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???
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
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?
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.
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.
Why no Saturday games?
Quote from: Gnevin on February 09, 2008, 06:43:07 PM
Why no Saturday games?
They are only for football wimps ;)
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.
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.
Waterford 2-2 Wexford 1-3 20min gone
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
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?
Quote from: slow corner back on February 10, 2008, 05:13:31 PM
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.
Quote from: stevecw on February 10, 2008, 09:51:19 PM
Quote from: slow corner back on February 10, 2008, 05:13:31 PM
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
Quote from: stevecw on February 10, 2008, 09:51:19 PM
Quote from: slow corner back on February 10, 2008, 05:13:31 PM
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.
Considering Down hit the post and missed two penalties I'd say Carlow were relieved enough with the draw at the end. Agree that we have big problems in the forwards although the quality of the ball going into them is brutal.
Big Kieran struggles from the lack of top class hurling in terms of getting the ball away quicker with a shorter stroke as he can get away with the big wind up at club level but he is learning and improving all the time. The question everyone was asking afterwards was who made the decision to let Simon Wilson hit the last 65, seemed a crazy decision and probably one that Simon took himself rather than instruction from the sideline.
Stephen Murray was a vast improvement on Gazza in full forward although we need Magic back big time if we are to make an impact on the Chirsty Ring. Thought the full back line played well both individually and as a unit once they got to grips with things as Carlow stormed ahead 0-5 to no score and indeed could have had a goal in the same period. Big Kieran won a lot of ball and consdiering he was playing with three stiches in his hand did really well as you could clearly see him avoiding catching the ball in his left hand. Thought Gabriel Clarke did alright particularly in the 2nd hald but Simon Wilson hardly struck a ball all day.
Midfield was pretty even with Brendan and Ruairi getting through a lot of work with some good play and I thought big Ruari tried very hard although was caught in possession a few times although Carlow were fairly handy around the middle of the park with the centre back a good hurler and the centre 3/4 Foley who came out to midefield showing well.
Upfront, the Rat tried hard without getting a lot of service and I though Dule played well given its his first NHL game in a long while. Mc Garry will obviously take time to adjust to the higher level and you could see him getting caught in possession a few times through indecsion but to be honest I thought he did rightly while Ciaran Coulter showed well on his introduction .
Carlow look a handy outfit with some good hurlers, impressed by their upper body stregth Down really struggled to break the tackle with them while their free taker didn't miss a shot all day which was lucky for them given the sheer volume of frees they got from Mr Devlin (surprise surprise!)
Have to admit given everything that happened in the game I was happy enough and expect Down to pick up two points next week against Armagh. Don't agree about the crowd though was hardly 150-200 people there. If you had the Armagh match in Newry next week you could expect 2-3 times that crowd - but doing that might indicate a bit of progressive thinking by the county board!
See Big Dan Shanahan took 27 minutes to open his goalscoring account this year.
And that was only because he was fouled for a penalty before that.
The man is unstoppable!
Rampant Kelly causes Faithful to collapse
With two new managers at the helm, hope was bouncing around Thurles yesterday like a spring lamb but, of the shepherds, only Liam Sheedy looked happy with his flock after this Division 1B NHL opener.
Asked afterwards if they had picked up any residual injuries new Offaly boss Joe Dooley grimaced and admitted "our pride!"
Questions will certainly be asked about his young side's drastic capitulation in the last 10 minutes.
Twenty minutes into the second half, they were trailing by just three and holding their own, admittedly thanks largely to two first-half goals inside four minutes and some particularly timely defensive interventions by wing-back David Kenny.
And then bam! Like many a team before them they were undone in a split second by the hurling genius that locals only half-jokingly call 'God'.
Eoin Kelly, already faultless while racking up 0-7 in the first half, reached into the sky to pluck down a John O'Brien pass and rammed it home before Offaly could blink.
It was only one of the highlights of Kelly's eventual 1-10 and simply sucked the life-force from the visitors.
"With 20 minutes to go I thought we were going to win it," Dooley said. "Then we missed a couple of points, one from a free and one from play, and then they got the goal and it all switched within five minutes.
"Tipp's experience around the middle of the field showed. We played well for 55 to 60 minutes but when the goal went in we seemed to drop our heads alright," he admitted.
"We had nine or 10 U21s there today and maybe four in their first National League game so it's hard for them to come from behind," he added.
Offaly didn't score for the last 27 minutes while Tipperary racked up an unanswered 2-9, their second 65th minute goal also a stunner, started by Lar Corbett and cleverly scooped up by substitute Seamus Butler for league debutant Pat Kerwick to volley home.
Even allowing for the absences of Brendan Murphy and the influential Birr contingent, this was a bad opening day hammering.
And yet, as Sheedy noted, "until Eoin got that goal it was anyone's game," which made Offaly's collapse all the more disappointing.
Sheedy, clearly, has greater depth to work with, even without the Loughmore-Castleiney crew and, as the scoreline suggests, an arsenal of firepower that any manager would envy.
But he made some impressive calls himself on his managerial NHL debut.
The switch of Lar Corbett to centre-forward, the move of Benny Dunne to midfield and two feisty subs called Seamus Callinan and Butler, who scored 0-5 between them, visibly moved them up the necessary gear.
And even though Tipperary led by just three with a score of 0-14 to 2-5 at half-time, the warning signs were already there.
All their forwards had already scored from play. Their half-forwards were on top and rangey former minor star Pa Bourke had scored two glorious long-range points.
The problem was in defence where, apart from Eamonn Corcoran, they looked surprisingly shakey.
Tipp were four points clear before Derek Molloy beat Declan Fanning to score Offaly's first goal and then, four minutes later, when they should have cleared out of a scramble, Daniel Currams laid a ball back to Damien Murray to score into an unmarked goal and give Offaly a one-point lead.
