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. ;)
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
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).
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
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"
Pangur, canalman etc... keep it coming, thick and fast.
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?
Paddy power doesnt think so, 5-1 for a Sligo win.
That's it settled so. We'll stay at home and play a round of the club championship instead.
Yeah - you'd think Sligo was the only team left in it that had lost a quarter-final before.
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...
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 ? ::)
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...
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.
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.
Quote from: paddypastit on 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.
? Sorry boss i wasn't talking to you ?
No worries - sligeach, the trouble with speed reading a thread!! In reference to Mike's commenets, I wish all our scoring woes were the few frees... and as for Paddy P, I've greatfully accepted his generous offer for Sligo's chances, using his own money from earlier in the year ,and a combinatuion of surprise results would make for further gains again
Cork should win this one handily enough you would think but Sligo put the fear of God into Armagh in 02 and bate Tyrone that year when not given a chance so who knows. I hope Sligo beat Cork but i fear they will go down by 5 points. prediction. Cork 2-13 Sligo 1-10.
id fear for sligo, we now know that the connacht c\ship was a poor campaign this year and galway peaked for mayo and that was the end of them, struggled past leitrim and could have sneaked it on sligo. Galway are very poor and are not a good team at all. Sligo have to keep it tight early on and take it from there, they dont have enough firepower to trouble the scoreboard and i can see cork running out 6-8 point winners
I think its a difficult draw for us-Meath and Cork were teams i was hoing to avoid. Cork were rusty against Louth but now have a game under their belt since defeat in Munster. They will also benfit from the 2 week break since their last game. They seem to have a balanced side and have a set of forwards who can all score.
We are strong in defence and midfield and will give Cork very little space. However our problems are in the forwards-we need Davey, Egan, Curran to contribute a few scores from play to take some of the pressure off Brehony. Also Kelly needs to take some responsibility and have a few shots at goal. He is a prolific scorer at club level so he is well able to do it.
Furthmore i think Sweeney has to start he has scored more than some of the starting forwards with very limited time.
Quote from: Mano on July 31, 2007, 02:15:16 PM
Furthmore i think Sweeney has to start he has scored more than some of the starting forwards with very limited time.
I think most people are of the opinion that Sweeney should start on Saturday. He's a strange fish though, he seems to perform better coming on as a sub rather than starting.
QuoteI think most people are of the opinion that Sweeney should start on Saturday. He's a strange fish though, he seems to perform better coming on as a sub rather than starting.
From what I hear there's no way in the world I'd start him and Baoithe has touched on the reason why. Would get him on as early as possible in the second half. Makes things a little messy but I guess management is about getting the best out of the resources at your disposal.
Would say the same team will start. I'd be very tempted to find a spot for Doohan but it would be harsh to drop any of the outfield players at this stage. Think Kelly will do quite well for us and we will need him too. Don't know who we should put in on Canty. If Davey got it into his head to tear into him and really go for it he'd be the man. Not saying he'd overpower Canty but he'd get enough possession and cause enough trouble for our ends.
Any word on a team or will it be as was with changes made on the day if any? Any injury worries.
Here's the team (taken from sligogaa.ie):
1. Phillip Greene
2. Charlie Harrison
3. Noel McGuire (capt)
4. Ross Donavan
5. Paul McGovern
6. Michael McNamara
7. Jonathan Davey
8. Eamon O'Hara
9. Kieran Quinn
10. Brian Curran
11. Mark Breheny
12. Brendan Egan
13. David Kelly
14. Sean Davey
15. John McPartland
Cork team:
CORK (SFC v Sligo):
A. Quirke;
M. Shields, G. Canty, K. O'Connor;
N. O'Leary, G. Spillane, A. Lynch;
D. Kavanagh, N. Murphy;
J. Miskella, P. O'Neill, K. McMahon;
J. Masters, M. Cussen, D. O'Connor.
Sligo team unchanged and as expected. There's a great buzz around the county. Roll on Saturday.
Team unchanged as expected. For Cork O'Leary is back which is significant-excellent player who can do damage going forward if given the opportunity-he scored 3 points against us last time in Portlaoise. He is prone to committing rash challenges which may yield us a few frees.
It will be interesting to see who kicks the frees on the left hand side for us. It was reported in the Indo that Quinn might take them-can't see this happening myself. Seanie does he take the free kicks for Coolera?
O'Leary was good that day alright but he was being marked by Sean Davey who did not pick him u at all, Davey scored two points himself that day but left O'Leary totally free to do even more damage down the other end, I couldnt see him doing as much damage if Curran or Egan are picking him up...
