doubt you had much issue clondalkin when dublin won the all ireland playing in a similar fashion.......completely agree with waynol..no appreciation for tactics in gaa like there is in soccer...sometimes style dont match which results in a poor game like the all ireland final last year..on other occasions the styles fit perfectly like both semi finals especially the dublin-donegal 1 which was a major clash of styles and resulted in a brilliant game

fabio8 (USA) - Posts: 2182 - 03/02/2015 15:38:09    1689691

clondalkindub
County: Dublin
Posts: 5719

1689670
Give me Dublin v Mayo 06 or dublin v kerry 07 or Dublin v kerry 13 over Donegal v Armagh borefest any day of the week.

What about Dublin V Donegal 15, as open & enjoyable a game as you'll ever see but there was still some great defending in it, ableit all of it from Donegal.

MuckrossHead (Donegal) - Posts: 5028 - 03/02/2015 16:12:24    1689710

MuckrossHead
County: Donegal
Posts: 3267

1689710
clondalkindub
County: Dublin
Posts: 5719

1689670
Give me Dublin v Mayo 06 or dublin v kerry 07 or Dublin v kerry 13 over Donegal v Armagh borefest any day of the week.

What about Dublin V Donegal 15,

I hadn't realised that this year had been decided already.

I had hoped that we'd at least get the opportunity of playing.

MesAmis (Dublin) - Posts: 13718 - 03/02/2015 16:23:29    1689717

Didn't think Dublin v Donegal semi final was a great game last year. Not because we lost as Dublin v mayo in 2006 was one of the best matches I have ever been at and we lost that day too. More down to the fact that both teams didn't play to their best. In 2006 Dublin and mayo both performed to their optimum in 2013 Dublin and Kerry both performed to their limit. Donegal played some great counter attacking but dublins midfield duo may as well have been standing beside me on the hill that day as neither attempted to put any effort into chasing back which time after time left the full back line with no option but to go to the ball or stay with their man, either way it led to easy scoring chances. For me a great match is seeing two teams giving it their all.

hill16no1man (Dublin) - Posts: 12665 - 03/02/2015 16:31:15    1689720

Terrible game except for flynn and connolly putting on a masterclass in the first half.

clondalkindub (Dublin) - Posts: 9926 - 03/02/2015 16:32:53    1689721

clondalkindub
Give me Dublin v Mayo 06 or dublin v kerry 07 or Dublin v kerry 13 over Donegal v Armagh borefest any day of the week.

How about Dublin v Kerry 2011??

TheMaster (Mayo) - Posts: 16187 - 03/02/2015 16:39:37    1689726

From a Donegal point of view last year against Dublin was fantastic but a game I enjoyed more was the semi in 2012 against Cork. Both teams went at it in the first half especially and it became a shoot out. There was hardly a free blown and overall was a great game.
This Saturdays game will not be a classic. Both teams are at the early stages of the season and if its a bad weather night it could be exciting but only because of mistakes. Like all the games last week it will be the team that scores the goals will win the game. Donegal, Monaghan, Cork and Mayo all got on the right side of the result because of the goals.

Tir Conaill Abu (Donegal) - Posts: 1671 - 03/02/2015 16:45:03    1689731

Ah yes Master, one of the all-time classic finals, with a huge fairy tale ending for the underdogs :D

realdub (Dublin) - Posts: 8596 - 03/02/2015 16:54:21    1689735

disagree hill as dublin in the first 15 mins or so v donegal or even 20 played as good football as you can see with some brilliant scores..i agree the 2nd half wasnt as good but 1st half was phenomenal stuff......mayo kerry though truly had everything including some off the field amusement

fabio8 (USA) - Posts: 2182 - 03/02/2015 16:57:58    1689737

Hill and Clondalkin would ye wise up !! It was a cracking match. Hill, Dublin's tactical naivety was ridiculous. All your half backs chased up the field after their men. That's what left a vulnerable full back line totally exposed. Dublin were out thought, out fought and out played .

