Sligo Club Football & Hurling

[SLIGONIAN]

For various reasons Baoithe, proposed deals with Coolera and Owenmore Gaels have both fallen away. Only thing I'd say is that €4 million was a multiple ofthe figure that they felt they could contribute 12 months ago. Would question the strategic wisdom of talking about €4 million when they have ads in local paper looking for land.Smacks of soundbytes rather than strategic thinking.

Funny over the last few years , I have grown very uneasy about the exalted position "Friend of Sligo Football" have got within the County Board structure and from recent posts I dont appear to be alone. From the last PRO piece and it was no once off , they feel that their position in raising some money for the County Board gives them the right to talk down to gaels throughout the county who contribute time and effort in clubs and in the words of Sligonian , pay through the gate to watch Sligo teams. Friend of Sligo football was a very worthwhile committee certainly 5-10 years ago but in my mind has become way too politically involved in Sligo football and needs to take a hard look at itself and its purpose.

Fair play to CCC in finishing league on time but personally feel they need to take a look at fixture list of one game in 7 weeks in the middle of summer for most clubs. Indeed for a lot of teams that game is meaningless and its extremely hard to survive on a diet of challenge matches in the middle of the summer. Our chairmans address at county agm last year advising us to play our games in the summer rather than in the winter is getting more and more ironic by the week. Having 6 matches by Patricks day and 1 in 7 weeks in the middle of summer is not developing Sligo football only turning people away from GAA and causing undue stress financially for clubs and players ( lights , training , ground maintenance in the depths of winter). In fairness to CCC they have improved year on year and I hope this scheduling wont be repeated next year.

Club of the month is St Mholaises winning 2 leagues and having minor and U16 captains. Urge slight caution to Sligonian in his dreams of county domination within a few years. They wouldnt have to look too far away for a club who dominated underage football for approx 7 years in the not too dstant past and then never even threatened at senior level. But obviously they are doing huge work underage producing high quality footballers and that can only bode well for them and Sligo football.

You know I have to say something about our underage system at present. Every saturday the young kids of 8,9,10 are trained every sat morning along with our u12 team. I was told by the manager of the u12 team that if you volunteer for getting involved with a team you wont be turned away. Actually there is a lack always of people over teams which is good news for me wanting to get involved but it'll be a few yrs yet before i can. He also said to me that there is work being done to facilitate all the talent coming through but our underage structure is nothing special in fact its ordinary and basic like with any club. Lads the bottom line is we just have the talent coming through. We havnt waged a magic wand that our underage system is turning mediocre players to good ones. All we are doing is keeping players with talent on the right track. Which is probably the main point im making. Fair play to those involved in looking after the lads coming through. We are NOT producing high quality footballers there that already to be honest we are just facilitating there continued development and keeping them focused on the right track. I will say aswell there are alot of honest hard working individuals working in our club and long may it continue and thanks and also there are few out for the own interests and politicially motivated but as long as there in the minority we wont lose much of the talent coming through. Thanks TG for your kind words aswell.

[Owenmoresider]

Hard to know what to say about the FOSF lecture, and the CB statement. It's all very odd really.

Bunninadden won the JFC final last night, beat Shams 1-10 to 0-5. Don't be surprised Sligonian.

[SLIGONIAN]

Hard to know what to say about the FOSF lecture, and the CB statement. It's all very odd really.

Bunninadden won the JFC final last night, beat Shams 1-10 to 0-5. Don't be surprised Sligonian.

Not suprised at all, they were the best team in junior id seen all year by some distance which made me a little suspicious. We struggled to keep in touch with them in our semi. Congrats to them.

Our Intermediates had a great win today against St Marys seniors in grange today. In the annual cup compeitition both teams fielded strong teams with us missing m feeney, quinn, eoin mchugh and aaron mchugh and them only missing the 2 martyn brothers. It was a game of 2 halfs with marys leading 2-5 to 3 at ht playing with a strong breeze but we fought back with 2 outstanding goals from darren gilsenan. One of which was last kick of the game to win it by a point for us. Congrats to the lads. It kinda confirms to me that we wouldnt be out of place in senior level in sligo. We have the players and only poor management can stop us winning the intermediate championship IMO.

Any word on the tedd webb cup? I know its on today in ballyhaunis, Sligo beat Mayo and leitrim to qualify for the semis against GalwayCity. Liam kennedy who captained the lads to manning cup success is out injured with broken wrist which is a big loss.

[magpie seanie]

Liam kennedy who captained the lads to manning cup success is out injured with broken wrist which is a big loss.

