22-7-17 gaa blog
ALL IRELAND FOOTBALL
CHMPINSHIP
KILDARE 0-16 0-19
GALWAY
WICKED WALSH STEADY'S SHIP
Galway were rocked early on by the loss of former U-21 star
Michael Daly to an apparent leg injury.
The wing-forward fired two points in the first eight minutes
but pulled up in the process of scoring his second and appeared to tweak a
muscle.
That scored left Galway 0-03 to 0-01 ahead though Kildare
fought back to level terms at 0-03 apiece, setting in train a tit for tat
scoring encounter.
Comer and Shane Walsh were marked men in the Galway attack
though both still contributed 0-05 in the opening half, 0-03 from play.
Johnny Heaney lobbed over a beauty too and the Tribesmen
closed out the first-half scoring with three in a row to lead 0-11 to 0-10.
But Kildare led on a number of occasions themselves and
played their part in an epic opening half.
Daniel Flynn and Paul Cribbin kicked some stunning long
range scores though six wides in the half cost them.
Galway opened up a three-point lead in the third quarter for
the first time and were boosted by Kildare's loss of Flynn to the red card.
Galway remained in the ascendancy but a mixture of poor
kicking and handling errors allowed Kildare to stay in touch with points from
Paddy Brophy and Paul Cribbin.
Galway led 0-15 to 0-12 approaching the hour mark and moved
four clear when sub Gary O'Donnell pointed but couldn't push on as anticipated.
Kildare scores from Paddy Brophy and Neil Flynn reduced the
gap to the minimum and it remained that way in injury-time but Galway
ultimately brought their quality and big game experience to bear on the
contest.
MY
OPINION
Considering the fact that this
was between the team that were through and their one that went out with these
results I was surprised in how close the game was and you do think Kildare have
another performance in them like this but will Galway rest player for the
semis.
MONAGHAN 1-17 1-17
KERRY
CLIFFORD CRACKS
MONIHAN IN BITS
The game was barely a minute old when Kieran Duffy pumped a
long ball from deep inside his own half in the direction of McManus, who
skipped around marker Mark Griffin and steered his low shot past Brian Kelly in
the Kerry goal.
The former All-Star slotted over a point, and the Kingdom
were already reeling.
Paul Geaney, David Clifford and Kieran Donaghy struggled to
make an impact up front, as Farney warriors Drew Wylie, Vinny Corey and Colin
Walshe stood firm.
It was left to Sean O’Shea to use his place-kicking
expertise to keep the Munster men in the game.
He steered a couple of frees between the posts, but Monaghan
always looked dangerous going forward, and scores from Niall Kearns and Darren
Hughes had them 1-5 to 0-4 ahead by the 20 minute mark.
McManus was in flying form, Griffin still tasked to curtail
the Clontibret genius as the half wore on and he brought his tally to 1-06,
1-03 of that from play.
And the home side had another potent scoring weapon in
goalkeeper Rory Beggan, who thumped over three monster free, the shortest of
them from 50 metres, the longest an outrageous 63 metre effort.
Late in the half, teenager Clifford die manage to get some
joy from the possession provided by Donaghy and Tom O’Sullivan, knocking over
two points, one of them a fine example of his undoubted genius.
O’Shea’s seventh score narrowed the gap to two, but Monaghan
finished the half strongly with McManus and Beggan on target for a 1-11 to 0-10
interval lead.
Kerry were on the brink, and they came out fighting, hitting
the first three scores of the second half to narrow the gap to one,
Tom O’Sullivan pressed forward to pick off his second, and
David Moran landed a tidy score, but they were soon on the back foot again as
McManus and Beggan continued to find the range.
David Moran stepped up his game at midfield, but when flying
wing back Karl O’Connell darted forward for a point, Monaghan led by five.
With five minutes to play, Kerry started to get some joy
from direct long ball towards Donaghy, and scores from Anthony Maher, Clifford
and Stephen O’Brien had them right in it.
