Galway GAA discussion thread

Diabhal Beag

Congrats to Sligo. Adrian Marren was brilliant and Kelly was tearing the Galway defense apart. Best of luck against Leitrim/Mayo.

I genuinely couldn't even begin to express how disappointing that showing was. Bergin and Duane really stuck out to me and were impressive. Hanley was superb at fullback too when Galway were on top and Damien Burke worked very hard. We all saw the same match so I'm sure the rest of ye will express it better than I can.

MfMan wrote: »

When I say something, it's right! Higgins not up to it, proven this evening.

He had a good year with exception to this match. Basing your appraisal of a player based on one bad match were several other players went missing is so harsh and one-eyed I can only laugh. Who would you play instead Mfman?

Qualifiers hopefully will be kind to us but really you can't be confident against any side in Ireland.

MfMan

Diabhal Beag wrote: »

He had a good year with exception to this match. Basing your appraisal of a player based on one bad match were several other players went missing is so harsh and one-eyed I can only laugh. Who would you play instead Mfman?

He hasn't had really Diabhal. Very ordinary in all games I've seen him play. O Curraoin if / when fit may be a better option. Hanley too got a stern examination from Marren, but got no support from the line outside him or by the management who should have dropped a spare man back in the 2nd half. Hard to know where to go from here, 1 step up, 1 step back.

blowitupref

Hanley was superb at fullback too when Galway were on top a

Adrian Marren had the beating of Hanley all day. He was far from superb at any stage today.

pjmn

Was at the match this evening - thought Hanley did ok but got very little support from his corner backs - Galway midfield very poor - Armstrong wouldn't win a 50/50 ball if he was the two players going for it...

Diabhal Beag

MfMan wrote: »

He hasn't had really Diabhal. Very ordinary in all games I've seen him play. O Curraoin if / when fit may be a better option. Hanley too got a stern examination from Marren, but got no support from the line outside him or by the management who should have dropped a spare man back in the 2nd half.

Wouldn't mind seeing O'Curraoin in either but still Higgins has been the best option to partner Bergin. Agree with the spare man point. Any occasion where there was a one-on-one situation at half forward for Sligo there was a through-ball opportunity wide-open for them. They really missed the easiest chance they had for goal when the fisted the ball over.

blowitupref wrote: »

Adrian Marren had the beating of Hanley all day. He was far from superb at any stage today.

For the first half Hanley was genuinely a brick wall. He dominated and nothing went past him. He was beaten well in the second half granted but that was when the onslaught of Sligo attack started and where all the backs were missing.


One point I would like the bring up is Faherty's kicking. It was never that bad before. It wasn't lack of options either. Some of those kicks were closer to Salthill park at times and some barely went over 2 metres high.

Syferus

Thought Bergin was far from good. Walsh knows him well and broke him down to the point where you only saw him mopping up defensively ball in the second half, nothing in the middle and his one attack led to a classic midfielder screw kick that ended up nearer the corner than the posts.

Bergin had it easy against us because with Finneran gone he got to match up with a half-back playing midfield but today he was cleaned out by some great fielding and work-rate on Sligo's part.

Utopia Parkway

As dillusioned as I've even been with Galway football to be honest. This collection of players (and I know there are a lot of youngsters involved this year) simply don't want to know if a game is tight. Galway have lost a pile of tight games over the past 4 years or so and it's no accident that it keeps happening. When the game was in the melting pot yesterday mid way through the 2nd half only one team really wanted to win that game and that was Sligo. Not Galway.

They were winning all the breaking ball, diving head first on loose balls and getting in desperate blocks and tackles. They raised their intensity levels considerably from the first half and Galway stayed at the same casual level they were at during the first half. Quite frankly this Galway team has no bottle at all. Sad to say. They beat Roscommon because they got a big early lead and Roscommon basically threw in the towel early on. Had Roscommon stayed in touch I have no doubt they would have probably edged a win in that game as well.

Some brief thoughts on the game: How did Armstrong stay on for the full 70 minutes? I am sick of his constant shoot on sight from any angle policy. A talented but brainless footballer. He's not worth his place on the team at the minute. Not sure what game some of the posters on here were watching but Finian Hanley actually had a fantastic first half. We were right in front of him at the match and he pretty much won every single ball that was sent his direction. Second half was obviously different but we were at the far side of the ground so I couldn't get a good view on what went wrong for him after half-time. Galway led by 4 at half-time but kicked some really bad wides. Probably should have gone in at the break 6 or 7 up but it was the usual casual Galway wastefullness of recent years. Maybe thinking they are better than they really are.

