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Galway Football thread

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Replying To GalwaysFinest:  "Its true, its our strongest panel in years, on paper.

But we still rely on the old reliables when available. Comer, Walsh, Conroy, Kelly.

Harsh to leave out Maher in that conversation because he is usually exceptional but yesterday just wasnt his day.
Shane McGrath and Oisin McDonagh (is he injured?) were finds of the league but didnt get much time yesterday.
Roche's involvement for the goal was excellent but surely McGrath and McDonagh have a lot to offer here.

When will Rob click when Damo and Shane are on the pitch too? Having all three firing would be a joy to watch.

Its fine margins, and if we win that game yesterday maybe these conversations dont happen, but its a tough pill to swallow considering we were in the driving seat and let momentum switch in the last few mins."
Galway could easily go further in all-ireland than Roscommon, yesterday not that important in the overall season. Joyce has to see the bigger picture, all to play for

Expertinall (UK) - Posts: 76 - 11/05/2026 12:28:26    2672289

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Replying To Pope_Benedict:  "Who is the Galway player standing right in front of Heneghan on the 55 yard line, before the Ros player proceeds to streak past him up the middle, play a one two before netting with ease for Ros's 2nd goal in the first half? The same Galway player managed to jog to the 40 in 'pursuit' of Heneghan, and was probably 20yards behind the Ros player when he struck the goal.

It's not the type of defending that'll win big football matches. You'd imagine that item 1a on Tyrone's gameplan will be not to let Heneghan streak up the middle of their defence 4 times to setup 4 goal chances yielding 3-1."
It was O'Flaherty. I believe it was he who also lost possession earlier in that play. He's dynamic going forward, but to be honest he has never really shown himself to he good on the backfoot. He's incredibly loose and allows players to get around him very easily. Not to be slating lads, but we looked very disorganised in the middle too. Molloy for all his attributes also isn't the tightest and wouldn't be the most natural centre-back. A huge amount of the unseen work of a centre-back is constantly organising and being vocal.

WanPintWin (Galway) - Posts: 2799 - 11/05/2026 12:38:26    2672293

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Like we got the momentum swings we got last year in Castlebar coming down the stretch, Roscommon got them this year. That's football.

Two moments tipped the game in the Rossies favour. First was Cregg's monster two pointer.. what a score. You could feel the lift it gave Roscommon and it drove them on. Honestly if that effort goes wide I think the game is over.

The other big moment was the 50m penalty against Comer. It looked harsh but those are the fine margins.

We just couldnt get hand on ball around that time to take the sting out of it. When we finally got hand on ball in open play in the last min our goose was well and truly cooked!!

ahsure. (Galway) - Posts: 1768 - 11/05/2026 12:43:52    2672295

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Replying To WanPintWin:  "The free was against Hernon first. Moved forward against Comer for the two pointer because he supposedly delayed Roscommon taking the free.
The thing is, he definitely thought it was a Galway line ball, so it was pretty harsh. The free was also soft originally, but Hernon could have been smarter. Roscommon lad was going nowhere and was about to be turned over if he shadowed him.
Kickouts are still the biggest issues. Roscommon got a load of short ones away against the wind. Carroll had a handy option free so many times. They targeted Ryan Roche's lack of quickness being able to cover his man, who got free regularly.
Contrast it with the second half, where Flaherty didn't once have an option to go short. We had to go long almost every time, and when you're doing that it's basically a lottery. Think we won only one kickout after Comer's goal and obviously got no score in that time, while Roscommon scored 8 points.
We were also wide open down the middle of the defence in the first half. Roscommon looked like they had a goal on almost every time they ran at us. The lack of ability to get proper contact on the runners was very poor.
Roscommon very deserving winners and fair play to them. We have a lot to think about the before the Kildare game."
I thought the free brought forward was extremely harsh because nearly the same thing happened 10 mins early where we won the line ball and rossies played on with it but line ball not brought forward. Maybe because it was free vs line ball but should be no distinction between them

systematic (Galway) - Posts: 281 - 11/05/2026 12:49:03    2672297

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Replying To GalwaysFinest:  "Its true, its our strongest panel in years, on paper.

But we still rely on the old reliables when available. Comer, Walsh, Conroy, Kelly.

