NFL Division 1 2024

[Milltown Row2]

A foul on the player passing the ball.   If you watch right after the call, Lane clearly indicates that there was high contact from the defender across the neck.   The replays are inconclusive about whether it was high or not, but the defender got player, not  ball, so it was a foul.

It was soft enough at the time I felt, he'd played the ball I think and contact was minimal as his forward motion and opponents contact was unavoidable. Haven't seen it back but ref was clear in his judgement at the time, one view one second to call it.

[JoG2]

I went off giving out about refs for lent and will stick with it. Like players, ref's will obviously make mistakes, that's the rub of the green. Hand on heart I don't think a ref ever goes out to go easier on one horse in a two horse race. It's always in my mind too that the ref, during any passage of play will most likely be viewing a passage of play from a different angle than myself.
We were a couple of rows back from the pitch, the speed and physicality of both sets of players was off the charts, pretty much no let up for 90+ mins

[tbrick18]

What a fantastic game of football.
Both sides at it hammer and tongs from the first ball to the last, it really was as good a match as I've seen in a very long time time. And shure it only the League!

On the ref, I thought he was consistently inconsistent and that's my main gripe with him.
Not only on this game, but on any game I've ever seen him referee.
Of course I'm sure it's not deliberate or anything like that - I just think for what ever reason he gets a lot of calls wrong and is overly fussy.
For what it's worth (and since it seems to be the main incident discussed here), I think he got the Fenton/45 call right.

Back to the game, the most pleasing thing from a Derry perspective is that we have shown we have more than Shane McGuigan in attack AND that our game is well suited to Croke park - two of the main criticisms often made about Derry. I thought our starting full forward line were immense - and our subs carried that on.
Glass and Rogers had fantastic games but Eoin McEvoy was a different level. To score 2-2 from CHB for a young lad and still do his defensive work is something else.

Dublin will probably feel they have more room for improvement, but I'd argue Derry can play better too. There were probably another 3 goals to be had for Derry. Though Dublin probably feel they should have had another one too that went over the bar. Remains to be seen the impact returning players will have for Dublin, household names and pure quality. It might be difficult to integrate them back in and get fully up to speed for championship, but no doubt having the likes of Fitzsimmons, Cluxton and McCaffery available will improve Dublin.
I hope Derry get far enough to have another opportunity to play Dublin in Croke park - the drama would be off the charts.

Some people hate penalties, but the level of intensity they bring to a big game really adds to the atmosphere. It has a little bit of the knock-out feel to it the championship used to have. Luckily Derry have come through on the right side of penalties recently, but I guess if we lose one on penalties I might change my view on them.

Looking forward to the Ulster Championship and I expect Donegal to bring a real challenge to Derry in round 1.

[marty34]

[/quote]

What a fantastic game of football.
Both sides at it hammer and tongs from the first ball to the last, it really was as good a match as I've seen in a very long time time. And shure it only the League!

On the ref, I thought he was consistently inconsistent and that's my main gripe with him.
Not only on this game, but on any game I've ever seen him referee.
Of course I'm sure it's not deliberate or anything like that - I just think for what ever reason he gets a lot of calls wrong and is overly fussy.
For what it's worth (and since it seems to be the main incident discussed here), I think he got the Fenton/45 call right.

Back to the game, the most pleasing thing from a Derry perspective is that we have shown we have more than Shane McGuigan in attack AND that our game is well suited to Croke park - two of the main criticisms often made about Derry. I thought our starting full forward line were immense - and our subs carried that on.
Glass and Rogers had fantastic games but Eoin McEvoy was a different level. To score 2-2 from CHB for a young lad and still do his defensive work is something else.

Dublin will probably feel they have more room for improvement, but I'd argue Derry can play better too. There were probably another 3 goals to be had for Derry. Though Dublin probably feel they should have had another one too that went over the bar. Remains to be seen the impact returning players will have for Dublin, household names and pure quality. It might be difficult to integrate them back in and get fully up to speed for championship, but no doubt having the likes of Fitzsimmons, Cluxton and McCaffery available will improve Dublin.
I hope Derry get far enough to have another opportunity to play Dublin in Croke park - the drama would be off the charts.

Some people hate penalties, but the level of intensity they bring to a big game really adds to the atmosphere. It has a little bit of the knock-out feel to it the championship used to have. Luckily Derry have come through on the right side of penalties recently, but I guess if we lose one on penalties I might change my view on them.

Looking forward to the Ulster Championship and I expect Donegal to bring a real challenge to Derry in round 1.

In fairness, he not really CHB. Positions are out the window these days.

Everybody attacks and everybody defends.  But Mc Evoy is a very mature player for his age. Physically solid and a great footballing brain.

Derry and Dublin are great at holding the ball and and finding small pockets of space in behind. Great soft hands.

Intensity between fist and second match was night and day.

Div. 1 Final - boths teams wanted to have a rattle and win it.

Div. 2 Final - for the two teams who were top scorers in the league, both teams played as if they didn't want to lose it.  Very disappointing.

[Milltown Row2]

On the game it was a brilliant match, great intensity and played at a greater level than some finals at championship over the years.

