Galway GAA Discussion Thread #2

cson

Another gritty performance.

Definitely fancy them against Armagh, we know we have the beating of them the past couple of years if we keep the concentration.

cson

Another thing - PJ gets a fair amount of stick in here and elsewhere (at times not unwarranted!), but jaysus he gets results. That's 3 Nestor Cups & 2 AI Finals in 3 years along with beating Dublin in the Championship for the first time in 40ish odd years.

Doctors room ghost

up the tribes.

elefant

I've been giving out stink about kickouts for a long time, but that was superb stuff.

Almost flawless performance from Dylan McHugh.

ShamNNspace

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122379941#Comment_122379941

In fairness Gleeson had a great game too Imv, just one hairy moment there near the end

cson

I couldn't for the life of me see this happening after watching Paul Conroy having the jersey literally ripped off him in Fitzgerald Park back in March when Kerry we're giving us the run around. Some growth in the team & honestly, I've said it before, but the injuries are a blessing because we got real Championship minutes for lads on the panel, some of whom have taken the jersey for themselves. Being able to bring on the likes of John Daly, an All Star in 2022, to close it out just underlines that & was probably the difference between the teams in the end.

Stewball

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122379958#Comment_122379958

Fair play to Gleeson, nailed the kickouts and caught two high balls under his crossbar in the second half which were awkward.

FintanMcluskey

John Maher has some engine.

O.A.P

They are a tough team to beat now good at closing out games. Talent from 1 to 15 and lots more of it on the bench.

Today was a hard game to watch but we can only play what's in the way, so I'm thinking Galway certainly have it in this team to bring an all ireland west again. Gailimh Abu.

ShamNNspace

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122380224#Comment_122380224

A diesel rather than a fancy petrol one, she'll keep goin forever an take any amount of abuse 😉

mjp

The man has been in the running for man of the match in all our big games this year.gets on an amount of ball and has seriously soft hands to lay off balls for big lad. Mc Hugh and silke worked some great interchanges there in last 20 mins.

MfMan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122380224#Comment_122380224

x 1000. Absolutely emptied himself again today. Close to McHugh for MOTM I thought. A huge bonus to the side in this vein.

gormdubhgorm

Wondering now who will be favourites for Sam? Do Galway people consider Galway favourites?

Certainly will be needle in the match v Armagh which will be great for neutrals.

spurshero

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122381551#Comment_122381551

well the bookies have galway favs . And there usually right . So fingers crossed . I think we would be favs with a more healthier squad . But question marks over comer Walsh and Kelly makes it a very hard call . But being honest I will be disappointed if we don’t win from here . But sure will all of Armagh !

littlevillage

Congrats Galway. The defense and Conor Gleeson in particular deserves special praise. Some posters on here (you know who you are) wouldn't have him anywhere near the panel,

Hope they go on to win AI now

cosatron

gritty win. overall very good team performance, teirney and mcdaid did a great job on Mogan and McHugh, really sacrificed there own game for the good of the team and came up with a kick out each. Kudos to the coaching team, the movement and kickout placement has improved so much this year and is turning into a real asset now. Finally John F**KING Maher, his the most improved footballer in ireland, when he came on the scene, he was very raw but christ can he ball now and he has some engine. Big test against Armagh but there is a big game in comer and walsh yet so here's hoping its 2 weeks time. galway abu.

LowOdour

Having watched Armagh against Kerry, I would be concerned about how fast theycan move the ball forward at times. Donegal picked off some good scores at times, and Armagh could do that and more.

Id personally prefer to see Sean Kelly at fullback for the final (assuming fit) and keep remainder of team as is. Think he organises really well from there

SqueakyKneecap

I don't think Kelly is fit enough to feature in a final unfortunately. We're already taking fairly big risks playing Walsh and Comer. One positive is that Finnerty seemed to be moving fairly freely yesterday so I think although he apparently needs surgery after the intercounty he should be good to go for Sunday week.

Was very happy to see the impact off the bench yesterday. Not as noticeable as the Dublin win but the likes of Daly and Heaney really helped settle things when the game could've gone away from us. I think Tomo would've come in earlier but he pulled up in the warm-up.

Was fantastic to see the support we had yesterday. The traffic on the way back was All-Ireland final-level heavy. Tickets will be like gold dust but fingers crossed we get another serious turnout in maroon.

threeball

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122382382#Comment_122382382

Kelly is nowhere near fit. Couldn't even make it through the warmup yesterday. No way could you chance throwing him in a fullback in a final. Park the man up and let him recover. Besides Fitz has done nothing to warrant him losing his spot. Hes been a solid performer all year.

