Messages

US Open picks:
Sam Burns
Matt Fitzpatrick
Corey Conners
Shane Lowry (was hesitant with Lowry as he's paired with 2 LIV golfers for the first 2 rounds and the reception from the Boston crowd might be interesting but hopefully he rises to the positive reception that he's bound to receive)

O'Donnells - Ballymaloe Relish & Cheddar Flavour

27 minutes walk from station at Balmoral? On the way into Clones you park your car at that car park and dander same distance but that's ok...

It'll be quicker walking to Casement than Croke from Connelly seems no probs either...

Pubs around Casement, I can think of ten within short distance

Wolf & Whistle and Biddys are very close. That's really it though.

Our club is ten mins away, you've the PD across the street you've Fruithill sports club, you've the bar at the station in Balmoral you've St. Paul's club about 15 mins walk away you've Casement bar (hopefully that's kept! Doubt it ) the Rock and O'Donnells further on down the road (20min walk)

Is the bowling club still there?  Nearly sure I was drinking in there before a Derry game in Casement... or maybe my memory is playing tricks on me.

The gaa have constantly tinkered with the rules and it seems that they have had little effect on the style of play that managers employ.  I don't know what the "solution" is or even if there needs to be a solution.
For example, posters comment that soccer introduced the back pass rule; gaa introduced their version of the back pass from the keepers kick-out but managers/teams just ensure they have an additional player back to receive the next pass rather than the goalkeeper.
I would draw some parallels between this style of play and the "park the bus" tactic in soccer - soccer fans are no longer up-in-arms about this tactic; they see it as a legitimate way of getting a result and the authorities aren't trying to come up with rules to counteract it - it's up to the managers and teams to counteract it with their own style.

[And on that note thought it was very tough on the 2 young lads coming on and then being taken off again]

One of the most pleasing things is that in the 3 matches so far it has been different players who have stepped up the plate as leaders on the different days, shows that there is real depth in the team, though maybe not so much on the bench [compared to some other counties, and exacerbated by some players stepping away] after the first couple or three subs.

And on that note thought it was very tough on the 2 young lads coming on and then being taken off again.

Thought it was a very shrewd move by Gallagher. There was a lot of commentary in the build up about how he plans for everything.

I could be well off the mark here, but I'm assuming this was a planned move to give Heron and Toner a break with the threat of extra-time looming. If that was the case then I'm sure the two young lads who replaced them would've known what their role was in this.

I wonder what the other panel members think of this move by RG?

Would penalties have been in Gallagher's mind?

[Just to echo what someone else said, when Derry won in 93 I was on the pitch with my own father. Yesterday, I was on the pitch with my kids and despite ill health, my father was there too. I remember 93 like it was yesterday and this feels like that, I hope my kids look back on this in 30 years with fond memories too. Sure that's what it's all about isnt it!]

That was as complete a team performance as I have seen from derry in maybe 15 years.
They have proved the grit now as well as the skill and game plan.
The fact that we came back from going a couple of points down is some real character building stuff.

Every single player had an impact, mistakes were made but by god when a mistake was made you could see the player bust a gut to make amends.

You could single out a few players like Rogers, Glass and Mguigan, but I thought our collective was much greater than the sum of the parts. That's what a team should be, can't fault it.

I think special praise should go out to Lynch. I think in Derry's game plan now, he has nearly the toughest position on the pitch. I felt he was unlucky for the goal. His kickouts were generally good with only a couple of mistakes. The Donegal keeper certainly didn't outshine him imo.

Just to echo what someone else said, when Derry won in 93 I was on the pitch with my own father. Yesterday, I was on the pitch with my kids and despite ill health, my father was there too. I remember 93 like it was yesterday and this feels like that, I hope my kids look back on this in 30 years with fond memories too.
Sure that's what it's all about isnt it!

I can 100% relate to this as I was exactly the same. Great to see all the kids out on the pitch afterwards enjoying the celebrations. My god that was someday yesterday and for us to do it beating three Div 1 teams along the way. Not many harder Ulster titles won than that which makes it all the sweeter. We are still a work in progress and this team has some potential. Still think our kick-outs need some work. A weaker part of our game. Thought we were slow to get the ball out again which allowed Donegal to pick up men and make it hard for Lynch to target anyone. And on the other side we were probably a bit slow to get back to pick up Donegal from theirs. But all in all, was some team effort to get over the line. One of the biggest things for me was how the lads reacted to going behind. They didn't start to panic and stuck to their game. That was a big test of character for these lads.

Need to look at getting ballboys & girls behind the goals.  Lynch having to remove the loose ball from the field several times before taking his kick-out.  Also, Lynch often left his kicking tee on the 21 obviously to speed things up but a couple of times I seen that McMenamin threw it away.

[If we're talking about legacies, there's a strong argument that City won't be considered truly great until they win a Champions League]

Liverpool will win the PL again with Klopp there.  City would gladly swap a league for Champions League.  If we're talking about legacies, there's a strong argument that City won't be considered truly great until they win a Champions League.  Other great sides have won numerous leagues and European Cups simultaneously.

Were Man Utd not a great side from 92-98??

