Sunday 10th - Croke Park

Kerry v Roscommon - 14:00 (Referee - Padraig Hughes)
Dublin v Donegal - 16:00 (Referee - Maurice Deegan)

CroiGorm (Dublin) - Posts: 1547 - 04/04/2016 16:35:18    1841671

Two good games,I think Kerry will exact a little revenge on the Rossies - Kerry by 5.Dublin v Donegal will be tasty.Donegal will attack more than the last dual in the capital as they will have to ; lose and your out!Dublin will get their fill of it but a more widespread scoring threat to see Dublin set up a chance to win the four-in-a-row!

cuederocket (Dublin) - Posts: 5084 - 04/04/2016 17:22:43    1841710

Predicting Dublin to win their match if they field a better defence than the one put out against Roscommon, they were creaky enough with the exception of Cian O'Sullivan who was brilliant. Don't know what to make of Donegal this year and don't think they will overly exert themselves for this match. Dublin by 6/7.
Predicting a narrow Kerry victory over Roscommon provided we can be competitive in midfield. Donaghy and Moran have been cleaning up all around the middle of the park the last few matches and as always they have a serious set of forwards with Paul Murphy bolstering them even further. The Kerry defence shouldn't scare the Roscommon forwards at all though and if this turns out to be an open enough game then we'll give them a good run for their money with our attacking talent. Kerry by 3.

RoscoMan (Roscommon) - Posts: 80 - 04/04/2016 18:14:15    1841750

cuede, I love your starry eyed optimism regarding the chances of Donegal adopting, a hitherto unseen, all out attacking policy against Dublin.

Donegal supporters I have spoken to today, expect to be watching this from behind the sofa, waiting for a walloping & for the sky to fall in on us for our negative play.

I agree with them.

MuckrossHead (Donegal) - Posts: 5028 - 04/04/2016 18:27:37    1841756

I fully expect Donegal to be more adventurous. Gavin seems to have the measure of the blanket now. I think Gallagher will look for a much quicker transition from defence to attack now. They have the players to do it. The fast retreat requires huge fitness levels though. I'm not sure any team can maintain that for 70 and in that regard the laborious handpassing buildup suits them, gives them time to recover from the dash back to defend. It's going to be very intetesting and I expect a much closer game this time around. Will Donegal exploit the potential of that full forward line? Can Dublin's makeshift fullback line contain them if they do?

Joxer (Dublin) - Posts: 4700 - 04/04/2016 18:50:36    1841770

Never said all out attacking muckross - i feel ye will attack more than the last game.Not hard i know,but it's knockout and there is no other alternative.

cuederocket (Dublin) - Posts: 5084 - 04/04/2016 19:36:24    1841783

I would love to see us go for it on Sunday cos if we play the same game plan as two weeks ago the result will be the same. We're not fit enough to play the blanket over 70 mins. It worked to an extent the last day until half time but we were tired in the second half and from that gave the ball away time and time again. We also hadn't the energy to counter attack properly. The same happened on Sunday v Monaghan.

Gallagher is a very conservative manager so I wouldn't expect too much change. I would however love to see some of the U21's get a full game in Croke Park. Gillespie did well against Dublin the last time and I would also like to see a full game from Stephen Mc Menamin, Stephen Mc Brearty, Jack O' Brien, Ciaran Thompson and Eoin Bán Gallagher.

We've nothing to lose so it would be a shame to play with fear of losing instead of a will to win.

Tir Conaill Abu (Donegal) - Posts: 1671 - 04/04/2016 20:53:05    1841819

For me the game was close the last day up until the sending offs and the goal Joxer. I imagine it will be another game where neither side will reveal to much. Dublin to win by around 5 on a scoreline of something like 1-11 to 9.

gotmilk (Fermanagh) - Posts: 4971 - 04/04/2016 21:05:10    1841827

The semi-finals are a complete waste of time. I have absolutely no interest in them. The league is simply championship preparation. I always enjoy going to the regular league games. They are good for what they are. The knock-out stuff is nonsense. It is good for Allianz though. They are good sponsors and the deserve the bit of publicity that goes around the finals. The semi-finals are being scrapped next year. It is a good idea. They have tried the semi-finals, it is a waste of a weekend. We all move on.

legendzxix (Kerry) - Posts: 7844 - 04/04/2016 21:20:26    1841837

Think the donegal fans would like to see their team go out and give us a go,instead of uber defensive like the last day...for me id rather see my team die on their shield than lose playing like that'doesnt matter how many points you lose by.at least you can say you went out to play .the right way..

GGdub (Dublin) - Posts: 260 - 04/04/2016 21:41:40    1841854

If it's a dry day ros and Kerry more than likely a shoot fest expect scores between 19 and 22 points between both sides including goals in them totals as neither will show any defensive tricks for championship itll be man on man might be closer than people think and our forwards talent now with u21s back might just impress a few neutrals.
Donegal and dubs could be anything depends on each team's start if dubs start well Donegal chasing it, it would be interesting if Donegal start well and dubs trying to break them down it'll be a slow game across the pitch stuff.

OhtobeARossie (Roscommon) - Posts: 1764 - 05/04/2016 08:21:10    1841873

Kerry v Dublin final....it what surly will be a pre cursor to a semi final meeting later in the year.
Anyone else of the opinion though the team that finishes top of the league should be league champions?
I know we are getting rid of the semi finals, but there should not be a final either. Frre;s up the calendar a bit more too for club games.

yew_tree (Mayo) - Posts: 11231 - 05/04/2016 08:48:43    1841883

Why are both games in Dublin again? Surely Kerry should have home advantage also for finishing higher than Roscommon.

