Galway GAA discussion thread

TCDStudent1 wrote: »

Dublin need to win next week to guarantee a place in final. If they lose, they have to go away to Monaghan in the last game to win to get to the final. I don't think Dublin will want to be in that position. Therefore, I suspect Dublin will play a strong team next week.

Dublin have Monaghan in Croke Park. Not a chance Monaghan will win that and they have tough game against Donegal next.

Of course Gavin has lots of players champing at the bit so wont be question of Dublin going through motions, but almost certainty they will meet in final is sure to affect the sort of game it will be.

Galway have done something different. Stats on kick outs are interesting. Only 14% short and still unbeaten on not impressive rate of winning either own or opposition kickouts to midfield. Will be interesting to see how it copes with Dublin, but I suspect we wont get too many clues next week.

Would nearly go as far as saying that only Dublin and Galway have adapted well to the new rule. If Galway keep improving rate of primary possession in midfield they will be serious force. Kerry were totally bereft of ideas today. Beaten flush.

Bonniedog wrote: »

Galway have done something different. Stats on kick outs are interesting. Only 14% short and still unbeaten on not impressive rate of winning either own or opposition kickouts to midfield. Will be interesting to see how it copes with Dublin, but I suspect we wont get too many clues next week.

Would nearly go as far as saying that only Dublin and Galway have adapted well to the new rule. If Galway keep improving rate of primary possession in midfield they will be serious force. Kerry were totally bereft of ideas today. Beaten flush.

Galway haven't really adapted on kick-outs, just kept doing the same as we've always done!

Hulk Hands wrote: »

We're naturally a county of pessimists usually but as I've said elsewhere, you wouldn't swap Galway GAA for any other counties at present. That's an incredibly long way to come even from 2-3 years ago. The hurling if anything felt like one of those 'good' losses that teams can look back on later on as a wake up call. They're very professional, wouldnt have many worries. Footballers lucky with a red card but still, won with ease before the late goal at the end. Even a run in the qualifiers wouldn't worry this year because they now look consistent enough to beat the teams they should be beating.

Side point...hope we bring a decent crowd to the league final. The D2 final last year was cringeworthy our crowd was so small. Plenty of GAA people in the county, hopefully they'll do the footballers a turn

Annoyed about the hurling, to throw away a 9-point lead. They were a joy to watch in the first half, Cathal Mannion in particular scoring for fun, but completely fell away in part 2. HF line beaten well and FB line very shaky. The same players never seem to play a full game, i.e. Moloney, N Burke, Flynn (unlucky rather to be hooked yesterday), Lally. This shows to me out strength in depth is worryingly shallower than we might expect. Bannon is yet too light for this level, Tuohy got a wake-up call, P Mannion isn't a FB line man. C Cooney and Whelan have been generally poor enough this campaign. Why wasn't Shane Cooney given a consistent run of a few games, given that he played very well v Offaly? The team itself was out on it's feet in the last 10 minutes. It's still early days and maybe yesterday's result could be like the WX defeat last year, but the players have to take ownership of days like yesterday and not be found wanting. WX are a certainty to beat us at home next week if they want it enough.

Footballers were lucky too. Were swiftly running out of ideas until the Monaghan lad had a brainfade and got himself dismissed. Wing-backs were dreadful and midfield lost kickouts all day long. It might seem strange to be pessimistic when they're unbeaten in the league and their defensive system is working well, but until the problems mentioned above are sorted out, like last year, we're sleepwalking our way into a hiding again later in the year.

aidan24326 wrote: »

That for me would be the biggest concern, we've tried a few new players in the league and though a couple of them have done ok, none have really put themselves forward as championship starters. As things stand we're looking at more or less the same starting team as last year once Canning and the 2 Burkes are back fully fit.

There is a still a lack of strength in depth and it's strange for a county that keeps consistently producing quality underage teams. Our starting 15 is still very good once they're all fit but it's disappointing that we're not seeing much in the way of new options coming through. Our footballers actually have more competition for places than the hurlers.

That lack of depth is worrying alright. But Galway are behind other counties in conditioning. Hopefully the round robin in Leinster will allow the panel to be used in the way the league does, albeit to a slightly lesser degree.
I had Galway as bankers to make the Leinster finsl due to that round robin but they've ground to make up and need to do it fast. There was a lot of sloppy play in the second half last Sunday but I'd expect a backlash this Sunday.

