Galway GAA Discussion Thread #2

Worthwent14

Ya the footballers battled, I was worried they'd throw in the towel when Derry scored the 1st goal but they showed some fight. Some absolutely terrible misses killed us though, O'Conaighle with 2 bad ones, Maher, Niall Daly, Finnerty with 3 I think. At this level, 5 of those should be going over.

Our defending was very solid bar the first goal (3rd we were down a man) and the ref gave some harsh frees against us.

Didn't think either Black card was correct but Mulkerrin's foul was silly nonetheless and should educate Galway players to be smarter. Molloy's handpass was a disaster waiting to happen, he just doesn't look sharp. Would like to see him rested. He is adding nothing as it is. Flaherty is fine for now.

Unsure why Joyce didn't start O'Curraoin, we had no other right footed free taker starting.

Would like to see Kelly start (although every time he goes down I **** myself that he's injured) and Glynn for Mulkerrin.

That was Derry's A team more or less against our C team? We did ok and need to be cuter. Still think we'll be relegated on head to head

Happyilylost

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121816257#Comment_121816257

Just on O' Curraoin. Just after he came on they still let Heaney kick a second free from the ground (a lot more straight forward than the first he scored) didn't make much sense. A lot of poor decision making at times.....

Worthwent14

Ya I couldn't understand that myself. It should have been given to O'Curraoin. Out of the hands would have narrowed the angle also by carrying it in a bit. Strange.

MattressRick

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121816547#Comment_121816547

I'm surprised they didn't shout that instruction in. Jesus the amount of controlling and micro management that O'Neill does from the sideline makes you realise why the players are hesitating when there's a shooting opportunity. It's like they're waiting for the sideline to shout Shoot. He's barking instructions constantly when Galway are on the attack.

Harte on the other hand was very passive. Players figuring it out themselves

MattressRick

I've a more positive outlook after the match than anything. Was looking dire with 1 point after 15 minutes. But they fought for the jersey all day especially when they went 9 or 10 down near the end. Was definitely Galway's second string attack and they easily left 1-3 certain scores out there.

D'Arcy i thought was very good. Probably could do with shedding a bit of weight but he moves surprisingly fast and he took that goal very well. Think he started the move too.

Ref I thought gave Conor Glass anything going. Glass just ran into a wall of Galway players in the second half and got tackled by 3 and won a free in on the 21.

Kickouts are still, and always will be, a lottery. Though for some reason we seem to win more breaking ball when the **** hitting the fan near the end. Gleeson is gonna get done again for taking too long but he doesn't have any options. He pinged a few out 30 yards when he did have an option.

Overall I'm positive. But the Monaghan match is huge for head to head.

Walsh returning is my only concern. Hope his head is right. He takes too much outta the ball in my opinion. Sometimes he starts, and messes up, attacks without even looking around for an option.

threeball

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121816819#Comment_121816819

Walsh coming back could be a negative. As you said, he takes too much time on the ball, uses his pace sparingly and has gotten really lazy since the AIF. Really noticeable when he plays for Kilmacud how little he does when out of possession. Only comes to life with ball in hand and then its often a couple of solos, twist, turn, lay it off. If he's doing that little off the ball, he needs to be burning lads when he gets it, drawing defenders and laying it off to create overlaps. He looks like he's carrying too much weight to play that role though.

Comer will likely be injured again within 2-3 games of returning, so you could only really rely on Silke and hopefully McDaid to make an impact.

Girly Gal

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121818293#Comment_121818293

Comer and McDaid spend more time out injured than fit, obviously when fully fit they transform the team, but, they can't be relied upon to stay fit. Walsh on form is a real game changer, but, it's up the the management to get the best out of him. If the management can get those three on the field and in form, then it totally changes our championship prospects.

RightHalfBack

A lot of positives from the footballers yesterday. Defence very solid when we had equal numbers. John Maher is some man, must be built from concrete.

Gleeson actually pinged a few lovely kickouts. I don't really understand what our bunch and break tactic on kickouts is, the players break but Glesson never looks like he intends to kick to any of them. Seems like it's designed to attract a lot of players towards the keeper so he can kick over the top of them to the space that should be created further out. Whatever it is I don't think it works all that well for us.

The few mistakes obviously cost us dearly. Felt like we were beginning to dominate before the penalty.

One thing that annoyed me was how we completely dropped off the last Derry kickout in first half injury time. We were on top at the time and it was the perfect time to push up aggressively and try and go in level at halftime, instead it looked like a preplanned move to drop back and defend and run the clock down to halftime. Resulted in a very handy point for Derry.

Still good to see so many lads putting their hand up for Selection in Championship.

ShamNNspace

A must win game to stay in div 1

Happyilylost

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121835212#Comment_121835212

Big and bulky! Keep Cunningham close to goal he'll cause them big issues.

Worthwent14

Some finisher.

threeball

Better performance so far today. Far more direct and with more pace and its paying dividends. Its not rocket science.

threeball

Surely being 9pts up with 10mins to go you should be pulling Kelly and one or two others. Job done, move on.

Happyilylost

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121845697#Comment_121845697

Hoped we win by more. Scoring difference is still an issue if Roscommon managed to pick up a win somewhere.

