Donegal GAA Discussion Thread

ArnoldJRimmer

downthemiddle wrote: »

The myth that he is the best goalkeeper in the game. There are aspects of his game that are excellent but he is poor on some of the fundamentals of goalkeeping as was shown yesterday when he rode his luck.

Think you're being overly harsh there, the conditions were atrocious. I was still surprised that he missed a couple of frees though. Still think he is one of the best in the game, and trust me, I have no gra for this or any Monaghan team

Despite the conditions, I thought that was a really enjoyable game, well done Gaoth Dobhair. Worthy champions, and great to see a Donegal team playing in the new year

Ceist_Beag

Aye, wouldn't say anything bad about Beggan as I still think he's one of the finest strikers of the ball from the ground. He's only human and even the great Cluxton was prone to mistakes, but again yesterday was horrible conditions and I wouldn't blame him at all for missing a couple of very missable frees. He nailed a couple of beauties as it was. I would question his role in wandering up the field - I really don't see how he is better than any outfield player there so not sure about the benefit of that.
As an aside, was great to see so many GAA fans from outside Gaoth Dobhair at the match yesterday, plenty of Fermanagh men around and I was chatting to a few from Glenswilly on the way in and after who made the trip.

Redsoxfan

Maith thú Ceist Beag. Bain sult as!

It's great to see a Donegal team win after so many years of not even coming close. Hopefully this gives other teams in the County a bit of confidence, although Gaoth Dobhair have a lot of talent, so it's not a given.

Awful conditions, played on one of the worst County pitches in the Country. It's a disgrace that Omagh gets any games at this time of the year. Scotstown can feel hard done by - late in the game, they lost possession when the ball hit one the edges of a relaid/inserted patches and stopped dead/was redirected. It was heading for a Scotstown player, and as far as I recall they were in space and it would have been a good chance for a score.

I don't think Gaoth Dobhair could have had many complaints if they had lost. They didn't play particularly well, but then I thought that Scotstown tackling was excellent.

Eamonn McGee was a bit of a liability. Coughed up possession a few times, and dropped the ball into Beggan's hands from close enough range.

By contrast, Cassidy was a beast - one shot blocked down, but other than that won everything. And, had the cop on at the end not to let others get too close to the ref. Maybe the players were fooled by McFadden Ferry's attempt to con the ref, but fair play to him, ref got it right. Shame, as it would have been some score to win it. I'm not his biggest fan, but I would have had no issue if Cassidy had got man of the match.

On the other side, it's not easy to say, but Darren Hughes was immense for Scotstown. if they had won, he was surely man of the match. Did a bit of everything.

Not sure where the Beggan 'myth' has come from. He has had a great year - and it's not like he's infallible from placed balls. No surprise that he missed a few in the wet. He probably wasn't able to kick long as much as he would for Monaghan, not sure if that was down to the weather, his own team, or Gaoth Dobhair marking. I thought he was effective enough outfield - Gaoth Dobhair didn't seem to know how to pick him up.

Yesterday was always going to be an arm wrestle given the weather and the opposition. Scotstown might not have the depth, but they have plenty of good players and have come close before. Carey getting sent off was a pretty big moment.

Hopefully Gaoth Dobhair can give a good account of themselves against Corofin - will be a big step up. I don't see why they can't - they have more than one way of playing, and, if Corofin's recent games have shown, they have the patience to deal with defensive teams. I assume they will play that game in Sligo - I try and get up to it.

Solomon Pleasant

@redsoxfan - what’s wrong with Robert Emmets?

rrs

Donegal sides the last few years in Ulster, haven't been that bad. Kilcar lost in an epic Semi final last year to Slaughtneil. Glenswilly made the final in 2013 and Glenties made the final in 2010..

ghostfacekilla

Is the McKenna cup draw on tomorrow?

Redsoxfan

Just seen Cass and The Ram trolling Corofin on Twitter. Posted by their own captain too. Lunatics. Fair play to them!

