Messages

1. Down
2. Fermanagh
3. Clare
4. Sligo
5. Laois
6. Wexford
7. Limerick
8. Westmeath

Westmeath 2nd favourites for promotion.

Fogarty has a well established dislike for Westmeath...
Down should top the division and then I can imagine a tight race between Clare, Sligo, Limerick and Westmeath for second spot. Whoever hits the ground running early might nab it.
Wexford and Fermanagh for the drop for me

Any odds for Leinster? I imagine Ballyboden, Na Fianna, Naas, Portarlington, The Downs all fancying their chances if they get out of their own counties.

Sure it's only th'oul League.
Do teams play League games without Co players?

Teams are seeded for championship in Armagh based on their league position. So it's taken a bit more seriously than it would have been before. No real dead rubbers either as leagues have been condensed into 8 teams. It also affords smaller clubs an easier path to reaching intermediate or senior football than under the previous system.

So are there just 4 division in the league in Armagh/Tyrone then? Senior/Inter/Junior/Junior B?

An example in my own county of Westmeath, the likes of Killucan would have a large amount of dual players, and a few involved in both county football and hurling squads.
So they play league matches down a lot of players, hence they are in division 3. But when all players are available, they are able to hold their own in the senior championship, have done for the last 20 years or so.

Tyrone got tanked against Kerry down there in 2021 in a league game. Would read nothing into that today.

If it was in isolation then I'd agree with you but Tyrone are going nowhere this year and haven't been since they won the Covid AI title. You can't lose that many players and still remain competitive and they have done well to retain their division one status with practically a new team. They might come good in a few years time as they are still doing well at underage level but I expect that they will limp their way through the championship again and I'd be surprised if they make much of an impact.

The covid AI title?! Wasn't 2020 the covid all ireland title? WUM.

They got it called off a couple of times due to "covid" and got a full squad back together did they not?

https://www.impartialreporter.com/news/23514420.rory-gallagher-responds-domestic-abuse-allegations/

Who are his solicitors, and where has their statement been released? Is it just to the media outlet above?

How do statements through solicitors usually work in these cases?
Similarly I haven't seen anything directly from Derry GAA, just what was cited above.

Still waiting to see where this "genuine" statement from Rory Gallagher has come from, where is it?

What is it that Sligo are doing that is so effective at underage levels?
There are plenty of similarly sized counties that should be taking notes.

When are tickets on sale for this game does anyone know?

I was at the league game between the 2 earlier in the year, and I would agree it was fairly dreadful stuff. Having said that there was no Walsh, Finnerty, Comer off injured early and I think those 3 could be the difference this time around.
McDaid back would be a big plus too.

Sweeney could be one to follow Enda Smith alright but he would surely be overpowered. Don't think he played when they met in the league but has nailed down a place since then, would imagine Eoghan Kelly would be given a marking job too if he is fit.

Mayo probably the better team over the 70 mins and deserved the win, they were far more direct and intent in their attacking than Galway.
Having said that, Galway would be right to wonder about some of those frees given, when they weren't getting similar. Only 4 points from play for Mayo. Joyce seemed to indicate he thought some of the frees given were "questionable", I would have to agree with him. I'd be surprised if a lot of them were given in a big championship knockout game.
Mayo will be delighted, Rossies waiting in the long grass now though

How many have Tyrone on the team from last year? Still a mighty result for Down whatever the context.

I was at the first replay of Dublin Meath in 91.  Mick Lyons was sent off.  I can't remember if he was allowed back on in ET, but Meath were definitely allowed bring on a 15th man.  Something similar happened with Dublin Wexford back in the noughties, if I remember correctly, but Dublin benefited this time.

Stupid rule.

That was Dublin/Wexford 2010. We were actually down to 13 men that day. Denis Bastick and Ger Brennan  were sent off that day. Restored to 15 for extra time.  Agree crazy rule.

Does that rule still exist? Some genius who came up with that one.
If it's a new game then surely the player should have to serve the suspension during that game. And any player who didn't play the original game due to suspension would be allowed to play the extra time then?
For that matter, if it's a new game then you could surely put out whatever 15 players you wanted.

Westmeath - Offaly tomorrow should be interesting, usually has been close & fiery in the last few years.

How are Offaly looking under Maughan? Will ye be pushing for promotion or happy with staying up?

[Group 2 – Laois, Offaly & WexfordGroup 3 – Meath, Louth & Westmeath]

Here we go. Christmas comes early this year with the return of the OBC early December.

O'Byrne Cup S.F. 2020

Group 1 – Kildare, Longford, Carlow & Wicklow

Group 2 – Laois, Offaly & Wexford

Group 3 – Meath, Louth & Westmeath

Dates: Dec 7, Dec 14, Jan 4. Semi-finals Jan 11. Final Jan 17/18

We're out against Louth this weekend. Very young team with some good prospects lining out including Costello, Toner and Jack O'Connor. Hard to know they'll fare, depends on how Louth are treating this.

Meath (O'Byrne Cup SF v Louth) –

Dominic Yorke;

Robin Clarke, Brian Conlon, David Toner;
Gavin McCoy, Eoin Lynch, Sean Reilly;

Bryan Menton, Donal Keogan;

Jack O'Connor, Darragh Campion, Jason Scully;
Jordan Morris, Thomas O'Reilly, Mathew Costello.

Subs: Harry Hogan, James Conlon, Oisin O'Brien, Thomas Murtagh, Ben Brennan, Shane Walsh, Caolach Halligan, Conor McGill.

Ok, who wants to explain why Louth was playing Offaly on Saturday and Westmeath played Wexford the week before?

Meath are down to play Laois the next day too. Not sure what sort of a system this is.

Some interesting fixtures there. I imagine Portlaoise will be too strong for St Patricks.
Eire Og and Sarsfields could be a tight one, I'll go for a draw in this one.
Garrycastle and Ratoath is another tight one, Garrycastle have some experience, but Ratoath have some nice players too. I'll go for a narrow win for the Westmeath men.
Finally, I'd imagine Ballyboden should ease past Newtown Blues.

Good thing I didn't put my money where my mouth is. 

Dunlavin were impressive against Caulry, although it's hard to judge how far they'll go as Caulry were very poor on the day, definitely didn't play as well as they can. Similarly for Garrycastle against Killoe, the castle looked impressive albeit against poor opposition. I think Killoe only managed 2 or 3 points from play.
It'll definitely be another step up for Garrycastle against Ratoath the next day out, by all accounts it sounded like they were well on top against Summerhill. I saw them playing against Athlone in the Intermediate a few years ago and they were very good then too. The Wallaces and McMahon are difficult to stop when they get going.