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Aidan Forker deserves a nomination in my opinion, been his best season in years.

Club games Friday night and Monday - are there any county players still in the country?? I hate that when the county season is done they think they are above playing club football for a few weeks until they are brought back to earth by a voice in the crowd telling them the truth.

What a ridiculous statement. Lads training hard since before Christmas taking a week off is hardly a crime. They don't owe you anything. Unless your club is maybe different and they are professional club players with contractual obligations.

O Hanlon definitely lifted it off the ground. Monaghan lost due to running out of steam with 10 to go while Dublin were bringing on top class players as subs. Tough to take but zero to do with the ref.

Ball was off the ground.

Absolutely changed the game in a game so tight.

It was really tight but i think he did catch it on a (small) bounce. I blame the player more for not putting his toe behind it just to remove the doubt but it was a massive call for the ref to give at that time. Dublin scored the free and pushed on.

Is there any clip of this doing the rounds at the time i though he touched it on the ground?

The ball was bouncing but it looked like he put the hands on the ball as it was on the ground, when he maybe could have put his hands under and let it bounce up. A split second decision made by a tired player, I doubt he'd have gave the ref a decision to make if it was early in the game.

Doom and gloom merchants seem to be enjoying the chance to put the boot in to the management. A flukey goal, Kerr blazing a goal chance over before half time and some poor decision making by players running in to blind alleys or passing the ball to men under pressure are what lost the game. Credit to Meath for their solid defensive shape and their two big men stepped up to the plate after half time. Not sure why people on here expected an easy win against a Div 2 side who had beaten Down already. Some green shoots of progress were all we wanted this year, and personally I think we got that. Next year is the real test of the management I believe, having had a year with the panel and now a chance to get a good look at other potential players for next year. We do need more of a physical presence, not sure who could be brought in to the team to add that?

Tickets have went pretty quick there, got 4 together but already limited tickets left. Wonder will there be more released during the week?

I'd say they're all gone. County board should be distributing between the clubs. I'm in Dublin and I got mine yesterday through the club here.

Clubs had a link to share with members this morning, before the 10am general sale went live.

Any idea what time ticket sales go live?

The number of opinions and formats here shows exactly how hard it would be to a. Please everyone and b. Get the best suitable format i.e not many and not too few games. The number of teams in JFC doesn't lend itself to traditional formats unless you are looking straight knockout. Even then someone is going to have to play prelim etc. Our fixtures, structures and formats are generally pretty good in comparison to other counties. Let's not use this as another stick to beat CCC.

Straight knockout with a preliminary round was done for many years without any problems.

That may be your opinion and no issue with that. But there has to be some reason they have veered away from that format this year. It would suggest it was not without problems or complaints.

It isn't really an opinion, it's something I know from players and people involved in the JFC over the years. Each year there are 2/3 standout teams, the remainder have very little chance of winning it. So a one off game was always the most realistic chance they had of causing an upset. Now we'll see the favourites motor on through as they have a second chance after a bad day. Probably see a few extra one sided results too which do no favours for anyone.

The number of opinions and formats here shows exactly how hard it would be to a. Please everyone and b. Get the best suitable format i.e not many and not too few games. The number of teams in JFC doesn't lend itself to traditional formats unless you are looking straight knockout. Even then someone is going to have to play prelim etc. Our fixtures, structures and formats are generally pretty good in comparison to other counties. Let's not use this as another stick to beat CCC.

Straight knockout with a preliminary round was done for many years without any problems.

Ref was threatened at HT apparently and walked off. Can't blame him.

Genuinely surprised by the limited responses on this one. There will be no Championships running at all if they go on strike similar to the refs in Wexford. We've all complained about decisions here and there but having the ref threatened enough that they leave at half time, that's mental.

If a ref is threatened, clubs should be forced to play all of their senior games away next season. That would be an effective deterrence.

Clubs should be fined and banned from playing some fixtures. That affects league positions. Or depending on circumstance, banned from championship. The only way to stamp it out is to dish out an impactful punishment. Playing away games is not really much of a deterrent. It seems to be getting worse, people seem to forget that even of you have a senior panel of 30 and hundreds of members, nobody plays a match without a referee.

Top two teams in groups into quarter final. 3rd place in group 1 into quarter final.  3rd place teams in group 2 and 3 have a play off game to see who gets into quarter final.  Quarter finals pencilled in for September 16th.  We have a small panel and most of our boys play hurling and soccer.  In my opinion it's too much.  Teams in Div 4 will be sick of the sight of each other.

That is  a ridiculous set up. Games just for the sake off it. It will dilute all sense of championship atmosphere.

There is actually a round Robin of 3 teams and no one is eliminated. Bizarre

Looks like the round robin games are pencilled in for 3 consecutive weekends, with quarter finals the weekend after those finish. So between those weekends, that playoff game needs to be played midweek. Which means junior teams with often small panels, will play an extra game a few days after playing their third championship game, a few days before a quarter final. Farcical. The group of 4 teams looks to be the weakest group, but that third place team will go straight to the quarters, while other teams must play off.

Can anyone tell me what happens in Div 4 after tonight's fixtures?  I believe the league splits into top six and bottom six.  Does that mean each club then has 5 more league fixtures or 10?  Or does the split have some relevance to the JFC?

Yes, I have asked our committee and I'm none the wiser!!

Teams in each section play one more round of games against eachother, meaning 16 league games played in total. Not sure if there is any bearing on the championship though.

Is Tailteann final down for before one of the AI semi finals?

Scheduled for 15/16 July.

@supersub and @hard2listen2 thank you. I see Paddypower have odds released for the senior championship already but none for the intermediate or junior.

I usually observe the football from a distance but can't help but notice a few teams across each division underperforming based off league standings in recent years. Can anyone shed some light? Burren in division 1, Rostrevor in 2, Darragh cross and Tullylish in 3, and Ardglass in 4. Most of them have been competing in their respective championship finals or leagues in recent years

Burren possibly have their eyes on the championship, as there is little danger of relegation from div 1 for them. The number of county players they have has maybe led to a few below par results. Rostrevor in div 2 are probably in a realistic position given the teams above them have all been playing SFC for a number of years. In my opinion it's RGU that look to have slipped, as they are quite a distance off the pace now. Darragh Cross struggling is more of a surprise, they seem to have went backwards. Tullylish also have went downhill, though if you look through last year's results there were some close games against weaker sides. I believe a few injuries have caused them problems, with a small enough squad that can be a disaster. Ardglass seem to be sitting below the 5 teams relegated from div 3 last year, and they aren't far off them so again they are probably were they wanted to be at this stage. I think that league splits in two after one round, so a top 6 finish to play the better teams again ahead of the JFC should be the aim there.

Would savage and doran not be worth blooding In the tailteann Cup?

We're top of the league atm let's leave Savage with Island for this season

Will he be returning from the United States every Friday? 

Is his trip to the States still happening?

No issue hasn't gone away. A kilcoo lad got busted in an off the ball incident at a reserve at the weekend so unfortunately problem still exists. Also brannigan has been suspended for a month so it wasnt overlooked.

Plus carryduff wont share footage of their match with bryansford because of Connery's dirty action. It's laughable

Care to elaborate?

Carryduff and bryansford game was in Newcastle. Carryduff wanted to video it and asked bryansford if it was ok, bryansford agreed as long as they got a copy. Carryduff won't share the footage because it shows there player( Connery) punching bryansford player.

I see. Have you seen it?