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He didn't score yesterday but Matthew Thompson laid on two great goal chances for Galway with delicate little foot passes in behind the Armagh defence. He's one of those players that always seems to have time on the ball. Because he's so new I don't think opposition have noticed yet how much of Galway's play goes through him already.

If there's one thing you have to hand to Galway it's the confidence they bring and respect they have from all n sundry whilst doing absolutely nothing .  Scrapped by a very average (general feeling not mine ) mayo team in Connacht final
Beaten by the beaten docket of the dubs (again the general feeling )

Scrapped a draw against again not a fancied Derry team .
All this on top of bottling an all Ireland final last year (bottling it , is losing a final when odds on to win it )

Yet they still strut their stuff as if they've won 3 in a row , it's admirable if nothing else . Media never stop fawning over them , it's quite incredible the amount of superlatives have been used to describe each and every Galway player .

It's an awful shame the dubs didn't have their shooting boots on the last day and Con missing was massive too cause Armagh would be all out next day if they needed a result . Find it hard to believe Armagh would be foolish enough to go all out to win a dead rubber now the way it's panned out
. Galway win in that one , Dubs / Derry hard to call .

Donegal and Tyrone victories in our group will see our bucks bow out for the year im afraid . Mayo won't cope with the counter attack speed of Donegal , they'll cut us right open down the centre for 3-18 id guess (4 two pointers ) . Murphy will have a tussle with mcbrien, Murphy will complain to man in black and mcbrien will then receive a red card . Its Murphy's rules out there his receding hairline brings an aura of authority like an old school inspector.

Tyrone were lethargic against Mayo , that one week turnaround is an awful hindrance , they'll easily account for Cavan .

Galway are one lucky devil's of a team. Poxed how they avoided defeat at the weekend which would have knocked them out of the championship and now face Armagh who are already into the last 8.  Galway also lucky to win the last two Connacht finals against your lot and All-Ireland series games against Donegal,Dublin last year. Given their luck one can't rule them out in the All-Ireland series, as they say better to born lucky than rich.

As for Mayo,  you comfortably beat Tyrone in Omagh can be no excuses not to get at least a draw against Donegal in your home from home venue in Hyde Park.

Aye really lucky, 3 years in a row their reward for winning Connacht was to be drawn in the toughest group. Lost Finnerty 10 minutes into last years final with Walsh & Comer already a shadow of themselves due too injury and their captain Sean Kelly nowhere near fit enough either, so exceptionally lucky!!

If anything I'd say we've been far more unlucky than lucky. Went into last year's final with 4 big players half fit.

I mean if it's considered lucky to win tight games then does that mean they were unlucky to lose last year's AI final and the Dublin game this year? Or to draw the Derry game last weekend. All games that went down to the final kick of the game.

What do our Galway friends here make of another trip to Ulster this year?  In fairness, Breffni Park is the right choice given it's capacity for what promises to be a bumper crowd.

No complaints with going to Cavan but the throw in time is a joke and will put a good few off traveling. Especially those with kids. From the Galway side anyway. You're talking about many getting home at 10. Even later for anyone from west Galway.

Have Derry a chance v Dublin?

Definitely although the Dubs might have Con back which would be huge for them.

The whole championship so far has been teams playing a game. Winning a big game. Then slacking off and getting beaten in their next game. Or teams underperforming badly and then producing a big performance in their next game to win that.

Only Kerry have kept winning and that's probably because they've had a run of fairly handy games so far.

In my book that was an exciting game with Dublin still the masters of creating the space for the easy point. I thought Galway rushed their last play giving Dublin plenty of time with their kick out and Cluxton just aced that pass. Galway could have held onto possession and score the equalising point after the hooter.

Ah I think Tierney had to take the point there. He had space to score. Had he recycled it no guarantee they manage to work the score. Problem is they couldn't get enough pressure on the kickout and Cluxton picked out a man in midfield. Tired bodies and minds at that stage though.

