Tipperary v Galway, SHC Qualifier, Semple Stadium @ 7pm

T0001

Will Tipperary register their first championship win since 2012 or can Galway get their bid for Liam back on track?

Colm Lyons(Cork) is the referee.

To be shown on Sky from 6.30

Deskjockey

T0001 wrote: »

Will Tipperary register their first championship win since 2012 or can Galway get their bid for Liam back on track?

Colm Lyons(Cork) is the referee.

Is this on the box?

adrian522

Sky.

STIG83

Can see a Tipp win, they won't want to lose another championship match.
But won't bregrudge a Galway win either.

glued

STIG83 wrote: »

Can see a Tipp win, they won't want to lose another championship match.
But won't bregrudge a Galway win either.

Tipp's confidence is at rock bottom at the minute. Some of those guys were out on the p*ss after losing to Limerick for two days straight. You can't begrudge an amateur sportsman for this but unfortunately the conditioning of some of these guys is really bellow par. The end of the league momentum was broken up by some managerial changes which included using Bonnar as a full forward for 35 minutes and tactically allowing Gar Ryan to go wherever he wanted, leaving huge space for Limerick.

Tipp aren't right at all and I'm expecting them to lose against Galway. The only thing that really gets some of these guys going is the sight of a Kilkenny jersey. The management team invited Sheedy back to take a couple of sessions which will probably only exaerbate the lack of confidence and belief in this management team.

I watched Galway against Kilkenny last week and like us they lack a huge amount of fight to win their own ball and they played a very narrow game which suited Kilkenny. I think Galway will win this but I hope I'm wrong. Neither side is going to be up to much in this years championship unless we can turn it around big time.

Rightwing

the clash of the great under achievers.....a draw.

KevIRL

Tipp team v Galway: Gleeson Barrett P Maher Cahill Barry O’Mahony B Maher R Maher Woodlock G Ryan P Maher O’Dwyer N McGrath Callanan Corbett

STIG83

KevIRL wrote: »

Tipp team v Galway: Gleeson Barrett P Maher Cahill Barry O’Mahony B Maher R Maher Woodlock G Ryan P Maher O’Dwyer N McGrath Callanan Corbett

Good to see Lar back.

Stroke Politics

Has there ever been a Tipp team without a Ryan or a Maher on it?

Galway team to be on galwaygaa.ie at 20.00 tomorrow....

savannahkat

STIG83 wrote: »

Good to see Lar back.

I would think most of Galway agree with you.:rolleyes:

Grats

savannahkat wrote: »

I would think most of Galway agree with you.:rolleyes:

+1

Borders no.2

Both teams in a bad place, both management teams on the brink.

Its something you never associated with Tipp but there is a lack of confidence there. How they found a way of losing to Limerick I don't know. All credit to Limerick for finishing strongly but really Tipp should have had the game dead and buried and similar to Galway on a number of occasions tried to drift their way to victory rather than killing the game. Its a recurring theme though, they should have beaten Limerick last year also and the league final was one they let slip also.

Having said that I think Tipp have more of a plan and with home advantage will do the business. Galway hurled ok the first day against Kilkenny but crucially when the heat came on KK came through with 1-8-0-0 to move well clear. The finish was great but it covered over the cracks from a Galway viewpoint. The 2nd day Kilkenny won relatively comfortably and Galway's tactics and team selection beggared belief. Really failing miserable to put away an old Kilkenny team showed where Galway are at. Dublin had the courage, belief and quality to beat them in a replay last year, Galway showed none of that last Saturday.

Also from a Galway viewpoint there is the Thurles factor! A win could enable one or the other to build a bit of momentum with the right draw in the next round but I don't expect either to be around in September. Galway will need 4 or 5 goals to win imo. They won't get them.

savannahkat

Posted by Borders No 2
"Really failing miserable to put away an old Kilkenny team"

JJ, Jackie,Brian Hogan, Taggy, Larkin & Tommy over the 30. I suppose he has a point. Don't think though that the other nine would like to called old.

randd1

Borders no.2 wrote: »

Both teams in a bad place, both management teams on the brink.

Its something you never associated with Tipp but there is a lack of confidence there. How they found a way of losing to Limerick I don't know. All credit to Limerick for finishing strongly but really Tipp should have had the game dead and buried and similar to Galway on a number of occasions tried to drift their way to victory rather than killing the game. Its a recurring theme though, they should have beaten Limerick last year also and the league final was one they let slip also.

