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[Dublin]

31st Jan
19:30  Dublin v Tyrone    (Dublin +1.5) - Dublin

1st Feb 2009
13:00  London v Leitrim     (London +14.5)  - London
14:30  Mayo v Derry     (Derry +1.5)  - Mayo
14:30  Westmeath v Galway     (Westmeath + 2.5)  -  Westmeath
14:30  Kerry v Donegal    (Donegal +3.5)  - Kerry
14:30  Wexford v Armagh     (Wexford + 1.5) - Armagh
14:30  Fermanagh v Monaghan     (fermanagh +0.5)   - Monaghan
14:30  Cork v Meath     (Meath +2.5)  - Cork * BONUS
14:30  Laois v Kildare     (Kildare +2.5)  - Laois
14:30  Roscommon v Offaly     (Offaly +1.5) - Roscommon * BONUS
14:30  Longford v Cavan     (Longford +1.5) - Cavan
14:30  Louth v Limerick     (Limerick +3.5)  - Louth
14:30  Tipperary v Down    (Tipperary +5.5) - Tipperary
14:30  Sligo v Kilkenny     (Kilkenny +20.5) - Sligo
14:30  Carlow v Clare     (Clare +0.5) - Carlow
14:30  Antrim v Wicklow     (Wicklow +1.5) - Antrim

Was in Tuam today.Very lively and enjoyable game of football. To be honest we were lucky to bring the game to extra time. Once it went to extra time Galway were by far the better team though and finished much the stronger of the 2 sides.
Mike Meehan had a stormer and gave a torrid time to a series of different Ros markers. Barry Cullinane also had a fantastic game. I reckon the number of clean catches he made at midfield was in double figures.He lorded it especially after half time. Also kicked a good point into the bargain. Of  the newcomers - O'Donnell didn't look up to it while Coady hardly got a touch of the ball.Johnny Ryan was also quiet. David Reilly at corner back did very well though (he was in for Deccie Meehan who didn't start).
Mullaghy had an excellent game and kicked 2 or 3 points from play from wing back.Nicky joyce had a mixed game while Bane also did very well. I'd say the game will stand to us for next Sunday and it may be a blessing that the game went to extra time

I'll probably head to Tuam on Sunday. Had intended to attend the Galway-GMIT game on Friday but couldn't make it in the end.
Ros look to be building a fairly strong side under Fergal O'Donnell. They would have a good few young lads to come back in also as when you look at the NUIG side there are a lot of Ros players there - in the forward line especially.

As regards our own side - I still don't think we are making any inroads into our issues at midfield. There are no new midfielders in the panel for the FBD as far as I can see. We struggled badly there against Kerry. Paul Conroy is too small and light for midfield at senior county level, Mark Lydon isn't county standard either while Niall Coleman is out for a good chunk of the league. That leaves us with just Bergin & Cullinane. They could be a decent pairing - Bergin will bring mobility to the partnership - but we are in big trouble if either get injured.
Another thing that was shown up against Kerry was the lack of quality forwards we possess - Meehan and Joyce were the only 2 to do anything that day and even then Padraig was quiet enough for the most part.
Having said that we were without Nicky Joyce and Sean Armstrong that day and both are quality players so hopefully we will be stronger this year in that department. Certainly we can't afford to have lads like Fiachra Breathnach as one of our starting forwards as he poses no scoring threat against quality sides.

Hi all. Myself and the other half have been considering for a while the possibility of working abroad for a few years and experiencing a different way of life in another country for a while.
I know there's a few on the board here who live in Oz.
I don't really know anything of the ins and outs of getting a working Visa for Australia so would appreciate any advice that people could give me...
Am I right in saying that the 12 month visas people usually get to travel around Oz only allow people to work in any one job for a maximum of 3 months at a time?
Is it possible to get a working visa that would allow me to work in Oz for longer than 12 months? I am a software developer with 5 years experience btw.
If visa requirements were satisfied - what would be a good part of Oz to experience working/living in?
Apologies if any of these questions sound a bit ridiculous but I really have no knowledge about australia at all.

Corofin and Cortoon are left in the Galway championship. Corofin should win the final. I wouldn't fancy either team to win Connacht. Corofin would have a chance but if Cortoon were to win the county final I wouldn't give them much hope in the Connacht series.

