Donegal GAA Discussion Thread

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.

Redsoxfan

If team plays as selected, great. Big Neil needs the game time. I think the half forward line is the right one based on form, hopefully Leo can continue from where he left off against Derry.

Redsoxfan

Nidgeweasel wrote: »

Karl back at 6?

Sure he played at 6 against Derry? Or are you asking if it's the right call?

Absolutely, with Paddy McGrath fit again.

Redsoxfan

Not that one wrote: »

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.

Frank McGlynn can drop back into corner back at least. Luke Keaney marked Michael Murphy in a club match this year so could possibly play at 3 if required. I don't know if Eamon Doherty is still around the squad, but he can play in the full back line. Declan Walsh too, but he looks much better at half back.

Nidgeweasel

Redsoxfan wrote: »

Sure he played at 6 against Derry? Or are you asking if it's the right call?

Absolutely, with Paddy McGrath fit again.

Aye, but there's no pretence about it now.

harpsman

Tonights result puts our win in Derry into perspective. We certainly need alot of improvement to have a chance against Monaghan. I know that game was just about winning, with us missing our midfield and being a bit low in confidence.

Nidgeweasel

harpsman wrote: »

Tonights result puts our win in Derry into perspective. We certainly need alot of improvement to have a chance against Monaghan. I know that game was just about winning, with us missing our midfield and being a bit low in confidence.

Does it?
There's nobody saying we're on the off after that win or anything just treating it as what it was. A very good result in a tricky away game in the Ulster Championship. Plenty more to improve on (there always is) and hopefully they up the levels another wee bit now tomorrow.

I'm confident. They've got a good inside forward line, but so have we. They're desperate for a shoot out, I think we'd beat them at that too.

Donegal by 4/5.

Redsoxfan

Ha! I said the same thing about the Derry win on Twitter earlier.

In all fairness, Jim was interviewed on Radio 1 the week after the Derry game and said the performance wasn't good enough to win Ulster. I don't think there's any illusions in the squad about what might be ahead of us.

And, in fairness, I think most of us on here are of a similar view. We're good enough to win Ulster this year but there is a bit of work ahead of us.

Job to be done in Clones tomorrow. Minors throw in in around 12 hours time!

Nidgeweasel

Redsoxfan wrote: »

Ha! I said the same thing about the Derry win on Twitter earlier.

In all fairness, Jim was interviewed on Radio 1 the week after the Derry game and said the performance wasn't good enough to win Ulster. I don't think there's any illusions in the squad about what might be ahead of us.

And, in fairness, I think most of us on here are of a similar view. We're good enough to win Ulster this year but there is a bit of work ahead of us.

Job to be done in Clones tomorrow. Minors throw in in around 12 hours time!

Minors are staying in Bundoran. Has McEniff not a hotel nearer to Clones got yet. And him a St.Macartan's lad!

harpsman

Nidgeweasel wrote: »

Does it?
There's nobody saying we're on the off after that win or anything just treating it as what it was. A very good result in a tricky away game in the Ulster Championship. Plenty more to improve on (there always is) and hopefully they up the levels another wee bit now tomorrow.

I'm confident. They've got a good inside forward line, but so have we. They're desperate for a shoot out, I think we'd beat them at that too.

Donegal by 4/5.

Well yeah,it does put it into perspective. That doesnt mean that anyone was getting carried away, just confirms how flaky Derry are.

Redsoxfan

Nidgeweasel wrote: »

Minors are staying in Bundoran. Has McEniff not a hotel nearer to Clones got yet. And him a St.Macartan's lad!

An hour and a half away. Not bad, especially when there's a few from Gweedore and Buncrana playing.

Nidgeweasel

Redsoxfan wrote: »

An hour and a half away. Not bad, especially when there's a few from Gweedore and Buncrana playing.

No, I know I'm being facetious. Yeah it's a grand spin. You couldn't have them meeting up in the morning for a 12pm throw in given the distances.

Redsoxfan

Nidgeweasel wrote: »

No, I know I'm being facetious. Yeah it's a grand spin. You couldn't have them meeting up in the morning for a 12pm throw in given the distances.

Ah I was just saying Bundoran wasn't bad, didn't pay much heed to the rest!

Speaking of Minors, Monaghan beat Tyrone earlier tonight.

Redsoxfan

Well, that was a very satisfying day in Clones. We now have two Ulster Finals to look forward to in four weeks and are in with a great shout of winning both matches.

Both games followed a similar enough pattern I suppose although the Minors were more comfortable at half time.

At half time, no one was too impressed with what we had seen in the Senior game, but I wasn't overly concerned myself, it's nothing out of the ordinary for a Donegal performance under McGuinness. We weren't great, but it was clear we could get better and Antrim didn't look like they were going to be good enough to beat us in any event.

The positives - well, any day you score 3-16 with fairly marginal returns from Murphy, McFadden and McBrearty is encouraging in one respect I suppose. It was great to see Jigger hit 1-2 and MacNiallais put in a great shift along with 0-4. Leo McLoone adding another 1-2 (could really have been 2-1) and I thought Christy did very well.

There are a few things that would concern me. Firstly, I'd be worried about Big Neil's fitness/injury. He played quite well in the time he was on today, but has missed a lot of time and you'd wonder how serious it is. I heard during the Minor game that Lacey might not start due to a hamstring strain and you could see he was struggling during the warm up. I don't think it's an issue, especially with four weeks to go until the Final. Rory was a complete surprise, I'm sure we'll hear what the problem was in time. Hopefully it's not serious - I would not want to be without both Rory and Neil for the Ulster Final.