Quirke is also a great man to have coming back in...
QuoteIt will be interesting to see who kicks the frees on the left hand side for us. It was reported in the Indo that Quinn might take them-can't see this happening myself. Seanie does he take the free kicks for Coolera?
Quinner is quite a good fretaker and from 40 yards in on the left hand side he is very accurate. Leave the longer ones to Jonny Davey. He has taken a lot of frees for the club (2002 county final hit a few beauts from his wrong side) and if you ask me he's our best freetaker. Johnny Mac has had the role for the club and tends to get first preference if he's playing and he's pretty good most days but I'd actually rate Quinner as better. Hitting them from the ground is a plus in my book. If he's on them he won't let us down.
Don't expect O'Leary to get the freedom of the park that he got the last day. On top of the 3 points he was involved in the move for Murphy's goal and caused havoc bringing the ball forward all day.
Hopefully Sligo can do it - would be great boost for connaught football. However I reckon Cork will win it by 3 or 4 points in the end. Then again i also thought Sligo would lose to us and Galway so that could be a good omen ;)
Really looking forward to Sligo game. I was delighted to draw Cork. I seen them last year against Donegal and kerry and were rubbish in both games in croker. In my opinion they dont like croker. They peaked in munster final and will be similliar to galway in my opinion. Absolutely no doubt that Sligo will win. I have the same gut feeling Ive had all year. I backed us at 5-1 to.Thanks PP being very generous to us this yr.
Look, the media, cork and most people have critised us dimissed us and expect us to lose and Ive heard all before our games this yr. I pray and believe the cork players will be complacent. Which delights me. Games are won on grass not on paper. Greece euro 2004 pool euro cup 2006...both won, both written off, both not the best team on paper. We can go all the way. Stranger things have happened.
In tommy we trust, he brought me the nestor cup, if he backs quinn to take the frees then Im 100% behind it. ;)
Sligeach abu.
QuoteAbsolutely no doubt that Sligo will win.
Look, I'm delighted Sligo won Connacht and I'll be cheering for ye on Saturday, but don't come out with shite like the quote above ::)
I think you're in with a very good shout, and I wouldn't be surprised if ye do win, but try and remain at least slightly balanced!
It's not often a Mayo man gets to tell others to keep their feet on the ground :D
Sligo team was as expected. Big boost for Cork with the return of Quirke who looked a superb goalie in the compromise rules. Sligo seem to have prepared very well with balance spot on between celebration and preparation. There is no doubt that Sligo are not basking in the glory of Connaught Championship and there'll be no one waving to their friends in the crowd this time. The fact is, that at the end of the year, only 2 teams will look back on 2007 as been a success and that will be Sligo and the All Ireland Champions, and that makes Sligo even more dangerous now. Cork are a big physical team and i worry slightly that particuliarily around midfield N Murphy , P O neill and D Kavanagh could blow us out of the water. K Quinn has had a superb championship but Saturday he is up against a higher calibre of midfielder than he met previously and as our main ball winner he needs to rise to that challenge. Our backs need to be as good as they have been all year and the open spaces of Croke Park should suit them. Whether our forwards aided by some scores from midfield /backs can come up with a matchwinning score is the major question mark. Egan wouldn't score alot so we need Davey, Mc Partland , Curran or Kelly to greatly help Mark Brehony in the scoring stakes.
If Cork win alot of primary ball around midfield and dictate the pace of the game , I expect them to win however in a fast open game where we break even around midfield I think we will win.
Quote from: Tubberman on August 02, 2007, 03:22:19 PM
QuoteAbsolutely no doubt that Sligo will win.
Look, I'm delighted Sligo won Connacht and I'll be cheering for ye on Saturday, but don't come out with shite like the quote above ::)
I think you're in with a very good shout, and I wouldn't be surprised if ye do win, but try and remain at least slightly balanced!
It's not often a Mayo man gets to tell others to keep their feet on the ground :D
I said the exact same quote before the Galway game. Why would i bother going if I had any doubt we'd win. Its just undeniable belief in this team. We played poor in connaght and we still won it. I expect us to play better on Saturday. I know im guarnteed hunger fight spirit agression heart determination and some quality which I feel Cork wont have the belly for. There complacent too.
As a mayoman can I ask you this If we won the All Ireland would you be happy for us? I couldnt careless whether you think we will win or not. Just answer the question.
QuoteAs a mayoman can I ask you this If we won the All Ireland would you be happy for us? I couldnt careless whether you think we will win or not. Just answer the question.