Having said that I think Tipp have more of a plan and with home advantage will do the business. Galway hurled ok the first day against Kilkenny but crucially when the heat came on KK came through with 1-8-0-0 to move well clear. The finish was great but it covered over the cracks from a Galway viewpoint. The 2nd day Kilkenny won relatively comfortably and Galway's tactics and team selection beggared belief. Really failing miserable to put away an old Kilkenny team showed where Galway are at. Dublin had the courage, belief and quality to beat them in a replay last year, Galway showed none of that last Saturday.

Also from a Galway viewpoint there is the Thurles factor! A win could enable one or the other to build a bit of momentum with the right draw in the next round but I don't expect either to be around in September. Galway will need 4 or 5 goals to win imo. They won't get them.

RE the bit in bold.

First off, I honestly don't know where this idea that the current Kilkenny panel are an old side comes from. You'd swear that Kilkenny are taking to the field with crutches and nurses holding them up the way some people go on.

Take Delaney, Tyrrell, Brian Hogan, Aidan Fogarty, Tommy Walsh and Larkin (all still top players despite being in their 30's) out of the side that started the replay against Galway, and I think the oldest player that started for Kilkenny was TJ Reid who is 26 (and isn't 27 until November), which means that 9 of the starting 15 were 26 or younger. They hardly need zimmer frames.

And as long as the older players are fit and ready, they're as good as anyone around, with maybe Tommy Walsh now the exception to that.

Second, plenty of better sides than Galway have failed to put an "old" Kilkenny side away since Tipp "ran the old legs off the field" in the 2010 final. People seem to go on about Kilkenny being old, yet in doing so completely forget that they are actually top hurlers, and a good team.

Third, a blind man could see that Kilkenny are in a far better place than they were last year in terms of panel strength, sharpness, workrate and fitness. However last year Kilkenny were a far weaker and stretched panel and were well short of their own high standards. I'm not denigrating Dublin's performances last year, but there wasn't much between Dublin being at their best and Kilkenny at their weakest base in years. Dublin took full advantage of it, knocked them out, and built from there.

STIG83

savannahkat wrote: »

I would think most of Galway agree with you.:rolleyes:

Not a fan then?

Borders no.2

randd1 wrote: »

RE the bit in bold.

First off, I honestly don't know where this idea that the current Kilkenny panel are an old side comes from. You'd swear that Kilkenny are taking to the field with crutches and nurses holding them up the way some people go on.

Take Delaney, Tyrrell, Brian Hogan, Aidan Fogarty, Tommy Walsh and Larkin (all still top players despite being in their 30's) out of the side that started the replay against Galway, and I think the oldest player that started for Kilkenny was TJ Reid who is 26 (and isn't 27 until November), which means that 9 of the starting 15 were 26 or younger. They hardly need zimmer frames.

And as long as the older players are fit and ready, they're as good as anyone around, with maybe Tommy Walsh now the exception to that.

Second, plenty of better sides than Galway have failed to put an "old" Kilkenny side away since Tipp "ran the old legs off the field" in the 2010 final. People seem to go on about Kilkenny being old, yet in doing so completely forget that they are actually top hurlers, and a good team.

Third, a blind man could see that Kilkenny are in a far better place than they were last year in terms of panel strength, sharpness, workrate and fitness. However last year Kilkenny were a far weaker and stretched panel and were well short of their own high standards. I'm not denigrating Dublin's performances last year, but there wasn't much between Dublin being at their best and Kilkenny at their weakest base in years. Dublin took full advantage of it, knocked them out, and built from there.

Fair enough, I was never trying to argue that Kilkenny weren't a good team but the point I was getting at from a Galway viewpoint is that we played the game on Kilkenny's terms.

Kilkenny are without doubt in a better place than last year but there are issues in that team especially in defence that will be exploited by better and more cohesive sides than Galway.

Some of the younger players have made names for themselves this year but especially defensively the core of the side is lads who have been great players over an extended period.

Even the likes of Paul Murphy, Richie Hogan and Colin Fennelly are still young men but have been on the road a good few years already.

savannahkat

STIG83 wrote: »

Not a fan then?

