Corcaigh v Dún na nGall

[Gaoth Dobhair Abu]

The fact that this is Donegal's fifth weekend out in a row can't not be a factor in this embarrassment. I think the qualifier schedule is ridiculous as it stands. There's not really much point in taking the second chance that the qualifiers offer if they're gonna flog you to death by the time you get back to the business end.

Well then don't be so poor in the championship then and you won't have to worry about it.....Its giving you an extra chance and if you don't like the rules then tough....Its far worse on provincial winners who don't get a second chance

Idiot statement of  the day - you ever wonder why the rest of the country dislikes the Dubs?

[Orior]

Who won the ladies match that was on TG4 tis evening between Clare(?) and Donegal?

It was 3-3 each at half time.

[orangeman]

Special mention to Michael Murphy who for 19 years of age is awesome.

Ill 2nd that, simply outstanding, pity he got no help.

Who was marking John Miskella (sp)  Allowing a wing half back to hit 4 or 5 points from play is disgraceful, surely someone must take responsibility and track his runs.
[/quote

Rory Kavanagh Rory had an off day along with a good few of his colleagues.

[fred the red]

Hard luck to Dun na nGall. That was hard to watch today. They just didn't play. Cork were very good though.

At least the Donegal lads can look back on this years championship and see that they were beaten by 2 brilliant teams.

[/b]

Similar to antrim

[RMDrive]

Well done to Cork. They were better than us in virtually all sectors and I wish them the best of luck against Tyrone.
Don't know what to say about our performance. We looked flat footed from the start. Kavanagh, Roper, Dunne, Dunnion. All the lads who have been doing the dirty work for us over the last few weeks all looked tired right from the start. In saying that, I'm not sure how much closer a fresh Donegal team would have been.
JJ's tactical naivety has been demonstrated again. He's may be able to motivate lads now and again but we obviously had no game plan going in against Cork. That Cork team is absolutely massive so we should have had some ideas around short kickouts or the isolation of Kavanagh or something. Cass and Boyle did their best but to see Cass lining up against Murphy to compete for a kick out was disheartening to see. We dropped a sweeper back which was in keeping with our strategy to date however JJ should have see the fact that this was merely inviting Corks HB line onto us and reverted to a more orthodox format. Anyway, let's be honest here, I'm talking about points that would have made very little difference to the result.
Someone on the radio said this evening that it was a team with intentions of going all the way against a team who had gone as far as they wanted. Maybe that was true. It's a shame that our year has ended like this cause there is a lot to build on for next year. It will all be overshadowed by this defeat however and will set football back in the county a good bit. Michael Murphy can hold his head up high however as can Karl Lacey.

[DennistheMenace]

A fresher Donegal team would have made probably got beat by 2 points less..give or take a point.

That was a class Cork side and definitely AI contenders.

[INDIANA]

The fact that this is Donegal's fifth weekend out in a row can't not be a factor in this embarrassment. I think the qualifier schedule is ridiculous as it stands. There's not really much point in taking the second chance that the qualifiers offer if they're gonna flog you to death by the time you get back to the business end.

Well then don't be so poor in the championship then and you won't have to worry about it.....Its giving you an extra chance and if you don't like the rules then tough....Its far worse on provincial winners who don't get a second chance

This is the attitude that has let this shitty schedule develop, 'ah sure shut up about it, yiz are lucky we let you back in at all'.  This is rubbish, all teams left in the competition should expect fair treatment. Asking amateur footballers to play 5, maybe 6 if any of those 5 games finish in a draw, weeks in a row is simply not fair. It'd be better to do away with the qualifiers altogether than to treat them with such disdain.

I agree and disagree. they deserved a weeks grace in between somewhere but tiredness doesn't fully account for that display today. Lacey and Murphy didn't look too bad and they've been carrying that team all year. Tactically Donegal got it all wrong and to an extent some of their players gave up. Sometimes you've got to deal with the hand you've got- and Donegal should have made a better fist of it today.
Tactically they got it all wrong- you'd have to be in Croker today to see it. Limerick showed how to shut down the Cork half back line- Donegal made no effort to do so tactically. they actually conceded space to them instead of hitting them in their own half.

[Boat Race In The Crowd]

Ah well, it was good while it lasted anyway, we haven't had a run like that for a while.
Cork were very impressive; fitter, stronger, very accurate and showed good teamwork. I'm looking forward to their SF v Tyrone.
I think Donegal's weaknesses were well exposed today - the huge gap between HB/MF and FF lines was too much at Croker and JJ left it too late to make changes. Bigger stronger players were required for this game and Griffen and Walsh should have been on after 10 minutes. The marking was atrocious and Donegal looked a bit tired in this department, leaving Cork acres of space to do what they wanted basically. I was watching Ryan McMenamin being marked in 2nd game, the HF for Kildare was playing like a full-back, sticking to McMenamin like glue and it was very effective.
Nevertheless, some positives should be taken from the good Donegal performances.....Murphy is probably the best ff in the country and you would imagine he can only get better considering he's only 19. Dunnion, Lacey and Cassidy, as well as other players, showed a lot of heart and pride and this is badly needed in Donegal. Although, I worry a bit about McGees comments in relation to Bonner and Gallagher. JJ and his advisors need to trawl the county over the next few months and pick out some big midfielders that could be county material. Whilst Cassidy and Boyle are great players, I'm not sure they are suited to midfield. Options other than the 2 man forward set-up need to be developed.
I've a good feeling about Donegal for next year and, as far as this year is concerned........................my money is on Cork to lift Sam.          
 

