Latest news with #ConorLaverty
BBC News
3 hours ago
- Sport
- BBC News
Conroy starts for Galway against Down
Last year's Footballer of the Year Paul Conroy returns to start for Galway in their preliminary quarter-final against Down at Pairc replaces Peter Cooke after a strong showing off the bench in the thrilling victory over is also a change in defence as Cian Hernon comes in for Jack Comer is on the bench after missing the Armagh win through injury as Conor Flaherty retains his place between the posts ahead of Connor boss Conor Laverty has made one change to his side after their defeat by Monaghan last Branagan is preferred to Adam Crimmins, who drops to the Ronan Burns; Patrick McCarthy, Peter Fegan Ceilum Doherty; Ryan Magill, Pierce Laverty, Miceal Rooney; Daniel Guinness, Ryan McEvoy; Danny Magill, Odhran Murdock, Eugene Branagan; James Guinness, Pat Havern, John John O'Hare, Ruari McCormick Aaron McClements, Donal Scullion, Eoin McCrickard, Eugene Branagan, Oisin Savage, Caolan Mooney, Finn Murdock, Patrick Brooks, Conor Conor Flaherty; Johnny McGrath, Sean Fitzgerald, Liam Silke; Dylan McHugh, Sean Kelly, Cian Hernon; Paul Conroy, John Maher; Cein Darcy, Matthew Tierney, Cillian McDaid; Rob Finnerty, Shane Walsh, Matthew Connor Gleeson, Jack Glynn, Cathal Sweeney, Sean Mulkerrin, Daniel O'Flaherty, John Daly, Peter Cooke, Kieran Molloy, Tomo Culhane, Johnny Heaney, Damien Comer.
Irish Times
a day ago
- Sport
- Irish Times
Tactical analysis: Down will need to share scoring burden around more to knock out Galway
It can be difficult to get an accurate representation of a team's actual progress over a number of years. Often, we are blinded by landmark victories. The Gaelic Football ELO ratings, diligently kept on X/Twitter by Shane Mangan, are a manner to actually track a team's progression or regression. ELO ratings are essentially used as a way to rank a team based on their results, factoring in variables such as match importance, home advantage and standard of opposition. It is similar to the type of system used to determine world rankings by Fifa or World Rugby. In the past few years, there have been teams who have had large rises in the rankings in one season, such as Meath this year, with victories over higher ranked teams like Dublin and Kerry. READ MORE Roscommon are a good example of a team who have fluctuated in the rankings in recent years, from a high of 7th to their current position of 13th. The steady movers in the rankings are Down. Since the arrival of Conor Laverty in August 2022, Down have moved from 19th place to their current position of 12th. They have quietly risen, usually winning the games they should win and losing the games they are expected to lose. They now face Galway (Sunday, Pairc Esler, 1.45pm) who are ranked 2nd - could a major upset be on the cards? Down are not a team who have generated much media attention, as since Laverty's arrival they have mostly played off-Broadway. Yes, they have played in the Ulster championship, but they have yet to be a real contender in Laverty's three seasons. Their progress has been in promotion up to Division Two of the league, only to get narrowly relegated in 2025. They landed the Tailteann Cup in 2024, beating Laois in the final, having fallen at the final hurdle in 2023 to Meath. A favourable draw in this year's round robin saw them beat Clare and narrowly overcome neighbours Louth, before falling to Monaghan in the clash for top of the group in the final round. Down have been consistently, quietly building. What about their strengths and why do they have a chance of beating Galway? Well, it is in Newry and Laverty has tapped into Down football heritage by making it a fortress, but some of what they are doing on the field could make the difference. While Laverty may be a Kilcoo man, who are known for their restrictive style of football, he was often the forward who showed real creativity and this Down team shows that inventiveness within a structure. A lot of their attacking nous revolves around Danny Magill, Odhran Murdock and Pat Havern. At this current juncture, I believe Danny Magill is a nailed on All Star in terms of his explosiveness on the ball and his ability to beat men one-on-one, but also his foraging and defensive duties back the field. Down have relied heavily on Danny Magill, Odhran Murdock and Pat Havern for scores throughout the championship. To date in the Championship, these three men have scored 0-73, which represents 56% of their total scored (6-113). No other Down players have scored in every game, showing a lack of consistent support and a big dependency on the three attacking sparks. In the Donegal game, where the Down attack was so often stunted, there was particular attention paid to Murdock and how he looks to break a line. Michael Langan was detailed to mark the Burren man from the outset and never gave him any opportunity to break lines, leading to his one scoring blank this season. Donegal stopped Odhran Murdock getting on the scoresheet, with Michael Langan tagging him closely here. It is likely that Galway have identified these three men and they will have players working in a system to shut them down. Each of the three men offer different attributes meaning particular match-ups are required. Murdock has huge power and is hard to stop when running direct. He showed that against Louth after winning the throw-in, as he rampaged straight down the middle for a two-pointer. Magill has really been Down's go-to man this season, showcasing a wide variety of skills. He was a key man for kickouts against Donegal, showing for the ball for Ronan Burns, as well as winnings breaks off Donegal's restarts. Danny Magill bursts into a pocket of space to receive a short kickout against Donegal. He has carried the ball through the middle all season and is constantly looking to set up opportunities to run at men one-on-one using his blinding pace. Magill isolates his man to take him on one-on-one against Monaghan. Against Louth, Magill uses a stutter step to create a gap for a