It does not matter to me what county jersey a player wears all are entitled to respect and I am sure all go out to do their best but with regards to Lar, I do do not know why it happened but after he going out to mark Tommy Walsh instead of trying to bury the ball in the net which after all as a top forward was his main job, you have to query his mentality. If he was told to do so he should have refused. He is also way to fond of the headlines. If his priority is to promote his various business interests well fair play to him for getting away with it but it has to be a massive distraction both for him and his team mates.
At his best he was a dangerous forward if you let him get loose but his best is four years ago now and I fail to see why the Tipp management put up with him and Noel McGrath as well. Great talent McGrath may be but he refuses to do any dirty work. A full forward line of McGrath, Callinan and Corbet are sorely depending on others to do the hard work for them and therein lies Tipp's problem, the Bonner is the only one prepared to do it.

Grats

savannahkat wrote: »

It does not matter to me what county jersey a player wears all are entitled to respect and I am sure all go out to do their best but with regards to Lar, I do do not know why it happened but after he going out to mark Tommy Walsh instead of trying to bury the ball in the net which after all as a top forward was his main job, you have to query his mentality. If he was told to do so he should have refused. He is also way to fond of the headlines. If his priority is to promote his various business interests well fair play to him for getting away with it but it has to be a massive distraction both for him and his team mates.
At his best he was a dangerous forward if you let him get loose but his best is four years ago now and I fail to see why the Tipp management put up with him and Noel McGrath as well. Great talent McGrath may be but he refuses to do any dirty work. A full forward line of McGrath, Callinan and Corbet are sorely depending on others to do the hard work for them and therein lies Tipp's problem, the Bonner is the only one prepared to do it.

Agree entirely. I might also add that in all my years attending hurling matches I have rarely, if ever, witnessed a player celebrate, by jumping up and fisting the air, when an opponent was booked. Lar Corbett and Eoin Kelly have demonstrated very poor sportsmanship on a number of occasions by doing exactly that. There is no place for such conduct in any sport.

If a player is so caught up trying to get an opponent booked and sent off then his mind and energy are not concentrated on his game. Galway should take advantage of this.

letowski

Is Niall O'Meara injured for Tipperary? Thought he has done well this year.

There's a lot of pressure on both teams this weekend. It's probably not likely both team coaches will be managing next year, unless the winner goes really far into the summer.

I think it will be an edgy, tense type of game, but no less interesting. Tough one to call.

STIG83

savannahkat wrote: »

It does not matter to me what county jersey a player wears all are entitled to respect and I am sure all go out to do their best but with regards to Lar, I do do not know why it happened but after he going out to mark Tommy Walsh instead of trying to bury the ball in the net which after all as a top forward was his main job, you have to query his mentality. If he was told to do so he should have refused. He is also way to fond of the headlines. If his priority is to promote his various business interests well fair play to him for getting away with it but it has to be a massive distraction both for him and his team mates.
At his best he was a dangerous forward if you let him get loose but his best is four years ago now and I fail to see why the Tipp management put up with him and Noel McGrath as well. Great talent McGrath may be but he refuses to do any dirty work. A full forward line of McGrath, Callinan and Corbet are sorely depending on others to do the hard work for them and therein lies Tipp's problem, the Bonner is the only one prepared to do it.

Must have missed something there, what was the Lar and Walsh story about? What game was that?

davehedgehog

Whats the thinking down Tipp way for this game? I'd expect a good few positional changes from that team Tipp have named.

I think Cunningham will go back to the team that started the first game against KK with maybe Jonny Glynn starting as he did so much damage in the league match. Brehony can feel lucky if he starts again but we need his pace and mobility in MF so he needs a good game.

By my reckoning that leaves only 7 outfield players who played all of the 2 KK games so tiredness may not be as big a factor as people are making out.

Its going to be a very low turnout as well by all accounts

Dubliner28

If its a draw, Replay or Extra-time?

letowski

savannahkat wrote: »

It does not matter to me what county jersey a player wears all are entitled to respect and I am sure all go out to do their best but with regards to Lar, I do do not know why it happened but after he going out to mark Tommy Walsh instead of trying to bury the ball in the net which after all as a top forward was his main job, you have to query his mentality. If he was told to do so he should have refused. He is also way to fond of the headlines. If his priority is to promote his various business interests well fair play to him for getting away with it but it has to be a massive distraction both for him and his team mates.
At his best he was a dangerous forward if you let him get loose but his best is four years ago now and I fail to see why the Tipp management put up with him and Noel McGrath as well. Great talent McGrath may be but he refuses to do any dirty work. A full forward line of McGrath, Callinan and Corbet are sorely depending on others to do the hard work for them and therein lies Tipp's problem, the Bonner is the only one prepared to do it.