[GalwayBayBoy]

The fact that this is Donegal's fifth weekend out in a row can't not be a factor in this embarrassment. I think the qualifier schedule is ridiculous as it stands. There's not really much point in taking the second chance that the qualifiers offer if they're gonna flog you to death by the time you get back to the business end.

Well then don't be so poor in the championship then and you won't have to worry about it.....Its giving you an extra chance and if you don't like the rules then tough....Its far worse on provincial winners who don't get a second chance

This is the attitude that has let this shitty schedule develop, 'ah sure shut up about it, yiz are lucky we let you back in at all'.  This is rubbish, all teams left in the competition should expect fair treatment. Asking amateur footballers to play 5, maybe 6 if any of those 5 games finish in a draw, weeks in a row is simply not fair. It'd be better to do away with the qualifiers altogether than to treat them with such disdain.

I agree and disagree. they deserved a weeks grace in between somewhere but tiredness doesn't fully account for that display today. Lacey and Murphy didn't look too bad and they've been carrying that team all year. Tactically Donegal got it all wrong and to an extent some of their players gave up. Sometimes you've got to deal with the hand you've got- and Donegal should have made a better fist of it today.
Tactically they got it all wrong- you'd have to be in Croker today to see it. Limerick showed how to shut down the Cork half back line- Donegal made no effort to do so tactically. they actually conceded space to them instead of hitting them in their own half.

Can't argue with that. You can't allow that Cork team to get their runners going from the half-back line and midfield. They have a great mix of size and speed there. You have to pressure them in their own half of the field and close them down. Donegal just surrendered space to them all over the field. Plus their legs looked gone early doors and they couldn't even close anyone down in time.

[sandwiches_in_the_boot]

Hard luck to Dun na nGall. That was hard to watch today. They just didn't play. Cork were very good though.

At least the Donegal lads can look back on this years championship and see that they were beaten by 2 brilliant teams.

[/b]

Similar to antrim

Indeed.

After beating 2 woeful teams....

[Tyrones own]

Ah well, it was good while it lasted anyway, we haven't had a run like that for a while.
Cork were very impressive; fitter, stronger, very accurate and showed good teamwork. I'm looking forward to their SF v Tyrone.
I think Donegal's weaknesses were well exposed today - the huge gap between HB/MF and FF lines was too much at Croker and JJ left it too late to make changes. Bigger stronger players were required for this game and Griffen and Walsh should have been on after 10 minutes. The marking was atrocious and Donegal looked a bit tired in this department, leaving Cork acres of space to do what they wanted basically. I was watching Ryan McMenamin being marked in 2nd game, the HF for Kildare was playing like a full-back, sticking to McMenamin like glue and it was very effective.
Nevertheless, some positives should be taken from the good Donegal performances.....Murphy is probably the best ff in the country and you would imagine he can only get better considering he's only 19. Dunnion, Lacey and Cassidy, as well as other players, showed a lot of heart and pride and this is badly needed in Donegal. Although, I worry a bit about McGees comments in relation to Bonner and Gallagher. JJ and his advisors need to trawl the county over the next few months and pick out some big midfielders that could be county material. Whilst Cassidy and Boyle are great players, I'm not sure they are suited to midfield. Options other than the 2 man forward set-up need to be developed.
I've a good feeling about Donegal for next year and, as far as this year is concerned........................my money is on Cork to lift Sam.          

 

Gambling obviously isn't your strong suit so we'll take that with a pinch of salt

[loughshore lad]

As good as Cork looked yesterday Donegal were terrible.  The difference in the pace, power and directness of both teams was massive.  Donegal got 12/13 men behind the ball alright but they didnt put pressure on the ball or Cork attacking at all simply allowing them to saunter up the pitch and knock points over.  The Cork goal perfectly illustrated the differences between the teams Donegal were attacking with a slow, laboured build up changing the angle of their attack a number of times before being turned over and the ball put in  their net after 2 or 3 passes.
Michael Murphy is a fabulous player.  Some difference between him and McFadden who is constantly looking handy ball.

[INDIANA]

I'll say it now- but its a long time since I've seen a 19 year old as good as Murphy. Has everything. If he can look that good on a badly beaten team -he's be a superstar playing  for Tyrone.

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

...as far as this year is concerned........................my money is on Cork to lift Sam.          

Thank fcuk for that, after your prediction for yesterday's games! 

[Gaoth Dobhair Abu]

Jezuz, Dublin are making Donegal even look good!!!