Ryan really changed the momentum of the game, the Westmeath heads dropped and they were a totally beaten docket after that.
Dubs team for Sunday:
1 Stephen Cluxton (Parnells)
2 Paddy Andrews (St Brigid's)
3 Denis Bastick (Templeogue Synge St)
4 Alan Hubbard (Ballymun Kickhams)
5 Bryan Cullen (Skerries Harps)
6 Ger Brennan (St Vincent's)
7 Barry Cahill (St Brigid's)
8 Ciarán Whelan (Raheny)
9 Paul Flynn (Fingallians)
10 David Henry (Raheny)
11 Tiernan Diamond (St Vincent's)
12 James Brogan (St Oliver Plunkett's/ER)
13 Conal Keaney (Ballyboden St Enda's)
14 Jason Sherlock (St Oliver Plunketts/ER)
15 Bernard Brogan (St Oliver Plunkett's/ER)
Galway team:
1. Adrian Faherty
2. Niall Coyne
3. Finian Hanley
4. Declan Meehan
5. Garreth Bradshaw
6. Diarmuid Blake
7. Darren Mullahy
8. Joe Bergin
9. Gary O'Donnell
10. Sean Armstrong
11. Padraic Joyce (Capt)
12. Cormac Bane
13. Paul Conroy
14. Michael Meehan
15. Nicky Joyce
Galway team
Adrian Faherty
Niall Coyne
Finian Hanley
Declan Meehan
Garreth Bradshaw
Diarmuid Blake
Darren Mullahy
Joe Bergin
Gary O Donnell
Sean Armstrong
Padraig Joyce (Capt)
Cormac Bane
Paul Conroy
Michael Meehan
Nicky Joyce
Oops didn't notice you had the team up there AFA.
The bould Nicky is fit then, good news for a change. Midfield looks a bit weak without Cullinane, I presume Bergin will be picking up Whelan. Deccie Meehan at corner back looks a bit dodgy, wasn't this tried last year or the year before and didn't work out the best? Armstrong gets his first start of the year, hopefully he can make the most of the oppertunity and make that position his own, on his game he can be brilliant, doesn't happen too often unfortunately. Hard to know how this will go, it'd be great to get a win over the Jackeens but it'll be tough going, we'll need everyone playing out of their skins to have any hope. Wouldn't be very confident to be honest.
Thats a very strong galway team. We've still a lot of green horns playing. Could be very tight. I'm going to the hurling so I'll have to make do with the deferred coverage.
Will be in PP for the hurling. Salthill imo is a bitterly cold ground at the best of times.....so wrap up well.
Very big test for us. I rate Galway and Cork as massive threats for Sam this year. The loss of Alan B I think will swing it for Galway although this game has Draw written all over it.
Pat Gilroy watched his side lose for the second time in this season's Allianz NFL Division 1 as Galway outclassed Dublin at Pearse Stadium.
And while Dublin were unlucky to go down to Tyrone in the campaign opener, Liam Sammon's Galway were far too classy for a Dublin side that lacked invention.
The visitors started well with Ciaran Whelan opening the scoring in the fourth minute with a well-taken point.
And the game could have easily taken a very different direction had Dublin taken two early goal chances, with Barry Cahill unlucky to see his well-struck effort rebound off the crossbar.
In fact, it was ten minutes before Galway opened their account when Michael Meehan scored a point, before Cormac Bane gave them the lead a minute later.
And while Dublin hit back and took the lead after Bernard Brogan pointed a free and Whelan hit another fine score, the game changed in the 20th minute when referee Rory Hickey awarded the hosts a penalty, which was easily dispatched by Meehan.
From there, Galway stepped up a couple of gears and added four more points before the second goal arrived just after the half-hour mark when Sean Armstrong struck the ball home.
And things got worse for the Dubs just before the break after some sloppy defending gifted Galway another goal, this time Paul Conroy with the tidy finish.
The third goal gave Galway a healthy 3-07 to 0-05 lead at the interval.