No surprise then that recalled goalkeeper Brendan Cummins took drastic action, marching out to his '45 during a break in play to have a few quiet words with his defenders.
Sheedy clearly gave them a talking-to at half-time also.
Like? "Well, that we needed to knuckle down. People might have been getting carried away with South-East league matches but they are what they are. I knew today would be a completely different tempo," Sheedy admitted.
"But, after conceding the two goals, when questions were asked of the defence afterwards they finished strong," he said .
"Obviously I'd like to see a little more ball going in to our attack because I do think we have a full-forward line that's as good as what's in the country but for them to thrive they need to get the ball in quicker and crisper," Sheedy added.
And Limerick next week? "Yeah, it will be a step up again. Limerick will bring a real crowd, Richie Bennis is probably the most popular man in Ireland right now and what do you call what comes after 'the trilogy'?" he quipped.
Scorers -- Tipperary: E Kelly 1-10 (8fs, 1'65), P Kerwick 1-1, L Corbett, P Bourke and S Callinan 0-3 each, S Butler 0-2, R O'Dwyer, J O'Brien and W Ryan 0-1 each. Offaly: D Molloy 1-1, D Murray 1-0, S Dooley 0-3 (2f), J Rigney 0-2, C McMahon and B Carroll 0-1 each.
TIPPERARY -- B Cummins; E Buckley, D Fanning, P Curran; E Corcoran, C O'Mahony, B Dunne; J Ceaser, S Maher; P Kerwick, R O'Dwyer, J O'Brien; E Kelly, L Corbett, P Bourke. Subs -- D Fitzgerald for O'Dwyer (48 mins), S Callinan for Maher (48), S Butler for O'Brien (55), W Ryan for Bourke (64).
OFFALY -- S O'Connor; C Hernon, K Brady, D Franks; D Horan, J Bergin, D Kenny; C Mahon, J Rigney; S Dooley, G Oakley, B Carroll; D Currams, D Molloy, F Kerrigan. Subs -- J Brady for Currams (54), F Kerrigan for Molloy (63).
REF -- J Owens (Wexford).
It's gas in the article above.
Eoin Kelly had a quiet day and though he did take his goal well, he was be no means Tipp's best forward. Yet he steals the headlines because of 9 points from frees.
Anyway, this is what I threw up on uibhfhaili.com.
Having hurled so well for a 3/4 of the game, my overall feeling is one of dismay at yet another Offaly surrender once the opposition got the run on us.
The 17 point margin may look harsh on the balance of play, but really in the last quarter several players were either banjaxed or threw in the towel and got severely punished. There's no better county than Tipp to showboat and sow it into you when this happens.
Certainly this was an Offaly side shorn of the Birr players and with so many young players, there is propensity to allow heads drop, but I just feel it is a really bad habit from Offaly's that really bugs me.
The first 3/4 of the game. Tipp moderately the better of two sides still looking to shake of the winter cobwebs. Offaly troubles starting from the puckouts. Offaly's lack of a Gary or Rory Hanniffy, or Joe Bergin in the half forwards stuck out badly.
Shane O'Connor wasn't driving them beyond the opposition '45, but trying to find an Offaly shirt around midfield and half forward. Unfortunately Offaly got very little change here as Tipp had the superior size and fielding here. Credit Offaly lads like Ger Oakley who contested hard for the breaks and weren't afraid to use timber. Tipp used the possession better most of the time, though some of their touches were poor.
Tipp won most of the primary possession, Offaly on many occasions did battle well to win it back, or else a Tipp player made a basic error and gave it away, but too often Tipp created scoring chances. Offaly gave away a lot of frees and Eoin Kelly rarely missed. For a good stretch of the first half Tipp were held scoreless from play, but I don't remember Kelly missing a single free.
Shane Dooley put over most of the early frees, but started to miss as the game went on. Given that Damien Murray was very consistent last year, there might be call for a change here. While Murray wasn't faring any better than anyone else in winning possession, he did use the ball well and set up a couple of scores. I think Dooley might find himself squeezed out of the side as we need a more robust wing forward.
When in possession, too often Offaly players tried to tap a short ball to a colleague who wasn't in much space, where an old fashioned drive down the field would have been the better option. I fear that not enough Offaly players have to accuracy to deliver the pinpoint pass to a colleague and the recipient hasn't got the required hands and wristwork to control it first time. And barring that, the physical brutishness to compensate for the lack of the above. Too many Offaly players were static when receiving a 20-30 yard delivery. I think Joe Dooley might want to go back to basics here.
David Kenny had a super performance, of fielding covering and clearing. In the modern game, high fielding is such a prized skill and his ability to pluck balls from the sky was a pleasure to watch. His clearances were quality too. However, therein lies our problem. We simply don't have enough players greater than 6 feet, with the ability to win the high ball.
The Offaly full-forward line didn't get much in terms of quality ball. When it did come in too often, the were flat-footed and behind their men. What did help was some of the terrible mistakes made by the Tipp full back line when trying to rise, or clear the ball.
It was always inevitable Tipp would pull away at some stage. They had options on the bench and made the positional switches tell. Moving a subdued Lar Corbett to half forward made a huge difference to their attack for example.
Worrying recent second half outings. It appears as if our stamina and/or desire fades after about 50 minutes. I think we scored poorly against DCU, Wexford, Antrim and now Tipp in the second half, and that was a common failing last year as well.
Quote from: AZOffaly on February 11, 2008, 02:38:35 PM
Worrying recent second half outings. It appears as if our stamina and/or desire fades after about 50 minutes. I think we scored poorly against DCU, Wexford, Antrim and now Tipp in the second half, and that was a common failing last year as well.
Yep.
It's a worrying stat.
I've been checking over Offaly's half time scores compared to full time scores against the top 8 counties over the last few years.
There have been some terrible second half fade outs.