Good win in a game that looked worrying at halftime. I still think starting Walsh was a mistake and I think the same for the final. Armagh would target him physically like they did in the 1/4 final 2years ago. Better to bring him in and use his energy when its needed rather than burn it out tracking lads for 35mins. Its pretty obvious at this stage that the game plan is to keep the game tight for the first half then up the ante in the 2nd. Using Sweeney and Flaherty to do that work for 40mins is the best option then spring Walsh. Lifts the crowd and he's coming in on guys with 4 or 5km of running in their legs.

mjp

Can see where youre coming from on walsh as we know game will be tight in first half but when you consider how he performed in final in 22 can any county afford to leave likes of him on bench. Would also worry about frees from the left as we dont have any readymade freetakers there to kick frees in the pressure cauldron of croker. I also think we need to sort out our 45s and long range frees as walsh and tierney haven't kicked any this year cause of injury niggles but whilst gleeson has a big boot on him i don't think his accuracy figures from placed balls is where it needs to be ands needs be looked at as could come down to these margins in final

I would hope that Comer would be a man with a point to prove going into this final as didnt perform to his best in 22 final and was well held yesterday by mc cole. I thought it was also noticeable yesterday that mulkerrins got forward a number of times and was allowed to by Donegal but as a traditional full back didn't have confidence to take his score and mc guinness and co didnt see him as much of a scoring threat as Mc Hugh & silke. I was hoping we would bring sweeney or o flaherty on for him or sean fitz as they would be more comfortable attacking the donegal blanket in last 20 mins.

Both camps will be very familiar with opposition and have previous matches to go on and get their match ups right to try an nullify opposition. It could come down to who makes the small tweaks to what others have seen before that could turn this in their favour. Galway had armagh beat and in comfortable position earlier this year until gleesons few mins of madness and it was noticeable that day that Galway coped a lot better in breaking down the armagh blanket than they did with ours.

cosatron

Just notice liam silke kicked 2 good points, one off each foot. there isn't many half backs capable of that.

threeball

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122382503#Comment_122382503

I'd rather him be there for the final 30mins than the first 30. That's when the real pressure frees need to be hit. I cant see him lasting 70 in any game this year. In 22 he was in peak fitness, form was pretty good too so there was no question of whether you tried to get 70 out of him.

If Armagh are 2pts up with 25 to go are they going to worry more about Walsh going off or coming on? Going off would give them another 10% and they already believe they're on a mission.

I agree on the 45s. Not sure who can hit them but Gleeson hasn't landed one since the Mayo game.

Avon8

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122382439#Comment_122382439

Not starting Walsh would be madness imo. If he could barely run he'd still be better out there as a decoy and occupying one of the oppositions best man markers than sitting in the stand. I assume McCambridge will be on him for the final and as the last two games have shown you want him more worried about defence than attack. I thought Walsh played reasonably well yesterday overall. Donegal defenders were swarming to him like wasps, it allowed Maher in particular oceans of room for pop passes

Who would take the right footed frees in anycase? For all Conroy's undoubted quality, I still have scar tissue from him taking them in 2015

MattressRick

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122383154#Comment_122383154

I agree. Walsh looked crippled at half time against Dublin but was still out for the second half. Not a hope he'll be dropped. He was double marked yesterday and did brilliantly so many times to get a pass away and then Galway always had a spare man to work a score.

I just hope Armagh don't resort to the crap they were at 2 years ago and on Saturday to Clifford, barging into him when the ball was down the other end of the pitch. I don't want to end up hating Armagh if they win because of that dirty play.

jopper

Well done to all the fans on the hill yesterday. It looked mental from afar but yee were very vocal with lots of singing and chants. Definitely gave the lads on the field a lift at stages.

mjp

Listening to Paul Bellew on GBFM lastnight and co board will be getting details of their allocation from Croke Park today and expect ticket details out to clubs by thursday. Expecting similar allocation of 16,000 as they got in 2022 with ticket details out to clubs by Thursday. Sounds like clubs will be handling no money for tickets but that members who come out in a draw will be allocated a code for purchasing ticket through Ticketmaster that will be valid for 48-72 hours. Know there was a mess with this process in some clubs in clare last week where some people were allocated code for 1 ticket but able purchase 2 online and was a headache for clubs trying cancel codes etc. Bellew mentioned these teething issues and hopefully they have it tightened down for football.

Happyilylost

Two weeks run fast. Before we know it, it will be upon us.

Compared to other tight games (when aren't they) I found Sunday uncomfortable for some reason. Maybe it was what was at stake.

I thought at half time our magic 15 point conceded would be beaten again but they held firm. Valiantly. 9 championship games and only Dublin (by one) have breached the 15 point mark.

Was great to see management try something and when it didn't work adjust to fix it. Keeping Walsh, Comer, Finnerty close to goal in the first half was an interesting idea but ultimately it gave Donegal too much room on the outer arc to shoot long distance scores under little pressure. Once rectified in the second half the extra couple of bodies made things much more difficult for Donegal.