Of course I would! It would be great for Connacht football. I'd be envious naturally, as we have been so close in the past and in all honesty have had better teams that this Sligo team.
QuoteWhy would i bother going if I had any doubt we'd win.
Strange statement. You've been completely convinced that Sligo would win every match you've ever attended? I've been to an awful lot of Mayo matches but I don't think I've travelled travelled to Croke park absolutely certain we would win.
Anyway, I'm not looking to start a big debate - enjoy the day in Croker. Although it will prob be a bit boring since you already know who's going to win :P ;)
Quote from: SLIGONIAN on August 02, 2007, 03:17:10 PMReally looking forward to Sligo game. I was delighted to draw Cork. I seen them last year against Donegal and kerry and were rubbish in both games in croker. In my opinion they dont like croker. They peaked in munster final and will be similliar to galway in my opinion. Absolutely no doubt that Sligo will win.
I'd have agreed with u if they hadn't already been complacent against Louth, the chance of that happening twice in a row is slim. Still though yous have a great chance, must be putting away the frees this time...
QuoteI know im guarnteed hunger fight spirit agression heart determination and some quality which I feel Cork wont have the belly for. There complacent too.
I would not rely on Cork compalcency or they not having the belly for the fight. They have plenty of players who are well able to scrap and the Louth game will have eliminated any complacency. Having said that I think Sligo have every chance as this Cork team is still unbalanced and unlikely to put up a big score regardless of the amount of possession they have. The half forward line is a defensive unit and unlikely to supply Cussen with any decent ball. Morgan is still trying to win an AI with the same players and same system that has failed over the past 3 years and I see no reason that things will change this year. I cannot understand why he does not play natural forwards like Goold and Goulding. If Sligo play with the same passion as in Connacht and take their chances then I have a feeling they will win - maybe 1-12 to 0-13. Hope all the Sligo fans and especially those that contribute here enjoy the day.
The nerves are beginning to set in now!
Will be rooting for Sligo tomorrow, enjoy the day in Croker Seanie and all the other Sligo lads, my brother in law in NY is hoping to see it if he gets out of work on time, he has had the Sligo jersey on him all week at work!!
Tatler - I remember you tipping us for Connacht before the off and am heartened by your analysis for tomorrow. Its much how I see it myself. Don't mind Sligonian, he gets a bit excited by times. We have huge respect for Cork and remember from 2 years ago what they can do to you if they get on top. Hitting the road at 8am tomorrow morning. Can't wait!
i think sligo will do cork over the same way they did tyrone over in 2002. cork usually struggle when they are favourites and remember if fermanagh can beat cork in croke park then why cant sligo?
Sligo will have a lot of support. I am sure they will bring a lot of supporters as it is their biggest game in many years, Cork may struggle for a large attendance due to the hurling game the next day and the majority of neutrals will want to see sligo win due to them being underdogs. I personally will be cheering for them as the excitment builds for the tyrone game. Good luck.
Weather forecast is looking sh*te: www.met.ie
Dublin FORECAST FOR TOMOROW: Outbreaks of rain developing, especially towards evening. Occasional bright interludes. Mild and humid. Not that bad.
Cant wait for the game. Not getting much work done thinking about it. Im not nervous just excited.
Seanie - I do get excited and sometimes carried away alright, its an emotional sport. The highs are really high but the lows are really low.
Best of luck to Sliggy tomorrow. Do Connacht proud lads.
A Donnie, at heart, but headed to Paddy Rooney's Pub in Havertown to see if Sligo can come up with a free taker. My buddy from Gurteen is a nervous wreck. Most of the ching here in Philly going on Cork.....but I don't think so.
Why was there a delay?
CK 1-2
SO 0-1
24 mins gone. Very poor match so far.
Quote from: FL/MAYO on August 04, 2007, 02:53:25 PM
Why was there a delay?
Tommy Murphy final went to extra time. Sligo are going sideways. They're taking far too much out of the ball.
this is brutal football altogether!!
CK 1-3
S0 0-1
31 mins. Awful match.
O'Hara not in it at all...Sligo forward line holding on to the ball to long and letting Cork get back.
no sligo forwards breaking the gain-line because they are all in their own half!
the talk of cork as being all-irelands contenders really is hilarious - cannon-fodder for tyrone or meath.
the toomy murphy final was better than this shite.
Ya I agree, its hard to score when you have 14 players back in your own half.
Shockingly poor and hard to watch. Sligo have absolutely no concept of support play and no direction. Cork also very poor. In my opinion, these are the two weakest teams in the last 8. Lets hope for a better second half.
