DUBLIN V DONEGAL PREDICTIONS..

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There's too much being made of Dublin conceding 15 points to Tyrone IMO, a good number of those scores came from soft frees and a few were exceptional scores (O'Neill's 1st & Cavanagh's sideline into the hill) but most importantly many of them came late when the game was won. Dublin didn't have to batten down the hatches and conceding 15 points is not an indication of a defence that gives up scores easily. I expect the Dublin defenders will stay back and help nullify the Donegal FF line so I don't see Donegal getting much more than 8 or 9 scores, I think Dublin can get more than that

i'd agree with this. the final score in the dub/tyrone match wasn't a true reflection of how dominant dublin were. it was a testament to tyrone's spirit and doggedness that the margin was what it ended up being. and perhaps dublin did slacken off at the end and conceded some ground to protect against goal opportunities. what i do think is that tyrone went hell for leather from the get go and couldn't match what dublin had brought. and donegal seem to have a tendancy to start slowly as an attacking unit. defensively we get up to speed fairly quickly, but it seems to be that this isn't the case going forward and it isn't until we haven't had a score in yonks, that the players throw caution to the wind and come out and go for it. and that's what we need to do against dublin to win. do or die from the whistle. it wll be no use trying to fend off dublin, reliant on our defence. dublin's forwards are too good not to be able to keep the score board ticking over. i also think this donegal team has more in them. it hasn't clicked for us for the entire game, but i think that that type of performance is there. whether they can turn it on in croker sunday week is anyone's guess and whether that will be enough on the day, who knows?! it's been great to watch them this year. they've taken a lot of stick for tactics but they're never faltered and each game they've been better and looked more assured and together. they're having the time of their lives i reckon and they'll give dublin a game for sure.   

[squire_in_navy_slacks]

I see brolly was up with the donegal lads the other eve..................wonder what wisdom he was spreading with them

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reckon he has a fetish for donegal. 

of all the sides left, kerry have the least interesting narrative. for them, it's the same old same old. expecting to win themselves and by most others too. if any of the rest win it'll be a great sporting story.

[Croí na hÉireann]

A lot of dubs i have been speaking to are talking about an All Ireland final against Kerry.

I genuinely haven't spoken to a single person who's looking beyond Donegal.

Lads are starting to dream heffo, majority expect to be in the final but haven't heard any talk of a Kerry match up.

[squire_in_navy_slacks]

No hype around the lads......everything is very low key...............the less articles by d ose and mcstay the better.........

[heffo]

A lot of dubs i have been speaking to are talking about an All Ireland final against Kerry.

I genuinely haven't spoken to a single person who's looking beyond Donegal.

Lads are starting to dream heffo, majority expect to be in the final but haven't heard any talk of a Kerry match up.

Possibly but people are entitled to dream, it's been far too long since we were in a final and it is a two horse race to make it there.

There is zero hype around Dublin at the moment - I've no doubt the usual suspects outside of Dublin will try and crank it up after this Sunday though.

[Canalman]

Agree with the lads, ZERO hype here in Dublin. Most people I have spoken to are very apprehensive about this one.
We have lost FOUR semis on the trot, all 4 in traumatic (for us) circumstances. Throw in 2 humiliations from Kerry and Tyrone as well  and  you wil understand why we are wary.

Still we will travel in hope as this defensive ogre that is Donegal swaggers in to town with their octopus defence.

[DUBSFORSAM1]

This is the first donegal game i have been worried about making a prediction but after spending everyday since the dublin vs Tyrone game was played i have come up with this. Tie dublin ff line will punish any fb line in the country if given the space they got the last day they won't get this much space the next day i believe 2nd point is that no matter how good dublin were the last day Tyrone still scored 15 points against them the donegal team will cause a lot of trouble if given the chance and my last point is all the pressure is on dublin to perform kilo the last day and to beat donegal if they don't the year will be a failure .
With all this in mind i think donegal will win a hard thought game by 2 points and wouldn't be at all surprised if it went to extra time roll on the 28th till we all find out

Yes but as has been said a large number of them points were well after the game was over and don't forget that same old Tyrone team scored more times against Donegal then Donegal managed against them.

[Hardy]

The lads would remind you of Comical Ali. Hype? What hype? I don't see any hype.

[heffo]

The lads would remind you of Comical Ali. Hype? What hype? I don't see any hype.

Unlike Comical Ali standing in front of foreign tanks rolling in, can you show me where the hype is?

[mayogodhelpus@gmail.com]

No hype around the lads......everything is very low key...............the less articles by d ose and mcstay the better.........

Not sure if its the same as it used to be 5 or 6 years back, but a few of the local radio station were right hoars for hyping the whole thing up.

[Jinxy]

I saw a load of hype on O'Connell St this morning.
Just sitting beside the spire....... watching........ waiting.

[heffo]

I saw a load of hype on O'Connell St this morning.
Just sitting beside the spire....... watching........ waiting.

Ah it was there alright Jinxy just wait for it. Electric Eddie will be along any minute to play air guitar to 'We're going to win the Sam'.

[J70]

This is the first donegal game i have been worried about making a prediction but after spending everyday since the dublin vs Tyrone game was played i have come up with this. Tie dublin ff line will punish any fb line in the country if given the space they got the last day they won't get this much space the next day i believe 2nd point is that no matter how good dublin were the last day Tyrone still scored 15 points against them the donegal team will cause a lot of trouble if given the chance and my last point is all the pressure is on dublin to perform kilo the last day and to beat donegal if they don't the year will be a failure .
With all this in mind i think donegal will win a hard thought game by 2 points and wouldn't be at all surprised if it went to extra time roll on the 28th till we all find out

Yes but as has been said a large number of them points were well after the game was over and don't forget that same old Tyrone team scored more times against Donegal then Donegal managed against them.

Reading through the threads on the game, you seem very determined to talk up Dublin's prospects in comparison to Donegal, at least as measured by performances and results to date. Nothing wrong with that at all, but it is unusual on this board, some supporters of teams like Tyrone aside!

I think we'll obviously start as underdogs, but we've a great chance if the lads don't let nerves get to them like they did against Tyrone in the first half. Very hard to know how it will go, but I would be worried about the middle of the field. Kildare hammered us there for long periods and while we are great at absorbing pressure, Dublin could be the team to punish us from out the field, something Derry and Tyrone and Kildare couldn't do. Its a novel pairing though, and given that there's little to go on in terms of how these two teams will measure up (games against teams both have played offer little help, in my view) and because we're still learning the capabilities and limits of this Donegal team, I think its futile to make any strong predictions. Dublin look to have greater scoring power and better midfield, so should start as favourites. I think we could frustrate them though and sneak it.

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going on that last dub performance, the effort needed to keep in touch with them in the first half will be huge, like a sevens game or something for the amount of running needed. we'll need to have the shooting boots on and take our chances too, but there might be a bit more space in the second half for our half backs to get forward more in support to make things a bit more difficult to defend against. one thing this donegal side don't do is throw the towel in. the team spirit is really strong and ingrained, so i just can't see dublin getting out of sight enough to finish us off by a big margin. dubs favourites aye, but you wouldn't put the house on it. it could go down to the last few minutes and that's when the crack will start. both teams have been taken to the wire and beyond this season and come out on top, so i doubt if either will choke. could be an epic.