Donegal GAA Discussion Thread

doc_17

Supposedly injured in training as well. 3 of our starting back line out then if Paddy doesn’t play.

Frank should play in place of one of those. One of our best ever half backs. Even if he is lacking a wee bit in terms of fitness I’d rather have him ahead of Ward or Doherty.

Redsoxfan

Down our 3 best defenders if the latest news is true. Not good.

Redsoxfan

Redsoxfan wrote:

Down our 3 best defenders if the latest news is true. Not good.

DSH confirming it.

Redsoxfan

Even after the injuries a lot went our way in that half with Moran missing and Kerry failing to convert several good chances. Doing OK on Clifford, not so well on O'Brien. Enright shadowing Michael but a liability in my view. Our forwards well able to win ball ahead of their defenders but we have turned the ball over too much near there goal - O'Donnell black card a symptom of this.

Feels a bit like 2014...

babybuilder

Redsoxfan wrote: »

DSH confirming it.

Half time and we are wide open. At the game and Kerry half forwards have the run of the field. Too much space. Rain on now. Goals needed but we seem to be getting in our own road and need to make the field wider and take the ball coming in off the line and not running out to collect it. I fear for our defence with the quality that Kerry have. O' Brien very good. Mc Fadden as sweeper totally redundant. Half forwards and midfield will have to work harder to cover.

Redsoxfan

Jamie coming out to half forward might be a good thing

Eoin McHugh not much use as a defender

Ward and Doherty not tight enough on their men

McMenamin doing better this week

Happyilylost

How many players were Donegal missing today? How many will be back for Mayo? How many are out for the season? If anyone gets time to list I would greatly appreciate. Cracking game today. Super effort by your lads.

aridion

From what I hear, we may very well have Paddy and Neil back for the game in Castlebar. Outside that, we will obviously be missing Ban Gallagher. I haven't yet heard any updates on Jason Mc Gee or Hugh Mc Fadden. Mc Gee seems to have had a hamstring injury, should be back.

doc_17

I thought the goal was on at the end when we caught their short-ish lockout. We may regret not going for it.

MactheKnife90

Well herself is watching ****e on the telly so I said Id bang up a review.
Must admit standing in Croker and hearing we were down Neil aswell was a kick in the stones and I gave us no chance. Then the much welcomed news that Kerry had lost their Midfield gave me hope.

Anyway what unfolded was a cracker.

Thought Patton moved himself further into a limelight Cluxton has enjoyed all to himself for too long. Immense kick outs. Punched a ball he should have caught I thought though and we got away with it. Great stop for Clifford.
Stephen Mc Menamin is a dogged fcuker and gave Clifford a nightmare. OMcFF done well too but was dangerous enough with his tackling times. Caolan Ward out of his depth I felt. Tried to mark Geaney from the front for the most part and it wasnt working for him.

Eamon Doherty done ok on O'Sé but always felt that O'Sé could have lit him up if he wanted and gave a few lovely passes. Eoin McHugh got burned by Stephen O'B a few times and didnt contribute much of what I saw anyway. Ryan was top class again. Hugh was his usual Hugh and I hope he isnt injured bad. McGee had a great opening score but had a couple of mad first touch decisions after that I felt. I.E. Broke a simple ball back he should have caught.

Jamie quiet today but well marked. Paddy good but again he seemed to switch off alot off the ball and we need him firing on all cylinders for as long as possible. Apart from all that Murphy is the Greatest Ill ever see in a Donegal top and will push the other claimed GOATs for the title when we look back in years to come. Niall O Donnells black was a joke. He was doing ok up to that.

Gallen has balls of steel for a youngfella and a class act other than that its on to Castlebar and if anyone sees Paul Brennan hit him a kick up the arse.

Not that one

Great game.
Watched it on tv so didnt see anything off the ball.
Shades of Declan Bonner '92 point when Gallen turned back onto his right and stuck it over.
Murphy/Mc Hugh / Mc Menamin /Patton great from my viewing.
Eamonn Doherty looked to be trailing behind his man on tv, but didnt see build up play to see how kerryman lost him.
Right idea by McGlynn fisting across the keeper in second half if Brennan timed it better, but a simple fisted point from mc glynn when he didnt go for goal himself would have put us 2 ahead.

Great confident score from langan to level it at 1-17 each.

Ideally the 2 full backs will be back for Castlebar, and Stephen Rochford creates match-ups to open up mayo early, and make it an easy second half instead of another exhausting and draining match, to allow better recovery before an all ireland semifinal.

Redsoxfan

doc_17 wrote:

I thought the goal was on at the end when we caught their short-ish lockout. We may regret not going for it.