RoyalBadger (Meath) - Posts: 571 - 05/04/2016 08:52:02    1841885

it is rumoured that the GAA will show Top Gun during the donegal match in case fans nod off asleep. They decided to show this retro film to reminise when donegal last played real football.
The dublin county board are fighting this decision as they would prefer netflick where they can watch only fools and horses so that donegal players wont know when the fans are laughin at their style of play and not at trigger forgetting his sambos

heresam (Dublin) - Posts: 156 - 05/04/2016 09:03:55    1841893

Kerry will beat Roscommon handy enough on Sunday as Roscommon have no midfield and are wide open at the back. Dean Rock waltzed through their defence anytime he wanted last Sunday and that will be exposed by the Kerry forwards the next day. They are also quite easy bullied off the ball as Mayo showed a couple of weeks ago and are not a physical side by any means. They also failed to beat a Dublin team without practically all of their championship team last Sunday in Carrick on Shannon. Kerry to win by a minimum of 8 or 9 points. Expect Dublin to beat Donegal by 4 or 5 points when they figure out how to get past the normal "parked bus" **** they play.

kingdomfan (Kerry) - Posts: 393 - 05/04/2016 09:47:17    1841911

Think the donegal fans would like to see their team go out and give us a go,instead of uber defensive like the last day...for me id rather see my team die on their shield than lose playing like that'doesnt matter how many points you lose by.at least you can say you went out to play .the right way..

GGdub (Dublin) - Posts:6 - 04/04/2016 21:41:40

What the Donegal fans would "like" in neither here not there as far as the Donegal management & players are concerned. As for playing "the right way" the less said about that the better!!

The reasons I am pessimistic about Sunday both from a result & entertainment point of view are as follows.

1. Donegal couldn't care less about the league. Never have, never will. The Ulster championship is the only thing occupying minds here at his time of the year.

2. Donegal have a limited panel with a number of players firmly in "senior" status. Many of them are only getting into full training mode now with the result that the team is not able to produce a full 70 minutes of sustained effort playing the way they like to. We have seen only sporadic appearances from Durkan, Neil McGee, Frank McGlynn, Karl Lacey, Neil Gallagher & Colm Mc Fadden this year. These guys are the spine of the team & until they are fully fit, Donegal will struggle.

3. Gallagher will use Sunday as an opportunity to give younger players a taste of Croke Park & more experience of the defensive system against the best in the business.

Would I like to see an open attacking performance from Donegal? Of course I would. The facts are however that Donegal can't play Dublin that way & expect to win. In the last league match, laying the way they do, they were ahead until Murphy got sent off & fatigue set in & I don't expect to see any change in attitude.

Where I think they will try & improve will be in the area of discipline which has been very poor this year. Far too many cards, far too many frees moved up, far too much mouthing both on the field of play & on the sideline. Sort that out & it would be a good day's work done.

MuckrossHead (Donegal) - Posts: 5028 - 05/04/2016 09:51:28    1841915

I wouldn't be surprised if Roscommon were able to take Kerry. Roscommon play with great pace and this could trouble Kerry. Also Roscommon will want this game more than Kerry.

As for Dublin v Donegal, I expect an open & fast flowing game with loads of scores, this will be the game of the season. Donegal to play with 15 attackers and Michael Murphy to play the full game at full forward lol. Seriously I expect more of the same when the two sides met a couple of weeks back. Donegal will have loads of men behind the ball and hope to frustrate Dublin. Normally I'd give Donegal a chance of winning but we are playing very poorly so I'd expect Dublin to win comfortably.

Green_Gold (Donegal) - Posts: 1874 - 05/04/2016 10:05:25    1841921

it is rumoured that the GAA will show Top Gun during the donegal match in case fans nod off asleep. They decided to show this retro film to reminise when donegal last played real football.
The dublin county board are fighting this decision as they would prefer netflick where they can watch only fools and horses so that donegal players wont know when the fans are laughin at their style of play and not at trigger forgetting his sambos

heresam (Dublin) - Posts:79 - 05/04/2016 09:03:55

Funny, I heard they were showing the 2014 All Ireland semi final - as it also doubles a lesson to the Dubs in getting too cocky.

Al_Maguire (Donegal) - Posts: 244 - 05/04/2016 10:06:44    1841924

Kerry & Dublin both to win, I agree with my county colleague as to why Croke Park is holding these games, Clones or Breffni would be ideal for Dublin/Donegal whilst Cusack Park in Ennis could hold Kerry/Roscommon, fixtures people shoot themselves in the foot again

Richieq (Meath) - Posts: 3734 - 05/04/2016 10:15:49    1841932

Kingdom fan your knowledge of Roscommon is second to none. Actually no you havnt a clue. The last two weekends meant nothing to us and we're very makeshift teams with at least 4 lads starting both games that will be lucky to remain on panel never mind the team. Not sure how we will approach this game but dryer pitch will suits us more than Kerry. A team with the majority of players over 30 will struggle in Croker. And on Dean Rock he scored 1-1 hardly great return for someone who waltzed through our defence any time he wanted. Anyway did you see him waltz through it or you basing that on reading papers?

Pingcity (Longford) - Posts: 568 - 05/04/2016 10:22:55    1841937