May as well get the ball rolling on this one.......4pm start to this one next Sunday. Extra couple of hours in the pub pre-match me thinks :)
What's the feeling on this one amongst the Rossies? Ye will no doubt tear into us but not sure if Ros have the firepower to win this one......I think they will get enough ball into forward line through O'Neill but not sure if the inside forwards have enough to pull out a result. Is Ger Heneghan fit for match? Last I heard he was carrying an injury.
Hows Michael Ryan getting on up there?
Expect Ros to be all huff and puff, and probably bluff for the first 15-20 mins, and then Galway to pull away and win by the guts of 10 points.
I hope the ref blows it up early to save the nudists blushes.
Gaillimh by 9.
Just read Padraig Joyce's column there in The Galway Voice and apparently Killererin's Tom Hughes and Conor Healy of Salthill have been drafted into the panel. Glad to see Tom get a twist at this level.....he's not the most mobile but a reliable midfielder all the same. Time will tell if he's of intercounty standard. Not a clue of what Healy is like to be honest but Sammon is up on his doorstep so he will surely know if he has something to offer. Niall Coyne struggling with injury but Diarmuid Blake is back so not a bad replacement even if he may not be fully match sharp yet. Nicky should get back in to the starting 15 again but Armstrong is definitely out with that fragile hamstring ::)
We have some nice options with Conroy, Bradshaw, Mark Lydon pushing for the start.....
Ye boys seem to have this one written off already.....we should win but dunno about the predicted gap of 9/10 points.
Galway to win, but it will be a tighter gap then 9 points. Mixer Ryan has a lot of experienced heads brought back into the panel that Maughan had fallen out with or dropped. John Whyte and David Casey will steady the ship in defense and I'm sure the players will be fired up after the totals balls the league turned out to be. Major point to prove too after Maughan's reign I'd expect Ros to be in it up to the last 20 minutes or so. But Galway have too much class and experience and this will show through in the end for them.
Its great to have them guys back but its questionable how match fit they are.
Mixer will do his best to lift team morale but giving the hammerings they suffered during the league confidence has to be brittle.
Should Galway settle early then we could be on the end of a drubbing.
There will be no other result other than a Galway victory. Margin depends on how quickly they get on top
Did I hear someone saying London beat Roscommon in a challenge match last weekend? Maybe they were on the wind up.
Hard to get too excited for this one. The Rossies were so poor in the league that even their own die-hards have written them off. Surely they will play better this weekend though and will raise some sort of gallop given it's championship but it's difficult to see anything other than a Galway win although I don't think it'll be as handy as some as the Rossies will surely be well up for it.
Quote from: magpie seanie on May 12, 2008, 03:18:43 PM
Did I hear someone saying London beat Roscommon in a challenge match last weekend? Maybe they were on the wind up.
Think that was against Ros juniors.
QuoteThere will be no other result other than a Galway victory. Margin depends on how quickly they get on top
That sums it up. No matter who has been brought back there is no way you can put together a team to challenge Galway in 3 weeks. Most of the returning players will not have played county football for a couple of years. If we get a decent first half and take whatverfew chaces we get then we might be within 10 points at the end - if Galway get off to a flyer then it could be nearer to the Armagh result.
Like Tatler said this game is too much too soon for our returning lads.
All we can hope for is a showing of defiance and pride and go home with colours flying and a bit of hope for the Qualifiers.
Unfortunately Galway by 6 or 8 points :'( :'( :'( :'(
A no-brainer, Galway will stroll it
Great to see Tom Hughes get the call up, hope it all goes well for him.Thought himself and Micheal Keane deserved a look after thre club championship so it'll be interesting to see how he gets on. Also congrats to Padraic on being awarded the captaincy again. Great achievement for both himself and the club.
Very quiet build up to this one. No great buzz about really. Realistically speaking we should win this by a good bit but who knows what will happen, the Rossies aren't coming for the day out I'm sure and will want to give a good account of themselves after their dismal league campaign. Heard Nicky is going to start and also that Damien Burke is carrying an injury and is a bit of a worry at the moment.
On a seperate note I'm seriously thinking about leaving Barney now and setting up camp outside Pearse Stadium to beat the Claregalway traffic on Sunday. Have a feeling it's going to be cat altogether. Which side of would most of the Roscommon crowd be coming from? (Directions aren't my strong point :-\)
Galways league form the past few years has been good followed by fairly poor championship displays, hopefully that will change this year but honestly I don't know if it will. Losses to Sligo and Westmeath (should have been beaten by Leitrim last year also) are not indicators of a team that has a chance to do well in the later stages of the championship. The players certainly seem to have taken to Sammon's training methods and coaching style, 1st year manager always seems to get a bit more out of players.
Roscommon are a real shambles so far this year; there's bound to be some kick from them for this match but really and truly if Galway have anything about them we should be looking to win by 7 or 8. If Galway scrape through this match expect the championship to follow a similar pattern to the last few years with another early exit.
Quote from: Duine Eile on May 12, 2008, 11:28:57 PM
Great to see Tom Hughes get the call up, hope it all goes well for him.Thought himself and Micheal Keane deserved a look after thre club championship so it'll be interesting to see how he gets on. Also congrats to Padraic on being awarded the captaincy again. Great achievement for both himself and the club.
Very quiet build up to this one. No great buzz about really. Realistically speaking we should win this by a good bit but who knows what will happen, the Rossies aren't coming for the day out I'm sure and will want to give a good account of themselves after their dismal league campaign. Heard Nicky is going to start and also that Damien Burke is carrying an injury and is a bit of a worry at the moment.
On a seperate note I'm seriously thinking about leaving Barney now and setting up camp outside Pearse Stadium to beat the Claregalway traffic on Sunday. Have a feeling it's going to be cat altogether. Which side of would most of the Roscommon crowd be coming from? (Directions aren't my strong point :-\)
How long have ye been together? ;D
Oh dear,cat's out of the bag now, how am I going to explain this to him indoors! :D Meant Barnaderg muppet, sorry for any confusion caused!
Looks like being a long drawn out Connacht championship. This thread has generated damn all spark either. I used to go to these matches in Connacht even though my own county not involved.. I was there in Tuam in 2001 when Ros mugged Galway first half and won comprehensively and we all know what happened later. I was in Mark. Park the day Cake kicked frees and penalties and stuff, and they were great days and there was lots of them, but I have nt bothered to look for tickets this year and neither have the lads that used to travel to these games with me. Not sure why not? It s not a deliberate thing and we re not doing anything else and its not tv coverage either. Choice would be I d rather go fishin than watch a match on tv but I would rather watch a junior club match than go fishin! Maybe its because apart from Galway it appears the rest are involved in recovery operations and have little to offer the All Ireland Championship as such. Never saw less ambition. Johnno has tried to lessen the hype around the Mayo team and the expectations of Mayo fans and he has succeeded admirably, fair play to him anyway. We have at least regained our proper position in the hierarchy - we re not in it. Never do I recall as damp a build up to a Connacht as this. Its awful disappointing to say the least because the championship seasons define our lives more than any other event does, or at least it does mine and the people I share this ward with. It s something we looked forwards for months but this year ..... At least there has been good hatches of mayfly and Sunday could see an eventful day on Lough Conn. Beats sweatin in the car tryin to get to Pearse Sd. for a match very few seem to be arsed about.
Quote from: moysider on May 13, 2008, 01:18:45 AM
I was in Mark. Park the day Cake kicked frees and penalties and stuff, and they were great days and there was lots of them, but I have nt bothered to look for tickets this year and neither have the lads that used to travel to these games with me. Not sure why not? It s not a deliberate thing and we re not doing anything else and its not tv coverage either. Choice would be I d rather go fishin than watch a match on tv but I would rather watch a junior club match than go fishin!
Moysider, Connacht was always a bleak old province but that's half the fun. Do you mean to say you didn't go to games in the mid 80s and early 90s when Connacht teams were always the whipping boys save for the odd semi-final when they'd beat an Ulster team in the provincial semi-final rotation - Galway '83, Mayo '89, etc. It's worth going to Salthill because Galway have some of the finest forwards that ever came out of Connacht. Ros are in the dolrums, but have stars of the future in Cathal Cregg, David O'Gara. Maybe Donnie Shine will make his championship debut - although I think he needs another couple of years. But Michael Ryan might play him to take the frees since Ger Heneghan was badly injured in the league. Game will be a lot closer than many expect.
QuoteOn a seperate note I'm seriously thinking about leaving Barney now and setting up camp outside Pearse Stadium to beat the Claregalway traffic on Sunday.
:-*
Quote from: Duine Eile on May 13, 2008, 12:21:48 AM
Oh dear,cat's out of the bag now, how am I going to explain this to him indoors! :D Meant Barnaderg muppet, sorry for any confusion caused!
Where's Barnaderg Duine Eile, I've only ever known it as Barney ;)
Id say the majority of the Rossie's will be coming up through Abbey and Turlough.......maybe try the back roads to Carnmore Cross to avoid Claregalway......still a bitch of a trek across the city though.
No worries with Ros traffic Galwegians, the travelling hordes of Rossies will be getting there early for the Junior game ;)
Oh dear, the annual moan about Pearse Stadium is starting again. Is there anybody really happy with the location of Galway's home ground? South Galway people maybe? PS, I think Liam Sammon has done a good job with Galway and at this moment in time ye would be my favourites for Connacht. Whether Galway can do anything else is another matter.
Quote from: Farrandeelin on May 13, 2008, 09:09:02 AM
Oh dear, the annual moan about Pearse Stadium is starting again. Is there anybody really happy with the location of Galway's home ground? South Galway people maybe? PS, I think Liam Sammon has done a good job with Galway and at this moment in time ye would be my favourites for Connacht. Whether Galway can do anything else is another matter.
The hurling supporters are ok with Pearse, the west board are ok with Pearse but no-one north of Claregalway likes the place......its a windtunnel with no atmosphere. I can say with a fair degree of certainty that if the redevelopment of Tuam is completed that Tuam Stadium would suit both the Rossies and Mayo fans much better too.......
Quote from: moysider on May 13, 2008, 01:18:45 AM
Looks like being a long drawn out Connacht championship. This thread has generated damn all spark either. I used to go to these matches in Connacht even though my own county not involved.. I was there in Tuam in 2001 when Ros mugged Galway first half and won comprehensively and we all know what happened later. I was in Mark. Park the day Cake kicked frees and penalties and stuff, and they were great days and there was lots of them, but I have nt bothered to look for tickets this year and neither have the lads that used to travel to these games with me. Not sure why not? It s not a deliberate thing and we re not doing anything else and its not tv coverage either. Choice would be I d rather go fishin than watch a match on tv but I would rather watch a junior club match than go fishin! Maybe its because apart from Galway it appears the rest are involved in recovery operations and have little to offer the All Ireland Championship as such. Never saw less ambition. Johnno has tried to lessen the hype around the Mayo team and the expectations of Mayo fans and he has succeeded admirably, fair play to him anyway. We have at least regained our proper position in the hierarchy - we re not in it. Never do I recall as damp a build up to a Connacht as this. Its awful disappointing to say the least because the championship seasons define our lives more than any other event does, or at least it does mine and the people I share this ward with. It s something we looked forwards for months but this year ..... At least there has been good hatches of mayfly and Sunday could see an eventful day on Lough Conn. Beats sweatin in the car tryin to get to Pearse Sd. for a match very few seem to be arsed about.
