Donegal GAA Discussion Thread

overshoot

Nidgeweasel wrote: »

They also conceded 3-13.

Spillane raving about a 'great' game of football. High scoring between two fairly poor teams. He's an arse.

yea i remember down/derry last year got a similar treatment, high scoring yes, but the defenses were non existent. id rather see a few good scores under pressure than teams strolling through each other the whole time

SM746 wrote: »

Clones confirmed as the venue. Would have thought Cavan myself.

had expected breffini too, would have suited the expected crowd a lot better but ya gotta love the whole atmosphere through clones on a match day

Nidgeweasel

overshoot wrote: »

yea i remember down/derry last year got a similar treatment, high scoring yes, but the defenses were non existent. id rather see a few good scores under pressure than teams strolling through each other the whole time


had expected breffini too, would have suited the expected crowd a lot better but ya gotta love the whole atmosphere through clones on a match day

I love Clones. I'm totally against the Casement plans and think it's sore loss. Clones may have it's faults but there's seldom better places to be than clones on Ulster final day when the sun is out. One of those things that is uniqely 'gaa'. Casement will never have that, the almost parochial feel, always jovial, crowds coming down the winding streets. But you'll not get a crowd for a music gig in clones will you so it'll be the Casement dick measuring competition for the forseeable future. Mores the pity.


Incidentally, where did you see confirmation the semi is in Clones?

Redsoxfan

I have seen no confirmation that Clones is the venue.

Anyone watch the Gaeltacht Final yesterday? It was a no-contest for long periods, but Ryan McHugh had a very impressive first half at least. Ended up with Man of the Match and Player of the Tournament. Eoin McHugh played very well also, he looks very quick, although it was hard to judge the standard of the opposition. Other than O'Curraoin, I don't think any of their players stood out at all. Kilcar started as 1/12 favourites. No game time for Paddy at all.

Nidgeweasel

Redsoxfan wrote: »

I have seen no confirmation that Clones is the venue.

Anyone watch the Gaeltacht Final yesterday? It was a no-contest for long periods, but Ryan McHugh had a very impressive first half at least. Ended up with Man of the Match and Player of the Tournament. Eoin McHugh played very well also, he looks very quick, although it was hard to judge the standard of the opposition. Other than O'Curraoin, I don't think any of their players stood out at all. Kilcar started as 1/12 favourites. No game time for Paddy at all.

Where did McHugh play, 11?

Redsoxfan

Nidgeweasel wrote: »

Where did McHugh play, 11?

For the final, Ryan was 6, Mark 9, Eoin 12 (or maybe 11).

But Ryan seemed pushed up more and may even have been playing at half forward.

Pretty sure in the semi final Mark was 7, Ryan was 11 and Eoin was 15 (or maybe 13).

Nidgeweasel

Redsoxfan wrote: »

For the final, Ryan was 6, Mark 9, Eoin 12 (or maybe 11).

But Ryan seemed pushed up more and may even have been playing at half forward.

Pretty sure in the semi final Mark was 7, Ryan was 11 and Eoin was 15 (or maybe 13).

Yeah he was 11 in the semi, was curious to see did he play there in the final too.

SM746

GAA page I follow on Twitter announced it last night that was Clones @ 830ish. Mates from Inishowen were going on about Clones today as the venue so they obviously heard the same but never thought to ask where they heard.
Wouldn't be my first choice for convenience so hopefully our sources are wrong.

Nidgeweasel

SM746 wrote: »

GAA page I follow on Twitter announced it last night that was Clones @ 830ish. Mates from Inishowen were going on about Clones today as the venue so they obviously heard the same but never thought to ask where they heard.
Wouldn't be my first choice for convenience so hopefully our sources are wrong.

I've heard nothing as yet now to be fair. All the usual suspects are quiet.

Redsoxfan

SM746 wrote: »

GAA page I follow on Twitter announced it last night that was Clones @ 830ish.

I'm assuming this site just lifts or aggregates from other sites. Donegal News made reference to Clones as the venue, but that it remained to be confirmed.

