Where was Spillane today??

paddywack09 (Tyrone) - Posts: 150 - 15/05/2011 19:06:14    931419

tyrone v down final toss a coin for the winner

williejohn (Antrim) - Posts: 22 - 15/05/2011 19:10:58    931422

paddywack09
County: Tyrone
Posts: 105

Had his head down the toilet at the thought of this match!

MourneArmy (Down) - Posts: 1787 - 15/05/2011 19:13:26    931430

If Down can get past Armagh, which wont be easy, I reckon its their best chance in years. Tyrone are definitely an obvious choice after that

petejoeduff (Donegal) - Posts: 329 - 15/05/2011 19:18:11    931434

If Down get past Armagh theyll probably have to get past Derry as well which wouldn't be easy!

cboyle92 (Down) - Posts: 184 - 15/05/2011 19:25:01    931441

absolutely horrible conditions sports where handling the ball is a requirement arent made for monsoon conditions , all the same the scoring wasnt great and the lack of intensity was staggering considering the consequences of loosing the match .I felt donegal did ok in the end they were poor enough from the fiftieth to seventieth minute , mcguinness will be happy enough to see that all his forwards bar murphy scored from play exciting to see mcbrearty come on , mchugh , bradley , mcglynn and mcelhinney were all solid , mcfaddens a bit of a genious , a player that could do anything but will never be top class due to his inconsistant performances , lacey is top class as is cassidy and mcgee , they should beat cavan and i think theyll give tyrone who i presume will beat a monaghan team in transition a massive challenge and i think thell win , there always seems to be shakiness that comes to the opening game in ulster for some reason , thaught i was watching the analysis of armagh derry last year , as usual orourke and brolly over analysed every ember of the game , they arent the most poitive analysts i suppose the same could be said for giles and hook in the other sports, anyway its off heres to a great summer

stekhli (Dublin) - Posts: 3121 - 15/05/2011 19:26:15    931442

stekhli as strong as the wind was it didnt blow 15 men behind the ball it was the worst game of football i ever seen.it was like watching a u7s game with everybody chasing the ball i counted 13 players at 1 stage within 3 metres of each other

booboo (Cork) - Posts: 1382 - 15/05/2011 19:34:45    931452

Not the sort of fare to whet the appetite, but then prelim matches never get the pulses racing, its all about safety first at this stage. Donegal did just enough I guess, there were the occasional flashes of decent play and Antrim did defend pretty well too so they kinda nullified each other. There will be better days ahead for Ulster this summer, watch this space.

brendtheredhand (Tyrone) - Posts: 10897 - 15/05/2011 19:39:01    931458

petejoeduff
County: Donegal
Posts: 12

931410 I can understand neutrals coming on this thread criticising the football on display today, wasn't pretty by any means, but not Antrim fans when they employed exactly the same tactics

Yup.... as bad as Donegal were, Antrim were even worse. Well said Pete. Both teams should have a good luck at themselves. Antrim seem to have lost all the confidence which they got in 2009. But the tactics of both sides were terrible. I was in Letterkenny for the NFL between Kildare and Donegal earlier this year and I was worried for Donegal because there seemed to be a general reluctance throughout the team to shoot. Although, some of the efforts at scoring today, granted there was a breeze, were dreadful. Brolly and O'Rourke were TOO critical but, in fairness, they weren't wrong about the tactics of both sides. Perhaps Donegal just wanted to win and stay under the radar a wee bit? If they wanted to, and they had the confidence and bottle to go for Antrim today, they probably would have racked up a 20-25 point win.... that may have led to wild expectations so they may be better off to play puke football for the time being.
However, as Brolly and O'Rourke said, the real tests will come when they 4 to 5 points down and need to open up. We will see how good this Donegal team is then. I think they still need another year or two to really make an impact (ie, quarter-final stage and onwards)....

yearofthelily (Kildare) - Posts: 279 - 15/05/2011 19:53:43    931474

looking forward to seeing Cork show us all how its done in 2011!

Tyrone358 (Tyrone) - Posts: 4 - 15/05/2011 19:54:25    931477

Certainly was puke football. I never saw a more defensive side than Donegal. Better teams like Armagh, Tyrone and Down will pose serious questions about Donegal's ability to survive in a tight game. Any of those teams would have put Donegal under serious pressure today.

lilywhite1 (Kildare) - Posts: 3049 - 15/05/2011 19:55:16    931478

williejohn
County: Antrim
Posts: 19

931397 donegal are trying to reinvent puck football,

lave that to laune rangers

dhorse (Laois) - Posts: 11374 - 15/05/2011 20:03:47    931486

i never mentioned anything about the wind , its a very difficult formation to breakdown that donegal have in place and at the same time they have enough finishers to outscore the opposition , people can say what the like about tactics , systems etc but it is oart of sport theres so many different styles of play out there perfected by various teams , in sport as this can be mirrored by the madrid barca game , i think donegal look a little like dublin at the begining of the championship as they are still not comfortable with the style they are playing and need more time to perfect and even vary it

stekhli (Dublin) - Posts: 3121 - 15/05/2011 20:05:01    931488

After the two terrible performances against Armagh last year, the two priorities after that had to be a decent showing in div 2, and a couple of championship wins. Jim has delivered so far and set up a solid base here, even though its very defensive, and thats a great start. Given time, I'm confident that Donegal can open up a bit more, but to tell the truth, I'm just delighted with the first Ulster Championship win in four years

petejoeduff (Donegal) - Posts: 329 - 15/05/2011 20:23:31    931514

I'd fancy a Tyrone v Down final.

ispeakwisdom (Roscommon) - Posts: 2487 - 15/05/2011 20:47:07    931537

Very poor match.I knew it was,nt going to be a cracker thought there might be some spark about it.Both teams just sat back and just wanted to defend at one stage Donegal had 13 men behind the ball and yet Antrim still managed to put over a point.If Donegal are to make a push to win ulster they are going to have to improve considerably because todays performance would win them nothing....

DUB1 (Dublin) - Posts: 5583 - 15/05/2011 20:54:26    931548

i think donegal will have too much hunger, desire and speed for tyrone if the pair come to meet so id go with a down/donegal ulster final

stekhli (Dublin) - Posts: 3121 - 15/05/2011 21:05:28    931567

stekhli
County: Dublin
Posts: 829

931567
i think donegal will have too much hunger, desire and speed for tyrone if the pair come to meet so id go with a down/donegal ulster final

Ridiculous statement.. on today's evidence Donegal look anything but Ulster final quality.. they might match Tyrone for physicality but not for class..

RoyalClass (Meath) - Posts: 790 - 15/05/2011 21:50:46    931645

stekhli
County: Dublin
Posts: 829

931567
i think donegal will have too much hunger, desire and speed for tyrone if the pair come to meet so id go with a down/donegal ulster final
______________________
Were we watching the same game today? Anyone of Tyrone, Derry, Down, Monaghan, or Armagh would have put that Donegal team to the sword today, no doubt about it.

brendtheredhand (Tyrone) - Posts: 10897 - 15/05/2011 21:57:47    931658

i wouldn't worry too much if i was a donegal fan,it was the 1st game of the champ' and it was a poor day,they will be far better come their next match..

achara (Monaghan) - Posts: 584 - 16/05/2011 09:44:21    931694