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Donegal GAA thread

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Replying To eddieSize5Balls:  "They were all good in the first half and for parts in second half but Jesus gallen has put himself firmly on the bench again. Dont think he was fouled at all. He was a turnover machine and made poor decisions. Maybe a game against a poorer down side will give him confidence though."
You seem very focused on Gallen. He scored a good point, was involved in a couple other scores. At least 3 of the 'turnovers' were clear fouls that would probably have resulted in him scoring 3 frees.

greenfan (Donegal) - Posts: 619 - 20/04/2025 19:36:41    2603186

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Replying To eddieSize5Balls:  "They were all good in the first half and for parts in second half but Jesus gallen has put himself firmly on the bench again. Dont think he was fouled at all. He was a turnover machine and made poor decisions. Maybe a game against a poorer down side will give him confidence though."
I had clear view of him in second half from ga stand, was definitely fouled

totalrecall (Leitrim) - Posts: 1039 - 20/04/2025 20:10:21    2603201

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Just a word on Shaun Patton today..I thought he was absolutely brilliant under the high ball today..we all remember the Cavan final in 2021 and to lesser degree last years all ireland semi final but he caught at least 2 very good high balls under pressure today..that should be good for his confidence..I guess from Cork last night and Leitrim yesterday championship is very tight no matter what league you're playing out off..onwards we good..

RoryGall35 (Donegal) - Posts: 193 - 20/04/2025 20:11:09    2603202

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Replying To CCFabu:  "Ulster is a different story totalrecall, all my years following Donegal we've only started beating them in recent years (thank god!)"
Don't be deceived by Leitrim residing there for 20+ years. Monaghan haven't been a bogey since Jimmy came in, all that stuff is ancient history. I have tremendous respect for Monaghan who are regularly punching above their weight with smaller numbers than most counties. They are always well coached and a good underage set up

totalrecall (Leitrim) - Posts: 1039 - 20/04/2025 20:15:09    2603204

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Our lead at half time wasn't enough. We were playing with a strong enough breeze in the first half. Monaghan got three 2 pointers on the bounce early in the second half and put us under pressure. Jason and Jamie made a big difference when they came on. Oisin seems to have lost confidence. He is back to taking the ball into the tackle again and got turned over when other options were on.
Maybe a few supporters will come back down to earth. Getting carried away talking about All Irelands. There are no handy matches in Ulster.

Scenicparish (Donegal) - Posts: 459 - 20/04/2025 20:34:35    2603215

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I agree we would have really struggled to win that game today without Michael, are lads taking the foot of the gas and relying on him too much like we did for so many years?
Is Oisin coming back from a knock? seems to be off form, forwards are confidence players and hopefully he gets back on top form soon, we'll need him as we go further on no doubt, maybe start him against Down and see if he can get his confidence back, he looked to be fouled a few times today and nothing given, need to see it up close though.
We still fully deserved the win I thought, a few Hail Mary 2 pointers got Monaghan back into it,
look we got out of there with the win, that's all that counts, Monaghan are always dogged to beat at home.
Down will be looking forward to a crack at us, hopefully a few lads that were a bit off the boil today will be back in form next Sunday.

Tirchonaill1 (Donegal) - Posts: 3168 - 20/04/2025 21:25:49    2603229

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Replying To totalrecall:  "Don't be deceived by Leitrim residing there for 20+ years. Monaghan haven't been a bogey since Jimmy came in, all that stuff is ancient history. I have tremendous respect for Monaghan who are regularly punching above their weight with smaller numbers than most counties. They are always well coached and a good underage set up"
oh I know you're not Leitrim, just meant the championship record versus Monaghan in Ulster is a different kettle of fish, think we've played them plenty in League and the odd All-Ireland series and generally come out on top pretty comfortably, but when it comes to Ulster championship they are a pain in the **** - that's a compliment for any Monaghan posters reading!!

I agree in general we've had the better of it in recent years, but I saw in the program today the record in Ulster reads Monaghan 9 wins, Donegal 5, and 1 draw. So we've gotten another 1 today, maybe I'll never get over 1985!

CCFabu (Donegal) - Posts: 152 - 20/04/2025 22:08:00    2603238

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Replying To SouthOfTheGap:  "Glad to get over the line today, we made it very hard on ourselves.

I though Pattons kickouts were fanstastic, Roarty done very well, McCole excellent, Mogan fantastic first half, good to see a solid show from Stephen McMenamin. Thompson was class throughout, Langan not too shabby with 4 from play. Shane O'Donnell had a fantastic first half, they targeted him. There was more to do from Daire O'Baoill and Ciaran Moore and Conor O'Donnell. Paddy Mc had an off day.