Stupid turnovers would drive one demented. So careless on the ball at times.

Cunningham took his chance. 1-3 from play. Goal showed what he's all about. Give him a sniff and he'll pull the trigger.

littlevillage

Congrats Galway. Big win!!

sgthighway

Why didn't Mikey Harte rest Conor Glass last week :-(

cosatron

Sean Fitzgerald has gone about his business ok. I wonder will they risk him at 3 and leave kelly out the field. Kelly would be a game changer as a third midfielder

Happyilylost

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121846601#Comment_121846601

Looks highly likely that will be the case. Fitzgerald has been very steady but I think it's the evolution of Johnny McGrath that's must be giving management the most hope in being able to play Kelly further out the field. Tasked with the opposition main forward so far:

Mayo - Ryan O Donoghue - no score from play

Roscommon - Ben O Carrol - one point form play

Tyrone - Canavan x 2 - two point from play

Derry - McGuigan- no score from play

Monaghan - Jack McCarron - one point from play

When McManus arrived it was Glynn that picked him up so it's likely if those two do start together the "full back position" will be very fluid and more around fitting into a system than an out and out man marking role with then a freedom to go forward. Fitzgerald, Mulkerrin and Silke would be very suited to that role.

Acid test is the next two games with McGrath likely marking O Callaghan and Clifford. Holds his own more confidence to let Kelly off. Big struggles Kelly may have to revert back to a more defensive position.

.

Worthwent14

Cunningham was excellent, should have got MOM. Thought McHugh was very average.

Gleeson had a good game, his goalkeeping has improved and that's one benefit of Joyce having backed him but kickouts still not upto scratch although the lack of movement out the field doesn't help.

Overall, felt there were lots of sloppy turnovers and poor handpass yesterday. Handling was poor. Glynn did well when he came on and that's surely the end of Mulkerrin as a starter now. He's likely behind Silke also. Molloy looked very pedestrian when he came on again, think he really is under pressure for championship now. O Curraoin has to start, he's a brilliant free taker and we wouldn't have won by as much if he wasn't on the field.

MattressRick

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121847270#Comment_121847270

O'Curraoin definitely should be on the team and on the right footed frees but I doubt that'll happen. Walsh is a bit unreliable with frees but they never take them off him. God knows we need a left footed free taker. Walsh and Tierney miss their fair share.

Yeah I don't know how they didn't give motm to Cunningham. A debutant in the league, 1-3 from play, 1-2 of that were eye catching scores. He deserved it.

flasher0030

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121846601#Comment_121846601

What is it about Sean Kelly that makes him so good. I'm not from Galway, but have seen him play numerous times. He doesn't seem to have the speed that many other players have. He is not overly skillful - you wouldn't see him throwing dummies, or shifting from right foot to left foot etc.

So how the hell does he have such an impact on games. Is it his drive? I'd be looking at Mayo players. They'd make a run off the ball (as if they were seeking a pass). But their body language is like "please don't dare pass me the ball". There are a lot of players like that playing the game at the moment. But Sean Kelly seems like the opposite of that. He demands the ball like it's his last meal on this earth.

Anyway, some player.

MattressRick

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121852844#Comment_121852844

Good question. I think there's a combination of decent speed to drive past his man, very good ball control in close quarters and incredible stamina to keep going. He nearly always creates a situation with an extra man, so scores come off the back of it.

cosatron

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121852844#Comment_121852844

I think the greatest compliment you can give Sean Kelly, is his does the simple things very very well, he can tackle, he can track a man, picks his runs very well and doesn't over elaborate on the ball and has unbelievable stamina.

Avon8

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121852844#Comment_121852844

First and foremost his awkward running style fools people. I remember Colm Parkinson calling him a limited player multiple times basically solely down to his running style, and has admitted since it was a bad assumption. It also masks how fast he's moving. While he doesn't throw solo dummies in the mold of a silky forward, he's constantly throwing handpass dummies or feinting one way while he runs which makes him by far and away Galway's most effective runner

All of that stems from the basketball background. All 3 Kelly brothers were very high level underage basketball players (Eoghan was on scholarship at a US college and Paul was Ireland U-19), and while none are particularly skillful players with the foot, it shows through in their lines of running, support play and ball handling. It's very rare to see one give a handpass away. I think Sean has a level of aggression and confidence to his game that's possibly holding the other pair back from being first teamers rather than squad players

flasher0030

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121855925#Comment_121855925

Very good. Didn't know that about the basketball background. That's really interesting.

Anyway, I'll park the Sean Kelly love for now. But if I had to name a team from all of Ireland, he would be the first player on my teamsheet.

evolvingtipperary101

I hear Glynn is back in with the senior hurlers?

I see sheep

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121858258#Comment_121858258

Training but not back in the panel yet apparently.

Would be great, badly needed tbh.

Worthwent14

Is 5 years too long out of the county game at this stage? Will take a good while to get back to that level

I says

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121859541#Comment_121859541

Much an all as I’d love seeing him back, Henry’s options appear limited if he makes the panel this season.

evolvingtipperary101

I’m not trying to be dismissive of the man’s ability but he won’t be there to hurl. He’ll be there to win ball, Make sure backs feel big hits, and give the ball to the hurlers around goal