Sligo Club Football & Hurling

[Owenmoresider]

These are the Connacht Club fixtures from the website. See that same shite exists where we have no rep in the Junior, a ridiculous rule really. I'm sure Seanie et al would have loved a crack at a Mayo team! Tough task for the winners of the preliminary in Senior, and it's away for the Sligo team too.

AIB CONNACHT CLUB SENIOR FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP



Pre-Lim           14th /21st   October



A:        St Mary's       v          Sligo                           



Semi- Finals   Sunday 11th November                       Replay  17th November



A                     v          Ballina/Charlestown

Galway            v          St Brigid's/St Faithleachs                             



Final:   Sunday 25th November                                  Replay  2nd December

CONNACHT CLUB INTERMEDIATE FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

Pre Lim. Dates TBC

A:        Kiltimagh/Ballintubber(M)                v          Drumreilly (L)

Semi-Finals

Galway            v          Michael Glaveyys/St Dominics(R )

Sligo                v          A

CONNACHT CLUB JUNIOR FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

Semi-Final      DATES TBC

A:        Galway            v          Roscommon

Final

            Mayo              v          A



AIB CONNACHT CLUB HURLING CHAMPIONSHIP



13th/14th October        Pre-Lim

Sligo                v          Roscommon

Leitrim            v          Ballina/Ballyhaunis

Monday 29th  October                       Semi-Final.



Final.18th November

Galway            v          Semi-Final Winners                           Athleague

[magpie seanie]

I'm sure Seanie et al would have loved a crack at a Mayo team!

3 months on from that final and losing about 4 or 5 of the team - we'd struggle to keep it kicked out!

[heurebag]

heard eamon o hara was out on the rip before the game against cork

[magpie seanie]

Aye, he was. An awful man for the sauce is Eamonn. I was pint for pint with him for the first 20 but I faded after that.

[Teeling Gael]

Massive weekend in Sligo Club championships with 4 tight games in prospect. Harps should beat Easkey in their replay but as the championship progresses the loss of Tony Taylor around midfield could yet be their achilles heel. I expect Tourlestrane to beat Johns though as the lads have said earlier here , are tourlestrane game hardened ? , are Johns tired ?? . Still expect Tourlestrane to win.

In the intermediate , there is 2 even harder matches to call. I'd just about fancy Farnans to beat Mholaises though Mholaises loss to Michaels in the league stage seems to have focused their mind somewhat. Both teams are capable of imploding but think Farnans have that bit more firepower. I expect Pats will beat Michaels. Pats are probably the freshest team in the county at the moment having effectively only started playing seriously in about late May and this coupled with 1 championship win getting them straight to semis. If they have got some key men in shape over the last month then they have too much strength in depth for Michaels. Michaels have the best midfield in the competition and a couple of classy forwards but if they can be negated then Pats superior panel will win through.

Very disappointed to see Geevagh relegated back to intermediate. Possibly just a little too inexperienced yet but I'd imagine the next time they go up they will stay up. Shamrock Gaels to me have plenty of talented footballer with unfortunately some of the better ones having committment issues. Genuinely think a year or 2 at intermediate wont do them any harm and in fact a winning run could energise the club way more than constant relegation battles in senior.

[magpie seanie]

TG - when is your relegation final going to be played?

I'd go along with your calls on the four big games with less confidence in the intermediate as you say. In the game no-one wants to play in I reckon C'connor will just about win it to make up for the hurt of defeat in last years decider! Joking aside, I just think the west Sligo lads apathy levels will be marginally less than Mary's and that should see them through. In truth though, who cares?

Geevagh have a lot of good players alright and they are young so should come back better. It is a disappointment for them and how they deal with it will set the tone for the next 10 years in that club. Shamrock Gaels will go nowhere until their better players give a reasonable committment. You'd hope for their sake that relegation would galvanise the troops but I wouldn't put a lot of money on it.

[baoithe]

I couldn't have hoped for a better outcome to todays games - a convincing win for Farnans and Pats knocked out.
 

