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Pennine League Final in Manchester on Sunday at 1.00pm between St. Peters and John Mitchel's.

Leeds Irish Festival at the South Leeds Stadium (aka John Charles Stadium) in Beeston from noon today, Saturday and tomorrow Sunday. Saturday sees an under 14's competition. Sunday includes an under 10's display, the Yorkshire under 12's championship final and the Yorkshire minor final. There is also music, dancing and all sorts of activities to be enjoyed. Free entry, so no excuse.

Very sad to hear about such a tragedy. As has been said before, it puts all our squabbles into perspective. May she rest in peace and may the family and friends take comfort from all the thoughts and prayers from everyone throughout the GAA world.

You're having a laugh son! Benedicts?? Sure they can't even beat Young Irelands or Huddersfield. Peter's have been going well all season and will walk into the final!

You're the one having a laugh - St. Benedicts beat Bros. Pearse twice last week, once in the Pennine League 1/4 final and again in the Yorkshire League. Also beat Young Irelands in the Pennine League. As for Peter's walking into the final? Well, there were some suggestions that they would win by 10 -14 points from so-called experts on the Hogan Stand. Result: St. Benedicts 0 - 10 St. Peter's 1- 9, a victory for Peter's, but certainly no walk. (and Benedicts had a perfectly good goal disallowed in the first half).

I think it's Sunday tomorrow!! As for Peter's getting past the semi-final easily - wait for the result, although your opinion is noted.

Good luck with your draw. We at St. Benedicts Harps in Leeds know what you are up against when selling tickets. We are doing the same on August 4. On offer are a Ford Fiesta, a holiday to Portugal, a plasma TV, a laptop plus various other (smaller) prizes. Tickets are £20/30 euros each. This includes entry into the event where there will be a buffet, Irish music, band and disco. And all for £20. For tickets please email me at wfmullan@hotmail.com.

http://stbenedictsharps.intheteam.com

TIA

Sunday sees a semi-final in Leeds (Beeston) at 1.00pm between St. Benedicts Harps and St. Peter's from Manchester. This should be a cracking game as both sides will be flat out to get a chance against either Oisins (Manchester) and John Mitchel's (Liverpool) who play iin the other semi.

Will New York still have that monster from last year! Holy God, I wouldn't be fit to mark him and I'm 6'2".

Interesting point you make about New York. When I was in Tyrone a few years ago, Yorkshire played NY in Div. 5 final. It happened to be July 4 and New York were welcomed onto the field with a reference over the loudspeakers to the significant date and that they were going for three-in-a-row in Div. 5. Yorkshire were ahead 2 points to 1 at half-time. The second half saw a brutal performance by the New Yorkers. Yorkshire sustained three serious injuries, one resulting in a visit to the local hospital. New York were a disgrace.
What criteria are taken into consideration when grading teams for the Feile? It seems to me to be a difficult task as the committee in charge have no idea how strong overseas teams are likely to be. By the way, congratulations to the organisers this year in Leitrim for the excellent coverage on the web, results posted very quickly and loads of photographs too!

I see some of the so-called experts are calling for the scrapping of the Provincial championships. Interesting? I've been suggesting that for ages. The way I see the game moving forward to everyone's benefit would be as follows:

The eight quarter-finalists to be seeded (winners 1, runners-up 2, losing semi-finalists 3 and 4 etc). These provide the first county in each of eight gropus A - H). An open draw would then follow to fill each of the other three places in the groups. This will enable ALL counties to have a minimum of three Championship games and the winners of each group progress into the All-Ireland quarter-finals. The Provincial's could be played another time if the counties really wanted to keep them in place.

Thoughts?

Tony, we would still need a pile of money as we'd have to remove a few rows of seats right round the ground to make the playing surface the correct size!!

St. Benedicts are embarking on a major fundraising drive to further facilitate the club's development. We are in negotiation with Leeds City Council for a pitch with changing rooms, and proposals for a clubhouse, which requires a 25-year lease. We are also developing a Hurling team and a Ladies' team. These require a large input of time and investment on behalf of the club. They are necessary because we have already developed in a major way with last year's under 16's reaching the All-Britain final and the excellent progression shown by our open-age teams. Last year's under 21's won the Yorkshire Championship for the Chris Noonan cup. Our younger age groups are also showing consistent improvement and represent Yorkshire at under 14's, 16's and minor levels. Our club has consistently supplied many of the squad for the Under 14 Feile Peil na nOg held every year in various Counties in Ireland.

St. Benedicts Harps (Leeds) have already embarked on internal fundraising drives with the introduction of a Member's lotto and our "Annual Event" on August 4 at the Tara Suite in the Leeds Irish Centre. Tickets are £20 each and the event will see a buffet, band (Nicky James Trio), a Disco (Joe Moore) and Leeds Comhaltas and a great night's craic. The ticket price also includes entry into our draw where the 1st prize is a brand new Ford Fiesta (purchased from Ringways Leeds), 2nd prize is a week's holiday to Portugal with flights and transfers and self-catering accommodation, 3rd is a Plasma TV and 4th prize will be a laptop. Other prizes will be on offer on the night. As this is designed to be a night full of the craic, casual attire is preferred. We think you will agree this represents great value for money and we ask for your support for August 4. Tickets can be ordered via email: wfmullan@hotmail.com or by calling 07770 608694. We are aware that this date may not suit everyone; however, ticket purchase guarantees entry into the draw.

lads, Tyrone v Donegal, penalty is given for throwing the ball by Paul Durcan. Couldn't here any of the half time analysis, but I could have sworn a penalty could only be given for a personal foul not a technical foul. Have I got that all wrong?

Any foul by the defending side in the small square results in a penalty. Had he thrown the ball outside the small square, it would have been a 13-metre free.

actually its up to your own county board to decide whether or not to enforce the rules as they are written, from a personal experience our club has played 16yr olds in senior games and i can say that the only serious injury took place when a player was taking part in a soccer match not related in any way to our club he hasnt kick a ball since and had no insurance

County boards have no choice but to enforce the rules. They can only ask for deviation if a rule would adversely affect that County's clubs' ability to field in games. My club has an important under 21's game coming and without one or two under (strong) 16's, we will struggle to field on that day.

Of course Child Protection is an issue and has to be maintained at all times, however, not all 16's would be physically able to play open-age. Only the strongest players would be involved. 

Might work in Ireland with potential burn-out issues being a major concern, but there's no school's/college's games in the North of England. Clubs in that area struggle to promote and develop the game and if under 16's cannot play in the older age competitions, they will lose interest and consequently, the game suffers. As to reducing the number of players in the teams, that would work, but would only be allowed after a bye-law, introduced at the County's Annual Convention, or at an EGM. The old chicken and egg situation. Maybe the powers-that-be should have looked at the effect of this rule's introduction on the GAA outside Ireland before introducing it as a blanket rule. Maybe, thinking outside the box is not within the remit of the GAA.

I see the new rulebook has ben published. Rule 132 states that an under 16 cannot play under 21 or open-age games. This could have a serious effect on clubs in Britain. I know counties can apply for deviation, but what do people think about it?