Galway GAA discussion thread

Syferus · 31-01-2015 11:02pm

He subbed him out so fast after the second and third goals it's hard to make the case the timing wasn't in response to the goals whether he was planning to use multiple keepers or not. Subbing out a keeper 10 minutes into the second half is madness in itself too. It's a bad idea at the best of times but if you are going to do it the only time to do it is at half-time.

Diabhal Beag · 01-02-2015 12:01am

In fairness there's never a good time to take off a goalkeeper, especially a nervy keeper like Breathnach. If you're going to do it you might aswell give it a lash in the FBD League.

Utopia Parkway · 01-02-2015 3:02pm

Utopia Parkway wrote: »

Galway team v Meath

Brian O'Donoghue
Donal O'Neill
Colin Forde
Cathal Sweeney
Paul Varley
Gareth Bradshaw
Gary O'Donnell
Fiontain O'Curraoin
Tom Flynn
Sean Denvir
Shane Walsh
Enda Tierney
Danny Cummins
Eddie Hoare
Adrian Varley

Probably a half strength Galway team given the missing Corofin lads and the likes of Conroy, Hanley, Moore, Comer, etc. Haven't seen the subs yet though.

For those wondering the subs are TJ Forde, Martin Coady, Tom Fahy, Finian Hanley, Johnny Heaney, Keith Kelly, Declan Kyne, Michael Martin, Cathal Mulryan, Patrick Sweeney, Gary Sweeney.

Diabhal Beag · 01-02-2015 5:14pm

Colin Forde was fairly sturdy fair play. Pa Sweeney was a fantastic impact sub and Cummins/Varley were effective with any sort of decent ball in. Fair few poor showings and the typical Galway 2nd half collapse. A win is a win but still a lot of half hearted tackling.

Borders no.2 · 01-02-2015 5:24pm

Ya good to get off to a winning start considering there are still a good few to come back. Started well and racked up a good lead. Kicked a few balls wide and into the keepers hands which would have effectively killed the game and that got Meath into it a bit. 2nd quarter was poor and it was only some poor Meath shooting which kept them from narrowing the gap more significantly. Galway started the 2nd half ok but again faded out to let Meath back to 2 points, a point from O'Curraoin settled us down again and goal shortly after finished it. A bit disappointing the way it finished that Meath got it back to 4. Could have won by 9 or 10 which in such a tight division could be important.

A hell of a lot to work on, lost our way badly at times, over-elaboration, slow build up play and struggled to find an outlet out of defence at times but 2-13 is a good score and should have been more really. However, a better team would have properly punished us for our mistakes. I wouldn't be overly excited but it was important to get on the front foot in this division so a satisfactory start to the season against a less than vintage Meath team.

Borders no.2 · 01-02-2015 5:27pm

Hurlers eventually pull clear late on against an improving Carlow. Dublin next weekend in the final the last run out before the league starts. Interestingly in Croke Park which will be the venue when the two sides meet in the championship later in the year.

wonder88 · 01-02-2015 6:22pm

A good start, some impressiveplay especially the tackling. Some good individual performances also, but faults there as well that need work on.
Meath were poor, but it was important to get the win.

spiritcrusher · 01-02-2015 8:18pm

Awful game of football. Painful on the eyes at times. Seemed like the players first thought with the ball was to look for someone behind or beside them and give a short, safe pass. No real attacking bite to them.
Galway didn't look particularly good but Meath were substantially worse. Hopefully what was on show is just early days stuff and Walsh isn't going to persist with that style of playing. Banking on playing a defensive style when half the players can't tackle properly won't work.

wonder88 · 06-02-2015 12:06am

Vital game for footballers sunday in Mullingar. I was encouraged a fair bit by the performance against Meath, so expecting a win. Hurlers in Croke Park as part of a very attractive double header, which I wouldn't mind at all going to, but staying in the west this weekend.

