Donegal GAA Discussion Thread

Don't feed the trolls.

Yep, figured it out eventually!

Good to see McGee and McColgan back. Will be interesting to see if McGee starts.

Let's face it, losing on Sunday would be up there with the 2020 Ulster Final, in which many who play on Sunday also featured.

We have sailed close to the wind in the Ulster Semi Final and Final and of course were ambushed in Cork. But I doubt Jim will leave anything to chance on Sunday and have no fear we won't get to the pitch of the game from the throw in.

It's a brilliant opportunity to get to the last four. We're in bonus territory but let's double down now we're there.

We'll take it. Not sure what to make of it.

Our shooting efficiency was very good. And that was probably the difference. Louth had lots of chances.

First semi final since 2014 though.

moore mogan ,mcgonagle all have to be in the all star picture , , ryan mchugh is in the foty category

Mickey ?

Here we are now.

Didn't think we'd be in this position again for a long time. Even with Jim coming back, didn't think this group had it in them. Well, they did.

It's a fascinating match up, 2 teams with very different styles, and that's what makes for a good fight.

Was thinking about match ups and if everyone from Galway is fit don't see how we can mark their dangermen with the usual starting 15. Was half thinking would we do something mad like start Stephen McMenamin and put him on Comer. He's not been the player he promised to be once upon a time - anyone remember the job he did on Clifford in 2019? Jim has been giving him some minutes. But, I guess we will see a full back line of Moore, McCole and EBG. On the Examiner podcast this week, they wondered if Galway would man mark Ryan and Mogan. They reckoned McDaid would be the man for Mogan.

Cleary, what we saw against Louth won't be good enough. As Liam Sheedy once said, we'll need to put on the overalls on Sunday. Canavan made a good point on the RTE podcast, this team might have better footballers than the 2012 team but there were stronger characters on that team - I agree fully.

Galway will probably press our kick out to keep Ryan and Mogan from getting on the ball. We know Patten can beat the press so we'll need a huge game from midfield up. If McGee is fit surely he plays, but it doesn't sound good. He was togged out v Louth but didn't take much part in the pre-match.

On their kick out, hopefully we can force them to go short and into the sort of meltdown that cost them against Armagh.

We have had the edge on them in Championship prior to the arrival of he who I won't name, but going back further, they have beaten us in 2 semi finals. There are some good/tough stories from 1983.

I can't wait now. Can't be there in person, I sure didn't expect us to be playing football in July.

PJ might well regret letting Jim into their training a while ago. Am fascinated to see what Jim will do. When writing in the IT last year, he had Galway as his dark horses for the All Ireland. His review of the Armagh game is an interesting read (it's behind the paywall).

I'm not that confident. I think Galway have been building and despite a few setbacks along the way, their trajectory has been towards the All Ireland. They've had very little easy this year, even against Sligo. If it's a close game, I don't think they'll panic. Their 2nd half against Dublin probably trumps anything we've done this year.

But, there's nobody else I'd want to see on our sideline plotting a way to win on Sunday.

Until victory, always.

Poxy goal like 1983. Looked gassed with ten minutes to go. Great season but bitterly disappointing.

Very surprised that a Jim team would be gassed, really strange

Croke park can have that effect especially when pressure of a semi final is at stake. The inefficiency of our play has got to be analyzed. We can't expect key point scorers to be endlessly running up and down the field. Ryan and Mogan didn't have the power or pace to break the tackle. Our half forward line was wiped out in the second half. Also, we inexplicably pushed up on every Galway kick out in the first half leaving ourselves very vulnerable to quick ball which Galway didn't take advantage of. All the same we were in the game up until the 62 minute. Ban Gallagher going off was a huge blow. Our subs contributed little.

All in all a great season. One which we wouldn't have dreamt of last July. If we could uncover three or four more athletic players to add to the panel if would be great.

Our forwards struggled yesterday, especially second half. Oisin didn't play to the level we know he can and we didn't get the same return from Ryan and Peadar that we have been getting all year. You would also have to concede that our bench didn't have the impact we needed when introduced. As harpsman rightly said, Daire and Niall O'Donnell both lost form at the wrong time, it happens. However their replacements in the starting 15 didn't improve the team so hopefully Jim can add a few more to the panel for next year.

On the positive side, Langan was immense yesterday, really showed leadership and courage. McCole also came of age and won his battle with Comer. Also Moore has been a great find this year.

Finally, hats off to Joyce, he comes across as a real gentleman. I was very impressed the way he sought out the Donegal players after on the pitch and had a few words for them, plus his comments to the media after were very gracious. Best of luck to Galway in the final.

Ps. Saw it on Twitter, 2011 in his first year in charge, Donegal won Division 2, won Ulster and lost the AI semi by 2 points. This year in his first year back in charge, Donegal won Division 2, won Ulster and lost the AI semi by 2 points. Let's hope his second year is as good second time around.