Tedfords Kitchen - Great food
Given it's location I would say it's very busy pre-show if there's anything on at the waterfront

This new handicap system is confusing. I played off 8.7 with a playing handicap of 8. I shot 84 a few weeks ago and got cut to 8.2. A load of our low 1/2 handicap men all got cut to scratch once the nee system came in. I'm assuming it'll come into its own when I play a few opens at links courses when I get a few extra shots to play with.

Get the golf Ireland app. It shows all your qualifying rounds, puts your last 20 rounds into a graph and highlights the 8 rounds that are used to calculate your handicap.

Who was it that took 5 or 6 putts on the last?

Danny Lee

https://twitter.com/OddsCheckerUS/status/1307890485978116096

Anyone else trudging around the local secondary schools open days/evenings for the P6 & P7 kids?

My eldest is in P6 and after tonight will have visited 3 of the local schools; unless something changes tonight, it looks like the local grammar will be top of the list.  It was always the intention to do the transfer test anyway - or at least prepare in for the transfer test & see how it goes.
Absolutely no intention of using a tutor but there seems to be a lot of parents going down that route.

Do the children go to open days at both P6 and P7 nowadays? My children aren't that age yet but do people really get a feel for the school based off of the one-off visits as opposed to the general perception of the school?

Both year groups would be encouraged to go but its not vital either.

The children are going to be more influenced by the one-off visits and the schools definitely put their best foot forward in order to exert that influence but, as parents you'll be influenced by much more.  I would regard Ballinascreen to be in the fortunate position of falling under the catchment area of a number of good schools and whatever one my children would like to attend there isn't much (or any) negativity with whatever they choose.  I would say my attitude would be different if there was a particularly poor school on the list.

Anyone else trudging around the local secondary schools open days/evenings for the P6 & P7 kids?

My eldest is in P6 and after tonight will have visited 3 of the local schools; unless something changes tonight, it looks like the local grammar will be top of the list.  It was always the intention to do the transfer test anyway - or at least prepare in for the transfer test & see how it goes.
Absolutely no intention of using a tutor but there seems to be a lot of parents going down that route.

I'm doing it for the 3rd time in 4 years. The novelty wears off.
In the past I would have agreed with you about the tutoring, however, I've changed my mind on the issue.
Mrs. tbrick18 is a teacher and actually tutors kids, mostly with special ed needs. Though she does occasionally do transfer work for friends.
We would always work with our kids for homework etc, and followed that through with the transfer. What we found with the transfer work was that the child would lose focus and be more likely to not bother if we were helping. Whereas with a tutor, the child isn't as familiar with them and so works in a more focused fashion.
Whilst I don't agree with tutoring a child for a transfer test that they realistically couldn't pass normally, I think tutoring the more able kids on things like exam technique is definitely helpful.
Where we live, there is one school in particular that if a child wants to attend they must do the transfer, and probably need not only an A, but a high scored A as the criteria uses the scores instead of the grades. The little bit of tutoring could be the difference in getting a place.
Personally, I put no pressure on my kids to do the transfer or choose a specific school. I let them make the decision themselves and so far, they have all chosen to do it. The local comprehensive school seems to be a very good school too and I'd have no issue with my kids going there.
I know for some parents it's life or death getting into a grammar school, personally I think a lot of that is about keeping up appearances and can be very unfair on the child.

I know what you're saying regarding the exam technique but from talking the primary school teachers I think that is a part of their focus in the preparation.  If I feel that is an area that needs additional work i'm in the fortunate position to call upon 5 close relations that are teachers (mix of primary & secondary).
I would be more than happy for my children to attend any of the 3 local schools that we've visited and i'm certainly not pushing them in any direction.  If I was nudging in a particular direction it wouldn't be for the first choice 

Anyone else trudging around the local secondary schools open days/evenings for the P6 & P7 kids?

My eldest is in P6 and after tonight will have visited 3 of the local schools; unless something changes tonight, it looks like the local grammar will be top of the list.  It was always the intention to do the transfer test anyway - or at least prepare in for the transfer test & see how it goes.
Absolutely no intention of using a tutor but there seems to be a lot of parents going down that route.

SF vote seems well down % wise constituency by constituency (bar NB), not great either for the DUP. With knuckles firmly wrapped for both parties and influence gone in the UK the return of Stormont is a certainty.

Stormont will be up and going again very soon, SF and DUP have no influence whatsoever now with Tory majority.

Could see a bit of DUP stalling to force an Election (due by end of January if Stormont is not up and running) so they can parachute in Dodds & Pengelley as MLAs.

One will be parachuted in in place of Carla Lockhart

Any of you fellas recommend a decent Garmin (or other make) watch for golf? 

I've been playing for a few months and am beginning to be able judge how far I can strike a ball with each club (if I connect properly). 


I've had a look online and am none the wiser and I'm not really looking to break the bank either!

I use the Garmin Approach S20 GPS Watch
I've probably had it 18-24months & I've no complaints at all.  Used to use a rangefinder as I didn't like the thought of wearing a watch while playing golf (didn't even wear a watch at all at that point).  Went ahead and bought the watch anyway; rangefinder is rarely out of the bag now.