Derry v Kerry AISF Sunday 16th July 4pm

[restorepride]

It will be a difficult approach I feel, tactically do Derry stick with cautious defensive early approach and take advantages of counter attacking Kerry?

Or do they say, f**k it, let's go out and die with our boots on and unlock the chains?

Derry will definitely go with the cautious defensive approach. In fact, i think they go back to the tactics that served them well in 2022. Ultra defensive, intense, counter attacking. All 15 within their own 45. 2023 has saw them commit bodies further forward, but this approach will be cast aside on Sunday.
Glass in particular will have to maintain a position quite close to his full back line. Derry will be susceptible to direct high ball into Guiney and D Clifford.

Have Derry senior footballers ever beaten Kerry in a championship match in their history?

Who?

McKaigue and McEvoy not to mention Rogers in an emergency - are more than big enough and hairy enough to deal with high ball you would think? If any ball breaks there will be 27 Derry men on it also..

I think Clifford & Geaney would have a significant advantage aerially over McEvoy & McKaigue myself. Lets see.

The fact that McKaigue is taller than Geaney and McEvoy taller that Clifford should help a wee bit.

[restorepride]

Jack Barry and Diarmuid O'Connor were both on Na Gaeil team beaten by Steelstown in the All Ireland Intermediate semi-final last year.  They will hold no fear for Doire!! 

[Ciarrai_thuaidh]

It will be a difficult approach I feel, tactically do Derry stick with cautious defensive early approach and take advantages of counter attacking Kerry?

Or do they say, f**k it, let's go out and die with our boots on and unlock the chains?

Derry will definitely go with the cautious defensive approach. In fact, i think they go back to the tactics that served them well in 2022. Ultra defensive, intense, counter attacking. All 15 within their own 45. 2023 has saw them commit bodies further forward, but this approach will be cast aside on Sunday.
Glass in particular will have to maintain a position quite close to his full back line. Derry will be susceptible to direct high ball into Guiney and D Clifford.

Have Derry senior footballers ever beaten Kerry in a championship match in their history?

Who?

McKaigue and McEvoy not to mention Rogers in an emergency - are more than big enough and hairy enough to deal with high ball you would think? If any ball breaks there will be 27 Derry men on it also..

I think Clifford & Geaney would have a significant advantage aerially over McEvoy & McKaigue myself. Lets see.

Shur poor ol Paul is so old he can't jump much at this stage and David is struggling for form.

[HiMucker]

How many players featured in the 2017 and the 2020 AI minor finals between both sides?

[tbrick18]

It will be a difficult approach I feel, tactically do Derry stick with cautious defensive early approach and take advantages of counter attacking Kerry?

Or do they say, f**k it, let's go out and die with our boots on and unlock the chains?

Derry will definitely go with the cautious defensive approach. In fact, i think they go back to the tactics that served them well in 2022. Ultra defensive, intense, counter attacking. All 15 within their own 45. 2023 has saw them commit bodies further forward, but this approach will be cast aside on Sunday.
Glass in particular will have to maintain a position quite close to his full back line. Derry will be susceptible to direct high ball into Guiney and D Clifford.

Have Derry senior footballers ever beaten Kerry in a championship match in their history?

Who?

McKaigue and McEvoy not to mention Rogers in an emergency - are more than big enough and hairy enough to deal with high ball you would think? If any ball breaks there will be 27 Derry men on it also..

I think Clifford & Geaney would have a significant advantage aerially over McEvoy & McKaigue myself. Lets see.

Shur poor ol Paul is so old he can't jump much at this stage and David is struggling for form.

Ye may as well just concede the game and save yourselves the cost of a ticket. No point showing up for what's sure to be a walk over for Derry 

[joemamas]

It will be a difficult approach I feel, tactically do Derry stick with cautious defensive early approach and take advantages of counter attacking Kerry?

Or do they say, f**k it, let's go out and die with our boots on and unlock the chains?

Derry will definitely go with the cautious defensive approach. In fact, i think they go back to the tactics that served them well in 2022. Ultra defensive, intense, counter attacking. All 15 within their own 45. 2023 has saw them commit bodies further forward, but this approach will be cast aside on Sunday.
Glass in particular will have to maintain a position quite close to his full back line. Derry will be susceptible to direct high ball into Guiney and D Clifford.

Have Derry senior footballers ever beaten Kerry in a championship match in their history?

Who?