Well done to Sligo. Kevin Walsh defnitely got one over Alan Mulholland. He did pretty much everything I expected him to do tactically but it still worked.

RealityCheck

Syferus wrote: »

Thought Bergin was far from good. Walsh knows him well and broke him down to the point where you only saw him mopping up defensively ball in the second half, nothing in the middle and his one attack led to a classic midfielder screw kick that ended up nearer the corner than the posts.

To be fair to Bergin he had a decent first half, second wasn't great but it was by no means his worst performance there. We lacked options in the subs. Only O'Curraoin who has played very little football due to injury was the only midfielder in the subs, although I guess we had 3 midfielders named on the team and aren't exactly known for our midfield talent.

Utopia Parkway wrote: »

As dillusioned as I've even been with Galway football to be honest. This collection of players (and I know there are a lot of youngsters involved this year) simply don't want to know if a game is tight. Galway have lost a pile of tight games over the past 4 years or so and it's no accident that it keeps happening. When the game was in the melting pot yesterday mid way through the 2nd half only one team really wanted to win that game and that was Sligo. Not Galway.

The alarming thing is it wasn't that tight a game, we were roundly beaten in the second half. Only when we got it briefly back to 1 point did it look remotely likely we would win, once they went ahead.

Utopia Parkway wrote: »

They were winning all the breaking ball, diving head first on loose balls and getting in desperate blocks and tackles. They raised their intensity levels considerably from the first half and Galway stayed at the same casual level they were at during the first half. Quite frankly this Galway team has no bottle at all. Sad to say. They beat Roscommon because they got a big early lead and Roscommon basically threw in the towel early on. Had Roscommon stayed in touch I have no doubt they would have probably edged a win in that game as well.

No in fairness Roscommon were just diabolical. The big difference between Roscommon and Sligo is Sligo know how to beat and know they can beat us. Added to that they have a really passionate manager.

Utopia Parkway wrote: »

Some brief thoughts on the game: How did Armstrong stay on for the full 70 minutes? I am sick of his constant shoot on sight from any angle policy. A talented but brainless footballer. He's not worth his place on the team at the minute. Not sure what game some of the posters on here were watching but Finian Hanley actually had a fantastic first half. We were right in front of him at the match and he pretty much won every single ball that was sent his direction. Second half was obviously different but we were at the far side of the ground so I couldn't get a good view on what went wrong for him after half-time. Galway led by 4 at half-time but kicked some really bad wides. Probably should have gone in at the break 6 or 7 up but it was the usual casual Galway wastefullness of recent years. Maybe thinking they are better than they really are.

Once we lost Hanley it was game over. Forde was shocking altogether. Bringing in Gary Sweeney for his debut, struck me as a bit ridiculous. Also, why was Burke substituted? he was the only half forward who was actually showing for the ball. He was being needlessly moved into full forward to bring Conroy out. Couldn't understand that move especially when Conroy was causing trouble inside.

I think Galway were over confident. I mean where is Bradshaw going taking frees with one hand on the ball and players like Armstrong and Hehir taking crazy shots in the first half. I was concerned with the first half performance. Nothing of note actually happened in the first half.

I'm not going to dwell on it, but its not that much of a surprise we were beaten. History tends to repeat itself. Having said that I did predict us to win. Call it hopeless optimism.

MfMan

Utopia Parkway wrote: »

As dillusioned as I've even been with Galway football to be honest. This collection of players (and I know there are a lot of youngsters involved this year) simply don't want to know if a game is tight. Galway have lost a pile of tight games over the past 4 years or so and it's no accident that it keeps happening. When the game was in the melting pot yesterday mid way through the 2nd half only one team really wanted to win that game and that was Sligo. Not Galway.

It's nothing to do with bottle (same as with the hurlers). It comes down to skill and ability. Good , better players are better than their opponents, find ways to win and then go on to win. Too many ordinary, inconsistent players are being picked and being over-praised and over-estimated after one good win. As of now, of the team that started yesterday evening, possibly only Bradshaw would get near a first XV in the game at present. Faherty, Duane, Conroy, Hehir, maybe Keith Kelly, should all be ok in time, but will need a better supporting cast around them. All other positions are probably up for grabs.

