+1. Can they maintain this throughout the summer sid? I still dont think they have enough individuals of a marqee nature to compete with the likes of kilkenny and tipp.
Cannings reputation thus far is based on underage and club form. Has he done more for Galway at senior level than Eugene Cloonan for example?
Itāll be difficult but not impossible. The fitness is there and there is clearly a savge hunger in the team. The legs are young enough. If we go four or five points down, thatāll be the real test. Weāve led from the front so far in matches. Still Kilkenny and Galway got early goals and it didnāt affect us. The Klkenny perfomance against Wexford wasnāt all that. Shefflin and Tyrrell were total passengers. Iād like to see Dotsy get some good ball against Tyrrell. He could destroy him given the right ball. Still thereās no way Iād tip Dublin to beat Kilkenny in the Leinster final. Their middle four is still savagely strong and Tommy Walsh will be back.
Tipp were scary today. 41 scoring chances. Dublin arenāt at that level yet, and probably wonāt ever get there. Tipp may not be as good in two or three years though.
he won a fitz in 2007 and scored 1-15 or something ridiculous when LIT were beaten in the 2008 final. He has won allstars in 2008 and 2009, was young player of the year in 2008 also. the lad is only 22 years old.
Cloonan had probably done more in a Galway shirt at the same stage in his career though. Fitzgibbon Cups donāt really count much to anybody not involved in that scene. Didnāt Timmy Hammersley score 1-11 last year?
Was surprised that they allowed Canning loose on the frees in the last 20- how many wide did he hit? Seemed very selfish to me- real look at me I;m the big man taking the score. they should have knocked the ball in on top of the Dub Full back line who were nervous under the high ball. Canāt believe that McIntyre didnāt have the gumption to tell Canning to stay away from the frees and hatch in on the the edge of the square
problem was farragher was missing and so had no alternative. Im sure if farragher had started he would have been swtiched onto the frees.
But they were real low percentage frees from the sideline or inside his own half, theyād have been much better off lobbing the ball in than pucking it wide. Thought Galway showed a lack of brains both on the pitch and on the sideline. There was a period with about 20 to go when Galway were cleaning up at centrefield and half back but they kept running the ball into Dublin instead of playing it long. Contrast this with Dublin who kept reacted to this by flooding their defence with their half backs- that passage of play near the end where about 5 Dublin lads hunted down the Galway forwards epitomised this.
agree with that. Id imagine that canning was instructed to go for the score.
How long before Galway run out of the Leinster Championship and decide they want to go back to the handy route to an AI Final?
they need to get their minors and U21s playing in the leinster championship in my opinion.
Is every sane persons opinion too. And right it is.
But thatād mean sacrificing handy underage All Irelands as well and after this weekend, might be a bit much for them. Sure they might not win fuck all for years
If Canning had have taken any pride in his conditioning last year, they might well have won an All Ireland as a lot of their supporting acts (callinan, smith, ryan etc had good years). Itās all very well saying ah itās the managers fault, he cant find a position for him. What about Canning actually saying to himself Iāll go where the manager puts me and with my ability will be a success in every position. For a man of his size he tends to win f*ck all in the air too. Thought his attitude was diabolical last year. He has outrageous skill but its takes more than that to be a top class hurler.
He also looks to have the natural metabolsm of a darts player, well a PDC one anyway.
Galwegians - is it true he earned 40k one year as a student with all the sponsorship deals he was doing?
When I saw him first as a 17/18 year old in an All Ireland club final against some Corkies he wasnt fat.
Think he could be a subscriber to the Limerick chippers thread
Small bit of contradiction here Fenway. As a Dublin based Corkman are you afraid of the slagging of them being better than us? 'Cos i think you may have to get used to it. Have a feeling this kind of thinking is clouding some lads. They just donāt believe Dublin are good enough yet, cos its just not the way it happens.
They can only become marquee players when they have had a successful run, which they are now having. These are terms given to them by the press. I for one think they have the players now to go and challenge for an All-Ireland and that HAS to be their matra. I know people think iām mad, and iām sure KK will improve again in the final, but i think Dublin are in a better place squad wise than KK now. As i said already, i think they will win the Leinster Final. Far too much going on from the āCountryā lads about the performances of KK & Galway being below par. Its Dublins fitness, physicality, work rate and non stop defending lads thats making these teams look poor. The scoring, which is the key ingredient for Leinsters & All-Irelands seems to be coming along nicely as well now and they are not reliant on one player.