Harsh to leave out Maher in that conversation because he is usually exceptional but yesterday just wasnt his day.
Shane McGrath and Oisin McDonagh (is he injured?) were finds of the league but didnt get much time yesterday.
Roche's involvement for the goal was excellent but surely McGrath and McDonagh have a lot to offer here.

When will Rob click when Damo and Shane are on the pitch too? Having all three firing would be a joy to watch.

Its fine margins, and if we win that game yesterday maybe these conversations dont happen, but its a tough pill to swallow considering we were in the driving seat and let momentum switch in the last few mins."
Forwards not clicking had little to do with yesterday's loss. We kicked a few bad wides in the first half, but overall across the game we put a big score and were pretty efficient with our conversion rate.
The momentum swung in the final 8 minutes because we hardly had the ball. We had one attack in that time, prior to the late equaliser attempt. Apart from that Roscommon won the majority of the kickouts and worked their scores with a strong breeze. We were starved of possession in that time. On top of that, most of the kickouts in that timeframe were our own, but we couldn't work a way to retain possession.
Our purple patch in the second half, after their third goal, came from a lot of the breaking ball falling our way, as well as few good catches from Maher and D'Arcy. There was a stark difference between how Roscommon had options for the short one in the first half and how we had to go long every time in the second half.
In the modern game against a team with good attackers, losing 5 or 6 of your own kickouts in a row can be devastating. Roscommon outscored us 8 points to 0 in the last 9 minutes. We didn't even have an attempt at a score in that time, until Shane Walsh's kick at the very end, simply because we hardly had the ball.

WanPintWin (Galway) - Posts: 2799 - 11/05/2026 12:50:04    2672298

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Replying To Marooned:  "I usually keep a close eye on underage and there is not a lot coming through. No Connacht minor title since 2018. No Connacht U20 since 2020, We were lucky to get Thompson last year. Some good individual players at underage but not very many that look like potential senior stars. One or two will emerge but it's slim pickings. Eye has been off the ball at underage."
We won an all ireland minor in 2022 0r 2023.We won under 20 in 2020.Connacht titles aren't the be all and end all any more.

Alwaysencourage (Galway) - Posts: 594 - 11/05/2026 12:54:49    2672301

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Replying To eoinog:  "It's always remarkable how players who are not around jump to Providence when a game is lost. In the lead up to the game most posted on this site agreed it was the strongest Galway panel in years."
It's a strong squad, however some players aren't performing to how people expected. Granted it's also not a guarantee Cooke and Thompson would've either

ColmFlaherty (Galway) - Posts: 33 - 11/05/2026 12:58:38    2672305

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Replying To candlewax:  "such rubbish. cooke has had many chances with galway and never did it simple as that.

we had a so called great bench before the game. daly hernon tierney had no impact when introduced

comer got some great scores but also cost us at the end when not letting go of the ros common player.

we go with the players we have."
Cooke was solid when was playing IMO, wasn't always 100% but was a good player, he was able to win kickouts. The problem is that his work commitments would clash with playing for Galway.

Tierney I agree their but Daly and Hernon improved the defence when they came on to me.

It's a good team we have but like others have said their has to be a way in where we don't have constantly rely on Walsh, Comer and another 1 or 2 to get us through games.

ColmFlaherty (Galway) - Posts: 33 - 11/05/2026 13:03:11    2672306

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Replying To GalwaysFinest:  "Its true, its our strongest panel in years, on paper.

But we still rely on the old reliables when available. Comer, Walsh, Conroy, Kelly.

Harsh to leave out Maher in that conversation because he is usually exceptional but yesterday just wasnt his day.
Shane McGrath and Oisin McDonagh (is he injured?) were finds of the league but didnt get much time yesterday.
Roche's involvement for the goal was excellent but surely McGrath and McDonagh have a lot to offer here.

When will Rob click when Damo and Shane are on the pitch too? Having all three firing would be a joy to watch.