RealityCheck

MfMan wrote: »

It's nothing to do with bottle (same as with the hurlers). It comes down to skill and ability. Good , better players are better than their opponents, find ways to win and then go on to win. Too many ordinary, inconsistent players are being picked and being over-praised and over-estimated after one good win. As of now, of the team that started yesterday evening, possibly only Bradshaw would get near a first XV in the game at present. Faherty, Duane, Conroy, Hehir, maybe Keith Kelly, should all be ok in time, but will need a better supporting cast around them. All other positions are probably up for grabs.

I think its a bit harsh on Hanley. The guy was forced into fire fighting mode yesterday due to the absence of support primarily from the half back line. Whats up with Forde? He looked good last year, but was caught badly off the pace against Marren who's hardly a speed merchant.

One of the biggest problems was naivety. Too many forays up the pitch by defensive players, created space once our attacks broke down, leading to the concession of a lot of scores, especially the two goals.

aidan24326

Well done to Sligo. They were so much hungrier and seemed to want it more, which is the most galling thing. As other posters have noted, too many of these Galway players have no stomach for a fight. They can look great when things are going their way but once a team puts it up to them they go missing.

Hanley did his best against an on-fire Marren but got no help at all from his corner backs, who got a bit of a reality check yesterday. Higgins very poor at midfield. And I would drop Armstrong at this stage. He's not up to it at this level anymore, and in truth he has rarely delivered for us at senior level.

Tom Flynn is not making any impact at wing forward either. Play him midfield or not at all.

Whoever draws us in the qualifiers will have no fear that's for sure. Very disappointing performance considering they seemed to be making good progress, and Mulholland will have a job to boost morale again and get them motivated for the qualifiers.

RealityCheck

All is very quiet around here. I suppose thats understandable after the disappointment of Saturday. As bad and all as things were I think now isn't the time to give up on them. We're only in year 1 of a 3 year project. The management need to learn from the last day though, and learn quiet fast.

A lot of our problems seem to stem from naivety and a lack of a plan B. Sligo read us like a book. I know midfield weren't great, but they didn't lose the game for us. Higgins had a bad game, I've seen worse from Galway midfielders though and Bergin had on ok game. The losing of the game wasn't midfield. The losing of the game was as I said our lack of a plan B when Sligo were getting on top as well as some of defenders being too gung ho. How many of their scores came after our half backs had salleyed up the pitch? Every time play broke down, we were so over committed all Sligo had to do was move the ball in the right direction. If we are to have any hope we need to get defence right. If that means our attacks suffer as a consequence I don't mind. you can't be conceding the goals we did on Saturday. Its a bit blind blaming the full backs when they had no cover. At the same time I don't want to be seeing corner backs past the 40. The foundation of a team should be defence. If you look at the more successful teams they built their teams on a solid defence. Look at Dublin, Donegal, Kildare and even Mayo recently. No point playing lovely football if you concede soft scores. The Brazil "we'll score more than you" more often fails than it succeeds in the modern game. I'm not saying we need a blanket defence, we just need to have a more cautious mentality.

In terms of personnel we need to replace O'Donnell with someone who can first and foremost defend. We need Duane to hold his position more, especially if Bradshaw attacks up the pitch. We need a more mobile midfielder than Higgins who can cover when needs be. We need to play a wing forward who is a scoring threat, as opposed to an extra midfielder.

Its disheartening after seeing such a good performance against Roscommon but for once I want to see this Galway team actually winning a qualifier. We fold the tent far too easily when get knocked out of Connacht. Can we for once change that?

Diabhal Beag

As bad a defeat as it was against Sligo it's definitely the least worry I've had facing down into the qualifiers in the last few years. They played one great match and were shown up as over-cocky in the next one. There'll be a humble middle come qualifiers and I'm not expecting a win but a good showing. Since they won Connacht in 08 they genuinely showed nothing of note in any match except Roscommon. They have a month now to regroup for the 2nd round qualifier against one of these sides:

Antrim
Armagh
Carlow/Meath
Cavan
Derry/Donegal
Fermanagh
Laois
London
Longford
Louth
Offaly/Kildare
Roscommon
Tipperary
Waterford
Westmeath
Wicklow

In bold are the toughest matches which are possible (providing some massive upsets). Obviously for Galway there are no easy matches but they can at the least put these teams up to a close game.

