Connaught FBD League

[magpie seanie]

Latest news from the Sligo Weekender. It appears that there are one or two injuries/players unavailable in the Sligo camp. Also confirmation of an interesting managerial appointment by the Liverpool of Sligo GAA...

Injuries hamper Sligo's opener

For Sligo's first competitive game of 2007, next Sunday's FBD Connacht League opening round joust with Galway, whom Sligo frustratingly lost to in last summer's Connacht Senior Championship, manager Tommy Breheny will be without at least seven regulars.
Eamon O'Hara, who got married yesterday (New Year's Day), Adrian Marren, Brian Curran, Padraig Doohan, Patrick Naughton, David Kelly and Brendan Egan are all unavailable for the game in Kilcoyne Park, Tubbercurry (throw-in 2pm).
Injuries rule out Adrian Marren, Brian Curran, Padraig Doohan and Patrick Naughton, while Third Level students David Kelly and Brendan Egan will be involved with Dublin City University in Leinster's O'Byrne Cup.
Curry forward Adrian Marren's situation is most critical, however, as he faces surgery later this month to correct a Gilmore's groin problem.
This particular injury has afflicted a number of Sligo players in recent years, including Eamon O'Hara, Sean Davey and Dessie Sloyan.
Marren, who inspired south Sligo's Curry to Sligo Senior Championship and Sligo League Division 1A honours in 2006, is expected to miss all of Sligo's three FBD Connacht League Section 'B' games as well as the county's Allianz Football League Division 2B campaign – seven fixtures in total – which starts in February.
"He (Adrian Marren) is a big player to lose,"
commented Tommy Breheny, who hopes to have Marren available for Sligo's Connacht Senior Championship odyssey, which begins with a trip to New York next May.
Ex-Sligo Rovers captain Michael McNamara, who rejoined the county Gaelic football squad after two impressive seasons as a centre-back at The Showgrounds, will not feature against Galway.
The St John's player returns to training this week and will be in contention for a starting place, along with his St John's club-mate, Dara McGarty, for Sligo's remaining FBD Connacht League fixtures.
Dessie Sloyan, the Easkey forward, remains a long-term absentee although should he overcome his current injury dilemma he would be welcomed back into the squad.
On a positive note, Coolera-Strandhill's Kieran Quinn and Brendan Phillips, the former Eastern Harps captain, are expected to feature next Sunday.
Mayo native Peter Ford, the former Sligo
manager, manages Sligo's opponents, Galway. However, Ford's options may be stretched by the number of Third Level students in his squad as NUIG and GMIT will have first call on three Galway players in their respective Senior panels.
IT Sligo, the other Third Level academy competing in this provincial competition, begin their FBD Connacht League with an away Section 'A' fixture against Roscommon in Elphin.
Tourlestrane's Anthony Brennan, the IT Sligo manager, will be taking charge of the Tubbercurry Senior Gaelic footballers this year.

[Redgreenery]

Connacht FBD Results - 7 Janurary 2007

Sligo IT 1-7 Roscommon 0-8
Sligo 0-10 Galway 0-13
GMIT v Leitrim – postponed

[Redgreenery]

Tables as they stand as on 07/01/07

Section A

Team          Played W D L Pts
Sligo I.T.             1 1  0 0 2
Mayo                  0 0  0 0 0
N.U.I.G.              0 0  0 0 0
Roscommon        1 0  0 1 0



Section B

Team          Played W D L Pts
Galway                1 1  0 0 2
Leitrim                0 0 0 0 0
Sligo                   1 0  0 1 0
G.M.I.T               0 0  0 0 0

[GalwayBayBoy]

Galway begin FBD Lge defence with win
Sunday, 07 January 2007 7:56 
   


Galway got their Connacht FBD League defence off to a winning start by beating Sligo 0-13 to 0-10 in heavy rain in Tubbercurry today.

Joe Bergin and Sean Armstrong played leading roles for the Tribesmen who established an early lead thanks to a run of seven unanswered points inside the first 25 minutes.

The game at Kilcoyne Park was in danger of being called off due to the torrential bouts of rain but the pitch was deemed playable.


Mark Breheny, Sligo's most influential forward, pointed the opener for the home side before Galway began to rattle over the scores - Niall Bergin fisted over and Bergin, Cormac Bane and centre forward Frankie Burke (0-2 each) all found their range.

Nicky Joyce was also putting in an energetic performance as the visitors' full-forward.

With Sean Davey and Tony Taylor foraging well in Sligo's midfield, the hosts added points through Breheny and Paul Taylor but Peter Ford's side still had a four-point buffer at the interval.