more direct route to goal. Havern has tended to operate as a distance shooter, hanging around outside the arc, picking off two-pointers and jinking inside to higher percentage shooting positions. Down are getting their shots off, as they outshot Donegal 26 shots to 25, but their shooting efficiency was only 54% on the day. They will need others to carry the load too against Galway. Pat Havern drifts into space, and has enough time to successfully kick a two-pointer. If Down are to take a scalp, they will need to eliminate basic errors. While Havern has been a maverick in scoring two-pointers and conjuring points from a standing start, he will need to be quicker in his use of possession. He fouled the ball technically twice against Donegal and was pulled up for a double bounce against Monaghan inside his own arc. What will annoy Laverty about this is that there was a longer kickout option for Burns and then an immediate kick pass option not seen by Havern, after he received the kickout. Either one of these would have put Down on the attack. Down had good options at this kickout, but Havern's double bounce led to a turnover. While much was made of Jack McCarron picking the ball up off the ground for his goal, the cause of the goal is of more importance. It was a basic skill execution error; a low handpass to feet, that led to the Monaghan turnover inside the Down 45m line. They cannot be turning ball over in this manner. A simple error led to Jack McCarron's second half goal for Monaghan. Equally they have been caught with three v three breaches in their last two games, resulting in 0-3 conceded. Small margins are crucial if they are to step up another level. Small margins are at play in their kickouts too. They have shown some innovation in the kickout zone, with a lot of high risk, high reward kickouts, eye of a needle stuff. In general it has worked well for them, but Monaghan managed to pick them off on a short kickout, leading to Mícheál Bannigan's goal. Down were caught out by Monaghan, as a short kickout was intercepted directly before Mícheál Bannigan's goal. Down are trying to get set up further out the field, often in a spine formation, and then break into pockets closer to their own goal. A couple of graphics emphasise this below. Down will need to be brave, but also smart, as they get ready for a Galway front eight who will look to punish anything that goes astray. Down setting up in a spine formation for a kickout against Donegal. They try the same kickout routine to go short against Louth here. Louth profited at times with their second half squeeze, not allowing Down out of their own half. Down will have to transition the ball faster into the safety of the Galway half this weekend. Louth also punished Down when short kickouts went astray. Steady progress has been made and Down can definitely take a scalp, but they will need their key men to fire, be decisive in possession and eliminate unforced errors across the field. Down have kicked the ball infrequently in games, but used it to good effect along with intelligent inside movement for John McGeough's goal against Monaghan. They will need to use all the tools at their disposal for a win against the Tribesmen. Down played more direct at times, with Jordan McGeough getting on the end of a kick pass and hitting the back of the net against Monaghan. Paul O'Brien is a performance analyst with The Performance Process.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Galway's Walsh relishing trip to Newry
Galway's Shane Walsh hit the match-winning score against Armagh which set up a Sunday's preliminary quarter-final against Down [Getty Images] Galway's Shane Walsh says he and his team-mates "know all about Down" as they prepare to hit the road for Sunday's All-Ireland Senior Football Championship preliminary quarter-final in Newry. The Tribesmen were forced to dig deep at the weekend to edge past Armagh and seal third-place in Group Four, a result which saw them through the knockout phase. Advertisement Walsh was in inspirational form with nine points, including the winner at the death, to earn himself the nod for Footballer of the Week. Being drawn against Down means it is Ulster opposition for the third game in a row for Galway, having drawn in Derry before getting the better of the All-Ireland champions last weekend. Walsh is expecting a hostile reception in Pairc Esler on Sunday, and is anticipating the Mournemen will be fired up with a place in the last eight on the line, but says he relishes such occasions. "I know Down manager Conor Laverty is a gent off the field, but when it comes to football, he's very serious about winning. You know exactly what way he is going to create his atmosphere in Down this weekend," Walsh said. Advertisement "You embrace that because the more hostile environments - and it tends to be that way when you go across the border with the crowd involved a lot more - makes for a better atmosphere. "When the game is in the melting pot, you can hear every breath from every supporter." Walsh has experienced mixed fortunes at the Newry venue in the past, having been part of the Galway team that won a Division Two contest against Down in 2022, but then suffered All-Ireland Club semi-final heartbreak with Kilmacud Crokes against Glen two years later. The 32-year-old is delighted to still in the championship as at half-time against Armagh, the exit door was staring Galway in the face. Advertisement Padraic Joyce's men rallied from eight down to claim an invaluable win and although their third-place finish means they are away from home this week, it is a scenario last year's beaten finalists are more than comfortable with. "It's great to be here and that was the aim at the start of the game, to still be in the championship," said Walsh, an All-Star recipient in 2022. "It didn't look good at half-time, but Padraic got behind us and demanded a bit more from us. "We came out firing in the second half and thankfully so, because if things had stayed the same, we wouldn't be here today."