Galway v Dublin is not on TV this Sunday for those wondering but Wexford v Galway is one of the live games on TG4.

jr86 wrote: »

Moloney and Breheny off that minor 2011 team looked like real world beaters but they never really pushed on. It's funny, some players often play their best hurling underage - Richie Cummins, James Regan are other examples off the 2009 minor team

I recall TAD making a county semi in 2010 under Mattie Kenny (first year back up senior) with a seriously young side, and at 16/17 years old Breheny and Moloney basically carried them up front. If the Championship wasn't expanded they'd be seriously struggling to hold onto senior status now 7/8 years on

That's rather what I mean when I say 'lack of depth'; Brehony, for one example, has been a regular panelist for a number of seasons now, but hasn't pushed on to really threaten Coen / Burke / Harte etc. At this stage would it be better if a newer, hungrier player was there instead? No disrespect to the lad and his efforts....

Another weekend, another array of big matches.
It was said once of F1 driver Alain Prost that he liked to win races in the slowest possible time with the least amount of effort. Corofin have been a bit like that this year since they won Galway, scraping through by small margins. After the Provincial finals they were favourites to win the AI, with Nemo third in the betting; unusually, Nemo now are marginally ahead with the bookies. I just have a feeling that they will win it too; they've looked hungry and focused and came through a great test v Slaughtneil. Corofin are very experienced and play well to a system, never more apparent than when they beat Moorefield (admittedly a poor side) with a man less. For all their possession though, they're not entirely clinical in converting it to scores. I'm also not sure that their manager, sound man that he is, may get the big calls right on the day. Hopefully I'm wrong.

Galway V Dublin is interesting because it might not be interesting. Practically a dead rubber, will any side want to lay down a marker ahead of the final? Will Dublin want to continue their thread of steamrolling allcomers or will they be content to enjoy the weekend by the sea? How will they adapt to a cold, windy pitch where most of them haven't played before against opposition who have been very good defensively this year? The loser, if there's one, will have good motivation for the final. Galway at 3/1 or a draw at 9/1 isn't a bad wager.

Galway v Wexford. Beaten last week, will the hurlers lift it another notch against one of the country's form (and fittest) teams? Is JC ready for a full game? I've a feeling MD will be looking for a backlash from last week and WX's formation might suit Galway better than LK's. The home team will be looking to set down a marker ahead of the c'ship clash though and will be keen to get one over the champs from last year. At 7/5 they're probably a safer bet. BTW, if it's a draw, ET I presume, then what? Free-taking or a replay if necessary?

Hard to believe not one post on here after corofin s performance . Was in Croker today and they put on a great show., stretched Nemo and took there chances well . Did Martin farragher ever get much of a. Run with Galway . Thought he was very good

spurshero wrote: »

Hard to believe not one post on here after corofin s performance . Was in Croker today and they put on a great show., stretched Nemo and took there chances well . Did Martin farragher ever get much of a. Run with Galway . Thought he was very good

Best I've seen them play all year. Very fluent. Some great options to add to the Galway panel there too. Farragher was immense. Created a platform as a 3rd midfielder coming deep for knockouts and fielded well. Would be useful for Galway to have an option like that.
The goal was one of the best interchange moves I've seen.

The first goal today was quality too. Ball in, quick layoff and buried in the corner in a second.
That interplay corofin have is great to watch.

aidan24326 wrote: »

It was an outstanding display of football from Corofin and Nemo simply had no answer to it. Possibly the best performance I've seen from any team in an All-Ireland Club Final. It was open expansive attacking football at its best.

Superb stuff and well done to them. When you saw Nemo taking off Tomas O'Se with 20 minutes to go it was obvious they were a badly beaten team even at that stage.

the style of football they play is nearly unbreakable , excellent side but the style of football they play is unique , the northern sides have tried to copy for years but they are too indiscipline in my opinion to get the best out of the system , alan flynn from that neck of the woods has brought it into the clare setup this year and we have flourished as a result

question is how many will actually add to the galway side for the championship ?

aidan24326 wrote: »

It was an outstanding display of football from Corofin and Nemo simply had no answer to it. Possibly the best performance I've seen from any team in an All-Ireland Club Final. It was open expansive attacking football at its best.

Superb stuff and well done to them. When you saw Nemo taking off Tomas O'Se with 20 minutes to go it was obvious they were a badly beaten team even at that stage.

It was, very glad to have called that one wrong. Given the occasion perhaps Corofins finest ever display. Very well done.

DoctaDee wrote: »

Lads for anyone traveling to the hurling today in Parnell, it's been postponed until tomorrow - 3.00 pm throw in

Any chance tg4 will show the football today seen as the other games are cancelled