I don't think Lar was that bad last year. He hit good scores in the league against Clare, Kilkenny (not league final), Galway, etc. and was in good shape and form. He was causing KK some problems last year too in the C'ship winning frees and getting a goal before getting injured.

Its the injuries though, that have crippled in the last 24 months, and one wonders how fit and sharp he is for knock-out championship tomorrow, however.

T0001

Dubliner28 wrote: »

If its a draw, Replay or Extra-time?

Extra-time playable

dcrosskid

davehedgehog wrote: »

Whats the thinking down Tipp way for this game? I'd expect a good few positional changes from that team Tipp have named.

I think Cunningham will go back to the team that started the first game against KK with maybe Jonny Glynn starting as he did so much damage in the league match. Brehony can feel lucky if he starts again but we need his pace and mobility in MF so he needs a good game.

By my reckoning that leaves only 7 outfield players who played all of the 2 KK games so tiredness may not be as big a factor as people are making out.

Its going to be a very low turnout as well by all accounts

Honestly I wouldn't have much confidence in Tipp at the moment. We haven't produced in championship for 2 years and our league form was a complete mixed bag. When we are let hurl we are as dangerous as anyone but it seems too easy for other teams to restrict the space and we seem to run out of ideas.

A win tomorrow could get us back on track and get a monkey off our backs but I am not confident. Did Brehony not hurl well for ye in the forwards for most of the league? Why was he moved to midfield?

Also I have followed Tipp teams a while at this stage and I can honestly say I've never seen Lar or Eoin celebrate a player getting booked. Is that a WUM?

Grats

dcrosskid wrote: »

Honestly I wouldn't have much confidence in Tipp at the moment. We haven't produced in championship for 2 years and our league form was a complete mixed bag. When we are let hurl we are as dangerous as anyone but it seems too easy for other teams to restrict the space and we seem to run out of ideas.

A win tomorrow could get us back on track and get a monkey off our backs but I am not confident. Did Brehony not hurl well for ye in the forwards for most of the league? Why was he moved to midfield?

Also I have followed Tipp teams a while at this stage and I can honestly say I've never seen Lar or Eoin celebrate a player getting booked. Is that a WUM?

Absolutely not a WUM. On the contrary is this post a WUM?

dcrosskid

Grats wrote: »

Absolutely not a WUM. On the contrary is this post a WUM?

I'm afraid we have very much differing opinions so Grats, not a WUM either! I've seen Eoin getting worked up a few times and remonstrating to the ref (2011 against KK) but that is far from jumping up and fist pumping someone getting a booking!

Grats

dcrosskid wrote: »

I'm afraid we have very much differing opinions so Grats, not a WUM either! I've seen Eoin getting worked up a few times and remonstrating to the ref (2011 against KK) but that is far from jumping up and fist pumping someone getting a booking!

2010 Eoin Kelly showed his delight when a Kilkenny player was booked. I remember it distinctly as I always had great regard for Kelly until then. It's no secret that in subsequent years he turned quite nasty, giving sly digs and mouthing off to officials. You surely recall in that famous 2012 Semi Final when Lar Corbett jumped up and down in front of Tommy Walsh only for him to be booked himself later in the game - no opponent returned the compliment mind you.

Anyway that's just to put the record straight. What about Sat, are you happy with team selection. I see a lot if your brethren would prefer O'Meara to start ahead if Corbett. They also have big doubts over Noel McGrath. While the two games against Kilkenny might stand to Galway I think that the type of game Cunningham has them playing this year won't be good enough. He went for big strong players but their mobility and skill levels are questionable. Their only hope at this late stage is to defend on mass and hope for the best.

glued

dcrosskid wrote: »

Honestly I wouldn't have much confidence in Tipp at the moment. We haven't produced in championship for 2 years and our league form was a complete mixed bag. When we are let hurl we are as dangerous as anyone but it seems too easy for other teams to restrict the space and we seem to run out of ideas.

A win tomorrow could get us back on track and get a monkey off our backs but I am not confident. Did Brehony not hurl well for ye in the forwards for most of the league? Why was he moved to midfield?