Exactly.
You really are fucking clueless.
My seething has subsided slightly. (Try saying that after a few Jamesons).
I agree he does put himself about but he could do with a a manager to control his egoā¦ and whats with the goading after scoring the goal against Dublin? Pure silly stuff.
Anyway, heāll never do it all on his own and 3 of the other forwards did fcuk all the last day and it could be argued that none of them should start the Clare game. Callinan, Ryan and Hayes. Hayes looks fcuked to be honest, I reckon his knee injury has killed alot of his pace. Callinan just doesnāt seem to have any understanding with Canning or Donnellan. Actually Donnellan doesnāt seem to have any understanding with his wrist at time either.
Clare game will be interesting. Tick tock for McIntyre.
Galways problem is they have too much choice. They dispose of fellas way too quickly and never give them a real chance to get up to intercounty standard.
They pushed the panic button way too early yesterday. Either JC takes all frees from yeāre 45 onwards or he only takes the ones closer in. Either way you donāt change that in the middle of the match. He should have been up there winning the ball instead of driving it wide. People expect too much of him. The reality is he hasnāt fufilled his potential yet and just isnāt that great. Maybe yeād be better off without him and making other lads step up to the plate?
Jaysus that was as bad as a performance as I have seen from any hurling team in a long time.
For a team like Galway to only score 7 points is pretty shocking. They had very poor discipline as well to allow Ryan hit 11 frees. Dublin looked much the better team, and dare I say looked very impressive, particularly defensively having lost Brady so early on. I would give them a very good chance against Kilkenny.
I canāt fathom how anyone could say that Joe Canning isnāt great. Even his goal on Saturday is testament to how good he is. But with players who are that good, and with possible ego issues, there can be difficulty managing them. Which is where McIntryre comes in, who I never thought was up to it. I canāt believe that he has lasted this long to be honest.
Well said Caomhain.
I think the big change in Dublin this year is the return of Keaney to the team. I think he has added not only his skill put his off the field experience of competing in finals with the footballers. The last couple of seasons I always thought Dublin are missing the experience of being involved in big games or having players in the squad who have been involved in big games, but with the likes of the Shane Ryan and Keaney coming back into the hurling and the experience they bring in terms of coping with the big games has helped the lads in the hurling on dealing with the big games.
If the league final against KK had been played 12 months ago, Dublin would not have won because they couldnāt cope with the big day but they have learned now and we seen that in the League final and now in a big game against Galway. Ok, they could have lost if Galway had taken some of their chances but in saying that Dublin could also have gone into their shell after conceding the goal and loosing their full back, instead the changes were made and the team got on with things, no bitching or moaning, no complaining to the ref they just got on with it, even after loosing a man in the middle of the second half for doing something stupid. The next game now against KK is going to be a big test, do I think they will win? My heart says yes but my head is saying no but I hope with put in a strong performance and we make KK work for everything in that game, thatās all you can ask for from your team.
As for marquee names for Dublin, well you have Keaney, Rushe, OāDwyer, P Ryan, McCrabbe and Dotsy to name but a few. However the lads work as a team as was emphasised towards the end of the match were Galway nearly got a second goal but instead it was saved and then backs burst their balls trying to get it out, I remember seeing Keaney bursting through to get the ball while being held in a headlock by one of the Galway players, I seen Dublin players chasing down Galway players even without their hurls.
Roll on the next game now, I cant wait. What a test to play KK in a Leinster final when the cats will be all out for revenge for the what happened in the league final? If Dublin overcome them and win whats going to be said then? Oh its only a Leinster, it doesnāt mean anything, similar to what is being said now about our league win, or will it be more about KK not performing as it is now about Galway not performing and nothing being said about the sheer tenacity and hunger that is being displayed by this Dublin team.
Its about some of the hurling snobs get their heads out of their arseās and start accepting the fact that maybe Dublin are a good side and stop putting them down every step of the way. Begruding fuckers.