Very hard to do anything except flake the ball against Kilkenny. Galway since McIntyre have been set up to tackle Kilkenny head on and stand up to them physically. With one exception itâs been a failed policy.
Canât criticise them too much as no one else has done much better. But maybe itâs time for something different.
You have to do this, and hurl head up. Winning hard ball isnât bough against these fuckers, and flaking it the general direction of their half back line wonât work. Galway are on the right track.
But the problem is Galway havenât been able to hurl with their heads up against Kilkenny when the pressure has come on. The ability to either drive at Kilkenny from their own half-backline, or to make space and pick out forwards hasnât been there. Today didnât look a whole lot difference to the 2012 finals.
Look it quite simple. Cody changed things up at the half and our reaction was poor. We did a good job on the match ups in the first half but failed the test when Hogan and Power came on. Nothing new, Cody has been out thinking the Galway sideline since the 2005 shootout. Iâm sure he made a commitment to no more shootouts that day.
I wouldnât be too despondent, nothing much gained by beating Kilkenny at this stage. We visibly wilted after the goal and when Kilkenny tacked on a few points it was all over even though a lot of time left. I wouldnât be fearful of anyone else left either. A few areas to work on, but I wouldnât be surprised at a repeat of last yearâs final.
Is Iarla Tannian injured, or what?
Galway need him and a fully-fit Jason Flynn back on the team if theyâre to have a chance of turning their season around.
Davy Glennon was a gamble which didnât pay off today.
Micheal Donoghueâs body language after the match wasnât very encouraging. Seems like a nice man, but Galway probably need a cunt in charge.
Why exactly did canning get rid of Cunningham?
Does Donoghue allow him more time to do his âbusinessâ?
Tannian is 32 this summer and has a lot of miles on the clock. Iâd love to see him give it a lash for one more year but donât know what his fitness level is like. He played injured in last yearâs final and it hurt us badly as he probably was the one player who could have curtailed Fennellyâs influence in the second half.
Donât know whatâs going on with Jason Flynn. In my view he is our top goal threat. Maybe he is out of form but I donât know how you justify starting some of the forwards that started ahead of him. He is always good for 3 or 4 points from play a game, how many did a few of those picked ahead of him score from play?
Goal scoring is a problem for Galway. If you take out Canningâs goal from a free in injury time in last years final, they havenât created a goal scoring chance in two games against Kilkenny. Not a sniff of a goal against Tipperary in last yearâs semi final either.
He doesnât seem to have any charisma about him. As much as I laughed at him at the time you couldnât imagine him going up to Cody to tell him theyâd meet again in the final like Cunningham did
Flynns not injured at all. He was dropped. No one was going to Cody today saying weâd see him in September, this team is done
No itâs not. They are a fine side. They gave it a good lash for forty odd minutes. Theyâll improve. No one will fancy us in the back door.
Limerickesque
There was one score in it entering the last 10 minutes. Kilkenny wanted the Bob OâKeefe more, itâs as simple as that.
We would
When did Limerick lead Kilkenny at half time, since 1973?
On current form Galway would embarrass Limerick, and all true Limerick supporters like @ChocolateMice know this.
Eh, two years ago? Or close enough to them anyway.
2013 and 2012.
We didnt play KK in 2013. We played them in 2014 and they were ahead at half time. Not that it makes a jolt of difference. Doesnt matter a fuck being ahead at half time
Why are Galway posters so despondent? They played very well for long stretches and hopefully learned a bit from the game. They have obvious scope for improvement and it should come too, a few players will benefit from more game time. Lost their shape altogether in the final quarter and should get better at organising that too. If heâs still up to it at all they need Tannian back in.