rorysboys (Donegal) - Posts: 2392 - 15/07/2018 13:12:05    2122035

Whammo86 (Antrim) - Posts: 4210 - 15/07/2018 13:35:32    2122056

Really enjoyed the game to be honest, for me it was in the melting pot all game and Donegal are a very good side who i wouldn't be surprised to see in the latter stages and who could do some damage. Its a pleasure to watch Michael Murphy play he really is probably the best footballer in the country.

I was a bit surprised by some Dubs reactions after the game that we were well on top throughout the game i didn't think we were and didn't feel like throughout the game. The goals swung the momentum for the Dubs and Donegal could/should have had a couple themselves. Paddy McB was a huge loss for them and probably would have been a lot closer score wise if he had been. Donegal out scored us for points.

Massively useful game for Dublin as Donegal tired a few systems against us. They tried the high press for sickouts, man for man, thats great experience at this pot. Thankfully Cluxton and Fenton were in majestic mood. The running game hurt at times but thought we got to grips and we blocked the central channell well, the high long ball came in to play half way through the second half and we dealt with well. Over all i was happy with that. Michael Murphy was man of the match. But for me young Brian Howard was Dublin best player. What a star we have in this young man and i have been raving about him all year. Has it all can play half back, midfild half forward, he can tackle, field, score, pick a pass, he was the barians behind the first goal, he came of age last night and we have another gem. I think he will eventually end up in midfild with his club mate at Raheny Fenton.

Dublins shot execution was awful, Ciaran Kilkenny had one of his wort games that i can remember, i suppose hes entitled to one bad game in 100. Thought Mannion and Con struggled a bit and both look out of form at the moment. Rock drifted out of the game in the second half when there were very few frees given. The possession based game of trying to break the blanket game doesnt suit forwards really.

I think generally there were a fair few cobwebs to this performance and hopefully we got them out of our system yesterday. Loads to work and sharpen up on really.

As for the last ten minutes and closing the game out its brilliant.

The way i look at is its beating the blanket, its using a teams system against them. If you are going to play a blanket defense against Dublin and try and counter, Dublin are going to starve you of the possession you need to work that system and use that system again you, the only hope you have with it is if you are ahead. But if Dublin are ahead you can forget getting the ball they will just play football in front of the blanket and wear the teams energy down. Its the same way they beat Tyrone last year, get ahead and play football in front of them and just eat away at the minutes and chip away at the score. I love it to be honest and makes the opposition team think. Dublin are inviting the opposition to come out and play football. The only downside is must be awful for the opposition team, stuck in that rigid system watching a team just tap the ball out in front of you. Not really the type of way players want to be playing in Croke Park in the height of summer. But if thats how teams set up, so be it.

So we go to Omagh, with a good foothold in the group and points on the boards. Not the best performance but hopefully we got blew a few cobwebs off. Was really impressed with Donegal. This group is going to very competitive.

TheUsername (Dublin) - Posts: 4445 - 15/07/2018 14:12:29    2122075

TheUsername (Dublin) - Posts: 4445 - 15/07/2018 14:13:37    2122076

Gavvygavgav (Dublin) - Posts: 382 - 15/07/2018 14:50:41    2122089

Wayno: excellent point regarding the heavy fixture schedule and conserving strength. Made for a horrible spectacle, but you're absolutely spot on. We all saw what happened in the Munster HC to the teams that had to play 3 weeks in a row. By the third game they were dead on their feet. We'll see how the Super 8s pan out from that perspective. I'd remind everyone that the idea behind them was to increase the number of games between the top teams and thereby provide a showcase for the sport; but if it turns into an endurance test with teams (rightly) conserving their strength when they can, then the super 8s are going to be more like watching a marathon rather than a series of 200m sprints.