Anyway, we should know for sure soon enough. There's already been moaning on Twitter that it should be Omagh. I can see where people are coming from, but Ulster Council seems to go for Clones or Cavan for semi finals.

SM746

Redsoxfan wrote: »

I'm assuming this site just lifts or aggregates from other sites. Donegal News made reference to Clones as the venue, but that it remained to be confirmed.

Anyway, we should know for sure soon enough. There's already been moaning on Twitter that it should be Omagh. I can see where people are coming from, but Ulster Council seems to go for Clones or Cavan for semi finals.

Omagh would make most sense for the great majority of people in Donegal. Travelling from Kildare I'll selfishly hope its Cavan!

harpsman

Redsoxfan wrote: »

I'm assuming this site just lifts or aggregates from other sites. Donegal News made reference to Clones as the venue, but that it remained to be confirmed.

Anyway, we should know for sure soon enough. There's already been moaning on Twitter that it should be Omagh. I can see where people are coming from, but Ulster Council seems to go for Clones or Cavan for semi finals.

Will be travellin from dublin so Clones/Cavan fine for me. Presume Antrim crew would prefer Clones to other 2 and it seems to be the favoured venue where possible. Not much difference between Cavan and Clones for Donegal supporters no? Being slightly superstitious Im glad we re back in Clones for semi after-we played semis there in 11 and 12.
PS Im surprised Cavan agreed to play Monaghan in Clones last year.

Redsoxfan

harpsman wrote: »

PS Im surprised Cavan agreed to play Monaghan in Clones last year.

I don't think they have a choice. The Ulster CCC sets the venues.

Redsoxfan

SM746 wrote: »

Omagh would make most sense for the great majority of people in Donegal. Travelling from Kildare I'll selfishly hope its Cavan!

Ditto - heading from Kildare too obviously. Plus, I hate Clones to look at, and, as ST holders last year, we were given truly awful seats. Prefer going there to Casement of course...not just because of the location but because the new Casement Park will be all seater.

Redsoxfan

Just FYI, list of GAA grounds ranked by attendance.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_stadiums_in_Ireland_by_capacity

Omagh looks like it would have enough capacity for a Donegal v Antrim game. Derry would more than do the job too.

Will Clones even be half full?

Redsoxfan

Oh, by the way, moaning about venues, unless they won't be big enough to satisfy demand (e.g. Carrick on Shannon last summer, even if it was probably ok in the end), is pointless. Anyone who really wants to go to an Ulster Championship match will make it - it's not like we're being asked to travel to Killarney! Since they got rid of the border checkpoint, getting to Clones isn't as bad as it was back in the bad old days. It's a hike from Gweedore or Inishowen granted, but then Ballybofey or Derry aren't great for those of us who are exiled!

green and yellow

nice story about the naomh columba team helping a fella foot the turf down at the gaelteacht. i can't post the link here but it's all over the news today, donegal daily, independent etc.
the team bus stopped and all hands got off and saved the guy a lump of work.

Ceist_Beag

Story here. Fair play to them.

harpsman

Redsoxfan wrote: »

Just FYI, list of GAA grounds ranked by attendance.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_stadiums_in_Ireland_by_capacity

Omagh looks like it would have enough capacity for a Donegal v Antrim game. Derry would more than do the job too.

Will Clones even be half full?

Celtic Park-22,000 me arse. What crowd was there the other day when it was fairly rammed? 18,000? And about 3,000 of those got a seat.
I dont give a damn if Clones is only half full. At least it has the "luxury" of seating on 2 sides of the ground. Id expect 15-20,000 the next day which is more than enough to justify Clones.

Redsoxfan

harpsman wrote: »

Celtic Park-22,000 me arse. What crowd was there the other day when it was fairly rammed? 18,000? And about 3,000 of those got a seat.
I dont give a damn if Clones is only half full. At least it has the "luxury" of seating on 2 sides of the ground. Id expect 15-20,000 the next day which is more than enough to justify Clones.