I thought Hughie struggled at times, but gave his all. Ryan done well, but struggled after the knock in the first half, I was surprised to see him reappear for the 2nd half.

But without Michael we wouldn't have won that game.

Jason kept it simple, plenty more to do. Jamie Brennan made a huge difference, a great impact sub to have when defences are tiring.

But we'll have to improve by at least 20% if we want to win Ulster, and then see where we are at after that."
20%? Thought it would be around the 18-23% myself?

farneygael3 (Monaghan) - Posts: 188 - 20/04/2025 22:09:33    2603240

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I thought Gallen did very well, should have had a couple of frees, yes was turned over another time or two, but he was out in front and won his own ball at the last key score, turned his man and played it out to Roarty for the score.

He'll be fine, would expect him to start the next day

CCFabu (Donegal) - Posts: 152 - 20/04/2025 22:14:21    2603242

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Replying To farneygael3:  "20%? Thought it would be around the 18-23% myself?"
If Monaghan were 10% better today they would've won. I hope that doesn't keep you up all night trying to figure out the maths.

SouthOfTheGap (Donegal) - Posts: 763 - 20/04/2025 23:04:02    2603263

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That was a game to win and move on. Monaghan are a much better team at the minute than Derry with 100% commitment, some fine players, a very clear and good way of playing and a great keeper. Beggans accuracy from free taking means Donegal would not tackle outside the arc and gives Monaghan the opportunity to kick the two points from play. They should have been more aware of wind against them in the first half but with the wind the two points really brought them back into it in the second. Beggan also feigned a few two points kicks and did nice kick passes inside instead.They overall didn't bring the ball inside much and negated the turnover options for Donegal .They also got man to man and Donegal struggled with it. There should be room in the inside to kick it in but apart from Murphy they are not great at kicking the ball in.

Patton at times was superb with his kick outs. Young roarty was excellent at times. There was a time in the second half when he looked goosed and got turned over up the field. Later he did a great turnover, he kicked a point and he the block on a beggan two points kick. He kept showing too as a ball carrying option.

Donegal will be disappointed about turnovers. Farrah definitely looked fouled a few times though he also turned the ball over when he should not have. And it wasn't just Farrah. And in fairness to Farrah I do like that he tries to take players on.

And for all the talk of strength in depth you still need your best players. Mcgonagle was a loss today, as is not having ban available. Curran would have at least helped off the bench. With this in mind it was great to see langan back and doing well.

Ulsterchamps_32 (Donegal) - Posts: 797 - 20/04/2025 23:52:13    2603269

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Replying To CCFabu:  "I thought Gallen did very well, should have had a couple of frees, yes was turned over another time or two, but he was out in front and won his own ball at the last key score, turned his man and played it out to Roarty for the score.

He'll be fine, would expect him to start the next day"
He wa turned over more than once or twice.
For the record, he's my favorite forward but he was poor today.
For a man who's dying to start, he's set himself back a bit.
You can say he should have had frees but that would be some soft frees to have.

eddieSize5Balls (Donegal) - Posts: 115 - 21/04/2025 00:57:02    2603275

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Replying To CCFabu:  "I thought Gallen did very well, should have had a couple of frees, yes was turned over another time or two, but he was out in front and won his own ball at the last key score, turned his man and played it out to Roarty for the score.

He'll be fine, would expect him to start the next day"
Gallen needs to start against down ' hopefully to get his confidence back. We need gallen firing to get where we want. He's a huge player for us.. happy with first half performance but still a bit concerned with our defending. 2 pointers could win you an all Ireland this year. Galway very impressive yesterday alot of big players who are very good footballers. Cein D'Arcy magnificent fantastic fielder. I think it's a 3 horse race kerry ourselves and Galway.. finally I can't leave our game without mentioning Shaun patton what a find he was. Imagine if we had lost him to soccer. Kudos to the man who took him in. Best keeper in the country.

rorysboys (Donegal) - Posts: 2603 - 21/04/2025 10:27:36    2603308

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Result went as expected even if the game play didn't. So no complaints from a Monaghan perspective as Donegal were that bit better on the day. The issue at the whistle is a distraction.
Monaghan will feel they left enough chances behind them to have turned the screw, but that was of our own making. A few key plays when we were back to within 1 left Donegal off the hook, who then took their own chances well. Patton in particular saved Donegal when they were under pressure in the second half- his arrowed kickouts to the stand side were superb. Thompson and Mogan punished Monaghan down the Donegal left too many times in the first half, I think a different team selection by Monaghan could have tempered this. Also monaghan were naive in their approach into a strong breeze against a well structured Donegal defence early on. That led to poor efficiency and plenty of damage from broken play by Donegal.
So fair play Donegal but be under no illusion that was a sloppy Monaghan performance yesterday, Armagh or Tyrone will be 2.or 3 notches better in a final. Good luck for the rest of the Ulster campaign lads.