With frontliners such as Eamon O'Hara, who got married on New Year's Day, Adrian Marren, Brian Curran, David Kelly, Padraig Doohan, Patrick Naughton and Brendan Egan, Sligo could have been forgiven for throwing the towel in.

But Tommy Breheny's charges stuck to their task and whittled the Galway lead down to two points before second half substitutes Ja Fallon and Armstrong got Galway back on track.

Frees from Breheny and Taylor added to Sligo's tally before Joyce and Kieran Quinn traded points. Galway saw out the win with a brace of late points including an impressive 35-yard effort from Salthill clubman Armstrong.

Elsewhere, John Maughan's Roscommon side fell to a surprising 1-7 to 0-8 defeat to Sligo IT, while the Section B clash between GMIT and Leitrim was called off due to a waterlogged pitch.

Anybody got the full teams from the game? Notice Nicky Joyce is back in again and Ja made an appearance.

[dodo]

Great to see Ja is back again. One hell of a player and one I would travel to see.

What is the story with Nicky Joyce ? Early signs promised a good future, was supposed to be flying in training before Galway Mayo Connaught Final in Pierse Stadium few years ago. Had another falling out with management and then walked out of squad few because of lack of opportunities. Is he rated in Galway ?

[GalwayBayBoy]

Is he rated in Galway ?

He's a natural finisher and can knock over points all day long but I think people have questioned his attitude at times and whether he has the appetite for battle and to play intercounty football.

If he can get his head right and is prepared to work hard he'd be a big addition for any side.

[magpie seanie]

I often wonder if the people writing these reports actually go to the games. The inaccuracies are glaring. That one put up by GBB is marginally better than the one on GAA.ie.

Anyway, attended my first ever FBD game at a rain soaked Tubbercurry. There was quite a decent crowd in attendance and even a programme available - even if both teams contained several changes from the lineups listed in it. Mark Breheny's opening score was a nice one but Galway were in control for the most part due to our non-existant midfield. Noel Maguire was doing very well on Nicky Joyce but had to be moved as Donovan was struggling with Frankie Burke. The Sligo defence just couldn't cope with wave after wave of attack and we found ourselves 7-1 down and in trouble. Kieran Quinn then won a free and ended up on the end of the move to take a good score off his left foot and this seemed to rally the home side. Paul Taylor and Breheny landed scores to cut the gap to 4 points at half time (Sligo 0-4, Galway 0-8). Galway got the first score of the second period immediately as Sligo again struggled in the middle. The restruturing of the team following John McPartland's retirement due to injury (Breheny to centre forward, McHugh in to corner forward and a few minutes later Quinn to midfield) gave Sligo a bit better balance and the home side probably shaded the remainder of the game. Too many errors and some bad shooting (Gerry McGowan's one will long stay in the mind) meant Galway were able to get over the line in the end. With about 5 minutes to go both sides were nearly out on their feet from the heavy underfoot conditions. They deserve great credit for the game they served up in such terrible (bordering unplayable) conditions. Sligo team (and scores from play from memory): P. Greene, C. Harrison, N. Maguire, R. Donovan, B. Egan, P. McGovern, J. Martyn, T. Taylor, S. Davey, P. Gallagher, J. McPartland, K. Quinn (0-2), M. Breheny (0-2), P. Taylor, D. Kelly. Subs used: S. McHugh for McPartland, B. Phillips for J. Martyn, G. McGowan for Kelly, K. Sweeney (0-1) for P. Taylor.

From a Sligo point of view encouraging displays from Noel Maguire, Harrison, McGovern, Kieran Quinn, Breheny and I thought McHugh looked like he could be a contender for the speedster corner forward role. His attitude looked very good.

I paid less attention to Galway but Coyne at centre back(problem position), Cormac Bane and Frankie Burke (before Maguire got to grips with him) looked impressive.

[AhFeckRef]

Leitrim v GMIT game was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch. Seriously, is there no pitch in Galway that could have taken this game today. I don't think there was going to be a massive crowd!!!

Surely Galway county board or whoever is responsible for this fixture could have done more to ensure it went ahead somewhere in Galway today.

[GalwayBayBoy]

Galway impress in Tubbercurry win

With Joe Bergin particularly impressive, Galway withstood a second half Sligo comeback to take both points in this Connacht FBD FL encounter.

Galway 0-13
Sligo 0-10

The weather nearly got the better of both sides and certainly made the fans life a misery but there were enough quality scores in this clash to keep everybody entertained.

Both sides had new faces on show but it was the Tribesmen who were quickest out of the traps and by the half time whistle led by all of seven points.

Sligo were looking down the barrel of an embarrassing defeat but they upped the tempo after the break and with mark Breheny in excellent form they narrowed the gap to just two points late on.

However, Galway, who introduced Ja Fallon as a second half substitute, fired over two late points from Cormac Bane and Sean Armstrong to ensure the win.

