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Seen 2 of the games at the weekend.
St Joseph's-Barrowhouse have some team on paper. most of them are either Laois under 21's or Laois minors. The 10 point win did flatter them a little. 20 minutes to go and the game was level. Brian daly and adam campion were my standouts.
Courtwood-Emo-The Rock fell apart with the concession of a very sloppy goal. heads went down and they never recovered.
At least they showed some promise. Crowley, luttrell and murphy all tried hard.

The same cant be said of    Ballylinan/Glenmore, How they are not in the B side is beyond me. If it wasent for some generous refereeing I doubt they would have scored in the game. It really does look bleak for the future of the arles clubs in particular. Sarsfields were good but I think if St Joseph's-Barrowhouse were playing Ballylinan/Glenmore we would have been talking about a record beating.
Anybody at the graigue v port game?

Anybody at either of the under 21 football games at the weekend? the competition might fill my football void now that the senior is over    Didn't even realize it had started until I seen the results. Killeshin Crettyard v  St Joseph's-Barrowhouse would have been a right good game id say.
I presume  St Joseph's-Barrowhouse would be strong favorites for this given their recent success?

Id say there is plenty of sick heads in stradbally today. Congratulations to them in what was a gutsy performance and best of luck in representing the county in leinster. For Portlaoise maybe this will be the kick they needed.
The championship player of the year for me was colm begley. its no coincidence they won it with him in his first year back. Credible mention to eoin buggy also.
The best 2 games I seen all year were Portlaoise v st josephs and Ballyfin vs Emo. 

[Clonaslee St Manmans vs Stradbally:]

Looking forward to the championship start. Here's my predictions for the laugh:

Clonaslee St Manmans vs Stradbally: Stradbally with begley back should have enough. Stradbally by 2
Graiguecullen vs Ballylinan: A shock in the first round is nothing new. I'd side with ballylinan by the minimum.
The Heath    vs Portlaoise: Lots are talking up the heath after the league and they could have a good championship.... but Portlaoise win big games and know how to get goals. Portlaoise by 3.
St Joseph's vs   Ballyfin: Ballyfin to regret pulling out of the league. St. Joesph's to banish their league final no show. Joe's by 6
Emo   vs Crettyard: Emo should be too good for crettyard minus o Carroll. emo by 1
Ballyroan Abbey vs Mountmellick: Cant separate these 2. Draw
Arles Killeen vs    Portarlington:  Killeen by 3
Killeshin vs Arles Kilcruise: 2 teams I have seen little of this year, i'll side with experience. Kilcruise by 3

If the article on the players wanting Sugrue is correct, then why wait. Wouldn't it be great to have him in place so he can judge players on the senior championship.
I'd like the players to have more of a role in appointing the next manager. If they select him then they cant have any complaints down the line.
It sort of forces them in games to fight for the manager if nothing else. With the last few managers i didn't see any particular bond between them and the panel.
Jim mcguinness had that with donegal from the previous under 21 winning teams.

A late entry 

Senior Portlaoise
Intermediate Timahoe
Junior Rosenallis
Junior B Camross
Junior C Castletown
Minor Portarlington
U21 Killeshin/Crettyard

I know for a fact that the players got fed after the Meath game. Whether they choose to eat it is up to themselves. The players are looked after with food after each match and training, so we can dispel that rumor.
What annoyed me about the league campaign is that we have seen no progression from the first game to the last. I like most, was skeptical when Lillis got the job but was prepared to give him a chance. As the league wore on my patience also wore thin.
The players by the end of the league should be at least fitter and more knowledgeable about the teams game plan. From what I've seen the players are still unfit and the manager has no plan or structure.
The Meath game illustrated this. We played the same naive gameplan of 15 on 15 and when meath got a run on us the answer was to throw Robbie Kehoe in as a sweeper. He looked lost out there.
In my opinion the county board needs a right good shakeup. The current board seem to have a monopoly over the positions. As soon as a term is finished that person is given another role. We need new blood, the whole thing is gone stale and this has reflected in the supporter numbers.
I would love to see a video of the interview Lillis gave for the job.

I'm not going to waste my breath on your nonsense talk Indiana.
Some good points Ballyroanabu. I don't think that Dublin team will win an all Ireland. Our lads for the majority, played as bad as I have seen and we flattered them. Our 3 scoring weapons would be O Carroll, Moore and Lowry. Moore only played 20 minutes after receiving a ridiculously harsh black card, O Carroll looked like he played the game on one leg and Lowry will hardly be that poor again. I thought the best of our lads were Knowles, O Sullivan and Keogh.
Id agree about Derek Conroy. His substitutions were complete head scratchers.

Keogh is overage. Any of you lads have a clue at all? I suppose Colm Parkinson should tog out with the minors too!!!

Nonsense post.
yes Keogh is overage. The reason their is very few Sarsfields players in the squad monument road is because last years team is now nearly all overage.

Practice games are alright but id imagine it would be hard to drive interest from players with no set games in the pipeline. Its a pity because they have a nice young team and playing against junior A teams will hardly aid their development.
The leagues are up on the website now. Clonaslee and Ballyfin are in 2A so relegation would be down to division 2B rather than 4 id imagine.

Heard the same thing about Ballyfin. one of the most illogical things iv ever heard. If they pull out they will be relegated for the following year. seems like a rash decision. Your in the league your in for a reason.

Nice to see the panel getting stronger. A strong bench is something we haven't had in a while. OTF meredith is a very good footballer but he would be too slow for corner back.
Looking forward to next weekends game. Begley will probably come straight back in, he was very good in the sigerson final.

Missed the game Sunday due to a family event. no consideration 
What was the crowd like on sunday?
5 debutantes and another 2 off the bench was a big gamble from Lillis. 
A 1-10 scoreline would have meant points on the board in 2 of the 3 other division 2 games.
The problem with us is, we are conceding far too much and leaving an unattainable score target to beat.
I wasn't a fan of Mcnultys defensive shape but from the years since his tenure i can see why he did it.

Very entertaining game of football yesterday. when you factor in the condition of the pitch after the recent weather it makes it all the more impressive. Cahillane will feel fairly raw today but his good form was a major factor in how they made yesterdays final.   

This decision really does get my goat.
O Moore park after January of next year will actually have a larger capacity than Nowlan park. Are the dubs allergic to standing at games..... oh wait.
If the Gaa are using the lost revenue for the decision then lets not kid ourselves for any longer, the Gaa is a so called 'Amateur organisation' and decisions should not be made solely on financial gains.
If they wanted to go that route lets call it a professional sport and play the games in croker and pay the players.