Donegal GAA Discussion Thread

Nidgeweasel

http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/gaelic-games/gaelic-football/jim-mcguinness-returns-in-supporting-role-for-donegal-1.2208111

Jim McGuinness returns in supporting role for Donegal

And the award for most ambiguous headline goes to........... :rolleyes::mad:

Nearly wet myself when I read it.

henke

Looking forward to this one. Won't be a great spectacle but hoping we can do enough to get over the line. The fact Tyrone have nothing to lose could make them dangerous I feel.

Nidgeweasel

henke wrote: »

Looking forward to this one. Won't be a great spectacle but hoping we can do enough to get over the line. The fact Tyrone have nothing to lose could make them dangerous I feel.

Except the match.

Redsoxfan

Nidgeweasel wrote:

And the award for most ambiguous headline goes to...........

Nidgeweasel wrote:

Nearly wet myself when I read it.

Same as that...

Redsoxfan

Don't suppose anyone is driving back through The Pale solo from Ballybofey straight after match?

Redsoxfan

Donegal v Tyrone

1 Durcan
2 Mc Grath
3 N McGee
4 E McGee
5 R McHugh
6 Lacey
7 McGlynn
8 Gallagher
9 McElhinney
10 O'Reilly
11 MacNiallais
12 Toye
13 McBrearty
14 Murphy
15 Hugh McFadden

Nidgeweasel

Redsoxfan wrote: »

Donegal v Tyrone

1 Durcan
2 Mc Grath
3 N McGee
4 E McGee
5 R McHugh
6 Lacey
7 McGlynn
8 Gallagher
9 McElhinney
10 O'Reilly
11 MacNiallais
12 Toye
13 McBrearty
14 Murphy
15 Hugh McFadden

Happy with that. Gives us a few options.

Can't be arsed going through them now. Hungover.

Alvin Holler

interesting enough selection, i thought colm would start ahead of hugh mcfadden but roll on sunday.

Redsoxfan

If Hugh McFadden plays as deep as he did in the League, it's poor selection.

I am also curious who plays next to Paddy when Michael drifts out, as he will.

Also, we are very light without Thompson.

I dunno if this team starts. It wouldn't surprise me if it did all the same.

Redsoxfan

Bench for Sunday
Boyle
Doherty
Thompson
Colm Anthony
That McHugh
David Walsh
McLaughlin
McGinley
Gary McFadden
Eoin McHugh
Griffin

Potential Impact - Doherty, Colm Anthony, Thompson, Eoin McHugh

Rest are just making up numbers IMHO...

Alvin Holler

yeah, we've a strong enough bench but for various reasons it's hard to make a strong case for Colm, McHugh or Thompson to be starting. i guess it's better to start hugh mcfadden anyway and have good, experienced subs to bring in rather than the other way around. he's a good footballer but still quite young so hopefully he'll play well. he could do a stint inside as could o'reilly if murphy drift out.

darach o'connor looks to be the only injury so no excuses.

MM2011

Stand ticket for Sunday going spare if anyone is interested.

Dont want anything for it, its a season ticket so just want it used.

Boom__Boom

Dont Foul posted this about Colm McFadden

https://dontfoul.wordpress.com/2015/05/15/colm-mcfadden-a-review/

He has scored 3 points in the 6 regular league games he played and 2 points in the semi so far this year.

RGM

Statistics can only take you so far. No mention of fitness/injury.

Boom__Boom

RGM wrote: »

Statistics can only take you so far. No mention of fitness/injury.

Obviously but it's a very good starting point

ghostfacekilla

I wonder will we see an improvement or perhaps a decline in young jigger's performances between when he recovers from injury and the end of the summer. It'd be an awful shame if he was a one summer wonder as he brought a much needed new option to our attack.

Redsoxfan

He was so close to scoring a goal in an All Ireland Final. Still, I wonder what his long term future is.

I don't see him having an impact this year. He has missed too much time.

As well as Rory, Leo, Brick and Declan Walsh, it feels like Jigger is a loss from last year too.

That's five and we have only added Doherty, Hugh McFadden and Eoin McHugh . The 'thin squad' is now bordering on anoaerexic.

Nidgeweasel

Redsoxfan wrote: »

He was so close to scoring a goal in an All Ireland Final. Still, I wonder what his long term future is.

I don't see him having an impact this year. He has missed too much time.

As well as Rory, Leo, Brick and Declan Walsh, it feels like Jigger is a loss from last year too.

That's five and we have only added Doherty, Hugh McFadden and Eoin McHugh . The 'thin squad' is now bordering on anoaerexic.

Bulimic squad.

Brining puke football to it's logical conclusion.

K-9

Nice day for it!

I'm getting more nervous about this one as the throw in approaches, too quiet in the Tyrone camp!

Nidgeweasel

Murphy left in at 14 today? That midfield and half forward line has enough ability to win ball in of itself.

2moreMinutes

Sitting here on the sideline with the rain coming down on top of me while I look back & see the lads who are on their first year of the season ticket sitting in the dry close to back of the stand. I'm not annoyed at all.

overshoot

System needs tweaking...
Tbh I dunno why they can't offer a terrace ticket. Why I gave it up.

Hoping to sneak in on time, running late
But was in Cobh this morning!

Nidgeweasel

Nidgeweasel wrote: »

Murphy left in at 14 today? That midfield and half forward line has enough ability to win ball in of itself.

LOL.

Great win. Massive battle.

Thompson needed badly.

MM2011

Great win, Donegal's quick passing and movement in the forward was excellent is obviously something they've worked on to beat the blanket especially after scraping past against Armagh and losing the final last year.

One worry is the indiscipline that has crept in this year. Very noiticable in comparison to the McGuinness era - can hardly remember the ball been brought forward for dissent in the last few years , happens every game now. No need for Gallagher to get involved with Cavanagh for his second yellow.

