The 2014 GAA Thread

[culloty82]

So, this GAA deal with Sky - on the one hand, it exposes the sports to a potential audience of millions, but putting a third of championship games behind a paywall alienates the grass-roots supporter?

[BonnieShels]

So, this GAA deal with Sky - on the one hand, it exposes the sports to a potential audience of millions, but putting a third of championship games behind a paywall alienates the grass-roots supporter?

But, again you have to ask yourself, if these people really want to see the games they will go to them like I and many others did/do.

The package has actually increased the amount of games shown. And even during my sessions of watching matches during the summer I still couldn't see everything.

And from what I could gather TV3 were outbid.

I'm all for it. The outcry is from the usual begrudgers. And I say all as someone who despises Sky with every iota of my being.

I'd be interested in the minutiae of the deal re international rights and the like.

[legendz]

Yeah sure the games handed over have tended to be affected by being live on tv. The GAA while being shrewd are definitely testing it's impact as well.

[geysir]

But, again you have to ask yourself, if these people really want to see the games they will go to them like I and many others did/do.

The package has actually increased the amount of games shown. And even during my sessions of watching matches during the summer I still couldn't see everything.

And from what I could gather TV3 were outbid.

I'm all for it. The outcry is from the usual begrudgers. And I say all as someone who despises Sky with every iota of my being.

I'd be interested in the minutiae of the deal re international rights and the like.
As if to have an objection to the the Sky deal was someone who didn't like others having some fun, a spoil sport, a nasty person, a scrooge.
just because a person is for FTA and against subscription televised GAA , doesn't mean they are a bunch of begrudgers.

[BonnieShels]

But this is Ireland and generally they are.

The amount of people I saw on Facebook and on comments pages that couldn't give a monkeys about the GAA were up in arms. The very same gob****es who don't go to Ireland friendlies then complain that Sky have the rights.

I would prefer personally of they remained FTA as it means I could view them easily over here on my high horse. I'm also not the biggest fan of Sky. But by the same token I'm excited at the prospect of the new audiences that this could bring the games.

The Channel 7 deal is a great piece of business as well.

[pineapple stu]

But, again you have to ask yourself, if these people really want to see the games they will go to them like I and many others did/do.
Or they'll go to the pub.

[bennocelt]

Less Gah on terrestrial TV, great:D

[geysir]

But this is Ireland and generally they are.

The amount of people I saw on Facebook and on comments pages that couldn't give a monkeys about the GAA were up in arms. The very same gob****es who don't go to Ireland friendlies then complain that Sky have the rights.

I would prefer personally of they remained FTA as it means I could view them easily over here on my high horse. I'm also not the biggest fan of Sky. But by the same token I'm excited at the prospect of the new audiences that this could bring the games.

The Channel 7 deal is a great piece of business as well.
This is Ireland, that's your explanation:rolleyes:
There are 14 games being exclusively covered by Sky in Ireland. Means in order to view these 14 games (which were covered by TV3?) one now has to watch via a sky sports subscription, which is a 12 month contract thing for new subscribers - EUR 50 or 60 per month, and if you already have a basic package it means an extra Eur 30 or Eur40 a month, month by month basis.
So Sky is not going to bring in a new audience in Ireland, it will gain new subscribers in Ireland without expanding the GAA viewership and without expanding the GAA coffers by anything much, well hardly enough to keep the Dubs in ice baths over a season.

In the UK, the GAA games were already on the Sky satellite menu with Premier Sports showing games a plenty for approx £10 pm, I believe Premier Sports will still continue with this.
The GAA and RTE still hold the worldwide rights, so Sky have nothing to do with that expansion and nothing to do with selling the rights to Ch7 in Australia.

So, for what exactly do you garner the enthusiasm for this Sky subscription deal and call anyone who has objections to it, a spoil sport, a mean eyed begrudger? :)

[BonnieShels]

This is Ireland, that's your explanation:rolleyes:

Not my explanation. Merely a taster of my opinion that was to come.
Whilst you live in Iceland and I in Canada we are both perfectly are aware of the Irishman's ability to come up with reasons to have a moan. No need for you to needlessly concentrate on the pointless part of the argument.


There are 14 games being exclusively covered by Sky in Ireland.