I'd say this apathy is reflected by a good few. The back-door has killed the Provincial c'ships stone dead and the only way to put a bit of jizz back into the thing is either revert back to straight knockout or have a champions league type set-up. Either way, no-one round Galway is too pushed about Sunday either.
Galway team to be named tonight I think. Expect Bradshaw to be corner-back, Niall Coyne at no. 6 and Blake perhaps in midfield.
Quote from: moysider on May 13, 2008, 01:18:45 AM
Never do I recall as damp a build up to a Connacht as this. Its awful disappointing to say the least because the championship seasons define our lives more than any other event does, or at least it does mine and the people I share this ward with. It s something we looked forwards for months but this year .....
I think you could be being a little bit gloomy here Moysider. Mouview is right in mentioning the damage the back-door system has done, but I would contend that Galway v Roscommon has the potential to be one of the games of the season. In one corner you have the wounded Ross, one of the proudest counties, brought low by a certain amount of pleidhcíocht on their own part, but with a convenient visiting manager to blame it on. Mixer Ryan has been brought in return some pride in the jersey, the trait that has never left the sheepstealers even in their bleakest of years. Ryan's job is to restore that pride, and to send the Ross out from the dressing room like demons hot from Hell, and to wire it up to Galway in their own finest of traditions.
On the other hand we have Galway, the indolent aristocrats of the game, who consistently play below their means at Championship time (except when they see Green and Red, for some reason). Liam Sammon is one of their own at the helm, blood of equal parts blue and maroon. Galway have the style, but will they have the substance?
I'd love to go to the game - down to Galway on Saturday afternoon, a few summertime pints in Galway's Latin quarter, up early for the feed and the papers in that nice spot down from Murphy's on Quay Street on Sunday morning, followed by the leisurely stroll out to Salthill for the scene of battle. Only thing is, the venue. :( Hard to get into, hard to get out of. Bring football back to Tuam, its natural home. At least you can get away from there.
Provided nobody's robbed your motor of course. :P
Quote from: IolarCoisCuain on May 13, 2008, 10:30:59 AM
On the other hand we have Galway, the indolent aristocrats of the game, who consistently play below their means at Championship time (except when they see Green and Red, for some reason). Liam Sammon is one of their own at the helm, blood of equal parts blue and maroon. Galway have the style, but will they have the substance?
I'd love to go to the game - down to Galway on Saturday afternoon, a few summertime pints in Galway's Latin quarter, up early for the feed and the papers in that nice spot down from Murphy's on Quay Street on Sunday morning, followed by the leisurely stroll out to Salthill for the scene of battle. Only thing is, the venue. :( Hard to get into, hard to get out of. Bring football back to Tuam, its natural home. At least you can get away from there.
Provided nobody's robbed your motor of course. :P
Hmmm... indolent aristocrats indeed! It's no mystery why Galway have underperformed at c'ship level, the players simply aren't there. The 2 U-21 AI wins were in isolation, carried in the most part by the excellence of M Meehan. There haven't been too many occasions in this decade when Galway underperformed in the c'ship; the defeats to Westmeath and Meath (last year) were annoying but we weren't going to win Sam anyway; Kerry brought O'Mahony's reign to a logical end in the 2002 1/4 final when Ja, Mannion and Sean Og (and probably Mikey D also) ran out of time. The defeat by Donegal the following year, after a replay, was a downer as Tyrone accounted for our mortal enemies Kerry that year and might have opened the way for us a little. Equally, the defeat at the hands of an ordinary Cork team in 2005 was a balls (and Forde's first big failure). Galway were going ok that year but the decision to play an unfit Paul Clancy at CHB was a disaster and could be seen a mile off.
Hard alright to see anything other than a Galway victory and I think that is the way it will go in the end. In saying that, I hope we give a decent performance and restore some pride. Galway are a division 1 side and have too much class at the present time for us to compete but It will be interesting to see the Roscommon line-up and which players make the team.
Hopefully our lads give it a right good go and fight until the end. Roscommon never fear playing Galway and always give as good as they get, however I'm afraid the quality is not there this time to cause a major upset.
Galway team just announced by OTT:
1. Paul Doherty (Tuam Stars)
2. Ciaran Fitzgerald (Corofin)
3. Finian Hanley (Salthill-Knocknacarra)
4. Gareth Bradshaw (Maigh Cullin)
5. Decalan Meehan (Caltra)
6. Niall Coyne (Carna/An Caiseal)
7. Gary Sice (Corofin)
8. Mark Lydon (Maigh Cullin)
9. Barry Cullinane (Claregalway)
10. Damien Dunleavy (Killkerrin-Clonberne)
11. Padraig Joyce (Killererin)
12. Paul Conroy (St James)
13. Matthew Clancy (Oughterard)
14. Michael Meehan (Caltra)
15. Fiachra Breathnach (Naomh Anna Leitirmor)
Will be there too on Sunday, in time to beat the rush anyway, but will probably miss the early stages, and any actual contest with it I guess. :P Can imagine that things have improved for the Rossies, but it's probably too soon for any real impact, and it's the wrong team to face anyway. Galway should win by 6-10 points depending on their mood, if it's anything like last year's Connacht final though, then it could be troublesome.
And yes,the sooner they get these games back to Tuam the better.
Interesting team selection. No Darren Mullahy in the half back line, I'd have had him in before Deccie Meehan to be honest, is he injured or anything I wonder? He played so well in the league I thought he'd be a definite starter. Half forward line looks impressive. Thought Nicky or Sean Armstrong would get the nod ahead of Fiachra Breahnach though, don't rate him as an intercounty forward to be brutally honest. Young Conroy looked the real deal when he came on against Kerry and Damien Dunleavy had a great game that day too, hopefully they carry that form with them into the championship.
Wow! a few surprises in that Galway team. I dont think any of us Galway posters on here would have named that 15! Bradshaw is in as Burke is injured. Have to agree with DE, cant believe Mullahy is not starting and Breathnach has not shown to date that he is intercounty standard. A big day for Mark Lydon and especially 19 year old Paul Conroy, they seem to have the potential and hopefully this will be realised on Sunday. A surprise team, but with the form of Ros at the moment, Galway should be winning this a bit to spare.
Very tough on Darren Mullahy.....I guess this selection renders the league experiment with Deccie Meehan at wing forward a waste? I understand why Sammon went for Conroy and Dunleavy on the wings though.......he wants a bit more bulk and ball winning power in the wing forward positions to augment an untested pairing in midfield. I just think given that Mullahy's form was, in general, excellent during the league and Deccie hadnt the greatest league campaign, it should be Mullahy starting.
Good to see Bradshaw start.....rate him highly as a half back. Time will tell if he is sticky enough for the corner...... I'd say in a year or two, he will have the no 6 jersey on his back.
Sammon has a bit of a blind spot for Breathnach it seems....Armstrong is injured so he wasnt an option but even a half arsed Nicky has more football in him than Breathnach.
I hope Roscommon can put up a big performance on Sunday. Galway will have a decent run this year whatever happens I think, but Roscommon never fear the Maroon and White for some reason, so I'd love to see them sneaking out with a win. Nothing against Galway at all, I have good time for them too, but the hassle that the Roscommon fans had to put up with over the whole Maughan thing was out of order, and I'd love to see them having a great celebration on Sunday evening.
Proud men of Rooskey, Boyle and Dundonald.
Strokestown, and Frenchpark, Elphin, Castlerea
Tell them at old Ballyclare on the Shannon
Men of Roscommon are marching again.
It seems that he is willing to give Breathnach and Matthew Clancy their chance based on their league form, I would be concerned that the only scorers in the Galway team are Micheal Meehan and Padraic Joyce. If they are kept quiet, then where are the scores coming from?
It would be a shock if Roscommon won but they will be willing to put the recent past behind them and restore pride and I will say they will come close to Galway and it will be tight.
As said elsewhere the provincial championships have been overshadowed with the qualifiers, the aim for Galway this year is to get to Croke Park at quarter-final stages and look to win there, either by winning Connaught or through the qualifiers.
Ross might not fear Galway but over past few years I dont think they actually believed they could beat them.
There were beaten as soon as the draw was made for the 2001 quarter finals. When they were 6-1 up at HT in 06 I dont think they believed they would hold on and so its transpired (within 5mins of 2nd half starting!!).
On saying that when you see that Galway team on paper it doesnt look as formidable as it normally is.
No Bergin, Armstrong, Paul Clancy (is he injured or retired), Nicky Joyce, as well the older generation like Savage and Donnelan.
Players who have caused us all sorts of bother in the past.
We are hopeful of putting on a good show but we conceded an average of 21pts per game in the league... facts dont lie and would be shock of year if we surprise them
Ross team
Geoffery Claffey;
Paddy O Connor,
Antony McDermott,
Seanie McDermott [capt];
John Rogers,
Mark O Carroll,
David Hoey;
Seamie O Neill,
Karol Mannion;
Conor Devaney,
Gary Cox
Cathal Cregg;
Senan Kilbride,
Jonathan Dunning,
Ger Heneghan.
Subs:Subs:Mark Miley,David Keenan, Peter Domican, Adrian Murtagh,Stuart Daly,John Tiernan,Brian Higgins,Frankie Dolan,Michael Finneran, David O Gara, Derek Connellan,Enda Kenny,Donie Shine,Stephen Ormsby.
A whole new half back line!! To be honest I cant see that been the starting team come 4pm sunday.
Ros' are 7/1 with PP to win - great odds, especially considering the Galway FF line. Just what is Breathnach doing to be kept there?? And Matt, honest though he is, won't score enough in the long run to justify selection. Noghtmare scenario for Galway is that they will win with the aforementioned playing ok - thus they will be shown up when the going gets much tougher in the games ahead. No great fan of Nicky's but he and Armstrong (if ever fit) will have to start sooner or later - then we would have the makings of a hlf-decent forward unit. Lydon's inclusion is also noteworthy, as I said yesterday that I thought Blake would get the nod. Darren bit unlucky not to start but maybe there are doubts about his pace on the hard ground. Alan Burke must also be wondering will he ever get a chance again. At least we have some options on the bench now.
A bit surprised that David O'Gara didn't make the starting line up. I'd certainly have him in before Gary Cox.
O'Gara was one of our best performers in the league, despite being played out of position, and having to juggle U-21 commitments as well.
Now, when the championship starts, he's left on the bench :o
I'd start Donie Shine myself - deadly on free's. Think he could make a major difference up front. Cox needs to seriously improve from the leaugue if he is to keep his place. Dunning is another man that needs to stand up and do it on the big day. I see Mannion moving in to full forward at some stage. I would abandon the short passing game and go for fast direct balls into our forward line.