Bernard Brogan tried his best to get Dublin back in the game in the second period, with the St Oliver Plunkett's/Eoghan Ruadh clubman finishing with a tally of seven points.
But for every Dublin score, Galway hit back and stayed well clear for the remainer of the game and ran out easy winners by eight points at the final whistle.
Glad I went to parnell.
Congrats to Galway looked the better side bar the opening 15mins. A really good forward line and the abcks have been shored up no end. We were awful in the first half and marginally improved in the second. We're not really sure what we are doing and we're still trying out a lot of players. But we need to start getting a bit of shape on the team. If anything happens to the Brogans, Cahill or Whelan our goose is cooked. We have to beat Donegal or we could be heading down. NOt what I envisaged. We're putting all our eggs into the championship basket once again. I would have liked a good league run to build momentum.
Excellent performance by our lads today - first half especially. Midfield was a problem - as usual - for us at certain times but overall you'd have to be well pleased with that!
Bradshaw was absolutely outstanding today - I haven't seen an awful lot of him in person to date but I was very impressed today.He defended really well and burst forward all the time at pace. He will be a huge player for us this year at wing back.
Also it was great to see Army playing so well. He's been in and out of the team so much since his debut year and he has all the potential in the world it was great to see his display today.Not just his scoretaking either as he won a mountain of ball and used it intelligently.
Also Faherty in goal looked quite impressive today - his kickouts were absolutely huge. Far longer than Doherty's.He wasn't tested that much in terms of shot stopping or high balls dropping around the square but what he had to do, he did well.
On the negative side - Deccie is in no way,shape or form a corner back.If Dublin had got more ball into Brogan he would have caused serious damage.It's unlikely Dec will make the championship team this year.
What do ye reckon will be our championship team this year?
Here's my stab at this early stage.
Faherty
Fitzy
Hanley
Coyne/Burke
Bradshaw
Blake
Mullaghy/Sice
Bergin
Cullinane
Armstrong
PJ
Bane
Conroy
Mike Meehan
Nicky
final score?
Galway 3-12 Dublin 0-13
Galway 3-12, Dublin 0-13.
Took a run up to this game as I was expecting a cracker. Didn't get one because Dublin were woeful. Forwards were absolutely appaling and its amazing they managed 13 points. Bernard Brogan was the only threat, he kicked six points, four were frees. David Henry with a point was the only other Dublin forward to score. Whelan kicked three points from midfield. Keaney kicked two frees but offered nothing from play.
For Galway there was a great spread of scorers, Meehan hit 1-3 - the goal was a penalty and one free; Armstrong kicked 1-2, Bane 0-4, Conroy 1-1 and PJ 0-2.
Number of observations
Joyce still has it, set up the move for the penalty with a great pass to Conroy before he was fouled and did wonderfully well with the assist for Conroy's goal. Generally very creative.
BUT much of this was because Ger Brennan didn't even try to makr him. Seems to think he's a bit of a libero with no marking responsibilities. Very, very loose and a major weakness for Dublin if that continues.
Meehan, whilst not being top class, showed good leadership and looks a more mature and responsible player than two years ago. Wonderful assist for Sean Armstrong's goal.
With Meehan and Joyce playing well, players like Bane and Armstrong (and Nickey Joyce when he returns) will thrive playing off them.
Galway's forward movement was a sight to behold. While Dublin were shockingly loose, they did have serious bodies behind the ball in the first half but Galway's ability to pick them open was top, top class.
They're kickpassing ability and willingness to use this option was great too. So comfortable kicking the ball - lessons for Mayo there!
Problems remain at midfield. Gary O'Donnell was taken off in the first half, Mark Lydon (who started at wing-forward) wasn't much better when moved out and Joe Bergin is someway of his best yet.
Defensively it is hard to rate Galway because Dublin had no penetration. But Hanley was commanding and composed at full-back, Bradshaw is a great man to have driving forward and Faherty's kick outs, particularly into a strong wind in the second half, were very good.