And finally, if Dublin can win pulling up in a neutral venue, I can't wait to see how they play with home advantage. :)

festinog (Galway) - Posts: 3097 - 15/07/2018 15:16:22    2122099

Whammo86 (Antrim) - Posts: 4210 - 15/07/2018 15:41:25    2122111

Whammo86 (Antrim) - Posts: 4210 - 15/07/2018 15:43:40    2122112

AHP (Dublin) - Posts: 323 - 15/07/2018 16:31:40    2122144

TheUsername (Dublin) - Posts: 4445 - 15/07/2018 16:31:44    2122145

Don't agree with arguments of heavy fixture schedule as a player I would love to have a run of games on a weekly basis at heart of summer; that's what you aspire to in hard winter months; playing week in week out midweek training should be short sharp drills and a kick about match time is best training ever; the overtime has got ridiculous; county game is now 80 minutes; or maybe the eejits training teams are overtraining players in summer time during back doors and now super 8's

hithimhard (Tyrone) - Posts: 20 - 15/07/2018 17:09:36    2122163

MuckrossHead (Donegal) - Posts: 5028 - 15/07/2018 17:40:27    2122189

jimbodub (Dublin) - Posts: 20600 - 15/07/2018 19:33:35    2122304

Firstly well done to Dublin on a deserved win. Although I had optimistically predicted a Donegal win, if I'm honest the game panned out how I thought it would. We gave Dublin plenty to think about at times but in the end they're still that level or two ahead of us. There's no shame in that given the fact that we have a lot of young players still gaining experience and of course the loss of McBrearty was very keenly felt.

Once the second goal went in it was lights out really. I can only commend our lads for not throwing in the towel. They stuck at it but the end result was never in doubt. I wouldn't criticize Dublin for playing keep ball. Energy conservation could be vital in the weeks ahead and I'd even go do far as to say that if Dublin beat Tyrone next weekend then it'll be Dublin B playing Roscommon in the last game. Kerry posters admonishing Dublin for this is laughable. They were at the exact same craic themselves against us in 2014. Worse in fact. Barry John Keane kicking the ball off Durcan's tee to waste time at one stage.

For ourselves I think we accepted that a defeat was inevitable with about 10 to go so like Dublin, it almost became a matter of seeing the game out, and if a break suddenly presented itself for a possible goal opportunity then well and good. We'll regroup this week and be wary of the wounded animal in Roscommon. I think we have the runners to cause them bother and get the result. But they're proud men and won't give anything to us easy. No point worrying about Dublin Tyrone. That's outside our control. Keep the eye on the ball, get out of the Hyde with a win and we'll see what's what after that.

Lockjaw (Donegal) - Posts: 9116 - 16/07/2018 09:13:40    2122509

Fair is fair, I called the last 15 minutes of the Dubs performance poison, we out did ye with a full 70 minutes yesterday.
Being a Dublin fan is an easy existance this summer looking at the lack of quality opposition.

westkerry (Kerry) - Posts: 1250 - 16/07/2018 09:23:58    2122517

I thought this game got a lot of undeserved bad press. Donegal despite missing McBrearty gave it everything. Dublin were that bit better but if the bounce had gone Donegal's way on a few things most notably the 6 point swing of their missed goal chance which ended up in their own net less than a minute later this could have gone to the wire.

Donegal still had the deficit down to 4 points with 10 to go despite conceding 2 goals and scoring none. A goal from a lucky break or a penalty and this game was back in the melting pot.

As ever the RTE panel were overly and unjustly negative. How they took the simplistic view that Murphy should be permanently at the edge of the square is a typical example. When Donegal's kick out plan blew up in the first few minutes and they looked like imploding it was Murphy who came back and demanded the ball, cooled everything down and got Donegal a foot hold in the game. Had he not done so the game could easily have ran away from Donegal in the first few minutes as it looked like doing.

Donegal for giving it a real go. They deserve credit for this. Credit too to Paul Flynn, competing with the conveyor belt of young talent Dublin are producing around that middle third of the field might lead many to give up the ghost as they head off on the wrong side of 30. Flynn showed he is still a force to be reckoned with.

