Galway v Sligo -June 9th

[Syferus]

Bloody hell that was painful, performance was absolutely terrible, it was plain to be seen in the first half Galway weren't on their game today, too much expected of Conroy today after his performance against Ros, sloppy passes and bad performances all round. Fair play to Sligo, fully deserving of their win though, played brilliantly today. Some of the stuff written in the Galway papers this week regarding the game were so far off the mark,take note Jim Carney!anyone know when this round of the qualifiers is due to be played?

The 14th of July. Let's pencil in Ros v. Galway II, then.

Or will we have to wait until Round 3? 

[Blowitupref]

Bloody hell that was painful, performance was absolutely terrible, it was plain to be seen in the first half Galway weren't on their game today, too much expected of Conroy today after his performance against Ros, sloppy passes and bad performances all round. Fair play to Sligo, fully deserving of their win though, played brilliantly today. Some of the stuff written in the Galway papers this week regarding the game were so far off the mark,take note Jim Carney!anyone know when this round of the qualifiers is due to be played?

The 14th of July. Let's pencil in Ros v. Galway II, then.

Or will we have to wait until Round 3? 

Considering the manner of defeats Mulholland,Newton have a job on their hands to lift their teams.

[sligoman2]

Apparently this is the first time we have beaten Galway in the connaught championship in Galway EVER.

I did not know that but I suppose that's another monkey off our back.  I thought a few day ago that if we could hold our own at midfield that we had a chance and we certainly did that in the second half.  Give credit to the Geevagh boys - McManus and Hughes caught some great balls there and Taylor did the job when he came on - Mullen also tried hard.

I'm over the moon with this win, we're always better as underdogs and we showed that again today.  Well done to Kevin Walsh and the backroom team on doing their homework, Galway did not get the same freedom they got against Roscommon and the speed and fitness of Sligo was apparent in the last 15 mins.

I'm sure the Galway supporters are disappointed and understandably so, however I think it was not just a case of Galway having a bad day, it was also a very determined Sligo team that would have bet most teams in the country today.  The question is can we reproduce that that level again for the final, if we do, Mayo will struggle to win.

Congrats to Adrian Marren on a great haul and congrats to all involved, you have restored my belief in Sligo and I could not be prouder of all involved.

It's very important that we let this win die quickly and focus on the final.  We tend to dwell on the past (when we win) and we should forget this as soon as possible and prepare for the connaught final as rank outsiders (which we will be), but with the courage and determination that we showed today in boatloads.

Well done to all involved.  Now let's move on to the final.

[Rossfan]

Would be a great carrot for our minors if the finals are at the Hyde - how many minors teams get an opportunity to play back-to-back finals at home? Only a couple weeks left 'till Ros vs. Leitrim.

Will you ever stop making an ass of yerself?
How about we let the Minors play their first game and see how it goes first?
I see you have Ros playing Galway in a Round 2 Qualifier as well 
Of course earlier in the year you were regaling the Mayowestros bucks with hyperbole about Ros having the 6 best forwards in Connacht.
We Ros lads have our reasonably sensible sane reputations on this Board to maintain and you're not helping.

[Main Street]

Great performance by Sligo, I thought the game had gone away from them and what a class goal to put the icing on the cake.

[Chimley]

Great win for Sligo. If Mayo get by Leitrim, there will be no chance that we will underestimate Sligo after what happened in 2010. That defeat and the subsequent collapse against Longford has burned fairly deep into the Mayo psyche.

[Mano]

Great performance by Sligo yesterday. I was not expecting a lot just hoping for a good showing and a bit of spirit but got a great team performance from 1 to 15.

What was especially pleasing was the performance of the new players to the team Quinn, Hughes, McManus. Quinn recycled the ball well and played it simple. He didn't have to do much defensively as Burke is obviously not a forward, Dillon will be a different prospect altogether.  Hughes was excellent under the breaking ball and ran himself ragged. McManus had a good second half after a quiet first half. Forwards were excellent and Marren is having a great season and took Hanley to the cleaners. Thankfully we had the wind in the second half as subs Joyce and Meehan didn't have the same impact against the wind as Galway only had the 3 full fowards who could take a score. Sice, Burke and the fahy are not half forwards and were not a scoring threat.

