Donegal GAA Discussion Thread

Ceist_Beag

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118976742#Comment_118976742

Agreed on Conor O'Donnell, he should be in ahead of Brennan. TBH I was also expecting Niall O'Donnell to push on a lot more than he has this year. At the start of the year I had him down as a nailed on starter but it's not quite happening for him for whatever reason. It's probably a toss up between Odhran and Ward for the next day but on the backs, as downthemiddle said, it was great to see McCole continue his progress, he had a fine game on Sunday.

Redsoxfan

Think Niall started the year injured and others took their chances? In saying that, when he was fit he still wasn't starting. I like Niall but just think something is lacking. Shane looks like he has a bit more about him. Niall a good option to have though.

Need to watch the game back to see if I agree with all the plaudits for McCole. I think he had been improving all along but just don't recall him standing out on Sunday.

In saying that I have no idea how BBC gave Ryan motm unless Martin had the only vote. His own brother gave him a hard enough time on Ocean.

Ceist_Beag

Ah Ryan was very good in fairness. He showed for every pass, especially when Armagh were pressing high. He carried the ball really well, picked out some good passes and generally was involved in everything. McGee was excellent in the first half and Murphy once again showed what a leader he is but for me Ryan was indeed our motm.

For McCole, if you watch it back, the amount of times he got a little hand in to prevent O'Neill getting the ball or being able to do anything, I thought he did his job very quietly but very effectively, exactly what you want from your fullback.

moghrasa

It’s a relief to be through so comfortably, and there were a number of standout performances. I’d go as far as to say its most organised performance I’ve seen from the backs & midfield as a unit under Bonner. As some of us have pointed out, you didn’t see a while bit of McCole the last day but when he’s marking Rian O’Neill that can only be a good thing because it means O’Neill is quiet too! McMenamin struggled on Turbett, but by and large it’s very hard to fault anyone from 2 through to 9.

For whatever reason there was no great fire in Armagh’s performance. 7 points certainly didn’t flatter us, but there’s a few things that worry me. A big positive this year so far is that we look much less likely to concede a goal - and when you look back to Tyrone 2018 in the Super 8’s and then Madden’s goal in 2020 Ulster Final, a clean sheet is half the battle.

In the second half, Armagh pushed up big time on our kick out. Ultimately nothing came of it due to their wastefulness, and the fact that their press wasn’t so much of a systematic press, and rather was more of a “fire everyone forward and spook them” sort of press. We struggled hugely with it, as Patton found himself with no option but to dart it short to big Hugh - who for all of his strengths is about as composed dribbling around in front of our goal as an elephant on a tight rope. We eventually cracked the code, and got Shane O’Donnell / Michael Langan goal chances from it - but what happens against a team with an organised press, like Tyrone, Kerry etc? Say instead of Tiernan Kelly you have Ryan O’Donoghue pressing, or Cillian O’Connor. We struggled in the league to get out from the back. Our main approach is to either hand pass our way up, or to have Eoghan Ban / Ryan bury the head and run like hell. Both of those strategies are dangerous in wetter conditions, where the ball is slippy and brings in handling errors, or it makes it handier to knock the ball out of McHugh’s hands. Not totally dissimilar to Castlebar in 2019.

We need two incorporate more long ball into our play. We have excellent, ultra capable players. Especially if we get as far as Croke Park, the field there is massive. I honestly think a part of where Mayo unravel in Croker against the Dubs is that they’re predominantly a running team and theres just so much ground to cover, they end up gassing. We did have some success there on Sunday with the odd kick pass over to switch play to the other side, I just think it’d diversify our options moving forward.

To cut a long story short, we had a lot of men stand up on Sunday which is a delight to see - but we’re not the finished article yet. Roll on Cyavan now, and hopefully that’ll be another demon exorcised!

dinjo99

Does anyone know when or if tickets will go on sale online or in Centra/SuperValu for the semi final?

charlie14

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118983367#Comment_118983367

Great analysis and something I have noticed the past few years and commented on is how we deal with teams putting us under the full press.As you say it has either been hand-passing our way out or giving it to someone to carry it out through that press. Both high risk and we have been caught at both. We just do not seem to have a strategy for an out ball.In simple terms, a few players positioned outside that press that give the player in possession the option of lumping it into that area of the pitch.