Yeah, heard that and the Kelly twins from our neck of the woods are away too. Barry O'Mahony who is talented but raw was drafted into the panel. Will be interesting to see how things went.

I see Tubber and Calry got their games changed as a result of the hurling. We lose a lad too but I suppose our match isn't a do or die game. Delighted that our intermediate game is switched to Markievicz. I love playing there and doubt I'll have all that many more outings on it!

[Owenmoresider]

2008 Senior FC Group A
Coolera-Strandhill  Eastern Harps  Markievicz Park 09/08/2008 19:15 TBC Round 3 
Bunninadden  Easkey  Tubbercurry 10/08/2008 13:30 TBC Round 3 

2008 Senior FC Group B
St Marys  Tubbercurry  Enniscrone 10/08/2008 18:00 TBC Round 3 
Curry  Calry/St Josephs  Ballymote 10/08/2008 18:00 TBC Round 3 

2008 Senior FC Group C
Drumcliffe Rosses Point  St Johns  St Marys 09/08/2008 17:30 TBC Round 3 
Castleconnor  St Farnans  Enniscrone 09/08/2008 17:30 TBC Round 3 

2008 Senior FC Group D
Ballymote  Shamrock Gaels  Tubbercurry 09/08/2008 17:30 TBC Round 3 
Tourlestrane  Geevagh  Markievicz Park 09/08/2008 17:30 TBC Round 3 

2008 Intermediate FC Group A
Curry  Coolaney/Mullinabreena  Tourlestrane 09/08/2008 19:00 TBC Round 3 
Coolera-Strandhill  Ballisodare  Markievicz Park 10/08/2008 12:00 TBC Round 3 

2008 Intermediate FC Group B
Enniscrone/Kilglass  St Marys  Tubbercurry 09/08/2008 19:00 TBC Round 3 

2008 Intermediate FC Group C
Eastern Harps  Owenmore Gaels  Ballymote 10/08/2008 12:00 TBC Round 3 

2008 Intermediate FC Group D
St Michaels  St Patricks  St Marys 09/08/2008 19:00 TBC Round 3


Coolera/Harps is very difficult to call, two strong sides who may well be meeting at this venue again later in the year. Don't know how Coolera are on the injury front, but if they have a full strength team then I could see them winning this one, Harps would need to improve on the League final display, but they are capable of doing that. Harps, just. Bunnies will possibly consign Easkey to the relegation battle. I'd go with Curry and Tubber in Group B, John's and narrowly Castleconnor in C, and D? Hard to know with the Ballymote/Shams tie, Ballymote aren't quite through so their need is greater. Shams can secure top spot if they avoid defeat. Ballymote's league form has been much better, and at the higher level too. I'll go with them to win and top Group D. Tourlestrane will in all probability beat Geevagh, but it may be academic, since their fate is out of their hands. But if they manage to implode, then Geevagh might cause an upset.

Intermediate: Mullinabreena to edge out Curry, and the JPF might claim a rare c'ship win over their neighbours in A. Enniscrone to take Mary's after a battle in B, Michael's to see Pat's to the relegation scrap in D. Us and Harps? They looked decent in heir opener, though it was against the worst c'ship team I've seen since, well ours in the nadir times. Don't seem set to lose too many to the seniors, bar Shane Gallagher the talented ones have been promoted already. We could do anything, and making a mess of it is not beyond us at all. I'll suggest a Harps win by a few points.

[SLIGONIAN]

Sligo lost the ted webb cup final according to stolen sheep. We did fierce well considering we had a few injuries. Roscommon won it. Its in a blitz format with 20mins a half games. I would say manning cup is more important tournament to win based on that statistic. Didnt hear the score.

[Sligoper]

Well Thank f**k championship is starting again becuase so far football wise my summer has been boring! At least something to look at now!!

Can't see any shocks really, althought i do think Tubber will beat Marys. I honestly can't see why people write them off!

Harps look to be still going strong and i think Curry are their nearest rivals.

I'd like to see this site become more popular beacuse god knows the Hoganstand is dead at the minute!

[magpie seanie]

Glad championship is back too. It sees like an age since the first two rounds.

