Ok here goes
As I said earlier, overall I was happy with our workrate and drive but we still lack that cohesiveness that Clare and other teams have, we simply have no structured game plan and no idea of our starting 15 and who are best used as impact subs. This is criminal given that this is year 2 for the management. Us losing today is not going to cost us a place in the All Ireland series but us losing last week will. That was the must win game and we never looked likely to win it. It will come back to bite us soon
My thoughts on individuals
I thought Patrick Collins was poor today, his puckouts are gone to pot but his shot stopping is just as bad. If we had a viable alternative he would be dropped but the selectors have placed themselves in a bad position by only giving Brion Saunderson one league game. It would be a very brave decision to drop Pa now
Niall O Leary had a fine game and justified his inclusion but just does the stupidest of things at times. One ball came head height to him right in front of me in the north stand, he had a yard on his man and he batted the fucking thing to the ground.
Eoin Downey is one plucky young fella, had a torrid time trying to keep a handle on the Clare inside fowards but he stuck at it and looked assured. He should never have been dropped for the Waterford game
Sean O Donoghue had a good game, he was attacking the ball and looked in control but the sending off was a moment of madness from him. He’ll be regretting it for a long time
Tim O Mahony had his hands full on Peter Duggan but he gave as good as he got on a player who is in top form. However he would want to be coached on how to bat a ball, he’s going to connect with someone with his one handed overhead pull and he’ll be gone
Joyce was back to his best today, was dominant in the air and made some huge surging runs up the pitch. A real leader
Rob Downey had a fine game on Davy Fitzgerald but after the sending off he let Fitzgerald on a loose reign and he caused wreck. I would have thought our wing backs would have been better suited swooping wings though
Ethan Twomey made his first starting appearance today and he was very assured and linked the play well. He was missed badly when he went off and needs to be left there now to develop
Darragh Fitz was Darragh Fitz, made some fantastic surges foward and scored some spectacular points but he totally abdicates his primary duty as a midfielder, will we ever just put him in at 11 and leave him there?
Deccie Dalton was in front of me in the first half, he looked sluggish but the amount of work the man puts in is unreal, and he hit some great ball inside as well as scoring some boomers from play and frees. We collapsed when he had to go off
Shane Barrett had a fine game again, he is growing by the game, a great linkman and a great work ethic, he let himself down with the goal chance which he should have passed to Connolly but that’s nit picking
Seamus Harnedy is a warrior, he never stops fighting for ball and trying to do the right thing with it, but sadly the legs are gone, he was a beaten docket in the second half. Will we learn the lesson and bring him on for the last half hour? I doubt we will
Brian Hayes had some good moments in a two man full foward line with Connolly but he just didn’t have enough impact on the game. Definitely has a better impact coming on
Alan Connolly is simply devastating, if we would only design a plan to isolate him inside and get the bloody ball into him fast, it can’t be that difficult to do surely?
Patrick Horgan was better utilised today by allowing him drift between the 21 and 45, he was much more effective and the goal from play was just pure magic, pure Hoggy. But he just doesn’t have the legs to be tracking and chasing fellas. There’s a huge call to be made to start him or bring him on
Damien Cahalane was typical Damien, robust and aggressive when introduced wing back, I always felt this was his best position at inter county, maybe now with Downey doing so well at 3 he might be an option
Luke Meade was a strange change for me, he just doesn’t have the physicality for this level, I would have thought Tommy O Connell would have been a better option
Mark Coleman done well when introduced at midfield but we just lacked a physical presence with Mark and Luke there. Definitely an option going foward
Robbie O Flynn was sluggish when brought in, this guy could completely change our fortunes if he can find his sharpness before it’s too late for us
Shane Kingston was Shane, won a few balls and scored but he never looked like creating any goal scoring opportunity. But he scares the life out of defenders and that opens spaces for others. Good option off the bench