Really hope the rossies put up a good performance. Last few yrs theyve been in disarray and I just get the feeling they might push Galway close. My brain tells me it'll more than likely be a comfortable enough win for Galway but wouldnt completely write off ros. Dangerous animal when wounded.
O gara was outstanding against us in u21, and shine is top class free taker. They may still start. Rossies have plenty of free takers coming through, keep a eye out for Dara lennon in a few yrs.
Well seeing as Damien Burke has a knock you can understand why he's not in the team although I'm unsure about Gareth Bradshaw's abilities as a corner-back. He's played the vast majority of his young football career at centre-back or midfield and done very well there but corner-back is a lot different. Puzzled by Darren Mullahy's omission unless he also is injured. He was one of Galway's best players in the league.
Can understand why Conroy and Dunleavy are starting in the wing-forward berths as they add fetching ability to compliment the midfield which is where the big question marks are about this Galway team in the absence of Joe Bergin. Conroy and Dunleavy both played well against Kerry so you can see the logic there at least. Big Barry and Lydon given their chance in midfield. Cullinane we know can be a devastating fielder and even outfielded Dara O'Se a couple of times during the Kerry game but his footballing abilities are severely limited at ground level. I liked the look of Mark Lydon in the couple of matches I saw him play early on in the league before he went back to play for Moycullen. Seems an intelligent sort of player who is able to get forward, link-up and kick a score.
In the full-forward line it would have been tough to drop Mattie Clancy after having such a great league campaign but really I see no logical reason why Breathnach is starting ahead of Nicky Joyce. Breathnach works like a trojan but we need another natural scoring forward in there to take the burden off Meehan and PJ and while Nicky can be moody he is capable of brilliance and was Galway's best player last year by a mile. What's the story with Armstrong? Is he amongst the subs or are his fragile hammys still acting up?
I guess on the face of it that team would give Roscommon a better chance of competing seeing as there is no Joe Bergin, Damien Burke, Darren Mullahy, Nicky Joyce or Sean Armstrong there but we'll see how they go.
Good luck to Paul Conroy too. Minor captain last year and already on the senior team. I thought he would be the first to break through alright as he has size to go along with great footballing ability. Some of the others aren't physically ready yet. He kicked a great point against Kerry and I believe he kicked the equalising point near the end against Mayo up in Castlebar as well. Hope it goes well for him on Sunday.
Would love to see a competitive game to get the Connacht Championship off to a good start ( excluding NY/Leitrim ). Connacht was extremely competitive last year, I believed Sligo, Galway, Mayo and Leitrim could all probably have beaten each other on a given day. I'm not saying it was high-standard but it was certainly competitive and interesting. (Anyway the standard is a high as any other province, but thats another topic). I believed last year Roscommon were 'off the pace' and I believe they still are. I hope this doesn't happen but I expect Galway to beat them easily in a low-key one-sided match.
I'm thinking of backing Galway big time even though I only get a 17%-20% return, but in my view its a nice return on investment for 70mins. Of course, doubts creep-in when you are going in with a large sum. Images appear of big, rough, tough competitive Roscommon teams putting it up to Galway and Mayo and beating them; but that was then, this is now. Those players do not have the physical toughness for a major championship win, and are essentially playing for pride and hoping that playing to restore it plus calling on tradition will somehow lift them above their ability; they have no method, no consistency and will be full of doubt if they fall behind at all. This is clearly not Roscommon of old.
An easy run out for Galway methinks, but tough enough at times to bring them on a bit further for the awkward and testy visit of Leitrim, and onwards to the presumed final against Sligo or Mayo (Sligo, I think, but we'll see).
I agree Solo, I cant see us troubleing Galway too much. In years gone by when we might not have had the better team we were still likely to put it up to Galway in the physical stakes but not this year I fear. Hopefully I will be eating my words for tea on Sunday evening though.
I dont know where your getting the 17-20% return, Galway are 1/10 with Paddy Power.
I don't believe that the named Ros team is the one that will actually start.
from what i have heard the reason nicky isnt playing is that he might have enjoyed himself a bit to much last weekend out on the town. armstrong and burke are out through injuries, surprised bane isnt playing though
Getting close to this game and as a man who likes to back on the points difference I'm stuck as to what to do. Powers have it as 7 points. Think that means a no bet. The bookies have defo got cuter on points difference. I think a few years ago you'd find a few glaring errors but last weekend they had Westmeath -2 (they won by 3) and Leitrim -12 (they won by 11). And I never backed Emlyn Mulligan to be top scorer in Connacht. Raging.
Quote from: magpie seanie on May 15, 2008, 02:00:55 PM
Getting close to this game and as a man who likes to back on the points difference I'm stuck as to what to do. Powers have it as 7 points. Think that means a no bet. The bookies have defo got cuter on points difference. I think a few years ago you'd find a few glaring errors but last weekend they had Westmeath -2 (they won by 3) and Leitrim -12 (they won by 11). And I never backed Emlyn Mulligan to be top scorer in Connacht. Raging.
who is your main free taker seanie might be worth a few yo yo for top scorer especially with the London game
I'd have to agree with the concerns expressed by other Galway posters over the Galway team.
We have exactly 2 players that consistently score on that team - Meehan and Joyce. That's it. And PJ is playing a deeper role this year so won't be as prolific as he used to be at no.14.
Having watched most of our lkeague games I can't understand how Breathnach is retaining his place in the ff line. He did very little in any game in the league. He is more of a half forward anyway where he would work hard and could be a useful player for us. He doesn't have the scoring ability for the ff line though. Nicky or Armstrong would be much better bets though Armstrong is injured as usual at the moment I think.
I also can't understand how Mullaghy isn't in the team. He was outstanding for us in the league. While Sice had a very good league campaign I thought Mullaghy was just as good if not better. Both of them played better than Deccie Meehan actually.
I think we'll beat Ros on Sunday but we'll be in trouble further down the line I'm sure. Just not enough scoring forwards on that team.
yeah i's a tight one to call on handicap. By way MagpieSeanie...go to oddschecker.com to check best odds offered on handicaps etc.
Powers are mean enough(ie usually right!). There was -8 available with some English firms and Boylesports went -10 for a bit.
What's story with Nicky Joyce not starting?
The Gospel according to Ray...... :P
Galway must win, showing some form
Ray Silke
The only two things that are definite in life are death and taxes. However if you were to listen to the vast majority of Galway and even Roscommon supporters this week, it would appear that a Galway win on Sunday is also in that category. Liam Sammon and his team would be well advised to insulate themselves from such loose talk between now and throw-in time.
Obviously based on their respective league form and their last few meetings in championship, Galway deserve to be raging hot favourites, and they are that, at odds of 1/10. However there is no such thing as a sure thing in sport. The improbable can and does happen - just ask Fulham - and it is up to the experienced men in the Galway dressing-room to make sure that any complacency is savaged and slammed down at the team meeting prior to the game.
A major advantage that Roscommon have is that nothing is expected of them. They are expected to only provide cannon fodder for the Galway guns. That is too simplistic though, and lest we forget, Roscommon have a new manager in Michael "Mixer" Ryan. He will bring a freshness and vibrancy to the proceedings that has been lacking in the last year under John Maughan. Ironically Ryan was one of the first players shown the door by Maughan when the Mayo man arrived into the Roscommon job.
Indeed it must have given the former Roscommon Gaels' player some perverse pleasure to be the man handed the bainisteoir bib after Maughan was persuaded to leave the manager's position by his customers - or a horrific sequence of defeats. No more than Warren Gatland who must have really enjoyed his hand-shake with Eddie O'Sullivan after his success as Wales manager over Ireland this season, revenge is a dish best served cold.
Ryan is confident his side can do more than just make up the numbers this Sunday. "People are judging this match on the league and we're complete underdogs, but the lads within the panel have quite a bit of belief that they can get that result. "If we can keep it tight going into the second-half, their confidence will grow. It's a championship game and there's always plenty of shocks every year. There is always a chance you can get something out of any given game."
The former Roscommon CBS student may be inexperienced at this level of management but he is a passionate football man and he will have the complete loyalty and backing of the squad. The Galway management team has made some changes for Sunday and it will be interesting to see how the likes of Gareth Bradshaw, Mark Lydon, and Paul Conroy deal with the step up in class. The St James' player is a really fantastic prospect and he has all the skills and the right attitude to be a truly wonderful player for Galway in the seasons ahead. Even in the small cameo role he played against Kerry in the league he looked terrific and many Galway fans will be looking forward to seeing him in action on Sunday. However it should not be forgotten that he is only a garsún and is still only 18 years of age - he only turns 19 next week - so he has to be given time to develop and find his feet at this level. Too much expectation is a heavy load to carry.
Gareth Bradshaw has been around the fringes of the panel for a year or two now and he has always been marked out as a player who had the skills necessary to make the breakthrough to the starting XV. However his selection at corner back will have raised a few eyebrows and it will be interesting to see if he has the discipline to quell his swashbuckling style and do the unspectacular but vital job of a man-marking corner back.
His clubmate Mark Lydon had a terrific season at intermediate level with Maigh Cuillinn last year and he deserves an opportunity at this level. He is a gamey player and won't be found wanting in the work-ethic department.
It is really fantastic to see Kilkerrin/Clonberne's Damien Dunleavy back in a championship jersey. I really like his all-action style and it is to his immense credit that he has fought back from some serious injuries over the past few years to get back to senior intercounty fitness. That indicates a superb attitude and a wonderful desire to play with Galway and men like that will be needed if a Connacht title is to be annexed this year.
It was no surprise to see Declan Meehan being re-instated in a defensive role and he will be pleased to return to more familiar terrain for the championship. He and Kieran Fitzgerald should work well together on the right side of defence and with a few good displays they could become permanent fixtures there for the season ahead.
Niall Coyne too merits a starting jersey at centre-back and if he plays to his best Diarmuid Blake may have to look elsewhere for a defensive slot.
It is impossible to look past a Galway win and with odds of 7/1 available for Roscommon, you can see what the bookmakers think of their chances. The only action will be in the handicap betting, and if Roscommon can get a foothold in the game, they may cover a handicap of plus five. However if they start poorly and Barry Cullinane wins a fair bit of aerial ball around the middle, then Padraic Joyce, Michael Meehan, Matthew Clancy, and Fiachra Breathnach will do damage.
So, Galway to win. The question is, will they do so convincingly or will they splutter and choke over the line? And more importantly, what will the management team learn about their charges in the process?
Quotewho is your main free taker seanie might be worth a few yo yo for top scorer especially with the London game
Probably Mark Breheny with maybe Seán Flannery from the other side. Don't think either will hit 11 on Sunday week though.
Not much hope for us lads next Sunday I suppose. :-\
Still we'd better turn up or the herrin chokers will think we're afraid of them. ;)
Hopefully we'll keep it respectable and get on with preparing for the Qualifiers.
Quote from: Shrewdness on May 14, 2008, 10:58:59 AM
A bit surprised that David O'Gara didn't make the starting line up. I'd certainly have him in before Gary Cox.
O'Gara was one of our best performers in the league, despite being played out of position, and having to juggle U-21 commitments as well.
