Donegal GAA Discussion Thread

Nidgeweasel

End of the road for Maxi?

eddie73

I was at the game tonight. Very hard luck to the lads, they did us proud. We were slow to start, but the running game was very effective, we had the run of Tyrone for most of the 2nd half, and they were not able to keep up with us for a while. To say Tyrone were the best side, I would say extra time would have been perfect. We could have even nicked it in the end, the tyrone kick outs had slowed down at the end stages. I would also say that they gave it their all and we should be proud of them. Congrats to Tyrone too, they showed plenty of guts to win it, and it was a most enjoyable game.

Redsoxfan

Cheers Eddie, always good to hear from someone who was at the game.

Nidgeweasel

Redsoxfan wrote: »

Cheers Eddie, always good to hear from someone who was at the game.

A fairer report than the text I got simply saying "shíte".

gambeta_fc

eddie73 wrote: »

We could have even nicked it in the end, the tyrone kick outs had slowed down at the end stages.

Agree with that, I thought this was one of the main features of the game.

They had a serious platform from kickouts, especially in the first half. Tyrone keeper was very accurate, dropped it on to the chest of a man on the run multiple times around their 45 which got them going at us directly but thought we played into their hands by dropping too deep. We only started going man for man on their kickouts midway through the second half and it made a big impact on us getting on top. Just ran out of time in the end, I'd agree with point made above that if the game went to extra time I think we would have taken it. No prizes for nearly unfortunately ...

Ceist_Beag

Lads who showed well in the final? How did Hugh McFadden and Ciaran Thompson play?

Redsoxfan

Judging by the local meeja reports, Maxi will not be around next year. Who knows if someone else would do better. This year's team had perhaps less talent than in prior years (Paddy McBrearty, MacNiallais, even Marty O'Reilly were all there before), but of course Maxi was involved with those teams also. The Cavan teams that won in 2013 and 2014 did not go on to win the All Ireland, even though they gave Dublin a mighty scare last year.

The biggest disappointment might be that, according to what I have heard, there's nobody outside of the usual suspects (McHughs and Hugh McFadden) who played last night that could make an impact this summer. I'd say we'll have to see if any get time in next year's league or can make a name for themselves on the U-21s.

bob skunkhouse

eddie73 wrote: »

I was at the game tonight. Very hard luck to the lads, they did us proud. We were slow to start, but the running game was very effective, we had the run of Tyrone for most of the 2nd half, and they were not able to keep up with us for a while. To say Tyrone were the best side, I would say extra time would have been perfect. We could have even nicked it in the end, the tyrone kick outs had slowed down at the end stages. I would also say that they gave it their all and we should be proud of them. Congrats to Tyrone too, they showed plenty of guts to win it, and it was a most enjoyable game.

Wouldn't necessarily agree with this. Once Tyrone got the goal, we never really looked like pegging the 2 point deficient back, in fact Tyrone pushed it out to 3 only for us to score three on the trot to level things up. You could see that the ref was blowing up for pretty innocuous challenges and I commented to the man beside me (a Tyrone man) that the game would hinge on free kicks. Tyrone's last two kicks was a sideline ball and free kick.

I thought McFadden's shot taking particularly from range was disappointing. To many wild swings of the boot. His free kick in the second half - about 3 metres in from the sideline, around the '13' was ill judged (Jiggers foul) and he would have been better looking for a short one. One can't help but feel as a senior player he felt additional weight on his shoulders to perform over and above his colleagues.

Regarding the kick outs, I also thought the Tyrone keeper was spot on. Every kick - particularly in the first half was kicked in front of the Tyrone player, with him picking the ball up at pace and the ball in front of him. Contrast this to the way we played the kick out with the receiver standing stationary on the 13 - or just outside this.This Just gave Tyrone more time to reorganise. When we did compete the Tyrone kickout, I'd say we easily won 80% of them. For me that was a management error that could/should have been addressed earlier.

McHugh's shot was pure white line fever!

One final point which I don't know is being petty or not but I felt a tad embarrassed as a proud Donegal man. I saw the Donegal 'maor uisce' give a water bottle to one of the Donegal lads but he (the MU) refused to give it to one of the Tyrone lads. The buck was standing at the Donegal fella's shoulder with his hand out ready to receive it so there's no question of him not seeing him. I saw the Tyrone MU give plenty of drinks to the Donegal players. Poor sportsmanship in my opinion and only gives Brolly more fuel to stoke the fire with.

eddie73

A fair assessment Bob, I would agree that free kicks and the tyrone keepers kick outs won the game for them. Disagree that they were uncatchable, as we caught them to level it. Either team could have won it in the end, and in fairness both teams went for the winner rather than extra time. There will always be a what if, or a regret about doing this. There has to be a loser, and that will be hard for some of the lads to take who wont be u21 next year. But i think there is a lot of promise in that side, there is fierce pace, and there is great movement and acceleration to not only break tackles, but totally avoid them. Things are looking up with these boys around.