Lads, will be moving into a house shortly and need to buy a new TV for the sitting room. Probably either a 32" or 42" - haven't decided yet.
Am just wondering what type of TV would be regarded as the better buy - e.g. LCD vs Plasma vs CRT etc. and HD ready vs HD enabled etc?
I haven't a clue what these different types of TVs mean or what HD ready vs HD enabled means.
I would watch quite a lot of sport if that makes a difference?
Cheers

AbbeySider - just as a matter of interest re your comment on Joyce (i.e. him saying "if there's a better forward in the county than me I'd like to meet him" or words to that effect) - where did you get that quote from? Just interested as I don't remember seeing that in print anywhere this year before any of our games. Cheers

Ye could do with buying a central midfielder lads? I read that Arsenal have been linked with Yaya Toure of Barca. I saw him play against Inter last summer (albeit in a friendly) and thought he looked a very good player. I had never heard of him before that game but he did look impressive.Scored a cracking goal as well.
Not an Gooner myself but In fairness Arsenal are a joy to watch.Play lovely stuff.

Brilliant putt from Harrington.Should win it now

I'd echo the sentiments of the other Galway lads on the board - I'm extremely proud of the lads on that Galway team. I know we lost by 5 points in the end but they gave it absolutely everything in dreadful conditions. Kerry just had more firepower than us.Outside of Mikey Meehan we didn't have anybody capable of kicking enough scores from play. We need to find some new forwards and try and sort out our midfield for next year if possible. If Mikey had had any support at all yesterday we could have won the game.
Lydon,Conroy & Bane were poor.Breathnach tried hard but he doesn't have the quality for this level of football.Lydon isn't good enough for the panel even never mind the starting 15 imo.
I reckon we would probably have beaten any of the other 3 teams we could have drawn yesterday.
Kerry are a different animal though.You have to admire them - the football they play is a joy to watch. Some people don't like to see Kerry winning because they have won so much already but I would look at it differently and like to see them do well because of the football they play.
For Galway there's plenty to build on for next year

I'm very surprised Fitz isn't on the team. Suppose he'll be a good option off the bench though. I just can't believe Lydon is back on the team - sorry for being blunt but he is simply not good enough. Not an intercounty standard player by any stretch of the imagination.
Galway certainly have nothing to lose - they're being written off by everyone. That idiot waffler Jim Carney as good as suggested the team might as well stay at home this weekend in his so-called "preview" of the game in the Tuam Herald. What a joke of a paper that is by the way. The preview consisting of a single short article full of statistics. Not much of a preview. Joke sports coverage.

Will there be many Galway fans travelling up do ye reckon?Support has been poor this year so far but I know a good few lasds heading up for this one

AFA it's a good job I waited till now to post myself and not when I arrived home last night/this morning - was in that same Valkenburg myself last night

This is the worst case scenario for us. I can't see us beating Kerry. They are just too strong all round for us I reckon.
Re previous posts -> Bergin will hardly be fit enough to play - he didn't play any part for his club in championship action last weekend.Even if he has improved in the interim, he won't be near fit enough to come into a game of that intensity in Croke Park.
Re Mike Meehan not having a bad game in Croker - as far as I recall he has only played their twice with the seniors vs Donegal in 2003 and Cork in 2005. Though he did bag goals on both of those occasions I think including 2 against Cork. I don't reckon he will get much change out of Marc O'Se next weekend. O'Se cleaned him in the league in Pearse Stadium earlier in the year.
I think we would have had a decent chance against any of the other 3 sides we could have got but I'm very pessimistic now I'm afraid. Sure feckit we'll turn up anyway :-)

Finnegan was a super player. Did you actually see him in action at all bar 1998 Ros? He was Galway's best player in defeat to Mayo in '97 when he roasted Kevin Cahill while playing at number 14. He was a consistent scorer for Galway from both play and frees for years up until his retirement

We won an u-21 title 6 years ago and another 3 years ago.
By my calculations 12 of Sundays starting team started in one or other of those 2 u-21 finals (and Meehan played in both). The other 3 are Padraig Joyce, Paul Doherty(who I think was sub-goalie for the 2005 AI u-21 final) and Gareth Bradshaw.
3 of the 5 subs used (Comer,Fitzy & Armstrong) also started in one of the u-21 finals - the odd men out being Lydon & Conroy who of course won an AI minor last year.
That is some return from 2 underage sides albeit they were 2 quality teams.