Galway vs. Monaghan: Pearse Stadium, 14th Feb. 2010

[galwayman]

Our lads needed a performance today after the Mayo debacle. Was a decent enough win in the end.It wasn't as comfortable as the scoreline suggests though and if Finlay had not been sent off then who knows how it would have finished. Monaghan had come back into the game in a big way by that stage but we pulled away with the extra man and actually had 2 extra men for the last 5 minutes or so.
We probably just about broke even at midfield today though as usual we caught very little clean ball.Conroy did well today but Bergin had another poor game.I actually cannot remember the last time I saw him catch a kickout! His shooting was very wild as well.
Sean Armstrong was the best player on the pitch today by far.Outstanding performance by him.Meehan had a quiet first half but improved in the 2nd period.Nicky did well enough also and Danny Cummins won a lot of ball and drew frees using his pace when he came on.Bane and Niall Coleman were relatively quiet.
I am not usually a fan of Fiachra Breathnach but I thought he was doing well enough and had kicked 2 points when he was replaced early in the 2nd half.
I would worry about our corner backs though.Both actually did okay today but I'm not sure if they would live with quality corner forwards come championship time. Fitzy and Damien Burke will give us more options in there hopefully by then. Fahy is more of a wing back anyway.
Gary O'Donnell to me just isn't county standard full stop.The Monaghan number 11 was just too pacey for him in the first half especially. Bradshaw and Blake were both good. Bradshaw is a class act.

I would agree with the previous poster re the constant frees for illegal handpasses.It was very frustrating to watch it. Fair enough the ref is only implementing the rule but his application of it seemed very dubious to me.There were times on both sides where there didn't seem to be anything wrong with the handpass yet the ref gave a free.I would say there was probably 3 or 4 points to each team that came from handy frees caused by the handpass.
The sooner they bin this stupid experiment the better as far as I'm concerned. It could lead to a lot of controversy as it is very much open to the interpretation of the referee. There would be uproar if a championship game was decided by a dubious free for a foul handpass in the last minute!

Anyway a good win for us overall. Cork away next week will be very difficult

[timmyot501]

Was one of the large monaghan contingent at pearse stadium yesterday. Was looking forward to a good open contest but we didn't really get it. The handpass rule is just rubbish. If a player has been brought up to play a hand pass with the open hand legally all his life then its very hard to change it now. Its instinctive. So when the ref does blow it each time the crowd and players get more and more frustrated. That rule alone ruined what could have been a good open and fast paced game of football.
On the match I thought Galway owned the first half aided by the breeze but Monaghan did really well to be only 5 points down. And we got really into the game in the second half reducing the lead to one with McManus playing some great stuff.  Galway did get back to 3 in front so to say Japs dismissal totally changed the game is probably going too far but it definately ended it as a contest. He was already booked and got involved in a tussel resulting in both players getting booked, japs being a second yellow.
Monaghan defenders fouled the galway forwards far too often and with Meehan and Armstrong on duty it cost us very badly. Overall a very disappointing performance and it will be a real uphill battle  to stay in the division now

[upmonaghansayswe]

To what extent does a constant wind make a stadium redundant.?  First time in Salthill yesterday. Aesthetically pleasing, fine big comfortable stand, great terrace behind the "bay" goals but holy god that wind turns any match into a cricket match. Put the other team into bat, damage limitation for the first half and try and beat their score after tea!! Wouldn`t fancy it being my home ground.!

[GalwayBayBoy]

To what extent does a constant wind make a stadium redundant.?  First time in Salthill yesterday. Aesthetically pleasing, fine big comfortable stand, great terrace behind the "bay" goals but holy god that wind turns any match into a cricket match. Put the other team into bat, damage limitation for the first half and try and beat their score after tea!! Wouldn`t fancy it being my home ground.!

I thought the wind was fairly light yesterday to be honest (By Pearse standards) and not much of a factor in the game. Always a risk though when you have a stadium that's about 500 yards from the Atlantic ocean.

[GaillimhIarthair]

To what extent does a constant wind make a stadium redundant.?  First time in Salthill yesterday. Aesthetically pleasing, fine big comfortable stand, great terrace behind the "bay" goals but holy god that wind turns any match into a cricket match. Put the other team into bat, damage limitation for the first half and try and beat their score after tea!! Wouldn`t fancy it being my home ground.!

I would have considered yesterday quite a calm day in Pearse Stadium to be honest!  Didnt think it had any bearing on the game to be fair.  The biggest culprit in that regard was the ref and that stupid handpass rule.  It would wreck your feckin head and Im sure its very frustrating for the players also.  It can kill games as a spectacle at times and the sooner its gone the better.  Job done by Galway, 2 valuable league points in the bag, much improved performance from last weeks debacle but a copule of big tests yet to come, notably Cork in Pairc Ui Rinn in a few weeks time.

[Asal Mor]

To what extent does a constant wind make a stadium redundant.?  First time in Salthill yesterday. Aesthetically pleasing, fine big comfortable stand, great terrace behind the "bay" goals but holy god that wind turns any match into a cricket match. Put the other team into bat, damage limitation for the first half and try and beat their score after tea!! Wouldn`t fancy it being my home ground.!

Yeah I've been to games in Pearse Stadium where lads were kicking the ball into the wind and it was blowing back over their heads. It can take a lot away from a game. Beautiful location on a fine day though - there's nowhere I'd rather be - except maybe Croker. The handpass isn't the problem in football so this rule was always a bad idea. The poor refereeing of the tackle is what needs sorting out.