Galway v Sligo - Connact SFC semi final 27th June

[GalwayBayBoy]

Michael Meehan  will recover from the knee injury he sustained almost three months ago in time for Galway's Connacht semi-final against Sligo.

Galway manager Joe Kernan has allayed fears that Meehan, the team captain and talisman, would not feature in the Pearse Stadium semi-final fixed for Sunday week.

Meehan is back running in training after the medial ligament injury he picked up against Kerry in the league in March.

"It's been slower than we thought but he'll be fine. He will make it," confirmed Kernan.

Even if he is fit there is no way he'll be 100% having not played any football in 3 months.

[ross4life]

I was at the last Galway v Sligo game in Pearse Stadium in 2006 Meehan stood out that day scored something like 10/11 points since then i think the Sligo Defenders cope pretty well v him

Anyways I'm gonna go for Galway to shade it... Sligo might even take it to a replay but as i said over on Stolensheep Forum, Connacht Championship is long overdue a final without Galway/Mayo for once (1947 Roscommon v Sligo)

[mayogodhelpus@gmail.com]

Im expecting a Sligo win.

What a surprise 
The herrin chokers are forewarned and will hardly be as lacking in spirit as Mayowestros( and Bellaghy  ) were so it's hard to see Sligo(Balla)  winning it.

Fixed that for ya Rossfan

[Rossfan]

Interfering with another man's post is a despicable act. Is your name mortimer by any chance 

[moysider]

I think the biggest factor going into this is Joe Kernan to be honest. It will be interesting to see how he sets them up and how they buy into his philosophy. Maybe he will play it differently in Galway because the culture there is different and they have a different type of player. Galways that have seen Challenges and training should know what we can expect?

At the risk of getting ate I think Sligo will have to wait til the next game anyway to find out how good they are. They are good alright and probably haven't got enough credit for the display last Saturday but they beat a team that has almost hit rock bottom. In 98 in Connacht, Galway played really well to beat a Mayo team ( that I believe had improved on 96/97), that also played really on the day and could have won. That was not the case last Sat. where only one team played.  That s not to say I dont think Sligo cant and wont win.

Michael Meehan would be a big addition and honestly if he is I would have Donovan marking him. Sligo had a great chance of winning in Castlebar in 2000 but Cosgrove on Joyce was a disaster waiting to happen and it did. If Meehan gets the balls V McGuire that Freeman did its goodnight. Freeman for all the praise he got should have buried another goal. Meehan would have.

Cant see either midfield dominate. Mayo have two naive fetchers who refuse to break ball to support. Keep going for the nice catch even when it becomes obvious to everybody they just wont be let field ball. Sligo gobbled up everything Gilmartin and Taylor smashed up. I expect Galway will slug it out and Cullinane might be given the nod for this one. The team that wants to win the dirty ball - advantage.

Sligo did not create goal chances the last day and Galway will be tighter again than Mayo. Doesn't mean they wont score goals the next day but.....  On the other hand Galway always seem to have goals in them, whether it s Matty Clancy or whoever.

I ll wait for the selections before I decide who I think will win.

[mouview]

I would love to see Sligo winning Connacht.

You will have seen them win it in 2007, Seaf, that should be enough for you. Toe the party line or risk expulsion!

Contrary to very popular comment here and elsewhere, Galway's chances of victory rest nowhere nearly on M Meehan being (match) fit ( he won't be, I'd be fairly sure of that). Galway have enough forwards, and better than Mayo's, to seriously examine the Sligo defence. At the moment, I'm struggling to name a viable outfit from nos. 2 - 9; Hanley is in poor enough form and Bradshaw is a major injury doubt. After that, who have you got? Kieran Fitz's fitness must also be questionable, neither of the Corofin Burke's are quite good enough, Niall Coleman is struggling for fitness (and where do you play him anyway?), ditto Blake (not good enough for no. 6), Mullahy may now be injured also, Bergin as inconsistent now as he has been for 9 years; don't mention Barry. Looks like Conroy and Coleman (if fit) will have to do at midfield. From there on (or back), pot luck.

[moysider]

I would love to see Sligo winning Connacht.

You will have seen them win it in 2007, Seaf, that should be enough for you. Toe the party line or risk expulsion!

Contrary to very popular comment here and elsewhere, Galway's chances of victory rest nowhere nearly on M Meehan being (match) fit ( he won't be, I'd be fairly sure of that). Galway have enough forwards, and better than Mayo's, to seriously examine the Sligo defence. At the moment, I'm struggling to name a viable outfit from nos. 2 - 9; Hanley is in poor enough form and Bradshaw is a major injury doubt. After that, who have you got? Kieran Fitz's fitness must also be questionable, neither of the Corofin Burke's are quite good enough, Niall Coleman is struggling for fitness (and where do you play him anyway?), ditto Blake (not good enough for no. 6), Mullahy may now be injured also, Bergin as inconsistent now as he has been for 9 years; don't mention Barry. Looks like Conroy and Coleman (if fit) will have to do at midfield. From there on (or back), pot luck.

Dunno. I thought Sligo s defense was easily enough breached the last day but Mayo didn't finish. I' d say easily 1-4/5 was left behind as putrid as we were. About Galway having better forwards - well that has been the  conventional wisdom for ever - but Meehan is seriously essential. Armstrong and Joyce the younger  - sorry no. Sligo have the markers for them. Sligo s achilles heel is 3 but they can get around it. I believe the game will be decided, not by forwards but by hunger. If Galway are hungrier than Sligo they ll do well. Sligo were starved the last day and I mean that in the best possible way. To beat them a team will have to win the battle as well as outplay them because they have class players all over the place and a couple of thick men where they re needed. A lot like a good Galway team. Lookin forward to this one.

