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As for adding points to shinty it obviously wouldn't seem natural for anybody from a shinty background. I take your point ( ) about how hurling fans who are so used to lots of scores would be in favour but at the same time I know a few people over here who have said they couldn't get into hurling and football due to the frequency of the scores, that it devalued things a bit to have so many scores. I don't agree with that argument but it shows people tend to go with what they are used to. Also the Irish manager said after the game how easy it was for the Scots to drive a dead ball over the bar from distance, I don't think it would add much if players were always sticking it over the bar in shinty rather than concentrating on goals as has always been the case. Points in shinty just seems like a foreign concept. If you were at a good game of shinty I don't think you would be bored or would find the lack of points to be an issue. After all, why reward a player for missing the target?

good points (no pun intended!), and well made. You're dead right of course, it does come down to what you're used to.

If the compromise tended one step further towards Shinty in the manner of scoring (ie: goals-only, no points), then I would see any Ireland team struggling. What was noticeable on saturday was Ireland's relative inability to create clear-cut goal-scoring chances. There were a couple of half-chances, sure, but did the keeper even have to make a save really? Contrast that to Dermody in the Ireland goals turning in a heroic performance.

GPA selection announced. JJ Delaney omitted, which is pretty outrageous.

Instead his place went to Padraic Maher - basically favouring someone who had 1 decent game over someone who had a flawless season.

Is this still picked by the players? Maybe its time to change that if they make bullshit choices like this.

What about the rule for hurlers having to wear helmets as a directive from HQ, i take it that it doesn't apply to shinty or just to the Irish players

that rule was introduced as a kind of insurance measure (though the GAA did make a balls of it). Basically, you sustain a head injury while not wearing an 'approved' helmet, you can't claim medical costs from your insurance (which is usually part of your club subscription cost - though I'm sure county players can claim via alternative means available to county panels).

So, no, the rule wouldn't apply to the Scots, unless they specifically made it a requirement for the compromise series.

There was one year (Im pretty sure it was the last time they played it as part of a double header with the Aussie Rules match and bizarrely used the same scoring system for the shinty-hurling resulting in a massive score) when Ireland won very easily with a strong team but throughout the 90's there were strong Irish teams who lost to Scotland. I'm not convinced Ireland with the best 15 hurling players would win as easily as you suggest.

Would disagree that shinty is a boring sport to watch too but clearly beauty is in the eye of the beholder .

I had a quick look for the team lineup that year and couldn't find it. I do recall it was the strongest ever team Ireland fielded for one of these games, and that as a contest it was a non-event.

I don't know if Scotland had the pick of their bunch on saturday, but given a team largely made up of division 2 and 3 players came within a point, its hard to imagine that Ireland's best team wouldn't hammer the Scots. But, as I said, perhaps they have a wealth of talent that didn't travel over.

What I found most boring about Shinty was the fact that there are only goals and no points. That makes it too like soccer in my book. Perhaps my opinion is too flavoured by a lifetime watching hurling where scoring is typically frequent. The skills of Shinty are beyond doubt - introduce points and then there would be a game worth getting excited about. In my humble opinion of course.

they picked a very strong side when they played in Croker about 10 or so years back. I remember DJ was captain.

Ireland hockeyed the Scots. Picking the majority from weaker counties was as much about giving the Scots a chance as well as allowing lads from weaker counties the chance to play.

I played one of these compromise games myself back in the day (my club side - intermediate at the time - played the Scotland under-17s). We thought we'd hammer them, seeing as they were only kids and all. We did beat them, but only just. Its quite something just how far they can drive the ball. And its not random either - they'll drive it every time.

Shinty is a fairly boring sport to watch in general. The compromise game (particularly the second half) was very entertaining I thought.

not so much surprised at Raharney winning as them winning in what was a fairly high-scoring game by outpointing Coolderry. If they got a couple of shitty goals and won it that way, fair enough, but to outpoint them in a high-scoring contest they must be a decent enough outfit (and certainly well good enough to have won that game)

I reckon Coolderry wont be a million miles off the pace either.

what the hell happened there?

I tell you this much, I have never heard  of a GAA president being so unpopular  as this one.

Sean Kelly

oh I misread it. I thought it said 'comforting' soldiers and gardai.

it was someone else then

that was me lads

and I'd do it again.

up the cats!

I bet if it was Kilkenny providing the opposition the feckin thing wouldnt be in Thurles!

It'd actually be in Kilkenny. Before th u21 final was moved to Croker, Kilkenny and Tipp had a home and away arrangement in place. The last final played between the 2 before the Croker spell was in Nowlan Park. The 2 sides drew in the final in 2006 and the replay was fixed for Thurles (it being Tipp's turn for home advantage as per the home/away arrangement).

If it were Kilkenny (moot point) I can't imagine they'd have made an issue out of the venue (though I'm sure they'd have been quietly displeased). It is a completely ridiculous decision though. Cooney has obviously made someone down there a promise that he hasn't the decency to renege on.

Edit: just thinking about it though - I wonder how their home/away arrangement would have fit in with Cooney's arrogant promises...

Corbett touched the ball 3 times and scored 3 goals. An invaluable contribution certainly, but for me the best player on the field was Brendan Maher. His work may have gone unnoticed by the sunday game analysts, but for me he was the reason Tipperary won that match. He ran the center and was the pick of the 4 midfielders. Once Tipp had control in that sector they seemed to have that little more time to pick out their passes to the inside line. That was in contrast to Kilkenny who seemed to hit every ball under pressure and who seemed hellbent on ballooning high ball after high ball on top of Power. Thats all well and good, but with talented corner forwards, the odd ball to them would have been worth a try too (acknowledged Eddie wasn't at the races at all).

The questions about what would have happened if Tipp took their chances last year were answered yesterday. Rather than coasting to 5 titles, its probably fair to say that Kilkenny actually got one more than they might have by scraping that win last year. But thats Kilkenny. A truly great team, and having lost yesterday does nothing to change that.

Kilkenny's dominance was always going to come to an end at some point. It was always likely Tipp would be the team to end it. Now its up to the likes of Galway and Cork to get themselves up to the level where they can have us all doubting until the very end, as to where Liam McCarthy is bound.

Congrats to Tipp. Somehow I can't see it being 9 years til their next title, but its hard to see anyone other than Kilkenny or Tipp getting their hands on Liam for quite some time.

Tipperary legend John Leahy fears that the sideline altercation between Liam Sheedy and Brian Cody earlier this year could come back to haunt the Premier County.

Leahy has run Tipp down before every single game they played this year. Hes the new Babs.

I think Tipp will win, by 3/4.

good detailed analysis there

Absolutely convinced that Tipp will win it and alot easier than people think. The end comes quickly and harshly to all great teams and imo you cannot underestimate hunger to win. For the 1st time I see one or two passengers on a Cody team.

Tipp by 5 points. 

Hope to be there myself.

agreed. In fact I think Tipp's subs would beat Kilkenny who, quite frankly, have no chance at all.

word has it theres lots of spare tickets in Kilkenny as they won't travel in any great numbers, due to the lack of any real hope that Kilkenny have in this game.