Oh, and how many Cork people are at the game? From the sound of it, about 20!
Quote from: Maguire01 on August 04, 2007, 03:21:22 PM
Shockingly poor and hard to watch. Sligo have absolutely no concept of support play and no direction. Cork also very poor. In my opinion, these are the two weakest teams in the last 8. Lets hope for a better second half.
Oh, and how many Cork people are at the game? From the sound of it, about 20!
I was speaking to a Cork man about the poor support the county footballers get at big games and he told me 'sure Cork is a hurling county'. I always thought there was a big football following in Cork especially in the west of the county.
Quote from: FermPundit on August 04, 2007, 03:27:12 PM
Quote from: Maguire01 on August 04, 2007, 03:21:22 PM
Shockingly poor and hard to watch. Sligo have absolutely no concept of support play and no direction. Cork also very poor. In my opinion, these are the two weakest teams in the last 8. Lets hope for a better second half.
Oh, and how many Cork people are at the game? From the sound of it, about 20!
I was speaking to a Cork man about the poor support the county footballers get at big games and he told me 'sure Cork is a hurling county'. I always thought there was a big football following in Cork especially in the west of the county.
There's plenty of football support in Cork - look at the Munster Final. They just can't be bothered going to a quarter final against Sligo.
1-03 cork 0-02 sligo second half starting
1-04 0-02
1-05 0-02
this could a non contest in the second half!!
1-06 0-02 4 minutes into second half..brutal game
is the performance of Sligo today, current connacht champions reflective of the standard of football in connacht this year?
1-06 0-03
1-07 0-03 Masters fisted point
1-07 0-04 O'Hara
1-07 0-05 putting up a bit of fight
1-07 0-06 Breheny
1-08 0-06
1-09 0-06 Masters free
1-09 0-07
9 minutes left
Worst game ever
sligo need a goal 5 minutes left
1-10 0-07 McCarthy
2 minutes added ..jaysus will you blow it up
Feel like causing self harm after watchin that. Sligo are brutal and Cork not much better
1-11 0-07
What a bore :( Worst game of football i have seen all year
Tommy Murphy Cup Final was ten times better in quality and excitement and i lost my accumulater bet as i had Sligo in the Handicapp at +5
Final Score Cork 1-11 Sligo 0-08
bad minor game hopefully senior game is better :P
worst game all year,,,, sligo are shite... cork are shite...
Sligo were very poor. Seemed to be no gameplan, or rather a one man forward line that didnt work. Seemed like with 10 minutes even left, sligo players (big name players) had given up the ghost.
cork all ireland contenders?????..everybody wake up.. any county left in the championship would and will hammer cork
Cork might actually be hard to beat, but not neccessarily a huge threat on the attacking front. You can really only play what is in front of you, and at times, poor quality games result from the quality of one team. The cork backs today were superb, their constant support runs and tyrone-esque defensive play was impressive enough, regardless of the opposition. The midfield will hold their own against a number of teams left, and I for one wouldnt write them off just yet.
Cork won't give a damn about what is written here, they simply played down to an opponent that was probably the weakest quarter finalist in a decade.
Cork will give any team trouble, they have had two poor showings in a row yet are in the AISF and they will improve.
As for Sligo, fair play to them as they managed to win Connaught and that was priority number one for them the year, they may be back looking for bigger fish to fry in the years ahead.
Hard luck Sligo.Just not good enough, kind of, the wides and shots dropped short were junior level type stuff.Class is never replicated by hard work, wides from scoring positions are hard to live with especially if you are a back the busts your ass to defend and set up tap over scores.
Heroes for a worthless connaught title are still heroes and still deserve applause and I hope they find 1 or 2 new lads to drive them over the bar.
Memo to mannix, there is no such thing as a worthless provincial title. They might have won it in a soft year but they won it none the less and it is by no means devalued in any way. Sligo are Connaught Champions and rightly so. They will be all the better for the experience gained this year and the panel will be hungry to forget today and the best way to do that is to get right back in the saddle next year and improve upon what they have built.
I could only get to see half this game but thank God for that. What an awful match!
PROVINCIAL CHAMPIONSHIP.
Sligo were indeed worthy champions and i would not take it away from them, however they were dog poor in the easy stuff today, they won ball they had no chance of winning and slowed cork down but the shooting was unreal.
Hard luck sligo, its over for this year.
Well what all can one say.
