Messages

paddypastit - that's true about Dublin and in that case the Dublin County Board are right to stick to their rules and therefore decrease the chances in the future of having players hopping from one club to an other. Sligo County Board have traditionally not taken a stand on this and therefore can't enforce the letter of the law now. without taking offence, I would say you are well adept in boundary/ parish matters seeing that you lived in a marginalised  area where loyalities could of went to either club, and where the area in question was contentious as who had rights to it. If local knowledge is right the vast majority of players in that area now play with the blue and white....

Mano- no worries regarding sunday---- went up to have a look at training last night, there taking
nothing for granted believe me. They couldn't get a challenge game last weekend so there lacking a bit of sharpness.  Don't be worrying if we get knocked out we will see you at the 7's.... as usual 

It's a shame you can't say anything controvsial anymore. not much fun posting here anymore.

Sprinter - there are actually not that many issues where I come from that I am aware of, or maybe I'm too long out of the area and things have changed. I was reared 300 yds from a parish boundary and in football terms was 'the last house in the parish'   I was approached once to move when I was 16 but it was half hearted. Later there was a split in our club with a result that anyone in my and the neighbouring half parish since then can play for either of two clubs. In general folk follow family tradition and there isn't in my experience too much fuss. In our club specifically we've evened out with 'border issues' - there have been lads that should have played for us that ended up playing with Geevagh, Harps or Ballymote and also over time the other way around   

Frankly, while I agree that wanton changing and moving around is not good, I'd be less hung up on the parish rule than some. For example there is a lad that lived further away from my neighbouring parish than I ever did but his father played with them, socialised and worked there and the lad went to school there. Naturally with all those personal and family ties he wanted to play football there
rather than for my club where he quite literally knew nobody. Initially he was blocked and of course he didn't play at all.

I would view underage and adult differently. In underage the parish rule should apply generally but if there is a bona fide case such as parentage, school location etc, then the rules should err on the side of the player.

In adult football, and by that I mean over 21, then I'd allow freedom of movement but only once in a lifetime outside the current, obvious, residency related changes that are allowed, and probably with an extended application period - three months or something. A player that wants
to be somewhere else is of no use anyway. Sure there will be the odd glory hunter that will go for that reason but the nature of Gaelic games is such that the vast vast majority are in it for the opportunity and desire to represent and if the club that they are 'born into' runs their affairs right, then very few will have any desire to change.

       

If you can keep the ball when all about you are losing theirs.
And remember its all within you.
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you.
But make allowance for their doubting too.
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the shout from the Mournes which says: "Hang on";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If you can play with all the skill and honour born in you
Remembering, and knowing you can never give to much
If you can bend your back or make that impossible pass
And keep your head when placed straight through.
If you can always drive forward, sharp and fast
And remember the opposition is your brother too.

If you can fill the unforgiving game
With seventy minutes' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it

And - which is more – we will give you the honour
Of being called a Man from An Dun my son!

justme

You Tony D'Amato or wa' - no?!

Time was - the 70s certainly - when a key part of the 'colour' of an AI was all those cheesey home made banners with slogans like that that backed up named players - only place you'll see them now is on 'reeling in the years'

Think this is the best line that I have seen on the board in a long time and one that certainly echos true with me

I love Gaelic Games, I'm not sure I love the 'GAA' any more.

This is no secret - folk from Croke Park were talking about it in the media last week or the week before

How long is Sean McGreevy at it?

Not sure, but he has had a fair few seasons off the panel.

McGreevy, Rainbow and Eamonn O'Hara were generally bracketed together as the longest serving still active this year.  O'Hara's first championship was '94 and think he played league / FBD / B championship from Autumn '93 but couldn't pin when exactly - might have to hit the programmes!

[The high profile one is your man up in Dublin trying to transfer out off a traditionally strong hurling club]

We were just up against in the u-16 final think the management team knew that they were just hoping for a better performance. Agree with all the comments regarding players playing for their own club and respecting boundaries. But it's hard when the player wants to play for a particular club. We have even profited from a similar position a while back. The high profile one is your man up in Dublin trying to transfer out off a traditionally strong hurling club. It's a hard one to call in my observation it difficult for the county board to enforce the rule as they have traditionally made so many inconcidencies regarding it.

