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6 steps for the 2nd goal. Tierney best player in country in current form!

If you'd said Sean Kelly I'd go along with it. Absolute machine for Galway currently.

Would prefer and I think we need to see McDaid play further forward to be honest. Our HF line can be static and lack penetration a bit; McDaid is very good at bursting through at pace and getting defenders turned, which opens up opportunities for supporting attackers coming off the shoulder.

The 2 provinces are imbalanced. There are 4/5 decent teams in Munster and currently only 2 in Leinster.
Leinster has Antrim, Westmeath and Dublin who would all be at a lower level than Waterford.
Ger Gilroy on OTB suggested knockout provincials followed by round robins of the top 8/10 to find the top 4/6.

If Wexford smarten up a bit, there's no guarantee Kilkenny will reach the Leinster final. If Wexford beat Dublin this weekend, their home game with Kilkenny is winner-take-all. For all the criticism of Galway, Kilkenny are in no way convincing either. Lot of hold-and-cold hurlers in their squad and TJ Reid is not near fit as yet.

There has been a Covid-like outbreak of wideitis in Galway this past Spring, affecting both Seniors and U20s. If the Seniors brush up on this, and their use of possession, (I counted at least 5 KK scores last Sunday that came from situations where Galway had the ball), they'll improve a good bit. The team balance still isn't perfect; Whelan is obviously carrying an injury and Conor Cooney's shocking inconsistency shows no sign of abating. Fintan Burke's return should allow Joe Cooney to return to the HF line, giving that area a badly needed boost. Having been a Minor winner in 2015, it's just now that Evan Niland is finally nailing down a spot on the team. (Marty Morrissey told us that 22-year old Jack Grealish was also on that team!).

Anyone any idea what's the most amount of reds a player has potted in a frame and still lost?

A disappointing defeat for Galway, who will rue missed chances coming down the stretch. Sligo would have felt hard done by had they lost however. Very good contest it must be said, played without rancour or cynicism; I don't think the ref carded anyone throughout. Hope Sligo build on this now and have a real go at the championship.

Absolutely shocking!

[Theirs to lose again this year.]

This is a wee bit depressing. Limerick are just a mile above everyone else.

Limerick on a different level.

Theirs to lose again this year.
 
Getting stronger and stronger.  KK will be disappointed with their low scoring total. Just swamped by Limerick.

Possibly, but no AI was won in April and this Limerick team have never peaked so soon in the season. All they beat on Sunday was a very mediocre Kilkenny team (under a new manager) who have been masquerading as an effective one for a few seasons now. If nothing else, Limerick's trip through Munster will become more fraught as opposing counties will start wearing timber off them I predict. They're bound to pick up a few injuries, suspensions, lads losing form etc. in their perambulations around the golden vale over the next 7 weeks.

Well-known stage actor and director Maeliosa Stafford has passed away. Sydney-domiciled latterly, but associated with Druid and other Irish theatre companies.

https://www.rte.ie/culture/2023/0411/1376406-death-announced-of-ex-druid-artistic-director-maeliosa-stafford/

Pre-tournament expectations with Rory often fail in contact with the first round. Really needs to look in the mirror every morning before he goes out and say "Just hit the fairway".

Derek Duggan's in '91 worthy of mention; last kick of game to equalise.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3eW_QhfrRA

https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/gaelic-games/2023/03/27/mayos-request-for-division-one-final-to-be-played-on-saturday-turned-down/

Mayo's request for the Division One Football League final to be played on Saturday has been turned down – with the clash against Galway going ahead in Croke Park on Sunday at 4pm

As it should have been. Giving Mayo an extra day to prepare for the Roscommon game would be slightly disadvantaging the latter.

I'm not sure how that stacks up. Roscommon have 14 days to prepare for the game against Mayo. Mayo have 7 (or 8 if they got the Saturday). It would lessen Roscommon's advantage by a day, but they would still have had 6 days advantage and a game less played.

Acceding to Mayo's request though would be seen as the GAA contravening their own fixtures list and being disproportionately (albeit slightly) in favour of one county over another.

