Galway GAA discussion thread

Syferus wrote: »

Roscommon have better forwards and our backs are at least equal and we have plenty of talented reserves there. I couldn't rate any of Galway's forwards over Cregg, Shine or Kilbride. It's hard for ye to hear, but Galway no longer represent anything to be feared and at home a break even in the middle will be enough for us to win it. Galway will need some magical stuff to win if they can't win the middle over the game.

You're completely overrating those 3 forwards. What has any of them done to be hearlded so much? Donie Shine is overrated in general as he puts up big scores from frees. A good player but not top class. I expect Finian Hanley to mashall him very well on Sunday. Better players than Shine have come away with nothing off Hanley.

I'd take Sean Armstrong above any of the forwards named and Paul Conroy as their equal. Who is better of the 2 sets of forwards is debateable, but i'd give the edge to Galway. I think our backs are better than Roscommons, they have noone of Hanley or Bradshaw's class.

Syferus wrote: »

One isn't even fit and the other is 35, quality players but not without obvious drawbacks. O'Gara, Devanney, Higgins, Compton and Donie Smith have potential for dictating as much, if not more, of the game coming from the bench.

Laughable. The best Connacht Footballer in 40 years (still playing well), will have less impact than a few average footballers and unproven youngsters.

Anything can happen on Sunday and Galway regularly under preform, giving Roscommon a decent chance. But if both teams play to their full ability then there is only one winner

RealityCheck wrote: »

Sounds like a chip on a shoulder.

Why would I? They have never beaten Galway in the championship in my lifetime bar 2001 where Galway knocked them out later in the year.

I've heard horrible stuff being shouted in from sections of the Roscommon support at legends of the game such as Joyce, Donnellan and McDonald. Other Connacht fans, however loud and boisterous are at least respectful. There is also a level of arrogance. I'll again stress that it's a minority of fans, but the element is still there

I'll also add that I lived in Roscommon county for a number of years, so was used to a lot of this on a daily basis

A lot of Galway fans opinions is coming from league games v Tyrone,Kildare however Westmeath,Louth both got results v Galway & both of them are around the same level as Roscommon.

Hulk Hands wrote: »

You're completely overrating those 3 forwards. What has any of them done to be hearlded so much?

to be fair just the other day you didn't know of roscommons forwards......

Donie Shine is overrated in general as he puts up big scores from frees. A good player but not top class. I expect Finian Hanley to mashall him very well on Sunday. Better players than Shine have come away with nothing off Hanley.

shines won minor, sigerson medals by being the main scorer on those teams, he has been top scorer in connacht this past 3 years and roughly half his scores come from play, on form he is very hard to mark, just watch this clip of shine been marked by michael shields who won the all-star that year e.g



hanley and shine will be an good battle, hanley will match up size wise with shine so that should make it all the more interesting

kilbride was man of the match in last years club all-ireland final where he gave aaron kernan and the others a roasting, he is deceptively quick and mobile for a guy his size, problem with kilbride is that he is very injury prone, missed all of season 2010, he went off in the league final last year seconds after scoring a great goal, got injured early in last years connacht final

Hulk Hands wrote: »

I didn't know of their corner forwards. I assumed they would play one of Shine or Kilbride at FF and have the other out a bit. i thought there would be at least one u-21 in the FF line and I know little about them, having only seen them once (the no.15 looked very promising).

I think Kilbride is a good player to be fair, while Cregg is only decent. I'm still skeptical of Shine's status as a top class forward, however well he played in that stretch in 2010.

I'm not even going to acknowledge your guff about Roscommon supporters, if you or anyone else tries to tar any group of supporters for the completely anecdotal actions of the few then you're lost and there's not much hope for you. I've heard plenty of abuse hurled by Mayo, Leitrim, Sligo, Meath, Cork, Tyrone, Donegal, Kildare and Kerry supporters over just the last two years of championship action and I've never felt the need to try to paint them in a poor light, you've got a grudge and if you don't know that you're the only one that doesn't realise it.

Cregg is easily one of the best half-forwards in not just Connacht but the entire country, he changes the entire pace of games and frays opposition lines. He draws more fouls than any player on the team, such is the problems defences have with him. He may not rack up huge points totals but don't dare let that fool you or anyone else, Cregg is most definitely the truth, game in and game out. Even when we're losing badly he's still one of best performers on the field. He would walk onto just about every county team.

Shine is probably the 'weakest' of the three, not as fast or as good in the air as Kilbride, but devastating if he gets fed proper ball.

77, Kilbride had an injury for most of the championship in 2010 but I wouldn't call him injury prone - he's played alot of football with Brigids' seasons extending into February and March the last two years and he has barely missed a single game through injury. He had one of his best performances against Tyrone last year while injured, spending most of his spare the two weeks leading up that game training at Brigids. He's alot tougher than people give him credit for.

RealityCheck wrote: »

I have to say I think both yourself and Syferus are both a bid deluded. I think most believe that the reality is that both respective teams lie somewhere between what your both saying. Roughly half way I'd imagine.

The two of ye are coming across as plain arrogant.

It takes something to make out I'm being arrogant when I'm saying I believe my team to be the equal of a team that's done little to nothing in the championship in three or four years. That's facts, not opinion. It doesn't mean Galway are useless, it doesn't mean Roscommon are great. It just means this is one hell of a close game and an edge in the middle will be more than enough to decide it for either side. If arrogance is being honest then you're in for a very hard time this summer.

People can be aghast all they want, but Roscommon football is only returning to the level it had been at many times before. I'm not going to sit and play the poor mouth when I know in my heart we've nothing to be afraid of, that's exactly the sort of mentality that ran plenty of other Roscommon teams into the ground, 'sure let's give it a go'. This team thankfully doesn't have that mentality and neither do I. Win or lose, Roscommon football is very much going in the right direction.

