Donegal GAA Thread

LeoB

Well done to Donegal.

I would have been one of their knockers last year but that was one of the best performances I have seen in any provincial final for a few years. What is pleasing for football fans is the they are kicking the ball more, using their talent and as I said last year there is massive potential here in this squad with so many good natural ball players, serious potential to go the whole way and neither Cork Kerry, Dublin, Kildare or Mayo will fancy meeting them. J McG obviousley had a plan to develop the squad more and with the extra year behind them they can open up more than last year. Thats what people really want to see.

On the Murphy role, I think he will come good as the pressure is off some what with other scoring forwards stepping up to the plate. He will come good again and when he does he will be better than before. I think

muffler

LeoB wrote: »

On the Murphy role, I think he will come good as the pressure is off some what with other scoring forwards stepping up to the plate. He will come good again and when he does he will be better than before. I think

Fully agree and hope he turns that wee corner again.

I honestly feel that McGuinness, like the rest of us, knows what he's capable of and is anxious to keep him in the side to get that confidence or fitness or whatever is bothering him back again.

NIMAN

Remember that most of this Down side were only beat by 1pt in the AI Final 2 years ago.

And made to look like wee boys against men in the 2nd half the other day.

overshoot

muffler wrote: »

Murphy was a bit anonymous yesterday.

that was the best murphy has been out of the last 3 games. he isnt taking many scores but is vital in setting up a hell of a lot of them and definately on his way back. those lads have been in a serious training regime all year and he was getting a knee operation slightly before the cavan game... nevermind being in and out of the league games with various things.

biggest hual of points in a ulster final since 1971 where down won 4-15 to 4-11 not to shabby!

NIMAN

So folks, who honestly thinks Donegal can win it this year?

A 'yes' here from me.

Redsoxfan

Murphy only scored 1 point, but he made Frank McGlynn's goal. In addition, he set up 2 points in the 1st half. He missed a relatively tough free into the wind and had a poor enough wide in the 2nd half, but if you look at the coverage, you will see he was frequently double marked. He's not back to his best for sure, but he made important contributions yesterday.

NIMAN wrote:

So folks, who honestly thinks Donegal can win it this year?

A 'yes' here from me.

Like the Jim and the boys, I'm focused on the Quarter-Final. Plenty of time to talk about how far we can go after the Bank Holiday. If we end up drawing Kerry, we would in theory find ourselves needing to beat Kerry, Cork and Dublin to win the All-Ireland. That's a big ask. But at least we know we have the fittest team in Ireland.

NIMAN

I think Murphy doesn't appear to be at the same fitness levels as the rest of the team but wasn't be injured not that long before the season. He might be playing catch up.

I think he played well enough but was well down the list of best Donegal players on Sunday. He played a good team role, whereas he was more a focal point in the past. If they double mark him, then he's freeing up room for others.

donegal_road

Murphy set up Frank McGlynn's goal, McFadden played a blinder

fullstop

overshoot wrote: »

reached a first AI semi since 02 also.

'04

'02 was a quarter final.

overshoot

fullstop wrote: »

'04

'02 was a quarter final.

oops that was a slip by me, keep thinking 02 for some strange reason but it was actually 03!
04 was the ulster final hammering in croker then losing to fermanagh... some painful memories and source of my hatred of bus eireann and kells (2 bloody hours outside it on the way back!)

-had actually replied with a 03 and a wink then realised you were quoting me to begin with:o

martyeds

Are all 4 quarter finals are to be played in Croker? Is there a chance that we could be playing on Bank Holiday Monday. I seem to remember we did a few times in the early 00s.......bit of a pain as i was living in London at the time and it wasn't a bank holiday.

overshoot

martyeds wrote: »

Are all 4 quarter finals are to be played in Croker? Is there a chance that we could be playing on Bank Holiday Monday. I seem to remember we did a few times in the early 00s.......bit of a pain as i was living in London at the time and it wasn't a bank holiday.

last year they split it and put dublin on their own day the week after, us and kildare our own on saturday and a double header on sunday...
you can probably expect something similar, dublin on their own and you would guess meath/kildare(close fanbase) or kerry (glamour tie?) will pull another single game depending on who they draw...
the gaa fixtures just puts it 4-6th august for all quarters...so they are probably tied into the one weekend. would think they would put dublin on the monday as it makes it easier for the counties who have to travel which will give us a saturday or sunday draw

Redsoxfan

All the Quarter-Finals will be in Croke Park.

