Sligo Club Football & Hurling

[Bunnieman]

I am utterly sickened today. To think we were only a minute and a half from winning the game and for it to be stolen off us!!
However I think we have a lot to answer for ourselves. We seemed a bit on edge in the first half and had two oppourtunities of goal and both went a miss. Also V.Frizzell who is normally excellent from frees did not come into the game until the second half.

In fairness to Geevagh they did well to hold on but I think we bet ourselves more than anything.

[magpie seanie]

I am utterly sickened today. To think we were only a minute and a half from winning the game and for it to be stolen off us!!
However I think we have a lot to answer for ourselves. We seemed a bit on edge in the first half and had two oppourtunities of goal and both went a miss. Also V.Frizzell who is normally excellent from frees did not come into the game until the second half.

In fairness to Geevagh they did well to hold on but I think we bet ourselves more than anything.

Bunnieman - I know the feeling!!!!!!

[Owenmoresider]

I am utterly sickened today. To think we were only a minute and a half from winning the game and for it to be stolen off us!!

Some might consider it to be karma.

[Mano]

Despite a number of close calls during the championship (especially for Tourlestrane who have drawn 4 times) the 2 best teams in the county contest the final. The 2 teams enter the game with differing preparations with Harps idle for the last 2 weekends while Tourlestrane were battling it out with St Johns.

Harps seem to have been doing enough to win their last few games but when they had to perform and up their game they did so against Curry with a powerful performance. There is no doubt that they will be up for this game.

Games between the teams have been close and hard fought in the last number of years with very little seperating the teams. Tourlestrane will not want to go behind like they did against John's on 2 occassions as Harps have the experience and know how to close out the game.

I think it will be a low scoring game as both teams strengths are in defence. Both teams rely on veterans for most of their scores Taylor and McGowan. If Neary can keep Taylor quiet from play and Tourlestrane keep fouling to a minimum at the back then i think they will have enough firepower in the middle third to claim the title.

Have seen Des Henry referee and he is very whistle happy especially for petty things like number of steps. Hopefully he can let the game flow it will make a good game of it.

Unfortunately i am on holidays and will miss the game - the game delayed by a week has upset my schedule. However i hope the Owen B Hunt Cup will be back in Aclare on Sunday night.

[SLIGONIAN]

Best of Luck to Tourlestrane and Eastern Harps, Hope its a good game and it great occasion. Hope whoever wins represent Sligo in Connacht well and win it.

My Dad said the NFL fixtures are out, I think it might be draft fixtures as of yet, but good news if true. We have 4 home and 3 away.

At home Offaly, Roscommon, Louth and Cavan. Away Wexford, Antrim and Fermanagh. Wouldnt fear any of those teams and id expect us to win our home games, Id expect Wexford to get there act together this yr so that game will tough and we can beat Antrim and Fermanagh if we play to our potential. Promotion is a very realistic target when you look at those teams. Tipp proved that last yr.

[SLIGONIAN]

Tourletrane 1-8 Eastern Harps 0-7 FT

Congrats to Tourlestrane. Best of luck in the Connacht championship. Suprisingly comfortable win but it was only 3 to 2 at HT.

[Westie]

Sligonian  - it was dire stuff for the first 40-45 mins till Dunne scored (a very good goal mind you) the decisive score.  If Taylor doesn't do it then Harps are very stuck. Ross Donovan was my man of the match, if harps did not have them would they have got up the field in the second half. Kevin Gallagher had a good game also for Harps. For Tourlestrane, young Gaughan and Kennedy were the pick of the bunch. 2 vital mistakes I believe by the ref in my opinion, when Taylor in the second half got a long ball in and broke it towards goal, should have been a 13m free in as the goalie touched it in on the ground outside the small box. Then in the last 10 mins when Harps were doing their best to get back into it, the ref gave the free the right way(to B. Egan ) but pointed the wrong way, all the Harps defence broke out, by the time the mistake was rectified Marren was standing by himself inside whilst Donovan was make a desperate attempt to get back, in the process fouling him. Game over.
It would have been great to have seen a new team there in my opinion. The atmosphere was very dead. Would have been good to have a Johns or someone new. It won't be us for a while after being relegated. Hopefully we can bounce back fairly quickly but resources are scarce for a few years but have to keep ploughing on.
We lost the hurling final on Sat. Some of our big players had an off day or were not let play (legitimately) plus the loss of our keeper through suspension (again legit) and it proved once more to me that to win your first title at any grade you have to be that much better than the reigning champions. Well done to our lads and to Calry on their three in a row and believe me that is hard to say after the antics at the semi final(not including Tourlestrane in that last comment).