Anyone see Mc Hale's piece in the weekender he has a go at Mc Eneaney stating he doesn't rate him as a referee. Ok he didn't have his best game on Sunday put over the years he played a large part in some of the great games of the decade. Sometimes you have to question these articles is Mc Hale just writing this stuff to get a reaction or does he really believe it. In my opinion he's lucky he's still around after what he pulled on us in last years championship never forget it. Tourlestrane lads praying we over come a strong challenge  from Coolera on Sunday and Ballymote beat John's and it would set things right up for the semi and we can get Mc Hale back for last year and that shameful decision.
Motivation would be unreal; you would love to be playing just to get one more crack at it. 

[Edited by Mod3]

On other matters sad to see Charlestown out of the Mayo championship potential to generate more revenue for the club if they stayed in a while longer.


[Edited by Mod3 - I'm not aware of the incidents here, but some of those comments were over the top.]

Sprinter - the situation in Dublin is somewhat different in that there is no 'boundary' / parish rule.

Pretty out of touch with matters of the club but good sources tell me that internal relations in SG are at an all time low. There is deep concern that the success won in the league will be instantly lost in the relegation playoffs

in total about 16 million
no i dont have special info , ;ike most here im a mayo man in exile . not too farawy but exile all the same.
It pisses me off when i see the moaning about Structures ect when all they actually know/Care about the GAA in the county is the Senior team ans even then in an airy fairy way hoping for knight in shining armor to come in one swoop and Win the AIF without putting in the hard yards.
Life don't work like that

Folks I don't know anything about building but I was in McHale Park for the Connacht final having not been there since the last time Sligo played a Connacht final there in 2002. Granmted the new stand is wider and deeper and there's a bit of work done on other walls as well as that yoke on McHale Rd that all the fusss was (is?) about but for all yet have after... €16m - and folk give out about banks and NAMA. That is just unreal and totally and utterly unjustifiable for any provincial ground at any time. I'm at a loss for words - I'm sure there is some learned quote out there somewhere about false pride... oif I was that learned.

[Special mention to the Kildare supporters who were very gracious in defeat didn't hear any griping about the decisions that went against them]

Superb match yesterday neither team deserved to lose.

Special mention to the Kildare supporters who were very gracious in defeat didn't hear any griping about the decisions that went against them.

As much a credit to the county as the players whose commitment and work rate was incredible.

You definitely weren't the section that I was in!!

If I was a Kildare fan I would be asking where was the goalie - should have come out and hammered the ball and Benny at the same time. For me it was poor keeping as well as poor umpiring. But it didn't happen in the 69th minute but the 12th minute of the game!

Very good and true point

Yes - and has been for some time, and protected from criticism by his own accessability to the media I would suggest.

From experience of him from the sideline, he is a very 'assured' individual and I believe honestly that he has grown to believe in his own interpretation of how the game should be played rather than following any directives.

Forget about the high profile issues yesterday that were almost all down to bad unmpiring, although I accept and agree that he could have overruled those if he wished, what I though was worse is the point made by Passedit (no relation!!) that "Down had to work twice as hard as Kildare to get a free".

That is bad refereeing as against making a mistake. Mistakes will happen, and generally - not always as we saw in the Leinster final but generally - will not of themselves change the outcome of the game, and I don't think that the Down goal yesterday did. Bad refereeing tho' will screw up a game and if Down lost yesterday they would have a lot to be aggrieved about how McEnaney allowed the game to develop.

Lastly – I almost kicked the telly when rob Kelly was about to take that last free (took a good 5 yards more than where the free took place from !) Kevin mcstay said ' we don't know if the players are allowed to touch the ball or if it can be scored DIRECTLY' – that's f**king soccer you gabsihte.
Get this fcukwit off the telly !

Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh said exactly the  same thing ....
Bernard Flynn is very annoying trying to shout over Mícheál 

http://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/championship/mediaplayer.html?features,2810187,2810187,flash,257

I didn't for a second interpret what MOM / BF said as being about the concept of a 'direct' vs. 'indirect' free kick such as they have in soccer. The point I understood them to be making was that PMcE said that the free was THE last kick. i.e. that if it didn't enter the goal directly the game was over - it couldn't be playd into the goal area for someone to double on it as that woould take too long but he wouldn't blow the whistle until the kick 'finished' whether by coming in contact with another player or going out of play in some form.  The question that struck me then was 'did/should play then finish when the ball struck King's fingertips, when it hit the crossbar or when the Down boys hoofed it clear' I don't think he whistled until the ball was in the Cusack Stand... whatever that means in the end?

Unless he has moved in the last few years Fintan O'Toole lives around the Ballymun rd/Mobhi rd area.

You may will be correct there spuds (he's from Crumlin originally), I was getting more at the D4 label that has been bestowed on him.

He lives on 'The Rise' off the Ballymun Road.  I don't know where the D4 stuff is coming from - he couldn't be more D11 in spirit.

Having made the initial reference to the 'Ballsbridge attic' I may have introduced D4 specifically into the equation. I'm happy to stand corrected on the detail. 

My point in contributing to the thread was less the detail of the article. It is more my having a fundamental issue with FoT in general in the sense that he proclaims from a height and with a degree of certainty on matters of which he has limited knowledge and no experience. It is something in general that gets on my wick.  Granted he is far from alone on that point, it being a space occupied by many in the media and most in politics - and therein lies the root of much of what has gone wrong in the country.

One could argue, legimately, that the assessment of the broadcaster is less how he appeals to die hards and more the masses and that the article was about braodcasting, and not sport, and thus the man with the pen, as a member of the mass public not particularly ointerested in the sport that he was writing about a topic on which he was as informed as the next guy.  OK then, but write it in plain English that the ordinary man or woman can understand without an honours degree in English.

As for MOM - listened to the match on headphones yesterday as i watched. Still great. The co-commentator thing is an issue but not just for / with him, and not just Bernard Flynn, who isn't the worst of them.  That generaly is an issue in sports commentating that very few broadcasters get right - and RTE isn't the worst. I'm going to develop that point again somewhere when I get the time

who got man of the match?

Danny Hughes in the irish news not sure about rte.

Martin Clarke

Doyle
Brogan
Gooch
Coulter
Clarke 
Hughes


It would be harsh on any of the above 6 if they are not in the All Star forward line.  Kevin McKernan could be 1 big game away from winning 1 at CHB.

Strange thing to say considering they are in the AI final but it's hard to say which Cork players will win All Stars.  No one has really stood out consistently in the chamionship for them to date.

Five of those six play in the FF line. Granted Clarke could be given a HF position as he plays a roving role but the others are out and out FFs. For me Brogan and Doyle will get in. Gooch's exploits will by October when the decisions are made seem distant. Coulter's claims wil rest completely on his All Ireland final performance

Very different semi final to the first one but no less edge or drama, all be it stuffed into the end.

Thought at the outset that Down's greater footballing ability would be telling and it was, just about.

Thought that they were the better team after the first 12 / 15 minutes but Kildare still kept trying to force the pace by sheer determination and will - both managers deserve a lot of credit for having their teams playing to their strengths - 3 of the fours teams in the semi finals can say that... oddly the favourites for the All Ireland are the only ones that can't!