The dates set aside are Saturday August 4th, Sunday August 5th and Monday August 6th. Monday will only be used if Dublin draw the likes of Kerry or maybe even Kildare (i.e. it will be played as a standalone senior fixture) - this is what the Donegal County Secretary said last night on twitter. Otherwise, it's likely to be 2 double headers. So tickets could be tight....

Last year was an anomaly I think as the Donegal v Kildare Quarter-Final was played as a double header with a Tyrone v Roscommon 4th round qualifier. Dublin v Tyrone was then played the following weekend. I'm open to correction, but I think the reason for the delay in the Tyrone v Roscommon Qualifier was down to Michaela Harte's murder. They still may have had Dublin v Tyrone on its own day as it would have been a big draw.

The draw will be on Radio 1 next Monday during the 8.30am sports news. They'll probably confirm the times and venues 'later that day'

Redsoxfan

NIMAN wrote: »

I think Murphy doesn't appear to be at the same fitness levels as the rest of the team but wasn't be injured not that long before the season. He might be playing catch up.

He was injured against Dublin in March 24th and had surgery. The game against Derry (June 16th) was his first game in nearly 3 months. I don't think he has played a club game this season.

scottmcb04

Redsoxfan wrote: »

I'm open to correction, but I think the reason for the delay in the Tyrone v Roscommon Qualifier was down to Michaela Harte's murder.

i think the reason behind it was tyrone 3rd round qualifier was delayed because armagh-wicklow played out a draw after e.t. meaning a replay which had a knock-on effect...

im not looking past the quarter final but i am not at all feared by the prospect of having to beat kerry-cork & dublin to win the AI... we came thru the 'hard side' of the ulster draw with relative ease, doing what we had to against tyrone...

it will be interesting, best chance we've had since '92, but 1 step at a time!

gally87

The one big fear I had this year before the championship started was that if we lost one of what I thought to be our 'big three' i.e. Lacey Murphy or Neil McGee that we would struggle to replace them as I felt we lacked the strength in depth that the likes of Cork and Dublin have in abundance. While we have only lost Murphy for Cavan and McGee for the Tyrone, I feel that Lacey has also been unusually quiet in the last two game.

However the most pleasing aspect of this is that we now have other players in the team stepping up and taking their place, the likes of McGlynn, McHugh, Bradley etc.

It is still early doors yet but I am confident that we will make the final at least barring any major disasters. What happens after that I am unsure of but sure isn't that why we love following the game Could be an exciting end to the summer.

Tir Chonaill Abú

overshoot

gambling on us being on saturday for the quarter final... hope to god im right dont wanna miss it again this year! (basing it on us being the first semi so possible double header with cork... grasping at straws really)

Redsoxfan

Latest news is that the draw will be on Saturday night with the times announced on Sunday.

Hoping for a Sunday game myself as that's the only way I'll get to be there.

echo beach

Redsoxfan wrote: »

How does this work as a matter of interest? Do you need to order them or do local SuperValu have stocks for Donegal? What about SuperValu shops outside Donegal?

Just about buying tickets in SuperValu, I know somebody who was on the way to Clones on Sunday without a ticket. He stopped in Lisnaskea and got one no problem in SuperValu there.

NIMAN

It wasn't a sell-out, so guess there were still tickets floating around.

Heard on the radio that the tie-in between SuperValu and the GAA has brought in €1,000,000+ in ticket sales. Very successful idea.

leedslad

NIMAN wrote: »

It wasn't a sell-out, so guess there were still tickets floating around.

Heard on the radio that the tie-in between SuperValu and the GAA has brought in €1,000,000+ in ticket sales. Very successful idea.

Supervalu all well and good for the early rounds but lets see how they satisfy demand if Donegal keep progressing. People should become members of their local club at the start of the year and order their tickets through the club

echo beach

leedslad wrote: »

Supervalu all well and good for the early rounds but lets see how they satisfy demand if Donegal keep progressing. People should become members of their local club at the start of the year and order their tickets through the club

I would agree but selling through SuperValu has been a good way of getting people who aren't traditional followers and club members to matches and hopefully they will get 'the bug' and start following their local club.
It has always been that followers supported the club first and continued that support to the county team but times change and it will be important to harness the increasing support for the county that comes with success and bring it to club level.