At the time I thought so as well. But looking back at it, I think Murphy made the right decision.

downthemiddle

Good performance but a result that might haunt us. Even if we beat Mayo the probability is we meet Dublin in a semi final.
The depth of the squad was really tested today. Missing three of our starting backs (plus Gillespie) , losing our two midfielders and a ridiculous black card put us to the pin of our collar. There are a lot of positives to take from today but some of our one on one defending was scary. There is clearly belief in the squad and no shortage of leadership on the pitch.
I'm perplexed by some of the commentary on today's game as at times we faced the same blanket Fermanagh threw out. Kerry were determined not to let us get a run on them early on and did that by any means necessary. As the game developed it opened up and by the end it was end to end.
We defended on the edge at times and had a few close shaves. This tended to come from cheap turnovers and it was noticable that for most of the game Kerry protected the ball better and tended to score more easily as a result.
As the game developed we looked more likely to open them up and perhaps should have gone for the jugular on a couple of occasions. The team is definitely moving in the right direction and with a couple of tweaks who knows?
The impartial Kerry panel on the Sunday Game highlighted some of the Donegal defending. Clearly they missed the angelic performance by some of the Kerry players.
On that note while Clifford is a beautifully balanced footballer he plays on the edge and was involved in a number of late hits today which would have been punished by another ref. Some day he will receive a costly red card.
His attempt at sledging Murphy before the final free was comical. The poor boy clearly didn't realise that Murph has been marked, in training, by Gaoth Dobhair men for more that ten years.

ArnoldJRimmer

downthemiddle wrote: »

Good performance but a result that might haunt us. Even if we beat Mayo the probability is we meet Dublin in a semi final.

I've heard a few people saying this, and I really don't get what the big deal is. We're going to have to face Dublin at some stage anyway, might as well be the semi final than the final.

Thats a good result today. Even though we find ourselves in the same place as if we had lost, having to win in Castlebar, a draw keeps the momentum going for this group of players. It would have been a tough one to take given the effort we put in

Redsoxfan

Would I have taken a draw before throw in?

Yes I would, with half our defence out.

But, it feels like a missed opportunity in some respects.

Moran was a huge loss for Kerry and altered their kick out strategy. This was in our favour.

As well as that, despite creating several good goal scoring opportunities in the first half, Kerry failed to punish us. In saying that, Patton should have caught that ball he punched.

I thought McMenamin did well in the first half especially considering he looked lost last week. 2nd half, harder to tell. OMCFF did well, the yellow card might have curtailed him a bit, but I like the cut of his jib.

Ward and Doherty? Less said the better.

And Eoin McHugh? Not a defender in any way, shape or form. And wtf was he at for the goal chance.

Kerry goal.... I dunno Wtf happened between Thompson and Ward. But Geaney still had a lot to do from there. Poor.

Paul Brennan. Wtf. Couldn't catch or kick. He cost us scores at both ends.

Losing both midfielders. Sure why not. McGee took his point early on well, but Hugh had a bad miss. Hopefully neither are too badly injured.

Niall O'Donnell was beginning to get into the game when he got that ridiculous black card.

Jamie is being well marked these days. The one chance he got, he probably shouldn't have taken as he was off balance.

Paddy started badly but did well afterwards. Clearly in bother at the end, seemed to be feeling his hamstring.

O'Baoil made a difference. Has to take EBG's place for me.

Gallen... what can you say? Balls of Steel. Great stuff, no fear in him.

Langan took his scores well. Still not sure if he does enough. Thompson a similar story.

Patton, Ryan, Micheal - the spine of our team and top class. Lucky to have them.

We showed tremendous composure. Not flustered at all. This will stand to us. Declan talks about improvement and that there is another level, which is good to hear. Hopefully we can back up that talk the next day. Also good to hear that Paddy and Neil will probably be back.

What a game. Will settle for something less exciting in 2 weeks time.

Up Donegal

While watching the Donegal v Kerry game on tv, someone remarked that there were "a lot of empty seats in the terraces!"

Up Donegal

ArnoldJRimmer wrote: »

We're going to have to face Dublin at some stage anyway, might as well be the semi final than the final.

It would be more satisfying beating Dublin in the final than in the semi-final.
Tír Conaill Abú!

doc_17

Redsoxfan wrote: »

doc_17 wrote:

I thought the goal was on at the end when we caught their short-ish lockout. We may regret not going for it.

At the time I thought so as well. But looking back at it, I think Murphy made the right decision.

Time will tell. A win today would have been massive for us. Dublin would have scored a goal there.