The goals didn't rock Dublin too much, as they came back each time, didn't panic and when they needed to apply pressure it resulted in scores or frees

In fairness Derry didn't panic either, and didn't need a manic sideline to get them over the line, Mickey's been there and done that, missing link?

[inroundthesquare]

How Dublin escaped the mini-melee and the final melee after the goal in extra time with a single yellow card is bizarre.

[whitey]

How Dublin escaped the mini-melee and the final melee after the goal in extra time with a single yellow card is bizarre.

Nothing new in that

How many "card" offenses did James McCarthy commit last year before he was finally given a yellow?

A referee can be bad for both sides, but when the biggest decisions seem to all go one way-that's what upsets people

[RedHand88]

How Dublin escaped the mini-melee and the final melee after the goal in extra time with a single yellow card is bizarre.

Couldn't be dishing out cards to the swashbuckling gaa-saving Dubs now, could we?

[seafoid]

Should Derry risk injuries and try to win Ulster or opt out to be ready or the big prize ?

You want the top seed. Lose it and you could be in a group with Kerry or Dublin which means a preliminary quarter final is more likely and we all know how those teams struggled last year with games week on week

You want to be in peak condition for the QF and onwards. Derry are not going to go out in the Round Robin. There is a 50% chance of getting Dublin or Kerry in the RR if Derry opt out of Ulster. They can still finish second and have a 33% chance of meeting the other one in the qf. A fresh Derry team could top the RR group without winning Ulster.. It's all about the percentages 

[tbrick18]

Should Derry risk injuries and try to win Ulster or opt out to be ready or the big prize ?

You want the top seed. Lose it and you could be in a group with Kerry or Dublin which means a preliminary quarter final is more likely and we all know how those teams struggled last year with games week on week

You want to be in peak condition for the QF and onwards. Derry are not going to go out in the Round Robin. There is a 50% chance of getting Dublin or Kerry in the RR if Derry opt out of Ulster. They can still finish second and have a 33% chance of meeting the other one in the qf. A fresh Derry team could top the RR group without winning Ulster.. It's all about the percentages 

There is no hope that Derry will opt out of Ulster.
We may rotate players depending on opposition but I fully expect a full Derry side (injuries aside) to be named against Donegal in the first round.

[JoG2]

Should Derry risk injuries and try to win Ulster or opt out to be ready or the big prize ?

You want the top seed. Lose it and you could be in a group with Kerry or Dublin which means a preliminary quarter final is more likely and we all know how those teams struggled last year with games week on week

You want to be in peak condition for the QF and onwards. Derry are not going to go out in the Round Robin. There is a 50% chance of getting Dublin or Kerry in the RR if Derry opt out of Ulster. They can still finish second and have a 33% chance of meeting the other one in the qf. A fresh Derry team could top the RR group without winning Ulster.. It's all about the percentages 

How do you opt out? Go 3/4 pace? How do those conversations go at training etc? Guys, you've put everything youse have into the last few years, we've a chance of winning 3 Anglo Celts in a row and avoiding Kerry and Dublin in the groups, but...

[marty34]

Should Derry risk injuries and try to win Ulster or opt out to be ready or the big prize ?

You want the top seed. Lose it and you could be in a group with Kerry or Dublin which means a preliminary quarter final is more likely and we all know how those teams struggled last year with games week on week

You want to be in peak condition for the QF and onwards. Derry are not going to go out in the Round Robin. There is a 50% chance of getting Dublin or Kerry in the RR if Derry opt out of Ulster. They can still finish second and have a 33% chance of meeting the other one in the qf. A fresh Derry team could top the RR group without winning Ulster.. It's all about the percentages 

How do you opt out? Go 3/4 pace? How do those conversations go at training etc? Guys, you've put everything youse have into the last few years, we've a chance of winning 3 Anglo Celts in a row and avoiding Kerry and Dublin in the groups, but...

Yeah, this is the same narrative as...who cares about the league final...blah, blah, blah.

We basically want to lose.

[seafoid]

I would love to see Derry winning Sam but they will need to have everything going right   to do it .

[Derryman forever]

I would love to see Derry winning Sam but they will need to have everything going right   to do it .

Do you not think it is going pretty well so far?

[Blowitupref]

Should Derry risk injuries and try to win Ulster or opt out to be ready or the big prize ?

You want the top seed. Lose it and you could be in a group with Kerry or Dublin which means a preliminary quarter final is more likely and we all know how those teams struggled last year with games week on week

You want to be in peak condition for the QF and onwards. Derry are not going to go out in the Round Robin. There is a 50% chance of getting Dublin or Kerry in the RR if Derry opt out of Ulster. They can still finish second and have a 33% chance of meeting the other one in the qf. A fresh Derry team could top the RR group without winning Ulster.. It's all about the percentages 

How do you opt out? Go 3/4 pace? How do those conversations go at training etc? Guys, you've put everything youse have into the last few years, we've a chance of winning 3 Anglo Celts in a row and avoiding Kerry and Dublin in the groups, but...

Silly talk, much the same as those that was saying "nobody wanted to win the Div 1 title"   Derry players and management will aiming to retain the Ulster title no question, if not they will plan accordingly.