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Watched the Trillick game last. Great game up to just on 54mins - at this point I think both sides started to worry about losing the game. There was I think 28 scores up to that point and for the next 30mins there was 4. The only thing I can think of why is exactly that both teams were afraid of losing and didn't go at it the same way as they did up to that point.

zinny (Wexford) - Posts: 982 - 29/08/2020 13:39:04    2289655

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I watched the second half of the Monaghan SFC game yesterday, Magheracloone v Carrickmacross. It was a good game, won by Carrickmacross by 4 points, thanks to two second half goals.
Watching the game, I noticed spectators gathered behind the fence, at the back of one of the goals. The crowd were gathered between a hedge surrounding the pitch, and the fence. It looked a fine grounds with two pitches. I thought spectators were not allowed attend games at present.

MicktheMiller (Offaly) - Posts: 112 - 31/08/2020 12:53:28    2289935

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theres lots of lads looking at games from outside the official gaa grounds.a match recently in clare about 50 people closely huddled on one side outside the gaa ground but with a good view of the action.. and a vast area of empty space inside the grounds.. sadly ridiculous in the extreme..

kavvie (Clare) - Posts: 496 - 31/08/2020 14:34:29    2289947

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Replying To zinny:  "Watched the Trillick game last. Great game up to just on 54mins - at this point I think both sides started to worry about losing the game. There was I think 28 scores up to that point and for the next 30mins there was 4. The only thing I can think of why is exactly that both teams were afraid of losing and didn't go at it the same way as they did up to that point."
A great game for sure. The shootout between Bradley and Brennan was top quality stuff. Brennan has such a sweet strike of a ball. He was stroking over frees off his left foot from the "wrong" side. You rarely see that. Bradley was on fire. Took his goal expertly.

Can Tyrone posters comment on why both players are not automatic starters for the county? I know Bradley went to the US last summer and Brennan was in and out of the side. I was just thinking to myself that an inside forward line of Brennan, McShane and Bradley would be a handful for any defence.

Lockjaw (Donegal) - Posts: 7075 - 02/09/2020 08:26:39    2290152

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Think Brennan left the Tyrone panel mid way through 2019 over lack of game time, and hasn't been recalled.
Bradley was travelling in 2019,.

FoolsGold (Cavan) - Posts: 2216 - 02/09/2020 09:55:39    2290159

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Replying To Lockjaw:  "A great game for sure. The shootout between Bradley and Brennan was top quality stuff. Brennan has such a sweet strike of a ball. He was stroking over frees off his left foot from the "wrong" side. You rarely see that. Bradley was on fire. Took his goal expertly.

Can Tyrone posters comment on why both players are not automatic starters for the county? I know Bradley went to the US last summer and Brennan was in and out of the side. I was just thinking to myself that an inside forward line of Brennan, McShane and Bradley would be a handful for any defence."
Bradley was in England last year. Brennan is an old-style tricky forward who relies on guile and accuracy, and he's a joy to watch once he has the ball, but he probably doesn't track back enough / do enough donkey work for current management tastes. Nowadays, it's less about the stats on the scoreboard and more to do with the distance stats on your GPS tracker lol. You're right of course that a big target man with 2 smaller tricky guys with pace and good feet running off him would be a nightmare to defend against, but current Tyrone management doesn't see it that way; never has and never will.

essmac (Tyrone) - Posts: 796 - 02/09/2020 17:02:13    2290243

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Replying To essmac:  "Bradley was in England last year. Brennan is an old-style tricky forward who relies on guile and accuracy, and he's a joy to watch once he has the ball, but he probably doesn't track back enough / do enough donkey work for current management tastes. Nowadays, it's less about the stats on the scoreboard and more to do with the distance stats on your GPS tracker lol. You're right of course that a big target man with 2 smaller tricky guys with pace and good feet running off him would be a nightmare to defend against, but current Tyrone management doesn't see it that way; never has and never will."
Both very good footballers and with a big good player in the middle the full forward line would be difficult to handle. However, to compete at the highest level you need a high level of work rate and it is one of the few (if not the only) key aspect of a game that you can guarantee.

browncows (Meath) - Posts: 2189 - 02/09/2020 20:14:56    2290277

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I heard that a member of the Tyrone backroom team said Brennan did not have enough pace to be ableist to succeed at county level.

Byanthon (Tyrone) - Posts: 1644 - 03/09/2020 07:49:15    2290315

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Replying To essmac:  "Bradley was in England last year. Brennan is an old-style tricky forward who relies on guile and accuracy, and he's a joy to watch once he has the ball, but he probably doesn't track back enough / do enough donkey work for current management tastes. Nowadays, it's less about the stats on the scoreboard and more to do with the distance stats on your GPS tracker lol. You're right of course that a big target man with 2 smaller tricky guys with pace and good feet running off him would be a nightmare to defend against, but current Tyrone management doesn't see it that way; never has and never will."
Yeah I figured that. I just think at this stage, when even Mickey Harte must be thinking his time in charge of Tyrone is nearing the end, that he'd change things up a small bit even? Obviously McShane is a huge loss if the 2020 championship does go ahead. But if Harte persists with the same template what difference in outcome is he expecting to see?

We saw it ourselves here in Donegal for a few years under Rory Gallagher. Rory is a great coach and has a fantastic football brain. But he persisted with a style that was no longer relevant, and one that the bigger teams had long sussed out. It wasn't until Declan Bonner came in that we became a bit more expansive, and now we have a chance to win three Ulsters in a row. By no means are we the finished article as can be seen from our failure to negotiate the super 8s, but the point is that unless we changed approach who knows where we'd have been at?

