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Donegal GAA thread

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Replying To TheRock2121:  "Decent run out. Shows the importance of Patton. How many of our kick outs did we lose when they pressed high on us.? Monaghan are no great shakes. When we brought on our bench, our class showed.
Overall a good campaign."
If Monaghan are no great shakes where does that leave Donegal. Seriously though, Monaghan brought on a lot of younger guys & squad members in the second half so both sides should be happy with another competitive game before the league starts.
Hopefully both counties have a good league campaign.

Shelbourne1 (Monaghan) - Posts: 351 - 22/01/2022 21:27:38    2396004

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Replying To marty234:  "Donegal lot better when bonner got put to the stands. To be arguing with a linesman over a line ball at a mckenna cup game is setting some example on what discipline standards we are setting. Rochford and Campbell seemed to manage it well and get us back into game. Says it all really and scary to be honest."
Your such a fool bonner may have been sent off but from my vantage point bonner was making the calls. Go to a game and you might see these things. You don't see it all on tg4 lad. Good Mc kenna cup for Donegal Payton a huge loss and the introduction of Murphy langan and Ethan changed things.

rorysboys (Donegal) - Posts: 2410 - 22/01/2022 21:50:18    2396007

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Replying To Shelbourne1:  "If Monaghan are no great shakes where does that leave Donegal. Seriously though, Monaghan brought on a lot of younger guys & squad members in the second half so both sides should be happy with another competitive game before the league starts.
Hopefully both counties have a good league campaign."
From the start we were missing our 2 starting midfielders and 3 of our starting forwards. Also our keeper and more than like likely two other starting defenders. When we brought our attackers on Monaghan had no answer. Without patton our ball retention was shocking. We couldn't win a monaghan kick out, considering all that, there still only a point in the difference. I know monaghan didn't start o Connell and no mc manus but Banty will be very worried.

Monaghan play some good football and have some good players. Good luck for the season ahead.

TheRock2121 (Donegal) - Posts: 1142 - 23/01/2022 10:53:19    2396019

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It's crazy to suggest that the team played better just because Bonner was sent off. Clearly he was in constant communication with Rochford when they were making decisions. On here it seems whenever the team play well Rochford gets all the praise and anytime they don't it's all Bonner's fault.

greenfan (Donegal) - Posts: 474 - 23/01/2022 11:13:37    2396023

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Replying To Lockjaw:  "Agreed. McCole was very good tonight. I wonder if it's a confidence thing with him? He seems a lot more assured now. Hopefully he'll get a good league campaign into him now."
It might be confidence, gaining that belief in himself, which might be partly due to coaching. He clearly has the athleticism and build for the full back line, but in the past few seasons he seemed a bit too nice or something. In saying that I noticed last season some signs of improvement, and while last night was only McKenna Cup, he did a great job.

A number of other defensive notes, Odhran McFadden Ferry's sharpness is improving, Eoghan Ban Gallagher's S&C improvement since last season is impressive and Ryan McHugh was a work horse all night, but needs to be playing a more attacking role. Caolan Ward and Paul Brennan were both reliable, and I think Tony McCleanaghan and Conor Doherty will likely get a good run in the League and Championship.

Commodore (Donegal) - Posts: 1121 - 23/01/2022 11:30:07    2396029

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Caolan McGonigle deserves a special mention for his impact over the past year, he is defnitely Donegal's most improved player in the past 2-3 years and is now the No 1 midfielder for us. Its a credit to him and the coaching staff too, long may it continue.

Commodore (Donegal) - Posts: 1121 - 23/01/2022 11:33:01    2396030

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With league in mind you would have take a one point defeat and an improved performance after the very poor 2nd quarter and start to the second half. I suppose they have to be disappointed with another goal with somebody running down the middle. The covering player got sucked to the ball thinking they could turn it over and runner who scored the goal wasn't tracked properly by his marker. They concede too many goals like that.

Monaghan really did come with intensity and should serve well for next week to get to the pitch of the game. Though when donegal got into the grove they looked decent but have to be at the level from the start. Murphy acts as a great fulcrum to work off and that brings others into running off him.

Another little bugbear is defenders obsession with manmarking and not being aware enough of the danger of a goal from another player. You sometimes have to let your man go and concede the point . There was one glaring example in the second half that monaghan should have scored a goal from. This is not uniquely a donegal thing but sometimes I wonder about the coaching and players reading of a game.

Ulsterchamps_32 (Donegal) - Posts: 696 - 23/01/2022 11:34:54    2396032

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Replying To TheRock2121:  "From the start we were missing our 2 starting midfielders and 3 of our starting forwards. Also our keeper and more than like likely two other starting defenders. When we brought our attackers on Monaghan had no answer. Without patton our ball retention was shocking. We couldn't win a monaghan kick out, considering all that, there still only a point in the difference. I know monaghan didn't start o Connell and no mc manus but Banty will be very worried.

