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Connacht Championship 2019

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Sean McGoldrick spot on there as that margin of victory certainly flattered the Tribesmen yesterday. Now the question is was Galway's less than convincing performances v Sligo and London as sign of things to come for them this summer or a blessing in disguise for them to up their game for what will be a big challenge for them in the Connacht final. They haven't retained a Connacht title since 2003 and in current form they won't win the final as simple as that.

On Saturday i'm expecting a good competitive contest with a crowd of around 20,000. I give Mayo nod with home advantage and the momentum from winning a first national title for 18 years but under Cunnigham Roscommon will ask plenty of questions of Mayo.

Yondu (UK) - Posts: 845 - 21/05/2019 00:10:23    2186134

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Replying To Gaa_lover:  "Yew i have no county i'm a total neutral that has been involved with New York GAA hence my main interest with Connacht football and all counties in that province.

Seeing that Barnowl94 is upset with me calling that Galway game yesterday as it was i wonder will he feel the same with these views coming from journalist Sean McGoldrick?

A goal burst helped Galway ease past Sligo but indifferent form continues to be a worry for Kevin Walsh
the margin was 13 but it flattered the Tribesmen, who were two points ahead at the break and scored 1-1 in injury time through Corofin substitute Martin Farragher
this was their second successive indifferent championship performance - they struggled to beat London in the quarter-final.
But for a two-goal salvo in three minutes early in the second half, they never exhibited the gulf in class which exists between a team that contested last year's All-Ireland semi-final and one which that hasn't won a competitive game since beating London last summer.


Before and after games i will always give a fair and honest assessment and don't be getting so dam sensitive when i say something "bad" about your county. Now have a good day folks!"
No one is arguing that it was a sterling example of how football is supposed to be played, but that neat summary overlooks several key points, the omission of which implies a whiff of bias.

Sligo, with a strong wind behind them, parked the bus. Galway's defense did it's job, but there's no question that the forwards struggled to find a way through in the face of a 15-man defense and stiff breeze. Their ridiculous wide count supports this. Yet they still managed to get a lead and steadily build on it. Then once they had the wind in the second half they scored two quick goals (granted the second was a bit of a fluke) and that finished the game as a competition. Galway sat back and did what they needed to do to see the game out, and if you or Mr. McGoldrick take two seconds to look at the match schedule some of those players have over the next few weeks, you might understand why they were so eager to conserve themselves. And despite all this, they still managed to finish 13 points up. Flattered by the score indeed; they had complete control of the scoreboard and that's all there is to it.

That journo is just trotting out the lazy tropes that have been on the go for the last few years despite Galway's track record.

festinog (Galway) - Posts: 3097 - 21/05/2019 00:37:53    2186136

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Galway are an extremely poor team and will not develop any further if they keep Kevin Walsh at the helm. They struggled to beat London and got a cuople of flukey goals to get past Sligo who have been abysmal for the last number of years. They have some good individual players like Shane Walsh and Ian Burke but the collective is underwhelming to say the least. Walsh has set them up based on their strengths but they play the worst type of football and will be no threat to any team in August. Full on blanket defences and lateral handpassing may be enough in Connacht but it wont win any All Ireland for Galway. Have been impressed by Mayo so far this year and hope they win Connacht for football's sake.

kingdomfan (Kerry) - Posts: 393 - 21/05/2019 10:51:18    2186215

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Replying To kingdomfan:  "Galway are an extremely poor team and will not develop any further if they keep Kevin Walsh at the helm. They struggled to beat London and got a cuople of flukey goals to get past Sligo who have been abysmal for the last number of years. They have some good individual players like Shane Walsh and Ian Burke but the collective is underwhelming to say the least. Walsh has set them up based on their strengths but they play the worst type of football and will be no threat to any team in August. Full on blanket defences and lateral handpassing may be enough in Connacht but it wont win any All Ireland for Galway. Have been impressed by Mayo so far this year and hope they win Connacht for football's sake."
Didn't Galway handily beat your lot last year?