Someone here also mentioned that compared to the days of Jim (blessed be his name) we o not get runners ahead of the ball carrier. I know with how flaky our defense has been for sometime that when under the full press, even when you are in possession, the inclination would be to still keep as many bodies in there as possible for safety sake, but doing that just encourages teams to keep up the press. If we were to get a few lads going hell for leather out of there it would put the opposition on the back foot and leave the player in possession a load of options to put the ball behind the press. Pull that off a few times and opposition teams would be a lot more cagey in attempting to put us under the full press.

Probably a bit too simplistic, but my two bob for whatever it`s worth.

Redsoxfan

Got around to watching the game back. A few things, IMHO

A different ref or a different day could have seen a few key decisions go against us.

My view of McCole is the same. He did well but was not man of the match. He's no Neil McGee, yet.

Ryan McHugh handled a lot of ball and generally made good decisions but still seems a long way off the player he was.

Eoin Ban is critical now as his pace is the foundation for so many attacks.

Thought we really played with fire with most of our 2nd half kick outs. We should have gone long more, Patton showed he was well fit to do it even against the wind.

Hughie left on too long and coughed up possession too much.

Langan and McGee played very well, it was a shame McGee had to go off and that Langan had a few bad wides as well as not burying that late goal opportunity.

My man of the match was Murphy. I don't know if we put a foot wrong all day. Very little was spectacular, but he contributed all over the pitch in all manner of ways. He's not the player he was but we will never have another like him.

I hope we remember 2020 next Sunday. We should take nothing for granted even with our neighbours eliminated from Ulster. Nothing won yet and I'm sure it will be a battle. McFadden Ferry and Gallen (hopefully) being available will give us a stronger squad.

charlie14

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119006429#Comment_119006429

Good to have McFadden Ferry available and hopefully Gallen. Martin Reilly had an impact for Cavan when he came on so likely he will start. Far as I remember McFerry Fadden marked him out of it in 2019.

babybuilder

First half and Donegal doing a lot of running whereas Cavan more direct. Langan looks like a man who was on the beer last nite. Goal chances both ends. We'd need to wake up.

ArnoldJRimmer

So many simple mistakes being made in the forward line today, although one of the frees given for overcarrying was a clear foul by the Cavan defender.

I thought we did well to go in level though, Cavan threw the kitchen sink at that in the first 20 minutes.

babybuilder

Also we're getting men back but not effecting the game. We'll soon find out if there any fight or steel in this Donegal team. Some of these boys would want to man up.

Ceist_Beag

Brilliant to be in another final but that was a pretty unimpressive win. Not many players could say they played well and for all the plaudits the last day, McCole was second best for most of the day today. We would want a big improvement the next day.

babybuilder

Goals win matches. Two misshit shots two goals. Better energy second half. That performance won't win Ulster but semifinals are to get over the line.

moghrasa

Not very inspiring at all. Personally can’t see why Cavan didn’t get a penalty after 2 minutes, and with them hitting the bar so close to the half we’re fortunate the game wasn’t dusted by half time, its a credit to Jamie Brennan he had some very inventive scores to keep us within 1 or 2 points - as if the game had gone to a 3 point or even a 4 point gap in Cavans favour mentally it would become a lot tougher to claw back.

First half, we played in the way everyone and their mother told you we would play. Handpassing across the field until Ban, Mogan or Ryan could find a bit of room. Our final pass at times could be mind boggling. Shane O’Donnell will be a great player for us, but Jesus Christ it was frustrating watching him routinely fumble and over hit passes. The handpassing build up allowed Cavan a chance to filter back into position, and often the lack of a kick passing option allowed us to be swarmed - no better example of McHugh getting swallowed by about 6 players.

