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A routine win for Donegal really. Derry battled hard but you always got the sense Donegal had another gear to move up into if they had to. Lockjaw (Donegal) - Posts: 9073 - 27/05/2018 22:31:11 2104411 Link 0 |
Concur with most of that. The fears people had for Derry beforehand of not having enough time to prepare together played a factor. They also had alot of bad wides but was clear for anybody to see they are no Division 4 team. Given time and a good first draw in the qualifiers they could be dangerous opponents for those teams in the qualifiers. Niall O'Donnell was different class but great to see Jason McGee back and played really well. The team has some of the cogs of the 2016 minors but given the prominent players from that side not available or involved you would have to be very impressed. Just a shame the stupidity of the timing of fixtures will deny most supporters not seeing them next week. panamasam (Australia) - Posts: 2771 - 27/05/2018 22:43:25 2104423 Link 0 |
I have been critical over the league campaign, rightly or wrongly. However after today's effort I believe Derry have a base to build upon. We played a Donegal team which I feel were very unfortunate to get relegated from Div 1. Donegals tactics worked like a well oiled machine. There goalkeeper was initiated every attack with his quick accurate kickouts. We kept Murphy relatively quite but McBrearty stepped up to the plate and delivered. Derry need to learn to use the full width of the pitch and stretch the opposition defence to enable us to get runners in behind. Too many times to day we drove at the heart of the Donegal defence and coughed up possession. In the latter stage of the 1st half we trailed by 3 and had an easy scoring chance which we missed and within the next couple of minutes Donegal tagged on 3 points. Instead of possibly going in at halftime 2 or 3 points down we were 6 down. Playing with the breeze in the 2nd half I though Damian would have introduced James Kielt, never happened. Liam McGoldrick made a positive impact as did all the subs but in all honesty I think today we lost the game because our tactics were wrong, bad shot selection and we only had two players from the starting 15 on the scoresheet, not good encounter at intercounty level. I am going to finish by heaping praise on Emmett Bradley. He is having a great year, our best player throughout the league and carried his form into today's game. He's had his critics over the past number of years but he is now showing his true potential. If Emmett continues to progress he could become a serious player for Derry over the coming years. I hope we get a decent draw and build momentum through the qualifiers because it could reall develop some of the younger players. The return of Niall Loughlan, Niall Keenan and Ciaran McFaul would be a bonus but I am not too aware if the trio have returned from their travels. Not to downbeat but optimistic. Poor Derry support today but unfortunately I feel that is the norm now. People have their reasons whether valid or not it's not up to me to comment. However, the greed for money from the Ulster Council and the GAA I feel is keeping supporters away, the tickets are way too highly priced and with the introduction of charging U16's has just added to the cost. Why not introduce discounted family tickets to help families who want to go to the matches but have to prioritise financial resources thus meaning they cannot afford to pay the current over inflated ticket prices. OakGael (Derry) - Posts: 293 - 28/05/2018 02:22:14 2104488 Link 0 |