My take on this weekends fixtures:

SFC - In group A our lads take on Harps. We are going to be missing one or two and reportedly so will Harps. Even though the outcome doesn't particualarly matter I'd say both sides will be going for the win and it could be decent viewing. I'd go for Bunninadden to take Easkey in the other game. Group B sees the tie of the day with an eliminator between Mary's and Tubber. I take Tubber to win this one. Curry should take Calry in the other one to set them up for the return of Feeney and Marren for the quarter final. Drumcliffe and John's will be very interesting and I was thinking a surprise could be on the cards here until I heard Drumcliffe will be missing a few. Still - I might put my neck on the block and go for them to complete a miserable group stage for last years semi finalists. Hard to call the other game between the western sides, a draw perhaps. I think Ballymote will beat Shamrock Gaels though a draw wouldn't surprise me. Tourlestrane are missing a good few including a suspended O'Hara and could be vulnerable but I think they'll pull through.

IFC - Mullinabreena and ourselves to win in group A. Enniscrone, Harps and Michaels in the other ties I think.

[xwave7000]

Ballymote qualified for the quarter finals yesterday with a 2-09 to 0-09 points victory against Shamrock Gaels in Tubber. It was a lacklustre game, hampered by torrential rain in which neither side set the world alight. The six point margin is slightly flattering, as it was a closely contested match throughout. Ballymote's superior scoring ability was the main difference between the teams, and had Joe Quinn converted a penalty with five minutes to go instead of blazing it over the bar for a point when the sides were only seperated by four points, the outcome may have been very different.
Ballymote raced into a six point lead at the start of the game, Dermot McTiernan scoring a goal to make the score 1-03 to 0-0. Gaels never really threatened to come into the game until the second half, with most of their scores coming from the accurate boot of Quinn through frees. In fact, Gaels inability to score from play was probably the determining factor, with Ballymote taking all but one of their chances in the first half.
The major talking poitn of the game came five minutes from the end, when Nigel Clancy was deemed to have footblocked a scoring attempt inside the square - from my angle I was unable to see whether it was or not, but the general feeling in the stands was that it was a harsh decision. Clancy was booked for the challenge, and Quinn began his run up for the penalty... before balzing it over for a point. I have to say I was in utter shock when the ball went over the bar, whether he meant to take the point or if he misjudged the kick is still unclear.
Clancy was dismissed for a second yellow a few moments later after a tussle with Quinn, and as always seems to be the case the team with fourteen men rallied and broke through on goal, the young Colin Byrne laying a deft pass into the path of Michael Sweeney, who converted a goal to end Gaels challenge.
Ultimately, this performance was quite a poor one by both teams standards, and improvement is greatly needed before the quarter finals if they want to mount a challenge for the Owen B this year.

[Owenmoresider]

Sunday 10th August 2008
2008 Senior FC Group A
Team 1 Score Score Team 2 Venue Comment   
Bunninadden  0-7 0-8 Easkey  Tubbercurry Round 3 
2008 Senior FC Group B
Team 1 Score Score Team 2 Venue Comment   
St Marys  0-6 1-6 Tubbercurry  Enniscrone Round 3 
Curry  0-9 1-8 Calry/St Josephs  Ballymote Round 3 
2008 Intermediate FC Group A
Team 1 Score Score Team 2 Venue Comment   
Coolera-Strandhill  0-7 1-7 Ballisodare  Markievicz Park Round 3 
Saturday 09th August 2008
2008 Senior FC Group A
Team 1 Score Score Team 2 Venue Comment   
Coolera-Strandhill  1-7 1-10 Eastern Harps  Markievicz Park Round 3 
2008 Senior FC Group C
Team 1 Score Score Team 2 Venue Comment   
Drumcliffe Rosses Point  1-3 0-13 St Johns  St Marys Round 3 
Castleconnor  1-7 1-7 St Farnans  Enniscrone Round 3 
2008 Senior FC Group D
Team 1 Score Score Team 2 Venue Comment   
Ballymote  2-9 0-9 Shamrock Gaels  Tubbercurry Round 3 
Tourlestrane  1-13 1-12 Geevagh  Markievicz Park Round 3 
2008 Intermediate FC Group A
Team 1 Score Score Team 2 Venue Comment   
Curry  3-7 2-10 Coolaney/Mullinabreena  Tourlestrane Round 3 
2008 Intermediate FC Group B
Team 1 Score Score Team 2 Venue Comment   
Enniscrone/Kilglass  1-9 0-5 St Marys  Tubbercurry Round 3 
2008 Intermediate FC Group D
Team 1 Score Score Team 2 Venue Comment   
St Michaels  3-6 2-10 St Patricks  St Marys Round 3

[Westie]