I'll put together the stats soon enough.
Meath 1-25 Derry 0-08
The absence of a number of dual players hit Derry badly as Meath romped to a 20-point win at Páirc Tailteann, Navan.
Although two points separated the sides at the end of the opening quarter, Meath blitzed into a 1-12 to 0-05 interval lead, with Stephen Clynch scoring their goal.
The hosts failed to let up in the second half, with Clynch (1-04) and Niall Hackett (0-07) continuing to perform strongly, as Derry had no answer - although Ruairi Convery tried hard with five points.
What about this weekends matches? The weather forecast is very good so we might get some decent hurling. Cork v Waterford is oFF and Tipp/Limerick is on TG4 for the armchair fan.
Down team to face Armagh:
Graham Clarke
Liam Clarke, Finty Conway, Paddy Hughes
Simon Wilson, Ciaran Courtney, Gabriel Clarke
Brendan McGourty Ruairi McGrattan
Emmet Trainor, Paul Braniff, Kevin McGarry
Paddy Coulter, Stephen Murray, Conor Woods.
Big Emmet in the forwards instead of the suspended Stephen Clarke and Benny Ennis replaced by clubmate Conor Woods.
Ciaran Coulter can count himself unlucky as he did well when introduced against Carlow.
Here's hoping for greater team cohesion this sunday
Lads how about Cavan winning their first competitive hurling game in 4 years defeating Division 4 superpower Leitrim?
Not even a mention, come on.
Must have missed that one ballyhaise man, apologies, congratulations to Cavan, can you go on a mad run now and pick up another victory this year?
Quote from: slow corner back on February 15, 2008, 06:13:37 PM
Must have missed that one ballyhaise man, apologies, congratulations to Cavan, can you go on a mad run now and pick up another victory this year?
Hopefully Monaghan arent going terribely well from what i hear
Fermanagh are definetely beatable
dont know what South Down are like,
Probably a bit above the standard of the rest id say.
I cant see any upsets in Div 1 this weekend.
Tipp/Limerick should be a good game but you have to expect Tipp to win handy enough in the end.
Antrim vs Wexford - (NHL Division 1A)
Kilkenny vs Dublin - (NHL Division 1A)
Clare vs Laois - (NHL Division 1B)
Offaly vs Galway - (NHL Division 1B)
Tipperary vs Limerick - (NHL Division 1B)
Antrim 3-11 Wexford 1-10 Antrim won this game handy enough as wexford were very poor. The first half was even enough but wexfords shooting was awful. Antrim got two goals, the first from a long range free that may have been flicked on, keeper looked suspect, and the second from a ground stroke as the ball bounced around in front of goals. Antrims best move resulted in a point blank save from the wexford keeper but it should have been buried. Half time Antrim 2-04 wexford 0-04. Second half wexford started OK and got the gap down to four points Antrim then scored a good goal from Karl stewart but wexford replied within a minute to keep the gap at four. However from here wexford completely faded. In the last 15 minutes Antrim were totally on top and with better finishing could have won by 12 points easy. Liam Watson missed a few frees but was the best forward on show by some distance. Wexfords CHB was changed halfway through the second half but throughout he could not live with watsons pace. The Antrim midfield and Halfback line were very dominant especially C Herron and I thought Simon McCrory played well also. Karl Stewart had a strong game switching between midfield and corner forward and the full back line was solid throughout. Overall good win for Antrim but how wexford beat waterford last week is beyond me.
Results
Div 1A
Antrim 3-11 Wexford 1-10
Kilkenny 1-21 Dublin 2-10
Div 1B
Clare 1-25 Laois 1-15
Offally 3-09 Galway 0-18
Tipp 2-20 Limerick 2-09
Div 2A
Kerry 4-07 Wicklow 2-11
Div 2 B
Derry 3-11 London 0-09
Carlow 2-15 Meath 0-13
Down 2-22 Armagh 0-12
Div 3
Donegal 1-20 Louth 3-08
Div 4 Fermanagh 1-14 Cavan 1-09
Monaghan beat south down, no scrore available on rte.ie
Good point for Offally against Galway, Good win for Derry and Down certainly put manners on Armagh. Carlow going well, tips hat to stevecw, but Cavan could not keep winning run going, sorry Ballyhaise man better luck next week.
Allianz National Hurling League Division 3A
Sligo 3-10 Tyrone 1-20
Quote from: slow corner back on February 17, 2008, 04:44:30 PM
Carlow going well, tips hat to stevecw.
Ah yes it was a good win today against a very impressive Meath side. Was a really good standard for a Div 2 game. Nothing in it for most of the match. We were 4 points up at HT, but a really clever free from about 25 yards out hit the net for Meath at start of 2nd half, caught our lads totally unawares. They like most of us in the crowd thought he'd just tap it over the bar.
That brought Meath to within a point, then they got next 2 to go 1-11 to 1-10 up. I was fearing the worst at that stage. But we sent a sideline cut from 45m out over the bar, top class score..that levelled it & then Carlow just played great stuff for next 15/20 mins & hit 1-5 without reply. That won us the game. Both sides had penos saved in last 10 mins but made no difference in the end. 2-15 - 1-13 win following on from the draw in Down should mean we get top 2 & a place in that restructured Div 2 next year. Next games are v London, Derry & Armagh all should be easy enough wins.
Its bottom 2 in 1A & bottom 2 in 1B + top 2 in 2A & top 2 in 2B (Us + 1 other!!) next year. That will be a good standard league to be in, even if we might struggle. But need to be playing the Dublins, Offalys, Antrims if we want to make that breakthrough into that group just below the top tier.
Pull hard,
did you make it to Ballycran? How did the team fare?
Stevecw, i wouldn't write off Derry just yet. If they can get their dual players on board they will be hard to work with. Good result for yous yesterday all the same.
