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Top performance by Castlebar. Very good especially in second half. Probably should have won by more only for some fumbling near Corofin goals in the first half. thought at that stage that Corofin were getting on top when they came back into it to level at half time. But Castlebar showed their mettle. And the way they finished the match was fabulous.

Top of the table clash next Saturday... Utd v Leicester!!

And will it be the game to give Vardy the outright record over Van Nistlerooy ??
Would be ironic.

T Fearon - seeing as you are on the side of the "church & Bible" w.r.t. the issue of Gay marriage, what is your side/take on the rights of other groups to get married e.g. people with disabilities like Down Syndrome? Should they be allowed get married as currently they cannot?

On the issue of refugees and people trying to cross from Syria and other locations to avoid war. Personally I can't blame the for trying to get away from that situation to survive but there is no way that it can continue at the pace it already exists at. And it needs to be controlled and monitored even more so now with militant groups using it as a possible way to infiltrate into and carry out strikes on the West.

I can only see one solution.

EU get together (with or without China, US and Russia (but ideally with)) and go into Syria and annex part of it on the border with Turkey. Make this a temporary safe haven for refugees and setup proper military protected camps and dramatically limit the amount of refugees crossing the borders.

From my memory he was probably Rugby's first big big superstar. OK there were others around then but he was the stand out player of his era. Its a terribly sad time on his friends and family but especially his wife young kids. Hopefully in time they will come to appreciate the awe in which this man was held.

RIP to a Rugby and world sporting legend.   

Some of the Mayo posters are suffering flashbacks after reading Joe Brolly's column. First of all, on a different thread, we had Lar Naparka highlighting Karol Mannion's inter county retirement, a few years after it actually happened!!...Now we have Nihilist dragging up something that happened about 13 years ago, and is a bollocks of a story 

Don't think you should have any beef with me.  When I read it I thought it might help explain a bit maybe about Harney having a grab for Barry Moran there a coupe of weeks ago.    But anyway it was Brolly who had it in the Sunday national. I just want to know if that's the way ye will be going forward.

Joe Brolly has an interesting anecdote to Roscommon  in today's Sindo.

http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-games/gaelic-football/joe-brolly-elitism-is-destroying-our-games-and-our-players-34201462.html

Essentially its in paragraph 3 that's the interesting bit about a former Roscommon team parading themselves naked  through the Hotel after a game. I don't know if they won the game or not but maybe some of the folk on here can answer ?

Also this happened (I think) when Ross were in Div1. 
So will it be again the norm now they are back?

There are a host of stories (some quite good ones actually) in the old testament. A lot are about a God that loses the cool or intervenes in what he sees as bad e.g. destroying the city of Babel. Also you have the story of Lots wife being turned into a pillar of salt for turning around to look. These are stories that you hear which I would associate with scaring the kids to say their prayers and be good.

The new testament is much more grown up. It also seems to be aimed at more adults and a lot of the message throughout are about being a better Christian. Jesus Christ has no time for those with money or power e.g. Scribes and Pharisees and moneylenders he chases from the Lords house. Also he says it's  "Easier for a camel to get through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter Heaven".

Its much more aimed at the poorer masses and those who are marginalised e.g. the Leper he cures or the woman who was about to be stoned for her perceived crimes. Overall those who had nothing but possibly the thought that Heaven was waiting for them when they died so they should carry on with the life they were born into no matter how miserable it was. There isn't any intervention from God either in the New testament until the crucifixion when the temple is torn apart.

Of course there are many questions left unanswered e.g.

1: Darwinism and the advancement of life over time.
2: Those mad crazy stories in the old testament (are we actually supposed to believe them?)
3: The morality of other stuff e.g. stem cell research, abortion, homosexuality, contraception etc. None of this existed 2000 years ago so was not dealt with. (Of course homosexuality did but it was very much a taboo subject back then - probably stoned to death unless you were rich and doing it with your slaves)

A lot of what the Church is based upon is and has been written by re-written over and over. There has been loads of flip flops over the centuries on Roman Catholic and I assume other Christian teachings. Google it to find the obvious ones. Plus they exercise massive control over the material that all this is actually based upon. 