Well we topped the group with a very lack lustre and disappointing performance. Where as Magpie Seanie was bemoaning their injuries earlier in the year we are now like that. Since the Johns game the spine on that game have not all played together. Langan, Naughton and the Tuffys played bits of games since and it certainly showed. 
How Eamon Cawley did not make the Sligo team this year baffles me.  His freetaking is sublime and his ability to find a pass also. I'm afraid both teams will struggle in the quarters but one thing is they will fight to the end and neither will be afraid of the bigger names.
Sligonian , I am delighted that ye are going well. Half my football life ended with finals or semis against Grange but for the greater good of Sligo football I think it is wrong that there is only two teams north of Sligo town. I have played against Northern Gaels (Cliffoney) Maugherow and Grange in my career and I think for the betterment of the county they should all still be that way( as I do for a few other clubs, Harps anyone!).  The more clubs, the more footballers around and I don't buy into the story that an exclusive club junior/intermediate player can't make the step up, if you're good enough you will make it.. It happens in Mayo all the time

Relegations playoffs will be tough and I would not be brave enough to pick the 1 from 4 to survive

3 weeks to wait for the quarters but at least we don't have that reserve championship tripe this year for a change.

[magpie seanie]

A disappointing weekend all round for our lads. A spluttering performance for our seniors against Harps who were probably not at their best either. We were good in patches but overall probably didn't deserve any more than we got. Lots of improvement needed if we are to progress past the next round. To me the senior championship looks really open. Any of the teams left could beat any of the others on a given day. Whoever can string the 3 wins together gets the pot of gold.

Got beaten 1-7 to 0-7 by Ballisodare in a dead rubber in the IFC. Probably had more of the possession but wasted too many chances. We have to improve quite a bit if we are to save our skins. We got a tough draw in the relegation playoffs. Have to beat Pats and Ballisodare to survive. Cloonacool have a penalty kick to survive, facing Tourlestrane's threadbare second unit. 

Result of the week was Calry beating Curry to save them from the relegation mire and almost clinch a quarter final spot. Relegation from senior looks tight. Only one of Geevagh, Drumcliffe/Rosses Point or recent finalists Bunninadden (2006) and Mary's (2004) will survive. Drumcliffe look doomed but I wouldn't write off any of the other 3. It will be interesting.

[Sligoper]

Business end of the championship! I have to say the standard of football is something horrific. I mean not only on the intercounty scene but also on the club scene. Ive watched one good game all year, Galway Kerry. Thats it.

Anyway, like i said business end of championship. I thinks it's harps to throw away. But not cause they are playing well, but everyone else is playing shite!

Curry have the two lads coming back but they look a shadow of the ruthless team they used to be.
Tubber will be tough stopped, i guarentee that!
Coolera will be there or there abouts.

Ballymote, Gaels, Castleconnor, Farnans will be too far away.

Thoughts opinions?

[SLIGONIAN]

Business end of the championship! I have to say the standard of football is something horrific. I mean not only on the intercounty scene but also on the club scene. Ive watched one good game all year, Galway Kerry. Thats it.

Anyway, like i said business end of championship. I thinks it's harps to throw away. But not cause they are playing well, but everyone else is playing shite!

Curry have the two lads coming back but they look a shadow of the ruthless team they used to be.
Tubber will be tough stopped, i guarentee that!
Coolera will be there or there abouts.

Ballymote, Gaels, Castleconnor, Farnans will be too far away.

Thoughts opinions?

I know there all there on merit but that has to be the worst standard of line up of teams for qtr finals ive ever seen in Sligo. Those 4 wouldnt be intermediate in some counites.

Westie- This talk of eamonn cawley "it being unbelievable hes not made the sligo side", he got loads of chances this yr in the fbd nfl and didnt even come close to delivering, the more i seen him this yr the slower he got. No matter what he does for club he is the past now for the county. Massive difference too with club and county.

I agree about the St Molaise Gaels being separated out. I played for Cliffoney alot at underage level, we hammered Grange every year and ourselves and maugherow were close even with them playing a few illegals. Our club is still divided especially where Grange is concerned in that alot of favouritism exists towards Grange players. A tipp man who runs our u12s could tell some shocking stories about the Grange men. Getting back to Cliffoney, we had some class players who are now mostly gone from the game with the amalgamtion of the club, practiacally a whole team. Alot wouldnt play with any players from Grange, the rivalry is huge and is still bitter to this day. When you go to games you'll still here the Grange ones call the club Grange whereas we call St Molaise Gaels because half of the panel is made up of Cliffoney players.

[magpie seanie]

Big win for our minors last night out in Tourlestrane. Never an easy spot to get a result and especially when you lost all your league games but apparently our lads raised their game quite well and the result gives us a good chance of making the "A" semi finals. We've had awful trouble getting a full side out all year and even last night we were missing 2 key players so a great result.