Galway v New York..

[seafoid]

Fair enough Sligonian as the saying goes.. "watch this space" i just hope 2007 wasn't a flash in the pan because Connacht  football long needs a new face

Are the Rossies not coming up on the outside ?   

[ross4life]

Fair enough Sligonian as the saying goes.. "watch this space" i just hope 2007 wasn't a flash in the pan because Connacht  football long needs a new face

Are the Rossies not coming up on the outside ?

Yes but there are a unseated rider 

[Farrandeelin]

Where will the anticipated Roscommon v Sligo final be?

[ross4life]

Where will the anticipated leitrim v Sligo final be?

fixed for you,  Hyde park I'm sure

[SLIGONIAN]

Where will the anticipated leitrim v Sligo final be?

fixed for you,  Hyde park I'm sure

I have to say, id take that today... 

[ross4life]

Where will the anticipated leitrim v Sligo final be?

fixed for you,  Hyde park I'm sure

I have to say, id take that today... 

Well that final pairing has never happened in the history of Connacht Senior football

Time to rewrite those books boys 

[Hurler on the Bitch]

New York should be allowed to play in the National League.

Yes and the GAA should subsidise flights for county supporters to go over and support their teams! However, I feel that to make it a worthwhile cultural event, supporters should be subsidised for at least a week - drink, accommodation, internal travel, prostitutes etc. However, in that case, the arse will have to fall out of the Antrim team in order that the likes of myself and Hard On could benefit from the trip.. But there is / was always the Ulster Hurling Championship ...

[An Fhairche Abu]

My current thoughts regarding the New York match and the championship ahead for Galway, bit long winded but bear with me.

Firstly I would not be overly worried about the result out in New York as this was a classic "no win" match for the overwhelming favourites, getting through to the Connacht Semi-Final was the objective and it was achieved. However, the performance was fairly poor and should be a cause for concern in certain aspects. I don't think anyone should be in any doubt that New York came very close to possibly the biggest shock in recent championship history last Sunday.

Complacency is always something that needs to be factored into a game like this; county players are no different to the ordinary punter when it comes to dismissing the chances of New York or teams of that perceived ability. No one gave NY a shout at all and I don't think there is anything that Joe Kernan could have said that would have totally dispelled the thoughts that this was only a matter of showing up. In fact NY's concession of a goal as the very 1st score would have added to the players' sense that this was a game that Galway had only needed to tog out to win.

What transpired after this initial great start for Galway was nothing of the sort.

Listening to the Galway Bay FM commentary it was very obvious that this was not a NY team that was going to pay too much respect to Galway. They hit hard, clearly believing that if they put it up to Galway and got in their faces, dominated the midfield and got the ball to their marquee players to kick the scores; the upset was there for them. I don't know much about his underage or senior (I can't recall if he had one) career with Kerry but Dan Doona was on fire for NY and some of his scores that were shown during the short highlights on TG4 Monday night were top class.
NY's midfield was well on top against one of the weakest sectors in the Galway team, every team knows that this is the key area to target against Galway; it's hard enough to compete against 6'5" and 6'6" men who are as athletic as they are tall with the ability to also play some good ball with a decent Galway midfield, when they have a clear run for the duration it makes it twice as hard for the rest of the Galway team.
The fact that even after the dismissal of two NY players there was only 2 points between the teams going into additional time tells it's own story - the most dangerous lead in the game in injury time against NY? Not what Kernan would have envisioned in even his worst case scenario for the match I'm sure.
In mitigation, some of Galway's best players were not playing but even accounting for this, the same old issues that have dogged this Galway team for most of the past decade are still in full effect.

The most worrying aspect of this match was that is was left to the legend that is P Joyce to once again be the main man for Galway, of course it's great that he is still able to produce the goods when his county needs it at his age but it's depressing that Galway are still so reliant on him in a match against eminently beatable opposition. Talk of PJ getting a half and then being taken off was soon forgotten about when it looked as though Galway mightn't win without him on the pitch for the full seventy. Still although NY came close to the shock of the decade, the match can consigned to the record books now and looking forward to the rest of the Championship is what we need to focus on.