Redsoxfan

Anyone who was at the game last night think that Ryan McHugh or Hugh McFadden looked any way tired?

gambeta_fc

Redsoxfan wrote: »

Anyone who was at the game last night think that Ryan McHugh or Hugh McFadden looked any way tired?

Can't say I noticed them looking more tired than normal but Hugh always looks knackered to me with his loping style!

Think Ryan struggled to shake off a very tight man marking job, rightly identified his runs as a major threat and put a big effort to stop them. McLaughlin was on him first before he got a black card but the replacement went straight in and did the exact same role, touch tight and constantly on his toes. Must have been very frustrating but thought he showed great temperament to keep plugging away and not react. No complaints with Tyrone there, just felt overall they were a bit more street smart, had their homework done and were well drilled on how to stop us.

Murt15

Redsoxfan wrote: »

Anyone who was at the game last night think that Ryan McHugh or Hugh McFadden looked any way tired?

Mc Hugh didn't hold back at the end of the match on radio criticising the senior management for playing the 2 boys. He's damn right aswell.

eddie73

I didnt think McHugh looked tired. I thought McFadden hadnt the same pace as his Mid field counterparts, but he covered a lot of ground anyway. I would agree that they should have been rested. But life goes on now. I hope they get what they deserve in the seniors this year.

bob skunkhouse

Redsoxfan wrote: »

Anyone who was at the game last night think that Ryan McHugh or Hugh McFadden looked any way tired?

Nah, I agree with the others. McFadden I thought covered a huge amount of ground. McHugh not as much. Looked industrious and shipped a couple of heavy challenges. I thought the pitch looked dead as a door nail. They must have dumped half a beach on it, it looked that sandy.

So...question. Does that mean O'Connor is now more available for the senior team? Other than the Derry game - from what I recall he didn't touch the ball - I don't think he's made an appearance yet. His pace might be the key to unlocking the inevitable blanket that they'll come across as the year progresses.

Redsoxfan

Does anyone think that Hugh McFadden looks a better player for the Under 21s than he does for the Seniors? I feel that he is asked to do a job for the Seniors he's not really suited to. Fair play to him, he is trying, but the results aren't terribly pretty.

As for Jigger, well, I don't think his role with the Under 21s had anything to do with the fact he hasn't seen much game time for the Seniors. He probably hasn't been fully fit for some time now. I'd hope that he can play a part this summer, but I don't know. It's hard to know how good he really is. Other than than Antrim game last year, his impact was minimal. He did well against Derry, but wasn't given long in the Ulster Final. I didn't think he did too much wrong against Kerry in fairness but was still hooked early enough.

At the end of the day, it seems Eoin McHugh is a better prospect than Jigger at this level. It's a pity we didn't see more of him. It would be good if he got a decent run out on Sunday IMHO.

Redsoxfan

Team named for Sunday

1. Boyle
2. McGrath
3. Neil McGee
4. Eamonn McGee
5. McGlynn
6. Lacey
7. Thompson
8. McElhinney
9. Toye
10. O'Reilly
11. MacNiallais
12. Ryan McHugh
13. McBrearty
14. Murphy
15. Colm McFadden

Subs: 16. Durcan; 17. Doherty; 18. McGinley; 19. Gallagher; 20. McLaughlin; 21. Hugh McFadden; 22. O'Connor; 23. Gary McFadden; 24. David Walsh; 25. Stephen Griffen; 26. Eoin McHugh

Will be interested to see if the team starts as named. Especially interested to see how Thompson and Colm Anthony perform, even though I think this is a nothing game for us.....

Ceist_Beag

No Mark McHugh in the panel either. We look very light around the middle third against a big Cork team so I'd expect big Neil to start tbh.

bob skunkhouse

Ummmm...I just don't understand the loyalty towards Colm McFadden. He hasn't done anything of note in the league to date (nor last year also), so why persist with him? If he does start, I'd give him 20/25 mins and if he doesn't score two from play - with a bit of decent 'showing' to boot, then I'd be making changes.

Redsoxfan

bob skunkhouse wrote: »

Ummmm...I just don't understand the loyalty towards Colm McFadden. He hasn't done anything of note in the league to date (nor last year also), so why persist with him? If he does start, I'd give him 20/25 mins and if he doesn't score two from play - with a bit of decent 'showing' to boot, then I'd be making changes.

To be fair, he has played little enough. I thought he did ok last Sunday, and that was without Michael beside him.