And Owenmoresider, put down that umbrella

[magpie seanie]

Couldn't really add a whole lot to that match report. Pretty much how I saw it. Another mistake the ref made that didn't really have any impact was the second booking for Alan Dunne. It was Stephen Henry who grabbed the Harps player by the shorts and the jersey but Dunne got pinged for it (not that he'll be too worried). Tourlestrane's resilience and self belief have carried them through this summer so congrats to them and good luck to them in Connacht.

Unfortunately I have to mention the elephant in the room. Westie mentioned the lack of atmosphere. This was supposed to be one of the cornerstones of the county's 125 celebrations and to call it a damp squib is to put it mildly. The parade took place when most of the crown weren't in the ground and it was a token effort to put it kindly. Very few people could hear or make out what was being read over the PA and when the parade was long over we were still being told about divisional titles won in bygone days. A shambles. I also must mention the piece of literature I parted with €4 for. Riddled with mistakes and as basic a programme as you will see. I think the one on All-Ireland day was a fiver. I know its widely known who I am and that these comments won't go do me any favours in many quarters but someone has to call a spade a spade.

Anyway, congrats also to Ballisodare and St John's on winning the junior A and B titles respectively. John's were comfortable winners and Ballisodare just about deserved to win a tighter game. No more than the senior final I was left mulling over what might have been after the junior A final but that's football, isn't it?

[SLIGONIAN]

Sligonian  - it was dire stuff for the first 40-45 mins till Dunne scored (a very good goal mind you) the decisive score.  If Taylor doesn't do it then Harps are very stuck. Ross Donovan was my man of the match, if harps did not have them would they have got up the field in the second half. Kevin Gallagher had a good game also for Harps. For Tourlestrane, young Gaughan and Kennedy were the pick of the bunch. 2 vital mistakes I believe by the ref in my opinion, when Taylor in the second half got a long ball in and broke it towards goal, should have been a 13m free in as the goalie touched it in on the ground outside the small box. Then in the last 10 mins when Harps were doing their best to get back into it, the ref gave the free the right way(to B. Egan ) but pointed the wrong way, all the Harps defence broke out, by the time the mistake was rectified Marren was standing by himself inside whilst Donovan was make a desperate attempt to get back, in the process fouling him. Game over.
It would have been great to have seen a new team there in my opinion. The atmosphere was very dead. Would have been good to have a Johns or someone new. It won't be us for a while after being relegated. Hopefully we can bounce back fairly quickly but resources are scarce for a few years but have to keep ploughing on.
We lost the hurling final on Sat. Some of our big players had an off day or were not let play (legitimately) plus the loss of our keeper through suspension (again legit) and it proved once more to me that to win your first title at any grade you have to be that much better than the reigning champions. Well done to our lads and to Calry on their three in a row and believe me that is hard to say after the antics at the semi final(not including Tourlestrane in that last comment).

And Owenmoresider, put down that umbrella

Western Gaels- whats clubs are amalgamated there westie? Also didnt a few Sligomen tog out for mayo u21 hurlers. Never knew the full story there but do any of those lads tog for Sligo and if not why not?

Ye have a few barren yrs all right in the football, ye'll have to make the most of this feile u14s when they come through..why is west Sligo getting so weak? Emmigration, lack of players, poor underage structure, lack of coaching, lack of population?

On the SFC final ya reports I got was dire but decent 2nd half....said Tour were far the better team. Said O Hara should of got peno in 1st half. Listen any club worth its salt should be able to handle Taylor, last yr I couldnt belive how he did, but this he is carrying an injury im told so its about time someone got the better of him from play. Same could be said for McGowan. Noel Gaughan got moftm from lads i spoke to, but I still have nightmares from his performance on enda kenny from Ros in 08 Connacht u21 semi so hard to rate him, but wish him well, we have plenty of defenders in county anyhow.

OMS only girls bring umbrellas to matches, toughen up lad. .

