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with the full two rounds played now after yesterday we now find ourselves in third from bottom with 1 point with a -14 points difference. The -14 total is the joint second worse difference in the divisions with Monaghan in Division 1 with -18 below. Our major problem is that we are a very low scoring team currently, 22 points after two rounds with only Longford and Waterford in Division 4 lower. Sligo's win at the weekend will give them a boost for the next day but they probably will be more satisfied with getting 1-19 against Fermanagh. while I hope we would get a result against Sligo to ease relegation wonders if we don't we are heading into our harder fixtures away to Clare, Down and Fermanagh and home to Westmeath in serious bother. Clare might be positioned below us in the league with zero points but they have probably played their two hardest matches first against Down and Westmeath and still managed to score 40 points over the two games. the big hope when the fixtures were first released that we would have four points after the opening games and possibly 6 after Sligo and then tackle the next games with a push for promotion but as we have seen things didn't go that way.

really poor result and puts huge pressure on us going into next weeks game. even before the results from the other games today that game is now a must win. The division will have a lot of strange results, down fell over the line in Limerick with a few late scores which probably wasn't predicted. At the start of the league i thought 5 maybe six points would help us avoid relegation but with the bad start against the two newly promoted teams that both now in hindsight targeted us we have to win both home games at the very least. while i am hoping we can get over Sligo, the Westmeath game will be far more difficult. win both of them and we have a great chance of survival, if we don't we need a very big result away to Clare, down or Fermanagh. Again Fermanagh might be the vital away game but only if we win the next home game. The two outstanding games today probably will see us further down the table, probably second from bottom if Fermanagh lose because of our -14 scoring difference already.

One thing is for sure unless we up our current scoring rate we won't achieve this and will definitely go down. 1-10 and 0-9 in the first few games is extremely poor considering since the new rules have come in the scoring rates for nearly all the teams have risen. the starting forwards scored 1-2 from play against limerick and a sub forward 0-1 and last night we were slightly better with 0-5 from the starting forwards and 0-2 from forward subs but again this is nowhere near good enough. with Damon Larkin's absence the current two midfielders are not known to be big scorers to help with this. it is also noticeable that we have not scored any two pointers in either game. A lot for the management to work on.

the championship really needs to be reduced to 12 teams at the minimum. the standard has been very poor so far.

Are they doing any programmes for the games ?

Here are the groups for the competition , some counties had a few teams, that Kildare team that lost to Armagh was the second team

Celtic Challenge Group 1
West Cork   
Cork White   
limerick
Clare

Celtic Challenge Group 2
Cork Red
East Cork
Waterford
Clare   
Wexford

Celtic Challenge Group 3
Kilkenny   
Tipperary Blue   
Antrim   
Down
   
Celtic Challenge Group 4
Galway
Tipperary Gold
Dublin
Derry

Celtic Challenge Group 5
Laois   
Offaly   
Wicklow   
Kerry   

Celtic Challenge Group 6
Westmeath
Meath   
Armagh   
Kildare   

Celtic Challenge Group 7
Roscommon   
Mayo   
Donegal   
Sligo   

Celtic Challenge Group 8
Tyrone   
Kildare   
Meath   
Derry   
Carlow

Celtic Challenge Group 9
Longford   
Fermanagh
Cavan
Louth
Monaghan
Leitrim   

We were group 5 this year , with Offaly, wicklow and Kerry. We played one of the Kildare teams, Roscommon and then Meath.

that was tough watch yesterday, while we probably never looked like winning at least for the majority of the first half we had somehow stayed in the game and got a bit of luck when they hit the crossbar. the burst they made just before half time killed off any notion that we had a chance and it was further emphasised by the complete collapse just after half time. the warning signs were probably there in the first half as the their pace and movement were causing us all sorts of problems especially in tracking their runners. Their half back line which ended up scoring 1-14 from play just had too much speed and power for the multitude of players we deployed on them. it was probably not helped by a number of factors, the passiveness of our defending (we allowed them on the inside shoulder so many times), a number of our players getting caught repeatedly flat footed or allowing the runner to go onto their strong foot for a shot time and time again and clearly at least two players carrying injuries.