Steve I wouldnt get carried away - just remember that the derry team who you are predicting an "easy enough win" against beat you by 17 points in the league last year. I wouldnt be talking about dublin offaly and antrim just yet.
Johnny,
Down were brutal in the 1st half although in fairness to Armagh they harried and chased everything during that period. Big Kieran had another good game and cleared a lot of ball with Armagh moving 4 different men on him although once again he needs to move the ball quicker.
Full back line have to be happy with no goals for the second consecutive match but delivery from the half backs will have to improve as we continue to hit too many hail mary shots.
Midfield dominated when they got into the game although the concern is that Down have now started every slowly in their past two matches,do that against Meath and it could be lights out.
Dule came into it when he moved off McCormack who was bossing him physically in the tight confines of Ballycran but he really opened the shoulders in the second half as did Conor Woods which was pleasing. I really rate Conor and its good to see him get a chance. Ciaran Coulter a vast improvement on Emmett and surely has to start the next day while James did rightly when we came on but hard to judge really as the game was over at that stage.
Big Magic returning will give us a more physical and potent threat in the full forward line which is badly needed. All in all not a bad display but we need to be out of the blocks V Meath the next day in what is shaping up to be a promotion play off- not discounting Derry but expect it to be a straight play off between Down,Carlow and Meath for promotion with Carlow looking good after their win against Meath. How costly will that last minute free in Ballycran prove before the year is out.
Quote from: Franko on February 18, 2008, 09:58:22 AM
Steve I wouldnt get carried away - just remember that the derry team who you are predicting an "easy enough win" against beat you by 17 points in the league last year. I wouldnt be talking about dublin offaly and antrim just yet.
I remember too well what happened v Derry last year. But our whole league campaign was a joke last season..we lost to Derry, Meath & Wicklow. Only beat Armagh by a point & then somehow drew with Laois after all that!
Last year was a nothing year for Carlow hurling, the manager had been there too long...so he was got rid of. This year there is a fresh approach, new manager, training harder & according to the lads i know on the team its so much better than what went before.
So im not getting carried away, i know too well that out of the remaining games, its the Derry one that could be the one we slip up in. Was very surprised to see Derry lose to Meath in Round 1 by 20 points!! What happened there?? Its just judging by that score & knowing that we should be able to take London & Armagh anyway, thats why i think we have the hard work in this division done already.
Fair play to Carlow. I've always thought they were in an ideal location to progess in hurling. It's only a couple of mile for coaches from Kilkenny to travel over and help out.
Did Carlow take advantage of the new rule allowing weaker counties to select guys from stronger counties? I think Meath have a lad from Tipp. Any others?
antrim have taken this new rule on board, sure they have a load of boys from County Belfast ;D ;D ;D ;D
Quote from: milltown row on February 19, 2008, 04:10:21 PM
antrim have taken this new rule on board, sure they have a load of boys from County Belfast ;D ;D ;D ;D
They certainly have in the over 40's hurling team anyway.
I think Down hurlers are using that rule. Didn't they take McGarry from Fermanagh?
What way does relegation work this year?
Is it 8 teams in division 1 next yeat??
Quote from: Guillem2 on February 19, 2008, 05:58:04 PM
I think Down hurlers are using that rule. Didn't they take McGarry from Fermanagh?
No, McGarry is living in Portaferry ;D
Quote from: Bacon on February 19, 2008, 02:17:09 PM
Fair play to Carlow. I've always thought they were in an ideal location to progess in hurling. It's only a couple of mile for coaches from Kilkenny to travel over and help out.
Did Carlow take advantage of the new rule allowing weaker counties to select guys from stronger counties? I think Meath have a lad from Tipp. Any others?
No we haven't used that rule at all. All players on the panel are locals. Much prefer it that way.
Meath had Eoin Breslane (spelt wrong im sure!) from Tipp last year, but he doesnt seem to be involved this season. Wasnt part of the panel sunday in carlow anyway.
Kildare last year also had 2 Tipp guys on the team, not sure if they still have them this year.
Quote from: Two Hands FFS on February 19, 2008, 08:18:59 PM
What way does relegation work this year?
Is it 8 teams in division 1 next yeat??
Yes its 8 teams in Div 1 & 8 in Div 2 next year. Next years division 1 will be top 4 in 1A & top 4 in 1B.
Division 2 will be bottom 2 in 1A & in 1B, along with top 2 in 2A & in 2B.
This hurling league thread has died off recently for some reason!
But with 1 round of games left in 2B which most of us here were talking about, its very interesting. Derrys win v Down yesterday, leaves it wide open for any 2 from 3 of Derry, Down & Carlow to get the promotion to new Div 2 & into semis.
From a Carlow point of view i was raging that Derry won yesterday, if they hadn't we were promoted & in semis already.
Now we have to get a point off them in final game next week to make sure. Im fairly sure that at home we are well capable of winning that game, we've done well in the league this year so far. Even yesterday we left off about 7 of the regulars and still beat Armagh by 11 pts. Would be disaster to throw it all away by losing next week, but Derry do seem to be getting their act together after that crazy 20 pt defeat to Meath in round 1. And im sure the hammering we got in Derry last year will be in the Carlow players minds.
Looking forward to it, should be a great game with so much to play for.
This thread does seem to have gone down like the preverbial lead balloon, shame as in the lower divisions there are quite a few intresting goings on.
Starting in the top teirs Galway Limerick and Tipp are in the knockout stages. Unless Offally can beat Clare by 15 points Offally are relegated and Laois will join them unless they beat Tipp in Thurles, unlikely. The Cats are in the semi, surprise surprise and if results go to form they will be joined by Cork and Waterford in the quarters. If that happens Antrim will be relegated for the second year running with points difference sorting out whether Wexford or Dublin join them. Currently Dublin are 15 points better off than Wexford and have shown better form throughout the league.