Now, when the championship starts, he's left on the bench :o
I understand he is injured - however may play some part. Like you I expect there will be changes when the team takes the field. This team is for the programme!!!
No matter what team we field we will do well to keep within 7 or 8 points. I see someone thinks the odds at 7 to 1 represent good value. Well even if they were 70 to one it would be the same - you lose your money. This game has come far to earley in the PM period (Post Maughan) for us to even make an impression - maybe by the time the qualifiers come around Ryan may have assembled a competitive side - which is the most we can aspire to for the next couple of years.
21min gone Galway 0-5 Ros 0-1, Roscommon are very poor and seem to be playing 'hit and hope' football. I thought they might put it up to Galway before the match but it looks doubtful. In saying that they've just got a second and are improving.
Young Kilbride looks quite a find for the Rossies. Big, strong forward and accurate as fcuk. It will be interesting to see how he fares in the long term.
Roscommon are right back in it now but you'd have to say there's two poor teams out there today. Hardy enough stuff and conditions are difficult but you'd still expect to see a bit more quality.
What's the latest score? It's bound to be near over at this stage.
Quote from: Farrandeelin on May 18, 2008, 05:29:56 PM
What's the latest score? It's bound to be near over at this stage.
FT 2-16 to 0-6
Lookin at the half time score, Galway must have really imposed themselves in the second half. Was it that galway were good in the second half or that Ros were sh!te?
Quote from: jodyb on May 18, 2008, 05:46:32 PM
Lookin at the half time score, Galway must have really imposed themselves in the second half. Was it that galway were good in the second half or that Ros were sh!te?
Galway got four or five quick points and Roscommon had a man sent off early in the second half.
One of the most disappointing aspects of the match was the number of players who went down holding their faces after clashing with another player. A number of these 'clashes' looked harmless enough but the player often went down as if he had taken a hard punch to the face. Both sides were guilty of this and if is very unfortunate aspect of the modern game. As for the football, well there is little enough to be said Roscommon were poor and the game was a non-event. Galway will improve but I'd doubt they have the ability to beat any of the top three or four teams in the country.
Quote from: Zulu on May 18, 2008, 05:49:20 PM
One of the most disappointing aspects of the match was the number of players who went down holding their faces after clashing with another player. A number of these 'clashes' looked harmless enough but the player often went down as if he had taken a hard punch to the face. Both sides were guilty of this and if is very unfortunate aspect of the modern game. As for the football, well there is little enough to be said Roscommon were poor and the game was a non-event. Galway will improve but I'd doubt they have the ability to beat any of the top three or four teams in the country.
Just heard Brolly make that exact point when i caught the tail end of the sunday game. He reckoned the Ros man wouldn't have walked but for that sort of sh!te.
Dunno that it wuda made that much difference to the outcome from what I've heard since :-\
Quote from: jodyb on May 18, 2008, 05:55:04 PM
Quote from: Zulu on May 18, 2008, 05:49:20 PM
One of the most disappointing aspects of the match was the number of players who went down holding their faces after clashing with another player. A number of these 'clashes' looked harmless enough but the player often went down as if he had taken a hard punch to the face. Both sides were guilty of this and if is very unfortunate aspect of the modern game. As for the football, well there is little enough to be said Roscommon were poor and the game was a non-event. Galway will improve but I'd doubt they have the ability to beat any of the top three or four teams in the country.
Just heard Brolly make that exact point when i caught the tail end of the sunday game. He reckoned the Ros man wouldn't have walked but for that sort of sh!te.
Dunno that it wuda made that much difference to the outcome from what I've heard since :-\
The Galway man might have made a meal of it, but it was still a bookable offense.
Match Report
A devastating second half display from Galway saw the home county ease past Roscommon by 16 points at Pearse Park, Salthill in the quarter-finals of the Connacht SFC.
Michael Meehan opened the scoring with a point on five minutes from a 45 and the Tribesmen added four further unanswered points from Meehan, Padraig Joyce and two frees from Paul Conroy to lead by five points to no score with 17 minutes played.
However it took as long again for the home team to raise the white flag as Roscommon got back into contention.
From Roscommon's first attack Jonathan Dunning might have found the net but shot across goal instead.
Senan Kilbride finally opened their account after 21 minutes and two further points from the championship debutant left just two points between the teams as half time approached.
Cathal Creggs goalbound effort was brilliantly saved by Galway goalkeeper Paul Doherty during that Roscommon revival.
Matthew Clancy then scored Galway's first point in 17 minutes but Karol Mannion again reduced the half time deficit to just two points when his shot flew over the bar off the goalkeeper's fingertips in first half stoppage time.
Roscommon would rue missing those two good goal-scoring chances as after the break the home side took control in all sectors with Michael Ryan's men unable to respond against Galway's superior firepower.
The turning point in the game came nine minutes into the second half when Roscommon were reduced to 14 men, with Gary Cox receiving a second yellow card from referee Joe McQuillan.
Michael Ryan's men scored just twice after the break from two Ger Heneghan free kicks as Galway took command.
Captain Padraig Joyce showed the way with the opening point of the second half and four further unanswered points had the home team leading by seven points at the halfway stage.
A Matthew Clancy goal on the hour mark from a Fiachra Breathnach pass effectively ended the game as a contest as further points from Michael Meehan and two from Paul Conroy stretched the home sides lead to 12 points as the game entered the closing stages.
Conroy capped a fine championship debut with his sixth point of the game as Galway then struck for their second goal as the game entered stoppage time.
Mark Lydon picked out second half substitute Niall Coleman who made no mistake with an easy finish to the net and complete the scoring.
Galway now face Leitrim for a place in the Connacht SFC final while Roscommon await their fate in the qualifiers.
Galway: Doherty; Fitzgerald; Hanley; Bradshaw; D Meehan; Coyne; Sice (Coleman 68); Cullinane (Mullahy 68); Lydon (Cullinane 71); Dunleavy (Bane half-time); P Joyce; Conroy; Clancy (N Joyce 64); M Meehan; Breathnach.
Roscommon: Claffey; O'Connor; S McDermott; Rogers; O'Carroll (O'Gara 20); Hoey; O'Neill; Mannion (Finneran 66); Devaney; Cox; Cregg; Kilbride; Dunning (Connellan 55); Keenan; Shine (Heneghan half-time).
Scorers:
Galway
Matthew Clancy 1 - 03
Niall Coleman 1 - 00
Paul Conroy 0 - 06 (4 frees)
Michael Meehan 0 - 05 (2 frees, 2 45's)
Padraig Joyce 0 - 02
Roscommon
Senan Kilbride 0 - 03
Ger Heneghan 0 - 02 from frees
Karol Mannion 0 - 01
A reasonable performance in the end by Galway even though the first half was pretty poor fare. Littered with players slipping and sliding all over the field and persistent fouling. A nasty little fade out by the home side in the 15 minutes before the break although Galway regained control of the game again even before Gary Cox got red carded. Overall though the game was quite scrappy not helped by rain falling on a rock hard pitch beforehand which left the surface like an ice rink.
Defence played fairly well although in the first half I thought the half-back line were too far away from the full-back line which left far too much space for Roscommon back there which they could have exploited if they took either of their two goal chances. I expect Damien Burke will come in for Bradshaw though when he's fit even though Bradshaw played well. Senan Kilbride kicked some nice scores for the Rossies in the first half. Midfield was just OK I felt apart from the period before half-time when Roscommon got on a bit of a roll in that area. Joe Bergin still a big miss there though. Think Galway still only won 50% of their own kickouts though which has to be improved upon.
Fair play to Mattie Clancy. Was superb again. Nearly must be one of the first names on the team sheet these days. Has really matured as a player and won a mountain of breaking ball. PJ was quietly efficient while Meehan had a quiet enough game in general play but his freetaking was very good. Paul Conroy was excellent I thought and really looks the real deal. I think Liam Sammon will have to get over this fascination he seems to have with Fiachra Breathnach though. Admittidly he hit an exquisite pass for Clancy's goal but he offers little apart from workrate. Nicky or Army will have to come in for him sooner rather than later. Just didn't happen for Dunleavy today. A pity as he was very good against Kerry.
Anyway onto Leitrim in a few weeks. More improvement needed.
Quote from: Zulu on May 18, 2008, 05:49:20 PM
Galway will improve but I'd doubt they have the ability to beat any of the top three or four teams in the country.
That would depend on who the top three or four teams in the country are, don't you think Zulu? There could be a few paper tigers on the go this weather. I'd say Galway are as good as any of them, bar Kerry of course.
That's true ICC but the league defeat to Kerry and today's performance have raised doubts as to the ability of Galway beating Derry, Dublin, Cork and possibly one or two others. Now of course you can't read too much into today's game and Galway wouldn't be the first team to play poorly in earlier rounds before going on to win AI's (or at least play much better). But I thought today's game raised some serious questions about crucial areas of this Galway team.
Quote from: IolarCoisCuain on May 18, 2008, 08:00:06 PM
Quote from: Zulu on May 18, 2008, 05:49:20 PM
Galway will improve but I'd doubt they have the ability to beat any of the top three or four teams in the country.
That would depend on who the top three or four teams in the country are, don't you think Zulu? There could be a few paper tigers on the go this weather. I'd say Galway are as good as any of them, bar Kerry of course.
Kerry is about to only team I would feel we would have very little chance against if they were in full championship mode. Dublin at full pelt maybe but it depends what shape they are in this year.
Anyone else I feel we could beat on our day or of course they could beat us. We're back in the pack in other words along with the rest.
Quote from: IolarCoisCuain on May 18, 2008, 08:00:06 PM
Quote from: Zulu on May 18, 2008, 05:49:20 PM
Galway will improve but I'd doubt they have the ability to beat any of the top three or four teams in the country.
That would depend on who the top three or four teams in the country are, don't you think Zulu? There could be a few paper tigers on the go this weather. I'd say Galway are as good as any of them, bar Kerry of course.
Exactly Iolar. Who are these 3 or 4 top teams apart from Kerry? Surely no one is suggesting Dublin, Cork or Derry are better than Galway.
Quote from: moysider on May 18, 2008, 08:13:22 PM
Quote from: IolarCoisCuain on May 18, 2008, 08:00:06 PM
Quote from: Zulu on May 18, 2008, 05:49:20 PM
Galway will improve but I'd doubt they have the ability to beat any of the top three or four teams in the country.
That would depend on who the top three or four teams in the country are, don't you think Zulu? There could be a few paper tigers on the go this weather. I'd say Galway are as good as any of them, bar Kerry of course.
Exactly Iolar. Who are these 3 or 4 top teams apart from Kerry? Surely no one is suggesting Dublin, Cork or Derry are better than Galway.
In fairness those teams mentioned have done better than us in recent years so deserve to be rated ahead of us I guess but I still think we could beat them on any given day if we played well. Kerry on the other hand are out on their own IMO but obviously could still get caught out somewhere along the way.
It's not like a few years ago when you had 3 sides that were clearly better than the rest. Now you have Kerry followed by chasing pack of teams with not a great deal seperating most of them.