Next, Paddy McBrearty had another disappointing game and it was no surprise to see him substituted. When everyone is fit, I'd have Jigger ahead of Paddy for that corner forward spot. I don't want to place any significance on the League, but Paddy was much more effective coming off the bench than he was as a starter.

Other than that, it was a better day than I expected. Ryan McHugh nearly got himself in bother late on, but thankfully nothing came of it. With Cassidy reffing and Marty lurking on the sideline, you couldn't be too careful. I assume Neil McGee must have suffered a knock and that's why he came off, hopefully nothing serious.

Of course, all I am hearing is "wouldn't be good enough to beat Monaghan" - and it wouldn't, but we were never going to bust our asses today. We played more than well enough to beat a poor Antrim team and I'm pretty sure we have more in the tank for the Ulster Final. If you recall last year, Monaghan were very unimpressive in beating Antrim and fortunate enough to beat Cavan but looked pretty good in the Ulster Final. They had two years of footage to study on Donegal, but now we have plenty to study on them and Jim and Co will have known from the time the draw was made that there was a fair chance we meet them again this year, so I'm pretty sure we'll have something up our sleeve for the Final.

Bring it on - whether it's Monaghan or Armagh I think we will be ready. We're in a better place than we were last year, that's for sure.

By the way, Jim McGuinness has now won more games in the Ulster Championship as manager of Donegal than all other managers combined since 1994. We're lucky to have him.

Nidgeweasel

It's unlikley. But I'd really like to meet Armagh at some stage during this run. An ulster final rendezvous would be nice.

harpsman

Yep, very happy with O Connor and "Odran Mc Nicholas" as the newstalk boys insist on calling him. The young fella has some pace, and well able to ride a tackle.

Agree that Paddy was disappointing-if he wasnt able to fill his boots today then it not a great sign. Reckon Colms best days are behind him.

Was a strange game-Antrim conceded Donegals kickouts so you had Frank taking the ball on his own 22 and carrying it 60 yards down the field without anyone laying a finger on him, then you had the Antrim keeper kicking the ball to where there were lots of Donegal players een when he had men free!

I know we were only in 2nd gear in 1st half but Im still worried about our defence and how easy Antrim ran through the middle in 1st half, I dont know if we can keep Monaghan below 15 points.
Anyway well done to both teams today. Lookin forward to another Ulster Final.Hope Jim has something up his sleeve!

harpsman

Nidgeweasel wrote: »

It's unlikley. But I'd really like to meet Armagh at some stage during this run. An ulster final rendezvous would be nice.

Only if we beat them!! But we dont have much history with this Armagh team, and we diid beat them in 07. No Id agree with Martin McHugh that we really owe Monaghan.

Having said that Id take the win against anyone at this stage.

overshoot

iv been saying that for a while nidgeweasel!
at the same time Monaghan have also been a pain a thorn in the side too and a win against them would be nice. Donegal v Mon in both finals would make for a cracker of a day though!

great performances from jigger and mcNiallais who seem right at home in championship football. we have quite a lot of great young forwards coming through (Murphy is still only 24 despite how long he has been around!)
McLoone also playing some great stuff. Molloy took his scores well too

Still negatives as mentioned above, has to be question marks over McFadden and McBrearty. Defence also slightly suspect and a bit too easy to get through at times, better teams will take advantage. Got a month to sort it out though and hope that those injuries clear up!

Redsoxfan

Regarding our defence, recall that we are missing the 2012 Footballer of the Year at centre back, a pivotal position for the defence. He should be back for the Final.

And Antrim only scored 12 points, Derry 11 the last day. Neither scored a goal, Antrim didn't threaten our goal at all, Derry barely did. I agree that Antrim appeared to get through a bit easily to score points in the first half.

Armagh v Monaghan is on Sky Sports at 7pm on Saturday in case anyone is wondering. I'll be significantly more concerned if we are to face Monaghan, which should be a massive proposition. But I would absolutely ****ing love to beat either of them in an Ulster Final.

Nidgeweasel

I've got a real buzz now, talks already turned to who's driving. If it is to be Monaghan this could end up being an epic. As RSF said, you have to feel Jim will have something up his sleeve for it.

My worry would be our 'reliance' on the 3rd quarter burst to pull away after what seems to be a first half playing within ourselves. (Reliance is a poor description, habit maybe, tendency). I know that under Jim we have always had that part of the game as a key aspect but this year and at parts last year we don't seem to have had the same performance level as we would have had in the opening 35 in 2011 and 2012.

We seen what Monaghan and Mayo focused on, making sure they hit us at the start for some early scores. We're going to need a really high level of performance from the off keeping us in it and then pulling away. They've another month now I'm sure Jim will have it sussed.

Desperate for another Ulster championship.

Redsoxfan

We're building towards something lads. 20 July in Clones. Even in our fragile state last year, Monaghan only scored 13 points when we managed 7. Which team score do you think is more likely in 2014? Derry 11, Antrim 12, Team TBD 13 has a nice linear theme to it. We conceded 8 points to Derry in the 2011 Final, 13 points to Down in 2012, and 13 points to Monaghan in 2013. Past performance is no guide to the future etc.

Absolutely no disagreement that Monaghan and Mayo were better than us last year. They may well be better than us this year too, but last years performances were not reflective of what this group of players and manager is capable of - they have earned our trust, well mine anyway. I'll have plenty of doubts, questions, crises of confidence in the lead up to 20 July, but for now, I'm having a beer and looking forward to our fourth Ulster Final in four years.