In the current Galway team we have only two proven match winners who have shown that when the big day pressure comes they are ready to bring their A game when the team needs it most. Of these two Meehan is in his prime having developed into the inter county star that his underage potential always pointed towards, he would walk onto any county team in the country. The other is a veteran of the last glory days of Galway football, in likely his final season with the maroon who really we shouldn't have to be relying on to drag the team past the likes of NY.
Other players such as Nicky Joyce and Armstrong may have shown in previous games that they have the potential to be match winners but need to display this consistently and most importantly when the chips are down in a really big match against a top quality team for Galway in the championship.
Gareth Bradshaw will without doubt be classed as a match winner at some stage of his inter county career as he is blessed with huge ability and has already shown flashes of the kind of top class player he could become, as he gets older the consistency to match this potential this will come in time I believe. Likewise Conroy should become one of the main men for Galway in the future but in age terms he is but a pup for a senior inter county midfielder yet and cannot be expected to be dominating seasoned players in this sector of the field.

The midfield, centre back position, the lack of dependable breaking ball winners in the HF line and the current form of Hanley at FB are the biggest problems facing this Galway team for the summer. As most of these positions take into account the central spine of the team they are serious problems. Midfield, the breaking ball and the CB position are problems that have been around for years, if Kernan has some plan for the championship to solve this then he'll have done what his 3 predecessors (I'd include O'Mahony post 2002 with these issues) as Galway manager couldn't find a solution for.
Due to the players that were looked at in the initial Galway trials by the current management I don't think that any potential county players within the county can have too much complaint that Kernan didn't give them a shot at the panel. I think that Kernan himself probably found that there weren't any hidden gems he wasn't aware of that had not already been flagged as potential county players.

Midfield has been the absolute bane of this Galway team since Walsh hung up the boots. Although it is of course difficult to tell exactly unless you see it for yourself from the sounds of it we were wiped at centrefield yet again on Sunday. Apart from Tyrone in 2008 I've yet to see a team win an All Ireland without at least one top class midfielder and even saying that they still had Cavanagh to drop back from FF when needed. All the AI winners from the past 15 years have had the men of the calibre of Dara O'Se, John McDermott, Sean Cavanagh, Kevin Walsh and Paul McGrane manning the centrefield area for them. Whoever wins the AI this year will need their midfield going well for the duration.
The lack of a foothold in this sector of the field in nearly every game leaves Galway with about 40-45% possession over the course of a match. This is consistently leaving the team with forwards that are starved of decent, dependable service and backs that are constantly under pressure from the opposition attack resulting in frees, cards etc. So far no Tyrone-esque solution to mastering the breaks thus negating the fact that you are playing against superior midfielders has been in evidence. Cullinane has had plenty of chances at this stage but he just doesn't have the natural physical fitness, pace or football ability for the position over the 70 minutes. Well worth a squad place as an option for the end of a match to try and win some primary possession from kickouts but that's it. Bergin has never done it in a big game for the seniors at midfield and has played all his best games from the 12 jersey.
This coupled with the lack of a Paul Galvin type player in the HF line to win the dirty breaking ball is a serious issue for Galway. There is no easy (or maybe any) solution to this problem as the players just aren't in the county but if Joe Kernan could find some method of at least getting a 50/50 break in possession from kickouts it would go a long way to stopping some of the problems for the team.

It's probably too late to do it now but for his own good Hanley should have been dropped at some stage during the league and someone else tried at FB. He seems to be in a rut with his form all year long and has not been playing well; symptomatic of this has been his habit of getting yellow carded early in nearly every game during the league leaving little option but to stand off his man for the rest of the match. Hanley is a fine footballer, a super FB when on form and he has shown these capabilities in the past, unfortunately this year I think he may have been in FB on reputation more than current form. To be honest there isn't a whole pile of contenders to replace him either. I know that David Finnegan was dropped off the panel earlier this year but in the few games that I saw him play in 2009 I thought he at least looked to have some potential to do a job in at FB if Hanley was injured. Maybe he has regressed a bit since then and someone based in Galway with more local club knowledge might let me know if this is the case. Either way a return to form for Finian is absolutely vital for Galway.

Centre back is the other real trouble position for Galway. With Bradshaw at 5 and a number of players who could do a job at 7 a strong CB would improve this line immeasurably and give more protection to the FB line. Diarmuid Blake is a good player and has done a decent job for Galway at 6 in the past, unfortunately he has been found out for pace and any opposing manger will just put fast ball carriers running at him time and time again to expose this weakness. The likes of Declan O'Sullivan have ruthlessly demonstrated the effectiveness of this tactic before and if he remains at CHB the same will happen again with teams who have the players to exploit this.

