Donegal GAA Discussion Thread

ghostfacekilla

I wouldn't go counting my chickens just yet but it's gone as well as could have asked for so far. Very fortunate not to have conceded goal(s).

Redsoxfan

****ing brilliant

ghostfacekilla

Great day for donegal football.

henke

Delighted. Massive result for this team. An eighth Ulster final in nine years too. Unbelievable.

Ceist_Beag

Very impressive, we really controlled that throughout. Tyrone being Tyrone really showed their nasty side at times, great to see them losing their discipline. I hope they hammer McCann. Brennan is becoming increasingly important to us, excellent again today. EB was superb and Murphy in the second half led the way, especially from our kickouts. Really enjoyed that I must say.

North of 32

Not perfect but splendid, very splendid. One to savour. Delicious

Stoner

Apart from a brief moment in the 76 minute when Tyrone had a blast at goal that meant they would have only been behind by a point it was close to perfect imo.

Ok the first 20 minutes didn't register enough scores, some frees missed.

But largely kickouts, changing the set up when needed, man to man battles, keeping the pressure on, fitness all look very very good. A smart team.

downthemiddle

Well lads, how about that? Sometimes you don't have to win silverware for it to be a special day. Today boys became men. It is essential that we build on this performance.
Great credit is due to Declan and the management team. The team selection was a statement of intent and they took the game to Tyrone. We got our match ups right and won the important battles all over the pitch.
It is beginning to look like Shaun Patton could be a special player. He was instrumental in breaking the Tyrone defensive system as well doing the essentials of the position well.
Neil and Paddy did what they do best but a special mention to Stephen McMenamin. He was under severe pressure early on but grew into the game and by the end was one of the most influential players on the pitch.
Hugh McFadden had his best game in a Donegal jersey. It was a selfless performance and it was great to see him top it off with a score.
Ryan, as usual against this opposition, got special treatment. Seeing the smallest man on the pitch taking a mark lifted every Donegal man in Cavan today.Along with Bán they ran the opposition ragged turning defence into attack time after time.
Ciarán Thompson had an interesting day. The helicopter wasn't the only thing flying high over Breffni.
Jamie Brennan has become the player we hope he would. It was clearly tactical to isolate him early on and he destroyed his marker.
On a day when there was no poor Donegal performance we have to acknowledge the performance of a modern day Cúchulainn. He really is the complete footballer.
Today we counter attacked with a pace and purpose we haven't seen since 2014. We defended as a unit, despite a couple of early scares. We showed that we are a team with serious potential.
The sooner we get back on the training field the better. We will go into the Ulster final as raging hot favourites. That expectation carries its' own dangers. We have to prepare in a similar manner and produce another quality performance if we are serious about bigger prizes.
I thought the refereeing performance added to the spectacle today. He kept a lid on things when they threatened to boil over and allowed the game to flow with a common sense approach.
The Tyrone gouger deserves all he gets. A nasty act from a player who has a history of letting himself down.

Nidgeweasel

Huge result.

The great thing too is that there's plenty today that we can do better in terms of little pieces of the game. Individually though, couldn't have asked for anything more from any player on the pitch today which really is all you ever want from your team. Delighted for them.

Also, that Michael Murphy fetch in the 75th minute. Sensational.

8th ulster final in 9 years!!! Amazing achievement but we need to just go and get it won now. Too many finals lost down the years. No preference as to opposition but there would be a certain poetry beating McGeeny's armagh for a 5th ulster in 9 years.

babybuilder

I have to be honest that I didn't see that coming. The amount of possession we won in the middle third was astounding. Individual battles - Mc menanmin was great, a quiet determination to get on with it; Murphy and McFadden; our half-forward line also; and then Brennan up front. Kick outs worked a treat, I see Rochforts finger prints all over this.
One criticism is that we let them back to a 3 point game but we did more things right than wrong.

It's a pity we don't have the old knock out system as it's going to be hard to play at this level in the super eights if we were to make them. Ulster is a pure attrition competition whereas others like Kerry and Dublin can peak later in the year. It's all set up for the team with strength in depth.

As for Tyrone, they should be able to get through to the qualifiers. However they are along way off getting their hands on Sam on what they showed today and not a patch on the team of the 2000s.

Looking forward to the final.

Redsoxfan

Needless to say, we should take nothing for granted. We were brilliant, Throne were a mess. Whoever we meet in the Final will have serious 'hunger' and so we must approach the game with the same attitude we have shown to date.

squareball1988

squareball1988 wrote: »

We're a significantly better team than we were last year, and Tyrone are only marginally better. Expect a game similar to the Donegal/Monaghan match in 2016 (the drawn game or the replay).

Thankfully wasn’t too far off with this one. Always felt we were better than Tyrone - Division 2 or not. But I am surprised at how poor Tyrone really were. Like their Super 8s game v Dublin they played their way back into the game when it was already too late.

Very satisfying altogether.

The final, however, will not be a gimme. Be class to finish the job v Armagh in the final.

doc_17

Only 13000 at it, bad time, bad location, live on the telly, too many games coming thick and fast...but it’s always better to be there when we beat them.

Someone said the ref had a good game? I would seriously disagree with that.

Murphy14

That’s was great to beat them last night I was critical of management last year against Tyrone but yesterday they got everything spot on from starting 15 to match ups. These are special times to be a Donegal supporter 8th Ulster Final in 9 years get the flags out and more importantly get to Clones for the final these men deserve our support

North of 32

doc_17 wrote: »

Someone said the ref had a good game? I would seriously disagree with that.

