re mifieldmaster/ i reckon a straight red means o donnell gets a month susp from all football,he also has to miss at least one match in the competion he was sent off in, so he'll def miss connacht final.
re scan/ the reason niall coyne doesn't look like a corner back is because he isn't one, have seen him play lots of times for his club and he's a totally attack minded player even when playing no6,a player of his mindset will always be a liabilaty in the full back line.

otto (Galway) - Posts: 189 - 29/06/2009 09:24:12    326011

hey lads well i have to say im sick as a parrott after that game, we had ye there for the taking and we just didnt have the little bit extra needed to finish the job, fair play to ye though when you look a tthe game and i watched it again last night when i went home every time ye needed a score ye seemed to get it with ease in short ye had the players to step up to the maek when needed, joyce, armstrong, meehan and bergin when they where needed they came through for you and fair play. dont worry about what those shower that ye playing in the CFF say sure we all know they will hit the ground like lead ballones at the first sign of pressure. ye will come on a mile from that game and will win the final with ease.

rich dublin (None) - Posts: 425 - 29/06/2009 10:00:51    326041

That was a shockingly poor performance against lets face it a poor Sligo side and Sligo people would admit that themselves. To me there were only about 7 - 8 Galway players worthy of being called intercounty standard i.e. Faherty, Hanley, Bradshaw, Joyce, Bergin, Meehan and Armstrong and some of those only played sporadically well yesterday. Damian Burke, Coyne and O'Donnell are not good enough. Where were Darren Mullaghy and Alan Burke who are much better players? Fitzgerald only brought in late on and its hard to do without Nickey Joyce when you see the likes of Joe Joe Greaney brought on and then losing the ball cheaply straight away. The now routine half hour fade out during the middle period of the game raised its ugly head yet again. There is no AI or even Connacht title in that team this year and they have regressed badly from last year. As Dara O'Cinneide said on the Sunday Game last night they are too "nice", give attacking players far too much room, have no midfield, have no ruthless streak and fade badly out of games.

tommy k (Galway) - Posts: 3470 - 29/06/2009 10:09:33    326053

Faherty...7 Solid Coyne....4 Got destroyed. Hanley...7 Badly caught out early on, Did well after. Burke... 4 A puller and a dragger Dec M...4 Poor Blake...5 Reasonable Bradshaw.. 7 Did ok Conroy...0.5 Semi pathetic o donnell...4 Poor Bane..4 Capable of the occasional good score but contributes nothing else. Joyce..8 Class. Bergin...4 Got a point at the end, but missed 2 easy ones. The usual performance from a vastly overrated player. Armstrong..8 He should have fisted it over the bar for the goal! Meehan...7 Class Clancy...4 Subs: Every one of the subs had an disaster when introduced, especially Greaney.

Charlie (Kerry) - Posts: 513 - 29/06/2009 10:27:31    326073

TommyK. Agree 100% with your take. But Surely Sammon knows better than anyone that Alan Burke, Mullaghy, Fitzy and Indeed Tomas Fahy are far better players than those he started yesterday. Is it a tactic to keep the good wine till July?
A call to Micheal Keane would not go astray, he is the best midfielder not to have been given a run out yet..

If the best 15 start ye will give Mayo a good run for it esp with home ground worth 2-3pts, But at least 6 changes have to be made from yesterdays starters.

martinjoe (Mayo) - Posts: 555 - 29/06/2009 11:21:22    326142

I can't believe the editor altered my ratings!

Difficult to recommend wholesale changes for a final but a team I'd like to see tried in the league next year would resemble:

1 Faherty
2 A Burke
3 Hanley
4 Mullahy
5 Fahy
6 Bradshaw
7 Coyne
8 Cullinane
9 Coleman
10 Armstrong
11 P Joyce
12 Conroy
13 N Joyce
14 Meehan
15 Cummins

Assuming everyone is fit and available for selection

Charlie (Kerry) - Posts: 513 - 29/06/2009 12:23:27    326252

this galway panel have been over hyped a long time now. early on in the league there was great talk of div 1 success and all that rubbish. mayo were close to tyrone last year and i dont think anyone would disagree that they are better this year. thats the marker. one team in dissarray and one quietly improving.
good luck, tho, to the favourites, galway (time to recheck odds me thinks)

voiceofreason (Mayo) - Posts: 588 - 29/06/2009 13:26:40    326373

Cullinane at midfield..you are joking !! He came on for 15mins yesterday and could barely run.