RealityCheck

Antrim
Armagh
Carlow/Meath
Cavan
Derry/Donegal
Fermanagh
Laois
London
Longford
Louth
Offaly/Kildare
Roscommon
Tipperary
Waterford
Westmeath
Wicklow

Pretty sure you can wipe out Roscommon as I presume we can't play them again? The chances are we'll be playing a team around our level (Longford, Westmeath, Laois) or a bit above us (Armagh). We'd probably find any of those games tough, even against Tipperary, Wicklow and Antrim, especially if it takes place somewhere like Aughrim or Casement Park. No easy games there.

24yearslater

Dreadful performance on Saturday - looked like an awful lot of them believed all the sh*t that was written about them after beating an obviously seriously demotivated ross. The complete unwillingness to fight for dirty ball, and to get really stuck in when Sligo threw down the challenge in the 2nd half, was depressingly familiar. In the name of God what is wrong with the Galway GAA mans mentality over the past 8-10 years? The amount of times our lads just give up when things start going against them, or fold at the end in tight games is unparrelleled in any other team sport in the world I reckon. The last time I remember a Galway team pulling a game out of the fire was in the AI football semi final in '01 v Derry. Since then it's been repeated capitulation or consistently snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

2002
Footballers capituated v Kerry in AI Qtr final
Hurlers snatched defeat from the jaws of victory v Clare in AI Qtr final (despite being 6 pts up at one stage).

2003
Hurlers capitualted v Tipp in qualifier in salthill, late rally too late.
Footballers threw it away v Donegal in both games

2004
Footballers capituled both against Mayo & Tyrone
Hurlers capitulated v Kk

2005
Hurlers never got going in th AI final v cork - gave them a 6 point start before we started hurling
Footballers threw away a 6 point lead v Cork in the AI qtr final

2006
Hurlers capitulated v Wat in the qualifiers & Kk in AI qtrs
Footballers threw away a 4 point lead in the 2nd half v Mayo in the CF, losing by a point & bottling a last minute free to level it up. The farce in Salthill v Westmeath was a new low at the time.

2007
Hurlers capitualted v Clare in the qualifiers & Kk in the qtrs
Footballers reached another low v Sligo in the CF, beforwe bowing out tamely v Meath in the qualifiers.

2008
Hurlers reached a new low v Cork in the qualifiers. 4 points up, wind at their backs for the 2nd half, with Cork a man down. Only JC came out in the 2nd half, whilst the rest of them ran up & hid under the seats in the stands.
Footballers did ok in the rain v Kerry, but ultimately failed to show when questions were asked in the last 20 mins.

2009
Footballers bottled it v Mayo in the CF in the last few minutes, likewise v Donegal in the qualifiers.
Hurlers 4 pts up going into injury time v wat, concede 1-2 at the death to lose by 1

2010
Footballers 2 points up v Sligo in the replay, concede 3 pts in injury time to lose by 1. Another all lime low is reached by losing to Wex in Salthill, again to 3 late points.
Hurlers capitualted v Kk in the Leinster final, bottle it in the qtrs v tipp by conceding 3 late points to lose by 1.

2011
Footballers take a hiding from Mayo in the Connacht semi, fk away a 1 point lead in Meath in the qualifiers to lose by one. Miss an open goal at the death.
Hurlers disgrace themselves v Dublin & Waterford.

2012
Footballers roll over v Sligo
Hurlers concede 4 goals to Westmeath.

The pattern suggests a mental failing in the make up of Galway folks character - I firmly believe we can be as good standard wise as the best in both codes, yet no other county has consistently failed to deliver over such a long period of time, with the winning post in sight.

At this rate I'm dreading Portlaoise next Sunday.

Syferus

I thought we'd scupper Galway but this is not how I imagined we'd do it!

We're both in simliar boats now, big losses and a lot of young players. Still, we've had plenty of time to recover mentally and so will ye by the 14th of July.

As long as we don't meet I have no reservations in wishing Galway the best because at their best they've represented Connacht football better than anyone.