Also I have followed Tipp teams a while at this stage and I can honestly say I've never seen Lar or Eoin celebrate a player getting booked. Is that a WUM?

Savannah Kat and Grats have a history of making ill informed posts on the topic of tipperary hurling.

Topped all off with Grats making up a story about Eoin Kelly.

It's silly carry on really.

savannahkat

glued wrote: »

Savannah Kat and Grats have a history of making ill informed posts on the topic of tipperary hurling.

Topped all off with Grats making up a story about Eoin Kelly.

It's silly carry on really.

I apologize to you and all of Tipperary . I did not realize it was only a fictitious TV series with actors impersonating the players.

Martin567

dcrosskid wrote: »

Also I have followed Tipp teams a while at this stage and I can honestly say I've never seen Lar or Eoin celebrate a player getting booked. Is that a WUM?

It's ancient history at this stage and time to move on but I have to reply to the above. Did you really miss the 2012 semi final? Lar was provoking Tommy both verbally & physically from the first whistle. Tommy eventually reacted & was yellow carded to which Lar responded by jumping 2-3 feet and punching the air in celebration. Lar's celebration was caught on both TV and in newspaper photos.

Grats

glued wrote: »

Savannah Kat and Grats have a history of making ill informed posts on the topic of tipperary hurling.

Topped all off with Grats making up a story about Eoin Kelly.

It's silly carry on really.

Anybody, poster, following hurling knows exactly what I'm on about. You didn't even need to have your eyes "glued"! I'll leave the story making to those with an occasional interest in hurling!

letowski

Galway Team:

Colm Callanan; Fergal Moore, Ronan Burke, David Collins; Johnny Coen, Daithi Burke, Iarlaith Tannian; Andy Smith, Padraig Brehony; David Burke, Joe Canning, Conor Cooney; Cathal Mannion, Johnathan Glynn, Jason Flynn.

Good team I think, possibly their most balanced. Hopefully the younger lads like Brehony, Mannion and Glynn can make their mark in this years championship.

Mountainlad

randd1 wrote: »

RE the bit in bold.

First off, I honestly don't know where this idea that the current Kilkenny panel are an old side comes from. You'd swear that Kilkenny are taking to the field with crutches and nurses holding them up the way some people go on.

Take Delaney, Tyrrell, Brian Hogan, Aidan Fogarty, Tommy Walsh and Larkin (all still top players despite being in their 30's) out of the side that started the replay against Galway, and I think the oldest player that started for Kilkenny was TJ Reid who is 26 (and isn't 27 until November), which means that 9 of the starting 15 were 26 or younger. They hardly need zimmer frames.

And as long as the older players are fit and ready, they're as good as anyone around, with maybe Tommy Walsh now the exception to that.

Second, plenty of better sides than Galway have failed to put an "old" Kilkenny side away since Tipp "ran the old legs off the field" in the 2010 final. People seem to go on about Kilkenny being old, yet in doing so completely forget that they are actually top hurlers, and a good team.

Third, a blind man could see that Kilkenny are in a far better place than they were last year in terms of panel strength, sharpness, workrate and fitness. However last year Kilkenny were a far weaker and stretched panel and were well short of their own high standards. I'm not denigrating Dublin's performances last year, but there wasn't much between Dublin being at their best and Kilkenny at their weakest base in years. Dublin took full advantage of it, knocked them out, and built from there.

I do know where the idea of them being old comes from, it comes from the fact they are the oldest team competing in the championship from what I can tell anyway.

Your right in that it doesn't make them a bad team or anything like it but age is a factor and to be honest has gotten the better of a few. Shefflin (queue pandemonium) and Walsh namely, but I suspect there must be a reason Tyrell was tried at Center back with regard to Hogan and we might see more of that later in the year. Larkin also has patchy form.

Delaney remains the outstanding age defying wonder and has shown his class in converting to a position he was initially uncomfortable in to being the best full back in the Country.

savannahkat

savannahkat wrote: »

I would think most of Galway agree with you.:rolleyes:

Grats wrote: »

+1

Tipp's top goal scorer of all time? Yeah he's useless :rolleyes:

Grats wrote: »

2010 Eoin Kelly showed his delight when a Kilkenny player was booked. I remember it distinctly as I always had great regard for Kelly until then. It's no secret that in subsequent years he turned quite nasty, giving sly digs and mouthing off to officials. You surely recall in that famous 2012 Semi Final when Lar Corbett jumped up and down in front of Tommy Walsh only for him to be booked himself later in the game - no opponent returned the compliment mind you. .