In the Parish ! (Mayo) - Posts: 448 - 29/06/2009 13:41:41    326402

I agree that Galway were shockingly bad yesterday. They won however and they are still in the championship. They do have serious problems at midfield and it is certain that Cullinane is not the solution. He is awkward on the ball and careless to boot (or appears that way). We need serious reordering before the final. Here's hoping.

Also what is the story re: our injured players? I have to say that one might lose patience with some of them, as they must have the doctor's worn out with their sicknotes? Oh well.

Oggy (Galway) - Posts: 245 - 29/06/2009 13:52:56    326428

voiceofreason/ its evens the two, 15/2 the draw.

otto (Galway) - Posts: 189 - 29/06/2009 14:31:50    326509

Just a few points. Don't panic. Be patient and calm. We won and won playing badly. Don't be bothered about winning margins too much. Football matches only have to be won by 1 point. This competition is a marathon not a sprint. Sligo are generally hard to beat esp at home.

Mayo are spouting already, this is good. They have a fragile ego and mentality. Galway are in a position where we must improve. How can Mayo improve on their "perfection" v Ros. We await Mayo with bated breath in Pearse Stadium and we are not afraid. We will not back from them. If we are beaten fair and square by a better team we will take our beating and go thru the back door.

Preview v Mayo. Our tall full back line might have a better game against Mayo's twin towers. We are trouble of biblical and mammoth proportions and midfield and we need more from all of our forwards. We are underdogs.

Tribesman09 (Galway) - Posts: 31 - 29/06/2009 15:09:59    326565

Ratings v Sligo.

Faherty 8 Good kickouts and very good save.
Burke 6 Seems to be losing speed.
Hanley 7 Above average. Needs to be more commanding.
Coyne 4 Played from behind. A cardinal sin.
Meehan 5 Played completely lacking confidence in himself.
Blake 6 Not as dominant as when a younger player.
Bradshaw 8 had a good game.
Conroy 5 Kept trying but not great.
O'Donnell 4 Running out of chances big time.
Bane 4 All the ills of the modern game.
Joyce 7 Intelligence and guile.
Bergin 6 Showed leadership at vital time.
Clancy 6 Worked hard while on.
Meehan 7 Below par.
Armstrong 9 Brilliant. Good on him. Hope to see more.
Subs. Greaney 5 Didn't get that much of a chance. Coleman 6 Did his best. Sice 6 Not bad. Cullinane 5 V.poor. Fitzy 6 Did his stuff.

Tribesman09 (Galway) - Posts: 31 - 29/06/2009 15:21:06    326589

How are ye underdogs..both teams are at even money so therefore its anybodys game to win,im pretty sure JOM wont read too much into galways lacklustre display and will have his troops prepared and ready for the trip to salthill.One thing he will note however is the amount of weaknesses galway displayed v sligo and london for that matter.Mayo on the other hand didnt show much if any weaknesses thus far in their two outings in championship.JOM will have noticed where he can hurt and exploit galway now as sammon admitted and there is a lot of work for galway to do to bridge the gap that is currently between themselves and mayo in this years championship.Galway were absolutely terrible in their two outings to date and will have to up the ante several gears to stick with the pace of mayos quick moving game.The only bonus galway can really take and im scraping the barrel at this stage is that its in salthill but then again,home advantage isnt greatly significant as its not like Old trafford or the likes where you have over 3/4 home advantage support.Both sets of fans will get a similar amount of tickets and support will be 50-50 so in my opinion home advantage in Gaelic games doesnt count for a whole lot,dont get me wrong because it would be good to have it in castlebar from a mayo point of view but going up to salthill doesnt really faze us to be honest.