They appeared to have left it too late, however, when
substitute James O’Donoghue fed Clifford for a brilliant angled finish from a
tight angle.
MY
OPINION
There is no other way to say
this other than the fact that Monahan were sucker punched and should have dealt
with the ball hat conceded the goal. I think that the fact that Kerry refused
to give up is one think thing that will help them moving forward but is this
the changing of the guard.
TYRONE 0-14 1-14 DUBLIN
MC CARTHY MAGIC
MAKES FOR DUBS WIN
Tyrone were ahead by the 11th minute, Peter Harte collecting
Ronan McNamee’s return pass to send over his second score.
Dean Rock had earlier edged the Dubs ahead, and he had the
sides level from a free, before a brilliant Jack McCaffrey score regained the
lead for the Sam Maguire Cup holders midway through the first half.
Both sides got serious numbers behind the ball, with the
Dubs highly effective in pressing the man in possession, exemplified by two
terrific turnovers by full forward Paul Mannion deep in his own half, one a
perfectly timed tackle on Cathal McShane, the other an interception.
And Jim Gavin’s side were faster on the break than a Red
Hand side famed for its counter-attacking. But as the game wore on, defenders
Michael McKernan, Frank Burns and Tiernan McCann did begin to break the lines
with some success, and it was McKernan’s assist that sent McCann through to
bring the sides level.
The narrowed pitch, with a couple of metres trimmed off
either side, restricted the Dubs expansive game, but they were nevertheless to
recycle ball patiently and get their shooters into position, with Brian Howard
and Philly McMahon picking off scores from distance.
Stephen Cluxton, forced to go long in the early stages,
began to get to grips with his kick-outs, launching attacks from deep, and when
Rock made it doubles scores at 0-6 to 0-3, it was looking good for the boys in
blue.
But with their front men well tied up, Tyrone were able to
craft scores from deep, and two more scores from defenders, Burns and McKernan,
with a gem, narrowed the gap to one.
John Small’s score sent the Dubs in with a 0-7 to 0-5
interval advantage, and as Tyrone committed more men forward, Ciaran Kilkenny
was able to find more space in which to express his creativity.
He played a central role in the 40th minute goal netted by
James McCarthy at the second attempt, after his initial shot had been saved by
Niall Morgan.
With Kilkenny orchestrating from deep, Dublin were able to
starve their opponents of possession, but often ran out of road for the final
pass.
But the introduction of Kevin McManamon and Cormac Costello
gave them more directness, and their freshness added to the growing pressure on
the Red Hands.
Brian Fenton imposed himself on the midfield battle as Rock
pushed Dublin into a five points lead and Cian O’Sullivan finding space going
forward.
But Tyronethrew everything into attack in the final 10
minutes, substitutes Kieran McGeary (2) and Harry Loughran pulling back points
in a thrilling finishbefore Paul Flynn claimed the final score
MY
OPINION
I think that Dublin are on a
different level and that they are still learning and can learn a lot from this
win. Tyrone are having a good season but they had their chances and they know now
that they can play to a high level and beat anyone ad forget the Monaghan
result that happened earlier in the year.
ROSCOMMON 0-13 0-20
DONEGAL
MIGHTY MURTAGH
Roscommon started brightly and two Ciaran Murtagh points
helped the home side into a 0-4 to 0-2 advantage.
A seven-point burst proved decisive with Ciaran Thompson (2)
and MacNialais on target along with four points from Murphy, which included two
outstanding strikes.
Cathal Compton brought the run to an end when he registered
Roscommon's first score in 21 minutes but they trailed by five at half-time.
The second half was a closer affair but Roscommon never
threatened a comeback and Donegal eased to the finishing line.
MY
OPINION
This has shown to me that
Donegal have got the capability to beat anyone but they have to look at their
most recent performances and as are they good enough for the big match in a
couple of weeks
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