Connacht senior football championship 2025

[Armagh18]

Mayo will be sick.
Galway hyped up too much.
Either donegal or armagh will have their mark in the neutral game.

Ref was v v v poor. Where was the polcing of steps like his compadre gough last week?

Galway will be alright. Take Donegals 2 best players out and you'd notice. Armagh, Donegal and Galway all been fairly well tested and stood up so far. 3 good sides.

[Maroon Manc]

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.

[tbrick18]

For me, Galway are up there with the best teams in the country right now. When you look at who they didn't have playing against Mayo and they still got the win it was some achievement.
With Walsh, Comer etc back in, they're arguably the strongest team out there.

[fearsiuil]

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.

[galwayman]

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.

[Manning18]

Strange for O'Flaherty to be near ever present and one of the better performers in the league, to now being passed out by the likes of Molloy and Sweeney for game time. Sweeney I can understand to an extent because it's worked when playing against a wind in the past, but still would imagine DOF being a better ball carrier

Glynn is a good man marker but when teams press high like Mayo did and other will when Galway are against the wind, he's not strong enough carrying balls. DOF and certainly Hernon are better options. The overall mgmt decisions were a bit strange. There was 4 or 5 very good displays in there but plenty of mediocre ones also

Mightn't be the next day but I think it's undoubted that Cooke will start for most of the remaining year, he's too comfortable on the ball and a scoring threat in a team that lacks shooters. Pushing Kelly back from midfield and maybe silke back a line would make sense. Would hope and expect Hernon to make a serious push for a place now also, maybe at the expense of Fitzy or Glynn

[GalwayBayBoy]

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.

[mouview]

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.

Surprised at Molloy's errors a bit, as he's usually tidy enough in an attacking context. Cathal Sweeney is mobile and energetic but I don't think he offers anything more than the likes of Daniel O'Flaherty or even Sam O'Neill off the bench. With the return of Cooke, whom I thought was up to speed straight away, Sweeney may be pushed further down the pecking order again. Don't know if no. 6 suits Mulkerrins, who was turned over (legally of not) a couple of times, leading to Mayo scoring chances. He and Fitzgerald are our weakest defenders I have to think, while Jack Glynn is also struggling for form a bit. This is one area of concern, but men like John Daly, Hernon and O'Flaherty can come in there to bolster things I feel. Possibility even of dropping Silke to corner-back, McDaid to wing-back and start Cooke in the HF line to give an extra attacking dimension to the side. If only we could get you-know-who x 2 fit.

I wouldn't infer too much about Galway's chances later this season on last Sunday's display. Matches with the auld enemy are always close and rarely follow form lines anyway, particularly Connacht finals in Castlebar. We had tight games with them in 2022 and 2024, both years we reached the AI final.

[Manning18]

On your last paragraph mouview

It also took Galway 15-20m to get up to speed in the game at all, a clear sign that Mayo were ready and had the game targeted with how quick they were out of the blocks. That was a long period of time wasted with the big wind advantage, not helped whatsoever by Reape taking a minute over every kickout and not being pulled on it. I do wonder if playing against it in the first half is the better option, time seems to get away from you in the first half so easily

There was also a 3 up breach Galway were pulled for in the first half which is absolutely criminal

I think adding all that in, Galway played the better football against a decent D1 side while missing important players. Wasn't great by any means but positives to take

[mouview]

On your last paragraph mouview

It also took Galway 15-20m to get up to speed in the game at all, a clear sign that Mayo were ready and had the game targeted with how quick they were out of the blocks. That was a long period of time wasted with the big wind advantage, not helped whatsoever by Reape taking a minute over every kickout and not being pulled on it. I do wonder if playing against it in the first half is the better option, time seems to get away from you in the first half so easily

There was also a 3 up breach Galway were pulled for in the first half which is absolutely criminal

I think adding all that in, Galway played the better football against a decent D1 side while missing important players. Wasn't great by any means but positives to take

Don't know how they got pinged for the 3-up infringement as it's usually noticeable that the forward players are always looking around them before venturing back the field. Strange too that Reape was the one delaying the kickouts  - Gleeson seems to have finally learned his lesson in this regard.

[JoG2]

Mayo will be sick.
Galway hyped up too much.
Either donegal or armagh will have their mark in the neutral game.

Ref was v v v poor. Where was the polcing of steps like his compadre gough last week?

You talk of hype and then hype the hyped up Donegal. Can't see Armagh version 2.0 beating Galway, never mind Donegal in knockout football

Armagh really do live rent free in your head!

3 teams in 2 sentences there Coco and again all 3 in the post above

[flowerpot]

Rent free lad, you know it.