I thought that he should have been replaced last year, but the reality is, who plays instead of him? Nobody else has really put their hand up, although by the same token, nobody has really had much of a chance.

Unless we keep Michael inside with Paddy, I still think there is a role for Colm as a pure scorer - assuming he can manage two or three points a game. But I grant you, that seems unlikely.

Ideally, we manage without Michael playing so deep and him and Paddy play as a two man full forward line. Somebody else (McElhinney) takes Colm's place and takes over the deeper role filled by Michael.

Redsoxfan

Ceist_Beag wrote: »

No Mark McHugh in the panel either. We look very light around the middle third against a big Cork team so I'd expect big Neil to start tbh.

Meh, we looked pretty light going into Celtic Park last year too and managed that game well enough. Where do you expect Michael to play most of his football on Sunday....

Not to say that Big Neil won't start!

Smegball

Is the match on tv tomorrow?

Redsoxfan

Smegball wrote:

Is the match on tv tomorrow?

Yes

dgl1992

Game is on live on tg4. Donegal game at 2 and Dublin Monaghan at 4.

harpsman

Here at match. Bout half the crowd that were at tyrone match. Grand wee exhibition match. Nice points from both sides. Total non contact stuff, obviously.

When was the last time we d 10 points after 22 mins?

harpsman

Was gettin worried we were tryin to win it there for a while!! Lacey poor again before that goal. More running himself into corners

charlie14

harpsman wrote: »

Was gettin worried we were tryin to win it there for a while!! Lacey poor again before that goal. More running himself into corners

Same here. They were scaring the bejasus out of me there for a while. Regardless of Lacey, I thought Paddy Mc Grath was poor enough. Looking to easy to push aside lately. After today, I`d be lax to write off Colm Anthony just yet.

Redsoxfan

charlie14 wrote:

Same here. They were scaring the bejasus out of me there for a while. Regardless of Lacey, I thought Paddy Mc Grath was poor enough. Looking to easy to push aside lately. After today, I`d be lax to write off Colm Anthony just yet.

Agreed on both McGrath and Colm Anthony.

Playing Colm Anthony deeper might have a benefit if it gives him a bit more room to operate. I thought his work rate was good, but his accuracy wasn't great.

And, today's opposition are no preparation at all for the type of treatment Colm Anthony will get in the Ulster Championship.

2moreMinutes

Overall it was an enjoyable match with some good fielding & some excellent points kicked by both teams. Today won't really give any clues as to how our summer will go as we both gave and received a lot more space than will be the norm.

Id agree on Paddy McGrath being very poor today but he was far from alone in earning that accolade today. We were defensively very poor at times but I don't think we'll see a performance like that again.
Still not convinced Colm McFadden has an awful lot to offer in a match where he doesn't have the freedom of the park in which to operate but I'm less convinced about whoever may replace him so by default, he's got my vote to start.

Marty Duffy was A1 as usual.

Redsoxfan

Well that was pointless.

There has been more intensity shown during games played at the opening of a new pitch!

Some nice scores, zero defensive effort. When Neil McGee is getting shown up, something is not right.

I gave my thoughts on Colm Anthony earlier. Looked good, but we'll see what the summer brings. The other player I was interested in seeing was Thompson, he looked out of sorts, and that is not good. Eoin McHugh did ok for the time he was on.

The reality is, we won't get the time or space or freedom from someone hanging off you to kick 14 points from play during the Ulster Championship.

I felt sorry for those around shouting 'come on Donegal' in the second half. Players clearly weren't that pushed, supporters shouldn't be either.

Thankfully Marty Duffy annoyed enough people to generate some noise from the Donegal support. If it had been Rory Hickey reffing, would anyone have anything to shout about?

Tl;dr? Meh.

Ceist_Beag

Agree with the above and also with wee Martin last night. The league semi finals are a pointless exercise and should be dropped if our match is anything to go by. I saw more intensity in the schoolboys during half time that at any point in our game!
The full back line and Boyle in goals were very poor. Neil had the worst game I saw from him but I doubt it will be repeated, and as said already Paddy was very poor. Thompson was also very rusty and cost two points when losing possession. Boyle cost two as well with very poor kickouts.
I thought McElhinney had a good match, as did McBrearty and it was nice to see young Eoin McHugh get a start - I thought he did pretty well for a first start.
McFadden (Colm) scored two lovely points but also missed quite a few and didn't really offer much else.

Overall, as RSF said, it was pretty pointless and a waste of a trip for the fans, not that there was much of a turnout anyway.

Oh and isn't it saying something that even in a tame affair like yesterday, Duffy still managed to piss off most fans around - honestly, it says something for the state of referees in the game that this lad gets to Croke Park.