Koolsgang (Galway) - Posts: 15 - 21/05/2019 11:55:42    2186248

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Replying To kingdomfan:  "Galway are an extremely poor team and will not develop any further if they keep Kevin Walsh at the helm. They struggled to beat London and got a cuople of flukey goals to get past Sligo who have been abysmal for the last number of years. They have some good individual players like Shane Walsh and Ian Burke but the collective is underwhelming to say the least. Walsh has set them up based on their strengths but they play the worst type of football and will be no threat to any team in August. Full on blanket defences and lateral handpassing may be enough in Connacht but it wont win any All Ireland for Galway. Have been impressed by Mayo so far this year and hope they win Connacht for football's sake."
I wouldn't agree Galway are a poor team. Did they beat Kerry last year in Croke Park?

I do agree on Walsh though, it may be the next manager that strikes gold with them but in his "defense" he has brought Galway back from the shadows and made them a top 6 team.

yew_tree (Mayo) - Posts: 11232 - 21/05/2019 12:12:14    2186253

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Replying To kingdomfan:  "Galway are an extremely poor team and will not develop any further if they keep Kevin Walsh at the helm. They struggled to beat London and got a cuople of flukey goals to get past Sligo who have been abysmal for the last number of years. They have some good individual players like Shane Walsh and Ian Burke but the collective is underwhelming to say the least. Walsh has set them up based on their strengths but they play the worst type of football and will be no threat to any team in August. Full on blanket defences and lateral handpassing may be enough in Connacht but it wont win any All Ireland for Galway. Have been impressed by Mayo so far this year and hope they win Connacht for football's sake."
Good enough to beat Kerry and Mayo last year

Belclare (Galway) - Posts: 904 - 21/05/2019 12:22:09    2186257

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Replying To kingdomfan:  "Galway are an extremely poor team and will not develop any further if they keep Kevin Walsh at the helm. They struggled to beat London and got a cuople of flukey goals to get past Sligo who have been abysmal for the last number of years. They have some good individual players like Shane Walsh and Ian Burke but the collective is underwhelming to say the least. Walsh has set them up based on their strengths but they play the worst type of football and will be no threat to any team in August. Full on blanket defences and lateral handpassing may be enough in Connacht but it wont win any All Ireland for Galway. Have been impressed by Mayo so far this year and hope they win Connacht for football's sake."
For me , we are too defensive. We need to alter our game and attack more, I think our system works to a point and I actually think it works better against better opposition. It has got us so far and Kevin must be given credit for this.
Its a shame Brannigan missed the penalty in the 1st half against Dublin last year in the semi final because I think we were on top at that time and it would have been nice to give them a proper rattle. I don't think we would have won anyway and we were well beaten in the end.
Kerry also have some good individual players like Clifford and O'Shea, collectively they are poor to be honest. We saw this in the league final against Mayo this year, they lost to Galway in last year's super 8, a game where both teams played poorly. Kerry bet Dublin at home this year and were talked about as serious contenders for Sam, only problem was so did Monaghan and Tyrone. Monaghan have already lost and Tyrone struggled to get past a Div4 team in Derry.
Kerry wont be tested until the Super 8s because Munster is so poor and looks like its getting weaker. Although Spillane and Ó Sé like to tell us otherwise, can't see them really challenging the Dub this year.
That said, I think if Galway beat Mayo/Roscommon in the CF, no team will want to face them in the Super 8s.

cavan.galway (Galway) - Posts: 185 - 21/05/2019 12:50:31    2186276

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Replying To kingdomfan:  "Galway are an extremely poor team and will not develop any further if they keep Kevin Walsh at the helm. They struggled to beat London and got a cuople of flukey goals to get past Sligo who have been abysmal for the last number of years. They have some good individual players like Shane Walsh and Ian Burke but the collective is underwhelming to say the least. Walsh has set them up based on their strengths but they play the worst type of football and will be no threat to any team in August. Full on blanket defences and lateral handpassing may be enough in Connacht but it wont win any All Ireland for Galway. Have been impressed by Mayo so far this year and hope they win Connacht for football's sake."
Sure you are a gas man fair play to you!
Anyone who's team just got thumped in a National Final by legendary chokers Mayo has no business calling other teams "very poor".
I have an oul watering can out in the garden with fewer holes in it than that Kerry backline.
If Galway are a very poor team then there are an awful lot of poor teams around.

Barnowl94 (Galway) - Posts: 3150 - 21/05/2019 13:00:41    2186286

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festinog, how much of influence was the wind in Marky Park on Sunday? looking that the scores Galway 6 scores 1st half and 8 in the 2nd half which included 3 goals. Sligo scored a point more against the wind than with it.