Good win yesterday, Galway have got what they want out of the league in terms of giving more players significant game time and having lads put the hand up to give the mgt team selection headaches. After the Roscommon game (it might be the worst IC match I was ever at) I wouldn't have given Galway any chance of making the final so while it's been tough sledding since, Galway have ground out the results in a workmanlike and professional manner. While it mightn't have set pluses racing and there's no wow factor to Galway at the minute compared to Mayo, there's a lot to be said for just finding a way to stay in matches and not lose all the same.

Tierney is the one player who has really upped his game to a new level, has been in outstanding form from the Tyrone game on. His soaring one handed mark from a kick out yesterday is the kind of really impactful play that he is now regularly delivering, hopefully that will continue on into the final next week and then the championship.

As for next Sunday, well there is no doubt that Mayo have clearly been the team of the league, they have played the best football and have swatted aside some top teams along the way. If Kerry or the Rossies had got through yesterday, I'd have fully expected Mayo to beat them and win the final. Now that it's Galway there my head is telling me the same story but the heart doesn't want to listen to it!

Galway have lost a lot of finals in CP since the 2017 Division Two final and no harm for the team to get winners medals if possible, not the end of the world if they don't (thinking of the Div Two final last year, which turned out to be forgotten about and irrelevant to the rest of the year) but again, there are a good number of those players who have lost finals in CP (and won them to be fair to the 2020 U20s and the lads with AI club medals) but Galway could do with finally winning a league, a very tough assignment awaits however.
I would caveat that one of our truly important players in McDaid - who is built for CP and has played his best stuff in a Galway jersey there - is out by the sound of things, that is a massive loss from the team that played in Castlebar to open the league.

A very heartening display and one which the squad should take confidence from. Even in the absence of Silke and Molloy, our defence has graduated into the meanest in the land and are working superbly as a unit. Another Corofin player, Power in goal, has perhaps given PJ a headache now too. Our forwards aren't scoring with the freedom of last year but have the habit now of coming up with scores at key times instead. Tierney's form in the league has been on a decent upward curve, since the Tyrone match anyway, and is one of the main reasons for our progress to the final. Beside him, the quiet man, Heaney, also puts in a great shift - he was absolutely gassed when swapped out near the finish yesterday.

The final will be interesting; Mayo's (scoring) form has been better than ours, they swatted Kerry aside while we had to play nearly flat-out yesterday to win I thought, but we can afford to go harder at it and collect a title rarer than Sam in the county.

https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/gaelic-games/2023/03/27/mayos-request-for-division-one-final-to-be-played-on-saturday-turned-down/

Mayo's request for the Division One Football League final to be played on Saturday has been turned down – with the clash against Galway going ahead in Croke Park on Sunday at 4pm

As it should have been. Giving Mayo an extra day to prepare for the Roscommon game would be slightly disadvantaging the latter.

[Galway - Grinding out results - if they can get Comer & Walsh firing on all cylinders they will kick out. Great midfield]

Mayo - Another year another false dawn
Galway - Grinding out results - if they can get Comer & Walsh firing on all cylinders they will kick out. Great midfield
Kerry - No need to even think about peaking yet - currently just going through the motions
Rossies - Many teams in the league seemed to underestimate them - will be happy with the finish but do nothing as usual come cship
Armagh - Not a clue what McGeeney has done with this team. From all out attack to all out defence. Deserve to go down
Tyrone - Starting to come good and I still dont think we have clicked. Will be a test for any team in the round robins
Monaghan - Could have the great escape yet again - wont count come cship time unless McManus & Mcarron are 100%
Donegal - Shambles of a set up on and off the field

Midfield for Galway is their particular weakness, as McDaid has been carrying an injury for a while and Conroy will struggle on the quicker summer ground. Their consistency this spring has been their defense which is refreshingly miserly, especially given the absence of Silke and Molloy and, at times, Glynn. A sharp contrast to 12 months ago when they were the league's leading scorers if I recall.

Banshees of Inisherin went home empty handed after receiving 9 nominations. It wasn't a great movie to be fair.

I found it hard to understand the fuss about it alright. A pretty slight movie about two friends who fall out. 'Three Billboards...' was much better than it I thought. That said, it was disappointing for most of our contingent to come home empty-handed. Momentum and late-runs count for a lot at the Oscars.