McKaigue and McEvoy not to mention Rogers in an emergency - are more than big enough and hairy enough to deal with high ball you would think? If any ball breaks there will be 27 Derry men on it also..

I think Clifford & Geaney would have a significant advantage aerially over McEvoy & McKaigue myself. Lets see.

Shur poor ol Paul is so old he can't jump much at this stage and David is struggling for form.

Ye may as well just concede the game and save yourselves the cost of a ticket. No point showing up for what's sure to be a walk over for Derry 

You do know at this point that he is the WUM with about 10 different names.

[restorepride]

How many players featured in the 2017 and the 2020 AI minor finals between both sides?

From 2017:  Conor McCluskey, Pádraig McGrogan, Ben McCarron, [Oisín McWilliams] from starting 15; Odhrán Lynch agus Declan Cassidy among subs.

[Ciarrai_thuaidh]

How many players featured in the 2017 and the 2020 AI minor finals between both sides?

2017: David Cliff, Diarmuid O'Connor, Chris O'Donoghue
Too early for 2020 crew yet!

Sides met in 2015 minor semi: Jason Foley, Gavin White, Seánie O'Shea were playing. That was a tight, tough game. Was virtually the final as Kerry wiped Tipp in final. Glass and Shane McGuigan (maybe more) played for Derry. Mark O'Connor was Kerry's standout player really. Such a loss at the moment.

Also met in 2016 which was a decent game also. O'Shea, Clifford still there were joined by Graham O'Sullivan, Mike Breen, Dara Moynihan. Stefan Okunbor, currently injured, came on also.

Edit: you also have the 2016 Hogan cup final of course in which Clifford, Moynihan, Chris O'Donoghue faced Glass, McGuigan et all.

Good bit of history between a few of the players when you look at it!

[Walter Cronc]

Hopefully Clifford won't cheat to get Glass sent off this time!

[God14]

Eamonn Sweeney: Derry versus Cork may attain legendary status - the most boring championship game ever played
Here, in full view, was damning proof that things can't go on like this

'Derry and Cork's huffing and puffing demolished the flimsy arguments for leaving the game as it is.' Photo: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
'Derry and Cork's huffing and puffing demolished the flimsy arguments for leaving the game as it is.' Photo: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

Eamonn Sweeney
Sun 9 Jul 2023 at 02:30
Describing this year's football championship as "intriguing", or "compelling", or "absorbing", makes you sound like an auctioneer telling a client that a broom cupboard is actually a cosy one-person studio apartment with unique character. Nobody falls for that one anymore.
Derry versus Cork may attain legendary status. Generations to come will be told, "You think that was boring? You don't know what boredom means kid. You should have been there for Derry and Cork in 2023."

Last Sunday's quarter-final was the 1977 Dublin-Kerry semi-final in reverse, an inglorious encapsulation of everything amiss with its era.

What will go on the lowlights reel? Cork's opening salvo when they held the ball for three minutes, passed it 58 times and kicked it wide. Along with the 33-pass move shortly afterwards and the briefly interrupted 31-pass combo so absurdly convoluted a player injured himself by colliding with the ref.

Then there was the spell which began in the 54th minute, with Derry passing the ball 20 times before being penalised for over-carrying. Cork got the ball and passed it 18 times in a minute before bringing it over the sideline. Derry responded with 13 passes before getting done for over-carrying once more.

Those five minutes may have been the worst sustained spell of football ever witnessed in Croke Park. Yet we should praise Derry and Cork rather than bury them. They did football some service last Sunday. Their huffing and puffing demolished the flimsy arguments for leaving the game as it is.


​This was less a wake-up call than someone charging into the bedroom, yelling that the house is on fire and you've only a few seconds to get out.

The year has been full of bad football matches, but this one seemed to stand out, perhaps because some close finishes in the previous few weeks left the incorrigibly optimistic hoping things might turn out OK.

Monaghan's meeting with Armagh was just as bad, but its exile to GAAGO inflicted it on a far smaller audience. The Mayo-Louth match was probably worse, but back then we hoped the knockout stages might be different.

Derry-Cork was lent symbolic significance by the venue. Here, in full view of everyone, was damning proof that things can't go on like this. Gaelic football was caught standing over the corpse of entertainment with a bloodied knife in its hands.

This year's championship has been accompanied by a strange soundtrack. An uneasy and anxious murmur ripples through the stands. There's an undercurrent of suspense, not so much 'what'll happen next' as 'will anything happen at all.'