After conceding 4-24 to Galway last year and huge scores conceded in Div 3 this spring i'm sure the main focus for Sligo was to be somewhat organized in defence.

The_analyser (Roscommon) - Posts: 3757 - 21/05/2019 14:49:01    2186323

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I still stand by my point that Galway are a poor team and a lot of that is down to the Manager's style of play. I agree that Mayo were much better than Kerry in the league and they bet us comfortably on two occasions. Our defence for the last 2 years has been porous but we will not go 5/6 years playing the same style and burying our heads in the sand like the Tribesmen. Its like they are afraid to play football for fear of giving the ball away. They play a horrible brand of football and will make little or no impact in the future if they revert to type this summer. They will be found out sooner rather than later this summer.

kingdomfan (Kerry) - Posts: 393 - 21/05/2019 16:17:51    2186344

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Replying To kingdomfan:  "I still stand by my point that Galway are a poor team and a lot of that is down to the Manager's style of play. I agree that Mayo were much better than Kerry in the league and they bet us comfortably on two occasions. Our defence for the last 2 years has been porous but we will not go 5/6 years playing the same style and burying our heads in the sand like the Tribesmen. Its like they are afraid to play football for fear of giving the ball away. They play a horrible brand of football and will make little or no impact in the future if they revert to type this summer. They will be found out sooner rather than later this summer."
Kerry have gone 4/5 years without addressing that porous defence and have paid the price, now that's what I call burying one's head in the sand. I didn't have them down as a serious contender last year and I don't this year.

Kevin Walsh has addressed the issue of our defence. Ok he's still trying to get the balance right but he has made incremental improvements to the team in each of his years in charge and he needs to bring us on another step this year.

Rocky.Road (Galway) - Posts: 374 - 21/05/2019 17:31:25    2186370

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Replying To kingdomfan:  "I still stand by my point that Galway are a poor team and a lot of that is down to the Manager's style of play. I agree that Mayo were much better than Kerry in the league and they bet us comfortably on two occasions. Our defence for the last 2 years has been porous but we will not go 5/6 years playing the same style and burying our heads in the sand like the Tribesmen. Its like they are afraid to play football for fear of giving the ball away. They play a horrible brand of football and will make little or no impact in the future if they revert to type this summer. They will be found out sooner rather than later this summer."
Any sign of your players from your county champions making the Kerry team, word is they've not been seen since their All Ireland semi final in Thurles, they didn't even show up for St. Patricks day. Have they made an appearance in Tralee or Killarney for training?

GDL (Galway) - Posts: 722 - 21/05/2019 18:13:32    2186383

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Galway did as much as they had to against Sligo and if you can win by 13 points while impressing no one, with no player getting injured, it's pretty much the perfect result.

Can't imagine Mayo will line out any differently the next day from the league final, still without Cillian or SOS. It'll be interesting to see if AOS can maintain his fitness and form from the league - I don't recall ever seeing him so mobile. Even for the rudderless/radarless performance against the Dubs he got around the pitch very well. Hopefully Matthew Ruane can continue to develop further alongside his clubmate. He has partly at least filled the vacuum created last year by Tom Parson's injury. It'd be a very strong midfield selection if all options were fit.

When they're all fit and available the Rossies have as good a set of forwards as there are in the game and were unlucky to lose their Div 1 status. The league meeting between the sides was close which, combined with the throwaway point against Tyrone, and an unexpectedly poor day out against Cavan, ended up the difference between them staying up comfortably and going down. I expect they'll bounce back again next spring.

I don't think there's going to be much between the teams again on Sunday and if Mayo show any bit of a league hangover (by having put too much into it) a first Roscommon win in whatever it is (18 years?) in C/bar could be on the cards. It's two potential super 8 sides playing and both like to play positively, so no reason we won't get a good game. I honestly think it's 50/50 in terms of picking a winner.

