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Donegal GAA thread

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First game of the year after a couple of months away. Great to get to a game. The game felt like a glorified challenge match with Monaghan not offering much resistance but the goals woke them up and in Stephen O'Hanlon they had a player whom we couldn't handle in the first half. Only for Jamie's goal we were looking at a HT deficit which was head scratching to say the least as Donegal generally controlled the game. The Monaghan goals while good finishes seemed to stem from defensive mix ups with poor tracking or players not being where they were supposed to be. This was rectified at HT and the 2 subs made a huge difference. It did take an uncharacteristic slip up from Beggan to reverse the tide but once we did we seem out the game comfortably enough. As already pointed out similar defending next week and it'll be a blow out. Jason was again MOTM and was excellent throughout. Some great scores from Langan too and Shea had a great game. He'd remind you of Brolly in his pomp and it'll be interesting to see how he copes in the heat of championship battle. Interesting to see the approach next week. Will Kerry want to put down a marker? How will Jim approach it? Keep cards close to his chest for down the line or road test a little. It makes for an intriguing game.

panamasam (Australia) - Posts: 2913 - 23/03/2026 15:03:28    2662569

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Replying To WeGoAgain:  "The Langan incident was just Gough being Gough as far as I'm concerned. Langan was walking away from the monaghan player taking the sideline and he kicked the ball directly at him and then looked to the officials. Not dissimilar to when players charge directly into opposition players after winning a free looking for the ref to bring it forward.
On a side note, does anyone know if the season ticket gets you entry into the division 3 and 4 finals too or will I have to shell out a few more euros for that?"
I watched it back on YouTube and really can't understand how that was instructed to be moved up by the linesman.

Also the fact it leads to concession of two points is not very well conceived as a rule. In a higher profile closer game it would be a huge talking point.

Overall the ref I found decent. He was letting a bit of contact and not blowing things up unnecessarily.

Ulsterchamps_32 (Donegal) - Posts: 984 - 23/03/2026 17:58:59    2662642

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Well done to your hurlers.

Long trip ahead of ye on Saturday.....

sponger (Wicklow) - Posts: 2982 - 23/03/2026 18:21:22    2662657

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Replying To panamasam:  "First game of the year after a couple of months away. Great to get to a game. The game felt like a glorified challenge match with Monaghan not offering much resistance but the goals woke them up and in Stephen O'Hanlon they had a player whom we couldn't handle in the first half. Only for Jamie's goal we were looking at a HT deficit which was head scratching to say the least as Donegal generally controlled the game. The Monaghan goals while good finishes seemed to stem from defensive mix ups with poor tracking or players not being where they were supposed to be. This was rectified at HT and the 2 subs made a huge difference. It did take an uncharacteristic slip up from Beggan to reverse the tide but once we did we seem out the game comfortably enough. As already pointed out similar defending next week and it'll be a blow out. Jason was again MOTM and was excellent throughout. Some great scores from Langan too and Shea had a great game. He'd remind you of Brolly in his pomp and it'll be interesting to see how he copes in the heat of championship battle. Interesting to see the approach next week. Will Kerry want to put down a marker? How will Jim approach it? Keep cards close to his chest for down the line or road test a little. It makes for an intriguing game."
To be realistic, I can't see us beating Kerry in this league final, we have too many niggles and injuries at the moment and to beat this Kerry team, you really need a full strength fit squad with a strong bench. There is a chance Gavin Mulreany and Brendan McCole won't feature next week after yesterday, added to Shaun Patton, Ciaran Thompson, Daire O'Baoill, Ciaran Moore and Oisin Gallen.

However it is still an opportunity to learn for later in the year, because we know Kerry will likely field a full strength team and go full tilt at it, so its an opportunity to maybe test other players and really see how they fare against the All Ireland Champions.

Commodore (Donegal) - Posts: 1669 - 23/03/2026 21:08:58    2662685

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