As steve has said Carlow Down and Derry are all in the race for the top two positions, hopefully a decent crowd turns out for the Carlow Derry match. In the other division 2 it is even tighter with Kerry Westmeath and Kildare all on six points. With westmeath playing Kildare it is set up for Kerry to qualify, maybe some of the Kerry posters will show some support for the hurlers and see if they can go one better than the footballers and beat Mayo next Sunday.
In Division 3 Donegal look good for the title sitting two points clear and playing bottom team Sligo on Sunday.
In Div 4 Fermanagh top the table but have played all their games and have a negative scoring difference. If South Down and Monaghan both win on Sunday they should make the final for Div 4
Predictions for sunday night
Div 1 Semi finalists Kilkenny and Tipperary
QF Cork, Waterford,Galway,Limerick
Relegated Antrim, Wexford, Laois, Offally
expect lots of appeals to change the league structures AGAIN
Div 2 semi finalists Westmeath, Kerry,Carlow and Down
Div 3 Final Donegal V Louth
Div 4 Final S Down V Monaghan
Division 1A
Team Played Won Drawn Lost For Against Pts Diff Pts.
Kilkenny 4 4 0 0 1-69 3-29 34 8
Cork 4 2 0 2 4-42 3-23 22 4
Waterford 4 2 0 2 6-51 5-47 7 4
Dublin 4 1 1 2 4-63 6-63 -6 3
Wexford 4 1 1 2 6-36 6-57 -21 3
Antrim 4 1 0 3 7-43 5-85 -36 2
Division 1B
Team Played Won Drawn Lost For Against Pts Diff Pts.
Galway 4 2 2 0 8-84 6-50 40 6
Tipperary 4 2 2 0 5-75 4-50 28 6
Limerick 4 3 0 1 12-66 5-60 27 6
Clare 4 1 1 2 4-71 6-68 -3 3
Laois 4 1 0 3 4-51 12-87 -60 2
Offaly 4 0 1 3 8-47 8-79 -32 1
Division 2A
Team Played Won Drawn Lost For Against Pts Diff Pts.
Westmeath 4 3 0 1 8-68 4-47 33 6
Kerry 4 3 0 1 11-42 1-48 24 6
Kildare 4 3 0 1 4-54 5-52 -1 6
Mayo 4 2 0 2 5-61 4-53 11 4
Wicklow 4 1 0 3 2-50 8-59 -27 2
Roscommon 4 0 0 4 1-42 9-58 -40 0
Division 2B
Team Played Won Drawn Lost For Against Pts Diff Pts.
Carlow 4 3 1 0 7-57 4-44 22 7
Derry 4 3 0 1 8-48 6-61 -7 6
Down 4 2 1 1 8-64 2-66 16 5
Meath 4 2 0 2 3-78 5-46 26 4
Armagh 4 1 0 3 4-50 8-54 -16 2
London 4 0 0 42-34 7-60 -41 0
Division 3A
Team Played Won Drawn Lost For Against Pts Diff Pts.
Donegal 3 3 0 0 2-53 4-31 16 6
Louth 3 2 0 1 12-31 6-40 9 4
Longford 2 1 0 1 4-31 2-19 18 2
Tyrone 3 1 0 2 5-39 7-38 -5 2
Sligo 3 0 0 3 7-24 11-50 -38 0
Division 3B
Team Played Won Drawn Lost For Against Pts Diff Pts.
Fermanagh 4 3 0 1 5-44 10-40 -11 6
South Down 3 2 0 1 13-36 3-27 39 4
Monaghan 3 2 0 1 7-26 5-19 13 4
Cavan 3 1 0 2 4-26 5-38 -14 2
Leitrim 3 0 0 3 1-22 7-31 -27 0
Well It is getting fairly clear who is going to progress from each respective group.
In Division 1A - Kilkenny will go through to the Semi-finals, with Cork and Waterford in the qtr finals.
In Division 1B - Tipperary hold the upper hand and should take the semi final spot, what with Limerick and Galway playing each other, and both these will go to the qtr finals.
In Division 2A - Westmeath and Kerry, seem to be better placed but Kildare and Mayo could come through.
In Divsion 2B - I think Down and Carlow shoudl get through, Carlow shouldnt lose at home against Derry but it is possible.
In Division 3A - Donegal seem to be clear of the chasing pack. And will easily come out of the group.
In Division 3B - I think South Down could come out of the group.
With regard to the make up of next years national hurling league, I believe it should definitely go ahead, especially with some of the results that have occured during the current national league. Laois, Wexford, Antrim and Offaly have suffered huge defeats to the bigger teams, and I believe that it doesnt have any value to have these type of games.
So the make up for next year is looking like
Division 1
Kilkenny
Cork
Tipperary
Limerick
Waterford
Galway
Dublin
Clare
Division 2
Offaly
Antrim
Wexford
Laois
Down
Carlow
Westmeath
Kerry
Division 3
Derry
Kildare
Mayo
Wicklow
Meath
Donegal
South Down?
That setup looks fairly good and should make it more competitive. London would probably be in there as well in division 3.
I think, although i may be wrong, that next year there will be a div 3A and 3B which will probably include London,as well as a div4. I believe that North and South Dublin enter the hurling leagues next season, what level they go in at I am not quite sure perhaps some of the Dublin posters could inform us.
I have no complaints about Offaly being in division 2 in the highly probable scenario that we don't beat Clare by 15 points. It was disappointing to lose our nigh on 3 year unbeaten home league record, featuring such luminaries as Galway, Clare, Waterford and Cork, by such a margin on Sunday, but in truth we looked like a division 2 team.
It's a shame really, because the draw with Galway was promising, but the surprise defeat by Laois seemed to knock them back a step. Hopefully they can put in a good performance against Clare, even though it will probably be meaningless unless something ridiculous happens.