Pericles (Mayo) - Posts: 2521 - 21/05/2019 19:11:40    2186396

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Replying To kingdomfan:  "I still stand by my point that Galway are a poor team and a lot of that is down to the Manager's style of play. I agree that Mayo were much better than Kerry in the league and they bet us comfortably on two occasions. Our defence for the last 2 years has been porous but we will not go 5/6 years playing the same style and burying our heads in the sand like the Tribesmen. Its like they are afraid to play football for fear of giving the ball away. They play a horrible brand of football and will make little or no impact in the future if they revert to type this summer. They will be found out sooner rather than later this summer."
Of course you are entitled to your opinion but hard to make generalised statements without knowing the incremental additions KW has made year on year on. It is a bit rich though from you given you arguably are in the weakest football province at the moment and the amount of 'direct' style play I saw from ye over the league was nothing to write home about with plenty of lateral style play, hand passing like most teams these days. We are get all the heat from so called scribes but don't worry the heat will turn to some other team in time. All goes in cycles.

kiloughter (Galway) - Posts: 1946 - 21/05/2019 19:14:10    2186397

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And ye go on about Mayo fans not able to take bad comments, a kerry lad comes on rising ye and ye all attack :D

tommy132 (Mayo) - Posts: 602 - 21/05/2019 19:30:56    2186401

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Replying To Barnowl94:  "Sure you are a gas man fair play to you!
Anyone who's team just got thumped in a National Final by legendary chokers Mayo has no business calling other teams "very poor".
I have an oul watering can out in the garden with fewer holes in it than that Kerry backline.
If Galway are a very poor team then there are an awful lot of poor teams around."
We are not ones to talk nobody has choked more than Galway footballers in Croke Park the last 18 years. Our only win was against Kerry the team you are trying to make fun off.

Give mayo credit where it's due and don't feed the trolls.

Galway2019 (Galway) - Posts: 55 - 21/05/2019 19:57:45    2186407

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Replying To kiloughter:  "Of course you are entitled to your opinion but hard to make generalised statements without knowing the incremental additions KW has made year on year on. It is a bit rich though from you given you arguably are in the weakest football province at the moment and the amount of 'direct' style play I saw from ye over the league was nothing to write home about with plenty of lateral style play, hand passing like most teams these days. We are get all the heat from so called scribes but don't worry the heat will turn to some other team in time. All goes in cycles."
Yerra connacht isnt much better to be honest. If we took Mayos place in connacht then Galway or Roscommon may scare us once every 5 or 6 years but other then that there wouldnt be much to worry about.

KY4SAM2015 (Kerry) - Posts: 898 - 21/05/2019 19:59:06    2186408

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Replying To The_analyser:  "festinog, how much of influence was the wind in Marky Park on Sunday? looking that the scores Galway 6 scores 1st half and 8 in the 2nd half which included 3 goals. Sligo scored a point more against the wind than with it.

After conceding 4-24 to Galway last year and huge scores conceded in Div 3 this spring i'm sure the main focus for Sligo was to be somewhat organized in defence."
How much? Not sure how you answer that one, to be honest. There were players on both teams who missed shots they'd normally slot right over, but at one point in the game Galway had eight scores and nine wides, which says it all.

Sligo definitely went out to play defensively and do damage limitation following a terrible league and the hammering last year, and they failed. Score line wasn't as bad as last year, but 13 points is still a hammering, so I'm not sure what good Sligo can take from that unfortunately.

13 point win, no major injuries, and some new players getting a run out (and quite a run out too for one of them!); I don't think any team could ask for better to be honest. But it will be all for nought if we don't step up another level when we face off against Roscommon/Mayo in the final!

festinog (Galway) - Posts: 3097 - 21/05/2019 21:17:02    2186442

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Replying To KY4SAM2015:  "Yerra connacht isnt much better to be honest. If we took Mayos place in connacht then Galway or Roscommon may scare us once every 5 or 6 years but other then that there wouldnt be much to worry about."
That'd be twice the competition you get in Munster.

Ailteoir (Galway) - Posts: 860 - 21/05/2019 22:11:17    2186459

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Replying To Barnowl94:  "Sure you are a gas man fair play to you!
Anyone who's team just got thumped in a National Final by legendary chokers Mayo has no business calling other teams "very poor".
I have an oul watering can out in the garden with fewer holes in it than that Kerry backline.
If Galway are a very poor team then there are an awful lot of poor teams around."
How many All Ireland medals have you? What have you achieved...don't think your in a position to call this Mayo team chockers

yew_tree (Mayo) - Posts: 11232 - 21/05/2019 23:19:44    2186480

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