From Agadoo to Lambada to Macarena, every summer has its big novelty hit. Gaelic football's 2023 smash is The Sound of Silence. The dance routine — sideways, back, a small bit forward, quickly back and sideways again — is a killer.

The most tedious stretches of Sunday's game saw players in ambling, dawdling and strolling mode. Even the man in possession joined the promenade. They too seemed to be waiting for something to happen.

Accentuating the positive in such circumstances can make you sound silly. Paul Flynn's constant declarations in the Mayo-Louth game that the home team had a great opportunity to work it out to the sides, then back into the middle and then off the shoulder made him sound like a Peter Mark stylist gone rogue.

​Enda McGinley suggested Laois would be focussing on the positives when they were 24 points in arrears to Down, a reading perhaps disproved by manager Billy Sheehan's resignation a few days later. Flynn, McGinley et al mean well. Positivity is often an admirable trait. But applying lipstick to this pig of a championship doesn't help anyone in the long run. The road to recovery begins with the recognition that you're at rock bottom.

Last Sunday's farrago filled me with sadness. I've watched some of those players for many years here in West Cork. Brian O'Driscoll, Ruairí Deane, Rory Maguire, John O'Rourke, Brian Hurley — these are all fine, admirable and honest footballers.


They can kick points, elude opponents, ship challenges, fetch high ball and execute difficult skills while moving at top speed. Yet they're being ground down by the murder machine of modern inter-county football.

I've also seen their manager John Cleary send out teams which played in the best and most adventurous traditions of the game. Now he too seems defeated by what football has become. It was like watching a man of conscience finally submit his spirit to the diktats of a totalitarian state. What option does he have?

​That such people have learned to love the blanket defence is the greatest argument for fundamental rule changes. None of the players, or managers, trapped in the current straitjacket started off wanting to play like this. They'd have hoped to display their gifts to the full on the biggest stages, to expand rather than constrict the game's possibilities. That simply isn't possible now.

Derry perhaps cut an even more tragic figure than Cork because they have the ability to play an infinitely more expansive game. The most striking proof of this came when, stung by the concession of a goal, they tore Cork apart to immediately reply in kind.

There were also a couple of marvellous late long-range points from Brendan Rogers where you could practically see him decide the messing had gone far enough. Yet the immensely exciting Shane McGuigan was rendered ineffective by the ponderousness of his team's build-up.


Derry may point to two Ulster titles in a row. But Donegal did the same under Declan Bonner and left an overwhelming impression of unfulfilled potential because a lack of adventure prevented them going any further. The Oak Leaf County's best chance of beating Kerry next Sunday would be to emulate Tyrone in 2021 and take the game to the Kingdom. They might win and we could enjoy a thriller.

It's more likely that their focus will be on frustrating Kerry. In which case next weekend's two semi-finals will add yet more drops to the vast ocean of disappointment which has been the 2023 football championship.

Football should be enjoyed not endured. This has been some waste of a season.

[Derryman forever]

Eamonn Sweeney: Derry versus Cork may attain legendary status - the most boring championship game ever played
Here, in full view, was damning proof that things can't go on like this

'Derry and Cork's huffing and puffing demolished the flimsy arguments for leaving the game as it is.' Photo: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
'Derry and Cork's huffing and puffing demolished the flimsy arguments for leaving the game as it is.' Photo: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

Eamonn Sweeney
Sun 9 Jul 2023 at 02:30
Describing this year's football championship as "intriguing", or "compelling", or "absorbing", makes you sound like an auctioneer telling a client that a broom cupboard is actually a cosy one-person studio apartment with unique character. Nobody falls for that one anymore.
Derry versus Cork may attain legendary status. Generations to come will be told, "You think that was boring? You don't know what boredom means kid. You should have been there for Derry and Cork in 2023."

Last Sunday's quarter-final was the 1977 Dublin-Kerry semi-final in reverse, an inglorious encapsulation of everything amiss with its era.

What will go on the lowlights reel? Cork's opening salvo when they held the ball for three minutes, passed it 58 times and kicked it wide. Along with the 33-pass move shortly afterwards and the briefly interrupted 31-pass combo so absurdly convoluted a player injured himself by colliding with the ref.