I don't know whether Westmeath copped this lack of mobility but they "hammered the hammer" and ploughed up the wings, especially the terrace side in both halves where they seemed to have oceans of space. In that regard I thought the management made some obvious mistakes, not man marking McCartan in the first half when he was handling so much ball and scoring at will and secondly not rectifying a positional change after half time which lead to the half back scoring 1-3 from play. the player was physically not able to stay with the pace of the Westmeath back. The score line could have been so much worse with the six point turn around goal at the end and the wing back fisting the ball over the bar when it was easier to score. Both teams then emptied the bench and the game played out as a challenge match with Westmeath recording one of their biggest wins ever against us.

So where do we go now, hopefully there will be a reflection on the year, the underage is not actually promising and there doesn't appear to be a lot of players at club level with their hands up for inclusion. Mcnulty has done a good job with all the players not available and the weakness of the panel. he has managed it well but a lot of it is round pegs in square holes and when it goes wrong or we come up against a small bit of quality like yesterday and the kildare match we are in serious bother. He has put a big effort in and i wouldn't be surprised to see him go.

A further issue towards the development of players is the complete lack of players involved in college teams. It was very noticeable this year out of the ten Sigerson squads that we essentially had two players, Roche (a mature student) and Heffernan at DCU. Even at the higher levels of freshers football we have very few players. People might have a different view of college football but it is an excellent level for players to improve. to see the increased number of players from similar counties like ourselves like Monaghan, Roscommon, Louth, Kildare, Offaly, Cavan and Meath recently making the squads is definitely reflected in their progression. Meath forming a GAA partnership with Maynooth University sports department which shows great forward thinking especially as the college is expanding its sports science programme and planning to build a massive facility there. A number of Meath players are also on sports scholarships there. Schools improving is only one small part , it really needs a better approach. 

it was poor really poor, perfect setting , huge crowd and then a complete non event of a game. no niggle or anything to get things going. I was hoping we would put in a performance but Kildare were miles ahead of us in terms of fitness, size and pace. they really bullied us especially in the forwards and kick outs in the first half were like kicking a ball against a wall. the game was over quickly after their very fast start and just petered out, you could say harshly it was played in relevant silence and the crowd drifted off before the end. we ran the bench with not much improvement. probably a bleak summary but Kildare are organised this year and are probably too strong for this division and for us in our current state with so many players unavailable. they have big games coming up against Clare and Offaly which probably will decide the division and give them a better idea where they are at but Flanagan has them going well. they do foul a bit but more cutely further up the field and did kick a lot of scoreable chances wide,(thankfully).

On the team itself, they blitzed us early enough with a fast start, the defence were under massive pressure. They scored with a minute of the start with a very Dublin like back door cut, something they repeated in the first minute of the second half and looked for it on numerous times during the game. in fairness we turned them over a few times in contact in defence but had no out ball and ended playing some hairy hand passing movements at times. Simon Fingelton's interventions saved us from a few goals but we just seemed to be very passive at times when they were shooting.

the kick outs were a massive problem, it was either Damon or nobody, they physically dominated us in this area. hopefully we wont meet someone again as big as Feely but high hanging kick outs into a wind were clearly to their advantage . it was noticeable that there half backs , Hyland in particular purposely ran ahead of the kick out into our half before it reached centre field assuming they were going to break it back into that area. we went short on a few but many were near the side line with the arc and left our defenders in a trap situation and easily pressed. one to Swayne didn't get outside the arc and ended with a handy free for them. the forwards unfortunately couldn't get separation from their defenders who were very tight. a mixture of lack of pace and physicality at times.  Mark Barry in particular was marshalled well legally or otherwise and had one of his quieter games. Brian Byrne did a portion of time at full forward for reasons I still don't understand as we gained nothing from it.   