Being able to get tickets for big games is one reason many non-players pay their sub to the club every year and clubs will lose an important source of income if tickets sales move away from the clubs.

NIMAN

Out of interest, anyone know what the annual sub is for a local GAA club?

leedslad

€30 per adult annually at my local club, they also do Family membership if you have young 'uns training with the club.
So for the price of one quarter final ticket you have access to club facilities and are guaranteed an All-Ireland ticket if Donegal qualify
by purchasing through the club as Donegal progress.

Vorenus

@ Leedslad Unfortunately Club membership does not guarantee you an All Ireland Ticket. If only that were true! It would entitle you to enter a draw for tickets in your club. Most of the well connected people in a club will always be looked after in my experience. I remember as a young fella in 1992 being gutted after seeing the carry on that went on in my own club. I got a ticket in the end up but not through the club. Mark my words if we make an All Ireland Final the usual suspects will get the tickets. People you would never see at a county game let alone a club game will be running about talking nonsense about Jim's tactics etc etc while not knowing one thing about the game!

Anyway rant over. Roll on saturday and the draw. Is feidir linn!!

Redsoxfan

Vorenus wrote: »

Mark my words if we make an All Ireland Final the usual suspects will get the tickets. People you would never see at a county game let alone a club game will be running about talking nonsense about Jim's tactics etc etc while not knowing one thing about the game!

Let's hope it's a problem we have to face lad!

Minister Boyce

The poster makes a very valid point though redsoxfan. The distribution of tickets and the allocation off poorer quality tickets to some clubs was nothing short of a joke. Despite me paying annual membership, selling and buying club lottos as well as contributions towards other fund raising schemes, i did not get tickets anywhere near where I'd hoped.

Now I don't think I was too demanding. All I was lookin for was a decent spot in the pat mc grane stand to see the game. It wasn't that I was demanding to be stuck bang in the middle of the Gerry arthur stand with all the usual high flyers that were around murphy lifting the cup:rolleyes:

It turns out that I could've walked into super valu and got sorted there and then with better tickets. I did not know that I had got sh€t tickets until they were distributed on the thurs night before the game!!

Redsoxfan

Minister Boyce wrote: »

The poster makes a very valid point though redsoxfan. The distribution of tickets and the allocation off poorer quality tickets to some clubs was nothing short of a joke. Despite me paying annual membership, selling and buying club lottos as well as contributions towards other fund raising schemes, i did not get tickets anywhere near where I'd hoped.

Now I don't think I was too demanding. All I was lookin for was a decent spot in the pat mc grane stand to see the game. It wasn't that I was demanding to be stuck bang in the middle of the Gerry arthur stand with all the usual high flyers that were around murphy lifting the cup:rolleyes:

It turns out that I could've walked into super valu and got sorted there and then with better tickets. I did not know that I had got sh€t tickets until they were distributed on the thurs night before the game!!

I know the poster and the point he was making is indeed valid!

And I see where you're coming from. I had a similar conversation with some people in the same situation as you are in and it's clear that there is growing dissatisfaction with the allocation process.

I do wonder however the extent of what can be done about it. As long as each party (clubs and agents) get a 'fair' allocation (i.e. that one club doesn't get all tickets better than another etc) then it might be the best the GAA can do (I'm no apologist for the GAA let me tell you right now). If you think about it, having the clubs communicate who wants what, or who has been to what games to the County Board, who then have to communicate with Ulster Council or Central Council wherein someone has to sit down with a seating map and allocate seats to lists etc. Keep in mind that for the All-Ireland Quarter Final we have a 5 day working turnaround time to get tickets allocated.

Likewise, in the clubs, you'd need the Secretary (or whoever is responsible) to allocate tickets according to 'merit' - I can see the problems with that.

Maybe I'm assuming the problem is more complex than it is, but I can see both sides of the coin.

Keep in mind also that ticket sales through SuperValu/Centra have gone through the €1m mark. The GAA aren't going to put that revenue stream in jeopardy by giving them all the 'bad' tickets.

Anyway, just my own 2c, this is probably an issue that affects more than just Donegal and I don't want to drag the thread off topic.

Minister Boyce

I more or less agree wit u on all fronts. And yes, with the success of the super valu supply option the gaa will not jeopardise this revenue flow by allocating poor tickets to it. The biggest frustration with the club ticket system is as you say, there does not seem to be a lot that can be done about it at present.

muffler

Well, it's going to be Kerry in the quarter finals. Bring it on