Then there was the spell which began in the 54th minute, with Derry passing the ball 20 times before being penalised for over-carrying. Cork got the ball and passed it 18 times in a minute before bringing it over the sideline. Derry responded with 13 passes before getting done for over-carrying once more.

Those five minutes may have been the worst sustained spell of football ever witnessed in Croke Park. Yet we should praise Derry and Cork rather than bury them. They did football some service last Sunday. Their huffing and puffing demolished the flimsy arguments for leaving the game as it is.


​This was less a wake-up call than someone charging into the bedroom, yelling that the house is on fire and you've only a few seconds to get out.

The year has been full of bad football matches, but this one seemed to stand out, perhaps because some close finishes in the previous few weeks left the incorrigibly optimistic hoping things might turn out OK.

Monaghan's meeting with Armagh was just as bad, but its exile to GAAGO inflicted it on a far smaller audience. The Mayo-Louth match was probably worse, but back then we hoped the knockout stages might be different.

Derry-Cork was lent symbolic significance by the venue. Here, in full view of everyone, was damning proof that things can't go on like this. Gaelic football was caught standing over the corpse of entertainment with a bloodied knife in its hands.

This year's championship has been accompanied by a strange soundtrack. An uneasy and anxious murmur ripples through the stands. There's an undercurrent of suspense, not so much 'what'll happen next' as 'will anything happen at all.'


From Agadoo to Lambada to Macarena, every summer has its big novelty hit. Gaelic football's 2023 smash is The Sound of Silence. The dance routine — sideways, back, a small bit forward, quickly back and sideways again — is a killer.

The most tedious stretches of Sunday's game saw players in ambling, dawdling and strolling mode. Even the man in possession joined the promenade. They too seemed to be waiting for something to happen.

Accentuating the positive in such circumstances can make you sound silly. Paul Flynn's constant declarations in the Mayo-Louth game that the home team had a great opportunity to work it out to the sides, then back into the middle and then off the shoulder made him sound like a Peter Mark stylist gone rogue.

​Enda McGinley suggested Laois would be focussing on the positives when they were 24 points in arrears to Down, a reading perhaps disproved by manager Billy Sheehan's resignation a few days later. Flynn, McGinley et al mean well. Positivity is often an admirable trait. But applying lipstick to this pig of a championship doesn't help anyone in the long run. The road to recovery begins with the recognition that you're at rock bottom.

Last Sunday's farrago filled me with sadness. I've watched some of those players for many years here in West Cork. Brian O'Driscoll, Ruairí Deane, Rory Maguire, John O'Rourke, Brian Hurley — these are all fine, admirable and honest footballers.


They can kick points, elude opponents, ship challenges, fetch high ball and execute difficult skills while moving at top speed. Yet they're being ground down by the murder machine of modern inter-county football.

I've also seen their manager John Cleary send out teams which played in the best and most adventurous traditions of the game. Now he too seems defeated by what football has become. It was like watching a man of conscience finally submit his spirit to the diktats of a totalitarian state. What option does he have?

​That such people have learned to love the blanket defence is the greatest argument for fundamental rule changes. None of the players, or managers, trapped in the current straitjacket started off wanting to play like this. They'd have hoped to display their gifts to the full on the biggest stages, to expand rather than constrict the game's possibilities. That simply isn't possible now.

Derry perhaps cut an even more tragic figure than Cork because they have the ability to play an infinitely more expansive game. The most striking proof of this came when, stung by the concession of a goal, they tore Cork apart to immediately reply in kind.

There were also a couple of marvellous late long-range points from Brendan Rogers where you could practically see him decide the messing had gone far enough. Yet the immensely exciting Shane McGuigan was rendered ineffective by the ponderousness of his team's build-up.


Derry may point to two Ulster titles in a row. But Donegal did the same under Declan Bonner and left an overwhelming impression of unfulfilled potential because a lack of adventure prevented them going any further. The Oak Leaf County's best chance of beating Kerry next Sunday would be to emulate Tyrone in 2021 and take the game to the Kingdom. They might win and we could enjoy a thriller.

It's more likely that their focus will be on frustrating Kerry. In which case next weekend's two semi-finals will add yet more drops to the vast ocean of disappointment which has been the 2023 football championship.

Football should be enjoyed not endured. This has been some waste of a season.

0


What was he writing when Dublin were doing the same thing  under jim Gavin. Kerry also. Galway were the best thing since sliced bread until Armagh beat them , and sure Roscommon are only a season away from an all ireland .
The wrong teams are winning games is his problem.
Had Cork win this game he would be telling us that it was a joy to see a great Cork team exercise patience and skill to advance to an AI semi final.

