Galway GAA discussion thread

Starie1975

Go on the footballers. To all you not believers PJ is king.

Okay, okay, one swallow doesn't make the summer but it's good to get a win undet the belt. Well done lads.

To our under 21's - fair play lads I hope all Galway fans will go to the semi final.

Kojak

cson wrote: »

Tipp have some sort of hoodoo over us the last few years.

That being said; there's hoodoo's and theres double score hammerings. This'll be the making or breaking of them I think, McIntyre won't spare the timber in the dressing room after that.

What is the point of shouting like a lunatic when it seems that most of the lads dont seem to learn from their mistakes (and by god there are a lot of them) week in, week out.

Tipp were excellent today and if they keep that tempo up for the year, I don't see anyone stopping them.

One of the big problems with Galway is that they always THINK they are potential All-Ireland champions, but never actually deliver on those aspirations. I wouldn't say we should be loosing the run of ourselves,(look at tipp in the league a few years ago - they got a hammering by KK in the league but were able to learn from it to eventually reach the All-Ireland final.

The big question for Galway for this year is if they can learn from their mistakes because in truth they haven't a prayer of winning the All-Ireland.

Diabhal Beag

Wouldn't worry about the Tipp defeat as we can still get to the final with a win over Waterford. We were awful. Fullback-line was atrocious. Half backs were non-existent for the most part. Iarla Tannion is brutal for wasting ball.

**** though I was happy with the win against Armagh. We needed some sort of good performance to give some confidence. But guess what lads, Joyce was back. Still a win is a win and as a Galway football fan we'll be happy with anything positive.

dcr22B

Lads,

I'm driving down from Dublin on Sunday for the match in Salthill. Where would be the handiest places for me to park the car down there?

Thanks in advance.

Great result for you yesterday in Armagh but I think our lads will be in no mood to be doing ye any favours on Sunday, we need to keep our momentum up.

Diabhal Beag

dcr22B wrote: »

Lads,

I'm driving down from Dublin on Sunday for the match in Salthill. Where would be the handiest places for me to park the car down there?

Thanks in advance.

Great result for you yesterday in Armagh but I think our lads will be in no mood to be doing ye any favours on Sunday, we need to keep our momentum up.

If you get there early there are plenty of proper spaces near Pearse Stadium. There's a boys school that operates parking spaces on match days.

dcr22B

Diabhal Beag wrote: »

If you get there early there are plenty of proper spaces near Pearse Stadium. There's a boys school that operates parking spaces on match days.

Was thinking that alright, I'm hoping to be in Salthill an hour before throw in anyway.

Diabhal Beag

dcr22B wrote: »

Was thinking that alright, I'm hoping to be in Salthill an hour before throw in anyway.

Maybe try and get there a bit earlier (1 hour and a half at least).

aidan24326

we can only hope this was just a bad day at the office. Tipp are not 18 points better than us, but this result opens up old wounds all the same. I'm still hopeful, this Galway team are better than that.

So the footballers actually won a game? No coincidence that it happened with a certain P Joyce in the team. That guy is the among the best footballers to ever pull on a Galway jersey. If only we could find another one like him. Peadar O'Griofa is going the right way, he won't be as good as Joyce but he's a good prospect all the same.

Big Pussy Bonpensiero

dcr22B wrote: »

Lads,

I'm driving down from Dublin on Sunday for the match in Salthill. Where would be the handiest places for me to park the car down there?

Thanks in advance.

There are plenty of estates and residential roads where you could park. Thats won't be a problem, what will be a problem will be getting away from the match afterwards. All the experienced match-goers park about 10 mins (walk) away as to avoid the traffic afterwards. But I'm not sure how bad the traffic will be after a league game. Still though, parking definitely shouldn't be a problem.

patmac

Starie1975 wrote: »

To our under 21's - fair play lads I hope all Galway fans will go to the semi final.

Not too many of them around last Saturday.
First off let me say I'm a Westmeath man living in Roscommon with a Galway mum, so being semi-neutral, I thought it was a disgrace even from a Galway point of view that the u-21 final was switched to Pearse stadium on request of the home management.
In this day and age when money is scarce it was ridiculous from an attendance point of view to play in Pearse stadium on a Saturday afternoon meaning all Rossies having to travel through the city to get there.
The paltry attendance of 2000 (made up of over 1200 Rossies) would have been 5000 if the game was played in Tuam and closer to 10,000 if played in Ballinasloe and Galway would still have won

dcr22B

Diabhal Beag wrote: »

Maybe try and get there a bit earlier (1 hour and a half at least).

Cheers, I was aiming to leave Dublin at about 10.30am-11am so that should give me enough time to get there between 1-1.30pm

kkdela6

the game against waterford should be very interesting. they are a strong team, not to be taken for granted. i reckon it has the potential to be a cracker!

meriwether

Hard luck to Jarlaths, they probably should have won.

Some good footballers though, and I presume our Minors should be strong this year consequently.

meriwether

meriwether wrote: »

Hard luck to Jarlaths, they probably should have won.