Thought we were very flat today. Especially in the first half. Mentally we seemed off it until they got a bit of a rocket at half time. The Dubs could target the game from 3 weeks out. I think we would have got away with it today against most teams but the Dubs were hurt from the Meath defeat, were well up for it and came with a gameplan. That said it was a 1 point game and we basically gifted them a free goal. Few bad handling errors in defence handed them another couple of points in the second half.

We had one shot cleared off the line and Walsh should have buried his goal chance as well so we had enough chances despite the kickouts not going well at all. Young Thompson is improving at a rate of knots but it's against the likes of the Dubs where you need your Comer's on the field. Don't think we'll see him the next two games either though. When the game was in the melting pot it was Kilkenny calling the tune. Thought he was superb. While Galway's big two forwards were  sitting up in the stand.

Thought Bugler would be back for the Dubs this week?

[Mulkerrin had to be subbed as was very error prone]

Just watched the game back there. One thing I didn't notice live was that Matthew Thompson had a hand in a lot of Galway scores. For a young lad he seems to be a very intelligent player with his movement and link up play. And is very comfortable on the ball.

I watched it back too, he was excellent. Along with Conroy, McDaid And McGrath who I thought were all Galways best players. McGrath wasn't on O'Donoghue when he licked his points either, Mayo's tactic of bringing out O'Donoghue in that first half backfired as it showed that McGrath has more to his game then defending.

Thompson so calm on the ball, really looks the part in all departments.

Lots of talk about the ref, have a look at that free count; A lot of decisions went again Galway too.

Mixed impact from the bench, Molloy made some crazy decisions on the ball and Sweeney had no impact. Great to see Cooke back but he didn't much of an impact whereas Hernon was excellent when he came on, surprised Flaherty didn't come on; His ball carrying would have been a huge help during the 2nd half.

Cooke caught 2/3 big ones and was involved in general play for period on pitch. Thompson has the look of a very classy player, could be an old style 11 or play wherever needed in forwards. Galway have a serious squad now.

Few defenders lost their lustre which will be a slight concern to management. Mulkerrin had to be subbed as was very error prone, Fitzgerald was being talked up as the under rated one subbed and was it Glynn that struggled betimes. Haven't watched game back yet but lack of quality the big difference between sides.

He is a serious weak link in the team. Armagh targeted him in the AI final. They just let him have the ball as they knew he was zero threat and was only looking ton draw a defender to pop it off to somebody else.
He lacks pace and is just not good enough in possession for this level of football.

Thought he defended quite well the last day. Won some 50/50 balls and made some interceptions. He's just not great under pressure when asked to carry the ball out of defence. And isn't a threat to shoot let alone score. Bit unlucky as both his turnovers happened close to each other and both led to Mayo scores. Others lost possession as well but it didn't lead to scores.

Just watched the game back there. One thing I didn't notice live was that Matthew Thompson had a hand in a lot of Galway scores. For a young lad he seems to be a very intelligent player with his movement and link up play. And is very comfortable on the ball.

Whoever is in charge of underage development in Galway should be getting their P45. Since the minors won the AI in 2022 results at both U17 and U20 have been absolutely abysmal for the most part.

13 of that Galway published team started in last years All Ireland final.  Sean Kelly and Matt Thompson in for Comer, Walsh.  Had Galway someone other than a half fit Shane Walsh was on frees that day Galway could well be defending All Ireland champions right now. 

True but Comer nearly beat Mayo by himself in last year's Connacht final. Walsh nearly beat Mayo by himself in this year's league. Those lads are difference makers when they are fit and available. Which is increasingly rare unfortunately.

Hard to win any championship game without your two best forwards. Especially a local derby. Although it shows the hard work that's been put into the squad in recent years that it still looks a strong squad even without them. But that's some serious quality that will be missing.

Zero benefit to winning your province really. Roscommon, hammered in a Connacht semi final will probably end up in the handiest group, relatively speaking, of all the Connacht sides. I know 3 teams get out anyway but it's a weird anomaly.