Lockjaw (Donegal) - Posts: 7075 - 03/09/2020 08:41:59    2290318

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Replying To Lockjaw:  "Yeah I figured that. I just think at this stage, when even Mickey Harte must be thinking his time in charge of Tyrone is nearing the end, that he'd change things up a small bit even? Obviously McShane is a huge loss if the 2020 championship does go ahead. But if Harte persists with the same template what difference in outcome is he expecting to see?

We saw it ourselves here in Donegal for a few years under Rory Gallagher. Rory is a great coach and has a fantastic football brain. But he persisted with a style that was no longer relevant, and one that the bigger teams had long sussed out. It wasn't until Declan Bonner came in that we became a bit more expansive, and now we have a chance to win three Ulsters in a row. By no means are we the finished article as can be seen from our failure to negotiate the super 8s, but the point is that unless we changed approach who knows where we'd have been at?"
Brennan the Simon Zebo of Gaelic Football :)

Bradley is a teacher, not sure what Brennan does but isn't it amazing the hold that playing for your own county has over players - either of these two I would say would get in any county panel bar two or three others.

zinny (Wexford) - Posts: 982 - 03/09/2020 10:58:27    2290344

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Two great hurling semi's in Antrim today. The city clubs coming up just short. Hopefully next year they can make the break through.

SaffronDon (Antrim) - Posts: 2020 - 06/09/2020 19:20:03    2290835

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Two very good football semi finals in Wicklow today and yesterday. Firstly the entertainment value for the neutral observer was fantastic. However for the players mixed emotions as one of our semi finals went to penalties. Avondale v Tinahely was played yesterday and Avondale lost out on penalties. Nothing separated both teams and it was a cruel way to lose out on a final spot. Today's game saw Baltinglass overcame the favourites AGB . Baltinglass were full value for their win . AGB rallied late but Balto held out to deservedly claim a final berth. Our championship this year has been ran very well aided by streaming of our games with excellent commentary. Our final should be very close with both finalists concentrating on bringing through their younger players.

61123 (Wicklow) - Posts: 153 - 06/09/2020 21:30:26    2290864

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Replying To SaffronDon:  "Two great hurling semi's in Antrim today. The city clubs coming up just short. Hopefully next year they can make the break through."
Next week's final could be a cracker.

Bon (Kildare) - Posts: 979 - 06/09/2020 22:18:18    2290875

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As expected "the big 4" in Donegal all advanced to the semi finals over the weekend. Eunans and Glenties won very comfortably but Kilcar, and particularly Gaoth Dobhair had scares in their matches against St. Michaels and MacCumhaills respectively.

Oisín Gallen was outstanding for MacCumhaills. He has overcome his shoulder injury and looks to have added a bit of bulk. If/when the inter county championship goes ahead I think the rest of the country will begin to really sit up and take notice. A brilliant prospect for us.

This weekend the semi final sees Gaoth Dobhair take on Kilcar with Eunans playing Glenties. Just a pity people can't get in to watch the matches. The situation is farcical at the moment. In Gweedore yesterday a nice crowd was able to watch the match. They were behind the GAA ground's fence technically, but to all intents and purposes were attending the match. Anyone watching the stream unfamiliar with the layout in Magheragallon (Gaoth Dobair's pitch) would be forgiven for assuming the Covid rules were being flouted.

Lockjaw (Donegal) - Posts: 7075 - 07/09/2020 09:32:43    2290902

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Replying To Bon:  "Next week's final could be a cracker."
I hope so. Loving these live streams!

SaffronDon (Antrim) - Posts: 2020 - 07/09/2020 10:28:07    2290916

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Incredible game of football in Clones yesterday, Ballybay edging out Inniskeen in the Monaghan semi final by 4-19 to 1-25 after extra time. A real shame a game like that was played out in front of no crowd, but to be fair the county board had a great streaming service over the past couple of weeks.

Scotstown had an easier time of it in the other semi and await Ballybay in the final.

patk (Monaghan) - Posts: 872 - 07/09/2020 13:42:55    2290982

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Replying To patk:  "Incredible game of football in Clones yesterday, Ballybay edging out Inniskeen in the Monaghan semi final by 4-19 to 1-25 after extra time. A real shame a game like that was played out in front of no crowd, but to be fair the county board had a great streaming service over the past couple of weeks.

Scotstown had an easier time of it in the other semi and await Ballybay in the final."
Looked like an absolute cracker alright. Is Paul Finlay still playing for Ballybay?

Lockjaw (Donegal) - Posts: 7075 - 07/09/2020 14:52:42    2290998

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Replying To SaffronDon:  "Two great hurling semi's in Antrim today. The city clubs coming up just short. Hopefully next year they can make the break through."
The resurgence of hurling within Belfast is extremely welcome and Antrim can only benefit from this. Both Rossa and St. John's were very unlucky in their semi finals and some questionable decisions affected the outcome of both games. The future looks bright again for Antrim.

Ulsterman (Antrim) - Posts: 9294 - 08/09/2020 03:33:28    2291072

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Replying To Lockjaw:  "Looked like an absolute cracker alright. Is Paul Finlay still playing for Ballybay?"
He is indeed, and still putting in a right shift for the club.

patk (Monaghan) - Posts: 872 - 08/09/2020 13:16:32    2291116

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Replying To patk:  "He is indeed, and still putting in a right shift for the club."
Some boy Jap. Played a bit of ball with him one summer many moons ago in New York. A quality operator.

Lockjaw (Donegal) - Posts: 7075 - 08/09/2020 14:12:30    2291126

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