24yearslater · 06-02-2015 12:47am

Was in Carlow last week, v poor stuff all round. Hard to blame the team, it was played out in front of about 500 half hearted spectators. Freezing cold all day, so that wouldn't have helped either with regard to holding the hurley. You'd expect more from Smith at this hour in his career, that's the 2nd time in 3 yrs he's got sent off in one of these games for off the ball stuff. Saw all 3 games so far, gave been impressed by young Mannion @ corner back, Gerry Mac Jnr, Joe Cooney jnr, Dean Higgins, Jason Flynn & Padraig Brehony. Worried about big Joe - he really needs to be hurling loads at this stage. Didn't look too sharp v Offaly, and I thought he was off his game all last year for both club & county (except in the last qrtr in the draw v Kk). It's good to be getting games at this stage, & a run out in Croker is never any harm. We've only played there once since the replay in '12. Dubs will be out to impress too, so I'd imagine it'll be a good test for both. One thing I have noticed is the sheer size of the team, v hard to see another Damien Hayes ever getting a look in again. If only all our players had his heart!

Borders no.2 · 06-02-2015 1:48am

Gort v Ballyhale moved to Tullamore on Saturday with a 2.00 throw in. Thurles pitch frozen. Other semi moved to Mullingar, bit of a cock up all round from the GAA in all honesty. Hard to be too optimistic about Gort's chances but hopefully they at least do themselves justice unlike in the 2012 semi-final.

Important game for the footballers, should be a tight one, generally has been between these two teams in the last few years, Westmeath had a good win last weekend but with 3 more home games to come, getting an away win in the bag would put us in a good position to look at promotion in what already looks like a topsy turvy division.

First worthwhile test for the hurlers on Saturday. The competition has little value at the best of times but with KK out it means even less but a win in Croke Park would be a handy confidence boost ahead of the league and the Leinster q/f down the road.

T0001 · 07-02-2015 7:42pm

Walsh Cup Final

Galway 1-22
Dublin 1-20

Fairly good game in general, Padraig Mannion for Galway got a very good point from far out. Good potential shown by Galway from keeping in there and fighting back , and hard luck to Dublin who ran riot early on and never stopped fighting.

*Just a bit of trivia(YAY), the last time Galway won the Walsh Cup (2010), they scored 1-22 to beat Dublin in a Dublin venue!

T0001 · 07-02-2015 7:44pm

Hard luck to Gort today, but in fairness Ballyhale were by far the better side. Much more physical presence on the field plus numerous All-Ireland winners with Kilkenny.

Borders no.2 · 07-02-2015 7:54pm

Nice to get a win in Croke Park and nice to win a tight one for a change. Obviously the cup doesn't mean much when KK unfortunately couldn't participate but a nice confidence booster, especially having been behind for the whole game. Its a big score to concede in the first half, 2nd half 0-8 is much better.

Interested to see how Galway will fare when things step up another couple of levels next Sunday.

Gort did about as well as anyone could have expected, Ballyhale were able to open up the space in Tullamore and stretch the Gort defence. Chance for a goal after ht may have made it interesting but overall Gort not quite at that level. Think Kilmallock can be quietly confident of surprising Ballyhale though.

wonder88 · 07-02-2015 10:28pm

Agree that Gort not at the same level as Ballyhale, so no surprise in today's result.
No harm at all in winning a game (and a cup) at Croke Park for the hurlers as they need all the confidence boosters they can get.
After tonight's results a win tomorrow will leave the footballers as clear leaders of div 2, important they take this opportunity.

Borders no.2 · 08-02-2015 4:37pm

Yessssss!!! Hard fought win for the footballers! Made hard work of it but significant away win. Great to win a tight one for a change! 2 wins from 2 to start. Another win over an out of form Laois at home and promotion will be a real possibility.