MfMan

RealityCheck wrote: »

All is very quiet around here. I suppose thats understandable after the disappointment of Saturday. As bad and all as things were I think now isn't the time to give up on them. We're only in year 1 of a 3 year project. The management need to learn from the last day though, and learn quiet fast.

A lot of our problems seem to stem from naivety and a lack of a plan B. Sligo read us like a book. I know midfield weren't great, but they didn't lose the game for us. Higgins had a bad game, I've seen worse from Galway midfielders though and Bergin had on ok game. The losing of the game wasn't midfield. The losing of the game was as I said our lack of a plan B when Sligo were getting on top as well as some of defenders being too gung ho. How many of their scores came after our half backs had salleyed up the pitch? Every time play broke down, we were so over committed all Sligo had to do was move the ball in the right direction. If we are to have any hope we need to get defence right. If that means our attacks suffer as a consequence I don't mind. you can't be conceding the goals we did on Saturday. Its a bit blind blaming the full backs when they had no cover. At the same time I don't want to be seeing corner backs past the 40. The foundation of a team should be defence. If you look at the more successful teams they built their teams on a solid defence. Look at Dublin, Donegal, Kildare and even Mayo recently. No point playing lovely football if you concede soft scores. The Brazil "we'll score more than you" more often fails than it succeeds in the modern game. I'm not saying we need a blanket defence, we just need to have a more cautious mentality.

In terms of personnel we need to replace O'Donnell with someone who can first and foremost defend. We need Duane to hold his position more, especially if Bradshaw attacks up the pitch. We need a more mobile midfielder than Higgins who can cover when needs be. We need to play a wing forward who is a scoring threat, as opposed to an extra midfielder.

Its disheartening after seeing such a good performance against Roscommon but for once I want to see this Galway team actually winning a qualifier. We fold the tent far too easily when get knocked out of Connacht. Can we for once change that?

Agree totally with everything said. We seem in Galway (on both codes) to have managers who can't seem to learn from and correct mistakes made in previous matches. Equally, both teams really need to be set up so that their defence *defends* as a unit, not just the full-back line. If space must be left, leave it further up the field. HF line as started are no potent scoring threat from play, Flynn probably needs to play in midfield or nowhere; as I've said before, I simply don't think he's played enough club football at a high level to *yet* be a fixture at county level.

aidan24326

MfMan wrote: »

Flynn probably needs to play in midfield or nowhere; as I've said before, I simply don't think he's played enough club football at a high level to *yet* be a fixture at county level.

Flynn was anonymous the last day and isn't really offering much at wing forward. I'd drop himself and Armstrong and replace them with PJ and either Cummins or Martin for the next day.

Or else move Flynn to midfield and drop Higgins, who was also poor on Saturday. Thought Bergin did ok.

Looking at the potential qualifier opponents there will be no easy games, especially as the first round will probably have eliminated a few of the weaker teams such as the likes of Waterford and Antrim.

Right now I wouldn't be too confident of us beating anyone. Sad to say but it's true.

Anyone else think Peadar O'Griofa would be worth a chance? I know he's young but he's a great talent and we've nothing to lose at this stage by trying something different. He'd be more of a scoring threat than the likes of Flynn, more lively than the jaded Armstrong.

Diabhal Beag

aidan24326 wrote: »

Anyone else think Peadar O'Griofa would be worth a chance? I know he's young but he's a great talent and we've nothing to lose at this stage by trying something different. He'd be more of a scoring threat than the likes of Flynn, more lively than the jaded Armstrong.

He should get a go but if he was brought into the proper setup he'd be a sub at most. Give Cummins a chance in the forwards IMO. At least with Army he played well. Flynn didn't really offer much even against a poor Roscommon side.

MfMan

2002
Footballers capituated v Kerry in AI Qtr final
Hurlers snatched defeat from the jaws of victory v Clare in AI Qtr final (despite being 6 pts up at one stage).
This was the logical end for that great football team (as was ’90 v Cork for the hurlers). Mannion and De Paor were in the half back line, their legs were gone. Ja and Mikie D. were struggling with injuries that would bedevil them for the rest of their careers. Wasn’t really a capitualation, just the end of the road against what would be a very good Kerry team. Hurlers bit unlucky with a crucial decision that resulted in a Clare goal that could have been a free out instead. David Tierney was anonymous in midfield so Noel Lane, no sideline genius, replaced his partner (Rory Gantley?) instead.