The 14 games are a mixture of games:


Sky Sports has obtained exclusive Island of Ireland rights to 14 championship games.
These consist of eight Saturday evening matches in the All-Ireland qualifiers, two All-Ireland football championship quarter-finals, and two Saturday evening and two Sunday provincial championship games. In addition to these 14 games, Sky Sports will also broadcast live the All-Ireland hurling and football semi-finals and finals, thus making 20 live games available to its subscribers throughout Britain and Ireland.
http://www.gaa.ie/gaa-news-and-videos/daily-news/1/0104141419-media-rights-press-release/

There are times when RTÉ don't show games. So Sky are taking up slack in this regard. I think that you are overselling what we are missing out on.

There are 6 provincial championship matches across both codes. Sky are gonna get 2 of these. Again. Not that big of a problem. The minutiae of the deal isn't out but I am sure there are parts of the deal that ensure hurling is going to be broadcast on Sky. so they may get the Leinster hurling and the Munster football etc.


Means in order to view these 14 games (which were covered by TV3?) one now has to watch via a sky sports subscription, which is a 12 month contract thing for new subscribers - EUR 50 or 60 per month, and if you already have a basic package it means an extra Eur 30 or Eur40 a month, month by month basis.

That's if you go with Sky Digital. and those figures aren't exact now.
There are various ways in which to get Sky Sports, such as UPC or eVision... but you knew that.

But if you don't want to pay for it then you don't have to. And maybe you should get yer ass to Croker for Dublin's AI QF. :)



So Sky is not going to bring in a new audience in Ireland, it will gain new subscribers in Ireland without expanding the GAA viewership and without expanding the GAA coffers by anything much, well hardly enough to keep the Dubs in ice baths over a season.


I'm sure it's expanding it by enough to warrant the sale to them.


In the UK, the GAA games were already on the Sky satellite menu with Premier Sports showing games a plenty for approx £10 pm, I believe Premier Sports will still continue with this.

Sky have bought exclusive GB rights. Why would Premier Sports be allowed to broadcast PPV?

A lot of people in Britain would ordinarily have Sky Sports on their packages they will now see these sports on Saturday and Sundays in the summer when there's nothing much else on. The Irish who are interested will already be watching it no matter who have the rights.

Sky don't take punts. They will see this as an opportunity to fill a gap in their schedule. Look at what they have done with NFL over the last decade.

You can be sure that their will be a lot of cross-promotion to make sure everyone knows that it's on.


The GAA and RTE still hold the worldwide rights, so Sky have nothing to do with that expansion and nothing to do with selling the rights to Ch7 in Australia.

I was making an observation outside of my Sky comments that the Ch7 deal was a stroke of genius.


So, for what exactly do you garner the enthusiasm for this Sky subscription deal and call anyone who has objections to it, a spoil sport, a mean eyed begrudger? :)

I'm garnering enthusiasm for the fact that there will be a bigger market for two of my favourite sports. Anyone who fails to see this I feel is not seeing the bigger picture (an Irish trait) and a begrudger.

[geysir]

The 14 games are a mixture of games:
http://www.gaa.ie/gaa-news-and-videos/daily-news/1/0104141419-media-rights-press-release/

There are times when RTÉ don't show games. So Sky are taking up slack in this regard. I think that you are overselling what we are missing out on.
Are you being deliberately evasive?
The 2013 deal was shared between RTE (BBC NI) and TV3, what games not being shown by RTE, were covered by TV3.
Sky are not taking up any slack.
The 2014 deal does not add to the total of games being televised. Sky have now got the package that TV3 were bidding for, the package similar to what TV3 had in 2013.
There is no expansion in Ireland, There is in fact a retraction in the number of FTA games and no overall increase of number of games being shown on television.


There are 6 provincial championship matches across both codes. Sky are gonna get 2 of these. Again. Not that big of a problem. The minutiae of the deal isn't out but I am sure there are parts of the deal that ensure hurling is going to be broadcast on Sky. so they may get the Leinster hurling and the Munster football etc.
Yes, Sky have the 2014 version of the TV3 package, the package that TV3 would normally get and the one they were the highest bidders for.


That's if you go with Sky Digital. and those figures aren't exact now.
There are various ways in which to get Sky Sports, such as UPC or eVision... but you knew that.
You mean there are various way in which you can shell out Eur40 a month?
I feel better about it already:rolleyes:
.