Henry is mouthing at the ref for everything and when he doesnt get his own way he does a dance. Of course it would seem some have deemed it acceptable for Shefflin to do this when he has the few all irelands more then anyone else.

savannahkat wrote: »

I apologize to you and all of Tipperary . I did not realize it was only a fictitious TV series with actors impersonating the players.

Yet you never seem to bring light to many of Kilkenny shenanigans funnily enough. Whiter than white are ye? :rolleyes:

Grats wrote: »

Anybody, poster, following hurling knows exactly what I'm on about. You didn't even need to have your eyes "glued"! I'll leave the story making to those with an occasional interest in hurling!

Perhaps your 'glued' eyes will have seen fit to report on some of your own counties misdemeanors no?

Including Lar Corbett sustaining broken ribs in the league final last year? Or Noel Hickey's attempt at gouging Bonnar Maher's eyes out in the 2011 final? Eddie Brennan sailing close to the wind in 2007? Richie Hogans belt on the Dublin player in 2011? Jackie Tyrell and his many frontal charges?

Lar done what he did in 2012 and it was stupid stuff ill admit, but for those to come onto this thread and turn it into Tipperary on trial is scandalous and laughable considering where the finger pointers are from.

Perhaps i should have posted this in the Kilkenny v Dublin thread since the Tipperary v Galway thread has been ambushed by the Kilkenny police.

Anyway, moving back to the thread topic, Im expecting a close game tomorrow but Galway are a team to be very wary of. This is a derby and Galway have some stylish hurlers. Conor Cooney in particular has been impressive the last two weeks and will have to be contained. Joe cant be dismissed either.

droppingball

Lar gave jj the butt of the hurl under the face guard that day of the league final so you can discount that one, it was, completly unprovoked, as JJ was tying his boots, ge wouldnt do it to jackie. That is why the kilkenny players reacted, as it was so cowardly so he got what was coming to him.

Kilkenny are far from saints, not suggesting that, but Kilkenny players have sufdered some bad injuries with little complaint but the amount of whinging about Lars poor ribs after what he did sickens me. Lar has turned into a bit of a show pony since 2010.

droppingball

Lar gave jj the butt of the hurl under the face guard that day of the league final so you can discount that one, it was, completly unprovoked, as JJ was tying his boots, ge wouldnt do it to jackie. That is why the kilkenny players reacted, as it was so cowardly so he got what was coming to him.

Kilkenny are far from saints, not suggesting that, but Kilkenny players have sufdered some bad injuries with little complaint but the amount of whinging about Lars poor ribs after what he did sickens me. Lar has turned into a bit of a show pony since 2010.

droppingball

droppingball wrote: »

Lar gave jj the butt of the hurl under the face guard that day of the league final so you can discount that one, it was, completly unprovoked, as JJ was tying his boots, ge wouldnt do it to jackie. That is why the kilkenny players reacted, as it was so cowardly so he got what was coming to him.

Kilkenny are far from saints, not suggesting that, but Kilkenny players have sufdered some bad injuries with little complaint but the amount of whinging about Lars poor ribs after what he did sickens me. Lar has turned into a bit of a show pony since 2010.

Lar got plenty that day to give JJ the butt of the hurl and received a one from Jackie Tyrell in the 2011 final. Now can we get back to Tipperary v Galway please?!

Tom Joad

Folks can we keep the thread on topic, please. If you got a problem with a post report it.

Tom Joad

Tom Joad wrote: »

Folks can we keep the thread on topic, please. If you got a problem with a post report it.

Im good with that.

Does the Galway fans expect a big crowd to travel?

adrian522

I fancy Tipp to take this with a bit to spare to be honest. I doubt Galway will bring a big crowd, they rarely do and I think the feeling in the county is the team is not up to much this year.

T0001

Deleted User wrote: »

Im good with that.

Does the Galway fans expect a big crowd to travel?

4,000 - 5,000 Galway fans based on the 'word on the street'.

Confidence is understandibly low after last week and given we have lost 7 of our last 9 matches in Thurles.