Stoner

Thought Lacey played well, the commentators seemed to suggest he was loose, but I thought he had a good hand in watching Hartes runs after Donegal had spotted them, he tracked SC well on occasion too. Scored a lovely point in the first half.

Ceist_Beag

Good to get the win yesterday. I was a little bit disappointed in the second half showing tbh but in the first half I thought we were excellent. It really turned into a scrap in the second half and thankfully we have Murphy to knock over long range points under massive pressure. There was some undercurrent throughout the match and as said, it was really disappointing to see Gallagher get needlessly involved when he was on a yellow. That said though, I thought most of our lads kept their discipline really well yesterday - I wasn't there so can't comment on what was happening around the pitch but it sure sounds like there was a hell of a lot going on either off the ball or coming in late. I saw a number of late tackles where our lads just got up and moved on.
The plus points for me were Paddy McBrearty really stood up yesterday, Gallagher, McElhinney and McNiallais really controlled midfield for long spells, and I thought Karl and Frank were outstanding in the amount of ground they covered and work they got through - from someone who questioned Karl earlier in the league I'm delighted that he looks like he's back to 2012 levels.
As Nidge said though, I really think we need Thompson back in the side - possibly O'Reilly will make way and move Ryan up for the Armagh game. Another concern for me is the form of Paddy McGrath - the last few games he hasn't really looked himself.

HighKing33

Talk about controlling midfield, McFadden was absolutely vital here. Both teams employed the same tactics, recycle the ball at midfield until the opportunity to release a runner on the wing. Donegal worked it better, greater scoring threat from the backs, more guile at midfield. Tyrone are too eager to win the handy free in front of the posts with Sean Cavanagh again being a culprit.

Is McFadden still considered a full-forward by Gallagher? Unlikely at present. Would agree that Thompson is sorely missed, one the best wing-backs going. Also, Mark McHugh is perfect for this system or could easily slot in to that wing-back position if Thompson is not 100%.

Ceist_Beag

Yeah meant to add the McFadden role is an interesting one (to use a wee Martinism). I thought he did some things well yesterday (some nice long range passes such as the one in to Toye) but also I thought he carried the ball into traffic too often and turned it over a number of times. I'd need to watch him a bit more closely to see how he's doing in there but he certainly has a role to play and it's not in the full forward line clearly.

HighKing33

Ceist_Beag wrote: »

I thought he carried the ball into traffic too often and turned it over a number of times.

To be fair I think that's just one of the features of the modern game - live by the sword, etc. but he was the most important cog in that midfield, ably supported by McNiallis.

Meath are trying to employ this system but we don't have Donegal's qualities - big midfielders who can break the tackle, the ability to kick long range scores and backs who are comfortable shooting. Also Donegal's ball-handling is peerless, they do not give posession up easily. I thought they were the better team against Cork but worryingly, they are leaking soft goals. That should be Gallagher's homework assignment going into the next game.

Redsoxfan

Ok, I was at the game, but haven’t watched it back, just saw highlights on Sunday Game which doesn’t tell me much.

Good to win a tight and hard fought game. But, after a great start, we really went backwards. I had a really bad feeling during the second half that we were going to lose. I was hoping for a few quick points to start the second half that might have forced Tyrone to commit more to their attack and leave us gaps to exploit. But they seized the initiative. Are the days of the 3rd quarter surge gone?
The mood on the pitch was ugly. Tyrone are masters at all sorts of antics, but I thought the reaction from the crowd was hysterial. As a ST holder, I was in the stand, and had good seats but I honestly was pissed off with the whining and screaming of our own supporters at everything and anything. Justin McMahon might have been out of order with some of his carry on, but there was no serious foul play going on as far as I could see. Diamond Joe was ok – I can’t be arsed moaning about the ref anymore – it was a hard game to control. Thought Big Neil might have been a little unlucky with the first yellow but he really didn’t need to get involved with Sean. Happy to see him walk, black or not. He deserved it for everything else he tried yesterday.

Our midfield/kick outs are a concern. We won 11 but lost 10. Not good enough.

It’s hard to know who to blame for the goal – it was either Paddy (who was meant to be marking McCurry) or Ryan McHugh (who let him run in behind him). I am not convinced by Ryan as a defender at all. Thompson coming back would solve two problems as Ryan could move up to where he is more effective and Marty O’Reilly could drop out – I don’t feel he offered much although maybe the early yellow had an impact.

We need to use Paddy McBrearty more. He really looks like he is ready to be the man. The first point was great stuff altogether. Colm was good – great to see him getting two points, including one with his right and he played a lovely ball to Christy for his second point. But I really thought Christy should have gone for goal there. That could have made things more comfortable. I thought it was really risky leaving Christy on as long as they did with a yellow and a tick against him. I thought himself and McFadden were tiring at the end and should have been replaced sooner.

I really don’t know about our attacking play. Too often we seem to have isolated runners going nowhere. This has been the case during the League as well.

Good impact from McElhinney scoring 1-2. Frank and Karl got up well to take their scores. If Murphy is going to be marked out of it, we need others to step up. MacNiallais can offer more.

At the end of the day, I think we need to improve. And maybe we will. As someone reminded me last night, we weren’t that impressive in our opening games against Antrim and Cavan in 2011 and 2012. But at least we were comfortably in control in those games as they reached their conclusion. Yesterday we couldn’t even hold onto the ball when we had it late and Tyrone only needing a goal to draw. Maybe Tyrone were more up for it than we expected and maybe we played a little within ourselves. If that is the best we have to offer, I don’t know how far we will go.

Tl;dr? Donegal advance and play Armagh. Tyrone lose and play some crappy team.