AZ do you not think it's high time though that they structured the hurling leagues properly with a division 1, division 2, division 3 and division 4.
Offaly or any relegated team will learn nothing in division 2. If they structured it so 2 was antrim, wexford, dublin offaly etc that would be of great benefit to all these teams.
But that's sort of what they are doing. At the moment it looks as if it will be Offaly, Wexford, Antrim and Laois, along with Kerry, Westmeath, Carlow and Down.
If you have 4 divisions, the best 8 teams deserve to be in Division 1, and they will be next year, as Dublin have probably passed Offaly and Wexford out in Leinster, albeit without reflecting that in the championship yet.
Oh - I actually forgot/not sure I realised they were doing that.
Yep - agreed Dublin quite possibly are in the top 8 at present.
The rest will end up where they deserve to be and it would only serve to do them good.
I'm not surprised. They change the format so often, it's a matter of waiting till the fixtures come out to see who you're in with each year!
The A and B nonsense in the football and hurling has proved to be rubbish IMO. I find the football league considerably more interesting than usual this year. (Perhaps because Antrim are actually playing for something) but the hurling not so much so. (Where we were realistically playing to win 2 games max). If the structure goes to 1,2,3 and 4 it will make it a lot more interesting.(for all involved)
It depends how you look at it. My own feeling is that if there are twelve counties competing for the MacCarthy Cup then there should be twelve counties competing in Division 1 of the League, giving everyone matches against the top teams against whom they will compete in high summer. To do otherwise is only inviting unmerciful hammerings for hapless counties coming up from a lower division.
While it wasn't much fun watching a depleted Offaly lose heavily to last year's All Ireland finalists last Sunday, Offaly were still better off hurling Limerick than they would be hurling a county currently in Division 2.
In case anyone thinks Offaly have been out of their depth in Division 1 in recent years, they reached the quarter final two years ago, accumulating seven points out of ten, while last year they got five points out of ten. The year they spent in Division 2 was partly responsible for the meltdown against Kilkenny later that summer.
Quote from: imtommygunn on March 19, 2008, 04:49:21 PM
The A and B nonsense in the football and hurling has proved to be rubbish IMO. I find the football league considerably more interesting than usual this year. (Perhaps because Antrim are actually playing for something) but the hurling not so much so. (Where we were realistically playing to win 2 games max). If the structure goes to 1,2,3 and 4 it will make it a lot more interesting.(for all involved)
Quote from: Plain of the Herbs on March 19, 2008, 06:30:38 PM
It depends how you look at it. My own feeling is that if there are twelve counties competing for the MacCarthy Cup then there should be twelve counties competing in Division 1 of the League, giving everyone matches against the top teams against whom they will compete in high summer. To do otherwise is only inviting unmerciful hammerings for hapless counties coming up from a lower division.
While it wasn't much fun watching a depleted Offaly lose heavily to last year's All Ireland finalists last Sunday, Offaly were still better off hurling Limerick than they would be hurling a county currently in Division 2.
In case anyone thinks Offaly have been out of their depth in Division 1 in recent years, they reached the quarter final two years ago, accumulating seven points out of ten, while last year they got five points out of ten. The year they spent in Division 2 was partly responsible for the meltdown against Kilkenny later that summer.
Quote from: imtommygunn on March 19, 2008, 04:49:21 PM
The A and B nonsense in the football and hurling has proved to be rubbish IMO. I find the football league considerably more interesting than usual this year. (Perhaps because Antrim are actually playing for something) but the hurling not so much so. (Where we were realistically playing to win 2 games max). If the structure goes to 1,2,3 and 4 it will make it a lot more interesting.(for all involved)
I know what you are saying POTH, but in fairness, Wexford, Antrim and Laois will give decent games next year for Offaly. It's slightly different that it would be if it were only Offaly and Laois going down.
I reckon that Div 2 next year will be a decent standard. Obviously the promoted Div 2 sides will struggle. But taking my own county Carlow, last year we drew with Laois in the league, we beat them a few weeks ago in a challenge. The year Offaly were in Div 2, we beat Offaly in Carlow. We ended up in the Div 2 final against them & ok we got wiped out in the end.
But honestly the likes of us, Down, Westmeath etc need to be playing the Laois, Wex, Offaly & Antrims to develop. For us games against teams like Armagh & London are just a waste of time. We rest the regulars & still get an easy win.
What is the point of Galway 6-26-Laois 0-6?! Div 1 8 best teams & div 2 next best 8 makes so much sense to me.
I can guarantee no matter who ends up in div 2 next year, there will not be a 38 point win by any team like has happened in div 1 this year.
Quote from: stevecw on March 19, 2008, 08:06:04 PM
I reckon that Div 2 next year will be a decent standard. Obviously the promoted Div 2 sides will struggle. But taking my own county Carlow, last year we drew with Laois in the league, we beat them a few weeks ago in a challenge. The year Offaly were in Div 2, we beat Offaly in Carlow. We ended up in the Div 2 final against them & ok we got wiped out in the end.
But honestly the likes of us, Down, Westmeath etc need to be playing the Laois, Wex, Offaly & Antrims to develop. For us games against teams like Armagh & London are just a waste of time. We rest the regulars & still get an easy win.
What is the point of Galway 6-26-Laois 0-6?! Div 1 8 best teams & div 2 next best 8 makes so much sense to me.
I can guarantee no matter who ends up in div 2 next year, there will not be a 38 point win by any team like has happened in div 1 this year.
The frustrating thing for us is that Laois beat us by a point!! And we drew with Galway!!! Explain that to me :D
Quote from: AZOffaly on March 19, 2008, 08:14:17 PM
The frustrating thing for us is that Laois beat us by a point!! And we drew with Galway!!! Explain that to me :D
Honestly cant explain that 1. It makes no sense to be honest.