Pogue eile

Not that one wrote: »

Ideally the 2 full backs will be back for Castlebar, and Stephen Rochford creates match-ups to open up mayo early, and make it an easy second half instead of another exhausting and draining match, to allow better recovery before an all ireland semifinal.

God bless your confidence, you could be in for an awful dissapointment!

babybuilder

Redsoxfan wrote: »

Would I have taken a draw before throw in?

Yes I would, with half our defence out.

But, it feels like a missed opportunity in some respects.

Moran was a huge loss for Kerry and altered their kick out strategy. This was in our favour.

As well as that, despite creating several good goal scoring opportunities in the first half, Kerry failed to punish us. In saying that, Patton should have caught that ball he punched.

I thought McMenamin did well in the first half especially considering he looked lost last week. 2nd half, harder to tell. OMCFF did well, the yellow card might have curtailed him a bit, but I like the cut of his jib.

Ward and Doherty? Less said the better.

And Eoin McHugh? Not a defender in any way, shape or form. And wtf was he at for the goal chance.

Kerry goal.... I dunno Wtf happened between Thompson and Ward. But Geaney still had a lot to do from there. Poor.

Paul Brennan. Wtf. Couldn't catch or kick. He cost us scores at both ends.

Losing both midfielders. Sure why not. McGee took his point early on well, but Hugh had a bad miss. Hopefully neither are too badly injured.

Niall O'Donnell was beginning to get into the game when he got that ridiculous black card.

Jamie is being well marked these days. The one chance he got, he probably shouldn't have taken as he was off balance.

Paddy started badly but did well afterwards. Clearly in bother at the end, seemed to be feeling his hamstring.

O'Baoil made a difference. Has to take EBG's place for me.

Gallen... what can you say? Balls of Steel. Great stuff, no fear in him.

Langan took his scores well. Still not sure if he does enough. Thompson a similar story.

Patton, Ryan, Micheal - the spine of our team and top class. Lucky to have them.

We showed tremendous composure. Not flustered at all. This will stand to us. Declan talks about improvement and that there is another level, which is good to hear. Hopefully we can back up that talk the next day. Also good to hear that Paddy and Neil will probably be back.

What a game. Will settle for something less exciting in 2 weeks time.

Agree with everything above. Mayo will be relishing our visit. If we don't put in s collective shift I can see us tAking a big hit in castlebar. We'd want to tighten up at the back significantly.
Jamie Brennan has been sussed in the last coupl of games. I'd light to see more rotation of him and mcbrearty with the other half forwards as they are too predictable in their linear running. Maybe coming in off the wings in support.
If Murphy or Ryan get injured we're in trouble. Unbelievable what they do.

Ladjacket

I think it is very harsh to say Brennan has been found out. Many players would have faded after the first half he had yesterday but he won 2 crucial frees including the equaliser and had a good hand in the goal too.

Ryan McHugh though. What a man. The engine on him is ludicrous. Murphy is brilliant too but Murphy is good at getting his breather, will hang back around the middle and pick when he gets involved and when he retreats. McHugh just doesn't stop.

I think this year has shown that no matter what happens in Castlebar, this is a serious team who are a match for anyone.

Redsoxfan

Ladjacket wrote:

I think it is very harsh to say Brennan has been found out. Many players would have faded after the first half he had yesterday but he won 2 crucial frees including the equaliser and had a good hand in the goal too.

In fairness, I don't think anyone is saying that. He gets much closer attention in the last few games than he had done until recently. He is also not been getting great ball. He is still an excellent player with a great attitude.

babybuilder

Ladjacket wrote: »

I think it is very harsh to say Brennan has been found out. Many players would have faded after the first half he had yesterday but he won 2 crucial frees including the equaliser and had a good hand in the goal too.

Ryan McHugh though. What a man. The engine on him is ludicrous. Murphy is brilliant too but Murphy is good at getting his breather, will hang back around the middle and pick when he gets involved and when he retreats. McHugh just doesn't stop.

I think this year has shown that no matter what happens in Castlebar, this is a serious team who are a match for anyone.

I'm not saying Jamie is a bad player. I do acknowledge his contribution to those scores. What I mean is that playing him deep and sending in 50/50 or 60/40 down the throat passes is a good corners back's game. I'd like to see him vary his game more. Keep moving like he did in the Ulster championship.
Look at gallen when he came on. He came out looking for the ball just to get on it. I think he'll turn out to be a gem. If we are to beat mayo we'll probably need two or three goals and Jamie will need to rediscover the earlier form.