2003
Hurlers capitualted v Tipp in qualifier in salthill, late rally too late.
Footballers threw it away v Donegal in both games
Wouldn’t say hurlers bottled it, a fairly good Tipp team then. Ollie Canning was outstanding. The single biggest mistake O’Mahoney made as Galway manager was to sub Michael Meehan in the drawn game v Donegal; he was causing all sorts of bother and the tide turned when he went off. How Galway didn’t win the replay defies belief; missed all round them in Castlebar, including PJ missing an open goal.

2004
Footballers capituled both against Mayo & Tyrone
Hurlers capitulated v Kk
A HF line containing Mattie Clancy and John Devane hadn’t a prayer. Savo’ missed a penalty before half time? Hurlers took a right hiding.

2005
Hurlers never got going in th AI final v cork - gave them a 6 point start before we started hurling
Footballers threw away a 6 point lead v Cork in the AI qtr final
A mistake by Conor Hayes to start Niall Healy on the Rock – a good Cork team though. A big, big mistake by Peter Ford to start Paul Clancy at CHB. He did a good marking job in the CF, but was really a forward and not fully fit. Warning signs were there even before half time as Cork raced through the defence unchecked.

2006
Hurlers capitulated v Wat in the qualifiers & Kk in AI qtrs
Footballers threw away a 4 point lead in the 2nd half v Mayo in the CF, losing by a point & bottling a last minute free to level it up. The farce in Salthill v Westmeath was a new low at the time.
A bad year; Hayes picked a really poor team (Ger Mahon, Cathal Connolly, Conor Dervan) and left Mahon on to be cleaned at wing-back and full back. The real start of the continuing nadir years for the footballers.

2007
Hurlers capitualted v Clare in the qualifiers & Kk in the qtrs
Footballers reached another low v Sligo in the CF, beforwe bowing out tamely v Meath in the qualifiers.
Defeat to Clare was shocking, Ger Lock’s fault. KK were at their peak then, but Galway a bit unlucky they lost Fergal Moore to injury at HT. Were well in it for an hour until the first goal went in. Poor Mahon again roasted. Footballers’ exit inevitable, though dropping PJ for the Meath game didn’t help.

2008
Hurlers reached a new low v Cork in the qualifiers. 4 points up, wind at their backs for the 2nd half, with Cork a man down. Only JC came out in the 2nd half, whilst the rest of them ran up & hid under the seats in the stands.
Footballers did ok in the rain v Kerry, but ultimately failed to show when questions were asked in the last 20 mins.
A shocker for the hurlers against an average Cork side. Not all Loughnane’s fault for once. Footballers had a great game but it was really a one-man show rather than an overall contribution in a game they were never, ever going to win.

2009
Footballers bottled it v Mayo in the CF in the last few minutes, likewise v Donegal in the qualifiers.
Hurlers 4 pts up going into injury time v wat, concede 1-2 at the death to lose by 1
Wouldn’t say footballers bottled it, were always playing catch-up and were lucky to draw level in the first place. Tactically poor v Donegal, kept taking the ball into contact and losing it. Sammon believed too much in his own publicity, not the first Galway manager to do so. Hurlers lost a game they largely controlled, sideline too slow to switch things, aided by Niall Healy and Aongus Callinan missing great goal chances.

2010
Footballers 2 points up v Sligo in the replay, concede 3 pts in injury time to lose by 1. Another all lime low is reached by losing to Wex in Salthill, again to 3 late points.
Hurlers capitualted v Kk in the Leinster final, bottle it in the qtrs v tipp by conceding 3 late points to lose by 1.
Drew with Sligo when should have lost, lost when should have won. Defeat to W’ford shocking but worse still, no great surprise unfortunately. Hurlers rather unlucky, gave every bit as good as they got, but crucial injury to Ollie maybe cost us, plus no-one on the bench to make a real difference upon introduction – Aongus Callinan again missed good chances to seal it. A good Tipp team though, as proven later.

2011
Footballers take a hiding from Mayo in the Connacht semi, fk away a 1 point lead in Meath in the qualifiers to lose by one. Miss an open goal at the death.
Hurlers disgrace themselves v Dublin & Waterford.
Footballers incredibly poor in CF, bit unlucky v Meath but wouldn’t improve anyway. Hurlers redeemed themselves v Clare, Cork after Dublin defeat, but manner of defeat to a vulnerable Waterford absolutely scandalous.