Were you at the game? It was far from rammed. I agree that 22,000 seems optimisitic however, especially when there is only a very small terrace behind one end of the ground.

The seats on the terrace side in Clones are pure muck. I would be happier standing. Could barely see the game last year. If we win the next day out I'll be contacting the ST office to tell them I won't accept these tickets this year.

Anyway, I don't really care. I'll go wherever it's on.

harpsman

Redsoxfan wrote: »

Were you at the game? It was far from rammed. I agree that 22,000 seems optimisitic however, especially when there is only a very small terrace behind one end of the ground.

The seats on the terrace side in Clones are pure muck. I would be happier standing. Could barely see the game last year. If we win the next day out I'll be contacting the ST office to tell them I won't accept these tickets this year.

Anyway, I don't really care. I'll go wherever it's on.

I was at the game and the parts of the ground that were open were as full as Id want them to be given theres no stewarding.
I dont mind standing either,Im young and fit but there are plenty of people who dont want to stand for 2 hours,or longer if theres a minor game on as well. What is your problem with the seats on the hill side? Granted theyre old fashioned benches but the view is the same as the other side-good if youre back and middle,crap if youre front and end.

Nidgeweasel

Stumbled across this tonight.

https://soundcloud.com/highlandradionews/donegal-v-dublin-1992

Redsoxfan

Clones it is for the Semi Final against Antrim. Good to have the minors on same day at least.

Head of PR for Ulster Council wouldn't answer me on Twitter the other night when I asked were there criteria or a list of venues for Semi Finals. I was civil about it, not looking for a row, just curious. All I got re. decision process was 'discussion and democracy'.

Redsoxfan

BIG NEWS!

Donegal will wear white against Antrim.

This is potentially the most interesting news about this game so far (after the venue choice, obviously...)

Nidgeweasel

Redsoxfan wrote: »

BIG NEWS!

Donegal will wear white against Antrim.

This is potentially the most interesting news about this game so far (after the venue choice, obviously...)

Real Madrid wore white in the European up final and won it so this could be a good omen.

smashey

Nidgeweasel wrote: »

Real Madrid wore white in the European up final and won it so this could be a good omen.

And England wore white the other night.

Just saying!

Nidgeweasel

smashey wrote: »

And England wore white the other night.

Just saying!

So a draw?

The ulster council will be made up!

Redsoxfan

Less of the foreign sports now...

We wore a strange looking green when we lost to Antrim back in 2009. We wore white for the beginning of the good times back in 2011.

Looks like we will be picking from a full deck. Aside from winning (I don't care if it's one point or ten points), the most important things for me on Sunday are:

• Good days for Colm and Paddy. Word is Colm was under the weather before the Derry game which might help explain the performance. He had a brilliant game against Eunans in the ACL recently. Paddy did likewise for Kilcar in their last non-starred game
• Another good 70 minutes from Paddy McGrath
• Game time for Rory and Big Neil
• No injuries or suspensions
• A win for our Minor team

SM746

Redsoxfan wrote: »

Less of the foreign sports now...

We wore a strange looking green when we lost to Antrim back in 2009. We wore white for the beginning of the good times back in 2011.

Looks like we will be picking from a full deck. Aside from winning (I don't care if it's one point or ten points), the most important things for me on Sunday are:

• Good days for Colm and Paddy. Word is Colm was under the weather before the Derry game which might help explain the performance. He had a brilliant game against Eunans in the ACL recently. Paddy did likewise for Kilcar in their last non-starred game
• Another good 70 minutes from Paddy McGrath
• Game time for Rory and Big Neil
• No injuries or suspensions
• A win for our Minor team

My exact sentiments.

RMDrive

Redsoxfan wrote: »

Less of the foreign sports now...

We wore a strange looking green when we lost to Antrim back in 2009. We wore white for the beginning of the good times back in 2011.