I enjoyed this game. Is the answer to the keep ball stuff to just go all out to give away a free. Dublin keep ball in their own half so no scoring chance given away. Free taker has to kick from a static position with 14 targets and 15 men opposing them. If everyone can go man on man, grabbing a bit of a jersey or what ever it takes to get a hand in, it becomes a bit of a lottery if possession can be maintained.

dahayeser (Cork) - Posts: 336 - 16/07/2018 10:31:17    2122550

I sometimes wonder do I see a completely different game to everyone else. This obsession with the last 10 minutes completely misunderstands everything that happened up to that point, and everything that is coming down the road for both teams. Why would Dublin go into the Donegal defensive shape when they can conserve energy, and the game is won? Why risk that? And for Donegal, of course we want to win the game and get the ball back, but we had already lived dangerously and avoided more goals through poor Dublin shooting and good saves from Patton - so why go man for man against a fresher Dublin team which could severely punish us if we pushed up too far? What good would that do morale going forward to the must-win games coming up?

Criticising either team is a bloody nonsense. Another thing that is forgotten here is that Dublin are the best in the country so getting the ball off them is easier said than done even if you go man for man. Similarly we were out on our feet, there was a moment where we did start to push up and I think it was Kevin McManamon just turned his marker and motored into a wide open Donegal defence then. Just look at Roscommon getting a hiding earlier in the day and tell me that their way is the smarter tactics.

On the game itself, you need a few things to happen in order to beat this Dublin team. You need some luck and the rub of the green from the ref. That isn't to say that the ref favoured Dublin, I just mean you sometimes need a soft scoreable free or for an obvious free to Dublin to be missed. You also need to be extremely clinical and take your chances - this very obviously didn't happen for us with some bad wides and Brennan's goal chance in particular. You also need to minimise mistakes, no easy gimmes for Dublin - again this didn't happen. And finally, you need Dublin to be having an off day for a while at least, I felt this did happen with some very bad wides from a Dublin perspective.

All in all I am quite pleased with how we played because I know we can improve on that. I thought the young lads showed really well, especially Langan. There is a lot of encouraging signs for us going forward. The kickouts were an obvious issue but Patton has done well all year and will learn a lot. The whole team will learn an awful lot in my opinion and that is great for us. Dublin began cruising towards the end but I've no doubt they felt they were in a game for large periods, I'm not too sure if they would have too many more gears although that bench is such a strength for them to see games out. Fenton and Howard were incredible I thought.

Hopefully Dublin win all 3 games but I do think Tyrone in Omagh is a real test for them. I'm a bit worried from a Donegal POV that we'll have nothing to play for come Ballybofey and the August bank holiday.

JoeSoap (Donegal) - Posts: 1432 - 16/07/2018 10:44:01    2122561

Congrats to Dublin on a real professional performance. I can't understand why people are having a go at Dublin for playing keep ball towards the end. To me it made sense, I do think Donegal tried their best to turn it over but Dublin superior conditioning meant that their skill level didn't drop and didn't give Donegal a chance to get a tackle in (apart from the A Thompson tackle which seemed to be a harsh foul given against him by the ref). You do have to admire Dublin's adaptability to different circumstances during the game. They dropped 15 behind the ball several times during the game to snuff out any goal chances for Donegal and their transition into attack was so fast at times. I don't think Dublin were at their best by any means but they did exactly what they had to do and I think they will step it up as they progress through this series.

From a Donegal perspective you have to be reasonably happy. We're in a lot better shape than we were in 12 months ago. The heads didn't drop at any stage and the lads kept plugging away. Jamie Brennan caused Dublin plenty of problems and although he finished the game with 0-3 he could easily of has a goal or 2 with that. It was a great learning experience for him and several other Donegal players making the first championship appearance at Croke Park and even though I don't think it would of effected the end result I do think we could of got a few decisions from the ref that would of helped our cause somewhat. The most obvious one being the strange advantage the ref decided to play when Paddy McGrath was fouled inside the penalty area...might of being something to do with it being into hill 16...haha! I'm sure Dublin supporters can point out a few decisions that didn't go their way as well.

Onto next weekend, I think Dublin will up their performance and have too much for Tyrone and I hope we are too good for the Rossies which will leave a big show down in Ballybofey in a few weeks (here's hoping).

Mobot (Donegal) - Posts: 459 - 16/07/2018 10:49:32    2122572

clondalkindub (Dublin) - Posts: 9926 - 16/07/2018 13:21:12    2122681

MuckrossHead (Donegal) - Posts: 5028 - 16/07/2018 13:39:31    2122701