Eddie the Exile (Monaghan) - Posts: 1182 - 21/04/2025 11:15:47    2603319

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I think yesterday showed how important it is for Donegal to have McGonagle at number 6. It's also vital that we get McGee and Langan back into midfield alongside Thompson because Hugh McFadden can't compete with the more physical players. Looking at the likes of Kerry and Galway over the weekend, they are bringing serious physicality around the middle third now.

greenfan (Donegal) - Posts: 619 - 21/04/2025 11:35:01    2603324

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Replying To greenfan:  "I think yesterday showed how important it is for Donegal to have McGonagle at number 6. It's also vital that we get McGee and Langan back into midfield alongside Thompson because Hugh McFadden can't compete with the more physical players. Looking at the likes of Kerry and Galway over the weekend, they are bringing serious physicality around the middle third now."
Absolutely, the absence of McGonagle left us a little open to the 2 Pointers. One of the 2 pointers, I think Conor McCarthys, you could hear the Donegal players immediatetly criticising Daire O'Baoill for not getting enough pressure on the kick. However, I'm sure Jim's message, reinforced by the stats of the last 2 games, is that we will not be beaten by 2 pointers alone.

SouthOfTheGap (Donegal) - Posts: 763 - 21/04/2025 12:53:04    2603357

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Replying To SouthOfTheGap:  "If Monaghan were 10% better today they would've won. I hope that doesn't keep you up all night trying to figure out the maths."
Did you enjoy the game

farneygael3 (Monaghan) - Posts: 188 - 21/04/2025 13:00:42    2603358

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Replying To SouthOfTheGap:  "Absolutely, the absence of McGonagle left us a little open to the 2 Pointers. One of the 2 pointers, I think Conor McCarthys, you could hear the Donegal players immediatetly criticising Daire O'Baoill for not getting enough pressure on the kick. However, I'm sure Jim's message, reinforced by the stats of the last 2 games, is that we will not be beaten by 2 pointers alone."
I think you're right that they reckon the won't be beat by two points but it was close yesterday. Apart from say galway I'm not sure anyone targets the two points as much as monaghan so it was a good test on that front. I do think donegal could have been more aware of the wind advantage in the first half for two points. Obaoill, mogan and Thompson kicked 1 pointers from just inside the arc. If they held that run or depth by just a few yards in would have been as easy to kick a two point as opposed to a one. Even if they get two from three they are up a point. Mcguinness might not be even thinking like that and putting a premium on conversion rate but with a poor goal threat they probably need to target the two points slightly more when they have a wind like yesterday.

Ulsterchamps_32 (Donegal) - Posts: 797 - 21/04/2025 13:17:47    2603363

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Replying To rorysboys:  "Gallen needs to start against down ' hopefully to get his confidence back. We need gallen firing to get where we want. He's a huge player for us.. happy with first half performance but still a bit concerned with our defending. 2 pointers could win you an all Ireland this year. Galway very impressive yesterday alot of big players who are very good footballers. Cein D'Arcy magnificent fantastic fielder. I think it's a 3 horse race kerry ourselves and Galway.. finally I can't leave our game without mentioning Shaun patton what a find he was. Imagine if we had lost him to soccer. Kudos to the man who took him in. Best keeper in the country."
While I agree that one of Kerry, Donegal and Galway look most likely to lift Sam, you say it's just a three horse race, I don't agree. I still wouldn't discount Dublin, Tyrone or Armagh.
Of the three favourites, only Galway enhanced their reputation at the weekend with Donegal and Kerry both looking vulnerable against mid-ranking opposition.

sligo joe (Dublin) - Posts: 871 - 21/04/2025 14:03:19    2603375

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Replying To SouthOfTheGap:  "Absolutely, the absence of McGonagle left us a little open to the 2 Pointers. One of the 2 pointers, I think Conor McCarthys, you could hear the Donegal players immediatetly criticising Daire O'Baoill for not getting enough pressure on the kick. However, I'm sure Jim's message, reinforced by the stats of the last 2 games, is that we will not be beaten by 2 pointers alone."
What is McGonigles injury?

PeterQ92 (Donegal) - Posts: 154 - 21/04/2025 14:19:46    2603383

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