Donegal GAA Discussion Thread

That was a vital win in the evolution of this team. The Derry game was vindication of Jim’s decision to return. This vindicates the players asking Jim back.
Too often this group of players have been brittle when the heat came on. Yesterday they showed the resilience you associate with a McGuinness team.
It was far from perfect. We were ill disciplined in our shot selection and with greater composure and patience we could have won the game earlier. For the first fifty minutes our transition was laboured. Once we injected pace into the game we created opportunities.
This should quell some of the nonsense spoken last week. We are far from the finished article but we are on an upward trajectory.
You can see the individual improvements in players. Defensively we have shape and structure. Players know their roles and are displaying a trust in those around them.
McGonagle is now a key player for us. His strength and athleticism are being utilised in his new role. Jason is becoming the player we believed he could be. Ryan is rejuvenated.
The attack still has room for improvement. Individually they are very talented but their decision making was poor at times yesterday.
They will learn more from this than they did from the Derry game.
A word of credit for Cawley too. I haven’t always been impressed by him but I thought he had a very good game yesterday.

I wasn`t impressed with him yesterday. I thought he gave some very easy frees to Tyrone that caused a lot of frustration for our lads, But that is no excuse for us making them more scoreable by back chatting to the ref and them being moved forward. For the foul on Gallen in the last few minutes before we equalised he must have been the only person watching that game that missed it, and it`s not as if he was in a poor position to not see it. He also played the advantage rule on a Tyrone free which went on for a lot longer than 5 seconds before calling it back after Tyrone had played on and kicked wide.

If he was holding his arm up for the legth of time that Tyrone played on to kick that wide before he called it back for the free the lack of blood going up to his hand must have affected his decision making because it was well past 5 seconds.😎 For the foul on Gallen even the Tyrone players looked as if they Couldn`t understand why it wasn`t given.

I don`t think our decision making was that bad. It was more to do with our shooting in the first half where we didn`t want to get caught in posession by Tyrone`s packed defense. That left us with no options other that take on their defense after that. With Tyrone getting in a few interceptions inside the 21 that were as much to do with good luck as good guidance and the ball ending up with a player that wasn`t a shooter for points rather than goals we looked much more likely to score a goal or two than they did.

I do appreciate it is a tough job. I did a bit of it myself in days gone bye at club level and I don`t believe I was being over harsh on him. Every ref has his/her own style as to what they let go and what they don`t. County seniors should know what that is, but the long 5 seconds on the Tryone free and the foul on Gallen was very clear cut and could very easily have cost us the game.

I felt in the first half that a lot of the shots from distance were to from instuctions to draw the Tyrone defense out from sitting deep, as well as a bit of a fear of losing possesion and Tyrone countering. Either way some of those misses at that level were poor, but for me dropping 3 by my count short in the first half was much worse. Espcially with Morgan in goal. At least with a wide you have a chance to reset. Agree that when we went with movement and pace that is what won it for use. Hopefully against Armagh our conversion rate improves, and from looking at them against Down they did not look comfortable when Down ran at them. If Down had of kept doing it rather than trying to defend a lead and run down the clock, it could easily be them rather than Armagh we are meeting.

anyone mention where EBG is, was he the fella on the stag someone said, or is he injured?

Anyone else to come back in?

notice up on Ulster gaa saying no general sale, can’t actually remember the last time an Ulster final didn’t have one.

TV for me it seems

It's been a great year so far. Hopefully we can get the job done on Sunday. It's not quite bonus territory, but doubt anyone saw this as on the cards after Down beat us last year and when the draw was made. Jim has had more of an impact than I had hoped.

We are favourites based on the 2 games played so far I guess. Even if we drew in Armagh and beat them in Croke Park. Felt like we hung on in Armagh, but they finished with a much stronger team than started. They played into our hands in the Division 2 Final.

I think if they go at us from the start, they might win. If they play it cagey, I think that might suit us. They have a very good set of forwards and some power at midfield. Will be interesting to see if Jason McGee can continue his good form. Would actually prefer to see Rafferty starting over Hughes, feel Hughes a better keeper but not as good 'outfield' - will they dare play Raferrty and have him come off his line?

If we get the good weather, it will be a hell of a day in Clones, just like we like them. In 2022, Derry ran away from us in extra time - that was the sign we were done. This year, we are much fitter and younger. I doubted a lot of these players had what it takes, but am being proved wrong and happy that is the case. I hope it continues on Sunday.

He's either god or made a beast of a deal with the devil!