Worthwent14 · 08-02-2015 5:18pm

Great win for the footballers. Great to win a tight away game. Sweeney was immense. S Walsh disappointing and we still have no consistent free taker. Fair play to KW hes not afraid to make changes and Hanley made a difference and Breathnach made a brilliant save at a crucial time to keep galway in it. Let's hope they kick on v Laois nxt time out. Forde still suspect at full back maybe corner would suit him better. Hanly still the bet full back at moment

wonder88 · 08-02-2015 11:27pm

Great win in Mullingar, wish I was there as from radio it seemed to have been a good game of football.
Two problems from last sunday still there apparently: free taking and dealing with a high ball into the square.
Yet a good start and 4 pts collected in what looks like being a very tight division.

TCDStudent1 · 09-02-2015 12:46am

Worthwent14 wrote: »

Great win for the footballers. Great to win a tight away game. Sweeney was immense. S Walsh disappointing and we still have no consistent free taker. Fair play to KW hes not afraid to make changes and Hanley made a difference and Breathnach made a brilliant save at a crucial time to keep galway in it. Let's hope they kick on v Laois nxt time out. Forde still suspect at full back maybe corner would suit him better. Hanly still the bet full back at moment

In fairness, I think Hanley was always gonna be back in the full back position.

Havent seen a lot of Sweeney. Be nice if he is a genuine find. Diarmuid Blake was making the point on GBFM that S. Walsh needs to get on the ball more and do more simple things with it rather than 1 great moment in every game - I guess experience.....

This is a terrific start by Galway & Kevin Walsh. Immediately, the pressure is off as if you lose those first 2 matches, you are looking at relegation. I havent been convinced by the teams he has picked but cant argue with the results.

T0001 · 09-02-2015 10:39am

A very exciting game of football in terms of suspense, but alot of errors from both sides.

Kick-Outs were an absolute disaster from both sides. Manus Breathnach rectified the problem slightly when he came on but Forde was blasting balls in any random direction. With a mid-field pairing of Flynn and O'Curaoin they are aswell to just chance their arm and let them fight for it. I think too many goalies are confusing the outfield players.

I think Galway missed 4/5 frees (not 100%), at least 2 of which were relatively straight forward.

Westmeath are a good team and no one was surprised yesterday to see them fighting on their home ground.

Shane Walsh had a bad day at the office, but that happens everyone once in a while. He needs to be taken off frees as a few early misses knocked his confidence. Fair play to Kevin Walsh for taking him off, many other manager would have left him on in hope.

I was impressed with the depth of the Galway panel. Anywhere a problem was occuring there seemed to be someone to come in and solve it, even without the Corofin players and some other big names. Hanley at the edge of the square was a great move and it cut out route 1 90% of the time. I'd say he's gonna get no. 3 come championship. Young Sweeney had a great game again today, and today he got the scores to build up his confidence: 1-05 from play is quite a tally. Long may it last!!

4 points on the board after 2 games, first time in 6 years. 2 more points will guarantee security from relegation going by the last few seasons. Before the league I would have said Kildare and Down were favourites to go up with Galway and Meath in the mix. After the first two weeks Galway are now favourites in my eyes to go up, with a toss up for the other position. You'd imagine 9/10 points will be needed to get promoted and with 3 home games left I can't see why we can't get them. Yesterday proved that even with backs to the wall Galway can dig deep and pull it out of the bag. Fair play lads.

Always_Running · 09-02-2015 10:49am

I agree Galway look well positioned to finish in the top two and with the Corofin players and comer,Conroy to return Galway should be at their strongest for the final group games.

WallyGUFC · 09-02-2015 12:55pm

Nice to see a 1 point win rather than a 1 point loss for a change! Laois at home is a huge game now, win that and we're serious promotion candidates. Seems Roscommon are on a steep upward curve too so Connacht Championship should be interesting.