Up front Concannon took his chance in the league well but the acid test for him will be in the championship games. I think we have enough players to put up match winning scores if the defence and midfield were strong enough to provide them with enough ball to keep the opposition backs under sustained pressure.

The actuality of the situation for the Galway seniors this year is clear enough I feel in terms of realistic, attainable goals.
Winning the next match on June 27th against Sligo/Mayo is an achievable goal. Against Sligo it would be played in Salthill which is a big advantage to the home side and Mayo are well, Mayo.
Mayo are almost certainly a better team than Galway and you'd have to fancy them in Castlebar but I think that last year (Connacht final - made fierce hard work of a match they should have won in a canter and the Meath Q-final) showed once again that even if the performance Mayo put in is better than the opposition for most of a match, due to their mental fragility and propensity for choking they will always give you a chance to get back in at some stage if you keep plugging away. Like most Galway/Mayo games regardless of the respective strength of the teams it always seems to be 50-50 on the day and Galway has as good as chance as Mayo if this game comes to pass.

The 3 best teams in Connacht are on the one side of the draw so with all due respect to Roscommon and Leitrim, the winners of the Galway-Sligo/Mayo match will be red hot favourites to be Connacht champions IMHO. If Galway get to the Connacht final and somehow contrive to lose it then I feel that like last year a swift exit will follow in the final round of the qualifiers as the game would be played just 6 days after the Connacht final.
Indeed when taking into account that there is a 7 week gap for Galway to the Connacht semi-final and then another 3 weeks until the final I find it hard to fathom how the losers of this match will be in the same ridiculous situation as Galway were in 2009.

If we were to make it that far then winning a q-final in Croke Park, depending on the opposition is a bit more of an optimistic goal. This is the most hopeful expectation for Galway this year I feel; a semi-final appearance or a win against a decent team from outside Connacht in the qualifiers would have to be seen to represent massive progress. We are a county that have only beaten Louth outside of the Connacht championship since 2001 remember.

I don't doubt for a second that the present Galway panel and management are putting in Trojan work to try to get as far in the championship in 2010 and they will be stung themselves by the non performance against NY, but serious reservations must still be had about this Galway team that is rated as 6th favourites for the Sam. This is not to denigrate the ability of the players on the panel at present, they have achieved far more in even getting near a county jersey than 99% of the keyboard warriors on this forum but realistically until players prove it other wise in the heat of the championship, it has to be said that Galway are well short of the expectation levels that some pundits/bookies seem to perennially bestow upon the team. The fact is Cork and Kerry are miles ahead of the pack and it remains to be seen whether Tyrone have one last kick left in them. The rest of the country including Galway can be marked as also ran's at the minute.

Regardless how Galway go in the championship this year, I would be hopeful that if nothing else, the Joe Kernan factor raises expectations a small bit and brings out a few more fans out to support the team. The support for the footballers in the past few seasons has been pretty pathetic and the supporter turnout last year against Donegal in Sligo was a nadir not seen since the early 90's. They might get overly carried away/senselessly despondent depending on the results but at least the Mayo fans always turn out for their team in the championship.

[Rossfan]

Jasus but that was one hell of a long piece.
Evel Genius's record must be broken now.
I expect Galway to beat Mayo in the semi and to have a handy gallop over Leitrim ( ) in the Final.

[SLIGONIAN]

Jasus but that was one hell of a long piece.
Evel Genius's record must be broken now.
I expect Galway to beat Mayo in the semi and to have a handy gallop over Leitrim ( ) in the Final.