Some turnaround from last summer.

i criticised gallen for his one leg approach on here a few years ago , he had some game today and kicked a lovely point off the bad foot

i think ryan mchugh was probably man of the match for his tackling alone and his two or three excellent turnovers at crucial parts of the game , jason mcgee had a monster of a second half performance too both of them and brendan mccole were the integral part of the comeback , well done tonight lads great game overall

What a day in Clones on Sunday. A full house, a great atmosphere, warm sunshine, thunder and lightning, magnificent scores and a result decided in a split second. Peadar Mogan’s celebration in front of the hill will live long in the memory. It encapsulated the joy of the Donegal people as we were surrounded by the despair of those from Armagh.
Far large parts of the game Armagh had us on the rack. We were barely hanging on. They were isolating us at the back and getting their scores easier than us. They used their pace to great effect and didn’t allow us to set defensively. However they tried to defend their lead and through sheer willpower and magnificent shooting we reeled them back in.
It was clear from the warm up that Patton wasn’t fully fit. Apart from a small number of dead balls he kicked everything with his left foot. The one time in the game he went long it was a high floated ball that Armagh turned over and scored from. However it was, ultimately, a gamble that paid off. The other gamble was starting EBG. That was a very limited success but we will, hopefully, see the benefits later in the campaign.
Jim inherited a team that were psychologically fragile. The turnaround has been remarkable. The courage of the players to grind out that result, when they were beaten twice, is testament to the transformation that Jim has brought about. Paddy’s point and the two scores from Daire and Odhran Doherty were outstanding in the circumstances. The quality of our penalties was also excellent, especially considering our first choice penalty taker was no longer on the pitch. The five lads were remarkably composed and didn’t feel the need to play to the crowd like some of the Armagh players. Changing the order of the penalty takers in sudden death caused confusion in the Armagh ranks and you could see some of their players appealing to Joe McQuillan. It definitely broke their concentration.
Caithfidh mé a rá go raibh mé iontach bródúil ag éisteacht le Paddy tar éis an cluiche. Rinne sé job ar dóigh.
Finally, in case people are not aware, there is a bundle of three tickets for the next stage of the championship on sale for 50 euro. Great value even if it’s not so great for the blood pressure.

Check Ticketmaster under GAA packages.

I havn't seen a Donegal crowd go that wild since beating Mayo in 2012. Someone upended their drink on me in the chaos and I didn't care a bit. It wasn't a great game for the blood pressure at all, and just didn't look pretty outside of the great score taking even if the neutral analysts lauded it. There was an incredible buzz in the crowd where I was when EBG was surprisingly unveiled, even if he wasn't fully sharp. It's a sign that the at one time huge injury list is decreasing at the right time. Armagh fans were grand, and even heard some booing from young-ish Donegal fans which were met with a few dirty looks. Tyrone at McCumhaills will be interesting. Are they spooked? We need to fortify it again under Jim after 4 losses there last season.

The bugbear I'm carrying from the last the matches is that it takes us usually five minutes or more of working the ball around to get a score, and the opposition reply within a minute. Murphy called the players out during the Tyrone analyst gig for players not actually wanting the ball. There's still a bit of the old regime's mentality still floating around in their heads. The other thing, and this might be blasphemous…I think this team plays worse when McBrearty is on the field. In addition to that, he either looks unfit, injured or like he'll not fully recover from the last big injury.

Grateful to be Ulster Champions again. That one felt very special.

I`ve been to every Ulster Final we have played in since 1972 and for me this win feels just that bit special. Why that is I have no idea other than us beating the three top teams in the province along the way after the mess we were last year and the satisfaction of seeing some of the so called media experts having to eat their words when it comes to what Jim McGuinness brings to a team.

The Armagh supporters I also found grand. It`s hard not to feel sympathy for them after the wringer thay have been through of near misses in the last few years, but I would fall well short of that for McGeeney or his sidekick Donaghy.

Against both Armagh and Tyrone we did look a bit ponderous at times in attack but for me in both of those games conceding a goal from a turnover carrying the ball into contact, a miss placed pass or dropping an attempt short would have been a massive blow and one hard to come back from. We also didn`t have Patton for the Tyrone game and even on Sunday the accuracy and distance of his right foot didn`t seem to be up to his usual standard which suggested to me he was not fully recovered from the injury he picked up against Derry which may have been a factor in our build up.

It`s difficult to know with Paddy McBrearty this year if he is off the boil a bit fitness wise or it is just that he has had very little championship footballed played, but I would tend to give him a pass as in both the Tyrone and Armagh games he has come up with the goods when the pressure was on.

The one thing for me with how quickly Armagh scored after conceding a point was how easily the waltzed through our defense without a glove being laid on them. Perhaps that was due to not wishing to give a free away with physical contact, but on the day Mc Nally wan`t being fussy in that regards. Mc Guinness even made reference in passing to how hesitant we were in defense during his speech in Donegal Town on Sunday night. The most relaxed speech I have ever heard from Jim after a game which came across as him believing this one was that bit special as well. He may not be everyone`s cup of tea but I thought we improved in that area with McColgan`s introduction.

I have been a bit tough on refs in the recent past, but hats off to Martin Mc Nally who in his first Ulster Final had an excellent day out and refereed the game as an Ulster man who understands what an Ulster Final is.

I bought the 3 match package but can't make 2 out 3 games. Do you have a Ticketmaster account ?, if so & you're interested send me a DM

Edited: Found one on Ticketmaster, they are still available.