Dublin? Whelan tried. Defensively they were a mess. Full-back line all in trouble. Hubbbard taken off in first-half. Cullen poor, Brennan ate. Jayo taken off at half-time which meant in the second half the forward line was Henry, Tiernan Diamond, James Brogan; Keaney, Kevin Bonner and Bernard Brogan. Very limited.
Pat Gilroy has a lot of work to do. Liam Sammon's Galway are shoo-ins for Connacht I think and I'm not stiring!
Very disappointing for Dublin. Looked pretty good in the first quarter, pity about the two missed goal chances. Cahill had hard luck, but Flynn's was a terrible effort. The penalty (very poor decision by the ref IMO) got Galway going and after that they were by a distance the better team.
Whelan was easily Dublin's best player, the rest of them played largley as if they'd never seen each other before.
QuoteWe're putting all our eggs into the championship basket once again. I would have liked a good league run to build momentum.
I'm pretty sure the management picked what they think is the strongest team available for both games. The intention was to have a good league run. Its not like we've better players on the bench who are being rotated to give other lads a chance to stake their claim.
At the moment our team is: Cluxton - Cahill - Whelan - Brogan - Keaney. Alan Brogan to come in and then somehow we've to fill 9 gaps!!
QuoteSammon's Galway are shoo-ins for Connacht I think and I'm not stiring!
Sniper it sickens me to agree with you but none of the other teams in Connacht are anywhere close to the Tribesmen.
They have put in 5 years of hard patient work to get to where they are today. In my opinion the All Ireland is between Kerry, Tyrone and Galway.
Quote from: Barney on February 16, 2009, 08:20:52 AM
QuoteSammon's Galway are shoo-ins for Connacht I think and I'm not stiring!
Sniper it sickens me to agree with you but none of the other teams in Connacht are anywhere close to the Tribesmen.
They have put in 5 years of hard patient work to get to where they are today. In my opinion the All Ireland is between Kerry, Tyrone and Galway.
I'm getting very uneasy with all this love and admiration from ye Mayo lads ;) :D
Being honest Barney, we have made very good progress to date under Sammon and are ticking over nicely at the moment, BUT we will need to be in the full of our health, injury free and have a good few breaks go our way to beat either Tyrone or Kerry if we meet either of them later in the year.
Cant judge us on yesterdays result as Dublin were very poor, especially their backs. The latiitude they gave our forwards at times was hard to believe. Our next outing is up in Omagh so that should give us a better indication of where we are at progress wise with this team.
Have to say Galway looked impressive yesterday. Joyce is still as good as ever. Think they're favourites for Connacht but its never that clear cut, you know Mayo wont make it easy for them.
Do any of the local Dublin stations broadcast the league games? If they don't, that must make Dublin unique in not having local radio broadcasts of county games.
Quote from: thejuice on February 16, 2009, 10:35:17 AM
Have to say Galway looked impressive yesterday. Joyce is still as good as ever. Think they're favourites for Connacht but its never that clear cut, you know Mayo wont make it easy for them.
Galway play us first in Markievicz, With a Galway man Kevin Walsh in charge and us in alot better shape than last yr I dont think were just going to roll over for them but no doubt theyre good. Just dont right us completely off, id say we will turn up for starters, I know Galway will be favourites and rightly so in all seriousness.
I watched them online yday and they looked sharp but the dubs werent great.
Quote from: Hound on February 16, 2009, 07:16:33 AM
Very disappointing for Dublin. Looked pretty good in the first quarter, pity about the two missed goal chances. Cahill had hard luck, but Flynn's was a terrible effort. The penalty (very poor decision by the ref IMO) got Galway going and after that they were by a distance the better team.
Whelan was easily Dublin's best player, the rest of them played largley as if they'd never seen each other before.
QuoteWe're putting all our eggs into the championship basket once again. I would have liked a good league run to build momentum.
I'm pretty sure the management picked what they think is the strongest team available for both games. The intention was to have a good league run. Its not like we've better players on the bench who are being rotated to give other lads a chance to stake their claim.