Well I'd definately fancy Derry or Dublin to beat Galway on recent evidence (i.e the last 2 years up to and including today). Galway are a decent side and outside of Kerry would fancy they're chances against anyone else but I fell they will lose to Derry or Dublin should they meet later in the year. I also suspect that a defensive minded team like Monaghan or Westmeath could beat them also.
Quote from: GalwayBayBoy on May 18, 2008, 08:17:40 PM
Quote from: moysider on May 18, 2008, 08:13:22 PM
Quote from: IolarCoisCuain on May 18, 2008, 08:00:06 PM
Quote from: Zulu on May 18, 2008, 05:49:20 PM
Galway will improve but I'd doubt they have the ability to beat any of the top three or four teams in the country.
That would depend on who the top three or four teams in the country are, don't you think Zulu? There could be a few paper tigers on the go this weather. I'd say Galway are as good as any of them, bar Kerry of course.
Exactly Iolar. Who are these 3 or 4 top teams apart from Kerry? Surely no one is suggesting Dublin, Cork or Derry are better than Galway.
In fairness those teams mentioned have done better than us in recent years so deserve to be rated ahead of us I guess but I still think we could beat them on any given day if we played well. Kerry on the other hand are out on their own IMO but obviously could still get caught out somewhere along the way.
It could be argued that mayo too have done better than ye in last 3 or 4 years but nobody would rate Mayo ahead of Galway. Based on what has happened in recent months Galway are as close to Kerry as anybody else.
Quote from: Zulu on May 18, 2008, 08:24:05 PM
Well I'd definately fancy Derry or Dublin to beat Galway on recent evidence
Dublin fair enough. We always beat Derry though. ;)
Either way I wouldn't have us as AI contenders until we can go up and win a quarter-final in Croke Park. Until we do that we don't deserve to be called genuine contenders.
Quote from: Zulu on May 18, 2008, 08:24:05 PM
Well I'd definately fancy Derry or Dublin to beat Galway on recent evidence (i.e the last 2 years up to and including today). Galway are a decent side and outside of Kerry would fancy they're chances against anyone else but I fell they will lose to Derry or Dublin should they meet later in the year. I also suspect that a defensive minded team like Monaghan or Westmeath could beat them also.
Have to disagree. Would fancy Galway against either Dublin or Derry in Croke Park. However if they dont win Connacht they could well come unstuck at an away venue against likes of Monaghan or Westmeath. But if they make Croke Park in rude good health and Bergin back they ll fear nobody and traditionally they improve in Croke Park. They have a much better pedigree there than Dublin and Derry and look a very comfortable team under Salmon.
Quote from: moysider on May 18, 2008, 08:35:18 PM
Have to disagree. Would fancy Galway against either Dublin or Derry in Croke Park. However if they dont win Connacht they could well come unstuck at an away venue against likes of Monaghan or Westmeath. But if they make Croke Park in rude good health and Bergin back they ll fear nobody and traditionally they improve in Croke Park. They have a much better pedigree there than Dublin and Derry and look a very comfortable team under Salmon.
Dublin are traditionally a bogey team for Galway. Galway still bear the scars (in more ways than one, sez you) of 1983 and I think they could have lost to Dublin since as well. But leaving the past behind and looking at possible matchups now - if Mayo's Ger Brady rode Bryan Cullen like a pony in 2006, what do you think Pádraic Joyce would do to him? :o
You'd have to fancy the current Dublin midfield against Galway's current outfit, but then the Dublin management will probably take their best man, Shane Ryan, out of there as they did against Mayo in 2006 so it won't matter. :D
As for Derry, they got a bit of a trimming themselves in Salthill, didn't they? Funnily enough, Mayo - far too unworthy of my masters' designation as "one of the top three or four teams in the country" - would probably be best at wiring it up to Galway as Mayo are strongest where Galway are weakest, i lár na páirce, and a potential meeting would be in Caisleán a' Bharraigh, where Galway haven't won since 2002, unless I'm mistaken. Fascinating - and they say it's a poor Championship!
Iolar, are Mayo really that strong in midfield? I know McGarrity is captain and all that but would last year's events have taken their toll on him. I was talking to a Meathman and he said he was terrible in the friendly against them in Dunderry.
For Galway people to be talking about Galway tackling the best teams in Ireland is extremely premature ::). Galway were poor today and if they were playing a decent side theyd have been beaten. I honestly didnt realise how low roscommon football has gone down at senior level.They are in serious danger of wasting the young talent coming through with little or no experienced players playing well. They were beyond bad and it is sad to see. The first half was diabolical football with both teams guilty of atrocius passing. Galway only really pulled away when ros went down to 14 men but of course would of won regardless but Galway cannot be judged on that. That ros performance would of struggled against London.
If I was a Leitrim man I be happiest man in Ireland at seeing that game. Galway are there for the taking again this yr and Im sure leitrim will put up a better show than ros. They can spin whatever way they want in Galway but there not to be feared like Galway teams of old.
I feel for ros though and hope they show well in the qualifiers and get there act together.
I'll give you one thing Sligonian if there's one thing you're not short on it's mouth. ;D
Im not short on the TRUTH either Galwaybayboy but one thing Ive learned over the yrs is people dont like to hear the truth ;).
Im not short on alot of things i guess :P.
I think you'll find that it's called OPINION. And you know what they say about opinions.
i can't see letrim beating galway. as for galway beating either derry or dublin, i doubt it. the reasons being that ciaran whelan or fergal doherty would clean galway out at midfield. you can have the best forwards in the world, if they can't get the ball they won't be much use. galway won't get beyond the last 8, because they can't win aerial ball. dublin would enjoy playing galway because galway would let dublin play football where as armagh for example wouldn't. But that's besides the point, teams who don;t win aerial ball at midfield don't get to the last 4. galway can match anyone for forwards and backs but not at midfield.
I thought it was a reasonable performance by our lads today. I couldn't believe Ros were so bad though. Absolutely awful.
I don't think anyone will be getting carried away with today's result. Leitrim shouldn't trouble Galway in the semi final at Pearse but I don't think we'll come away from Castlebar with a win in the Connacht final.
Galway-Mayo games in the championship in recent years always seem to be won by the home teams.
Today's result shouldn't hide the fact that there are problems in this Galway team. As predicted before the game Fiachra Breathnach offered no threat whatsoever in the full forward line - granted he gave a great pass to Clancy for the first goal but he never looked likely to kick a score.As a previous poster stated he offers little but hard work. That's all well and good in the half forward line but you need scorers in the inside line.
Midfield were wiped out today as well. Mark Lydon is not county standard full stop. I don't remember him catching a ball all day.
As regards us against the top counties - we definitely aren't good enough to beat Kerry and I believe Dublin would give us a good hiding in Croke Park in a championship game. On our day we are probably capable of beating the rest of the teams around like Derry, Tyrone, Armagh etc. but they are just as capable of brushing us aside on their day as well.
Positives from today's game would be the performance of Matt Clancy who has been absolutely outstanding all year so far. Also Paul Conroy had a really good second half and PJ was good also. Mike Meehan was well held in general play though he did draw a few frees and kicked some fantastic long range frees himself. He has a monster strike of a dead ball.
The backs were solid overall though they did give up 4 or 5 goal chances to Ros.
There's plenty of room for improvement for the next day out and we need to get midfield sorted out.
conroy looks a class act though, that's as impressive a debut as i've seen. he's real quality. you'd have to think nicky joyce is worth a place as well
I'm surprised at the optimism in some of the Galway posts. Today's match was brutal. Galway were very poor in the 1st half. Constant short handpassing across the field. Looked very shaky in the full back line especially when Karol Mannion was in there. It's pity we had to move him to midfield. Jonathon Dunning really should have taken that goal chance Mannion put him though for. Cox's sending off (whilst not a factor in the overall result) definitely had a bearing on how competivee the match was. It allowed Galway the space to play their long ball game. The ref was way too fussy as Tohill pointed out on the Sunday game tonight and Cox was (though stupid) unlucky to be sent off and Cullinane should definitely have walked.
After weeks (months?) of the disarray we had a very inexperienced and weak lineout. Donie Shine and David Keenan were totally out of their depth on the day. In fairness they are only 19 but their counterpart Paul Conroy on the other side showed no such inhibitions. Karol Mannion took over midfield when he went out there. Galway had been winning all the breaks via the excellent Matthew Clancy till then. The only problem with that is that he wasnt inside to exploit the incoming ball. Dunning who is only back after a few years break looked very rusty. O'Neill got stronger in midfield as the match went on but looked very immobile and as petulant as ever.
Ross have 7 weeks to prepare for the back door and with the likes of Dolan, Noone and Whyte back in the panel Ryan is obviously looking longterm. However its a major task to make them competitive in a back door where there will be very few handy games this year. I think 2008 is a write off.
Galway will probably improve but they struggled for alot of this match against piss poor opposition and only really racked up the scores when the man was sent off. They still have class forwards but their midfield is very poor (would Cullinane make any other intercounty side? even ours?). Time will tell but after backing them for Connacht I'd imagine Mayo are happy enough with what they seen today.
Quote from: SLIGONIAN on May 18, 2008, 10:10:12 PM
For Galway people to be talking about Galway tackling the best teams in Ireland is extremely premature ::). Galway were poor today and if they were playing a decent side theyd have been beaten. I honestly didnt realise how low roscommon football has gone down at senior level.They are in serious danger of wasting the young talent coming through with little or no experienced players playing well. They were beyond bad and it is sad to see. The first half was diabolical football with both teams guilty of atrocius passing. Galway only really pulled away when ros went down to 14 men but of course would of won regardless but Galway cannot be judged on that. That ros performance would of struggled against London.
If I was a Leitrim man I be happiest man in Ireland at seeing that game. Galway are there for the taking again this yr and Im sure leitrim will put up a better show than ros. They can spin whatever way they want in Galway but there not to be feared like Galway teams of old.
I feel for ros though and hope they show well in the qualifiers and get there act together.
Who are the best teams in Ireland Sligonian? Who are better than Galway and based on what criteria - apart from Kerry obviously? Are you of the opinion that the new big three - apart from Kerry- are Dublin ,Cork and Derry and rate Tyrone and Armagh up there too. Monaghan, Donegal and and Westmeath too maybe. Galway did what they had to do today and did it without much fuss. And it was not Galway people who were making the point that apart from Kerry there are a good few teams just in the chasing pack without a pecking order. You can make as good a case for Galway as anybody else and today actually boosted their standing. They won comprehensively without breaking sweat. Who the f**k are these best teams in Ireland? By the way I m not from Galway but I m sure you knew that anyway. Galway have won 2 All- Irelands in the past 10 years and possibly could have got at least another one. Thats as much as Tyrone has won ever and more than Armagh, Donegal and Derry have ever won. As much as Dublin has won in the past 30 years even with the Croke Park factor thrown in in their favour. Galway football is a shining light in the game much as it kills me to admit it.