Some good footballers though, and I presume our Minors should be strong this year consequently.

Should have taken at least one of the two goal chances.

The first was just poorly executed, I've never been a fan of this blasting it high technique, basically your trying to put it to within a foot under the bar, which is next to impossible at full power.
9/10 it goes over for a point, you need to pick a corner IMO

The second one was worse, they had the defence outnumbered, forward should have drawn someone in and shot or layed it off, same thing again just rifled it high.
Very poor.... You need to take your goal chances when they come, and blasting them high is not the way to do it IMO.

They should have been running drills for said instances where they get a runner through the middle and practice picking a corner or drawing a man out and laying it off.

ShamoBuc

It was a great game of ball in all fairness, but as has often been said ,goals win games. Some lovely passages of football in the game, shame there had to be a loser really, but that's sport!

CyberDave

Kojak wrote: »

One of the big problems with Galway is that they always THINK they are potential All-Ireland champions, but never actually deliver on those aspirations.

The truth is that it's the supporters and the media THINK Galway are potential All-Ireland Champions every year. The problem is that the players don't THINK they can and that is why Galway haven't won an All-Ireland in over 20 years. When push comes to shove Galway don't have the inner belief that is natural to the big three. Why else do we lose so many tight games...

c_man

Jaysus, what an end. We were out of our seats roaring and cheering before Sice's kick *just* landed short! Ah well Mayo let us down anyways :P

The queues for the Season ticket entrance were a disgrace. I hope no-one missed the opening few minutes because of it.

Diabhal Beag

We blew it lads. Had about 7 wides that should have been definite points. Have to say Coyne was impressive when he came on but Cathal Kenny and the full back line were terrible the whole match.

Sad to say but Joyce looks like a spent force at this stage.

RightHalfBack

Diabhal Beag wrote: »

We blew it lads. Had about 7 wides that should have been definite points. Have to say Coyne was impressive when he came on but Cathal Kenny and the full back line were terrible the whole match.

Sad to say but Joyce looks like a spent force at this stage.

I must not have been watching the same match as you Diabhal, Coyne was impressive alright, but so were Forde and Duane (newcomers at this level remember), and Alan Burke saw off Diarmuid Connolly.

The poorest performance is my view was Flaherty, although he made a good save or two a few very bad kick and pass outs directly led to scores.

I wouldnt be so quick to write off P Seoige either, he is worth his place albeit playing a less prominent role than the last few years,

there is fight in this Galway team, im looking forward to the championship with cautiuos optimism

Diabhal Beag

RightHalfBack wrote: »

I must not have been watching the same match as you Diabhal, Coyne was impressive alright, but so were Forde and Duane (newcomers at this level remember), and Alan Burke saw off Diarmuid Connolly.

We were torn a sunder many times especially for the 1st goal and several times in the second half. Brogan could have got a few more points at least. We'd be raped if it wasn't for Alan Brogan getting the red.

The poorest performance is my view was Flaherty, although he made a good save or two a few very bad kick and pass outs directly led to scores.

Yep although I would say that the fact nobody caught or even got near a kickout in the 1st half vexed him a lot. Bergin will stand 2 metres behind his marker for all kickouts. Made some great saves though so I wouldn't say he was anywhere near the worst.

I wouldnt be so quick to write off P Seoige either, he is worth his place albeit playing a less prominent role than the last few years,

Oh God yes if it wasn't for Joyce we'd be looking a lot worse. He deserves his place but he looked jaded more than ever before today.

BTW Clancy was working his arse off today so keep it up Mattew (I know you read this )

dcr22B

RightHalfBack wrote: »

Duane

Thanks to his acting skills Alan Brogan will miss the league final, two yellows would have been more appropriate. At the same time, with him being a senior member of our panel, Alan should have known better.

Fair play to you on the performance in the 2nd half, some pride in the jersey being shown in the last 3 games and should stand you in good stead for the Connacht championship.

RightHalfBack

dcr22B wrote: »

Alan Brogan will miss the league final,

didnt see the incident but a few lads were saying it was harsh alright, Its a pity he will miss the final but he should have plenty of oppurtunities to shine till late into the Summer with this Dublin Team. Come September the league final will be long forgotten.

Diabhal Beag

I actually missed it too but a lot of people were saying it should have been a yellow. Still you never should give somebody that opportunity.


BTW dcr22B was Cluxton dropped for the McAteer punch or just given a break?

c_man

Missed it as well but one of the lads caught it and agreed with the comments above.

Big fan of Alan. Class footballer.

BTW dcr22B was Cluxton dropped for the McAteer punch or just given a break?

Heard it was just to 'blood' the keeper today.



McAteer had it coming btw :pac:

dcr22B

Diabhal Beag wrote: »

BTW dcr22B was Cluxton dropped for the McAteer punch or just given a break?

WAs just giving Savage a run out. We really struggled with the wind in the 2nd half as Savage's kick outs simply aren't as effective as Cluxton's.