But if you don't want to pay for it then you don't have to. And maybe you should get yer ass to Croker for Dublin's AI QF.
Lets see, if a person doesn't want to pay to watch the games, they don't have to? is that what it comes down to, cynicism?
In 2013 Irish people could watch at no extra cost, the TV3 package of GAA games, just by dint of tolerating TV3 adverts.
In 2014 to watch the similar package, they have to pay EUR 40 -60 a month and new sat subscribers have to fork out one year.
Any you regard this as expansion, expansion of games being televised and will expand the viewership?


Sky have bought exclusive GB rights. Why would Premier Sports be allowed to broadcast PPV?

A lot of people in Britain would ordinarily have Sky Sports on their packages they will now see these sports on Saturday and Sundays in the summer when there's nothing much else on. The Irish who are interested will already be watching it no matter who have the rights.

Sky don't take punts. They will see this as an opportunity to fill a gap in their schedule. Look at what they have done with NFL over the last decade.

You can be sure that their will be a lot of cross-promotion to make sure everyone knows that it's on.
Did you not realise that Premier Sports already showed GAA games on subscription in the UK (ch428) and continue to have the rights to show 26 games for the next 3 years?
Yes, the package that Sky have bought the rights to will be shown on sky sports in the UK and yes there are hopes that those games will reach a wider audience.

A large part of the cost of this is to the Irish public who have lost free access to the TV3 package and if they have any objections about paying Eur 40-60 pm they are are regarded as thickos by jumped up, uninformed, hysterical, poncy jackeen ......in a shell suit:)


I was making an observation outside of my Sky comments that the Ch7 deal was a stroke of genius.
I was making sure that it was clear, that the CH7 deal had nothing to do with Sky as Sky fanboys appear to confuse Sky with Santa Claus. One cannot take anything for granted re what a skyfanboy writes.

[BonnieShels]

Are you being deliberately evasive?
The 2013 deal was shared between RTE (BBC NI) and TV3, what games not being shown by RTE, were covered by TV3.


TV3 were taking up slack when the GAA expanded the amount of games in the Championship and RTÉ obviously weren't gonna show everything.


Sky are not taking up any slack.

From my reading TV3 actually only showed 9 games. I can't actually find conclusive confirmation of that however. The GAA site is awful to search within and TV3 have disavowed all knowledge of the GAA's existence.



The 2014 deal does not add to the total of games being televised. Sky have now got the package that TV3 were bidding for, the package similar to what TV3 had in 2013.

I think the package is in essence different given that Sky have GB rights as well which TV3 didn't have. I don't think it's like-for-like at all.


There is no expansion in Ireland, There is in fact a retraction in the number of FTA games and no overall increase of number of games being shown on television.

The games are being shown in Ireland. That's the first hurdle crossed.
Most of the games are played in Ireland. So again they are available for all to see.

Liam Ó Néill made a very good point though which was missing from my initial riposte.


"I take the point that there are some games that people won't see. But there are some games not being televised anyway. There were games last year that weren't televised at all. But nobody jumped down our neck about that. And there will be games this year that won't be televised.
"But all games are covered, in some way or other, by radio, whether it's local or national. And as well as that, there have been a number of games with Setanta for a number of years anyway. And the same fellas who live in isolated places haven't been able to get those. So there is a lack of consistency in the argument here."
http://www.gaa.ie/gaa-news-and-videos/daily-news/1/0204141428-gaa-president-urges-fuller-analysis-of-tv-rights-deal/



Yes, Sky have the 2014 version of the TV3 package, the package that TV3 would normally get and the one they were the highest bidders for.

Again I don't think the packages were like-for-like given the GB coverage that Sky brought to the table. Ad that's the nub of my tentative preference for the deal as it stands.



You mean there are various way in which you can shell out Eur40 a month?
I feel better about it already:rolleyes:
You plucked figures from your rectum when talking about the costs involved with getting Sky Sports.


Lets see, if a person doesn't want to pay to watch the games, they don't have to? is that what it comes down to, cynicism?

Hardly cynicism when I've repeatedly said that FTA v greater exposure is a no brainer.


In 2013 Irish people could watch at no extra cost, the TV3 package of GAA games, just by dint of tolerating TV3 adverts.
In 2014 to watch the similar package, they have to pay EUR 40 -60 a month and new sat subscribers have to fork out one year.
Any you regard this as expansion, expansion of games being televised and will expand the viewership?

But you are making the spurious assumption that people in Ireland still watch TV with an aerial or a Saorview box. Which is painfully obvious they don't.

A majority of TV viewers in Ireland already have cable/satellite/broadband packages to view terrestrial TV as it stands. You would swear that the concept of getting in Sky Sports is alien to us.



Did you not realise that Premier Sports already showed GAA games on subscription in the UK (ch428) and continue to have the rights to show 26 games for the next 3 years?
I knew that they did previously. But as it wasn't mentioned in the press release from the GAA. I had assumed that they lost out on foot of Sky's entry. I will concede this aspect.

But given they already had the coverage and it was available in GB why would the GAA have gone with Sky as well... Maybe they thought it was better for the association per chance?

Here's Premier's press release pour vous.
http://www.premiersports.tv/gaa/gaa/


Yes, the package that Sky have bought the rights to will be shown on sky sports in the UK and yes there are hopes that those games will reach a wider audience.

Ah an agreement of sorts.


A large part of the cost of this is to the Irish public who have lost free access to the TV3 package and if they have any objections about paying Eur 40-60 pm they are are regarded as thickos by jumped up, uninformed, hysterical, poncy jackeen ......in a shell suit:)

You are again living in 3 channel land with these assumptions.


I was making sure that it was clear, that the CH7 deal had nothing to do with Sky as Sky fanboys appear to confuse Sky with Santa Claus. One cannot take anything for granted re what a skyfanboy writes.

Do you honestly think that it is impossible to debate this without you resorting to pettiness?

I'm no Sky fanboy. But I can separate my dislike for Sky from the grander scheme unlike some jumped up Farney boy.

If anything I lose out on my ease of viewing here in Canada because of this deal because I would have watched it on TV3.ie.

I now have "This Charming Man" in my head. How apt...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJRP3LRcUFg

[BonnieShels]

Semi Finals weekend in the League this weekend...

Will this Cork renaissance continue? Is Derry's rise in fortunes a signal of what's to come or a flash-in-the-pan? Will Mayo choke? Will we experiment now that there's silverware close?

[Real ale Madrid]

Moving Pa Kelly to centre half back shows that the new Cork manager has shown more tactical nous in a league campaign than his incumbant did in the previous 5 years. Its the emergence of Brian Hurley though that really has Cork football excited. While we have a lot of good forwards - we haven't had anyone in the class of Stephen O'Neill, Buddentit Brogan, Gooch etc but now we have. Strong, great fielder, pace and scores from play - a serious player. Not sure if we can dominate midfield on Sunday though so might have to give way to Ta Tubs - but it should be a belter. This black card thing has turned football on its head - the league was great to watch. Mayo might shade it experience wise against Derry.

[swinfordfc]

Dublin and Derry to win at the weekend.......

[swinfordfc]

Dublin and Derry to win at the weekend.......

Thats was easy .....

[BonnieShels]

Good call. Seems like the Dublin game was a thriller.

[BonnieShels]

Should I be booking my flights home for the 3rd week of September?

Seems like we just went for them and didn't let up i that second half.

An already intriguing summer has now got the potential to be better than last.

Also, GAAgo announced as a Championship sponsor. Hmmmm...

At least we'll have more detail on this "international" package soon enough.

[BonnieShels]

Reports coming out that Mark McHugh has left the Donegal panel.

Looking for more details now.

Yeah... Him and two others according to rte.

[BonnieShels]

Mayo hammer New York in first Championship match of 2014. Nothing much to talk about really other than to say WAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHEEEEEEYYYYYYYYYYYYYY that the summer has arrived.

[BonnieShels]

So GAAgo has launched...

€110 for all games. €60 for Britain.
€10 ppv (€14 for SF and F)

www.gaago.ie

[BonnieShels]

In work. Boo. Must sneakily put Tyrone v Down on in the background. Sssssshhhh.

[BonnieShels]

Watching the KK and Offaly game here in work. It's a joke of a game. KK are so far ahead in quality. Looking forward to Sky's HT coverage.

http://www.wiziwig.tv/broadcast.php?matchid=264386&part=sports

[pineapple stu]

The Brits get their first glimpse of hurling (http://balls.ie/gaa/twitter-hurling-reaction/.U5N8YSJ-BEM.facebook)

[pineapple stu]

Part two (http://balls.ie/gaa/british-gaa-reaction/)

A sample to entice -

"I played cricket for years. Never once did I catch the ball one-handed at that speed. Or whilst holding a bat. In traffic. Surrounded."

"Is the GK voluntary or a punishment?"

"Just watched 5 mins of Hurling, WTF is going on there's a GK but they keep smashing it over the bar how the **** does he save that"

[SkStu]

Saw those earlier. Some great comments. Deadly that hurling is being opened up to a wider audience now. :)

Although, that said, I do remember hurling being referenced in a pretty decent movie (some bank robbery kind of jaunt) a good few years ago and being shocked, chuffed and generally ridiculously happy about it.

[strangeirish]

NSFW/Language.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEvQofZvBUA

[BonnieShels]

Saw those earlier. Some great comments. Deadly that hurling is being opened up to a wider audience now. :)

Although, that said, I do remember hurling being referenced in a pretty decent movie (some bank robbery kind of jaunt) a good few years ago and being shocked, chuffed and generally ridiculously happy about it.

Don't tell geysir.

[BonnieShels]

First live Championship game of the season and the abiding factor so far is that Meath are gash.

[swinfordfc]

Dublin will walk the All Ireland this year .....

[ArdeeBhoy]

They don't do the favourites tag well, but one would hope so given the alternatives...

[BonnieShels]

Dublin will walk the All Ireland this year .....

We should. Only Donegal have shown anything resembling a challenge to us. Pity we can't meet in the final.


They don't do the favourites tag well, but one would hope so given the alternatives...
Favourites tag didn't hamper us last year at all!

[BonnieShels]

That Cork-Sligo game was tough going. Not that I really expected a classic.

[swinfordfc]

Cork v Mayo
Galway v Kerry

[BonnieShels]

So the first QF weekend is here. I have to say I don't like this situation with the A and B side. and the fact that the qualifiers aren't wrapped up takes a gloss off what is normally a savage QF weekend.

Qualifiers:
Meath v Armagh
I have no words as to just how bad Meath were in the Leinster Final. Of course they were playing the best team in the country and Dublin made them look bad... but Jesus, they were gash.
I expect an Armagh win here given the way they've conducted themselves so far in the qualifier series.

Monaghan v Kildare
Hard to call really. On paper Monaghan should have this one. but the disappointment of the Ulster Final will hang over them. They were really hown up. Kildare have snaked here to this point. Beating Down well and then struggling against Clare will not give us a decent indication of what they are capable of.
Monaghan in this one. But I would not be surprised if Kildare sneaked it.

Quarter-finals A:
Kerry v Galway
We keep hearing that Kerry are in flux, and whilst they do find themselves in the worst of the provinces they still made it to this stage. I think that if they were to come up against Mayo in the next round that Mayo might finally have them. But who knows...
Can't see past Kerry for this one. However there's always the potential of Galway of 98-2001 turning up and giving us the shock of the season. They won't.
I'll be a Galwegian come Sunday though.

Mayo v Cork
I can see Mayo blitzing this Cork side. Mayo never get to really show their cards until this stage. But boy, do they show them. 4-17 against Donegal last year and 3-18 against down in 2012 show what happens when they get down to business.

Mayo getting to the final is a banker for me. But they have to do it this year because no team will come back for a 4th tilt.

[swinfordfc]

Mayo very lucky today .... just got over the line!

[BonnieShels]

Armagh are awful filth altogether!

Hon Donegal!

The second game is a foregone conclusion I feel.

[swinfordfc]

After the GAA decision today of playing the replay out of Croke Park and moving our games due to American Football - i will never give one penny to the GAA for anything again - never!
They are a joke!

[NeverFeltBetter]

Gigantic fuss over nothing at all really. You'd think Mayo/Kerry are being asked to play in Gaza from the way some people are carrying on. College football is a good money spinner, has been scheduled very far in advance, and I'm sure various delegates and officials had their chance to raise objections. Gaelic Grounds perfectly capable of hosting the semi (remember Munster Final last year?), and it'll be good for Limerick City.

Moreover, the Gaelic Grounds will probably be a sellout, considering there were just over 50K in Croke Park today (and they'll be more than that for the Gridiron on Saturday).

[Mr A]

Gigantic fuss over nothing at all really. You'd think Mayo/Kerry are being asked to play in Gaza from the way some people are carrying on.

Spot on. There really isn't any need for a lot of the hysteria since this announcement. There's no comparison between Gaza and Limerick of course, one is an economically deprived hellhole riven by years of historic feuds while the other is part of Palestine and doesn't even have a GAA stadium.

[BonnieShels]

After the GAA decision today of playing the replay out of Croke Park and moving our games due to American Football - i will never give one penny to the GAA for anything again - never!
They are a joke!

Ah come off it. Some of the reactions have been absolutely unbelievable. This is a decision that was made aeons ago. They were promoting the Croke Park Classic as far back as last summer!

My only issue with the new destination is that I can't make it to Limerick on Saturday. Should be a cracker and a bit of a change of scene anyway.

Most of the ire seems to be reserved for Dublin anyway as the cash cow and apparently we don't travel... The richness of that coming from some Kerry supporters is bizarre.

If we are to play out a draw next weekend against Donegal and for whatever reason could not play the replay and had to play in Clones there would be annoyance but it wouldn't be this big bru-ha-ha that seems to have developed.

Thing is, if Mayo and Kerry had brought 70k to Croker on Sunday last maybe they would have had a reconsideration of it back last year when they were scheduling this year.


Gigantic fuss over nothing at all really. You'd think Mayo/Kerry are being asked to play in Gaza from the way some people are carrying on. College football is a good money spinner, has been scheduled very far in advance, and I'm sure various delegates and officials had their chance to raise objections. Gaelic Grounds perfectly capable of hosting the semi (remember Munster Final last year?), and it'll be good for Limerick City.

Moreover, the Gaelic Grounds will probably be a sellout, considering there were just over 50K in Croke Park today (and they'll be more than that for the Gridiron on Saturday).

Completely agree with you on every point here. I thought Thurles would have been a better option but ah well.

---

Anyway, the biggest travesty of the weekend was Mayo not closing that game out.

Kerry are so limited it is frightening and yet Mayo repeatedly played into their hands. All things being equal Mayo should win the match next week by at least 5.

But this is Mayo.

[Real ale Madrid]

If we are to play out a draw next weekend against Donegal and for whatever reason could not play the replay and had to play in Clones there would be annoyance but it wouldn't be this big bru-ha-ha that seems to have developed.

Ah come off the stage - there would be absolute pandemonium if Dublin had to replay outside of Croke Park for whatever reason! Are you having a laugh - It would need a good 2 hours on Joe Duffy for starters!
For the record I think all replays should be outside Croke Park - some all Ireland Semi finals themselves should be outside Croke Park - but saying there wouldn't be the hullabullo if it was the Dublin / Donegal game had to move is complete Tosh! What about tickets! Whara bout playin de all irelunt semi finuls outsodye de capidal ? What about the commercial implications for the GAA!

At the end of the day this (like everything in the GAA these days) was a commercial decision. Bringing College Football to Croke Pk is a commercial decision and not moving a potential 80k crowd to a 40k venue is another commercial decision. Fact is if Mayo / Kerry played in Dublin next Sat night 40 - 45k is about what the expected crowd would be - a number that can be accomodated in Limerick.

[DannyInvincible]

Today's semi-final was terrific. I feared Dublin were all set to steam-roll Donegal after a very convincing opening few minutes from them. Donegal just couldn't get a hold of the game and Flynn was popping them over the bar with ease. Somehow, Donegal gradually came back into it and, to everyone's surprise, had managed to claim the lead by half-time. It was an astonishing turnaround after trailing by about four or five points throughout most of the half. Matching anything Dublin threw at them, they went on to dominate the second half. By the final ten minutes, Dublin had lost their bottle completely and were desperately wasting chances. It was a well-deserved victory for Donegal in the end.

Yesterday's semi-final was also incredibly intense. These scenes at the end were absolutely crazy:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XX2lqxvO-8M

The burly fella in the Mayo cap there has become a minor celebrity (http://balls.ie/gaa/stop-madness-mayo-pitch-invader-bit-celebrity-now/). Five stewards on him and, even then, three or four reinforcements had to be called over from behind the goal!

[NeverFeltBetter]

Two great games alright, and was a great occasion for Limerick City.




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XX2lqxvO-8M

The burly fella in the Mayo cap there has become a minor celebrity (http://balls.ie/gaa/stop-madness-mayo-pitch-invader-bit-celebrity-now/). Five stewards on him and, even then, three or four reinforcements had to be called over from behind the goal!

Hate stuff like that. He should be reviled, banned and generally told to **** off from the GAA in future, instead morons flock around him like he's some kind of hero. Same goes for that twit kid who tried to take a swipe at the ref as he was walking off the field. Was delighted to see a Guard deal with him.

[bennocelt]

Only bit of sport, pub I was in the whole place was laughing, lighten up

[NeverFeltBetter]

It is not "sport".

[bennocelt]

Well in the GAA its fairly common, and the mindset of gah heads wont be losing too much sleep over it. Can imagine the horror if it happened at a LOI game though!

[ArdeeBhoy]

Tbf, it is 'sport' in Mullingar...
:rolleyes:

[Mr A]

Any fan encroaching on a pitch during a sporting event should be banned. But chances are not a thing will happen here.

Anyhow, two super matches. Can't recall the last time I was as engaged by a match not involving Donegal.

As for yesterday, that was something else.

[BonnieShels]

Ah come off the stage - there would be absolute pandemonium if Dublin had to replay outside of Croke Park for whatever reason! Are you having a laugh - It would need a good 2 hours on Joe Duffy for starters!
For the record I think all replays should be outside Croke Park - some all Ireland Semi finals themselves should be outside Croke Park - but saying there wouldn't be the hullabullo if it was the Dublin / Donegal game had to move is complete Tosh! What about tickets! Whara bout playin de all irelunt semi finuls outsodye de capidal ? What about the commercial implications for the GAA!

At the end of the day this (like everything in the GAA these days) was a commercial decision. Bringing College Football to Croke Pk is a commercial decision and not moving a potential 80k crowd to a 40k venue is another commercial decision. Fact is if Mayo / Kerry played in Dublin next Sat night 40 - 45k is about what the expected crowd would be - a number that can be accomodated in Limerick.

Screw the Joe Duffy listeners. Pond Scum.

If the GAA in whatever unlikely scenario occurred that meant a Dublin replay was outside of Croker then the majority of supporters I would wager would have no problem with it.

We have played 2 championship matches outside of Croker Park since 2003. That's insane!

All moot at this point
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Anyway. That was some SF series.

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Re-watched the game again yesterday and today. I have to say for a neutral it was some game to watch. I rarely enjoy Dublin matches when I'm at them and need to re-watch them.

I said it yesterday that from the moment Connolly went down after the first 20 that's when the game started to head towards Donegal. It's only on the re-watch that I realised that that's when Christy Toye came on. Completely transformed the match.

We all know Spillane is brutal and lines like "If Donegal go on to beat Kerry, then Gaelic football is going to decline as a sport into some horrible spectacle" are just bordering on mental. Yesterday was a fabulous game and watching it again is confirming it.

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A couple of notes on the first half though. Cooper was very very poor and should have been subbed before HT. O'Gara actually did well when he came back into the HF line the couple of times he did.
I was a bit harsh on McFadden in my initial assessment, he wasn't so bad and did great for the first goal.

Out of all of the decisions made by the ref in the first half the free awarded to Leo McLoone that actually led to the first goal was a bad decision and in fact should have been a free to Dublin for over carrying. That is to say Donegal shouldn't have scored a goal from it. Fitzsimons was completely at fault for it in my eyes taking the catch and then losing concentration on Michael Murphy of all players.

Odhran MacNiallas, Toye and McHugh were immense.

Diarmuid Connolly was superb.

Paul Flynn is a frankly unbelievable player. He is one of the best I've ever seen.

Gavin made huge errors keeping COS, Fitz and Philly on. How Fitz wasn't subbed is beyond me. He was woful for all three goals. Not good enough.

Even at this stage of the game (50min) I had the feeling that the game had gone from us and yet Connolly and Flynn kept on going. They were immense. Proud of them like you wouldn't believe.

Flynn is POTY. No question.

McGuinness used his subs superbly. McBrearty was phenomenal when he came on.

And a final note about Spillane's HT analysis; he actually said he was enjoying the game and thought Donegal were good. I have no idea what he's taking.

Final thoughts on us:

1. Can't believe Jonny Cooper lasted til 61st min.

2. Michael Fitz, ROC, MDMA and COS were brutal.

3. Paul Flynn, Paul Flynn, Paul Flynn. With added Diarmuid Connolly.

4. Martin Carney was a disgrace with some of his comments about Dublin.

5. Joe McQuillan showed no mercy in dishing out cards at the times they were needed. A brilliant performance.

[BonnieShels]

Oh and Cormac Reilly and Kerry were a disgrace. ET on Saturday was one of the worst passages of "football" I've seen in years.