Quote from: INDIANA on May 18, 2008, 11:01:18 PM
i can't see letrim beating galway. as for galway beating either derry or dublin, i doubt it. the reasons being that ciaran whelan or fergal doherty would clean galway out at midfield. you can have the best forwards in the world, if they can't get the ball they won't be much use. galway won't get beyond the last 8, because they can't win aerial ball. dublin would enjoy playing galway because galway would let dublin play football where as armagh for example wouldn't. But that's besides the point, teams who don;t win aerial ball at midfield don't get to the last 4. galway can match anyone for forwards and backs but not at midfield.
Quote from: moysider on May 19, 2008, 02:21:25 AM
Quote from: INDIANA on May 18, 2008, 11:01:18 PM
i can't see letrim beating galway. as for galway beating either derry or dublin, i doubt it. the reasons being that ciaran whelan or fergal doherty would clean galway out at midfield. you can have the best forwards in the world, if they can't get the ball they won't be much use. galway won't get beyond the last 8, because they can't win aerial ball. dublin would enjoy playing galway because galway would let dublin play football where as armagh for example wouldn't. But that's besides the point, teams who don;t win aerial ball at midfield don't get to the last 4. galway can match anyone for forwards and backs but not at midfield.
Quote from: INDIANA on May 18, 2008, 11:01:18 PM
i can't see letrim beating galway. as for galway beating either derry or dublin, i doubt it the reasons being that ciaran whelan or fergal doherty would clean galway out at midfield. you can have the best forwards in the world, if they can't get the ball they won't be much use. galway won't get beyond the last 8, because they can't win aerial ball. dublin would enjoy playing galway because galway would let dublin play football where as armagh for example wouldn't. But that's besides the point, teams who don;t win aerial ball at midfield don't get to the last 4. galway can match anyone for forwards and backs but not at midfield.
No they would not. Doherty maybe a problem but can be avoided. Whelan would struggle against whoever Walway played on him. Apologies about the earlier unsuccessful attempts at this post. Galway have a massive midfield even without Bergin's return for another 8 weeks. Whatever about Roscommon's limitations about the pitch midfield has always been their foundation and O Neill and Mannion are as good as Dublin, Derry and most others can put out. But its not just about 8 and 9.
Galway also have 2 fetchers in half forward line, Coyne {very solid today] can compete in the air and the other three in the middle 8 win breaks. Throw in Matthew Clancy as a roving corner forward then you have real problems. Joyce and Meehan - like the poor- will always be with us but Clancy is the dynamo now. Although a lot of Galway fans dont rate Clancy he is their thrump. If Leitrim/Sligo/Mayo are to take Galway they have to come up with something for Clancy rather than Joyce or Meehan. Top class player.
Why are some of you boys getting so upset that some people don't rate you as highly as you might like?
The teams will do their talking on the pitch, and its up to them to silence the doubters, if they are good enough. If I was a Galway man, I would be delighted that people might be under-rating us. Galway were obviously by far the better team today, but that game means little in terms of how they will do against the better teams. As with the likes of Brendan Devenney on my own county side, I am not convinced that the likes of Joyce will still have what it takes against top-class opposition, while you I doubt if you'll see Matthew Clancy be so prominent either, but we'll see. If Galway really are good enough, they'll earn that respect.
Saw most of the game and switched off with ten minutes to go.
A few observations -
Galway are weak at midfield, Cullinane is cumbersome and awkward and it was a big ask for Mark Lydon to impose himself in his championship debut against Mannion and O'Neill. But Cullinane is the type of player who could easily do a spoiling job on the likes of O Se or Whelan further down the line and if they get Coleman back they will certainly have enough to get by with. That is to say they won't dominate but should have enough to break close to even.
Crucially they have pace and ball winners in the half-back and half-forward lines. Coyne, Sice, D Meehan, Blake and Mullahy are serious options for the half back line and with Bergin to come back, you have battling players in the half forward line with Paul Conroy and Damien Dunleavy (who is capable of much better than he showed yesterday) very good men for winning both breaks and primary possession. Add in Matthew Clancy dropping deep and Galway have plenty of whats needed around the middle third, if not in the two actual midfield positions themselves.
Its further forward I'd be worried about if I was from Galway (no such problem:D). Clancy and Conroy chipped in well from play on Sunday but that may not happen every day. That leaves Joyce, Meehan and Breathnach. The first two will always do their bit but for all his industry, I think it is criminal that Sammon is picking Breathnach at corner-forward ahead of Nicky Joyce. Galway have enough workers around the place, inside they need someone of Joyce's class. I thought it was merely a ploy during the league to get Joyce keen for ball but it looks like Sammon genuinely thinks Breathnach offers more. Strange to say the least.
Given Roscommon's recent problems they did very well to be in the game at half-time and the second half fall out was somewhat inevitable. Its only so far that passion and resillience will bring you, without ample preparation time you will be found out. Thought the secong yellow for Cox was undeserved. He shouldn't have done it but it wasn't a bookable offence either. Especially when you consider McQuillan chose to merely tick Cullinane earlier in the game when he was walking a tightrope
Was always going to be a big ask for Roscommon given the turbulence they've experienced this year - 9 weeks to the next game for them to get some things right, and if they get a favourable draw then a small run in the qualifiers would mean they could take some real positives from the season
I really don't know who Roscommon could actually beat in the qualifiers given that the Div 4 teams are going straight to Tommy Murphy once they lose. Perhaps the nine weeks will give them time but its hard to picture anything but two games and two defeats in championship for them
you're entitled to your delusions moysider, but to suggest that whelan would have trouble against either cullinane or lydon is like saying carlow had any chance against meath yesterday. the roving corner forward isn't employed by the top teams, because it doesn't work against good opposition. clancy is a good footballer, but he won't be allowed to win breaks against good opposition with the regularity like yesterday.
someone like keith higgins if he was marking clancy would probably score as much as clancy down the other end like tomas o se did on him against kerry. Galway have to get nicky joyce into the forward line somewhere ; he's too good to leave out. based on yesterday, mayo will fancy their chances especially mc garrity and co. if i was sammon, i'd play clancy in a conventional wing forward role and with nicky joyce in the corner. that would give galway a hell of a forward line, but it won't solve the midfield problems.
A decent enough win for the 1st championship game of the season although the first half WAS poor football. Galway did enough to win comfortably and thats about it, but will need to improve and push on against Leitrim in four weeks time. Excellent performance fom Mattie Clancy and a superb debut from Paul Conroy and these two were easily the pick of our side. However poor Ros were on the day, they still showed up few flaws in teh Galway team -
Paul Doherty - needs to work on varying his kickouts more and not just boom everything straight down the middle.
Niall Coyne - went missing on a few occassions and left a big hole in the centre of defence. Can and will improve.
Midfield - we know the issues here but Barry was lucky not to get the line yesterday and his timing for contesting kickouts was way off
Breathnach - bar his pass to Clancy for the goal, offers no scoring threat. Need to see Nicky back in here with Army pushing hard for a starting spot if he can sort out his injury problems.
You can only beat whats put in front of you and that was done fairly efficiently yesterday. Cullinane has his (many) limitations and Lydon is only starting out......its not as if they were up against a poor pairing in Mannion and O'Neill. Midfield, while a problem, is not something that cannot be worked around with variation of kickouts and getting some kind of system in place with midfield splitting and hitting the wings/wingbacks with the kicks. Lumping it straight down the middle is not an option Galway have at the moment but the keepers seem unaware of that at the moment.
Dont know or care how Whelan made his way into the argument but Cullinane is more effective on the pitch rather than Whelan is sitting in the stand twiddling his thumbs..... And for all Cullinane acted the eejit there yesterday, it seems to be conveniently forgotten that O'Neill is as big a culprit as anyone in these situations. But it seems that his behaviour is acceptable/overlooked in defeat
Nicky was not playing yesterday as he is only just back after a groin op.....he needs game time and will get that with club championship coming up next weekend. He will be ready and most likely play against Leitrim. Armstrong injured too.....he of the brittle hamstrings should be back too and Diarmuid Blake well on road to recovery after similar injury to Nicky
Bar the last 15 mins of 1st half when the Rossies hit a purple patch, Galway did all that was asked of them and they will improve with time. The main concern now is the amount of Mayo folk talking us up ;)
As for peoples rating of us, you will probably find that Galway posters on here are fairly reasonable in their comments....."alot done, more to do" springs to mind. But sure maybe everyone else will be the finished article after their first championship outing ;)
O'Neill acted the clown on one or two occasions. Thats nothing new from Sheamie. More a danger to himself than anyone else. Cullinane was cynical and dirty and as was pointed out by the sunday game last night he shouldnt have been on the pitch for Cox to foul him in the 2nd half. That doesnt condone or excuse Cox either. For an experienced player he let his team down when they needed him most.
Re Galway midfield being compared to a "strong" Ross one. Karol is a full forward not a midfielder even though he did well there yesterday. O'Neill is only a pale shadow of the player he was in 2001-2003 and even though he's only 25-26 he may never get back to that level. Ross midfield yesterday are miles off the likes of Fergal Doherty, Ciaran Whelan, Darragh O'Se, Ronan McGarrity etc
When confidence of a team is low you need a lot of things to go well for you to make a game of it. They didnt.
We missed the goals in 1st half. Cox had to go but the ref was a joke in my opinion. Directly gifted galway at least 3 points from woeful decisions when game was in the balance. I didnt see the Cullinane incident to be honest.
Thought Joyce and Meehan were held as much as they can be but Clancy done the damage winning the breaking ball and attacking at pace.
We are badly missing a real leader at CHB since Grehan was dropped. Someone who will bury his man with a shoulder and give the team a lift. Dont hold out much hope for qualifiers to be honest. We need a win from somewhere but it going to take a huge effort to get it.
Moysider, I know your a Mayoman, it doesnt suprise me how passionate you are at talking up this Galway team. But this Galway team is nothing to be feared. It was a piss poor performance yday and they know it. Sugar coat all they want. It was 6-4 at HT against a ros side devoid of any quality on the ball apart from glimpses from no 13.
This Galway team isnt a patch on the one that won all ireland in 2001. They have no finneagan, donnellan, joyce in his prime, savage, etc.. this young fellas arent even close to that. Walsh and o domhaill midfield. Only Meehan would get on that team and clancy maybe.
Even a Rossman came on and said hes suprised at the optimism of galway folk after that performance.
Im not convinced Galway will improve that much on that either. Leitrim will be a much tougher game and I wouldnt write them off based on what I saw yday.
Id be suprised if Galway went on to win connaght. Its Sligos and Mayos for the taking IMO now ;) that the standard in connaght is still sh*te.
Firstly, fair play to Galway they were the better team. No one can argue with that. All this talk about how good/bad Galway are will be revealed on another day. IMO they are in the top 6 counties and so cannot be ruled out. I wasn't all that impressed with them alright but you simply cant judge Galway on yesterday's game - the second half was a non event. The answer wont be known until they play a quality side. I think that will possibly be Mayo in the connaught final. In saying that Leitrim will pose problems but ultimately Galway should have too much class.
I didn't leave Salthill in bad form yesterday, I knew we had no chance of winning. I saw some glimpses of improvement - infact if we had won the midfield battle in the second half I think our forwards had the beating of the Galway backs. However with Shine going off and Cox getting sent off we handed the initiative back to Galway. In fairness though, we had absolutely no luck at all from the goal misses to Shine hitting the post.