[SLIGONIAN]

Fair enough synopsis there lads, Middle third is key, whoever wins that sector wins the game IMO, as both sets of forwards in some areas have the beating of the defence. Mcguire for us can be protected initially and then maybe we'll cut loose again. Cant see Sligo making any changes to the team that started, however reading through the boards a fair few Galway changes expected.

[An Fhairche Abu]

Galway beat Louth 0-14 to 0-8 in a challenge match in Drogheda today.

Galway team lined out as follows:
Adrian Faherty
Kieran Fitzgerald
Finian Hanley
Alan Burke
Declan Meehan
Conor Healy
Gary O'Donnell
Paul Conroy
Joe Bergin
Gary Sice
Sean Armstrong
Cormac Bane
Eoin Concannon
Padraig Joyce
Nicky Joyce

Conditions were very wet and the ball was like a bar of soap. With what was a near enough first 15 from the available players Galway were well on top for most of the match and were 8 points to 1 up at one stage in 2nd half having kicked an absolute mountain of wides as well.
In migration Louth were missing a lot of their regulars from the Kildare match from what I could see with my limited knowledge of their first team. Lot of subs from both teams in the 2nd half.

Galway Subs used:
Fiachra Breathnach for Bane (who was totally anonymous in 1st half) at halftime;
Danny Cummins for Nicky (taken off at the same time as the Louth corner back about midway through the 2nd half, both had already been yellow carded and would have been sent off if they were left pulling out of each other);
David Reilly for Meehan;
Michael Martin for PJ (very near the end, don't think he even touched the ball);
Cillian de Paor and Darren Mullaghy also came on near the end of the match.

Fitzgerald, Conroy, O'Donnell were best for Galway and Hanley looked to be playing a lot better than in the league. I was most interested to see how Conor Healy fared at CHB and he done ok but in truth he didn't get the kind of test from Louth that would have shown Kernan much either way. Armstrong was involved in a lot of Galway's best moves. Some nice passages of play from Galway at times but again this was very much challenge match fare and the lack of a good number of the Louth 1st team meant that is wasn't a contest at any stage really.

Mike Meehan and Niall Coleman were just doing runs between cones for the team warm-up and during the 1st half of the match. Hard to see either of them taking part in the Sligo game.

[myball22]

I take it Alan Burke is being lined up to mark David Kelly in a few weeks time then?
I think it's a better bet than his brother then.

I assume Bradshaw and Blake will come back into the half back line and Breathnach into the half forward line?

[shaund10]

I take it Alan Burke is being lined up to mark David Kelly in a few weeks time then?
I think it's a better bet than his brother then.

I assume Bradshaw and Blake will come back into the half back line and Breathnach into the half forward line?

Id say Alan Burke will be on Kelly alright. He looks the best option. The half forward line depends on who Joe picks in midfield. If Coleman doesnt make it then he might play Bergin there, or he could play Cullinane with Bergin at HF. The half forward line looks to be Sice, Armstrong and An Other, which could be any of Bergin, Clancy, Bane or Breathnach. Whether Eoin Concannon starts relys directly on whether Meehan is fit or not, I would think.

As regards tactics, I personally hope that Walsh brings O Hara back to play sweeper in front f the full back line. All Galway have to do then is a quick shuffle of the back line and we have Bradshaw as the free man to attack from deep. The damage that boy will do if he gets a free role with no marker is untold.

[DJGaliv]

Really hard game to call this one. Galway who have been flattering to deceive over the last 5 years, against an up and coming Sligo team who are flying after a couple of big victories.

Sligo have a lot to play for. It could be argued that their Connacht title in 2007 didn't get the credit it deserved as they went into that Connacht final against Galway with nothing to lose in a one-off game.
Now after beating Mayo well, Galway are hardly likely to underestimate them. There seems an air of expectancy about Sligo that hasn't been there in the past. Add to this the Kevin Walsh factor, it's going to be a tight game.

To be honest, the handicap will probably be Galway by 3 points which is nothing really. Loads of little things could be the winning of this game. From a Galway perspective; how well Burke does on Kelly, can Sice curb Davey's attacks, will Bergin have one of his good days or be anonymous, will Armstrong and Nicky step up with Meehan unlikely to be there? There are battles all over the pitch that will decide this game. Might be worth some money on the draw at 15/2.

As has been mentioned before the winning of the middle third will be vital. If Galway can break even I think they'll win. Is that likely to happen, I don't have a huge amount of confidence.

[An Fhairche Abu]

According to a post on the hoganstand message board the panel has been cut to 30 players and the following players have been dropped:

Paul Doherty, Barry Cullinane, Niall Coyne, Damian Dunleavy and Michael Martin.

[mouview]

According to a post on the hoganstand message board the panel has been cut to 30 players and the following players have been dropped:

Paul Doherty, Barry Cullinane, Niall Coyne, Damian Dunleavy and Michael Martin.

Heard about the first 2 alright. Coyne in reality offered little, dunno why Martin was there in the first place (wasn't based on club form anyway), Dunleavy may have been injured (Very unlucky in this regard). Matias Coleman, Niall's brother,  called up I think, perhaps Cathal Sweeney also from Mountbellew.

[southsidejohnny]

Lads lets get one thing straight here, the Mayo team Sligo beat were the worst ever to wear the green and red. Kilkenny footballers would have given them a run. Sligo are a well motivated and tidy outfit. If Galway lose then Connacht football is in bigger trouble than I imagined. Galway by at least 8 points and the grin wiped of a few of the magpies. Who knows a decent Mayo outfit might pluck them much sooner than they expect.