Second half was more like what we would expect, we were willing to risk a ball in. Ultimately however, it was two fortunate goals that were the difference. Two goals that came from undercooked efforts from range, rather than a tactical instruction to send it in long. Surely the two goals would indicate that its worth rattling one in? If we leave Murphy in the square, and send Jason McGee up with him, that threat will drag teams deeper. At the minute, a lack of an inside threat means that teams can cluster in front of us, willing to bet that we won’t carve them open with hand passes alone, and feeling they’re happy to take their chances in defending a shot from 40+ metres.

We said after Armagh, decent performance but a lot to do. Today, to be honest, the performance was poor and I didn’t see any improvement from the Armagh game. Truth be told, it’s hard to have confidence that we will topple either of Derry or Monaghan. But sure in any case, its a relief to be through and we can get ready now for another day out

downthemiddle

I have to admit I am more than a little surprised about the negative narrative surrounding the Cavan game. It would appear that some people underestimated Cavan. They are a better coached team than Armagh with considerable quality in their side. They have improved since 2020 and in young Lynch they have a future All Star.

We started poorly and Cavan dominated the first twenty minutes. They left massive space in front of the scoring zone and created mismatches in front of goal through player rotation. At times we had Jamie Brennan and Shane O'Donnell isolated as last defender. Despite this they only created one clear cut goal chance in the game. At times we were architects of our own downfall and turned the ball over eight times in scoring positions leading to rapid counter attacks. They also targeted the right side of our defence on their kick out where our smallest player was defending.

We gradually got to grips with their tactics and were one pass away from clear goalscoring opportunities on a couple of occasions. Hughie played a big role in reorganising us defensively and was extremely vocal during this period.

At the start of the second half we upped the intensity considerably. Switching Bán onto Lynch and McCole onto Smith resolved most of the defensive issues and noticeably reduced their impact on the game. McGonagle brought direct running from midfield and at times we threatened to overwhelm them. In fairness to Cavan they dug in and made the most of their chances. However we were clearly the better team. While there was more than a touch of fortune about both goals we were on top at that stage and had them in all kinds of difficulty defensively. The Doherty chance that came off the crossbar showed our potential to cut them open.

Defensively we have improved. We are not coughing up the goal chances of previous seasons. The sideline responded with necessary changes. The players found solutions to problems on the pitch.

The performance was far from perfect but progress is being made.

Redsoxfan

I think we are a fair target for some of the criticism coming our way. To put some kind of context around it, this was must win for Cavan yesterday given the way the season is now, and, I guess it's fair to assume that they can have been targeting this game once the draw was made (regardless of whether it was ourselves or Armagh). So they had every incentive to play hard. So did we of course. We only played in fits and starts. The handling in the first half was incredibly sloppy and watching Brendan McCole yesterday reminded me a little of when he tried to mark Mickey Newman in the Division 2 Final in 2019. I didn't think he was as good as many made out against Armagh and I hope he is not as bad as he looked for most of the first half yesterday. Michael was being goaded, as usual, but I felt he was too quick to engage himself also. Silly as refs have shown they are not afraid to send him off. Caolan McGonagle made good impact of the bench. Hughie is good at certain things, driving forward with the ball is not one of them. Some hard direct running is just the tonic to the septic risk averse possession game we are doomed to play. Mogan and EBG were excellent, EBG is easily our best defender and like McGonagle, offers something we desperately need in attack. McMenamin did OK, he is still not the player he was in my view. Jamie Brennan had much more visible impact the he had against Armagh which was good to see. Langan was a disappointment.

The best that can be said really is that there did not seem to be any sense of panic, even when we surrendered our 3 point lead in the 2nd half. Not sure we would get away with it against a better team mind. Our fitness seemed to be better as well.

10 Ulster Finals in 12 years is still a fantastic achievement, hopefully we are fit for whatever turns up in Clones in 3 weeks time. I'm not sure if what we have seen to date will be good enough myself. It feels like there is more to give from this team but not sure they can just turn it on all of a sudden.

Redsoxfan

So, Derry.

Last time they won Ulster, they beat Donegal in the Final and Declan Bonner was Donegal manager.

The current Derry manager is 0 from 3 in Ulster Finals.

Gut tells me we lose. No excuses if we do, had fair warning last year and plenty of tape from last 2 games.