So what does that say about the Roman Catholic church for instance as they hold the most material in my opinion. And more importantly what doe it say about God in general?

Well I think anyone can still say/claim that God is infallible and always will be.

But does it also mean that the Church is infallible or not? It's clear from history that it is not. And this raises the larger problem then as to how much guidance and how accurate this guidance is in a World where people of all walks of life are clamouring for greater equality.

FIFA laws of the game.

Rule 6 - Uses offensive or insulting or abusive language and/or behavior = Red Card

Cautionable offence
Shows dissent by word or action = Yellow Card

Of course its up to the referees to interpret it and apply it but I know refs take no nonsense at all in underage games I see. they may show more leniency in adult games but if its serious enough it will be dealt with.

[When was the last time you seen someone carded for giving the referee a mouthful?]

Do you watch soccer?? When was the last time you seen someone carded for giving the referee a mouthful? I can honestly say I have never seen it. The GAA has the same problem - the black card was introduced for this exact problem yet is rarely used. If it was used regularly then there would be less of it in my opinion. I hate hate hate players mouthing to referees and getting free kicks moved nothing as infuriating!

Yes I do watch it and players are yellow carded all the time for dissent. Management also face hefty fines and bans. Have you heard about a guy called Mourinho from Chelsea? Maybe not but he was banned from the pitchside for Chelsea's last match because of his behavior and language. 

People have complained for years about soccer but in fairness UEFA has hardened up and cleaned up its act big time. None of these type of exchanges with the ref are allowed anymore. If they happen and bad language or threatening behavior is used the ref issues the proper card or sends off the culprit from the field. Plus he can have the manager removed off as well.

If parents are on the sideline giving bad language to the ref or players (especially in front of minors) the ref has the power to stop the game and force the respective management team to deal with offenders or the match could be abandoned and the offending team faces a hefty fine and possible/probable elimination from the competition.

Its high time the GAA brought in proper enforcement to protect refs, linesmen, umpires children and players. Right now it's only getting worse as was depicted again in the Kerry County final at the weekend.

Worked very well at the different grades this year. Kevin McStay was chairman of the committee that recommended the changes too so he definitely isn't unhappy with it.

How long since it was put in place?
And is it at all grades i.e. Intermediate, Junior, U-21 and Underage that it applies?

2groups of 6 teams. Group A was a strong group where the top 2 made the semis. Teams that finished 3rd and 4th made the 1/4s. Top 2 in group B made 1/4s also. 5 games per group. Clan lost v brigids, parses and Ros gales. Top 2 teams in B exited at 1/4 stages. Brigids and ros gales despite beating clan and pearses in the group stages, lost out in the semis. It's not as mental as it sounds.

It sounds like a League and not a championship.

[Castlebar when tested looked average enough and it exposed what was a brutal Breaffy performance a few weeks ago]

Would be surprised if Corofin lose after what happened two years ago. Castlebar when tested looked average enough and it exposed what was a brutal Breaffy performance a few weeks ago.

For Clann, it's all about learning from their mistakes today as they will likely win the county title again in the coming years.

Wouldn't agree with that. In games like these where one team seems to be running away with it early the ref often "intervenes" with softer decisions for the losing side to prevent a hammering. And I thought the ref gave a lot of soft frees to Clann and especially the black card.

Also you have teams here who are at similar levels. Brigids won it in 2013, Castlebar got to final in 2014 and Corofin won last year. Shows how strong club football is in Connacht with 3 teams across different counties competing. so would doubt that argument above. Of course Corofin will be hot favorites as reigning club champions and probably rightly so but if the venue is e.g. McHale park then I think it will be tight.