As most of the Sligo posters on here acknowledged as a genuine concern, the shortcomings in our forward play, or lack of it were brutally exposed today. Hard to watch for sure but I'd say that the Fermanagh display in the '03 QF was infinitely worse and the Cork Mayo QF in '02 is still firmly lodged in my mind as the worst ever. Sligo for all their shortcomings did not stop fighting as one poster suggested and, as they always have, they were brave to win ball like few are. Greene in goal did all he could, the FB was superb, McNamara at CHB broke even and maybe more but thought our wing backs were poor defensively although J Davey was great going forward - unbelievable in fact, but first things first and they were on the back foot most of the time. We were well beaten in MF and I don't believe O'Hara was fit enough to play there. Curran and Egan fairly put themselves about (understatement!!) but did little with the ball. Breheny, McPartland and Davey were very disappointing really and Kelly did OK when you consider the poor ball that he got.
All that said 2007 has been a great year for Sligo and each of the players and the management team at different times have been star turns. The hope now is that we can build on both the achievement and the enthusiasm that it has provided. Thanks a lot lads and enjoy the well earned celebrations.
Cork too were poor and it is hard to take them seriously as AI contenders on the foot of the last two displays. That said this afternoon's game is probably about as physically aggressive as they could expect to face - in truth I thought McEnaney was very lenient on the late tackles. The regard for their claim comes from their being so close to Kerry but we have no other measure for Kerry so next Sunday will tell a lot. Perhaps a game against a team that is less smothering than Sligo will offer them a greater chance to impress?
QuotePerhaps a game against a team that is less smothering than Sligo will offer them a greater chance to impress?
Meath have a number of useful forwards who can take a point and will certainly score better against Cork than Sligo, so Cork will need to make more impression at the other end.
I was literally gobsmacked at Sligos tactics in the first half. They defied belief. I actually felt sorry for the poor little corner forward who was left in there all alone to fend for himself. I thought a lot of the other forwards hid. Not "went missing", "HID". No effort made to support attacks. Going sideways instead of trying to inject some pace into a movement. They let themselves down bigtime.
This match has got to be up there with one of the worst quarter-finals of all time.
Tough for Sligo. They battled to the end but were beaten by what looks like a very ordinary Cork team. Cork were really there for the taking but Sligo just lacked that real bit of quality and class.
I'm completely baffled as to why Sligo persisted with their short handpassing routine and one or two man full forward line. It's grand when a game is in the balance but when you are 5 or 6 points down you need to commit more men forward. They persisted with men behind the ball unfortunately. Hard to complain with a provincial title for Sligo but their style of football is just far too negative.
A great year for the Yeats men though but the big two in Connacht have a knack for being able to regenerate themselves fairly quickly so next year is another matter.
Sligo gave it everything though and deserve every bit of their success this year.
Cork will defo improve for the semi. It'll be a tight game and depend on which forward line is most clinical. I'd slightly fancy Meath.
Cork's half back line is immense.
I'm sorry to say Sligo were a shambles. The off the ball running of their forwards was the worst I've ever seen from an intercounty team (first half in particular). Nobody showed for the ball, nobody seemed to want it. It was extraordinary how many times a Sligo man had the ball, and had no idea what to do with it, and had no options. They looked like they'd no footballers. But I'm sure it wasnt a true relflection of them.
Very negative tactics from the Sligo team. Playing 12 men behind the ball-then when we got a counter attack the half forwards & midfield were too deep to support the forwards who had enough problems without a lack of support. Where was the belief that was coming from the camp over last few weeks. We seemed to be content with keeping Cork's score down.
The half backs were playing higher up the field than the forwards but on a few occassions when a shot was on they pass the ball to a player in a worse position. We are seriously in need of a few new players in forwards and a few of our existing need to be taught how to run into space and shoot at the goals. Kelly while one of our better players (despite the dreadful ball he was receiving) needs to hit the gym and develop a dummy in his game as speed alone will not get him past his man. Everytime he seems to try to beat his man and then stop and turn back. Curran while a wonderful grafter is not a forward. Why did he bounce ball prior to his goal attempt-he was too close to keeper when he shot anf McPartland screaming for ball inside him for a simple tap in goal. Egan also while impressive foraging deep and carrying the ball didn't threaten the scoreboard.
Overall i suppose we are Connaught champions so we have to be grateful to the players, management etc for that but we could have got much more if we employed more positive tactics as Cork were there for the taking
Quote from: INDIANA on August 04, 2007, 03:12:34 PM
no sligo forwards breaking the gain-line because they are all in their own half!
Now I think I know who you are!
Not that most celebrated of philosophers himself? ;)
The very man.
Had a more than passing interest in a few of the Mayo threads too if memory serves...