The average age of this Galway side is 23. Their doing well, not allowing Sligo to settle into the game and picking off some fine scores, need to keep it going now. With Flynn, O Currain, Walsh, Martin, Cummins thereâs some serious talent there
Nasty challenge that on Lundy, could have caused a serious injury. Galway finally beginning to put some daylight between them on the scoreboard, canât remember the last time Iâve seen us so utterly dominant in the middle of the field
Fuck me what a score, that looked like 98 all over again:clap:
Conroy in for Hoare
Armsrong in for Danny Cummins who ran out of steam a wee bit in 2nd half, great performance all the same:clap:
Sky have given Fiontain MOTM:clap:
Final score 16-11. Youâd have to be happy with that performance. Sets up the Connacht Classico with the Mayo reprobates.
Redemption is knocking on Mulhollands door
Shower of mercurial hurling genius bastards! Up galway!
I thought David Collins had a great game all the way through.
Some super corner back play from him.
Footballers looked hugely impoved in beating Sligo. Do ye fancy beating Mayo in final? Bookies making Mayo huge favs.
Yes. Weâre going to beat them,
I must admit, Iâm really looking forward to the Connacht Final tomorrow. Theyâve picked a strong experienced side with Andy Moran and Alan Dillon returning to the full forward line. James Horan named his side early in the week and significantly, theyâve recalled Barry Moran at midfield, along side Seamus O Shea, with Aiden O Shea being named at centre-forward. This suggests to me that they will try to bully our youthful midfield duo of Oâ Curraoin and Tom Flynn. I think Mulholland has made a smart call in trying to combat this by bringing Paul Conroy back in to the side. Heâs named at corner forward but Iâve no doubt heâll be brought out around the middle to offer Flynn and Oâ Curraoin a bit of protection from the Mayo trio. Micheal Martin can feel a little hard done by to be left out but I understand Mulhollands selection in this instance
Shane Walsh is another who can expect special treatment tomorrow. He has matured a lot from last year and reminds me a bit of Michael Donnellan when heâs in full flow. He was in super form against London and Sligo but I expect that fucker, Keith Higgins, will be looking to put a halt to his gallop with a sly dig at some point. Meanwhile Josh Moore returns at left corner back for Galway, alongside Finian Hanley and Donal OâNeill. We may not win this tomorrow but Iâm more than confident weâll give them a serious rattle. Playing in Castlebar will be no disadvantage as we nearly play better away from Pearse Stadium these days.
I was listening to that gobshite Anthony Moyles on Newstalk the other night and he was saying that it would be madness for Galway to not employ a defensive set-up in this game as theyâd be ate alive if they try and play open football, going man for man with Mayo. I happen to think this is a complete crock of shite to be honest, and that in fact it would actually suit Galway if this was how the game developed. If the defensive tactics were thrown out the window, weâd always fancy ourselves as having the better footballers than them in a straight shoot-out. I think this is somewhat borne out by the fact that Horan has chosen a side designed to try and choke the life out of Galway around the middle. Anyway, it may not come tomorrow, but it would be sweet to get revenge on them cunts for last years humiliation, especially that Garden Gnome wanker, Andy Moran.
Never Forget. GĂĄllimh AbĂș
Best of luck to Gaillimh tomorrow. OâCurraoin is a serious talent, for the first time since OâDomhnaill & Walsh ye have a strong midfield. Bringing back Conroy is wise, you canât beat experience.
Always had a soft spot for Galway footballers - part of the holy trinity of football along with Kerry & Down.
[QUOTE=âGary Birtles Lovechild, post: 982558, member: 2585â]Best of luck to Gaillimh tomorrow. OâCurraoin is a serious talent, for the first time since OâDomhnaill & Walsh ye have a strong midfield. Bringing back Conroy is wise, you canât beat experience.
Always had a soft spot for Galway footballers - part of the holy trinity of football along with Kerry & Down.[/QUOTE]
Kind words indeed, Gary. Yes, there are reasons to feel excited about Galway football again. It has been in terminal decline since the glory days of the '98 - '01 team. Last year it finally hit rock-bottom with the thumping we took in Salthill against Mayo. In someways it is comparable to the defeat Brazil suffered during the week; as a county, we had been coasting along on past glories and it was the wake up call we needed.
Like Brazil, we contributed handsomely to our own downfall when some catastrophic defending led to the concession of a heap of goals. Mayoâs glee in the infliction of such a heavy defeat was galling to watch, although itâs hard to blame them I suppose, itâs not like they havenât been the butt of many a Galwegians jokes.
Mulholland came under serous fire following that defeat, and also in the ensuing qualifier games, when Galway struggled to beat Waterford and Tipp on home turf. Some puzzling team selections coupled with a complete absence of a game plan didnât help but things took a turn for the better when they produced a gutsy display to beat Armagh at Pearse Stadium. Gutsy is not a word that had been used to describe The Tribesmen too often in recent times.
That result gave the Galway football team their first visit to Croke Park in several years and as usual they reserved their best football for the wide open spaces of HQ, playing with the traditional swagger not seen in years, but ultimately losing narrowly to Cork in an encouraging display. There were a few bumps in this years league campaign but by and large Mulholland seems to have steadied the ship, and he is to be commended for this.
The last links to '98 and '01 have been well cut on the playing field, but Mulholland is being assisted these days by two of the stars from that team, Declan Meehan and Paul Clancy. They have assembled the most exciting crop of young players to line out for Galway since John OâMahony moulded the class of '98 into All Ireland winners. Unlike those lads, most of the lads playing today have All Ireland medals at minor and U-21 level, but the success of senior side is the only thing that matters among the Galway Football public.
The good times may not return today, this year, or even under Mulholland, but Iâm quietly confident weâll be back in the big-time before too long.
Now is the year, today is the day, today is the gateway. Thereâs a door there and thereâs you and your manâŠeither of ye can get through it. Who wants to get through it? Now think about thatâŠThink about your families. Think about what it means to people close to youâŠ
John OâMahony, Castlebar, May 24th 1998
@03:35
Any word on a few more departures from the football squad? Rumours that Armstrong and a few more may have left any truth to it?
without the now mandatory infighting and turmoil tipp were a nap to beat us anyway. A well organised hard working team that have hammered decent enough teams the last two rounds and should have beaten cork.
Mightnât be a bad thing. The sooner Mulholland has nothing to do with what looks like a talented enough bunch coming through, the better
Armstrong back in apparently. Hissy fit over being made play for the b team in training. Rumor has it three other lads have left. This from the impeccable source of the Galway forum on hogan stand.