Looks like we will be picking from a full deck. Aside from winning (I don't care if it's one point or ten points), the most important things for me on Sunday are:

• Good days for Colm and Paddy. Word is Colm was under the weather before the Derry game which might help explain the performance. He had a brilliant game against Eunans in the ACL recently. Paddy did likewise for Kilcar in their last non-starred game
• Another good 70 minutes from Paddy McGrath
• Game time for Rory and Big Neil
• No injuries or suspensions
• A win for our Minor team

Cheeky b"£$%. And me wearing it all the time!!

Redsoxfan

RMDrive wrote: »

Cheeky b"£$%. And me wearing it all the time!!

Lol, by 'strange' I just don't recall it that well. Would prefer green to white myself, something like this would look better as a change jersey IMHO

http://www.oneills.com/shop-by-team/gaa/ulster/donegal-gaa/donegal-gaa-green-jersey-adults-1.html

Or the Mayo style jersey, but with gold instead of red as the second colour.

Indeed, have the old green with gold hoops as our change jersey would be better again.

Anyway, Sunday....

RGM

Redsoxfan wrote: »

Word is Colm was under the weather before the Derry game which might help explain the performance.

I thought something might be up when I noticed he had hands on knees before the first half was even finished. Not the type to be winded like that.

Nidgeweasel

Aye, McFadden was holed up in bed with the flu the week before the Derry game. I just thought he had an off day, which was very worrying, but that would explain it.

Apparently he was involved in a huge amount of St Michaels' scores against Eunans.

This could be the game we need, with the greatest respect to Antrim of course, but it could be a chance just to open the legs a bit more.

Hoping (Expecting) two wins on Sunday. I'll be extremely disappointed for the minors if they don't get through as they've been really great this year. Hit and miss against Derry but minors usually are at times. Ne nice to see this bunch get to a final having been successful at u-16 and u-17 over the past few years.

flasher0030

Redsoxfan wrote: »

Less of the foreign sports now...

We wore a strange looking green when we lost to Antrim back in 2009. We wore white for the beginning of the good times back in 2011.

Looks like we will be picking from a full deck. Aside from winning (I don't care if it's one point or ten points), the most important things for me on Sunday are:

• Good days for Colm and Paddy. Word is Colm was under the weather before the Derry game which might help explain the performance. He had a brilliant game against Eunans in the ACL recently. Paddy did likewise for Kilcar in their last non-starred game
• Another good 70 minutes from Paddy McGrath
• Game time for Rory and Big Neil
• No injuries or suspensions
• A win for our Minor team

"Foreign Sports"??? Redsox fan!!!!

smashey

flasher0030 wrote: »

"Foreign Sports"??? Redsox fan!!!!

Rounders?

SM746

Ticket in there today, Covered Stand, Section CC. Opposite side to the tickets from last year.
Roll on the game now; hopefully do the business and hopefully get a long overdue crack at Armagh in the championship :-)

Redsoxfan

SM746 wrote: »

Ticket in there today, Covered Stand, Section CC. Opposite side to the tickets from last year.
Roll on the game now; hopefully do the business and hopefully get a long overdue crack at Armagh in the championship :-)

Aye, better than the Ulster Final tickets last year for sure, but that's probably due to the crowd expected. Could be glad of a bit of shade if the good weather stays.

harpsman

We did beat Armagh in 07,and couple of in the 90s. Its been a long time since we beat Monaghan. Problem is,not sure if we'd beat them at the moment.

Id like to see a big fielding performance from Neil,cos if hes not winnin k/os not sure if Id pick him ahead of other 3.

K-9

Can't remember the last time we beat Monaghan in the Championship, 83 if I'm not forgetting something?

babybuilder

Yes it was 1983 and I think it was in Irvinestown Co Fermanagh. I was at the game and I remember Charlie Mulgrew got his jaw broken . It was a hot day and you could say that Monaghan were fairly physical. I watched Monaghan against Tyrone and although they played ok I think Tyrone played into their hands by some of the lighter players attempting to carry the ball down the middle and getting turned over.