[Westie]

The programme   - -Thanks for bringing that up Seanie.  I know we produced a 500 word history of the club for the 125 commerotive programme with 3/4 photos. When parting with my money I was thinking, not a lot of clubs did likewise, well that plan must have gone out the window as there was nothing in there. Also good to see they used last years template as the Tourlestrane team was down as Tubbercurry.
Sligonian - definitely not a penalty as he picked the ball(or scooped it ) straight off the ground, thought he would first time it.
Western Gaels is Castleconnor, Enniscrone, Easkey and Farnans. The story about the u21 is true but to go into it here, you would need a book and libel laws would be in danger. I was not involved at the time but there was mistakes and dirt on both sides and believe me it does us no favours to this day in the boardrooms. I have told lads to go into the county setup(they were all there in 03/04 as 15/16 year olds) but these boys were in the direct line of some very wrong treatment so....
Population is definitely a problem for us. I'm with the u8/10 and have good numbers (we put boys and girls together which I notice a lot of clubs don't) coming out but the parish has 2 small schools, 4 teachers in all. The goldmine is the Mayo part of the parish and we are trying but Ballina is the big fish, a club they are not legal with at all as it is us first and then if they wish to play for a Mayo club (but I still argue illegal) it should be Ardnaree.

[magpie seanie]

Sligonian - I'm a bit perplexed by your reply. I wouldn't have thought that a shockingly unprofessional effort to celebrate 125 years of the GAA would be acceptable to you but fair enough. I am sure if you were there you might think differently.

[SLIGONIAN]

Sligonian - I'm a bit perplexed by your reply. I wouldn't have thought that a shockingly unprofessional effort to celebrate 125 years of the GAA would be acceptable to you but fair enough. I am sure if you were there you might think differently.

Your are right and im not disagreeing with ya, just not as bothered, everyone I spoke to last night said it was crap, beyond crap. We can do better im sure. And i totally agree about being there aswell, completely different hearing about it. I was perplexed myself with my reply so I modified this one.

[Buckass]

Well-deserved win for Tourlestrane @ w/end and very winnable game against Castlerea-St. Kevins coming up.
Sligonian, don't be doing Noel Gaughan a disservice in your 08 Ros nightmare...he was the one doing a splendid marking job on Cathal Cregg. Nipper is some bit of stuff.
Tour's future at the top table looks secure with the men they've coming through.
Anyone see any new talent that they think'll be worth a county run thru this year's ch'ships?

[SLIGONIAN]

Well-deserved win for Tourlestrane @ w/end and very winnable game against Castlerea-St. Kevins coming up.
Sligonian, don't be doing Noel Gaughan a disservice in your 08 Ros nightmare...he was the one doing a splendid marking job on Cathal Cregg. Nipper is some bit of stuff.
Tour's future at the top table looks secure with the men they've coming through.
Anyone see any new talent that they think'll be worth a county run thru this year's ch'ships?

No Buckass I was there, seen with my own eyes, it was either Kenny or Cregg who came deep second half and keep getting fed the ball and gave Gaughan an unmerciful roasting which in turn disminished any advantage of a extra man. Noel Gaughan is a red head who played defence that day RIGHT, that is the man Im on about. Only thing I could be wrong on is the Roscommon forward  that roasted him but it was definitly Noel Gaughan getting the roasting while the management were napping on the sideline. I did say I wouldnt write him off completely BTW as he was most people MOFTM for Tour but I have bad memories of him and he have to play a few good games at county before that was erased from my memory bank. Anways no chance he'll oust anyone on the FB line but he'd have a chance in the half backline if hes improved alot since 08 and I would say he has but alot to prove yet. Wouldnt be the biggest fan of Ewing or McNamara so plenty up for grabs along that line with J Davey for me the only definite starter.

Johns and Curry wont be far away, Curry need to blood more youngsters, theyre way to loyal to the elder statesmen, Johns will win Owen B soon and if we get the right man we will win it in the next 5 yrs. We have the talent but not the mindset however with the right man at the helm that could change. Harps are on a downward spiral IMO but still there experience will count for alot in the next few yrs so can never be written off.

[SLIGONIAN]

Antrim v Sligo 07/02/2010 2pm

Sligo V Louth 14/02/2010 2.30pm

Wexford v Sligo 07/03/2010 1.00pm

Sligo v Offaly 14/03/2010 2.30pm

Sligo v Cavan 21/03/2010 2.30pm

Fermanagh v Sligo 27/03/2010 2.30pm

Sligo v Roscommon 11/04/2010 2.30pm

Division 3 Final 24/04/2010

As I posted already 4 homes games, cant ask for much more than that. Looking forward to it already.