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Galway Football thread

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Replying To rossie4sam:  "That's the worst I've seen St Brigids play since the group stage here. About 2 of their players played to form and they were completely flat for most of the game. However once they got to grips in the 2nd half with the Moycullen attack and shut down Dessie and Cooke Moycullen looked out of ideas. Brigids dominated the last 10 as they were only finding their flow and had it gone on longer they were pulling away."
Brigids didn't dominate the last 10 at all. They didn't dominate at any point in the 65 or so mins. They were just slicker at advancing the ball up the pitch, and at scoring than Moycullen were, and as a result were able to maintain scoreboard parity or better all through, from less possession. Totally speculative to suggest that they would 'pull away' in a time period that will never be played.

Pope_Benedict (Galway) - Posts: 4495 - 01/12/2025 12:49:00    2646624

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I thought it was a quality game of club football and very enjoyable to watch. It was competitive right the way through, with some brilliant fielding, passing and scoring, as well as plenty physical contests.
Congratulations to Brigid's. I'd love to see them go all the way, after they were so close a few years ago.
That game could have gone either way. Maigh Cuilinn dominated the kick outs for most of the match and had more scoring chances overall, but their decision making was poor at crucial stages. Brigid's of course left some behind them too, but overall Maigh Cuilinn missed more.
Despite everyone saying Brigid's had the better forwards (and I'd agree they did), Maigh Cuilinn's forwards actually scored more. Dessie scored the same amount from play as Ben O'Carroll. The real issue for me were the forced two-point efforts, mainly from Cooke. Most of these weren't on at all, even Clifford wouldn't have kicked them, and a lot of them dropped short. It seemed to be a tactic to have a go and risk dropping it short, knowing that McDonagh would be in contesting with the keeper, but they got very little form them in the second half.
The decision before half-time was also a head-scratcher. Anyone with a bit of experience knows that the 45 has to be worked short for a shot which has to go dead. He was never going to land it from there, but again I think part of the thought process was about dropping it in, given their height advantage. In a packed organised defence from a set piece, these rarely work out for the attacking team and they paid a big price for it, with the quick counter resulting in a 2-pointer to level the match at half-time. This isn't hindsight, it literally what I was thinking before they took it. Funnily enough, the 45 came from a block on another shot which was never on either.
I don't want to be picking on Cooke as he's a very talented player, but he was forcing everything yesterday and his decision making didn't reflect that of a top intercounty player.
Maigh Cuilinn will have a lot of regrets about yesterday, as they could have won it. At the same time, they turned up and gave it their all. The game went down to the wire and Brigid's were deserving winners. As I said, I hope Brigid's can keep the run going now. They're a lovely team to watch.

WanPintWin (Galway) - Posts: 2645 - 01/12/2025 13:21:15    2646632

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Replying To Pope_Benedict:  "'Totally on top in the middle'? You obviously didn't see the game. Brigids were never on top in the middle at any point in that game."
No they were well beaten around the middle throughout. Which surprised me as Cooke and McLaughlin only played half and a quarter of the game respectively. Davoren won a savage amount of ball in fairness to him and they won a lot of the breaks.

Fionn McDonagh had a one on one with the Bridget's keeper late on as well but it was a poor effort straight at him. McDonagh was a handful for Bridget's but he's not the most skillful on the ball. They needed that chance to fall to somebody else. Clarke missed a good chance late on as well. Again not known for his scoring. Moycullen definitely had their chances but probably lacking another scoring option up front. As I said somewhere else if they still had Owen Gallagher they probably win that game.

Marooned (Galway) - Posts: 2446 - 01/12/2025 13:36:28    2646637

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Replying To S1234:  "Galway v Rossies final haha the love in ye show for them is pretty sad over the hate ye have for us tbh ! But Andy wont care .. he will be gunning to beat them after London they will be a tough test . But to just dismiss Mayo is pure begrudgery !"
Ah sure the hatred thing doesn't come naturally to us in Galway. That's a Mayo thing, reserved for the maroon and white!
Messing aside, no one in their right mind would dismiss Mayo. Andy will have ye flying and the rest will have to be ready for it.

togoutlads (Galway) - Posts: 1106 - 01/12/2025 13:47:35    2646638

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Replying To Eire89:  "Ya was bizarrre he was not picked up even at ht after all damage he had done. Has he ever been given a chance with Ros? the 2 pointer before HT was a killer from a moycullen perspective and as a previous psoter said Cooke going for a 45 near the sideline was madness. Moycullen should look at getting an inside forward in the market to support Dessie who was kept quiet. They have very good ball carriers and big physical men but lack of a scoring forward let them down when Cooke was having an off day. It will take a good team to bear Brigids and fair play to them play a lovely brand of football."
Conor Hand who just turned 22 a few weeks ago showed well in the NFL for Roscommon seniors this year and for whatever reason fell out of favour under Davy Burke for the championship. 9 appearances in total and he got one appearance in 2024. He was on our Connacht U17 winning team in 2020 and the only rossie named on the team of the year,

The_analyser (Roscommon) - Posts: 4218 - 01/12/2025 15:24:33    2646656

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