While the referee was poor enough alright, our discipline at times was terrible. Some of our lads simply cannot tackle without fouling.
All and all while the score line suggests otherwise I would remain optimistic for the future. Obviously we are a massive way off the top teams but if the hard work continues hopefully in 3-4 years we can build a team which is competitive in connaught again.
This current team needs to win a few games and get some level of confidence back. Hopefully we will go on some sort of a run in the qualifiers and win a game or two.
Quote from: SLIGONIAN on May 19, 2008, 11:37:59 AM
Moysider, I know your a Mayoman, it doesnt suprise me how passionate you are at talking up this Galway team. But this Galway team is nothing to be feared. It was a piss poor performance yday and they know it. Sugar coat all they want. It was 6-4 at HT against a ros side devoid of any quality on the ball apart from glimpses from no 13.
This Galway team isnt a patch on the one that won all ireland in 2001. They have no finneagan, donnellan, joyce in his prime, savage, etc.. this young fellas arent even close to that. Walsh and o domhaill midfield. Only Meehan would get on that team and clancy maybe.
Even a Rossman came on and said hes suprised at the optimism of galway folk after that performance.
Im not convinced Galway will improve that much on that either. Leitrim will be a much tougher game and I wouldnt write them off based on what I saw yday.
Id be suprised if Galway went on to win connaght. Its Sligos and Mayos for the taking IMO now ;) that the standard in connaght is still sh*te.
Im fairly sure I speak for most Galwegians when I say we await with baited breath Sligo -v- Mayo on June 22 when the reigning Connacht champions come charging out of the blocks with their customary champagne football ;)
Looking at the Galway bench yetserday how in the hell was Tomas Hughes and Conor Healy on the bench..1 Hughes couldn't even make the U21s and Healy for me has never even shone for Salthill so how does he get on the panel. Its a bit of a insult to genuine club players in my opinion.
This was by far Galway's best championship opener in, er, 12 months. Like last year, it was a case of the oppostion being poor rather than the home side being good. (Beware of the hype-machine being driven by GBFM and OTT!) I don't like saying it but Ros' were simply dire - it must be really dispiriting for their good support to have to watch some of yesterday's stuff. As for Galway, it's not that the players have improved much but that the style has - kudos to Sammon for that. However the weaknesses at midfield remain, though I thought Big Bad BC wasn't as bad as some would suggest - again he mostly tried to win primary possession and lay it off as soon as he could. Breathnach huffed and puffed and didn't do much. Matt Clancy; typical, I spend the year giving out about him and he goes and scores 1-3 from play. His lack of composure on the ball is still evident though (see first half) and in many ways is symptomatic of Galway in general - good against lesser opposition but found wanting when the quality is stepped up. Nothing against the lad, he's a good honest player, but only when he scores 1-3 against the likes of Tyrone, Kerry or Dublin can we say that Galway will have improved significantly. Beware also of those (Anthony Davis) who say Galway have a strong subs bench; not really - Bane came on yesterday and did very little, somewhat typically making a smather of one of the 2 good chances he got. The good bits from yesterday were the performance of Doherty in goal, Coyne at CHB (not too bad) and the enduring class of PJ all through. A Connacht (!) final in C'bar will be a good examination of where Galway are at present.
Quote from: GallBoss on May 19, 2008, 12:36:37 PM
Looking at the Galway bench yetserday how in the hell was Tomas Hughes and Conor Healy on the bench..1 Hughes couldn't even make the U21s and Healy for me has never even shone for Salthill so how does he get on the panel. Its a bit of a insult to genuine club players in my opinion.
Dont know Healy.....but pray tell how is Tomas Hughes not a "genuine" club player? And yes, im from Killererin before you ask. I would have thought that one of the midfielders from the county champions who pretty much dominated most of the midfield partnerships they came up against could be considered a "genuine" club player?
QuoteThis was by far Galway's best championship opener in, er, 12 months. Like last year, it was a case of the oppostion being poor rather than the home side being good
I think in a nutshell thats what I'd be saying too. There's no doubt - Galway have class players who can do serious damage if given time and space. However, at best the jury is still out on Galways prospects this year. I suppose all counties bar a few notable exceptions get carried away with a good result, not leat my own. After all - those who know what they're talking about are always in the vast minority come championship time. We will know a lot more about Galway after they play Leitrim.
Where is the Galway - Leitrim game? If it's up in Carrick, Galway will have a right battle on their hands. If it's in Galway, I'd expect Leitrim to stick with them for 40 minutes or so, but Galway to pull away.
PS> I know conditions were nightmare yesterday. Hard ground + Rain = Greasy ball and embarrassment, but how poor was Ros' handling? In the first 20-25 minutes they couldn't hold a thing, and Galway didn't seem to be half as troubled by it.
AZ - its in Salthill. They played in Carrick last year.
That's a bit of a pity. I can't see Leitrim beating Galway in Salthill. I would have given them a puncher's chance in Carrick.
Galway V leitrim is in Galway. They played in Carrick last yr when leitrim ran them to 3 or 4 pts and could of been closer but for wasteful shooting.
2yrs ago they played in salthill and it was Galway 1-10 leitrim 1-8 if my memory serves me right. It would not suprise me leitrim beating them with a free taker of mulligans class and maxwell FF they will cause Galway plenty of problems. Connaght isnt quite so clear cut anymore with the big 2 not improving.
Quote from: SLIGONIAN on May 19, 2008, 11:37:59 AM
Moysider, I know your a Mayoman, it doesnt suprise me how passionate you are at talking up this Galway team. But this Galway team is nothing to be feared. It was a piss poor performance yday and they know it. Sugar coat all they want. It was 6-4 at HT against a ros side devoid of any quality on the ball apart from glimpses from no 13.
Absolutely ridiculous to say it was a piss poor performance. Galway won by 16 points for goodness sake! Would Sligo have beaten that Ros team by 16 points? I seriously doubt it. Albeit Ros lost a man I still think the winning margin would have ended up somewhere around 10+. Yes much of the first half was very scrappy on a difficult surface but everyone expected Ros to at the very least come flying out of the traps and make a decent fist of it for a while anyway. Which they did as they are proud footballers. In the first half it was almost impossible to look good as every time a Galway player got within 40 yards of the Roscommon posts he was fouled. There was no fluency in the game as the ref was shagged out from blowing his whistle every 10 seconds. In many ways it was a no win fixture for Galway. If they won the game by 3 or 4 points everyone would be saying how bad Galway are. If they won the game by 16 points everyone would be saying how bad Roscommon are. Yesterday was the type of game where in the past few years we might have scraped home by 4 or 5 points so in that sense it was an improvement although tempered by the fact that Ros are in a bit of a slump right now.
Yes the Galway midfield is probably the weakest area in the team even though Kerry were the only team who really got on top of Galway in this area in the league and they were helped by the fact that they had three midfielders playing that day in Dara O'Se, Seamus Scanlon and Tommy Griffin. Obviously Joe Bergin is a big loss but we just have to get on with it now without him. Incidentially I didn't think Cullinane was all that bad yesterday and the stats show that midfield was fairly evenly contested overall. Not a huge amount of clean ball won but so much of midfield now is about claiming the breaking ball. Big Barry was probably a bit lucky that he didn't get the line even though I think he's more clumsy than anything. Equally Donal Shine was fairly lucky not to see the line after the elbow he stuck on Paul Doherty.
I still think a bit of rejigging is needed as far as team selection goes but overall it was only a reasonable start and we probably won't be able to tell much about this Galway team until the Connacht final and possibly not even until after that as games against Mayo (if they win their own game) are a bit of a lottery. I don't believe we are contenders to win an AI but if one of two things went right we could conceivably make a semi-final but I think that would be the limit of our ambitions. Equally we could lose a Connacht final and lose the next qualifier. It depends what shape other teams bar Kerry are in this year and that remains to be seen yet.
The remarks of the Galway contributors have been fairly measured as you'd expect after the last few years so I don't know where this fanciful notion has come from that we're now wildly optimistic about success? We're far from world beaters but neither are we piss poor.
QuoteWould Sligo have beaten that Ros team by 16 points? I seriously doubt it.
I doubt it too but I fail to see the relevance.
Quote from: mouview on May 19, 2008, 12:40:55 PM
This was by far Galway's best championship opener in, er, 12 months. Like last year, it was a case of the oppostion being poor rather than the home side being good. (Beware of the hype-machine being driven by GBFM and OTT!) I don't like saying it but Ros' were simply dire - it must be really dispiriting for their good support to have to watch some of yesterday's stuff. As for Galway, it's not that the players have improved much but that the style has - kudos to Sammon for that. However the weaknesses at midfield remain, though I thought Big Bad BC wasn't as bad as some would suggest - again he mostly tried to win primary possession and lay it off as soon as he could. Breathnach huffed and puffed and didn't do much. Matt Clancy; typical, I spend the year giving out about him and he goes and scores 1-3 from play. His lack of composure on the ball is still evident though (see first half) and in many ways is symptomatic of Galway in general - good against lesser opposition but found wanting when the quality is stepped up. Nothing against the lad, he's a good honest player, but only when he scores 1-3 against the likes of Tyrone, Kerry or Dublin can we say that Galway will have improved significantly. Beware also of those (Anthony Davis) who say Galway have a strong subs bench; not really - Bane came on yesterday and did very little, somewhat typically making a smather of one of the 2 good chances he got. The good bits from yesterday were the performance of Doherty in goal, Coyne at CHB (not too bad) and the enduring class of PJ all through. A Connacht (!) final in C'bar will be a good examination of where Galway are at present.
It will show more about where Mayo are I think as Galway are the team to beat in Connacht this year. No point in denying it. (Sorry Sligo boys)
We are the ones with Nestor last time I checked ::). Its good to see the complacency and getting carried away stuff written here. I can only hope it transmits to the players.
Mayolads bigging up Galway so they get the underdogs tag in the final. Mayo and Galway talking of connaght final. If yer so brave why dont ye just start a Mayo Galway connaght final thread now ;) and see what happens????.
Quote from: SLIGONIAN on May 19, 2008, 07:08:42 PM
We are the ones with Nestor last time I checked
We know that. You haven't stopped mouthing about it since.
Well what I feared might happen did. Any team with only one natural defender is going to be in trouble unless they can score bucketloads.
While we had chances - 4 goal chances and a number of bad place kicks - unfortunately the whole point is to take them.
Anyway yesterday is gone- forgrt it and let's prepare for the Qualifiers.
p s - message to Ros Co Board - sit down and think out an oul' strategy for managing Co teams for the next 3 or 4 years. ;)
Quote from: SLIGONIAN on May 19, 2008, 07:08:42 PM
We are the ones with Nestor last time I checked ::).
Yes, last time I checked too and don't give me that rollin eyes... I just think that Sligo got Galway on the hop last year in the final. Of course you'll probably come back and say something else with rollin eyes. I'm not looking for underdogs tag either. I'm just stating the truth as Galway seem to up the physical stakes when they play Mayo and
IF we manage to beat Sligo this year they would probably do the same.