2012
Footballers roll over v Sligo
Hurlers concede 4 goals to Westmeath.
Once again sideline poor in defeat to Sligo. Warning signs are there v Westmeath, can Cunningham learn?


It's a bit too simple to say it's all down to bottling; some counties lose many more games than they (should) win, e.g. Mayo, Cork footballers, Waterford hurlers (not trying to start a flame war). Sideline stewardship and sheer player ability has an awful lot to with it.

24yearslater

Hurling team for Sunday:
1.   James Skehill
2.   Niall Donohue
3.   Kevin Hynes
4.   Fergal Moore (Capt.)
5.   Joseph Cooney
6.   Tony Óg Regan
7.   Johnny Coen
8.   Iarla Tannian
9.   Andy Smith
10.   David Burke
11.   Niall Burke
12.   Cyril Donnellan
13.   Damien Hayes
14.   Joe Canning
15.   Conor Cooney

Diabhal Beag

You'd really have to worry how badly the backs will react to the likes of Bergin and Dooley when a Westmeath minor tore them apart.

RealityCheck

You'd have to say its as near to our best 15 as we're likely to get this year. Forward lines look decent. In saying that obviously there are serious question marks over the full back line. I don't see them conceding 4 goals this time however. Thats nothing more than a hunch though.

I'm however inclined to think that Offaly will shade us in this one. If Galway do win I'll be more than satisfied. If we do expect a big game from Joe and David Burke.

RealityCheck

Diabhal Beag wrote: »

You'd really have to worry how badly the backs will react to the likes of Bergin and Dooley when a Westmeath minor tore them apart.

Surprisingly I think they may do better. Its the same line that lined out against Westmeath and I'd expect an improvement, even if Offaly are a step up in class. They should at least be more settled now.

PMU

do I need a ticket for this match today, or can I pay at the gate.

Mars Bar

Skehill needs a kick up the arse for that.

wp_rathead

Very enjoyable match so far

Mars Bar

That fourth goal was class. Pure class!

WallyGUFC

Mars Bar wrote: »

That fourth goal was class. Pure class!

Unreal pass from Burke and some take from Hayes too!

Diabhal Beag

Tannion is solid in midfield. If not for him Galway would be in trouble (feels weird saying that and it not being about Canning). Davey Burke is doing alright but the passing into the forwards today has been brutal.

It wouldn't be a championship match without Skehill handing a goal to the opposition.

Mars Bar

Diabhal Beag wrote: »

Tannion is solid in midfield. If not for him Galway would be in trouble (feels weird saying that and it not being about Canning). Davey Burke is doing alright but the passing into the forwards today has been brutal.

It wouldn't be a championship match without Skehill handing a goal to the opposition.

The forwards have been slow off the mark getting ahead of their defenders when low balls are coming in.

Mars Bar

We suffer from "second half syndrome". We've been terrible for the past 10 minutes.

Diabhal Beag

Good to get the win but really when Canning was injured he should have been subbed, especially seeing the impact Harran and Glynn made when they came on.

Nice to get the win but massive work needs to be done to limit KK forwards. Even if Dublin won they still would be a big worry re: O'Dwyer and Dotsy.

Tannion is a good addition to midfield though. Big and stocky but some of his passing was poor whereas he also hit some amazing passes too.

RealityCheck

Considering how facile the win was, I'm still a bit disappointed with many aspects of play. Now I did think Offaly would win a tight game so from that respect I'm happy enough. Having said that I can see a Leinster Final being a long day. I could see Kilkenny destroying us at midfield and up front. That game was like a training match at times. No intensity, too much space. Can't see Tannion having that kind of game against Kilkenny or Dublin. We still have a questionable half back line, and we are still playing a makeshift full back. We've a lot to work on in those respects.

Having said all that some of the forward play, for a couple of the goals was decent and we'll need that to have any chance in the final. There was too much procrastination in the second half with them constantly going for goal. It was a bit surreal and surely no preparation for the Leinster Final.

My minimum expectations have already been achieved. Based on recent seasons it was only reasonable to expect a quarter final at most from this young team. As long as we don't shame ourselves in the next two games I'll be happy enough for year 1, but depending on who we get anything can happen I guess.