I still think we need another win or even a draw to be safe, the injuries to benny Carroll and James Kelly will weaken a light enough panel if they are for a long period of time. A lot for the management to ponder but I don't think we will meet a team as strong as Kildare in the remaining fixtures.

Offaly looked well ahead us in terms of attacking shape, fitness and pace especially in their forward line. not surprising with Mickey Harte involved over there as he always took the league very serious plus they have a lot of players involved in the Sigerson. it could be a very tough league for us, the next round will probably give a better indication of where we will be at, defeat to Leitrim and we are in serious bother.

on the game itself the our goalkeeper coming forward could develop into a major issue. obviously he is been brought forward to kick two pointers but he is not the quickness and definitely when the ball is either turned over or fails to go dead from a shot he is struggling. last year with most teams operating a blanket defence there were never forwards too far up to cause these issues for him but with the new rules and the three forwards and the solo and go its risky.

Two very tough games today , hoping for a result in either . Both teams could be slightly undercooked.

very light on scoring forwards as many of the players i would associate as being either midfielders or play makers. looking at the extended panel that was published it clearly shows the amount of players not available. this league could be extremely difficult. 

Think this is the best place to Post this

Have been thinking about Clare since Sunday

A relatively split Dual County

As of 2023 Census
Laois Population 91,657
Clare Population 127,938, so yes an extra 36k people, not huge on the grand scale

Has the All Ireland wins of 95 and 97, 2013 embedded such a hurling culture to drive underage success /standards, Obviously any Senior Success huge for any County's development but must be driven and organised too.

What structures are in place in relation to Hurling Boards & Competitions,

Club Clare / Laois Gaels Comparisons

Underage Structures , Academies, Competitions

Secondary Schools hurling, again huge culture of it in Clare,

There is nothing near a comparable competitive infrastructure in place or supports to drive hurling here,
Could we try to at least to imitate best practices in relation to all of the above by taking the best ideas, for hurling (& football),

Or without the initial success have we not the interest or enough of people willing to do so,

This is not a post designed to slag off anyone, just genuinely interested in the detail of how its done in Clare and what could we do to better ourselves here

the secondary schools but definitely the amount of players who play fitzgibbon at a high level has helped them

I certainly wouldn't be making predictions on the basis of Portlaoise hammering Ballylinan.

definitely, wait till after the emo match but its good to see them kicking the ball more than previous years. possibly still lacking a scoring forward

very disappointing yesterday, while Down were strong favourites it just felt that we never released the handbrake and played very conservative nearly to our detriment. After last years game and Down's higher league standing it was understandable that we were going to be defensive to establish a platform to be in the game but it only appeared near the end with a few long balls that there was game that could have been won, even if it was a smash and grab. Lacey's goal from the keepers mistake and later Barry's strike put a bit of a shine on what was an awful offensive performance in particular. I accept that McNulty's heavy defensive style in fairness got us to the final and also may have been handicapped yesterday by not having the forwards especially pacey, hard running forwards that would show for the ball to stretch Down. It would lead you to wonder how the approach or even some of the personnel were not changed when it was obvious we were playing so deep and effectively having no forwards up the field to score. Evan's point in the 15 minute was the last point from play any of the eight forward players we used yesterday scored and Heffernan's point just after the 37th minute was the last point from paly any Laois player scored. The two forward changes came in the 56th and 65th minute and to me were too late. Eight scores in 70 plus minutes was never going to win this game.     

next year will be interesting, I would imagine that the plan will be to build on the foundations of this year and stay in Division 3, avoid relegation and have a better run in Leinster depending on the draw and go for the Tailteann again. The evolving of the game plan will depend of what the panel looks like and whether we can get some of the absent players back but most importantly try find pacey forwards.