At the moment our team is: Cluxton - Cahill - Whelan - Brogan - Keaney. Alan Brogan to come in and then somehow we've to fill 9 gaps!!
I don't agree Hound. Why isn't Stephen O Shaughnessy starting? Why isn't Shane starting? Why not play Paddy Andrews up front?Can't believe Cahill couldn't see Flynn on his inside, couldn't have missed had he squared it. I don't think we've any interest in the league, certainly from the reports I'm hearing we don't .Wrong Aproach in my view. We made Galway look like allstars yesterday. Galway have an awful lot of ability and natural ball players but they are not in Kerry or Tyrone's league yet. They may will be in the next 2 years . But we were hammered out the gate yesterday. Pat O Neill never had a laissez faire attitude to the league, those days we used to get to league finals regularly.
Wouldn't be too worried about Tyrone (which is not the same thing as saying we'll beat them). Kerry are Galway's big bogey team and will be the team to beat again this year, I don't think we're yet equipped to do so. The Tyrone clash under lights in a couple of weeks time will be one to look forward to. Not too worried either about the Provincial title either, only that to lose it may hinder momentum. The 1/4 finals have long being Galway's provincial final, a win here is a minimum this year. Yesterday was a good result for Sammon, set against how poor the Dubs were. A number of players are now starting to nail down places incl. Bane (much criticised by me in the past) and Paul Conroy; Gary O'Donnell must be very bad when he made the maligned Fiachra look good when he came on!! Midfield still needs a bit of work as Joe can be very loose in his use and distribution of the ball. Backs starting to settle and Bradshaw was very good yesterday. As for Dublin, Gilroy knows that he has a lot to do. Only Whelan looked well up for it and he's not getting any younger now. Shane Ryan is grossly unfit; Sherlock is surely finished. The backs were very slack and didn't seem to know who they had to pick up.
Oh yeah, first time I've seen Galway beat Dublin in a competitive match - if you live long enough you'll see evverything.
QuoteOh yeah, first time I've seen Galway beat Dublin in a competitive match - if you live long enough you'll see evverything.
God I hope so... that's what keeps us Mayo fans going :D
Quote from: Hound on February 16, 2009, 07:16:33 AM
Very disappointing for Dublin. Looked pretty good in the first quarter, pity about the two missed goal chances. Cahill had hard luck, but Flynn's was a terrible effort. The penalty (very poor decision by the ref IMO) got Galway going and after that they were by a distance the better team.
Whelan was easily Dublin's best player, the rest of them played largley as if they'd never seen each other before.
QuoteWe're putting all our eggs into the championship basket once again. I would have liked a good league run to build momentum.
I'm pretty sure the management picked what they think is the strongest team available for both games. The intention was to have a good league run. Its not like we've better players on the bench who are being rotated to give other lads a chance to stake their claim.
At the moment our team is: Cluxton - Cahill - Whelan - Brogan - Keaney. Alan Brogan to come in and then somehow we've to fill 9 gaps!!
Hound you're right about the two goal chances - Cahill's was well saved, even though some reports said it hit the bar. Flynn's effort was poor but, on the same token, Gareth Bradshaw did the same at the other end - shot right down the keepers throat. The penalty looked outside the area from my view (opposite the stand) but that Conroy got so close to goal after winning the ball in the corner with two Dubs on him is a poor reflection on the defending. Bastick was one and I think Andrews was the other. I'd agree with the team you have there except for Keaney, he's way to inconsistent.
Quote from: mouview on February 16, 2009, 12:39:32 PM
Wouldn't be too worried about Tyrone (which is not the same thing as saying we'll beat them). Kerry are Galway's big bogey team and will be the team to beat again this year, I don't think we're yet equipped to do so. The Tyrone clash under lights in a couple of weeks time will be one to look forward to. Not too worried either about the Provincial title either, only that to lose it may hinder momentum. The 1/4 finals have long being Galway's provincial final, a win here is a minimum this year.
