well if it wasnt the ulster teams monte......then who started it so......

as a mayo man at the game yday i really think this was one that got away..donegal just wernt the same team in my opinion the hype had entered into the psyche of some players..unfortunately with the concession of the two early goals mayo could not exploit this..horan has to take some blame as tactically he was way off the mark..the fears that the forwards were not good enough which had always been in the background finally game to fruition..keane should not have been on murphy full stop and if donegal had kicked more ball in during he first half he could have got more goals...the game was slightly disappointing in terms of quality but if mayo had got that goal near the end there would only have been a point in it with a minute left..
the quality was poor yesterday but the two semi finals were exceptional in terms of quality and entertainment so i dont believe that a knee jerk reaction regarding the rules are necessary... 
after the initial celebration with team mates at least 10 donegal players went shaking hands with the mayo players before climbing the podium to collect sam

In reply to galwayman i think we will have to disagree over the term great. My definition of greatness is very narrow and i think thats the way it should be. Karl Lacey is a very good player and Donegal have a few other very good players but greatness should be reserved for just a very few players such as Colm Cooper and Peter Canavan.
If Kark Lacey falls into the greatness catetgory then a hundred over players in the modern game would also fall into the same category.
Greatness in sport is the highest accolade you can bestow on a sports person and only a very few are worthy of being the best of the best.

gant 10 players? Try 7 more like it according to my well placed source, ok so we now have a man at the game that says that maybe 10 shook their hands, very poor sportsmanship all the same for the other 10 if Donegal used all their subs not to. You can disguise and hide that all you want as anti-GAA bile but no hiding the fact that sportsmanship in your sport is shocking.

surely in penalty shoot outs in soccer when a team win they dont stop and shake hands with their opponents?? after the initial two minutes in front of the hill the team were rushed to collect the cup due i would imagine to time constraints with rtes lives coverage of the speech... i dont think michael murphy is aan unsportsmanlike  player in fact hes the exact opposite but he did not shake hands due to the need to collect the trophy

Probably go down as the worst footballing team to win an All Ireland. Good athletes but very mediocre footballers. I thought auld Martin McHugh along with Ger Canning was a bit bias,in their praise for his son Mark during the course of the game. Very unfair to have a pundit from one team giving an opinion during commentary. It appeared to me that there was an  underlying attempt to improve Mark McHughs prospects of winning player of the year.

Galwayman, i am not dimishing how good a player Karl Lacey. We are disagreeing more about the interpration  of the term great player.

Unless you have a very narrow defination then the term is pretty devalued.

You mentioned Peter Canavan. As far as i am concerned he is the greatest player to ever play the game so its probably harsh to compare other players with him.

My opinion is that Donegal dont have any players who you could describe as great in the purest sense of the term. That have some very good players and the rest are good players who have trained to exceptional standards over the last few years. Great players are born great but other players like many of the Donegal players can become good by dedication and hard work. The problem with maintaining that same level of fitness and dedication is that its nearly impossible to replicate year after year not only in terms of phsicality but also social factors and desire.
I would imagine many of the Donegal players have had to totally devote themselves to a super level of training over the past few years and the pressure and desire to continue doing that must take its toll on their life outside football especially if you have children and you have to make a choice in terms of balance in their life.

Rocketfingers........some day when your league gets a decent crowd the fai might put on a hip hip hooray show.........I am sure when the Donegal and Mayo lads sit down for a pint in a few days they will have a good laugh at your thread.

The three cheers should be introduced into soccer,it might stop your fans from fighting and wrecking buses.
The GAA  are in a no win situation for Rocketfingers,unsportsmanlike not to shake hands in time and wrong to ask for a sporting cheer for the losers.
Peter Canavan was the recepient of plenty of rough stuff in his illustrious career,a giant of the game.

interesting to note also the number of donegal players who were listed as students.... think roughly 20 out of the panel of 30 are in college which makes perfect sense as to reach that level of fitness requires almost complete dedication.

Their fitness levels would be on a par with players in the premiership.

Their fitness levels would be on a par with players in the premiership.

If you mean the English Premier League, how do you come to that conclusion?

I suspect, from my own observations that the Donegal players are far fitter than their English Premier League counterparts.

I agree........not the loi, sure Colin Hawkins is still tipping away at that.
Donegal made the best out of what they had and fair play to them.

55 minutes, god i might not be fast anymore but i could run 55 minutes. So fit

erris1..........R

Karl Lacey is up there with the best backs to play the game in the past 20 years. He deserves to sit alongside the likes of Moynihan, Fay, The OSe brothers and is a vastly superior player to the overrated McGeeney.

As thegalwayman said, he is going to win his 4th allstar and 3 of those have been on Donegal teams that were average sides.

I'd agrue Michael Donellan or indeed, Padraig Joyce as better players than Canavan.

Certainly more influential, as the players surrounding each/both in 1998/2001 were not as influential.

Canavan had the best Tyrone-ever side backing him up.

PJ shades it for sheer longevity.

PS I do not hail from either Galway or Tyrone.

I doubt any other single player in the history of gaelic football could have taken a fairly average Tyrone team in 95 to within one controversial kick of a ball of an all ireland when he scored 11 of his teams 12 points.
The following year, again with an average Tyrone team, he took them to the all ireland semi final. He was at his prime at that time but taken out of the game within minutes of the throw in by the Meath corner back.
I would agree Tyrone had many good players when they won their two all irelands much later when Canavan was on the team but he was injured and past his best by that stage.
Canavan taking Tyrone to the all ireland final in 95 is up their with Maradona leading Argentina to the world cup single handedly in 86.
I wonder how many other players people can remember from the tyrone team in 95 and the argentina team in 86. That fact alone sums up what great players they were.
I will agree Donellan was a fantastic player. The best player by far in a very very good Galway team.