I thought he was excellent - penalised everything he saw and black carded Harte when many refs would've bailed out and given a yellow. I thought he seemed determined to clamp down on cynical fouling and achieved this. It was the linesman who let him down in my opinion regarding the nasty stuff.

Maybe I was so delighted he black carded Harte that I overlooked his errors?

overshoot

I thought the ref did alright. Some of the things missed is where he needed support from the other officials. He needs to follow play.

Great performance, I don't know if Tyrone were that bad or we made them look it.

McCanns season should be over for that if the gaa is going to tackle these things properly

downthemiddle

One of the more amusing moments yesterday was when went down clutching his lower leg. Morgan rushed over and treated him for cramp clearly adding to the problem. It made a change from Morgan trying to inflict damage on opposition players.
Hopefully the suspension will outlast the injury.

henke

Cavan hitting 23 points today and knocking out Monaghan earlier too. Definitely cannot take them lightly.

overshoot

henke wrote: »

Cavan hitting 23 points today and knocking out Monaghan earlier too. Definitely cannot take them lightly.

A manager who won Leinster with a Longford club, should be enough of a warning!

Nidgeweasel

North of 32 wrote: »

I thought he was excellent - penalised everything he saw and black carded Harte when many refs would've bailed out and given a yellow. I thought he seemed determined to clamp down on cynical fouling and achieved this. It was the linesman who let him down in my opinion regarding the nasty stuff.

Maybe I was so delighted he black carded Harte that I overlooked his errors?

Perhaps. I thought he was sh*te.

Funny old game!

charlie14

Well that was fun. Great team performance and management got it spot on. Looking at the programme I reckoned it was obvious O`Baoill wasn`t going to start after Fermanagh and McLoone was going in there, but when it was announced Thompson wasn`t starting with O`Donnell and Eoin McHugh coming in I was slightly worried. Shows what I knew. Both worked their socks off and had Tyrone chasing shadows plus it meant a seamless substitution when Thompson came in for McGee.
I thought at first Harte`s black was harsh, but seeing it later Gough got it right, but other than that I wasn`t overly impressed with him. Very inconsistent in what he deemed a foul, but then he did seem to have trouble keeping up with the action at times and his officials didn`t cover themselves in glory.
No surprise at McCann`s antics. He`s been a gurrier from a lot longer back than Saturday.
That went a long way to making up for Ballybofey last year and I particularly enjoyed Colm Cavanagh wandering around like a lost child in a crowded supermarket hoping for smeone too take him by the hand and get him out of there.
It would have been nice to finish this Ulster run by beating a McGeeney managed Armagh, but this Cavan side and their management should not be judged on what odds the bookies will give. They are a dangerous outfit with lads all over the pitch able to take their scores and they are strong finishers.

Very disappointed with the attendance Saturday night. This team deserves a better following. Especially with us being reigning Ulster champions and playing a semi against our good friends and neighbours.
Loath as I am to give any credit to their manager, fair play to the ladies for making it a double on the night.

MactheKnife90

Tickets are up for sale lads. Just got mine. Pat McGrane B sections.
A seating Map of clones is impossible to find. If say this my 10th time in it and still not sure where the sections start and end.

agfasfos

MactheKnife90 wrote: »

Tickets are up for sale lads. Just got mine. Pat McGrane B sections.
A seating Map of clones is impossible to find. If say this my 10th time in it and still not sure where the sections start and end.

I'm the same, can't tell one stand from the other and I've been in Clones for every Donegal match for the past 10 years, always end up pinned to the corner, low down behind the goals, always a good atmosphere though, especially on a good day, last year was a scorcher and Donegal certainly burned Fermanagh. I'd be wary of Cavan, they're no where near as one dimensional as Fermanagh. Could turn out to be one of the most entertaining finals in Ulster for many years.

doc_17

My gripe with the referee was that he referred the scoreboard at the start of the second half and gave them some very soft frees which they scored whilst we had to get clobbered to win one. Those could have made all the difference had they got that late goal chance.

Donald Trumped

https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2019/0612/1054969-mcguinness-sacked-by-charlotte-independence/

piplip87

The blue suits Ryan McHugh best of luck Sunday week lads. Should be an absolute cracker and the craic in Clones on final day is something we've missed desperately in Cavan

charlie14

Saw Peter Canavan`s very short piece in the Irish Independent today on Saturday`s semi. Seems we set up very defensively while Tyrone tried playing on the front foot. That was about the gist of it. I thought better of Canavan.
Sorry now I gave him a spare ticket to the 92 final.

charlie14

piplip87 wrote: »

The blue suits Ryan McHugh best of luck Sunday week lads. Should be an absolute cracker and the craic in Clones on final day is something we've missed desperately in Cavan

Where Clones is concerned I think it may be a case of absence making the heart grow fonder. The place is as big a kip as ever.
I was just remarking to the nephew last Saturday that for access, pubs, food etc Cavan town is way better.


No often I give them many kudos but the Garda Siochana did great work Saturday evening on traffic control. Were out past Butlers Bridge directing traffic after the game.
Looking forward to the final. No niggle issues between the teams and we can both play a bit.


Donegal has been good to ye. Wee man managed ye to your last win in an Ulster Final, and your keeper Raymond Galligan is playing great stuff since be took up with (and now engaged to) a Donegal woman.:)

agfasfos

Looks like tickets for Clones are sold out already ???🀔.

overshoot

yep, with an absolutely mental week i never bought. Oops see what i can dig up now im exiled in dublin
Could well see the cavan crowd being double ours