Mouview ye have serious potential and are one of the few teams capable of challenging Tyrone and Kerry. However, while Sammon's open football philosophy is a joy to watch and great for the game in ways, from yer own selfish point of view I was amazed how advanced the midfield and the half-backs were at times in the second half when comfortably in front. Often it was just two Dublin inside men against two Galway defenders and massive open country in front. Other teams may take advantage more so than Dublin. With the greatest respect is Sammon a bit to pure a footballing man?
Ya, I prefer defenders to defend as much as possible. Not too worried about 'pure' football to be honest, it won us 2 AIs fairly recently! Seriously, if a team is good enough it will win, regardless of its method of play. To repeat, we have to beat Kerry; Galway don't have the same fear of Tyrone, even though they have a good c'ship record against us, as the boys from down south.
Quote from: INDIANA on February 16, 2009, 12:00:47 PM
I don't agree Hound. Why isn't Stephen O Shaughnessy starting? Why isn't Shane starting? Why not play Paddy Andrews up front?Can't believe Cahill couldn't see Flynn on his inside, couldn't have missed had he squared it. I don't think we've any interest in the league, certainly from the reports I'm hearing we don't .Wrong Aproach in my view. We made Galway look like allstars yesterday. Galway have an awful lot of ability and natural ball players but they are not in Kerry or Tyrone's league yet. They may will be in the next 2 years . But we were hammered out the gate yesterday. Pat O Neill never had a laissez faire attitude to the league, those days we used to get to league finals regularly.
Well I don't think we're any different from Galway, Tyrone, Kerry etc in our approach. A bit of experimentation in the line-up perhaps, but go out to win the game if at all possible.
Shocko: I can only assume the mgt team rate Hubbard and even Murray ahead of him. But I presume he'll get a start shortly.
Shane: Certainly hasnt done himself justice in either of his two substitute appearances - not that Flynn or McConnell have done anything either.
Pat O'Neill was a long way from a perfect manager and made plenty of mistakes before he finally got over the line, with in my opinion, a superior group of players. Easier to get into the NFL knockout stages in them days too.
Bit of pressure on now. Lose away to Donegal and we're staring relegation in the face, which nobody will want.
I think its fair to say Pat O'Neill had a fair better squad of players than the current crop.
But they took every game seriously and used the league as a springboard. I know for a fact under Pillar Dublin didn't and I doubt its any different this year certainly from what i've been told. Dublin have been in the last 4, 3 times in the last 4 years. Not a huge difference in my view. But O Neill's squad had mentally stronger players. We've no hope of beating Kerry or Tyrone this year. Absolutely none. We're falling further behind every year. I can't see how losing matches builds momentum. We need to win games in the league not be relegated. Its 2 from Donegal/Dublin/mayo and westmeath.
QuoteThe 1/4 finals have long being Galway's provincial final, a win here is a minimum this year.
A pity then that ye have only been in 4 "provincial finals" in the last 9 years and lost all :-*
Quote from: Barney on February 16, 2009, 03:42:47 PM
QuoteThe 1/4 finals have long being Galway's provincial final, a win here is a minimum this year.
A pity then that ye have only been in 4 "provincial finals" in the last 9 years and lost all :-*
Agreed. Must do better.
Well that's the end of that hoodoo, was a great feeling to see the team clapped off at half time knowing that there was no way back for Dublin in the game.
Unfortunately after the initial delight with the win, the Galway performance has to be framed against the lack of quality of the Dublin team on the day, still you can only play what's in front of you and Galway did play some great stuff at times yesterday. The main bonus to take is that if we beat Donegal and Mayo in the remaining home games I think we will probably be safe in Division 1.
Dublin started very well and could have had a couple of goals in the first 10 minutes but after that there was only one team in it. Even in the second half when they got 6 points in a row, Galway should have had a few more goals (easy points at least) from great positions but the final pass wasn't there and also Meehan had an off day with the frees, missing (I think) 4 frees that - one 50 metre effort in the 1st half aside - he would have on most days put over.