Monaghan play some good football and have some good players. Good luck for the season ahead."
Was a typical monaghan performance get the big lead sit back let other team back into it and we were lucky to win in the end. A problem we'd had for years. Donegal similar to ourselves with mcmanus going will struggle when murphy goes. Lack of clutch players when really needed.

seanie08 (Monaghan) - Posts: 1803 - 23/01/2022 11:52:26    2396033

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Replying To greenfan:  "It's crazy to suggest that the team played better just because Bonner was sent off. Clearly he was in constant communication with Rochford when they were making decisions. On here it seems whenever the team play well Rochford gets all the praise and anytime they don't it's all Bonner's fault."
Yea bonner on a hiding to nothing, not that I would say it'll bother him.. as I said last night he was in constant touch with paddy Campbell and rochford.. the team that started will have at least 6 changes to the team that starts against mayo. Patton. Mc gonagle. Langan. Jamie Brennan. Hopefully mc menamin and Murphy if fit will probably start. Patton I was told was carrying a slight knock so not risked and rightly so. One thing we will always be great full to bonner for is finding us a brilliant keeper and a midfielder in mc gonagle who one of our pundits ex players slated at halftime in the Derry game last year although he didn't name him.

rorysboys (Donegal) - Posts: 2410 - 23/01/2022 12:55:23    2396043

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Suppose the McKenna cup run will have done us good, big step up next weekend, Mayo will be fancying their chances for sure particularly after that limp first half display.
Monaghan are a good team with more players to come back, they will be hard to beat always, I think we'll know a lot more after the league campaign but I'm not as confident in our chances this year as I would have been a few years ago.
Anyway looking forward now to next Sunday, I'm hoping to see a big step up in performance win or lose.
Well done to Monaghan on the victory yesterday.

Tirchonaill1 (Donegal) - Posts: 2756 - 23/01/2022 13:43:03    2396050

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Not particularly bothered by last night's result, I just think that if we continue to play the ball backwards and sideways at a snails pace during games we can forget about making any impact this year on the league or the championship, when we threw caution to the wind in the last quarter we got a glimpse of how dangerous we can be. Hopefully Bonner and rochford will have taken note. We have a tough game next week against mayo who are along with Dublin probably the most physical team in the country at the moment. At times we can be very passive in defence, we get Men back but don't physically engage the player in possession and just mark space. I would expect the starting 15 next week to be more like the team that finished this weekend.

totalrecall (Leitrim) - Posts: 920 - 23/01/2022 16:25:01    2396080

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Bonners claim to fame with the McKenna cup has even slipped away. What are the chances of seeing Croke Park in any kind of meaning ful game this year?Have Donegal improved since last year? Murphy still leading the charge, without his introduction yesterday, Donegal on hiding to nothing. All this talent that's talked about in Donegal circles, not getting to next level. Management obviously, time for Rockford or someone else to take reigns and send Bonner to stand for good.What's the league prognosis, think if Donegal win 2 games , will be the height!

thelowball (USA) - Posts: 400 - 23/01/2022 16:26:59    2396081

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Replying To TheRock2121:  "From the start we were missing our 2 starting midfielders and 3 of our starting forwards. Also our keeper and more than like likely two other starting defenders. When we brought our attackers on Monaghan had no answer. Without patton our ball retention was shocking. We couldn't win a monaghan kick out, considering all that, there still only a point in the difference. I know monaghan didn't start o Connell and no mc manus but Banty will be very worried.

Monaghan play some good football and have some good players. Good luck for the season ahead."
'Banty will be very worried' you say...don't make me laugh ! We made 7 substitutions in 2nd half, which shows it wasn't a must win game for us. You took on Murphy....we kept McManus on the bench. So worry about your own team's performance.

Shelbourne1 (Monaghan) - Posts: 351 - 23/01/2022 16:59:15    2396087

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Replying To thelowball:  "Bonners claim to fame with the McKenna cup has even slipped away. What are the chances of seeing Croke Park in any kind of meaning ful game this year?Have Donegal improved since last year? Murphy still leading the charge, without his introduction yesterday, Donegal on hiding to nothing. All this talent that's talked about in Donegal circles, not getting to next level. Management obviously, time for Rockford or someone else to take reigns and send Bonner to stand for good.What's the league prognosis, think if Donegal win 2 games , will be the height!"
No chance of getting near Croke Park this year. Team will be basically the same as last year, no improvement. None of the new players look anywhere near challenging to be in the team this year. Unless there are better players out there that aren't being picked by the current management but we've had no real success at underage for years.