But no matter what, i reckon Offaly & Laois do belong more in the new Div 2, than in the top division.
Offaly v Antrim, Wex, Laois, Down, Carlow, W'Meath makes more sense than facing Kilkenny, Waterford etc.
Quote from: stevecw on March 19, 2008, 08:22:42 PM
Quote from: AZOffaly on March 19, 2008, 08:14:17 PM
The frustrating thing for us is that Laois beat us by a point!! And we drew with Galway!!! Explain that to me :D
Honestly cant explain that 1. It makes no sense to be honest.
But no matter what, i reckon Offaly & Laois do belong more in the new Div 2, than in the top division.
Offaly v Antrim, Wex, Laois, Down, Carlow, W'Meath makes more sense than facing Kilkenny, Waterford etc.
I would agree with you, we can have no complaints, but as POTH mentioned, we actually have done fairly well in the League games, especially at home. We've drawn and beaten Waterford. Drawn with Cork, Drawn with Galway, I think we either drew or beat Clare and Wexford.
We've had good results, and actually qualified for a quarter finals a couple of years ago.
Quote from: youbetterbelieveit on March 19, 2008, 01:37:59 AM
With regard to the make up of next years national hurling league, I believe it should definitely go ahead, especially with some of the results that have occured during the current national league. Laois, Wexford, Antrim and Offaly have suffered huge defeats to the bigger teams, and I believe that it doesnt have any value to have these type of games.
So the make up for next year is looking like
Division 1
Kilkenny
Cork
Tipperary
Limerick
Waterford
Galway
Dublin
Clare
Division 2
Offaly
Antrim
Wexford
Laois
Down
Carlow
Westmeath
Kerry
Division 3
Derry
Kildare
Mayo
Wicklow
Meath
Donegal
South Down?
London
These Divisions look far better balanced than what we have at present. Hard to see anyone other than Kilkenny winning the league this year. Down are in a good position to qualify for Div 2 - a 7 point win over London in Newry guarantees second place. Carlow are probably favorites for the title. Donegal can win Div 3 and in Div 4 it looks like a South Down v Monaghan final.
I tend to agree Bacon, about the balanced Divisions. I mean Offaly will expect to get promoted, but will have to work for it, as Laois beat us this year, Antrim beat us in the Walsh Cup final, and Carlow beat us in the league a couple of years ago. Also Westmeath, Kerry and Down won't be pushovers.
The problem, as I see it, is that in two years time, some serious heavyweights will be coming down, and essentially promotion pushes for the likes of Offaly, Wexford, Antrim and Laois will be every 2 years, as someone like Clare, Dublin, Limerick or Tipp would fancy themselves to walk back up.
Then if Offaly or Wexford manage to stay up in two years time, you would see the another big name drop down.
I think you'll see 3 or 4 yo-yo counties, with 2 of them at least being far better than the rest of Division 2.
I'm not sure the rules. It'd be good to see one up one down and then a playoff between 2nd top and 2nd bottom though.
Not so sure about yo yoing as Dublin wouldn't always beat Offaly / Wexford plus I think Clare are on a downward spiral which will only get worse before it gets better. Limerick blow hot and cold against better opposition but always demolish weaker opposition so hard to know what they will do. Dublin and Clare would be my favourites for bottom two though.
Result in Div 2 - Down 2-16 0-13 London. Down have probably done enough to finish second. Carlow play Derry tomorrow. Here's the updated table.
Allianz NHL Div 2B
Pld W D L Diff Pts
Down 5 3 1 1 25 7
Carlow 4 3 1 0 22 7
Derry 4 3 0 1 -7 6
Meath 4 2 0 2 26 4
Armagh 4 1 0 3 -16 2
London 4 0 0 5 -50 0
tommy- i think in 2-3 years it will be a while before offaly and wexford beat dublin again- i realy mean that.
My main point is this farce that dublin may have to playoff against wexford. Cork had no bearing on the results between the two counties and dublin should be permitted to stay up on scoring difference as per the rules. Dublin are being royally screwed to the floor again- it seems to be ok to be relegated from div1 if you're a perceived minnow. Why can't the likes of Wexford accept they were beaten fair and square this year and take their punishment- it really is a farce.
What exactly is Wexford's problem???? Time for them to stop whingin and get on with preparing for Div 2.
Wexford fuming over relegation ruling
26 March 2008
Wexford have expressed their disgust at the decision to relegate them to Division 2 of the NHL rather than afford them a play-off against Dublin.
The Central Competitions Control Committee (CCCC) opted to relegate the Slaneysiders on the basis that they had an inferior scoring difference to Dublin after the counties finished on the same points in Division 1A. And Wexford's anger was added to when Waterford and Cork were ordered to play off on Sunday to determine the league quarter-final pairings.
Wexford chairman Ger Doyle was seething at the outcome, while manager John Meyler described it as a "kick in the teeth" for his team.
Meyler said: "It's not going to do any good for hurling in Wexford where we are trying to build and we get a kick in the teeth.
"I am disappointed. The mind boggles of how you can come up with Waterford and Cork in a play-off and Wexford relegated and Dublin stay in Division 1. You are making the rules up as you go along.
"They are going to make the rules. I don't think Wexford have any power or say at the top table."
Wexford chairman Doyle claimed that the rules have been interpreted wrongly by the CCCC.
"I am fairly annoyed with them (the CCCC) at the moment. Jimmy Dunne was of the opinion they would have a play-off, but whoever has advised the chairman of the Committee they don't need play-offs, I just can't figure it out. The rule is there."
Doyle traced the problem to the row in Cork which resulted in Kilkenny and Waterford being awarded walkovers.
"That's the crux of the problem. If Cork gave two walkovers they should be thrown out and they certainly should not be entitled to a play-off. I'm not personally against Cork. That's just a rule."