BBC News
2 days ago
- Sport
- BBC News
Galway's Walsh relishing trip to Newry
Galway's Shane Walsh says he and his team-mates "know all about Down" as they prepare to hit the road for Sunday's All-Ireland Senior Football Championship preliminary quarter-final in Tribesmen were forced to dig deep at the weekend to edge past Armagh and seal third-place in Group Four, a result which saw them through the knockout was in inspirational form with nine points, including the winner at the death, to earn himself the nod for Footballer of the drawn against Down means it is Ulster opposition for the third game in a row for Galway, having drawn in Derry before getting the better of the All-Ireland champions last is expecting a hostile reception in Pairc Esler on Sunday, and is anticipating the Mournemen will be fired up with a place in the last eight on the line, but says he relishes such occasions."I know Down manager Conor Laverty is a gent off the field, but when it comes to football, he's very serious about winning. You know exactly what way he is going to create his atmosphere in Down this weekend," Walsh said."You embrace that because the more hostile environments - and it tends to be that way when you go across the border with the crowd involved a lot more - makes for a better atmosphere. "When the game is in the melting pot, you can hear every breath from every supporter."Walsh has experienced mixed fortunes at the Newry venue in the past, having been part of the Galway team that won a Division Two contest against Down in 2022, but then suffered All-Ireland Club semi-final heartbreak with Kilmacud Crokes against Glen two years 32-year-old is delighted to still in the championship as at half-time against Armagh, the exit door was staring Galway in the Joyce's men rallied from eight down to claim an invaluable win and although their third-place finish means they are away from home this week, it is a scenario last year's beaten finalists are more than comfortable with. "It's great to be here and that was the aim at the start of the game, to still be in the championship," said Walsh, an All-Star recipient in 2022."It didn't look good at half-time, but Padraic got behind us and demanded a bit more from us. "We came out firing in the second half and thankfully so, because if things had stayed the same, we wouldn't be here today."
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Monaghan beat Down to secure quarter-final spot
Jack McCarron's second-half goal helped Monaghan defeat Down by 2-17 to 1-26 to secure an All-Ireland quarter-final spot. It was a winner-takes-all shootout in Group Three in Armagh as the sides were level on four points heading into the final fixture. Advertisement Down held a narrow 1-15 to 1-14 lead at the break as John McGeough and Michael Bannigan exchanged first-half goals. There was little to split the sides throughout the contest, but McCarron's goal was crucial as Monaghan moved clear in the final quarter to book their place in the last eight. Down will go into the preliminary quarter-final after the defeat, and they will be joined by Leinster champions Louth, who defeated Clare by 2-17 to 2-14 to progress. Monaghan held a three-point lead in the early stages but Down drew level when McGeough netted after being found by Ryan McEvoy. In a role reversal, Down edged into a three-point lead after a flurry of points before Bannigan struck in the 31st minute to level the contest. Advertisement Down again moved three points clear as the clock ticked towards half-time, but Rory Beggan's two-pointer reduced the lead at the interval. The end-to-end nature continued before Pat Havern's 11th point of the game moved Conor Laverty's side four points clear. However, Monaghan grabbed their second goal 14 minutes into the second half in scrappy circumstances when Conor McCarthy was denied by Ronan Burns, Bannigan hit the post from the rebound but the ball fell kindly to McCarron, who was able to fire into the unguarded net. Neither side could find clear daylight until McCarron, Bannigan, Ryan O'Toole and Beggan's two-pointer moved Gabriel Bannigan's side five points clear heading into injury-time, which was enough to help Monaghan over the line and into the last eight.