There is a lot of dialogue here on where a potential Mayo Sligo Connaught final will be held. My take on it is that all Connaught finals when Sligo are involved are held at neutral venues regardless of home/away arrangements. Every Connaught final i have attended over the years has been at neutral venues in 97, 2002, 2007, 2010. So the Hyde it is then on July 17th. Personally i would prefer to play Mayo as we could see the other arrogant, complacent Sligo if its against Leitrim

[Lar Naparka]

First and foremost, congratulations to Sligo on a very well-deserved and convincing win. I thought they were going to let Galway back into the game until the penalty came along and knocked the heart out of the herrin' chokers.
I always felt they were a good side but the loss in the Connacht final two years ago seemed to have shattered their self-belief. Yesterday showed they have it back and will be a threat to any side they will meet this year.
Fair play to Kevin Walsh also. Yesterday's display should silence his critics- for a while anyway.

[Syferus]

Would be a great carrot for our minors if the finals are at the Hyde - how many minors teams get an opportunity to play back-to-back finals at home? Only a couple weeks left 'till Ros vs. Leitrim.

Will you ever stop making an ass of yerself?
How about we let the Minors play their first game and see how it goes first?
I see you have Ros playing Galway in a Round 2 Qualifier as well 
Of course earlier in the year you were regaling the Mayowestros bucks with hyperbole about Ros having the 6 best forwards in Connacht.
We Ros lads have our reasonably sensible sane reputations on this Board to maintain and you're not helping.

You don't need to worry about being mistaken for someone sane. 

It's laughably pedantic if you're seriously trying to pick me up on saying it's added motivation for our minors to have a potential home Connacht final on the table.

[belleaqua]

Hard to know where to begin with this one. Sligo for sure were full value for their win. Tactically they were spot on and while I think Mulholland is the man to steer Galway for the next 3-4 years I thought he got caught out badly yesterday.

Some very lazy comments on here about Galway. Joe Bergin for example had as fine a first half as I have seen in a while and that includes the Roscommon game. He did tire badly in the second half and lacked help. Mulholland needed to bolster midfield at this stage. Tom Flynn was called ashore very early and we suffered as a result.  O'Curraoin may not have been fit enough to come in but surely Conroy could have been brought out to his natural home for 10-15 minutes? It's not as if himself or Meehan were getting any regular or quality ball at this stage. In fairness you got to hand it to the Sligo midfield for upping it in the second half.

Sice and Bradshaw seemed to be particularly targeted by Walsh and curtailed their influence very well. I thought the Sligo half back line were superb. How Damien Burke lasted as long as he did I will never know especially with Flynn being sacrificed earlier than him coupled with our midfield difficulties.

Plenty again talking about Hanley getting taken to the cleaners. Again I don't know is this coming from people that were at the match or listening on radio or watching on the net but I don't think it was the full story. Hanley was not his usual self for sure but the lack of support/cover from his half back line was appalling. That's where we were tactically poor and we suffered more from the movement and play of David Kelly than Marren. Hanley won a few 50/50's with Marren when Sligo tried to play direct football to him. What worked for Sligo was giving it to Kelly, he was moving around and Marren would take the offload and pop it over. I felt Hanley looked terribly exposed yet the damage was done before this. Make no mistake if David Kelly was not fit to play yesterday Galway would have won yesterday despite Marren's heroics. He would not have been as effective. Also I don't think the second goal would ever have been on had Hanley remained on the field despite the tough day he was having.

Also why o why was Kieran McGrath not given a go on Kelly yesterday? Seems tailor made for him.
For people that follow Galway club football yesterday was no massive shock.  Sligo are and have been as good and better team over the past 5 years. Unlike the 98/01 team we have very few forwards who can win their own ball. Hehir and Armstrong may be like Derek Savage in physique and touches but are no where near Savo in terms of winning their own ball. A forward that cant win his own ball is no use. Conroy for some reason was rarely hit with the long balls he thrives on and Meehan came on for a period that witnessed Galway getting no meaningful possession.

I hope Sligo do it now, they deserve a Connacht title to show for their efforts under Walsh. They are a well drilled and classy outfit with under rated forwards.  However I cant emphasise how important I think Kelly is to them. Everything positive stems from him even if its just making space. Should Mayo or Leitrim shut him down I think they will have a bit too do but that is easier said than done.

[moysider]

Sligo now have to deal with along wait to the Connacht final. Two weeks before they know who their opponents are and then another two. They had a peak yesterday and they ll need to ease back a bit and try to reproduce a similar performance for the final. It ll take good managing and they ll be plenty hype now too. I m not too far from the border and there was plenty whooping about last night in town and there was an Easkey man busy on facebook til c**k-crow! Brilliant. Great to see it but it will be a factor now. If the other semi is a dull affair Sligo could well be favourites for the final. Remember the wankfest about how great Galway were on The Sunday Game a few weeks ago. That torch will now pass to Sligo after the job they did on Galway yesterday.