MactheKnife90

Redsoxfan wrote: »

Eamonn McGee was a bit of a liability. Coughed up possession a few times, and dropped the ball into Beggan's hands from close enough

Was a liability alot of the time for the County too when he carried the ball too long up the pitch. Especially in recent years.
On the contrary he knew the best ball to give when he managed to hold onto possession Sunday-straight down Cassidys throat.

downthemiddle

Redsoxfan wrote: »

Just seen Cass and The Ram trolling Corofin on Twitter. Posted by their own captain too. Lunatics. Fair play to them!

https://twitter.com/KCASS7

Redsoxfan

ghostfacekilla wrote:

Is the McKenna cup draw on tomorrow?

Down, Cavan and Queens.

Plus bitter cold and lots of students.

Nidgeweasel

The sooner they get rid of this shambles of a competition the better.

bob skunkhouse

Redsoxfan wrote: »

Down, Cavan and Queens.

Plus bitter cold and lots of students.

No harm in running the fringe players and seeing what they're up to.
Didn't Mullins get a motm in a game last year? What's he at these days? Any prospect?
We could do with a half daycent midfielder for the challenges ahead.

MactheKnife90

bob skunkhouse wrote: »

No harm in running the fringe players and seeing what they're up to.
Didn't Mullins get a motm in a game last year? What's he at these days? Any prospect?
We could do with a half daycent midfielder for the challenges ahead.

Ah its a nonsense competition to be fair. Mullins did but was a flop otherwise IMO

downthemiddle

:D:D

https://twitter.com/Niallmacaoidh

Anyone know where my car is

Redsoxfan

North Carolina will win an All Ireland within the next 5 years.

doc_17

Redsoxfan wrote: »

Just seen Cass and The Ram trolling Corofin on Twitter. Posted by their own captain too. Lunatics. Fair play to them!

Looked like one of those videos where members of an ethnic minority call each other out to fight.

Redsoxfan

Neil McGee gurns like it's still the 90s.

doc_17

The books are in bad shape. There’ll be lots of fundraising needed this year or else that €1m on team spending will have to be cut.

Murphy14

doc_17 wrote: »

The books are in bad shape. There’ll be lots of fundraising needed this year or else that €1m on team spending will have to be cut.

Often wondered why we don't have a supporters group like club Tyrone which year on year provides unconditional funding towards the development of county teams

MactheKnife90

Murphy14 wrote: »

Often wondered why we don't have a supporters group like club Tyrone which year on year provides unconditional funding towards the development of county teams

Because we arent a cult. Or an aspiring independent state.

charlie14

MactheKnife90 wrote: »

Because we arent a cult. Or an aspiring independent state.

doc_17

Murphy14 wrote: »

Often wondered why we don't have a supporters group like club Tyrone which year on year provides unconditional funding towards the development of county teams

Donegal is a poor county!

Murphy14

doc_17 wrote: »

Donegal is a poor county!

At the Fermanagh convention last night it was reported that club Eirne raised £200,000 a small county

doc_17

One genuine worry I have is that say income income increased by 200k. And all of a sudden the county team running costs increased by 200k. Whereas they should be paying the money to people they owe money to.

Oh, and not taking 53 people to hotels the night before games.

ghostfacekilla

Any TV/Radio live coverage of Donegal v QUB?