greenfan (Donegal) - Posts: 474 - 23/01/2022 17:03:46    2396088

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Replying To totalrecall:  "Not particularly bothered by last night's result, I just think that if we continue to play the ball backwards and sideways at a snails pace during games we can forget about making any impact this year on the league or the championship, when we threw caution to the wind in the last quarter we got a glimpse of how dangerous we can be. Hopefully Bonner and rochford will have taken note. We have a tough game next week against mayo who are along with Dublin probably the most physical team in the country at the moment. At times we can be very passive in defence, we get Men back but don't physically engage the player in possession and just mark space. I would expect the starting 15 next week to be more like the team that finished this weekend."
Your penultimate sentence is the cold reality of where we are at and it could be a copy and paste job for the last 3/4 seasons in truth. It hasn't improved. We get numbers back but the tackling is simply second rate. When I see the intensity of Mayo, Dublin, Tyrone etc in later stages it's disheartening because we seem to be a level down from that. Still, I live in hope that this year will be better.

Donegal_abroad (Donegal) - Posts: 1321 - 23/01/2022 20:10:37    2396117

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Replying To Shelbourne1:  "'Banty will be very worried' you say...don't make me laugh ! We made 7 substitutions in 2nd half, which shows it wasn't a must win game for us. You took on Murphy....we kept McManus on the bench. So worry about your own team's performance."
A cup of any kind at all is a big deal in Monaghan, enjoy the celebrations.

greatpoint (USA) - Posts: 427 - 23/01/2022 20:19:48    2396121

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Replying To Shelbourne1:  "'Banty will be very worried' you say...don't make me laugh ! We made 7 substitutions in 2nd half, which shows it wasn't a must win game for us. You took on Murphy....we kept McManus on the bench. So worry about your own team's performance."
Aye, but McManus is no Murphy. Good as he is

Donegal_abroad (Donegal) - Posts: 1321 - 24/01/2022 07:51:58    2396143

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Replying To totalrecall:  "Not particularly bothered by last night's result, I just think that if we continue to play the ball backwards and sideways at a snails pace during games we can forget about making any impact this year on the league or the championship, when we threw caution to the wind in the last quarter we got a glimpse of how dangerous we can be. Hopefully Bonner and rochford will have taken note. We have a tough game next week against mayo who are along with Dublin probably the most physical team in the country at the moment. At times we can be very passive in defence, we get Men back but don't physically engage the player in possession and just mark space. I would expect the starting 15 next week to be more like the team that finished this weekend."
Declan Bonners objective this year is to get us to the next level, which is currently to get us to a All Ireland Semi final.

The McKenna Cup is an opportunity to bleed new talent, give guys a run out, who might not get much game time in the National League. And based on what I have seen, I can't see too many new faces getting an extended run during the upcoming National League. Tony McClenaghan, Shane O'Donnell and Conor Doherty are in with a shout, Caolan Ward is definitely staking a claim for a starting place in 2022, as is Brendan McCole.

Its a pity that Oisin Gallen is out injured, I think he could have done with a proper run.

Commodore (Donegal) - Posts: 1121 - 24/01/2022 14:58:16    2396233

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Replying To Commodore:  "Declan Bonners objective this year is to get us to the next level, which is currently to get us to a All Ireland Semi final.

The McKenna Cup is an opportunity to bleed new talent, give guys a run out, who might not get much game time in the National League. And based on what I have seen, I can't see too many new faces getting an extended run during the upcoming National League. Tony McClenaghan, Shane O'Donnell and Conor Doherty are in with a shout, Caolan Ward is definitely staking a claim for a starting place in 2022, as is Brendan McCole.

Its a pity that Oisin Gallen is out injured, I think he could have done with a proper run."
Yeah and McMenamin too.

From what we've seen so far I'd say this won't be far off the team to play Mayo.

1. Patton
2. McFF
3. McCole
4. Ward
5. McHugh
6. Ban
7. McClenaghan
8. McGonigle
9. McGee
10. Thompson
11. Langan
12. S O'Donnell/N O'Donnell
13. McBrearty
14. Murphy
15. C O'Donnell

Lockjaw (Donegal) - Posts: 9155 - 24/01/2022 17:47:49    2396279

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Replying To Donegal_abroad:  "
Replying To Shelbourne1:  "'Banty will be very worried' you say...don't make me laugh ! We made 7 substitutions in 2nd half, which shows it wasn't a must win game for us. You took on Murphy....we kept McManus on the bench. So worry about your own team's performance."
Aye, but McManus is no Murphy. Good as he is"
Michael Murphy, in his prime, was one of the best players I have ever seen. He was one of the few players that could carry a team. Had it all. Should not be expected to carry the full load at this stage. Still productive.

Gaa Fan (USA) - Posts: 749 - 24/01/2022 18:24:40    2396283

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