[sans pessimism]

Apparently this is the first time we have beaten Galway in the connaught championship in Galway EVER.

I did not know that but I suppose that's another monkey off our back.  I thought a few day ago that if we could hold our own at midfield that we had a chance and we certainly did that in the second half.  Give credit to the Geevagh boys - McManus and Hughes caught some great balls there and Taylor did the job when he came on - Mullen also tried hard.

I'm over the moon with this win, we're always better as underdogs and we showed that again today.  Well done to Kevin Walsh and the backroom team on doing their homework, Galway did not get the same freedom they got against Roscommon and the speed and fitness of Sligo was apparent in the last 15 mins.

I'm sure the Galway supporters are disappointed and understandably so, however I think it was not just a case of Galway having a bad day, it was also a very determined Sligo team that would have bet most teams in the country today.  The question is can we reproduce that that level again for the final, if we do, Mayo will struggle to win.
Congrats to Adrian Marren on a great haul and congrats to all involved, you have restored my belief in Sligo and I could not be prouder of all involved.

It's very important that we let this win die quickly and focus on the final.  We tend to dwell on the past (when we win) and we should forget this as soon as possible and prepare for the connaught final as rank outsiders (which we will be), but with the courage and determination that we showed today in boatloads.

Well done to all involved.  Now let's move on to the final.

Have Leitrim given us a bye

[sans pessimism]

Hard to know where to begin with this one. Sligo for sure were full value for their win. Tactically they were spot on and while I think Mulholland is the man to steer Galway for the next 3-4 years I thought he got caught out badly yesterday.

Some very lazy comments on here about Galway. Joe Bergin for example had as fine a first half as I have seen in a while and that includes the Roscommon game. He did tire badly in the second half and lacked help. Mulholland needed to bolster midfield at this stage. Tom Flynn was called ashore very early and we suffered as a result.  O'Curraoin may not have been fit enough to come in but surely Conroy could have been brought out to his natural home for 10-15 minutes? It's not as if himself or Meehan were getting any regular or quality ball at this stage. In fairness you got to hand it to the Sligo midfield for upping it in the second half.

Sice and Bradshaw seemed to be particularly targeted by Walsh and curtailed their influence very well. I thought the Sligo half back line were superb. How Damien Burke lasted as long as he did I will never know especially with Flynn being sacrificed earlier than him coupled with our midfield difficulties.

Plenty again talking about Hanley getting taken to the cleaners. Again I don't know is this coming from people that were at the match or listening on radio or watching on the net but I don't think it was the full story. Hanley was not his usual self for sure but the lack of support/cover from his half back line was appalling. That's where we were tactically poor and we suffered more from the movement and play of David Kelly than Marren. Hanley won a few 50/50's with Marren when Sligo tried to play direct football to him. What worked for Sligo was giving it to Kelly, he was moving around and Marren would take the offload and pop it over. I felt Hanley looked terribly exposed yet the damage was done before this. Make no mistake if David Kelly was not fit to play yesterday Galway would have won yesterday despite Marren's heroics. He would not have been as effective. Also I don't think the second goal would ever have been on had Hanley remained on the field despite the tough day he was having.

Also why o why was Kieran McGrath not given a go on Kelly yesterday? Seems tailor made for him.
For people that follow Galway club football yesterday was no massive shock.  Sligo are and have been as good and better team over the past 5 years. Unlike the 98/01 team we have very few forwards who can win their own ball. Hehir and Armstrong may be like Derek Savage in physique and touches but are no where near Savo in terms of winning their own ball. A forward that cant win his own ball is no use. Conroy for some reason was rarely hit with the long balls he thrives on and Meehan came on for a period that witnessed Galway getting no meaningful possession.

I hope Sligo do it now, they deserve a Connacht title to show for their efforts under Walsh. They are a well drilled and classy outfit with under rated forwards.  However I cant emphasise how important I think Kelly is to them. Everything positive stems from him even if its just making space. Should Mayo or Leitrim shut him down I think they will have a bit too do but that is easier said than done.

As a Mayoman who attended the game y/day, I think your summary of the game is spot on

[moysider]

The Wickla lad on The Sunday Game - Leighton Glynn I think - has just announced Sligo taking over the mantle of favourites from Galway for Connacht. Whelan seemed to concur.

[Syferus]

Big Kev must have slipped them a coin or two for that one. Build up that siege wall, Taoiseach's County, build it high.