Donegal GAA Discussion Thread

agfasfos

Hi Folks, I'm a Season Ticket holder. I bought the ticket for the Monaghan match (forgot it was on Easter Sunday) & can't make it. It's for the Gerry Arthur Stand, if anyone want's to buy it I can transfer via Ticketmaster.

Redsoxfan

Plenty to work on after that but we led all day and MN are a good team.

Thought Roarty was superb, Thompson very good. Gallen unlucky with some decisions I thought, great impact from Brennan.

Murphy looking gassed the last 10 minutes. Should he be playing 70?

Good opportunity to work on things next weekend.

agfasfos

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123374929#Comment_123374929

Yep, Roarty was brilliant. All round a very good team performance. We have the knack of not panicing when teams come back at us. Monaghan are a good outfit but the depth of our squad was the telling factor.

Alvin Holler

Happy enough with that win. Good to see mcmenamin and Brennan playing well after not contributing much last year. Our panel is really strong but we need McGee and Gallen to be starting if we're going to beat the better teams.

Thought Monaghan were much better at working two pointers. We had a number of great points in the first half that were just inside the line.

downthemiddle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123374929#Comment_123374929

Roarty is a very special talent.

babybuilder

Thought that we delivered a decent performance overall. Monaghan challenged us strongly in the second half, making for a competitive contest. I always expected this. There were several standout individual displays, similar to this time last year. Donegal impressed with frequent line breaks and accurate point-scoring, and high energy levels were expended throughout. However, the lack of goals remains a concern. We had two or three clear goal opportunities that went unconverted. At the moment I don't think we should be considered favourites to win Sam.

charlie14

I didn`t expect anything less from Monaghan. They have always given us problems and they were the top scoring team in the league. Overall we were solid enough at the back. Mogan and Roarty in particular, Mc Menamin had a solid game and seems to have cut out the silly fouls he was giving away. Ryan was buzzing around making a nuisance of himself until he got that hard knock from Beggan. Patten`s kick-outs were good and he was much more assertive under the high ball than he was at times in the past.

Around the middle Thompson and Langan were excellent and Hughie put in a good shift, but for me the front six seemed a bit disjointed. Paddy was well held, Murphy worked hard and O`Baoill looked dangerous at times, but for me I`m afraid that was as good as it got. We got nothing much out of the two O`Donnells, and Ciaran Moore did not have one of his better days with their centre back scoring six points. Other than Jamie Brennan I didn`t thing the substitutions added much either. I know Gallen got a point, but he just seems to be very lacking in either confidence or is trying to take too much out of the ball. I know the pitch was a bit greasy but he was slipping and sliding like he was playing on ice. It was good to get game time into Jason Mc Gee, but the game seemed to pass him by.

Overall I still felt we were the better team and we held our nerve to win which was good to see when we were not at our best where we again let a few goal chances go a begging. If we are not scoring goals, then we really need to start working those two pointers. Not to disrespect Down, but I would not see them as being at the same level as Monaghan, but I would not see yesterday`s performance good enough to beat whoever comes through from the other semi.

downthemiddle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123378618#Comment_123378618

I would agree with most of what you said apart from Shane O’Donnell. He is the link man in the transition from defence to attack. He covered every blade of grass on Sunday. When an attack broke down he was immediately back on the D covering. It is not the most glamorous of roles, at times, but he is a key element in what we do.

charlie14

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123379155#Comment_123379155

I wasn`t criticising the work rate or the commitment, and where Shane O`Donnell is concerned I probably came across as overly harsh in that he works like a dog in an unglamorous role that is often not appreciated.

I`m probably a bit old style in that I like to see half forward lines keeping the scoreboard ticking over and keeping their markers worried what their man will do should they decide to ramble forward looking for scores. But then I suppose it works both ways as we get a lot of change from our back six doing the same. That said, there is something with an opposition centre back scoring six points in a tight game that just doesn`t sit right for me.

Overall as a unit I thought our front six were very disjointed on Sunday, where other than Jamie Brennan our substitution did little to change that and overall there was a hesitancy to break their last line of defence where we often recycled the ball back out when that break looked on. Especially on a number of occasions, when with Beggan forward we won possession and moved the ball forward quickly.

I do realise that now possession is very much more the name of the game, and to lose it you can be hit very hard on the counter and with how Monaghan defended space was very limited. But if we are going to recycle the ball back out then we should perhaps be making more use of the likes of Thompson, Langan and O`Baoill going for two pointers. Even if they miss a few it will draw defenders out seeing that we are going for those scores, and leave a bit more space for our forwards inside.

Redsoxfan

U20s winning well. Suspect we won't know how good they really are until the final which will surely be more of a test than this match. Finbarr Roarty playing.

downthemiddle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123383653#Comment_123383653

Roarty came on with twenty minutes left when the game was already won. They are playing Tyrone in the final who they have already beaten. The other thing to note is that this is a young team with quite a few underage again next year.

Redsoxfan

Yeah, I really wonder why Roarty came on, unless they will rest him against Down. Or maybe not. Just seems like unnecessary risk when there is a lot of games still to come.

Yes, won the group game by 8 points, I didn't see that game but can't believe an Ulster Final against the Champions will be as easy won.