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I'd rather Cork won it. The sooner these nouveau riche types like Longford and Drogheda fall away and keave soccer to the garrison towns, the better.

I thought Longford, Drogheda, Athlone, Monaghan and Stranorlar(Ballybofey) etc were all garrison towns...or is that meant to be the punchline?

In the first half the ref played less injury time than he should have, he had indicated 3 minutes, there was another minute long stoppage after that and he still blew the whistle early.

I think Mullins took just long enough with the puckouts that it wasn't blatant, but it wasn't too quick either. Ballyboden could have done the same in the first half, but didn't.

Well done to Mayo on landing a good manager. A lot of work needed all over, but, its not now,rather in the next 10-15 years if the youth movement is done right that you will see Mayo become a bit of a pain for the big boys.

Fair play to Mayo if they do make genuine strides.
It is a county that would have seemed hostile to hurling, as they are so desperate for football success.
A few more football only counties need to start moving in the same direction.

A couple of dreadful refereeing decisions cost them though. It's quite extraordinary the lengths some country officials will go to give Dublin teams nothing when playing down the country. I think Boden left it behind them. I didn't think Birr had scored enough at half time and if Boden had of kept their heads a little bette in the second half they would have won by 2/3 points-instead they panicked a little bit and showed their inexperience. However the referee should have penalised Mullins with a 65 for persistence slowing of the puck outs instaed of booking him and a clear 65 in the end to Boden was waved wide. Instead of Nicky Brennan handing out grants to the Greedy elite maybe he could do something about the standard of officialdom because thta was very poor yesterday.
Either way Portumna's to lose can't see anyone stopping them before yesterday's two finals and having watched them i still can't.

I doubt if many from Ballyboden would blame the ref for yesterday's defeat. Perhaps it was a 65, but on the other hand boden got a couple of soft frees from where I was watching, when their players went to ground very easily. Twice Keaney got frees for bulldozing into a crowd of players with no intention of putting the ball onto his stick. The Birr backs were enraged at these decisions and hence in one case the ref moved the free to straight in front of the goal.

Swings and roundabouts ultimately.

Well done to Birr, as Sid said yesterday no-one would have thought they'd be lifting the trophy this year after the Ballyhale game last year. Ballyboden deserve great credit for a rivetting encounter despite the conditions. They played with great determination and no little skill and the game was theirs for the taking.

About 10 minutes into the second half, when Boden had knocked 5 points off Birr's 9 point half time lead, they looked favourites to power on and win in it. However Birr dug in hard and managed to slow down their scoring rate. It was some relief when Birr got the two break out scores, when they had been reeled back to a one point lead.

Ballyboden were naive in the first half in not slowing down the game more. Birr didn't take full advantage of the wind despite the scoreboard, as they had only hurled well in patches. Also boden could crowded their backs better early on. It took Keaney too long to start sweeping behind the half back line.

Some good performances for Birr from Paul O'Meara in the first half, though he got a dunt in the head and didn't seem as lively in the second. Simon Whelahan rolled back the years with a hard working performance. Rory Hanniffy also covered huge yards, made mistakes but still keep hounding. Niall Claffey also looks at home at full back and Verney looks a good prospect for Offaly seniors.
Ultimately Sid's setting up of the goal was the difference between the sides. A 6 point half time lead would have wiped out within 10 minutes with the gale that was blowing.

I've bought it up on the other thread and was wondering if any of the legal eagles here could clarify something for me.

Regardless of the GAA and the GPA agreeing to a tiered payment system, is there any potential for legal action along these lines.

For example, Conor Mortimer could quite easily prove that he has put in as much training as Colm Cooper for the duration of last season (I don't know whether he did or not, it's just an example Dessie)

Could he claim in court that he should also receive the same amount as players who played in the All Ireland final?

He could take up the matter with the Sports Council who administer the grants. He would have as much a case as any boxer, runner or rower who feels they aren't getting a fair crack of the whip with the allocation of grants. This wouldn't have anything to do with the GAA though.

International soccer players do get money, albeit token by comparison to their club earnings, but certainly a lot more than the GAA grants/payments. It is common for them to get bonuses for reaching the latter stages of major tournaments. England were on £300,000 a man if they won the '06 World Cup. Even beyond that a player could cite lost endorsement earnings because he plays for a soccer association that doesn't qualify for major tournaments. There is plenty of basis to pursue a case.
Should Alex Bruce (lets pretend he's a great player), a British passport holder, born and reared in England, not be entitled to re-declare himself for England if he was worth his place and for a chance of bagging £300,000 in 4 year time? Are FIFA's restrictive laws not equally open to challenge?

The example may be far fetched, but so would a GAA "transfer to random county, without satisfying any criteria" case pursued on a lost earnings basis.

I don't see how the passport rule in soccer is more solid than the residence, birth, parent rules for playing/transferring to GAA counties. Players can transfer counties, once they fulfill certain criteria. The rules as they stand have plenty of scope to be flaunted, without recourse to the courts to get them ripped up, as Thomas Walsh recently proved.

I don't think we need to worry about players going to court to force transfers, that they aren't entitled to under current rules.
A sporting organisation will be allowed its eligibility rules as it sees fit. The GAA's rules on county transfers are fairly clear.