Greengrass (Louth) - Posts: 6031 - 03/02/2015 17:19:51    1689742

I agree, although there should be a distinction made here. Play any way you like as long as it is within the rules and with the right ethos and spirit - absolutely. What I would have an issue with is when a gameplan includes gamesmanship, fouling guys in a swarm tackle, trying to get guys sent off, etc. These things sometimes get passed off as part of playing defensively, but they aren't, they are cheating. Playing defensively is playing on the counter, getting bodies back in front of the D, double marking etc. Those things are fine because putting extra strength in one area is creating a weakness somewhere else in the team, and a good opponent should be able to expose it. That is part of the game.


Very good post - completely agree with the above,.

jimbodub (Dublin) - Posts: 20600 - 03/02/2015 17:24:31    1689745

dont have any issue with the swarm tackle once it is applied correctly..whats wrong with it?...gamesmanship is simply a huge part of sport and sadly is present everywhere and always has been..will be very hard to get rid of..people just come up with new ways to do whatever it takes to win

fabio8 (USA) - Posts: 2182 - 03/02/2015 17:32:04    1689748

Dublin Donegal last summer was a good game up to halftime. One Jim got his tactics right and the other didnt.people have to be realistic though. Donegal weren't that good and Dublin had an off day after 20 minutes which can be forgiven due to the football they played for the previous two seasons. Dublin were on for a double double of the two major GAA competitions.

I'd rather watch Dublin playing than watch two dour teams pull and drag each other In a foul fest decided by a refs view of who fouled the least.

The Kerry Mayo replay was one of the ugliest games in memory. Kerry got away with murder. It was attritional, like an Ulster football game. Not lots of quality. Plenty of fouling.

I enjoy watching open football, yeah it can be beaten. It's still entertaining to watch. And it does more to sell itself to children than 8 points a piece with three scores from play!

JayP (Dublin) - Posts: 1772 - 03/02/2015 17:33:35    1689749

It seems that clondalkin is still very sore at Dublin's loss to Donegal last year and he seems to be extremely spiteful in some of his comments towards Ulster sides AND that is it in a nutshell. Donegal went toe to toe with Dublin last season and when Dublin realised that they couldn't outrun, outmuscle or outbench Donegal they didn't have another plan. When Donegal got on top of Dublin they played ALL the football and ran the Dubs ragged at times with great examples of fast, attacking, skillful football SO talk about Donegal, Armagh or Tyrone not being able to 'play football' is lazy, stereotypical, prejudiced, factually incorrect nonsense. It is more to do with geography and the border than football; I have said this for the past decade and still believe it now.

Ulsterman (Antrim) - Posts: 9706 - 03/02/2015 18:22:17    1689758

one of the ugliest games in memory?..jesus i know your a dubs fan but what game were you watching?..it was an incredible game full of drama great scores and end to end action..there is nothing entertaining about shambolic defending and beating meath by double digits

fabio8 (USA) - Posts: 2182 - 03/02/2015 18:34:45    1689767

Green grass Dublin didn't play to anywhere near what they had done all year and Donegal played far better than they had done all year it happens there not machines.

hill16no1man (Dublin) - Posts: 12665 - 03/02/2015 19:03:48    1689778

Fabio I don't agree man yes we took some nice scores but they came from two guys really who were on form
I could clearly see that the middle of the park where a mess at that stage even it was just Paul Flynn and Connelly's accuracy that was covering the cracks but if Dublin had if taken either gilt edge goal chance it probably would have ended up like the Monaghan game.

hill16no1man (Dublin) - Posts: 12665 - 03/02/2015 19:07:30    1689782

Good enough thread,, and it is worth throwing the question into the mix whether a brilliant performance in a very one sided dull game means that this is the way football should be played. There are countless examples of this in living memory, and when all is said and done, they are very forgettable games indeed. I would much rather watch a close exciting game that might not have the same scoring average than a blitz

Donegalman (None) - Posts: 3830 - 03/02/2015 19:13:36    1689783

Well said Ulsterman and Fabio.

Greengrass (Louth) - Posts: 6031 - 03/02/2015 19:28:51    1689791

think 1st half was very good and serious intensity as well as very close game..once the goals went in it ended as a contest pretty much

fabio8 (USA) - Posts: 2182 - 03/02/2015 19:37:20    1689795