Laois hurling's
raison d'etre is to beat Offaly. Just that - nothing else. Not survival; not beating a Munster team; not brating any other neigbouring county.
They acheived their target for the league just passed. Their next target is the Leinster quarter final.
Quote from: AZOffaly on March 19, 2008, 08:14:17 PM
The frustrating thing for us is that Laois beat us by a point!! And we drew with Galway!!! Explain that to me :D
Quote from: Plain of the Herbs on March 26, 2008, 01:53:19 PM
Laois hurling's raison d'etre is to beat Offaly. Just that - nothing else. Not survival; not beating a Munster team; not brating any other neigbouring county.
They acheived their target for the league just passed. Their next target is the Leinster quarter final.
Quote from: AZOffaly on March 19, 2008, 08:14:17 PM
The frustrating thing for us is that Laois beat us by a point!! And we drew with Galway!!! Explain that to me :D
I know that POTH, what I'm asking is how can Offaly be so repectable against Galway, and even Clare, and then lose to Laois.?It's more a comment on Offaly than Laois' ability to raise themselves at the sight of the faithful.
Am i the only one thinks Div 2 cud be a great thing.
Its gona be Wexford, Offaly, Antrim, Laois, Carlow, Down, W'Meath & Kerry
4 of these teams are evenly matched. Carlow drew with laois last yr, beat Offaly 2 years ago. Down have been in Div 1 recently. W'mth beat the Dubs last year in championship. I reckon its more even than having GW 6-26-0-6 Laois!. What is the point of that. Wait till we see next years div 1 & 2 im sure there wont be a game with more than 15 points in it in either Div. Lets see, but i bet im right.
If Offaly bother their arses they will beat Carlow, Westmeath, Down and Kerry by more than 15 points. The problem is they will stroll through it, get caught on the hop by someone, and end up wasting away down there. It's going to be a dogfight to get out of the division, you are right about that.
Quote from: AZOffaly on March 27, 2008, 10:18:28 AM
If Offaly bother their arses they will beat Carlow, Westmeath, Down and Kerry by more than 15 points. The problem is they will stroll through it, get caught on the hop by someone, and end up wasting away down there. It's going to be a dogfight to get out of the division, you are right about that.
Next years Div2 is is good for the likes of Carlow, Westmeath, Down and Kerry as it's a step up but not that big of a step up, but is it good for Wexford and Offaly who are currently shadows of their former selves, probably not but you are where you are for a reason. I can still recall Down relegating Kilkenny to Div2 in the early nineties which kickstarted a rootbranch review of all things hurling in Kilkenny and look where they are today. Sometimes dillusions of grandeur can be misleading and it may be a blessing in disguse for some.
I don't think anyone in Offaly is deluding themselves with grandeur at the moment Johnnycool. We are where we deserve to be, because we couldn't get the results we needed. Losing to Laois was brutal, and Clare should have been winnable in Tullamore as well.
My comment about bothering their arses is definitely a dig at Offaly, not at the other teams, I didn't mean it to sound like that. But over the past couple of years Offaly have drawn with Cork, Beaten Waterford away, drawn with Galway and Clare, drew with Waterford at home and a few other results. In fact the Limerick defeat in Tullamore was the end of a nigh on 3 year unbeaten home run in the League.
Even given the fact that we are struggling to really compete consistently with the big boys, we are still closer than a lot of people might think, especially on league form. (We were in the 1/4 finals a couple of years ago.)
My comment stems from frustration, because I know Offaly won't beat those teams by 10 or 15 points.
I read on another website that one of JBM's first years in charge of Cork was spent in Division 2. Again possibly a kick in the backside for Cork as it was for Kilkenny as mentioned above.
It mightn't do Offaly and Wexford any harm.
It'll certainly give the likes of Down games at the level they need to progress.
A Division 2 with good games is no harm. However, from Offaly's perspective, it's frightening because the last time we played in Division 2 was the league season which 'prepared' us for the 31 point drubbing by Kilkenny. Quite simply we were blown away by the pace and strength of the cats.
Next year it will probably be a lot more even with more better teams, and some coming teams in it, so it should be more testing. Carlow beat us in Division 2 that year before we came back and hammered them in the Division 2 league final.
Realistically that was closer to the lower end of division 2 now and what will be most of division 3 so it will be somewhat different.
Wexford, Laois and Antrim should give you a rattle even if you are well drilled. Carlow beat you because , more than likely, you were ill prepared or just very complacent.
I'd also be in favour of say the top team in division 1 getting into knock out stages - then they can play at the "higher" level for a game at least.
Realistically I'd expect you to beat Laois or Antrim. However Wexford, on their day, could take you so you'll get at the very very least one good game.
I think we have to accept that the setup for next years leagues will do us more good than getting beaten by 20 pts in Kilkenny or Cork. All of the games could be tricky enough for favorites depending on where the game is played. The 4 teams moving into the new Div 2 from the old Div 2 can all be a handfull at home. Wexford, Offaly and Antrim can all have realistic ambitions of promotion. Is it 1 up 1 down?
Could be wrong but my understanding is that the team topping Division 2 get a play off with the lowest team in division 1 to decide relegation/promotion which makes gaining promotion extremely tough, too tough in my opinion. Two up 2 down would be ok with me though.
How much of Offaly's poor performance in the league is down to the fact Birr usually get to a leinster club final every year?
Well, it's never easy to play when you are our size, and you're missing probably 5 or 6 starters off the team, especially as they would be some of the better players. But our 'bad' league performances are not as bad as you might think. Last year we beat Waterford in Walsh Park, drew with Galway this year, and narrowly lost to Clare. Three years nearly unbeaten at home iwas not bad and we made the 1/4 finals a couple of years ago. Having said that, we have shipped the odd trimming, as well as silly losses like Laois this year.
one up, one down.