Glenman

MactheKnife90 wrote: »

Well herself is watching ****e on the telly so I said Id bang up a review.
Must admit standing in Croker and hearing we were down Neil aswell was a kick in the stones and I gave us no chance. Then the much welcomed news that Kerry had lost their Midfield gave me hope.

Anyway what unfolded was a cracker.

Thought Patton moved himself further into a limelight Cluxton has enjoyed all to himself for too long. Immense kick outs. Punched a ball he should have caught I thought though and we got away with it. Great stop for Clifford.
Stephen Mc Menamin is a dogged fcuker and gave Clifford a nightmare. OMcFF done well too but was dangerous enough with his tackling times. Caolan Ward out of his depth I felt. Tried to mark Geaney from the front for the most part and it wasnt working for him.

Eamon Doherty done ok on O'Sé but always felt that O'Sé could have lit him up if he wanted and gave a few lovely passes. Eoin McHugh got burned by Stephen O'B a few times and didnt contribute much of what I saw anyway. Ryan was top class again. Hugh was his usual Hugh and I hope he isnt injured bad. McGee had a great opening score but had a couple of mad first touch decisions after that I felt. I.E. Broke a simple ball back he should have caught.

Jamie quiet today but well marked. Paddy good but again he seemed to switch off alot off the ball and we need him firing on all cylinders for as long as possible. Apart from all that Murphy is the Greatest Ill ever see in a Donegal top and will push the other claimed GOATs for the title when we look back in years to come. Niall O Donnells black was a joke. He was doing ok up to that.

Gallen has balls of steel for a youngfella and a class act other than that its on to Castlebar and if anyone sees Paul Brennan hit him a kick up the arse.

Excuse me, Love Island is not ****e

Goodluck2me

On Jamie Brennan, I’m a huge fan of his and looked forward to seeing him but he was poor yesterday. I watched him for the whole match and couldn’t believe how little he showed for the ball, it was like he was marking his man instead of trying to get away from him.

When he did somehow get towards the play he made an impact, but it was like he’d no confidence at all. Wouldn’t blame him for the snap shot at the end as it was his 4/5th touch in the whole game. McBrearty was excellent showing for it,a and won plenty of dirty ball sent into him, that’s the key difference in them at the moment.

Eamon Doherty doesn’t have the pace at that level and was left for dust a few times, And I agree Gallen was mercurial with some of his touches and shooting, a player surely high on confidence.

babybuilder

Watched the game back again. Geany must have been close on getting man of the match. Our defense did reasonably well considering the pressure they were under. Have to say that Kerry are not afraid to hit, similar to mayo in that respect. In every tackle they leave something. Watched first match back and Boyle was lucky to be on the field. He should have had a yellow on a follow through on Meath no. 15.

henke

How do people see the Mayo game going? We have looked much stronger and if he perform like we can you would hope we have too much for them. Can Mayo go up a few gears?

Redsoxfan

Quick thoughts

So much depends on who is fit enough to play and how fit they are

For Mayo, Durcan and Higgins are probable

The likes of O'Connor, Ruane and Parsons? Who knows. Whatever about the first two, it seems highly unlikely that Parsons could be ready for the pitch of a proper Championship match after so long out.

Then you have the likes of Aidan O'Shea and Lee Keegan who are playing, but don't look 100%. A week off might make a difference but it's hard to know.

On our side, we know Eoghan Bán is out. I have heard some rumblings about Gillespie lately but hard to see him coming back at this stage.

No idea what's up with Paddy McGrath or Neil McGee. Good that Declan seemed to suggest they would be available. They haven't missed that much time so hopefully they will be close to 100%

Jason McGee will surely be a doubt. Hamstring injuries can heal quickly so hopefully the week will help him recover in time. No idea on Hugh McFadden.

And then it was obvious that Paddy McBrearty wasn't happy towards the end of yesterday's game. Had we used all our subs at that time? I'm not sure. Maybe they wanted him on in case we won a free on the right?

I was there for both games yesterday. Mayo looked very flat. But yet they still ended up winning by the same margin as we did against Meath. They did what they needed to do, as they have been doing since they contrived to lose at home to Roscommon. Except of course for their 10 point defeat in Killarney. Hard to believe that defeat doesn't signal something, but, they, like us, are now playing truly knock out football. Which is a very different animal to the first game in a league format.

Their Championship record/performances in Castlebar hasn't been great. We have no Championship record there of course. Our recent Championship meetings haven't gone well, but so much has happened since then that they are hardly relevant to Saturday week.

Mayo will be underdogs. That suits them just fine. They won't fear us and like we felt last year, they will surely see this as a great opportunity to seal a semi final place in front of their own fans.