If someone successfully sued to allow them play county hurling/football for a county that aren't eligible to play for, by the same token:
- A man could take the GAA to court for sexual discrimination for not allowing him play in the ladies football championship.
- A 25 year old could claim age discrimination for not being allowed play for his club or county's minor team.

No more than a Brazilian international soccer player could take FIFA to court and be allowed play for Ireland, despite having no Irish passport, ancestors or whatever else might qualify him.
Or an Irish player go to court half way through a World Cup and want to transfer to Brazil or Italy, when Ireland get knocked out.
He could cite loss of earnings and everything else. Do people really think that courts would grant him the transfer?

Before anyone mentions it, the Bosman ruling wouldn't apply in a GAA scenario.

I was thinking of doing the Andorra hoax as well, but it just wouldn't be fair! 

Imagine if the Russians blew it vs Andorra! 

England will score again.....guaranteed. They are so jammy!

I can't help thinking that too! 
Jaysus Darren Bent was close there.

Any update on how Finnerty might be approaching things.
He should organise a few "clear the air" rows with the county board to make his mark!

Fitzhenry has been the best for 10 or 12 years.
Davy Fitz was right up there also, but slightly more prone to mistakes than Fitzhenry and the Wexford man would give more accurate puck outs.

At the moment there is a changing of the guard with the great keepers of the last decade.
McGarry, Cummins, Davy Fitz and possibly Fitzhenry shuffling on.

However with promising keepers like Brian Murray, Philip Brennan etc coming through, we will have plenty of new talent to keep an eye on.

Urban legend I'm afraid BnMM. The Gárdaí, like other huge fuel consumers, use fuel cards. They pay Statoil or whoever a set rate regardless of the price on the pump. You will see squad cars at that station but they don't pay that rate.

It was in Sindo, so it must be true! 

Garda fumes at petrol contract

NIAMH HORAN

ONE of the most expensive petrol stations in Ireland is being used by a steady stream of Garda and ambulance drivers contracted by the State to use its pumps.

As part of what is believed to be a deal between the Government and Statoil, gardai and ambulance drivers working within the city centre are being told to use the pricey Statoil station on Usher's Quay, opposite the Four Courts.

As a result, gardai and ambulance drivers are travelling large distances to fill up at the city-centre pumps.

The station - which is currently charging €1.35 per litre of petrol compared with the average of 99¢-€1.02 per litre - is being used to fill the tanks of patrol cars from a number of the city centre's main garda stations.

One garda estimated that it is costing the taxpayer up to €300 a week to fill his patrol car.

While filling his State vehicle at the gas pumps, the garda told the Sunday Independent that he thought the decision to use one of the most expensive petrol stations in the country was "ridiculous".

"I don't know of any other Statoil in the city centre; I would always use this one," he told us. "This car would use up about 35 litres a day because it's going 24 hours.

"It's not my call, though - it's a State car. They want me to come here because it's the main Statoil petrol station in the city centre.

"The next Statoil station is in Clondalkin, I think, so this is where all the guards have to come - be they from Kilmainham, Pearse Street, Kevin Street or Harcourt Terrace - to get their petrol. It's absolutely ridiculous - but that's the State for you . . . they're backward."

He continued: "I'd be happy to use somewhere else if I could. I use the Shell station for my own car and it's only around 99¢ a litre, so I'm happy with that. But this is a State car, so it doesn't really bother me."

An ambulance driver with the Health Service Executive who was also filling his vehicle at the pumps at €1.35 had the same attitude. "It's not my problem," he said. "I don't do the contracts. I just find the nearest Statoil petrol station and fill it."

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the HSE said: "It's a value-for-money thing more than anything else." They then explained their reasoning. "Where on-site fuel is not available for Ambulance Emergency Responsive Vehicles, prior arrangements have been put in place at a local level with Statoil.

"This arrangement was made with Statoil in line with the required criteria to meet the specific needs of the Ambulance Emergency Responsive Vehicles and to run an efficient ambulance service."

She cited the need for 24-hour accessibility to a fuelling service all year round, the proximity of the fuelling stations to the areas in which ambulances operate and the need for a facility that provides a traceable service among the list of reasons why specific petrol stations were chosen.

When contacted, management at the Statoil station had no comment to make.

The Gardai said: "We have contracts with a number of fuel suppliers to supply fuel to the gardai.

"These contracts are awarded following a competitive tendering process which is undertaken by the Government Supplies Agency on behalf of the Garda Siochana," said the Gardai.

I was coming out of Dublin yesterday and needed Diesel so i pulled into a Statoil on the quays. Hopped out, opened the tank and reached for the pump. Then copped the price, 179.9 for both Petrol and Diesel. Are they taking the piss??? I'd sooner have pushed the f*ckin car to Galway rather then pay that. Hopped back into the car and hit off out the motorway. Filled up out the road for 117. What amazed me though was that there were people all around me filling up there cars @179.9. Muppets!

Supposedly the reason for the ridiculous price is that this filling station has the garda contract and so it doesn't really matter what they charge, as they will have guaranteed revenue.