Nidgeweasel

If Donegal go out with purpose and take the game to Derry and play with intensity we should be very close to the result we need after 70 minutes. If Donegal go out trying to walk the ball out from the 21 up the pitch and trying to play 'containment' they will get beat.

I have no idea which Donegal will turn up. It's a game we could win with the talent available, wouldn't be surprised if they lose based on previous years in similar situations against teams like Derry with momentum and the bit between their teeth who will face us head on.

I for one just hope it is a dry day.

dinjo99

Tickets for Ulster Final went on sale online today but seem to be sold out already.

Redsoxfan

More will go on sale next week.

dinjo99

I wonder is the match sold out? Still no sign of more tickets online.

charlie14

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119068152#Comment_119068152

Based on the tapes of Derry`s last two games I would normally take some comfort from Gallagher being the same Gallagher that cost us games because there was never a plan B and with him being so predictable our management would have a plan based on that. After the Cavan game I`m not sure our management is capable of a plan B either, or at least, not capable of making running repairs fast enough during a game. I was sitting directly behind Bonner and crew for the Cavan game and the amount of ball that Cavan were directing, and winning easily, into our right wing back position with the Cavan full forward then just peeling off McCole to score was insane and nothing done about it until half time. Cavan could have been out of sight at that stage. Gallagher may be no tactical genius, but even he will see that if we are going to continue with leaving that hole then that and our tendency to try walking the ball into the back of the net are our two greatest weaknesses.

thebronze14

Still no luck with tickets😥 If anyone had a spare or two I'd be really grateful!!

tanko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119118978#Comment_119118978

I’ve never seen an Ulster final where there wasn’t plenty of tickets for sale on the streets in Clones.

Redsoxfan

Aye Lookit, if you really want to go, go to Clones and see what happens.

Still find it hard to believe this is a sell out.

overshoot

Yea none here either unfortunately, while it's not being mentioned, isn't capacity well down at 28k? I could have sworn it was 36k

tanko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119119677#Comment_119119677

The capacity was cut from 34k to 29k three years ago after a safety review, get there early would be my advice, there’s bound to be tickets about.

charlie14

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119119285#Comment_119119285

I don`t know if there is much truth in it, but I was told by a club secretary that the county board ordered 7,500 and Derry 13,500. Derry will get a bigger allocation with their minors being in the final, and some for Tyrone as well which would have left leave around 6,500 - 7,000 for general release, so possible true. If so then our county board messed up which would be nothing new.

Redsoxfan

Anyway.

I can see this being an awful game.

Neither manager will 'go for it'. Despite Derry starting well in the last few games, I am sure if we get our hands on the ball first, we will hold on to it as long as we can and then kick it dead and reset.

Pretty sure Derry will take Murphy and McBrearty out of it and challenge the rest to beat them. Jamie was very good against Cavan, can he do it again? For me, Thompson doesn't do enough. Langan is the trump card. Was quiet against Cavan, needs to deliver on Sunday.

Will be interesting to see how Derry manage Mogan, McHugh and EBG. Their manager will know the latter 2 very well. Ryan gets on a lot of ball, but EBG is more incisive. Mogan is a very good footballer. None of them is the key to the game but all are important and I can't see all of them being marked out of it.

Lots of talk about kick outs. We have the advantage there for sure. Pretty sure Derry will drop off on our kickout. Let's see what they do on their own. Will it be as bad as Armagh? Perhaps.

And, Derry have tried before. Many teams have. You can mark Michael and Paddy touch tight for 70 minutes, they only need one shot to win the game. Like last year.

Hard to call it. Our form is too patchy to be confident. Derry have all the momentum. But despite all the talk, I don't rate that manager. He will cost them on Sunday. I don't have much faith in Declan either but I think we have the squad to do it. As long as we can keep Derry within a score, we will win.

overshoot

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119119758#Comment_119119758

Managed to get a few in the release this morning! A very fortunate FB check 2 minutes before. I suppose with covid there hasn't been pressure on tickets until now, usually the attendance would beat 30k so makes sense a bit more pressure

Tad nervous for it now! Would agree with most of redsox above but it's going to be close. If we don't give away goals think we can take it