Utopia Parkway · 09-02-2015 10:05pm

Galway senior football 2015 draw

Tuam Stars v Kilconly
Corofin v Salthill
Annaghdown v Carna/Caiseal
St Micheal's v Cortoon Shamrocks
Caltra v Kilkerrin/Clonberne
An Cheathru Rua v Micheal Breathnach
Caherlistrane v Milltown
Killererin v Naomh Anna
Killanin v Barna
Mountbellew Moylough v St James

Utopia Parkway · 09-02-2015 10:09pm

Intermediate draw 2015

St Brendans Ballygar v Glenamaddy
Williamstown v Ballinasloe
Oughterard v Moycullen
Dunmore McHales v Menlough
An Spideal v Headford
Oilean Arainn v Monivea
An Fhairce v Claregalway
Corofin v Athenry

T0001 · 09-02-2015 10:44pm

Potentially some good pairing in the Senior draw. Corofin v. Salthill/Knocknacarra could be a good game (he says hopefully). Mountbellew Moylough v. St. James' could be a cracker, both teams are around the same level and could produce some nice football.

Baggy Trousers · 09-02-2015 10:49pm

Great start by Galway. The Killanin lads are showing the way again

wonder88 · 13-02-2015 7:24pm

Are people giving Corofin much chance tomorrow?
Got my ticket today for the hurling on Sunday, not bad value for tenner but maybe an outlet in town would also help sell more. I am aware than you can buy them on-line as well, but no printer at the moment.

MfMan · 13-02-2015 10:18pm

wonder88 wrote: »

Are people giving Corofin much chance tomorrow?
Got my ticket today for the hurling on Sunday, not bad value for tenner but maybe an outlet in town would also help sell more. I am aware than you can buy them on-line as well, but no printer at the moment.

PPs are - they have Vincents evens and Corofin 11/10. Lot of neutral interest around the county in the game with a lot of people outside of Corofin considering travelling. For the record, I think they'll do it; they've been as good and as strong as they've ever been during the past 12 months or so.

Borders no.2 · 13-02-2015 11:30pm

I think tomorrow has the potential to be a cracker. While it'd help to get the Corofin lads integrated into the Galway panel, it'd be great to see them go all the way and would give a badly needed shot in the arm to the club game in the county even if they are miles ahead of everyone it'd give others clubs something to strive for. Corofin winning in 98 started things off for Galway and gave everyone a shot of belief, nothing like that will happen this year but it would be a big boost to everyone to see them go all the way.

Hopefully they do get through, I have a season ticket that covers the club finals but wouldn't be too pushed about going if no Galway side involved.

Hurling team for Sunday has a good sprinkling of new players and players in different positions. Personally I could take us struggling in the league if we could find a couple of genuine options for the championship. We need to increase our options if we are to have any ambition come championship time. Missing Canning, Conor Cooney, Cyril Donnellan, David Burke, Johnny Coen, Daithi Burke amongst others. Not sure about full back and centre back and balance at midfield. However, interesting to see how Hanbury, 2 Mannions,Higgins get on, think they all have something to offer. Only 4 there who started in 2012 final I make it

1 Colm Callanan (Kinvara)
2 John Hanbury (Rahoon/Newcastle)
3 Fergal Moore (Turloughmore)
4 Ronan Burke (Turloughmore)
5 Gearoid McInerney (Oranmore/Maree)
6 David Collins (Liam Mellows)
7 Padraig Mannion (Ahascragh/Fohenagh)
8 Iarla Tannian (Ardrahan)
9 Joseph Cooney (Sarsfields)
10 Padraig Breheny (Tynagh/Abbey/Duniry)
11 Jonathan Glynn (Ardrahan)
12 Dean Higgins (Castlegar)
13 James Regan (St. Thomas’)
14 Jason Flynn (Tommy Larkins)
15 Cathal Mannion (Ahascragh/Fohenagh)

14-02-2015 3:31pm

Awful turn of events with a Corofin penalty miss turning into a penalty conversion at the other end and a possible 5 point lead turns into a deficit.

Been by far the better team, Vincents lucky to even be in the game never mind leading.

Not sure why they let that lad take penalty, wasn't in the game and was already blocked down from a short 45 as he took an age to kick the ball.

Galway GAA discussion thread

Comments