As regards to the Galway players, firstly Hanley was much better than the Westmeath game, although quite what Dublin thought they would get out of kicking high ball into Sherlock (who was taken off at half time) while he was being marked by a way bigger and taller man I can't fathom. After getting badly done for Dublin's 1st score, Declan Meehan played alright, don't think he is a man for the first 15 anymore but will be needed from the bench at some stage. Blake and Mullaghy were solid in the half backs and Bradshaw again added to his burgeoning reputation with a great display, this lad is going to be a really important player for Galway the way he is shaping up.
Bergin was ok at midfield but I don't think he got the support he needed in this area at times. O'Donnell didn't do much while on the pitch and was called ashore very quickly. Lydon worked hard without really dominating the middle, to be fair Whelan was playing well here at stages for the Dubs.
Armstrong has his best game in a Galway jersey for a long time, although he took his scores very well I was more impressed with his overall play (aside from the opening 10 when he was marked absent while Cahill was charging up the field) including winning 2 or 3 high balls over his head under pressure, always good to see. Bane got 4 points including a super kick from outside the 45 in the 1st half, whatever about his contribution in terms of breaking ball he will always kick the scores if he gets into the position. Joyce was class as usual aside from some loose passes from over ambitious kicks when the game was over in the 2nd half, he ran the game for Galway and there's little left to be said about this legend.
Meehan had a solid performance, great peno and got a beaut of a point from play straight after, not his usual self on the frees. Conroy had a good game in open play with a super point to stop the run of Dublin points in the 2nd half.
Wasn't that impressed with the Clare referee Rory Hickey, Dublin will be aggrieved at the penalty decision (it was soft) but to say that it was the turning point would be wrong. Aside from a couple of decent Brogan efforts and the odd bit of inspiration from Whelan - who was easily the Dubs best player, most Dublin scores came from a few soft frees the ref gave them in the 2nd half, and generally after Galway loosing possession through misplaced passes while in positions to score at least a point if not a few more majors.
Again delighted to give the jacks a hiding, but Dublin were very poor yesterday and I feel that the Galway performance has to be viewed in this context.
Quote from: Barney on February 16, 2009, 08:20:52 AM
QuoteSammon's Galway are shoo-ins for Connacht I think and I'm not stiring!
Sniper it sickens me to agree with you but none of the other teams in Connacht are anywhere close to the Tribesmen.
They have put in 5 years of hard patient work to get to where they are today. In my opinion the All Ireland is between Kerry, Tyrone and Galway.
Barney from looking over at the threads on the 2 Mayo matches so far it's either the the end of the world for Mayo football or the first step on the road to glory - as per the usual with ye lads! No more than any other year, if Galway and Mayo meet it'll be close regardless of form, we'll hardly beat ye 3 years in a row in the championship?! ;)
Quote from: SLIGONIAN on February 16, 2009, 10:48:44 AM
Quote from: thejuice on February 16, 2009, 10:35:17 AM
Have to say Galway looked impressive yesterday. Joyce is still as good as ever. Think they're favourites for Connacht but its never that clear cut, you know Mayo wont make it easy for them.
Galway play us first in Markievicz, With a Galway man Kevin Walsh in charge and us in alot better shape than last yr I dont think were just going to roll over for them but no doubt theyre good. Just dont right us completely off, id say we will turn up for starters, I know Galway will be favourites and rightly so in all seriousness.
I watched them online yday and they looked sharp but the dubs werent great.
Aside from Kerry - who we owe a beating in the worst way at this stage, the next side I want to see Galway give a good hiding to in the championship is Sligo. I doubt anyone in the county has forgotten the 2007 Connacht final, although to be fair Sligo look to have improved a lot from the shambles they were last year(and with a Galwayman at the helm why wouldn't ye!).
I go away for a few days and I miss the footballers hammering Dublin and the Dubs humbling our hurlers. Have I arrived back in some parallel universe? ;D