[Mano]

Was in Tubber yesterday for the county semi-finals. The fare on show wasn't great with the dearth of scoring forwards in the county clearly evident.
Tourlestrane V Johns game was a good tough encounter with the spoils deservedly going to Tourlestrane. If Tour had taken their scoring chances earlier they would not have had the nervy last 5 minutes until the 1-1 at the death. John's had 2 excellent free takers in Scanlon and Rooney but they only scored twice from play (Scanlon though showed flashes of talent and should be in county squad next year). On our side we had to dig very deep-unfortunately we have got a lot of injuries at the wrong time-O'Hara and John Marren were ruled out, Stephen Henry and David Durcan carried injuries into the game. Unfortunately they had to come off with those injuries along with Stephen Leonard and all 4 are major doubts for next weekend with O'Hara a definate absentee. On the plus side the rest of team raised their game-full back line were excellent and Adrian McIntyre was outstanding at centre back.
Harps, Easkey was over as a contest from early on. Easkey weren't helped  by a number of injuries to Dessie and Eamon Sweeney.

Harps play a very defensive game and Tourlestrane have a good backline so i predict a low scoring county final.

[magpie seanie]

Travelled myself to Tubber for the senior semis and overall you'd have to say the standard wasn't hectic. In the first game I thought Tourlestrane were superior in terms of tactical approach and this really won the day for them. John's persisted with trying to play intricate passes down one wing of their attack especially in the first half which invariably ended up with the spare defender sweeping all up. Tourlestrane carried at times and also hit diagonal ball, which was easier for their forwards to control in the slippy conditions. Defensively John's gave way too much space to Gerry McGowan and tackled naively at times too whereas Tourlestrane were set up nicely to negate the scoring threat of Scanlon and the ability of Harrison the start attacks. In the second half John's got their act together after the introduction of talented minor Brian Harris but the fact that they were held scoreless from play until the 50th minute tells its own tale. The game should probably have been level before the slightly fortuitous goal sealed it for Tourlestrane but a draw was never going to happen yesterday was it.

Harps started off the second game brightly but after forcing two saves from the Easkey keeper they actually went behind to a Sloyan point. That was as good as it got for the West Sligo lads and by the time Sloyan left the fray after about 20 minutes the game was all but over. Some things about Harps impressed me but overall I'd say I was a bit disappointed in them. Their defence is tight and their forwards, though light, are quite quick and dangerous.

The final will be a clash in styles and as Mano said probably low scoring and very close. Injuries are hurting both camps significantly. Something tells me that Tourlestrane will lead at half time but Harps will take the title by a point or two. I wouldn't be all that confident about that prediction though. Tourlestrane certainly have the edge in terms of experience. Looking forward to the day especially with our minors going for our first title since 1964 beforehand.

In the intermediate Michaels produced a mild surprise by taking Pats and Farnans produced a savage second half to avoid another implosion. Farnans should take the crown but it could be a good match.

Castleconnor, as predicted, were more motivated than Mary's to take the Senior B championship (calling it a "Reserve" championship is just stupid). I see Curry won the Div 2B title, managing to turn up for the final this time being a big help.

Round 14 of the leagues in 1B and 2A next weekend.  Doubt I'll be playing in Collooney at noon with our minors in county final at 1.45pm.

[Teeling Gael]

Senior semis probably went as one would expect with Sloyanes injury ending any hopes of a Easkey shock. Harps mean defense on paper is performing on pitch as well by the looks of it. Johns put it up to Tourlestrane and 2007 should give them the knowledge that there is a county championship there for them particuliarily with the assembly line of talent coming through. It will take plenty of hard work though and Division 3 football in 2008 wont help. Tourlestranes injury crisis will have a major infuence on how the final will go.

Farnans after a poor start beat Mholaise very easily and presumably thats the end of the Northern influence in Grange in what turned into a very disappointing year for them. Michaels hard games stood to them against a rusty St Pats. Michaels have done extremely well to get to the final (with the returning Alan Taafe from 2 crutiate ops the catayst ). I'd imagine that Farnans will win the final but Michaels are strong where Farnans are weak so you never know.