Ceist_Beag

I hope we're not getting ahead of ourselves talking about Monaghan or Armagh in the final! Hopefully Colm can find his form on Sunday and put up a decent score and as RSF stated, no injuries and more game time for those that need it, on top of a low key but comfortable win would be the perfect outcome on Sunday for me. Oh and if we do make it through I really would love to get one over on Monaghan - we owe them one!

K-9

+Ld say the lads will be dying to get revenge on Monaghan so hopefully there'll be no complacency on Sunday. Important Colm gets back to form, if we're near 2012 form we should be too good for Monaghan but it would be some battle.

Redsoxfan

It was interesting to listen to Canavan on Sunday (jeez, I sound like Martin McHugh, where everything is "interesting") where he was saying that Tyrone people were far to confident/complacent in the build up to the Monaghan game and that it looked as if this had filtered through to the players.

I have wondered about this before. GAA players aren't professional, and so mix with supporters every day of the week. You would like to think that themselves and management are focused enough not to be caught up in what people around them are saying, but you wouldn't know.

Anyway, confident as I am, I hope that the general mood in the County is quitely confident rather than downright arrogant.

No talk from me of who we might play in any Final until Sunday night/Monday....

Mackas_view

I thought Tyrone were very poor against Monaghan. I lost count how many times they carried the ball into contact and kicked ball in on top of the full forward line while Monaghan played a sweeper.

Bring on Antrim on Sunday. Really and truly they shouldn't prove much of a test but as I always say; Ulster championship is ulster championship and anything can happen. I hope to see McFadden and Paddy mac gettin their tails up and gettin scores on the board. Hopefully have them out of sight by halfway through the 2nd half and give a few lads a good run out.

Tryin not to be too optimistic but I'm a realist!

Not that one

Mc Hugh's "interesting" habit gets to me too. Really distracts me when listening to him, as i normally find his comments inte...informative.

harpsman

babybuilder wrote: »

Yes it was 1983 and I think it was in Irvinestown Co Fermanagh. I was at the game and I remember Charlie Mulgrew got his jaw broken . It was a hot day and you could say that Monaghan were fairly physical. I watched Monaghan against Tyrone and although they played ok I think Tyrone played into their hands by some of the lighter players attempting to carry the ball down the middle and getting turned over.

Agree that Tyrone played into their hands running into trouble. Unfortunately ball into their forwards was coming straight back out so they didnt have much option.
Monaghan have never been particularly likable-always had a nasty side to their play. But I think theyve improved since last year and will be very hard to stop in Ulster.

Ceist_Beag

The team was due to be named last night but I've not seen it yet - has it been released to the press yet?

Nidgeweasel

Not that one wrote: »

Mc Hugh's "interesting" habit gets to me too. Really distracts me when listening to him, as i normally find his comments inte...informative.

"It's interesting Des......" and then says something distinctly uninteresting or fairly bland!

I like wee martin now but have to admit we play 'count the interestings' in the car! Double figures guaranteed.

Nidgeweasel

http://hoganstand.com/ArticleForm.aspx?ID=218649

Mark McHugh's away to New York.

Nidgeweasel

The teams been announced.

DONEGAL: Paul Durcan; Éamonn McGee, Neil McGee, Paddy McGrath; Frank McGlynn, Karl Lacey, Anthony Thompson; Neil Gallagher, Rory Kavanagh; Christy Toye, Leo McLoone, Ryan McHugh; Patrick McBrearty, Michael Murphy, Colm McFadden.


http://www.gaa.ie/gaa-news-and-videos/daily-news/2/2006141445-kavanagh-and-gallagher-return-for-donegal/

Karl back at 6?

That's our strongest possible starting XV for me there.

Not that one

Good starting 15.
Christy Toye and Ryan Mc Hugh are only changes from 2012 All Ireland starting team.
Don't weaken things much in my opinion.

Sub options:
Luke Keeney - Half Backs
Mc Elhinney - Midfield and half Forward
Mc Nelis - Half forward
O'Connor - Full Forward
Possible switch with Mc Hugh and
Have we any full back sub options, or are we putting a half forward (Mc Nelis/O'Reilly) on and bringing Ryan Mc Hugh back.