Utopia Parkway wrote: »

In fairness I've been going to Connacht championship games for donkey's years and I can safely say that Roscommon fans are the "roughest" to deal with by far. Unbearable in defeat and even worse in victory (although I've only experienced one senior football defeat against them in 2001). As many run ins and tight Galway v Mayo games I've been to there is a certain odd mutual respect between the fans. That isn't really there with Roscommon who tend to want to rub it in your face afterwards if they win. Again this is only my own experience. Personally I have nothing against the Rossies at all. Hell I was even shouting for them against Mayo last year.

As for the weekend's game it looks a typical 50/50 encounter to me. Ultimately probably both Hulk Hands and Syferus are overrating their respective teams. I mean Cathal Cregg is being portrayed as some kind of superman. I would see him as the Roscommon version of Mattie Clancy. A good honest worker who would pop up with the odd score here and there. And in fairness sometimes it's an important score. I just don't see this unbelievable talent in him. And there's probably one or two Galway players I could say the same about.

Oh come on. I know hundreds upon hundreds of honest supporters who I've went to games with for all my life and I can barely remember even seeing a single incident like that. Roscommon supporters are as respectful, welcoming and helpful as any other county, and we certainly are more passionate than plenty of counties. I'm sure it happens but the scale is being comically exaggerated by comments here.

You know why Roscommon supporters would be a little more exuberant after winning a game against Mayo than Galway (or vice versa) would? It might have something to do with the very fact you alluded to, that it's only happened once in the last 11 years. It's alot more special for us than it is for you.

Perspective, please.

Utopia Parkway wrote: »

As for the weekend's game it looks a typical 50/50 encounter to me. Ultimately probably both Hulk Hands and Syferus are overrating their respective teams.

It's not Galway I'm overrating. Even if they win they'll still only be an average side with potential. I just dont think Roscommon are as good as being touted here. I could easily be wrong and ill have no trouble congratulating any rossies if so. No point sitting on the fence though, rivalry just adds to the occasion

ChocolateChip wrote: »

Roscommon fans are poor in defeat and in success. The Connacht final last year was one that will stay in my memory because the treatment Mayo fans received from the Roscommon stewards was an absolute disgrace, particularly the ones in the stand area. Not only that, when the Connacht final was played in McHale Park in 2010, Roscommon fans ran riot through Ballinrobe and Ballyhaunis burning Mayo flags and damaging property despite the fact that Mayo weren't even involved in the final. They did the same last year, pelting rocks at Mayo reg. cars despite losing.

Roscommon fans will always have a chip on their shoulder because Mayo and Galway will always be the big 2 in Connacht.

Good luck Galway on Sunday.

Nice generalisation there. Tarring all Roscommon supporters with the one brush. I can assure you that pelting rocks at cars, burning flags and damaging property is done by a small few and not all Roscommon supporters. As far as the treatment of fans at the Connacht final last year goes please be aware that these stewarts give up their day to help out from about 10 in the morning until about 6 that evening wit only a small meal given as thanks. They also have to put up with all the rowdy fans from both sides and yet can do very little about them. I have done this on a few occassions and the attitude of some people is just unbelievable, some think they can do whatever they like. I can assure you that these stewarts were just trying to do what was best for everyone in the ground. Rant over.

ChocolateChip wrote: »

I have never heard of fans from Mayo or Galway or any other county for that matter, who are as bad as Roscommon fans in defeat or victory. I have met other Connacht county supporters from Leitrim/Sligo who have stated likewise. Does a small minority of Mayo fans burn Roscommon flags or pelt their cars or damage their property? No.

However, it is the hatred and jealousy of Mayo and Galway that is quite pathetic from Roscommon. You can say that it comes from a small minority, but I can tell you that every Roscommon fan I have met has a chip on their shoulder and once they know you're a Mayo fan they instantly change their tune.

While I can't say I have seen flag burning from Mayo fans I have seen it from both Sligo and Leitrim fans. As far as pelting a car with stone goes, that is criminal damage no matter who does it and should be reported to the Gardai for them to deal with. I'm sure there would be plenty of them around at a fairly big match.

I can also assure you that Roscommon fans don't hate Mayo or Galway fans, but having to put up with an attitude like yours it wouldn't surprise me if more people did, especially as you state that every Roscommon fan has a chip on their shoulder. I have lots of friends in Mayo who I have a bit of banter with at matches and have never once had one of them complain about the behaviour of Roscommon fans.

i was at the mayo dublin match in 2006 i can say for fact that all the roscommon fans in my section were supporting mayo, in fact here is proof, not every roscommmon fan will support mayo obviously, you can clearly see roscommon flags waving amongst the mayo support that day when mayo score e.g 13 seconds, 3mins 53, 5min mark



generalizations are ridiculous, one of my friends was chatting up a girl one night in leitrim and getting on great, she asked him where he was from and he said roscommon and she walked away, i was in coppers the night a mayo fan assaulted mark vaughn (rest of the mayo fans were great that night i know because i spent the entire night with a bunch of them) i was in the nally stand during a meath and dublin double header where whole match some dublin supporters were throwing bottles and other stuff at us

as for roscommon being jealous of mayo, i guess we are jealous of the fact that mayo is one of the few counties that have lost more finals in all grades than we have this past 50-60 years mayo have won one more senior all-ireland than us, frustration of not being able to beat mayo at any level for 10 years is what i would call it, especially poor enough mayo teams at times, to suggest leitrim are jealous of roscommon is ridiculous despite the fact we have won far more than leitrim than mayo have compared to roscommon

can we get back to talking about the actual match instead of tarring the entire county of roscommon :pac: