Gaa 2012

[NeverFeltBetter]

Best Limerick performance since the 2007 semi-final.

[apo11o]

Well done to the amalgamated side of Ballaghaderreen and Mayo on their win of the Connacht Championship.

[BonnieShels]

Stuck in Seattle for an Epic weekend.

If anyone knows of any decent bars showing the games live, let me know.

Tír Eoghain, Cil Dara agus Áth Cliath abú.

[nigel-harps1954]

Quite a comprehensive Donegal win in the end for the Ulster title. Surely All-Ireland contenders now?

[BonnieShels]

Read the reports. Seems the Jimmy Mac masterplan is working. Delighted.

Kerry v Clare? Come on...

Dublin v Kerry QF anyone?

[BonnieShels]

So Meath out if their misery. Thankfully.

Fingers crossed for a massive Clare upset.

[culloty82]

Well, the first 10 minutes were very competitive! Kerry v Donegal looks the hardest QF to call, maybe our experience of Croke Park will give the edge. Dublin practically have a bye to the final - can't see Laois or Mayo upsetting the odds, and Cork should advance after a struggle. Cork could upset Galway in the hurling, due to the Tribesmens' lengthy lay-off, and still not convinced by the Cats, despite their second-half display - Tipp could well take them.

[NeverFeltBetter]

The first 50 minutes were competitive. Then the luck of Limerick's full back line vanished. Really awful officiating display, disgusted with the Kilkenny lad complaining over his red card.

Suprisingly dissapointed, more to do with how this seems to be Limericks limit really. Next season they have to get beyond it.

[DannyInvincible]

Donegal have never met Kerry before in the Championship. I suppose it does make sense when you think about it, but it just seemed like a very odd fact to me when I first read it.

It's also now possible to get GAA streams outside of Ireland (not through official channels or anything, but still). Had never been aware of that, but caught live coverage of both quarter-finals on RTÉ yesterday here: http://www.wiziwig.tv/competition.ph...scipline=other

[nigel-harps1954]

Cracking game today. As far as GAA goes, that was quality entertainment. Donegal v Cork in the semi-final looks like it will be another classic.

[DannyInvincible]

Really good game earlier. Nervy finish as Kerry closed the gap but a dominant performance by Donegal overall. McFadden has a great left foot.

One thing I've never understood about Gaelic football is this gung-ho madness of players racing up the field like headless chickens as the game goes into the dying moments, all whilst trying to hold on to a lead of a point or two. What they need to do is just kill the game, crowd the defence and pass the ball around amongst themselves - just to calm things down a bit - rather than allowing themselves to get caught up in the hysteria of the finish. I suppose if players started doing remotely tactical stuff that, you'd have pundits like Spillane complaining that it was against the whole ethos of the game. It always amazes me though as it's as if nobody has ever stopped to think about an effective strategy for a second.

[junglegym]

Keepers mistake today cost Kerry the match. We were ready this year to beat ye in Croke Pk. Cork are now certs for the All Ireland.

[BonnieShels]

Really good game earlier. Nervy finish as Kerry closed the gap but a dominant performance by Donegal overall. McFadden has a great left foot.

One thing I've never understood about Gaelic football is this gung-ho madness of players racing up the field like headless chickens as the game goes into the dying moments, all whilst trying to hold on to a lead of a point or two. What they need to do is just kill the game, crowd the defence and pass the ball around amongst themselves - just to calm things down a bit - rather than allowing themselves to get caught up in the hysteria of the finish. I suppose if players started doing remotely tactical stuff that, you'd have pundits like Spillane complaining that it was against the whole ethos of the game. It always amazes me though as it's as if nobody has ever stopped to think about an effective strategy for a second.

Donegal were doing that until that clown scored for Kerry then they had to go and get an insurance point or two.
Very impressed by Donegal's attitude bar one or two moments of idiocy and petulance but that would be expected up against the kings of cynical play.
Delighted for them. And glad to see Kerry shown up for what they are, one-dimensional cynical long ball merchants. They were very limited once Donegal snuffed out any ball going to the Gooch or Galvin.
Tactics were spot-on. they should have enough for Cork. Dublin-Donegal would be an epic final.

As regards Kildare-Cork. It was poor fare to be honest. A terrible refereeing performance by Joe McQuillan to match the two atrocious games' officiating yesterday.
I thought when Kildare actually pushed forward that they put Cork in a lot of Trouble. I think Donegal can take this Cork team as would Dublin or Mayo.

And on to yesterdays games.

Mayo were good... but Down offered nothing at all. Nothing. There was no pattern to their play at all. I can see why people are writing Mayo off already against Dublin. But we all know that every so often when they get to play Dublin they get brave and actually play ball. If we get a game an eighth as good as 2006 we'll be doing well.

And then onto Dublin.

I was never worried about the result but some of the substitutions were remarkable.Bastick off for McManamon and leaving both B Brogan and Donkey O'Gara on. Both were nigh on brutal. As was Connolly.

Laois have a right to be aggrieved at some of the decisions however some of what went on from the officials was unfathomable at teh best of times yesterday. Between awarding Laois frees early in the first half for Dublin players touching on the ground and then later on ignoring Laois players doing the same. The inconsistencies are maddening.

[DannyInvincible]

Donegal were doing that until that clown scored for Kerry then they had to go and get an insurance point or two.

Why does it continue to happen though? Are sides afraid of drawing criticism for "cynical tactics" or "puke football"? Do they feel some obligation to entertain the GAA audience with hasty end-to-end football until the final whistle? Maybe players just lose the run of themselves a bit and get caught up in the excitement as the volume of the crowd raises the tension. It's a regular feature of most close encounters I see and it just doesn't make any sense to me.

[Real ale Madrid]

Cracking game today. As far as GAA goes, that was quality entertainment. .

A sad indictment of the game of Gaelic football if you thought that was a cracking game - exciting if you are from Donegal alright I suppose - painful to watch from everyone else's perspective.

That said - I hope Donegal employ the same tactics against Cork and take Cork on physically - will play right into Cork's hands.

[nigel-harps1954]

Ah now, wise up would you, it may not have been a great free flowing football game, but that was as exciting a match as has been in an All-Ireland championship in a long time.
I'm not a huge GAA fan, I don't jump on the bandwagon for Donegal, I generally fizz out and not watch more than 40 or 50 minutes of a GAA match, but I was actually stuck to my chair for this one. Great viewing.

[geysir]

Why does it continue to happen though? Are sides afraid of drawing criticism for "cynical tactics" or "puke football"? Do they feel some obligation to entertain the GAA audience with hasty end-to-end football until the final whistle? Maybe players just lose the run of themselves a bit and get caught up in the excitement as the volume of the crowd raises the tension. It's a regular feature of most close encounters I see and it just doesn't make any sense to me.

The only dicey thing Donegal did in that period was the long kick out by the goalie to the midfield area, when a short kick out (if possible) is usually the wiser choice. It just so happened that Donegal won that ball. The important thing is to find your own player in space to receive the ball, if that eventually brings your team into an attacking position, then all the better. The game of course is frantic with a team like Kerry chasing only one point after being down by 6, Donegal defended well and didn't give away the free kick, no mean task with the undoubted ability of the Kerry player to transform the mildest of shirt touches into a clothesline red card foul .
The cynical tackle when the game goes into that crucial period would be if Kerry had won possession from that long kick out and was rugby tackled, the ref (who is in a world of his own making) would have held up play for a minute to give a yellow card to the Donegal player (who would have run to the other side of the pitch) and not added on the time 'wasted'.

[DannyInvincible]

The only dicey thing Donegal did in that period was the long kick out by the goalie to the midfield area, when a short kick out (if possible) is usually the wiser choice. It just so happened that Donegal won that ball.

That was one instance of it. There was another; when a Donegal player (not sure of his identity) recklessly ran straight into a group of Kerry players and inevitably lost the ball when he could have gone sideways or backways and passed the ball off to one of the three free Donegal players standing in the vicinity. He was lucky Kerry weren't able to capitalise on his spillage as the ball was quickly launched forward to Curtin who was rash himself and put it wide, if memory serves me right.

I was speaking more generally though. It's a feature of most of the close Gaelic football encounters I see. Sure, it's great for entertainment, but it just strikes me as downright suicidal. Donegal weren't the worst offenders yesterday, nor am I singling them out. They weren't really that bad for it at all, bar the aforementioned examples. I'm just mentioning it as it's something that's always puzzled me about Gaelic football.

Indeed, McGuinness is a sensible tactician who plays the closest equivalent to "possession football" in Gaelic football, for which he's drawn much criticism from the likes of Spillane et al. I get the impression there's some sort of stigma attached to strategic/tactical-rather-than-skilful/entertaining play (see criticism of the blanket defence and "puke football"), but if people have a problem with such play, it's the GAA's responsibility to introduce rules to curb it.

[culloty82]

That's true, it was up to us to engineer scores, and for the most part we didn't have the precision of passing, accuracy of distribution, correct player positioning or indeed tactical acumen required to wear down Donegal, failings we've singularly failed to address in the last nine years. O'Connor will resign this week, to be replaced by Fitzmaurice, but that's of little benefit if club teams are no longer producing skilful players, no-one is capable of converting a 45 from the ground, or the county championship is ridiculously bloated. A second ten-year famine looks to be on the cards for Kerry.

[geysir]

Indeed, McGuinness is a sensible tactician who plays the closest equivalent to "possession football" in Gaelic football, for which he's drawn much criticism from the likes of Spillane et al. I get the impression there's some sort of stigma attached to strategic/tactical-rather-than-skilful/entertaining play (see criticism of the blanket defence and "puke football"), but if people have a problem with such play, it's the GAA's responsibility to introduce rules to curb it.

When you work it out there's not that much different between the game Donegal play and the other top teams, apart from that dire semi final game last year against Dublin.

Cork, Kildare, Dublin and Donegal are peas of the same pod, it's just that Donegal are more grindingly methodical, they do it better but get all the flak because they are the new kids supposedly bringing the game into disrepute. If only I had a penny every time the commentator says 'Donegal - blanket defense', when the other team are just as defensive.
The established teams including Kerry think that they have the divine right to foul cynically when the opposition is breaking out of defense, take out opponents by foul means, yet when the other teams do it to them they cry negativity. Kerry went at turbo pace to disrupt Donegal's passing out of defense and swarmed around the Donegal forwards whenever they got their hands on the high delivered ball. Donegal got the subs on in the 2nd half, finally got their passing momentum going in the 2nd half and stretched into a good lead while Kerry were at the last gasp of their first wind. From looking at Donegal in the championship this year, they don't play a cynical game. The team that played to stop the other team playing was Kerry.