IF they beat Leitrim of course.
Only had an armchair view of the match yesterday, had a family thing. Thought it was a relatively poor performance by Galway and a shambolic one from Roscommon. I thought Ros would put it up to us but they fell away badly. To be honest I am not sure how much further on we are than last year. I think we are in a bad way in midfield and better midfielders could really go to town with us there. The backs weren't great either giving up a couple of goal chances. Sice had a poor game I thought and will be under pressure from Mullahy. FB didn't do much and will probably lose out to Nicky Joyce too.
Good points were the performance of Paul Conroy and Matthew Clancy who really kept the scoreboard ticking over but truthfully we were no great shakes. It would be nice to get another game against Leitrim and to be honest we should be winning this well if we are thinking of going far in the championship.
It is very hard to get a sense of where we are at present. If we got Nicky Joyce and Armstrong back to bolster the attack and also it may be no harm to try either Blake or Damien Burke at midfield, may not have the height but have better mobility and footballing skills and may be capable of getting a few scores.
Quote from: GalwayBayBoy on May 19, 2008, 07:27:43 PM
Quote from: SLIGONIAN on May 19, 2008, 07:08:42 PM
We are the ones with Nestor last time I checked
We know that. You haven't stopped mouthing about it since.
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 :o.
Fair play to the Sligo lads putting the boot in over the Galway performance and our chances for the year, tis time for ye to make the most of the reigning Connacht champions tag because I don't see ye beating Mayo at all.
The sad thing is that a lot of what has been said negatively about Galway is right on the money, how any Galway fans can have a even mildly optimistic outlook for the year is beyond me. The scoreline at the end means nothing, that Roscommon team was one of the worst inter-county teams I've seen play championship against Galway. The 1st half was really terrible stuff, a half decent team would have been well on top of Galway by half time, Roscommon were abject though.
In mitigation for both teams the conditions were not conducive for playing good football; the rain before and during the 1st half made the surface like an ice rink, but even this cannot explain all the bad football on display.
You will not win championship matches against top class opposition without some semblance of a decent midfield. Cullinane would have been sent off if it was a league game, would have been harsh if he was but I felt at the time that it was a very stupid trip on the Roscommon player when Sice was already going to get the loose ball - could he really complain if he got another yellow for it. Besides that I thought that he didn't have a good game, Lydon didn't have a good game either. A half decent midfield is going to destroy what we have at the minute.
Positives for Galway were Clancy and Conroy, I thought that after his early free miss that Conroy might drop the head as a young lad but he had a fine game after that and struck the rest of his frees very well. Clancy continued his great league form where he was always amongst Galways best performers during most matches. Couldn't fault Fitzgerald either, was back to his best yesterday.
Can't see Galway doing much this year based on yesterdays performance, in fairness Nicky Joyce returning to the forwards should make a difference as he was our best player last year but outside that there's not too many on the sideline that are a lot better than what is on the field already will come into the side. Same old craic as last year I'm afraid, although at least the football isn't as dour as the Ford era.
Regardless of Sligo's status as champions, that was last year and I'll be very surprised if Mayo don't walk Connacht, they are a better team than Sligo and if they are tuned in at all they'll win. If the next Galway match was in Carrick they might well be facing Leitrim in the final, if Leitrim can replicate the display they gave last year in Carrick, they have a good chance of causing an upset in Salthill.
In fairness to Sligo lads its just me. Im doing Galway a favour bringing them back down to earth ;). I just gave an honest assessment of a poor performance against a poor team by an average team.
No one does see us beating Mayo tell me something I dont know....its same old same old talk in connaght. Last yr the same, Next yr it'll be the same even if we retain it. Galway v Mayo connaght final and for the reigning connaght champions to think that they can get there again delusional ::). Sorry lads but I think we can but as I said we need to get right team out first.
Quote from: An Fhairche Abu on May 19, 2008, 10:20:05 PM
Regardless of Sligo's status as champions, that was last year and I'll be very surprised if Mayo don't walk Connacht, they are a better team than Sligo and if they are tuned in at all they'll win. If the next Galway match was in Carrick they might well be facing Leitrim in the final, if Leitrim can replicate the display they gave last year in Carrick, they have a good chance of causing an upset in Salthill.
In fairness success for Galway this year would be winning a game in Croke Park after hopefully winning Connacht. Now maybe it says more about the standard in Connacht than anything else but certainly a provincial title is well within the radar of that Galway team as it is most Galway teams. Even average ones. Mayo are very much in the same boat as ourselves in being no world beaters albeit they have the home advantage this year which could swing it their way.
Win Connacht and see what you get coming out of the qualifiers. We don't know what the standard of the other teams is yet this year but I don't see many great teams around at present bar Kerry. I see a lot of teams that are much of a muchness but one or two of them will probably come out of the pack eventually.
Quote from: SLIGONIAN on May 19, 2008, 10:14:59 PM
Quote from: GalwayBayBoy on May 19, 2008, 07:27:43 PM
Quote from: SLIGONIAN on May 19, 2008, 07:08:42 PM
We are the ones with Nestor last time I checked
We know that. You haven't stopped mouthing about it since.
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 :o.
I for one never mentioned the hop word. As regards Connacht being poor[ which you said yourself in an earlier post] when has it been otherwise? However there are 2 Connacht teams in Div 1 of the league but the point will be made that the league does nt count _does it? Sligo being in Div 4 does nt make F**K all difference on 22/6, makes them more motivated if anything. The reality for Connacht is that only Galway have won AI in last 57 years and counting and are the most likely to do so again- much as it kills me to admit it. Not bigging up Galway, they have less players than Mayo but have a smaller gap to bridge, less baggage and a more economical type of player who is better suited to win the big pot. Galway scraped out of Connacht in '98, and were whacked in first round in '01. Not that I think they ll win it this year but if Kerry trip up they have as good as credentials as anybody.
Sure they looked muck at times last Sun but thats nothing to do with it. They won they have enough pieces for the jigsaw and a few more pending to be still around mid/late August. Mayo on the other hand are ????? Signs at the moment are worrying rather than encouraging - in fact if I sat down and thought about it... depressing. They have 2 home venues to win a provincial title and if they dont do so it will be a disaster for us. Nothing to do with opposition but home advantage must be taken advantage of. This is where the 'rebuilders for the future ' come up short. Next year the team might be a bit more mature or whatever but a trip to Mark. Park or Salthill anybody? Complacency has nothing to do with it either.
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.
Quote from: SLIGONIAN on May 19, 2008, 10:14:59 PM
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 :o.
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.
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)
QuoteInteresting 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.
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".
Quote from: Galforever on May 20, 2008, 12:44:43 PM
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 ;D
Quote from: Death Valley on May 20, 2008, 01:58:50 PM
Quote from: Galforever on May 20, 2008, 12:44:43 PM
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 ;D
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.
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.
QuoteCullinane 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.
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.
Quote from: IolarCoisCuain on May 20, 2008, 09:56:45 AM
Quote from: SLIGONIAN on May 19, 2008, 10:14:59 PM
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 :o.
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.
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....
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!
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.
Quote from: Galforever on May 20, 2008, 03:23:32 PM
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.
Have to totally disagree with you re Cullinane GBB. I've seen both himself and Coleman at club level. Coleman has a temper alright but I dont think there is much intent with alot of what he does. He's just a very wholehearted full blooded player. Cullinane is sly and cyncial. Think you've been very kind to him in your comments overall. He's clumsy when it comes to the skills but not when it comes to hitting.
You might be right about the ref taking Shine's youth in to consideration with his foul on the keeper. Still think he would have been most unfortunate to get a red. Cox was very stupid alright to do what he did. Especially someone of his experience.
Agree with the poster who said the ref didnt kick 10 points for Galway. He didnt alter the overall result.
Who was the junior ref?
Quote from: Farrandeelin on May 20, 2008, 03:41:26 PM
Who was the junior ref?
A certain Mr Corcoran from Islandeady!
Quote from: ross matt on May 20, 2008, 03:40:10 PM
Have to totally disagree with you re Cullinane GBB. I've seen both himself and Coleman at club level. Coleman has a temper alright but I dont think there is much intent with alot of what he does. He's just a very wholehearted full blooded player. Cullinane is sly and cyncial. Think you've been very kind to him in your comments overall. He's clumsy when it comes to the skills but not when it comes to hitting.
You might be right about the ref taking Shine's youth in to consideration with his foul on the keeper. Still think he would have been most unfortunate to get a red. Cox was very stupid alright to do what he did. Especially someone of his experience.
Agree with the poster who said the ref didnt kick 10 points for Galway. He didnt alter the overall result.
Fair enough matt. Good luck to Roscommon for the rest of the championship anyway. A win or two would be something to build on for next year.
QuoteThat 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.
yeah, I agree but he was giving most of the iffy decisions to Roscommon!
By the way, I heard a few comments on the radio from ros fans saying the future is good and stating how ye had young players on that junior team. I dont think I ever saw a match as poor as that one or a team so undeserving to win it. If Leitrim had any forwards at all, they would have won!
Thanks GBB.
There's a chance they can build for the qualifiers with 9 weeks to work on it. Plus Ryan has pulled the likes of experienced heads David Casey, John Whyte, Paul Noone back on to the panel where he also has Frankie Dolan. O'Neill should get fitter (although after his antics again on Sunday I dont think he's ever going to grow up). Gary Cox could be pushed in to centre forward. That would give the team a spine and take pressure of Keenan, Shine, O'Gara, Mullaney etc who are all in the 19-20 bracket and even with all ireland minor medals in their pockets they still cant carry a senior intercounty side.
However that's all clutching at straws really. The last number of years have been a shambles and the structure of the panel is all over the place. Young promising minors having their morale destroyed after heavy hammerings in league and championship....... 28-31 year olds surplus to requirements leaving a massive gap in maturity and experience....a 30 year old manager with no experience of same even at club level.....
I think a good run in the qualfiers even if it was achieved would only gloss over alot of the above problems. We need Fergie O'Donnell to be given the reins and whatever backroom team he needs to build from bottom up. Then the patience to wait a mininmum of 3 years for us to become competitive and credible again as a football force.
Coleman did a fair bit of clipping in Salthill last year and lets just say it was noted. Not that we ve anybody about anymore to put him in his place. Cullinane is mostly clumsy and is so big and awkward he d hurt you even if he did nt mean to but sometimes he certainly means to. His kicking out the last day was pure petulance - usually he s cuter than that. He should have walked for it. I d be worried about our ability to deal with this if we meet. What Cox did was silly. If I m not mistaken he was on a black plus the earlier yellow. If that s the case it was a mistake not to replace him. I often think the black book is the ref giving the line a chance to get their man off, especially a defender. Not a fan of McQuillan and as for Corcoran.......... Throw in Duffy who ref the minor match on Sat.
Yeah Cox was on a yellow and a black alright Moysider but in fairness they probably didnt have many options on the line re taking him off.
Eamon Towey had been warming up since just after half time. Presume he was on the way for him.