Mind you last week wasn't as bad as it's being made out to be. I thought 8 points wasn't a true reflection. Galway kept up to Kilkenny for most of the match, but there's the problem, Galway has to KEEP UP with Kilk. KK got too much of a dominance.

Diabhal Beag

The real hardcore Galway support will be there but I think the fact they lost in such disheartening fashion last week and that there's a Connacht Final Sunday week would put a lot off. Working myself but don't think I'd have gone to Thurles for this anyways.

citykat

Diabhal Beag wrote: »

The real hardcore Galway support will be there but I think the fact they lost in such disheartening fashion last week and that there's a Connacht Final Sunday week would put a lot off. Working myself but don't think I'd have gone to Thurles for this anyways.

So I guess that makes you non-hardcore?

citykat

This should be an intriguing contest if only that both teams have displayed a serious lack of bottle at crunch times in games. I can't call this one as I don't know which wants it more. In any case I can't see either having a major bearing on the championship this year.

citykat

citykat wrote: »

This should be an intriguing contest if only that both teams have displayed a serious lack of bottle at crunch times in games. I can't call this one as I don't know which wants it more. In any case I can't see either having a major bearing on the championship this year.

At this stage, id tend to agree. The only way it might open up for one of these confidence wise is if they met Clare and beat them the week after.

Diabhal Beag

citykat wrote: »

So I guess that makes you non-hardcore?

It does indeed. Don't go to a lot of away League matches (between work and college) and no season ticket. I follow the hurlers very closely but at the same time I wouldn't be going to Walsh Cup games. Especially when the area I grew up in is far more football than hurling and always will be. Have all the respect in the world for the hardcore Galway hurling fans though. They're the same folks who travelled up to Down games in qualifiers in years past are still travelling to Waterford in February games. Even on Saturday you'd hope the hurlers win just to return the favour specifically to those fans.

MfMan

citykat wrote: »

This should be an intriguing contest if only that both teams have displayed a serious lack of bottle at crunch times in games. I can't call this one as I don't know which wants it more. In any case I can't see either having a major bearing on the championship this year.

It's one of the cliches that perpetuates about Galway that they don't have bottle. Simply not that - they don't have enough good hurlers. They had enough bottle to survive v. Laois when it could have slipped against them, to come back v KK in the drawn game and to stay with them in the replay despite a badly misfiring forward division. Mgmt went for big, strong men in replay but neglected to select enough players with touch and 'close-in' ability. Team for this evening has a better balance but it may not be good enough. I've said it enough times here already, Galway are distinctly better this year because their defence has steadied.

Galway may still lack so much as a team, but for certain they have enough persistence, obduracy and character this year to render such debates obsolete. To say otherwise is just lazy media / cliche - speak.

Utopia Parkway

Diabhal Beag wrote: »

It does indeed. Don't go to a lot of away League matches (between work and college) and no season ticket. I follow the hurlers very closely but at the same time I wouldn't be going to Walsh Cup games. Especially when the area I grew up in is far more football than hurling and always will be. Have all the respect in the world for the hardcore Galway hurling fans though. They're the same folks who travelled up to Down games in qualifiers in years past are still travelling to Waterford in February games. Even on Saturday you'd hope the hurlers win just to return the favour specifically to those fans.

Don't think you have to explain yourself. The footballers are in their first Connacht final in 5 years and that will be a much bigger draw locally in Galway. Well at least in the football half of the county but I think for those that follow both teams as well. I know a few who went to Tullamore but are saving money to go to Castlebar on July 13 rather than Thurles this weekend.

citykat

MfMan wrote: »

It's one of the cliches that perpetuates about Galway that they don't have bottle. Simply not that - they don't have enough good hurlers. They had enough bottle to survive v. Laois when it could have slipped against them, to come back v KK in the drawn game and to stay with them in the replay despite a badly misfiring forward division. Mgmt went for big, strong men in replay but neglected to select enough players with touch and 'close-in' ability. Team for this evening has a better balance but it may not be good enough. I've said it enough times here already, Galway are distinctly better this year because their defence has steadied.

Galway may still lack so much as a team, but for certain they have enough persistence, obduracy and character this year to render such debates obsolete. To say otherwise is just lazy media / cliche - speak.

Well I've seen GY vs KK four times this year. On each occasion the same guys went missing when GY needed them most. I'm not going to name names here. I only go on what I see. I don't need some hack to form my opinions for me.