Starie1975

Missed the match yesterday too (ran the half-connemarathon - patting myself on the back :cool:)

I was talking to a few in town last night Dub's and Tribes who said he deserved the red card, he was being pushed about but gave the elbow - they said. I'm disapointed that he'll miss the final, a great player to watch.

Onwards and upwards now for Galway.

Diabhal Beag

OK guys so this is the point where we look towards the year ahead.

So Mayo look good. They'll be tough for us to beat and Sligo are still a threat despite a poor League. Roscommon are dark horses again this year but are heavily reliant on Shine.

Hard to see us winning Connacht this year sadly

dcr22B

Diabhal Beag wrote: »

Sligo are still a threat despite a poor League.

Sligo have been brutally unlucky to come out on the wrong side of 3 (I think) single point defeats otherwise us Dubs would be celebrating Meath playing in Division 3 next year!

Hulk Hands

There's no reason why we shouldn't win Connacht this year. The way we've played in those past 3 games (i'm taking the Armagh game on reports alone) has given me hope that we can have a decent season.

Things are starting to look settled in defence, with Forde and Duane really stepping up to the plate. They have looked to have nailed down starting spots. Alan Burke is playing well at corner back and Sice has been very good since being reverted to number 7.

Obviously with Forde being steady in at FB, Hanley has been able to move out the field, and for the first time in a long time i'm confident that we have a steady pair there that can hold their own against most midfields. Hanley will grow into the role the more games he plays there. My own preference would be to name Bradshaw at 15 and move him out as a third midfielder, sweeping up breaks and driving at defences. It will be interesting to see how O'Flatharta uses him. People forget how good he is, he is our best player along with Meehan and was missing for nearly all the league. It puts the league campaign in perspective when we see who we were missing.

The forward department was a disaster during the league, but things will improve. Look at the difference PJ has made even by his presence there in the last 2 games. By all accounts he was terrific against Armagh and still had an impact yesterday despite being heavily marshalled. If one more person says he's finished i'll scream. The funny thing is that he's actually played better in the last 3 years than he did at any period 2004-2008. He reminds me of Ryan Giggs in that respect. An automatic starter.

Cormac Bane has had a decent league and should retain his place. We still have Armstrong to come back, who should improve for having the street smarts of Meehan and Joyce around him making space. Meehan obviously will be a huge asset. Outside of that, maybe the workrate of Clancy might get him in, or possibly Concannon on the back of a decent campaign last term. Obviously I hope Nicky Joyce rethinks his decision, and he would be an asset.

Overall everything is looking ok, as long as we can keep everybody injury free. The team also needs to cut out the silly mistakes, of which there were a lot of yesterday.

As regards challengers, I wouldn't be afraid of anyone. Mayo have 15 decent players but they lack leaders. They lack someone of the calibre of Meehan or Joyce who can stand up and drag them out of a rut. Good players but no standouts. They have had a decent league, no more. Mayo will obviously be favourites for the clash in June, but if we can get our best 15 there injury free, I think we are the more talented side. Mayo set a fairly modest benchmark, now it's up to us to surpass that.

Sligo were good last year, but by the same degree we were putrid. And they still only beat us by a point in over 140 mins of football. And that with Galway having a half fit Meehan for 30 mins of that, no Nickey Joyce, and Bradshaw handing them a pox soft goal. No, I can't rate Sligo as better than Galway. Especially on the back of a league campaign where they havent looked to have pushed on.

Roscommon are poor. Simple as. They beat a non-performing Sligo side by a point in one game last year. That's all they have done in recent memory. If we beat Mayo we should win Connacht. A big if alright, but people should have a certain degree of cautious optimism.

aidan24326

Diabhal Beag wrote: »

OK guys so this is the point where we look towards the year ahead.

So Mayo look good. They'll be tough for us to beat and Sligo are still a threat despite a poor League. Roscommon are dark horses again this year but are heavily reliant on Shine.

Hard to see us winning Connacht this year sadly

Why is it hard to see us winning Connaught? Who should we fear? Mayo are decent at best, and have alot of the same old failings. And as Hulk Hands said in the above post, they lack real standout players in the Meehan and Joyce class. Sligo were fortunate to beat an underperforming Galway team last year, and I wouldn't be overly afraid of them. Roscommon are an ordinary team who caught Sligo on the hop in the Connaught Final, and I wouldn't be worrying too much about them either. Connaught is there to be won.

At least there were some positives to take from the league in the end. A battling performance against Cork followed by two more decent showings in the last two games. Forde doing reasonably well at fb, and great to have something approaching a decent midfield with Hanley a good addition there. Meehan to come back aswell hopefully (and it's good that they haven't rushed him - June/July is when we'll need him, not March or April).

It would be nice to win Connaught and get back to Croke Park, we're long overdue a win there, and even though Galway haven't won in Croke Park for a long time, we rarely play badly when we do get there. The Mayo game is key to the whole thing though, lose that and it's back to the dreaded qualifiers, win it and a Connaught title followed by Croke park is very much on the cards.