Liam Silke experiment is harder to work out. Against Dublin I thought O Callaghan did ok. Now due to his overall size and power I didn't think it was the worst punt in the absence of trying Kelly. I'm a little more confused in relation to Gallen. Gifted footballer. But massive power is not his forte. Find it strange they moved away from Johnny McGrath as he is the go to guy for man marking. All I can fathom is they didn't feel it was worth the risk of leaving him one on one inside and entice a few long balls in (conservative approach).

Silke was brilliant going forward with two huge points just not sure this man marking role is to his strengths.

Workrate was immense throughout. Tierney McDaid might of been limited enough going forward but they covered every balde of grass on the wings to stop Donegal wing backs exploiting those channels.

Special workrate mention to Rob Finnerty. Was in the full back line a number of times defending. Spent a lot of time covering and by doing so meant Comer and Walsh had to do less. Not his game but he sacrificed his game for the team.

Annoyed after the drawn game I really wanted to meet Armagh again. Hopefully it doesn't come back to bite me!

gormdubhgorm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122388308#Comment_122388308

What are the odds of a red card in the AI final? There certainly won't be any love lost. Let's put it this way I don't think Galway will be the fellas stirring trouble. But they will have to watch themselves not to be dragged into any messing.

Avon8

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122388308#Comment_122388308

Yeah the Silke one was odd. McGrath has been the go to marker all year and if anything, the likes of Shane McGuigan is an even more physical presence than Gallen. Coupled with the fact that Donegal don't like to kick the ball. It didn't make sense to me to move McGrath away from that dangerman, and also take Silke's work at 6 and also organizational brain away, to have him man-marking someone close to goal. He struggled with Gallen's elusiveness at the back. He was superb in an attacking sense however to be fair. On McGrath, the one player he's struggled somewhat on this year is Turbitt so very interesting to see what they do for the final. Id be happy to see him have another go however

I thought we were beaten on the line in the first half at least. Leaving 3 up and defending 12v12 is all well and good if you're getting turnovers and can transition quick but there was no physicality in defense and Donegal broke us down at ease with all that extra space. At the other end it was always 15v15 and that lack of space showed, we struggled bigtime and only threatened off kickouts where the game was stretched.

To be fair it changed after HT, we started to bring more bodies back and then defense really tightened up and got pressure on. In attack, some brilliant interchange play by McHugh, Silke and Maher in particular started to see us break down the blanket. Donegal also tired, as their swarm defense (3 players sprinting at Comer & Walsh every time they touched it) just started to flag eventually. Exceptionally hard to keep that insane workrate up. Would have to acknowledge that its possible it wasn't in the legs to have Comer and Walsh chasing back for two full halves, so they waited until HT

Where management did win a battle was the kickouts. Not sure did the Donegal press malfunction or what but to leave Tierney free twice and also overloaded on the Conroy knockdown was criminal. Still, brilliant execution by Gleeson and Galway and the kickout to Maher right near the end by the sideline was a top class kick by a goalie. Never in my recent lifetime would I think id see Galway at a huge advantage from kickouts and not a huge hinderance

Happyilylost

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122388848#Comment_122388848

Be interesting to see what he does with Turbitt. I'd hope it's McGrath and allow Silke to return to the 6 position. The fact Rían O Neill drifts all over the place makes him harder to nail down. Let Maher follow him and annoy the hole off him? Only other thing I'll say is they need some sort of plan for Campbell when he comes off the bench. He's had massive impact in all games including the drawn game against us.

As you said I'm sure Joyce and Co will wonder about leaving 3 up top.... McGunniess will wonder how the restarts malfunctioning could not be addressed quicker. Big plus I took is I felt Galway handled (from an offensive point of view) both half's relatively well. First half long kickouts. Second half Donegal gave us the kickout but I'm not sure they benefited any better. As you said our interplay around their 45 was excellent. Kept the ball and kept them moving. So whether Armagh press or drop on current viewing Galway are equally equipped to play both.

One thing I thought back on and I found it strange at the time was when Donegal had kickouts in the second half Galway left the full back line at the 21 to receive the ball completely free but built a "mini wall" on the 45 with Finnerty, Walsh, Comer and Tierney spread across the pitch. Even when Donegal lads got to them they didn't press overly hard before dropping off but it did make the Donegal lads think. Plus they had to work that little bit harder to move the ball around to bypass it expending a couple more percent of energy than if Galway dropped off completely. Add that to the fact that Galway gave up every kickout meant certain Donegal players were running the length of the pitch time and again. Might explain the little things that caused them to tire to such an extent late on.

Subtle little things but in games of chess the are intriguing to watch.