Diabhal Beag

RealityCheck wrote: »

My minimum expectations have already been achieved. Based on recent seasons it was only reasonable to expect a quarter final at most from this young team. As long as we don't shame ourselves in the next two games I'll be happy enough for year 1, but depending on who we get anything can happen I guess.

Same here. Thought Offaly would nick a draw at least but I'm happy there's a Quarter Final appearance and at least one trip to Croker this year for us Galway fans. In year 1 to contain KK to 5 points is realistic goal for the final.

Joyce Country

average performance against an average side.

big step up needed against Kilkenny in the final.

nonetheless positive signs are there and he's cleared out a lot of dead wood so Cunningham is in my good books.

Justin10

Joyce Country wrote: »

big step up needed against Kilkenny in the final.

:rolleyes:

RealityCheck

I definitely wouldn't be ruling out Dublin for a shock. They'll have been targeting the Kilkenny game now for a while. That said I would expect Kilkenny to come out on top. Galway are likely to plan for Kilkenny regardless. Big game would be needed against either though, especially with KK.

Diabhal Beag

Going on my predictions so far for the year I am officially giving Dublin no chance of beating Kilkenny whatsoever.

Justin10

Now I remember why it felt so good knocking Galway out last year.

RealityCheck

Rochey18 wrote: »

Now I remember why it felt so good knocking Galway out last year.

Dublin have won absolutely nothing of note that warrants them being anything other than outsiders against Kilkenny. Having said that I think Kilkenny are in decline, although I don't think the rate of decline is that fast. Dublin might give them a decent game but it will be one hell of shock if Dublin turn them over. The same goes for everyone bar maybe Tipperary on a good day. Enjoy your wins against Galway as they are about the height of what Dublin are likely to achieve.

Justin10

What has anyone done of note except for Tipp and Kilkenny???
To be fair Dublin probably have done more then anyone in recent years.

*Edit sorry sorry this galway thread, keep it on track.

RealityCheck

Rochey18 wrote: »

What has anyone done of note except for Tipp and Kilkenny???
To be fair Dublin probably have done more then anyone in recent years.

*Edit sorry sorry this galway thread, keep it on track.

Thats true but it doesn't take away from the fact that Dublin turning Kilkenny over will be a massive shock.
Dublin have certainly made the greatest improvement in last 3 years and are as good as any of the rest. Its a massive step to the next level however. Galway haven't managed it in over 20 years. The easy part is getting to where Dublin are now, the hard part is pushing on. Dublin are going the right way about it, but they're a few years away from it yet. I don't think anyone around here is having a swipe at Dublin, its more a reflection of our awe of Kilkenny.

Mountainlad

Diabhal Beag wrote: »

Same here. Thought Offaly would nick a draw at least but I'm happy there's a Quarter Final appearance and at least one trip to Croker this year for us Galway fans. In year 1 to contain KK to 5 points is realistic goal for the final.

Wouldn't be so sure of that...

RealityCheck

Mountainlad wrote: »

Wouldn't be so sure of that...

So you reckon it will be Tullamore or Portlaoise for a Leinster Final. Hardly?

Diabhal Beag

It has already been confirmed for Croker. No TBC about it.

http://gaa.ie/fixtures-and-results/national-fixtures/gaa-hurling-all-ireland-senior-championship/leinster/

Also note how the venue for Munster final is TBC whereas Leinster is already confirmed.

RealityCheck

Diabhal Beag wrote: »

It has already been confirmed for Croker. No TBC about it.

http://gaa.ie/fixtures-and-results/national-fixtures/gaa-hurling-all-ireland-senior-championship/leinster/

Also note how the venue for Munster final is TBC whereas Leinster is already confirmed.

Thats what I'd assumed.

Mountainlad

RealityCheck wrote: »

So you reckon it will be Tullamore or Portlaoise for a Leinster Final. Hardly?

Ah yes my apologies, I was thinking of the quarter final!

RealityCheck

Mountainlad wrote: »

Ah yes my apologies, I was thinking of the quarter final!

Nearly made the same mistake earlier. Just not used of Galway being in Leinster finals.

locked

james skehill could be blamed for the three goals today,, making these mistakes every year for galway.. dont think donohue hynes smith tannian amd j cooney up for it. although collins will be in for j cooney next day. hope the rest prove me wrong.