National hurling league Round 1

[slow corner back]

The national league starts this weekend, not that you would know it on here from all the intrest being show in here. Any talk and or team news from around the country. If Cork get kicked out of the league that leaves Antrim and Dublin with only one home match each, is that fair? Should the fixtures be reworked to give each team two home and two away matches as suggested by John McSparran today.
Will Limerick carry on from last years run to the all ireland and challenge for a national league? Can Tipps new management push for a league title which would represent good progress for them, with a possible bye to the munster final this year could Tipp be the surprise team this year? Do Waterford still have the legs for another tilt at Liam, I can't see  them putting too much into this years league but perhaps some of the waterford posters know better than me.
What about further down the leagues can Armagh survive in what looks like a tough Div 2 for them? Will anyone in Kerry/Mayo/Meath take any intrest in the small ball game?
Can Donegal make a push and top Div 3 this year? I saw some of their club players this year and they are pretty good for Div 3.
Is anyone going to any of the matches or even remotely intrested???

[GalwayBayBoy]

Well I'll stick up the Galway team to play Clare anyway. Minus the Portumna players.

Galway Team to play Clare on Sunday

1 James Skehill
2 Damien Joyce
3 Tony Og Regan
4 Fergal Moore
5 Ger Mahon
6 John Lee
7 Andrew Keary
8 Fergal Healy
9 Kevin Hayes
10 Niall Healy
11 David Forde
12 Alan Kerins Capt
13 Ger Farragher
14 Iarla Tannian
15 Aongus Callanan
Subs

16 Colm Callanan
17 Alan Gaynor
18 Conor Dervan
19 Alan Leech
20 Adrian Cullinane
21 Kevin Broderick
22 Kerril Wade
23 Gregory Kennedy
24 Finnian Coone
25 Kenneth Burke

[slow corner back]

Not too much experimentation there from Mr Loughnane, strong looking 15 even without the Potumna contingent. Galway normally give the league a good lash and should be there or there about again. What do you reckon to Tony Og at full back will he be there for the season?

[maxpower]

Galway seem to be signalling their intent to go on and win the National League with a strong selection for the opening fixture.  I have alway felt that the national League has more relevance to Galway than other counties, and themselves and the cats should be in a strong position this year

every couple of years Cody freshens up his squad/team considerably.  Is now the time for a refresh, on the back of 2 in a row i wouldn't have thought so but perhaps the KK posters will know of a few names who will throw themselves into contention this year out.  Cody's record in this competition is fantastic and i would think them and Galway will be the teams to beat with tipp being the dark horses.

Waterford will maybe just experiment a little bit more than the rest, they will be keen to put in place a solid defence that won't give away the number of goals the conceded last year and as a result may not repeat last years success.

Its a big year for both Antrim and Dublin, both in similar positions, ie have made some progress recently, Antrim in winning the Walsh cup and Dublin with the fine form they showd in last year NHL and in glimpses of the Championship.  Both teams need to build on that and in many ways its unfortunate that they are paired of first as this will probaly be the crunch game.  Dublin with home advantage probaly deserve favouritism and thereby have the best chance of remaining in the Divsion but confidence will be high and i wouldn't be overly surprised if the Yellabellies came a cropper up in Dunloy and they got dragged into a relegation fight.

[Lecale2]

How many Portumna men would Galway be missing altogether? That game could be close enough if Clare have prepared well.

The other Div 1 games look like home wins but I'll be delighted as well as surprised if Antrim win in Dublin.

[Gnevin]

Why no Saturday games?

[Rossfan]

Why no Saturday games?

They are only for football wimps

[Zulu]

Tipp have put alot of effort into the early season so they should do well in the league, I'd fancy either them or Kilkenny with Galway as the dark horse. You can forget about the rest of them IMO.

[SouthArmaghBandit]

Good luck to Armagh in Div 2. I think this is the first time we have competed at that level. It will be tough but we surprised a few folk last year and hopefully we can do the same again. There's a core of good hurlers who are dedicated to the game and keen to improve. I'll be down to support them later today. You never know what type of London team will turn up but I'm sure the Armagh lads will give it their best shot.

The Armagh Board are putting a good effort into hurling at grass roots and they deserve credit in a football mad county.

[Zulu]

Waterford 2-2 Wexford 1-3 20min gone

[slow corner back]

Full round of results from GAA.ie

Sunday's NHL Results Round-up. 

-- Sunday, February 10--
Allianz NHL Division 1A
Waterford 3-8 Wexford 2-12
Dublin 0-22 Antrim 0-15
Allianz NHL Division 1B
Limerick 3-23 Laois 2-11
Galway 2-24 Clare 3-17
Tipperary 2-25 Offaly 2-8
Allianz NHL Division 2A
Kerry 1-11 Westmeath 0-17
Roscommon 0-11 Kildare 2-12
Wicklow 1-16 Mayo 0-17
Allianz NHL Division 2B
Down 1-11 Carlow 0-14
Meath 1-24 Derry 0-8
Armagh 1-14 London 0-8
Allianz NHL Division 3
Tyrone 1-10 Donegal 1-17
Longford 4-19 Sligo 2-3
Allianz NHL Division 4
Fermanagh 2-10 Monaghan 2-5
Leitrim 0-8 Cavan 2-8

[slow corner back]

Good wins for Dublin and Wexford, Antrim are in real relegation trouble now given the fixtures to come. Good win for Armagh, If you went to it Bandit post up a quick report, whi played well etc. Down held at home by Carlow, not a great result for them and Derrry thumped by Meath could Armagh be on course to be the top ulster team in this division?

