Galway GAA discussion thread

There is a lot to be said for being a good winner. There's always one or two who can't win with grace. As they say everything goes in cycles though and while it may seem like it at the moment Kilkenny won't be on top forever. I wonder what your reaction would be if you still had someone like Nicky Brennan in charge and had lost an All-Ireland in a similar way.

Personally I'd half agree with you, the players failed to deliver when push came to shove and bar one or two notable exceptions in the 2nd half caved in quite pathetically in all honesty. Cunningham and his management team have to take their portion of the blame, as on countless occasions over the last 4 years they made bad decisions. In the final, tactically we completely lost our shape as we did in the Leinster final and made life very easy for Kilkenny's half backline with the ball we were hitting in but the bigger issue does have to be why the players didn't step up to the mark and drive on in a game they had put themselves in contention for.

You are wrong in saying the players will get away with it though as if they get a new manager they have heaped almighty pressure on themselves to go the whole way next year. While Galway won back some respect from the hurling support in the county for some of their performances this year, the Galway public is fickle and the fallout from this mess is likely to carry into next year.

gilberto_eire wrote: »

Surprised nobody posted this....

There was big controversy at the end of the Thomas and Loughrea game on Saturday.

With 4mins and 29 seconds played, the ball broke to Regan who soloed into range and after he hit the shot, the ref blew the full time whistle with the ball in the air... Ball went over the bar and nobody knew if it counted or not.

Some refs really do bring hassle on themselves.

Was at this game and to say it was an awful decision is being kind. Often there is a case where there is no ideal time to blow the final whistle as either team could score but there were a number of rucks / scrambles for possession in the middle of the field where there was no team with a clear scoring opportunity.

Really, any time in the 4 minutes up to that point there was no clear scoring opportunity, it would have been ideal to blow and no-one could have had any complaints. Also, it wasn't like it was a Hail Mary shot from 90 or 100 yards, James Regan was in clear space on around the 45 straight in front of the posts when he hit it. A point was pretty much certain.

If he had blown when he should have you'd say St. Thomas' only had themselves to blame as they led by 6 late on against a Loughrea side missing Johnny Coen and Johnny Maher and they had been in control but they let in two soft goals and no-one would have begrudged Loughrea a draw but the way it ended was farcical. Refereeing is a tough job especially at club level but I'm afraid there can be no defence for how this was handled.

Its a pity as he had done an ok job up to then but made a very bad call at the key moment.

In the other games, Craughwell scraped past Liam Mellows. Tadhg Haran had a good game but missed an easy free to force a replay with the last play. Craughwell looked good in the first half but lost their way after the break when Mellows got two quick goals. They'll need Niall Healy on top form if they hope to go further and others will have to step up to the plate.

Gort beating Portumna was the big result. Gort were deserving winners. The goal early in the 2nd half proved decisive. Both sides had other good goal scoring chances which could have changed the course of the game.nGreg Lally and Aidan Harte in good form. Gort haven't really delivered when they got out of Galway but with Connacht v Ulster this year they'll see that as a chance to make Croke Park. You'd have to wonder how much more Portumna have in the tank. They've been a superb club side for over a decade now but basically its the same lads they are relying on as when in their prime.

Last game was the only major disappointment of the weekend, Sarsfields comfortably dealt with Padraig Pearses. Good to see a club with a great tradition like Sarsfields back in the semi-finals but really they have been lucky enough with the draw this year. Look well coached with John Hardiman there though.

Gort look the team to beat. St. Thomas will probably beat Loughrea in the replay and it would be a tight game between the two of them. Craughwell will hope to get Sarsfields and they may be capable of a one off surprise in the final but I think there is a gap between the top 2 and Craughwell.

In the football Corofin have reeled off another title. Fair play to them to have the hunger to go again. Tuam missed the boat against them and MM conceding early goals and not taking advantage of their spell of dominance was always going to come against them. Hopefully they can come back stronger next year, Galway football badly needs the club championship to improve. Its a big ask for Corofin to push for an All-Ireland after pretty much 2 years straight on the road.

radiata wrote: »

Anyone know are they showing the final on tg4 on Sunday?

The hurling final is shown 9:10(compared to the football which I cant remember ever been shown)... Should be on either live or deferred but it'll depend what else is on I suppose.

Hurling isn't on.

Connacht football semi final and Munster hurling are the two games.

Guess it's their fault for taking so long to finish the championship in relation to the others.
Pairing probably didn't help either.

Mountainlad wrote: »

The Galway football final was shown live this year

Didn't notice or even check as it very rarely has ever before.
Maybe the AI champions factor played into it.