In the Parish ! (Mayo) - Posts: 448 - 29/06/2009 15:33:33    326605

Talk about contradicting yourself "in the parish". You make a statement about "how are Galway underdogs?" and then go on to point out how they are. All I can say is Mayo are magic! HaHaHa!

Tribesman09 (Galway) - Posts: 31 - 29/06/2009 15:54:18    326640

Hold the dramatics lads, can you honestly hand on heart say that the teams performance yesterday is a shock.... come on!!!! some talk midweek of unrest in camp?? Sammon must shoulder some of blame, his tactis are a bit naieve to say the least.

skittles (Galway) - Posts: 168 - 29/06/2009 16:01:11    326653

In fairness home advantage does count for something. Maybe not as much as in soccer but it's definitely a factor. Otherwise why would Mayo not have won in Tuam for 40 odd years before 1999 and not won in Salthill since the 1960's. It was not a good performance from Galway yesterday but O'Mahony himself will know that Mayo teams have been made raging favourites before against Galway teams and have been sent home empty-handed. I expect Galway will better in the Connacht final as I think yesterday's tough game will lead to some neccessary changes in team selection and of course the sight of the green and red jersey is a motivation to Galway footballers in itself.

That said there is no doubt that Mayo will deservedly go in as hot favourites. I expect you would do well to find a single pundit who will back Galway in the lead up to that game. There will be a big crowd down from Mayo (along with those living in Galway) who will be there expecting a nice big win by the seaside and an ice cream on the prom afterwards.

Marooned (Galway) - Posts: 2387 - 29/06/2009 16:11:58    326670

In the Parish ! - You might as well start painting the sheep green and red now. Sure you've won the all-Ireland now.

Starie1975 (Galway) - Posts: 444 - 29/06/2009 16:42:13    326709

I dont think people actually realise that galway dont have good midfielders. Joe bergin in midfield? when was the last time he played well for galway in a championship game in midfield. It was 2003 against mayo in connaught final in pearse stadium, 4 points form play. And who was his midfield partner? Thats right Kevin Walsh. Kevin didnt play much championship games in 2004. Galway midfield problem was "solved" according to the galway media beacuse of Barry cullinane in 2005. but it wasnt
Cullinane had a few good connaught championship games but was found wanting in croker that year alo ng with most others. But Cullinane does some really stupid stuff. Joging to a ball in a connaught championship match and giving it away then. really school boy errors. Niall coleman is not really a midfield guy. its hard to know where salmon can put him. But the midfield partner ship was really bad yesterday.
In 2006 galway had michael donnellan in midfield, with paul clancy some times.
In 2007, well the less said aboutt 2007 the better
In 2008 was a bit of a pick up but still nothing solid.

So, since 2003 the following players have played in midfield for galway in championship
Kevin Walsh
Joe Bergin
Sean O'Domhaill
Paul Clancy
Niall Coleman
Barry Cullinane
Michael Donnellan
Paul Geraghty
Paul Conroy
Gary O'Donnell
Mark Lydon

11 Players!!!! Galway have a serious problem!!!!!

My choice ofr midfield, Cullinane and Bergin. I dont know why, but because their the biggest?

galway5000 (Galway) - Posts: 104 - 29/06/2009 17:13:17    326756

Well one things for sure, there will be no sheep painted maroon n white this year anyway..unless ye want to enter the tommy murphy cup but sure carlow might be in it this year lads.If ye can get kevin walsh fit maybe he can play midfield with cullinane..no??or maybe ja fallon..they should bring the average age up another notch or two if it isnt high enough already!! Fitness fitness fitness..thats what will lose galway the game against mayo,the quick movement of the ball and over reliance on PJ and MM..Harte,Mort,Dillon-Kilcoyne,Moran,O'Shea=bye bye lads :)

In the Parish ! (Mayo) - Posts: 448 - 29/06/2009 20:21:18    326955

the fans deserved better all 5 that travelled.. for the size of your county your support is pathetic,more mayo supporters will be in pearse stadium than galway supporters..

mayoultras100 (Mayo) - Posts: 138 - 29/06/2009 20:27:19    326964