[stevecw]

Good win for Armagh, If you went to it Bandit post up a quick report, whi played well etc. Down held at home by Carlow, not a great result for them and Derrry thumped by Meath could Armagh be on course to be the top ulster team in this division?

Id reckon Down will end up being top ulster side in that Div 2 easily enough. You say it wasnt good result to draw with Carlow, but this year Carlow really expect to do well. Promotion from Div 2 & winning the Christy Ring should be very possible with the set-up in place this year. We've got Jim Greene from Mount Sion in Waterford in charge, and according to players the prepartions etc have been top class. With a few of the minors who got to Leinster Final in 2006 coming on board this adds quality. Even the challenge games have been encouraging....beat Birr by 8 points & beat Laois last week by 2 points. So at Div 2 level thats not bad. Was kind of expecting to get a win from the Down game, but i guess a draw is decent start.

Great win for Armagh though today. That result should mean Armagh will at least survive in the division as its hard to see London winning a game, unless maybe Derry if they have them in Ruislip.

[maxpower]

Good win for Armagh, If you went to it Bandit post up a quick report, whi played well etc. Down held at home by Carlow, not a great result for them and Derrry thumped by Meath could Armagh be on course to be the top ulster team in this division?

Id reckon Down will end up being top ulster side in that Div 2 easily enough. You say it wasnt good result to draw with Carlow, but this year Carlow really expect to do well. Promotion from Div 2 & winning the Christy Ring should be very possible with the set-up in place this year. We've got Jim Greene from Mount Sion in Waterford in charge, and according to players the prepartions etc have been top class. With a few of the minors who got to Leinster Final in 2006 coming on board this adds quality. Even the challenge games have been encouraging....beat Birr by 8 points & beat Laois last week by 2 points. So at Div 2 level thats not bad. Was kind of expecting to get a win from the Down game, but i guess a draw is decent start.

Great win for Armagh though today. That result should mean Armagh will at least survive in the division as its hard to see London winning a game, unless maybe Derry if they have them in Ruislip.

tell me more, teams/tactics etc

[johnneycool]

Good win for Armagh, If you went to it Bandit post up a quick report, whi played well etc. Down held at home by Carlow, not a great result for them and Derrry thumped by Meath could Armagh be on course to be the top ulster team in this division?

Id reckon Down will end up being top ulster side in that Div 2 easily enough. You say it wasnt good result to draw with Carlow, but this year Carlow really expect to do well. Promotion from Div 2 & winning the Christy Ring should be very possible with the set-up in place this year. We've got Jim Greene from Mount Sion in Waterford in charge, and according to players the prepartions etc have been top class. With a few of the minors who got to Leinster Final in 2006 coming on board this adds quality. Even the challenge games have been encouraging....beat Birr by 8 points & beat Laois last week by 2 points. So at Div 2 level thats not bad. Was kind of expecting to get a win from the Down game, but i guess a draw is decent start.

Great win for Armagh though today. That result should mean Armagh will at least survive in the division as its hard to see London winning a game, unless maybe Derry if they have them in Ruislip.

Carlow were the better team yesterday in Ballycran but at the same time were fortunate enough to come away with a draw after a woeful decision by the ref who gave a free against Cougie for touching the ball on the ground when it clearly bounced a good few inches before he caught it. That decision resulted in the final score of the game for Carlow.
From a Down POV, the only positives from the game were that the fullback line is solid enough with finty fitting in well at fullback and should hold his place even with Stephen Murray returning. Paddy Hughes is sticky in the corner and won't cough up too many easy scores. After that we were at sixes and sevens. Big Courtney does somethings very well and puts himself about but if he'd only learn not to throw the ball up so high when he's striking it, he'd be less likely to get hooked or blocked. The two wing backs were poor and their delivery into the forwards was poor with big high hanging balls being the order of the day with the vast majority being eaten up by the Carlow defence. Midfield were in and out of it, but with Ballycran pitch being the size it is it's not as critical as it could of been. Ruairi McGrattan did some good things then some mad things a few minutes later, McGourty is too far out the field for my liking, he is one of the few lads who can take a score and should be nearer the goals as we are really bad up front. Jingo started Gazza on the edge of the square so if your going to play him there you need the other forwards to be running off him as he's never going to go passed anyone. The few times he got the ball he was isolated, Paddy rat and Benny Ennis were feeding off scraps as neither are physically big enough to win their own ball and with the lack of space they were screwed. Dule had an OK day but considering that its his first game in over a year it was to be expected. He landed a monster free in the second half but strangely a few minutes later Simon Wilson stepped up to take a 65 and put it wide. Stevie Clarke wasn't doing anything spectacular but moved the ball well when he did manage to get on it, he deserved his red card for the wild pull, totally out of charachter for him and can have no complaints. McGarry was very one sided and one paced, got some possession then lost it through indecision or dallying. It says it all that Stephen Murray and Cougie when thrown into the forwards made more of a go that the rest of the forwards and they're both defenders.
Jingo has problems with the forwards and looking at his subs yesterday, there's no one there going to solve it. He must be hoping big magic returns from Oz sooner rather than later as Down are fucked without the big eejit.
Good crowd at the game yesterday, long may that continue.