Overall McEnaney had a poor game. His defenders here can dress it up any way they want but he was poor. I'm nuetral but for the first twenty minutes Kildare got every decision and more - frees for nothing - whereas a Down player needed to be half killed, then the goal goes in and then the decisions 'evened out'. Thought he gave some odd decisions both ways in the run of play in the second half... and then there were the much talked about controversial calls although I wouldn't actually wouldn't fault him directly for all those

-    The Down goal - square ball obviously, not even a discussion. As someone here said, can't know what Pat McEnaney asked his umpire but if he did go in to enquire if it was a square ball,   
      you'd think that he might have asked the guy on the side of the square that Coulter was standing? While I think he was poor on the day, a referee that was 40 / 50 yards out may
      genuinely not be able to judge in the square or not. For the two boys on the square - for whom it is one of two basic things that they have to do - it was inexcusable.  Not really the
      refs call on that.
-    On the Kildare goal - way more steps that allowed but the player was fouled - just - so it ought alternately have been a penalty. He allowed the play continue and Kildare got the goal.
     On the basis that one has to give the advantage to the attacking team, right call.
-    Kildare 'points' that were not given? I was in the Davin end on the corner of the Cusack so wouldn't have had any proper view on the one in the first half - would have to accept the call
     of whoever was down that end - umpires.  On the one in the second half - after the shot off the post - I was directly facing the flight of that ball and it looked wide to me in real time.
     Either way - umpires call again
-    At the end, Down player touched the ball on the ground - only issue is was it in the small square.  To my naked eye at the time yes. The referee to be fair had to be unsighted but his
     umpires were not and don't see why he couldn't have consulted? Think he could have whistled, consulted and then decided rather than deciding he wasn't going to decide (if you know
     what I mean) Either way it was a 'free' kick to Kildare, only question was could Down have 1 or 15 men on the line.
-    On injury time played, there was a Kildare player down for 40 odd seconds of injury time so the game had to go beyond the allotted 'at least' time.  There was also an extended 
     discussion with the Kildare forwards befor Kelly's piledriver so all in can't criticise the ref on that. The only interesting call on that was, did the ref tell the Kildare forwards that the free was
     the last kick of the game? If so, then would he have blown the whistle as soon as Kalum King touched the ball as that was effectively the ball being played again? - OK guess that would
     be pushing it.

On the football, Down were not as good as against Kerry but then Kildare were better than Kerry and a different proposition all over the field.  For most of the game, Kildare players were first out to the ball at either end and, initially in the MF too.  Thought though that once Down got on top in the middle third after 12 / 15 minutes or so that Kildare were in trouble in terms of an ability to control the ball - something that Down were notably better at.

Down have a clear defensive system that involves them all working in concert.  I thought mid way through the first half that Kildare had sussed that but then the quality of ball, or more precisely the amount of unpressurised ball that Kildare were getting into the inside line decreased, and decreased further as the game went on, so it evened out.

I though Hughes had a great game. His willingness to burrow for dirty ball around the middle when it was really tight and the way that he used his pace to take the ball out of crowded areas and then make space for others was telling.  Clarke is a real stlyist and had another very good game but not as centrally influential as in the Kerry game.  As for Coulter, he did some magnificent things - the late first half point being the most exquisite - but for me, while brilliant at certain things on the ball, it is just at certain things and his success relies on service and being in the right place.  The latter is in his control, but can be impeded / influenced by a quality opponent.  The former is completely out of his control - the next day could be interesting.

Kildare's finishing, as it has been before, was just that bit off and in truth if they were as far ahead as they should have been before the goal went in, then it would have been a different game. It was that, rather than the goal itself, that was the killer for Kildare at the end of the first quarter.  At that stage of the game, they were getting all the ball in the MF even from the Down kickouts, were winning the one on one in both attack and defence, were getting all the 50/50 refereeing calls plus and seemed to have the measure of the Down defence and its system but they didn't drive it home.  If having conceded the iilegal goal they were still 3 or 4 points up, as they should have been, the flow of the game would have been different. They hadn't and in contrast, because I would argue of their superior footballing ability, Down when they got their chance(s) drove home the advantage, got ahead, stayed ahead and were the deserving winners.

Cork will be a very different type of opponent but nothing that Down will be frightened of. Many would say that Down will have to be better than they were yesterday. That is possibly true but yesterday they faced a really well drilled team and they won't meet that co-ordinated discipline again this year, and if they do it is because Cork have upped their game to a level not seen before.

Presume it will be Down in the yellow and black with Cork in all white for the final? Seems fairer that both change rather than neither?