It's interesting that there are so many mixed feelings on yesterday's result. Of course we could won it, but we could just as easily have lost. They fluffed an equal number of good or better goal chances. It's good that the players and manager are disappointed as it shows they have the right ambition. When you think back to the last quarter final game we drew in Croke Park, the difference in attitudes is something else!

I have no idea if there is life in Mayo yet. I suspect there is. I hope we are ready for it.

doc_17

It’ll come down to the last kick I’d say in Castlebar

charlie14

Redsoxfan wrote: »

Quick thoughts

So much depends on who is fit enough to play and how fit they are

For Mayo, Durcan and Higgins are probable

The likes of O'Connor, Ruane and Parsons? Who knows. Whatever about the first two, it seems highly unlikely that Parsons could be ready for the pitch of a proper Championship match after so long out.

Then you have the likes of Aidan O'Shea and Lee Keegan who are playing, but don't look 100%. A week off might make a difference but it's hard to know.

On our side, we know Eoghan Bán is out. I have heard some rumblings about Gillespie lately but hard to see him coming back at this stage.

No idea what's up with Paddy McGrath or Neil McGee. Good that Declan seemed to suggest they would be available. They haven't missed that much time so hopefully they will be close to 100%

Jason McGee will surely be a doubt. Hamstring injuries can heal quickly so hopefully the week will help him recover in time. No idea on Hugh McFadden.

And then it was obvious that Paddy McBrearty wasn't happy towards the end of yesterday's game. Had we used all our subs at that time? I'm not sure. Maybe they wanted him on in case we won a free on the right?

I was there for both games yesterday. Mayo looked very flat. But yet they still ended up winning by the same margin as we did against Meath. They did what they needed to do, as they have been doing since they contrived to lose at home to Roscommon. Except of course for their 10 point defeat in Killarney. Hard to believe that defeat doesn't signal something, but, they, like us, are now playing truly knock out football. Which is a very different animal to the first game in a league format.

Their Championship record/performances in Castlebar hasn't been great. We have no Championship record there of course. Our recent Championship meetings haven't gone well, but so much has happened since then that they are hardly relevant to Saturday week.

Mayo will be underdogs. That suits them just fine. They won't fear us and like we felt last year, they will surely see this as a great opportunity to seal a semi final place in front of their own fans.

It's interesting that there are so many mixed feelings on yesterday's result. Of course we could won it, but we could just as easily have lost. They fluffed an equal number of good or better goal chances. It's good that the players and manager are disappointed as it shows they have the right ambition. When you think back to the last quarter final game we drew in Croke Park, the difference in attitudes is something else!

I have no idea if there is life in Mayo yet. I suspect there is. I hope we are ready for it.

Durcan and Higgins are highly likely to be back for Saturday week.It`s only 5 weeks since Ruane broke the collar bone so being back just 7 weeks after an injury like that I would look at as very doubtful. D O Connor was still wearing a cast in Killarney during the Mayo/Kerry game so doubtful as well. Parsons, hard to see him being up to the pace so late in the championship after such a long layoff from a serious injury.


Overall happy with yesterday, especially with no EBG and then losing our full back and a corner before throw in. Delighted to be wrong about O`Baoill, but please no more experimenting with Paul Brennan. Or for that matter Eamonn Doherty. Especially when Leo McLoone was fit to play yesterday. We are way too open in the center of defense. Eoin McHugh had a so so day and was not the man for O`Brien, but with injuries and rejigging it was most likely a case of needs must.


Hopefully any injuries picked up yesterday will have cleared before Castlebar. We do not want to have Michael Murphy tied up in mid-field if Jason McGee and/or Hugh McFadden are missing. Paddy McBrearty looked a bit tender as well towards the end, but hopefully he will be ok.
Just a thought on Jamie Brennan.As I said here before, by chance I was introduced to his father night of the Ulster final and he said Jamie was delighted with Rochford in that not only was he improving his game, but also his confidence. Watching him after a few hit and hopes that were sent his way early in the Meath game that he didn`t win I felt his confidence was draining away and he didn`t know whether to come, stick or go. Watching him yesterday it looked the same. Fair dues though he stuck in there and put himself about when the fat was in the fire, but hopefully he can be back to the player he has shown he can be for the next one.


Mayo with their backs to the wall will be dangerous, but I`m not sure how much of an advantage Castlebar will be too them.Their record there isn`t great and with a decent squad to pick from and the same again skill levels and intensity as yesterday will see us in a semi.


Decent ref would help as well. After watching Branagan yesterday I would not like to see him in front of a Mayo home crowd.