Its fine margins, and if we win that game yesterday maybe these conversations dont happen, but its a tough pill to swallow considering we were in the driving seat and let momentum switch in the last few mins."
So many good chances missed in the first half, kickouts again a big issue, not winning their share at midfield, especially breaking ball, seems no plan (or faith) for short kickouts, Ros tore through our defence at will, (no one leaving a hand on them) but still 6 up with 7 minutes to go, and only for Comers obstruction woud probably have gone on to win. The win would have papered over all those cracks, a lot of things to sort out, as Kildare coming to town with nothing to lose and no pressure

1951andwaiting (Galway) - Posts: 101 - 11/05/2026 13:28:30    2672317

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Replying To 1951andwaiting:  "So many good chances missed in the first half, kickouts again a big issue, not winning their share at midfield, especially breaking ball, seems no plan (or faith) for short kickouts, Ros tore through our defence at will, (no one leaving a hand on them) but still 6 up with 7 minutes to go, and only for Comers obstruction woud probably have gone on to win. The win would have papered over all those cracks, a lot of things to sort out, as Kildare coming to town with nothing to lose and no pressure"
It's not complicated, just compare the intensity of kildare v westmeath to yesterday. Kildare are so open in defense. If we play anything like against roscommon, we'll win easily.

systematic (Galway) - Posts: 281 - 11/05/2026 14:01:39    2672337

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Just anotherday when mentors continued to take their siesta around 4 in the afternoon. they can't be expected to disrupt their schedule can they?

backtooldwall (Galway) - Posts: 226 - 11/05/2026 14:08:25    2672342

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In two of our last 4 championship games, Down 2025 and Ros 2026, we've conceded precisely 3-21. You can talk 2pointers and new rules if you like, but I don't see Kerry conceding that sort of cricket score too often.

Pope_Benedict (Galway) - Posts: 4708 - 11/05/2026 14:19:40    2672349

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Replying To ahsure.:  "Like we got the momentum swings we got last year in Castlebar coming down the stretch, Roscommon got them this year. That's football.

Two moments tipped the game in the Rossies favour. First was Cregg's monster two pointer.. what a score. You could feel the lift it gave Roscommon and it drove them on. Honestly if that effort goes wide I think the game is over.

The other big moment was the 50m penalty against Comer. It looked harsh but those are the fine margins.

We just couldnt get hand on ball around that time to take the sting out of it. When we finally got hand on ball in open play in the last min our goose was well and truly cooked!!"
That's a good point about the marginality of our margins at the last 2-3 Connacht Finals. We were probably due to run out of road at Connacht Finals, based on the nature of our comfort margins in this game 2024-2026.

Pope_Benedict (Galway) - Posts: 4708 - 11/05/2026 14:25:08    2672351

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Replying To eoinog:  "It's always remarkable how players who are not around jump to Providence when a game is lost. In the lead up to the game most posted on this site agreed it was the strongest Galway panel in years."
I wouldn't be looking to players not around for losing. As good as Thompson was last year it should be worth taking into account that he got fast tracked from the U20 grade due to injuries last year.

The current Galway panel is at it's strongest for years, lost away to Division one team on their home patch yesterday doesn't change that so credit where it's due to the rossies.

Drax_the_destroyer (UK) - Posts: 829 - 11/05/2026 15:18:03    2672366

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Our manager, who is an all time playing legend no doubts, does not seem to be learning any manager lessons as the years go by and we repeat the same mistakes. No obvious kickout plans, no plan on opposition kickout (none that works anyway), soft centre of defence, baffling selections (O'Flaherty and Roche yesterday), not enough variation in attack except get the ball to a shooter, (we never seem to have runners off the shoulder).
To cap it all PJ scores a 2 pointer during the warm up just like he did in Croker v Meath last summer.
As Springsteen would say......Glory Days.
Time to let it go man.

conordee (Galway) - Posts: 466 - 11/05/2026 15:24:05    2672369

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There no shame in loosing yesterday eventually Galway were going to loose in Connacht bigger issues in my opinion is its same players last few years no new players really just bascialy move same players around molloy centre forward v dubs centre back yesterday though he did descent on smith who is a handful playing Roche as a target man and not kick ball in made zero sense every year Joyce picks some random lads few years ago played Eoin Finnerty , Mike Farragher out of blue put Niall Daly full forward another year gone after 20 mins played Molloy , Sweeney wing forward v mayo in Connacht final 3 years both gone by ht makes daft decision at times ,, I've said it here lots time Galway no pace in half back line and very few playes in back 6 or midfield actually kick the ball id say yesterday between the back 6 and 2 midfield players they not give 10 kick passes in whole game

Kickitout (Galway) - Posts: 1153 - 11/05/2026 15:27:14    2672372

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