+1 on all accounts

[galwayman]

Excellent post An Fhairce Abu - as a passionate follower of the footballers I would have to pretty much agree with all of the points raised.
Interestingly on your point re David Finnegan - I was talking to a Cortoon clubmate of his and we got around to discussing Donal O'Neill being on the team during the league and he was very surprised that Finnegan was not on the panel as his form was good and he also is a fairly big lad so would be more suited physically to county football than O'Neill who is just not strong enough. I haven't seen much of him myself though to be honest as my own club have been playing intemediate or junior for the last while so haven't seen much of Cortoon in action.
Hanley's form is really worrying.I have either attended or seen on tv most of Galway's league games this year and he has been roasted pretty much every game. He is yards behind his man to the ball. We have no real alternatives either in the squad unless they decide to move Fitzy in from the corner. Then again we don't have the corner men either at the moment.Fitzy the only reliable player in the last line at the moment which is a bad sign.
I would think a lack of alternatives will see Hanley and others keep their places.
Blake is a very solid player and an excellent distributor of the ball but as you pointed out the likes of Declan O'Sullivan will destroy him with their pace. If he had speed he would be a super number 6. They may even decide to play Bradshaw at 6.

I think we may see a team similar to this if we can keep everybody reasonably fit...
1 Faherty
2 Fitzy
3 Hanley
4 D Burke/Reilly
5 Bradshaw
6 Blake
7 A Burke
8 Coleman
9 Conroy
10 Sice
11 Armstrong
12 Bergin
13 P Joyce
14 Meehan
15 N Joyce

I would have reservations over numbers 3,4 and 6 in defence along with a lack of ball winning power at midfield on that team but to be honest I don't see where the alternatives will come from. Bergin will help out around the middle but much like the Irish scrum in rugby the most we can expect is to try to disrupt the opposition in this sector and somehow attempt to limit the damage done.
The forward line has a lot of potential but again it is in other areas of the pitch where our problems lie.

[myball22]

Agree with An Fhairche Abu on all counts. I would give Damien Burke a go at No. 6. He is not a corner back, is always fouling and getting yellow carded. He might have the pace to cover centre back which is his club position.

I thought Greg Higgins played well for Corofin against St. Galls in the All-Ireland semi-final and though he was worth a run. To be honest I don't think there is a hidden gem in this area and we need to do damage limitation in his area.

For this reason I see Fiachra Breathnach starting at No. 11 as a ball winner in the half-forward line with Sice and Bergin. I think the plan is to flood the middle with bodies and give space up-front for Meehan, P Joyce and Nicky Joyce, Armstrong whichever of them plays. Hopeflly they don't be isolated up-front.

I think what will represent progress is if we tighten up at the back and become hard to beat. Also some sort of tactical awareness would be progress. Playing a man in front of Murphy and McFadden last year and we would have beaten Donegal. If we can stop giving away easy frees and become hard to beat, hopefully our quality in the full-forward line will get us through. Its better to win 0-13 to 0-12 than lose 2-15 to 1-15!!!

[GaillimhIarthair]

Have to agree with the lads above in relation to becoming harder to beat and especially tightening up the defence.  This is key if we are to have any hope of progressing this year.  I know teams have different agenda's when playing league football but there are a few key stats in there that are very pertinant to where we are right now and what needs to be addressed as so eloquelently outlined by the man from Clonbur above.

We were the second highest scorers, behind Cork, in Div 1 of the league this year which was a good achievement considering the forwards we were missing at various times.  However, we had the WORST defensive record in the division, 16 pts worse than Derry who were relegated!  I know stats can be misleading at times but in our case I think they highlight our main deficiencies very clearly.  We are clearly limited in certain positions but hopefully JK and his brains trust will come up with a system of play that will keep the "scores against" column down for this championship run, however long that may last.

[mckieran]

Being very harsh on Blake there - Declan O'Sullivan may have roasted him a few times in the past. But Declan O'Sullivan tends to do that against most of his opposition. He is still easily Galways best option at number 6.

Damien Burke is NOT a corner back - I agree with this. But corner back is one of the most difficult places to play on a football team. And he is one of the few players on this current Galway team capable of playing there. I remember him on the Galway U21 team when he played as a 3rd midfielder, then he was wing back for the first few years in the senior setup until he was eventually moved to number 4 to fix a very problem area at the time.

[myball22]

Yeah I feel that while he seems to have the measure of Conor Mortimer every time they play against each other, he struggles against other corner-forwards, particularly pacy forwards.

Not sure if we should try Declan Meehan there again. He was tried there a couple of years ago and a lot of people didn't agree with it. Maybe he can be tried there again. Although this should be tried in the league and not now.

I do agree that Blake struggles against pace. I watched the match against Dublin and one forward who had a lot of junk in the trunk still shot past him easily enough.