[God14]

Sorry thats not the case at all. Derry are playing a style of football which is just dire to watch, if your not from Derry. Of the top teams no one else is as defense orientated, systematic, and risk averse as Derry are. Now don't get me wrong, Tyrone played very alike Derry are playing now from 2014 to 2017. We got two Ulsters out of it as well and I tried to justify it at the time. Harte used to roll off the scores we got and ask commentators 'how is that defensive?'

But it was defensive, and it was dire. It got results but it was joyless.

And when you lose eventually, your left with a sickening feeling of not really having a cut at it at all. Watching Derry v Galway semi final last year reminded me so much of Tyrone v Dublin in 2017 semi final. Getting well bate & playing out the remainder of a contest defending the deficit on the score board.

It is what it is at this stage. Hopefully we can identify the correct rule changes going forward to bring the 'contest' back into football.

[93-DY-SAM]

Sorry thats not the case at all. Derry are playing a style of football which is just dire to watch, if your not from Derry. Of the top teams no one else is as defense orientated, systematic, and risk averse as Derry are. Now don't get me wrong, Tyrone played very alike Derry are playing now from 2014 to 2017. We got two Ulsters out of it as well and I tried to justify it at the time. Harte used to roll off the scores we got and ask commentators 'how is that defensive?'

But it was defensive, and it was dire. It got results but it was joyless.

And when you lose eventually, your left with a sickening feeling of not really having a cut at it at all. Watching Derry v Galway semi final last year reminded me so much of Tyrone v Dublin in 2017 semi final. Getting well bate & playing out the remainder of a contest defending the deficit on the score board.

It is what it is at this stage. Hopefully we can identify the correct rule changes going forward to bring the 'contest' back into football.

A Tyrone man trying to lecture other counties about a dire style of football. Catch yourself on!

[marty34]

Eamonn Sweeney: Derry versus Cork may attain legendary status - the most boring championship game ever played
Here, in full view, was damning proof that things can't go on like this

'Derry and Cork's huffing and puffing demolished the flimsy arguments for leaving the game as it is.' Photo: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
'Derry and Cork's huffing and puffing demolished the flimsy arguments for leaving the game as it is.' Photo: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

Eamonn Sweeney
Sun 9 Jul 2023 at 02:30
Describing this year's football championship as "intriguing", or "compelling", or "absorbing", makes you sound like an auctioneer telling a client that a broom cupboard is actually a cosy one-person studio apartment with unique character. Nobody falls for that one anymore.
Derry versus Cork may attain legendary status. Generations to come will be told, "You think that was boring? You don't know what boredom means kid. You should have been there for Derry and Cork in 2023."

Last Sunday's quarter-final was the 1977 Dublin-Kerry semi-final in reverse, an inglorious encapsulation of everything amiss with its era.

What will go on the lowlights reel? Cork's opening salvo when they held the ball for three minutes, passed it 58 times and kicked it wide. Along with the 33-pass move shortly afterwards and the briefly interrupted 31-pass combo so absurdly convoluted a player injured himself by colliding with the ref.

Then there was the spell which began in the 54th minute, with Derry passing the ball 20 times before being penalised for over-carrying. Cork got the ball and passed it 18 times in a minute before bringing it over the sideline. Derry responded with 13 passes before getting done for over-carrying once more.

Those five minutes may have been the worst sustained spell of football ever witnessed in Croke Park. Yet we should praise Derry and Cork rather than bury them. They did football some service last Sunday. Their huffing and puffing demolished the flimsy arguments for leaving the game as it is.


​This was less a wake-up call than someone charging into the bedroom, yelling that the house is on fire and you've only a few seconds to get out.

The year has been full of bad football matches, but this one seemed to stand out, perhaps because some close finishes in the previous few weeks left the incorrigibly optimistic hoping things might turn out OK.

Monaghan's meeting with Armagh was just as bad, but its exile to GAAGO inflicted it on a far smaller audience. The Mayo-Louth match was probably worse, but back then we hoped the knockout stages might be different.

Derry-Cork was lent symbolic significance by the venue. Here, in full view of everyone, was damning proof that things can't go on like this. Gaelic football was caught standing over the corpse of entertainment with a bloodied knife in its hands.

