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Does Hyde Park have floodlights? This is a game that could go into extra time!

The Hyde Park matchday experience does not contain floodlights, i thought 6.30 was a bit risky alright, if the evening is bad we could be in trouble

Actually think it might be on TV3 (if they cancel Stuart Little 2). RTE have a game (presumably Laois/Meath) pencilled in for 3.00 until about 5.30. Surely TV3 are showing one?

Maybe before the GAA decided somehow that more tv coverage was a bad thing. Just come and sample the Hyde's excellent atmopshere 

Syferus, since you seem to know it all, can you recommend a good parking and exit strategy for the Hyde, will be coming in via Athlone as will probably the other 10K Kildare supporters?

If your coming from North Kildare  via the N4, you could always stay on the N4 to Mullingar and then go Via Ballymahon and Lanesboro into Roscommon Town at the Lidl.Aldi roundabout, you can park on the circular road around Mart etc - theres plenty of options, and that would totally avoid Athlone and the bulk of kildare crowd. Its actually shorter by distance but less motorway and therefore about 20 minutes longer.

I'm hearing Hyde Park will be confirmed as the venue

Armagh's last 2 visits to the Hyde

2003





2005




Bring the brollies

I think the GAA went to the dogs the day Michéal O'Hehir retired.
(Or maybe things are just pure cat. I can't make up my mind.)
Since schemozzles in the parallelograms were dispensed with and the entire team stopped moving up the field in the closing minutes, the game has lost a lot of its magic for me.
I also miss the hawkers who went around bawling out, "Get the last of the Lukey, Lukey ices" as their sold their Lucan ice cream tubs with the little wooden scoops.
Effing them out of it when they blocked your view of what was happening on the field added to the fun immensely. It was all part and parcel of a great tradition being passed down from one generation to the next.
Better stop now or I'll be stuck in retro mode for the rest of the day.

yes Lar those were the days indeed, the hawkers with their baskets of ices - 'You scream I Scream we all scream for ice cream' was their regular chant and the lad sitting next to you in the bleachers in hyde park would refuse to let them pass and then a heated discussion - 'i paid good money to come in here etc etc ' -  this was a regular feature of the hyde experience throughout the late seventies and eighties.

i miss the official notices in the herald in advance of the big match

It would go something like
Cluiche Ceannais Cuige Connacht 1980
i bpairc Douglas de Hide
Roscomain v maigh eo

cead isteach £3, sideline 50p extra

and it would always end with.....

NO HAWKERS ALLOWED

i have rarely seen such a concerted effort from team, management and supporters to play down a teams chances as with this sligo team. make no mistake sligo are coming to hyde park expecting to win. i don't get an impression that roscommon are over confident - and they have no reason to be, and bottom line is if sligo do win it will be because they are the better team, it will not be due roscommon heads not being right.

by the way roscommon under 16s are playing a challenge in boyle tomorrow morning so we can see U16 minor U21 and seniors playing over the next two days - only one game really matters this weekend though. 

meanwhile..getting back to the 2012 U 21 championship. I have to say i'm worried . Meeting some sligo people at the minor league match on saturday, i get the distinct impression they're working very hard at talking up roscommon and playing themselves down. No word at all from our Sligo friends on this and other boards. Make no mistake about it, this is set up for Sligo and they fancy that a holy saturday ambush is on the cards. We need to be awful careful.

off the top of my head in 5 minutes.........


armagh 2008 nfl we conceded 4-20
antrim 2010 nfl hyde park - lost by 2 points
cork AIQF 2010 - played well enough for an hour
carlow 2011 nfl - gave them a good beating
clare 2011 nfl - won 16 to 12
cavan 2009 NFL conceded 1-20 in the hyde
dublin 2008 nfl - parnell - we were bet out the gate
down 2009 nfl - lost by 2 in the hyde
donegal 2008 qualifiers well beaten in ballybofey
derry 2000 nfl div 1 semi final in clones - well beaten
fermanagh 2011 nfl - won after a struggle in kiltoom
galway 2009 fbd final in tuam - lost AET
kildare 2007 qualifiers lost by 3 points
kerry 2003 AIQF scored 3-10 but lost by 4
kilkenny 2011 NFL - narrow win
limerick 2009 nfl - lost with last kick of game in kilmallock
leitrim 2011 CSFC - won by 2-12 to 1-06
longford 2011 Div 4 final - well beaten
london - 2011 NFL - ruislip in february is not for the feint hearted
laois - have to go back to 1993, beaten 9pts to 3 i think
louth 2010 NFL - won by a point
mayo - 2011 conacht final
meath - Third round qualifier 2009 lost after a brave display
monaghan 2008 nfl - hammered
new york 2011 CSFC - scored 3-21 to 1-10
offaly 2009 nfl - lost by a point in tullamore
sligo 2010 connacht final - glory days
tyrone 2011 fourth round qualifier - wheels came off wagon in last 10
tipp 2009 nfl beaten 2-12 to 1-10
wicklow - 2011 nfl won a classic in aughrim
waterford - 2001 qualifier - won scoring 3-16
westmeath - 2008 nfl - beaten in kiltoom
wexford - 2010 NFL - lost in the hyde to last minute goal

frightening when you look at like that, and i was at them all, yes every one of them

Syferus, i don't know where you got our good rrecent records against longford cavan and sligo. Didnt longford hammer us last April and tihs weekend two years ago Cavan came to the hyde and scored 1-20 to our 1-10. And sure werent we blessed to beat sligo that last time we played them in the 2010 connacht final, as Eamon O Hara says (quite often) if the game was played the following tueday sligo would have won.
I'd be worried, we havent seen any sight of the likes of cregg, carty ward or o grady in the FBD, all due to injury i presume, we are missing at least 4 certain starters in mannion dommo senan and ian kilbride with bridgids and the likes of keenan and collins cannot make the DCU team. And the you have the curse of emmigration robbing us of james mckeague and when you take into account the fact that the new management will take a while to settle in, and we've no sponsor and no money. We're in poor shape really.

I have seen Roscommon play all 33 other counties over last 20 years or so - longest gap i think is Laois who i dont think we have played competitively at senior level since around 1993

Looks like connacht manager will be fergal o donnell

The Leitrim County Board have announced that due to health reasons senior football manager Mickey Moran has had to stand down from his position.

Best wishes to Mickey

Being at the game, not too far from that goalmouth, and the ref whistled for the free out, for what i thought was a foul on the defender, long before the ball had hit the net. Whatever about some of the other calls, he got this one right

Des Newton is set to take charge of the Roscommon senior football team and will be ratified as manager at next week's county board meeting.

Newton, who is based in Dublin and has been involved with Kilmacud Crokes, is believed to have taken up Roscommon's offer to succeed Fergal O'Donnell.

Newton, a former Roscommon county defender is expected to commute from Dublin for matches and training.



Former star forward Nigel Dineen has already been confirmed as the new Roscommon Under-21 manager as the county as undergoing a rehaul across the board.