See the final round of league matches are scheduled for weekend with as far as I can see only relegation issues to be decided. Farnans will beat Enniscrone so that relegates Johns. Presumably with a senior match Saturday , Seanie and the small matter of a minor final 2 hours later , ye will struggle to field against us ?? ( have sensitive negotiations to enter into as away at a wedding at weekend so if ye are fielding Seanie , i'd  personally appreciate an early decision !! ) Coolaney who are out of football for about 3 weeks  since a 15 point defeat by Geevagh so they  will hardly turn it around in the other crucial match particuliarily with Geevagh stung from their Senior championship relegation and a league final against Harps 1.5 team impending. However I'd always be nervous when one team has nothing to play for playing a team with everything to play for.

[SLIGONIAN]

Well lads St Molaise gaels my club some collapse. I woke up a very confused man this morning. What happened yday was shocking. We were in total control. Winning midfield with a passenger there. We were 0-4 up and then missed a peno. 5 mins into 2nd half we were 7 - 2 up and then for the remaining 30 mins farnans out scored us 2-10 to 0-1 and no wind.. We have this over weight guy playing midfield and its embarrasing. He cant run and does nothing only fumble the ball etc.. They got on top and destroyed us. We are young side with good footballers but mentally weak. Got no ball to feeney in 2nd half. I blame the management, our club is great a ruining underage talent. Several players none commital because of the rubbish managers.. no clue. Nonsensical selection and tactics. Peter Wilson playing corner forward 6.3 ft plus... Very frustrating.

I hear the county final is on TG4 deffered coverage this sunday. Should be a good one. Is O Hara injured? Hope they represent the county well in the connaght club championship. I was never as embarrassed as coolera v kiltubrid watching that a few yrs back. Seanie you'll be delighted to hear me say that.

[Owenmoresider]

Not a lot to be impressed with from yesterday's fare. Harps made light work of Easkey in the end, though they weren't all that impressive, and do have problems in midfield, but Sloyane's withdrawal ensured any hope for Easkey was gone, Harps missed (or rather pointed) another penalty as well. Tourlestrane will be mightily relieved to have seen off John's, it wasn't looking too good as the clock ticked down and the gap narrowed, but Harrison's chance was the one for John's, it wasn't taken and the goal followed after that, Marty playing his part. Tough on John's, but i'm sure they will come back the better for it. Can't be simply relying on freetakers, even though they have a few options in that regard.

The final - Thought Tourlestrane before the semis, but I suspect Harps will come through, the injuries for Tour may be their undoing. A somewhat rare visit to the East for Owen B awaits.

Intermediate - delighted with both outcomes (sorry Sligonian, but humility in victory was lacking in our experiences), some turnaround by Farnan's, 2-10 in 30 minutes is some tally for this stage of any Championship. They will be undoubted favourites, but Michael's will not go down too easily, and have plenty of good players. The all-West affair will not be a runner now though. One thing is sure - if Michael's win, Ballygawley will be party central, and Kelly's should be able to pay off a few year's worth of overheads for that week's trading!

[Teeling Gael]

Sorry Sligonian. I find your last post crossed a line of decency and reflects very poorly on yourself. How an anonymous poster can come online and abuse in theory a clubmate who evidently is putting way more time and effort into Grange GAA than  a "supporter" like you is totally reprehensible and beyound any true GAA supporters comprehension. 

[magpie seanie]

I agree with Teeling Gaels. You have a serious cheek to make comments like that. As for your snide comment about my club if you knew the first thing about what you were talking about I'd argue with you but there's zero point. You're a bit sad.

[SLIGONIAN]

Well LADS... it is the truth.. I blame the management for picking him. not the man himself. the man cant run yet hes picked midfield.. it is embarrasing.. Ive given plenty of years service to my club ST MOLAISES not grange gaa over the years only for my career to make it impossible to commit when living in Dublin. The thing here is yes we are anoynomous but thats assumes i dont say it to these things to the people concerned. Well I did in a more tactful way. Alot of supporters say the same. Id way rather be out on the field than have to watch from the sidelines so dont give me that supporter player rubbish. The players give the effort of there own free will and enjoyment and passion. Im no different its just I couldnt commit even if I wanted to and I do.

In fairness Seanie if you could argue about that great reprensentation your club did, you would with what ammunicition??. get a grip, truth hurts.

Id like to wish both teams on sunday well and hope it is an entertaining final and that either or go to win the connaght club championship.