bob skunkhouse

So that's it, the 2019 season has finally kicked off with a facile enough victory over a QUB side whose sight's are set on the Sigerson Cup rather than the McKenna Cup. I know the McKenna Cup has it's detractors but give me this over a meaningless game v Sligo any day.
I thought CiaranT, MichaelL, EMcH had good games. Some good long range points taken and Hugh McFadden scored a very good first point and seems to be improving with age. I was very surprised with the the weight gain by McHugh, the S&C is obviously working. He's a very similar player to Ryan and took his scores well. That been said, I'm not sure where he'd fit in to the first 15 come championship day. Eammon Doherty - no offense to the guy, isn't an inter county defender. In fact our FB line didn't have a great game at all. When long balls where kicked in they struggled for pace (or reading of the game) and Queens definitely caused problems, a bit like Antrim last year. I wouldn't be surprised to see Tony McC take over from Paddy McGrath this year and I wouldn't be surprised if Neil McGee doesn't hold down the FB position.
I couldn't honestly say I saw anything different in their style of play from last year so it'll be interesting to see what Rochford brings to the table in that regard. I'm not sure JMagee is our answer in midfield as well, so I'd expect Murphy to still play an influential part around the middle third this year again.
I'm still expecting a decent year ahead. If we can tighten up at the FB line, then I'm confident we'll get promotion back to Div1 and if we get Paddy McB up to game speed in time for the championship then I'll stick my neck out and predict at worst an AI semi-final spot.

Triboro

Would an Ulster title be a possibility?

bob skunkhouse

Yeah.....I deliberately left that out because I think it's harder to win an Ulster title than get into the super 8's. Last year as an anomaly given the results that fell but this year I feel no upsets in the offing. That would mean us playing Tryone in the Semi's and then Monaghan in the final. Monaghan seem be have our mark down through the years - especially in the league - and always seem to be there or there abouts. A bit like Mayo though I don't think they have the strength in depth and should we ever meet in Championship I'd expect our youth and pace would beat them. If we were to meet in an Ulster final though, a 2 horse race an all that...
Tyrone on the other hand beat us fair and square last year even though we were 4 points up at one stage. I think Bonner mightn't have had one of his best days in the office that day, but i think the players ran out of steam too. Tyrone recognised our frailties at the back and exploited them well. If we don't remedy that issue then we might see a repeat of last year.

Redsoxfan

Will anyone get within 10 points of us this year at all...

charlie14

bob skunkhouse wrote: »

Yeah.....I deliberately left that out because I think it's harder to win an Ulster title than get into the super 8's. Last year as an anomaly given the results that fell but this year I feel no upsets in the offing. That would mean us playing Tryone in the Semi's and then Monaghan in the final. Monaghan seem be have our mark down through the years - especially in the league - and always seem to be there or there abouts. A bit like Mayo though I don't think they have the strength in depth and should we ever meet in Championship I'd expect our youth and pace would beat them. If we were to meet in an Ulster final though, a 2 horse race an all that...
Tyrone on the other hand beat us fair and square last year even though we were 4 points up at one stage. I think Bonner mightn't have had one of his best days in the office that day, but i think the players ran out of steam too. Tyrone recognised our frailties at the back and exploited them well. If we don't remedy that issue then we might see a repeat of last year.

The stars did align well for us last year in Ulster and while it was for a change a handy enough win, after league relegation it was a win we really needed under new management and a new style of play for team confidence imo.
I take your point that it is easier to qualify for the Super 8`s than winning Ulster, but for me that would only be true for the runners-up. Losing an Ulster Semi would be a serious impediment, not just by way of extra games but in player confidence as well as supporter confidence.In all likelihood we will face Tyrone in an Ulster Semi this year, so for that and a few other reasons, ( mention of which would most likely get me red carded on Boards) it is vital we beat them.
Do that and we would be well on our way to winning back to back Ulster titles. Monaghan had us well sussed in the past on our previous style of play but from watching the problems Gweedore gave a Scotstown team back-boned by Monaghan seniors, how we play now could give them serious problems.

To beat both we do need to improve at the back. Some of the defending last year was suicidal and needs serious improvement this year if we are going to go anywhere.
Just an aside on the Tyrone game. While it was soul destroying to lose to them especially in Ballybofey from being 4 points up late on, what pulled them out of the fire and done for us was the strength of their bench, (and not wishing to be over critical on management) perhaps a bit of naivety from the position we were in not to have sent in fresh legs to directly nullify their influence.
Something I would hope to see this year with our bench being strengthened.