This year's championship has been accompanied by a strange soundtrack. An uneasy and anxious murmur ripples through the stands. There's an undercurrent of suspense, not so much 'what'll happen next' as 'will anything happen at all.'


From Agadoo to Lambada to Macarena, every summer has its big novelty hit. Gaelic football's 2023 smash is The Sound of Silence. The dance routine — sideways, back, a small bit forward, quickly back and sideways again — is a killer.

The most tedious stretches of Sunday's game saw players in ambling, dawdling and strolling mode. Even the man in possession joined the promenade. They too seemed to be waiting for something to happen.

Accentuating the positive in such circumstances can make you sound silly. Paul Flynn's constant declarations in the Mayo-Louth game that the home team had a great opportunity to work it out to the sides, then back into the middle and then off the shoulder made him sound like a Peter Mark stylist gone rogue.

​Enda McGinley suggested Laois would be focussing on the positives when they were 24 points in arrears to Down, a reading perhaps disproved by manager Billy Sheehan's resignation a few days later. Flynn, McGinley et al mean well. Positivity is often an admirable trait. But applying lipstick to this pig of a championship doesn't help anyone in the long run. The road to recovery begins with the recognition that you're at rock bottom.

Last Sunday's farrago filled me with sadness. I've watched some of those players for many years here in West Cork. Brian O'Driscoll, Ruairí Deane, Rory Maguire, John O'Rourke, Brian Hurley — these are all fine, admirable and honest footballers.


They can kick points, elude opponents, ship challenges, fetch high ball and execute difficult skills while moving at top speed. Yet they're being ground down by the murder machine of modern inter-county football.

I've also seen their manager John Cleary send out teams which played in the best and most adventurous traditions of the game. Now he too seems defeated by what football has become. It was like watching a man of conscience finally submit his spirit to the diktats of a totalitarian state. What option does he have?

​That such people have learned to love the blanket defence is the greatest argument for fundamental rule changes. None of the players, or managers, trapped in the current straitjacket started off wanting to play like this. They'd have hoped to display their gifts to the full on the biggest stages, to expand rather than constrict the game's possibilities. That simply isn't possible now.

Derry perhaps cut an even more tragic figure than Cork because they have the ability to play an infinitely more expansive game. The most striking proof of this came when, stung by the concession of a goal, they tore Cork apart to immediately reply in kind.

There were also a couple of marvellous late long-range points from Brendan Rogers where you could practically see him decide the messing had gone far enough. Yet the immensely exciting Shane McGuigan was rendered ineffective by the ponderousness of his team's build-up.


Derry may point to two Ulster titles in a row. But Donegal did the same under Declan Bonner and left an overwhelming impression of unfulfilled potential because a lack of adventure prevented them going any further. The Oak Leaf County's best chance of beating Kerry next Sunday would be to emulate Tyrone in 2021 and take the game to the Kingdom. They might win and we could enjoy a thriller.

It's more likely that their focus will be on frustrating Kerry. In which case next weekend's two semi-finals will add yet more drops to the vast ocean of disappointment which has been the 2023 football championship.

Football should be enjoyed not endured. This has been some waste of a season.

Ah, the murder machine of modern day inter-county football.

A great quote by Sweeney via Pearse.

[Derryman forever]

Sorry thats not the case at all. Derry are playing a style of football which is just dire to watch, if your not from Derry. Of the top teams no one else is as defense orientated, systematic, and risk averse as Derry are. Now don't get me wrong, Tyrone played very alike Derry are playing now from 2014 to 2017. We got two Ulsters out of it as well and I tried to justify it at the time. Harte used to roll off the scores we got and ask commentators 'how is that defensive?'

But it was defensive, and it was dire. It got results but it was joyless.

And when you lose eventually, your left with a sickening feeling of not really having a cut at it at all. Watching Derry v Galway semi final last year reminded me so much of Tyrone v Dublin in 2017 semi final. Getting well bate & playing out the remainder of a contest defending the deficit on the score board.

It is what it is at this stage. Hopefully we can identify the correct rule changes going forward to bring the 'contest' back into football.

Galway and Roscommon are even more defensive.  All the pundits were admiring Galway,, sure they had the AI in the bag Dublin  were at it for 6 years. They are heralded as being the greatest team ever. Kerry still pack the defense, watch them come this weekend. None of these teams are vilified like Ulster teams. But you chose not to address any of that.