Galway - P Doherty; A Glynn, B Dooney, D Mullaney; M Comer, N Coyne, G Sice; B Cullinane, P Geraghty 0-1, N Coleman 0-1, D Savage, J Bergin 0-3; F Burke 0-1, N Joyce 0-2, C Bane 0-3. Subs - J Murphy 0-1 for Sice, J Fallon for Geraghty, S Armstrong 0-1 for Burke.

Sligo - P Green; C Harrison, R Donavan, J Martyn; B Egan, P McGovern, N McGuire; T Taylor, S Davey 0-1; P Gallagher, J McPartland, K Quinn 0-3; M Breheny 0-5, P Taylor 0-1, D Kelly. Subs - S McHugh for McPartland, B Phillips for Martyn, G McGowan, K Sweeney for P Taylor.

[Owenmoresider]

Too many errors and some bad shooting (Gerry McGowan's one will long stay in the mind) meant Galway were able to get over the line in the end.

Sweet Jesus, Gerry is back again? And back to usual tricks too it appears. Should try to develop the likes of Kelly and McHugh for the corner-forward role rather than returning to a proven failure.

Wasn't at it myself, so can't comment on the team's display. Anyway it's better to lose yesterday than be getting beaten by Meath or Cavan in the league. Early days yet.

[DJGaliv]

I paid less attention to Galway but Coyne at centre back(problem position), Cormac Bane and Frankie Burke (before Maguire got to grips with him) looked impressive.

Centre back isn't a problem position for us at all anymore. Blake has been outstanding in that position for quite some time. We don't have any problem with our defence at all, apart from maybe finding someone to grab the no.7 shirt. Our problem position is finding a settled midfield, and getting our apparently super talented forward line to gel for the first time in a few years.

[DJGaliv]

Leitrim v GMIT game was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch. Seriously, is there no pitch in Galway that could have taken this game today. I don't think there was going to be a massive crowd!!!

Surely Galway county board or whoever is responsible for this fixture could have done more to ensure it went ahead somewhere in Galway today.

Leitrim refuse to play on unmarked pitch
Monday January 8th 2007
ADVERTISEMENT





LEITRIM yesterday refused to fulfil a game in the Connacht FBD League when the venue for the game was switched to a pitch with no markings.

Their clash with GMIT was originally fixed for Pearse Stadium in Salthill but was then switched in midweek to Castlegar.

However, when that venue was made unavailable due to weather yesterday, the game was moved to Mervue GAA grounds a mile away.

But while the match officials and GMIT were prepared to go ahead with the game even though the pitch was not lined, Leitrim refused to take part.

Leitrim County Board chairman Gerry McGovern said he was outraged that an inter-county team would be asked to take part in a competitive fixture on a pitch that was not lined.

"I'm absolutely outraged. We're trying to bring a level of professionalism to the game and to be treated like this is very frustrating.

"We go to great lengths to ensure our lads get the best treatment and to be treated like this is a real slap in the face," he said.

"We're all extremely annoyed but not entirely surprised considering this is the third time the venue has changed for this match," said McGovern.

It now remains to be seen what course of action the Connacht Council take and if the game will be refixed.

I'm sure it wouldn't have been too hard to find a pitch lined at the weekend. Mervue pitch is a shithole, and shouldn't host club games, don't mind inter-county.

[Redgreenery]

Results 14 Janurary 2007.

Section A

Roscommon 1-16  NUIG 1-09

Section B

Galway 0-07  Leitrim 0-04

GMIT 0-04   Sligo 1-16

[Owenmoresider]

Anyone in Glenamaddy at the Sligo game? Looks an impressive victory going by the scoreline. GMIT probably aren't up to much though.

[GalwayBayBoy]

Galway shot 19 wides but still had enough firepower to see off Leitrim 0-7 to 0-4 at Tuam Stadium on Sunday as they grabbed their second win of the 2007 Connacht FBD League.

Cormac Bane and Joe Bergin hit two points apiece as the Tribesmen took the honours in this poor quality tie which was dominated by a gusting wind.

The few highlights were provided by former Footballer of the Year Ja Fallon, who, at 33, still has plenty to offer Galway manager Peter Ford.


Leitrim, who had the elements in the first half, had to do without the presence on the sidelines of their manager Dessie Dolan snr through illness.

The sides were locked level at 0-3 apiece at the break - Nicky Joyce, Bergin and Derek Savage got off the mark for the hosts while James Glancy, Ciaran and Michael Duignan raised white flags for Leitrim.

Incredibly, the second half was 21 minutes old when Galway finally added to their tally through the workmanlike Bane.

Bergin then cancelled out a Ciaran Duignan point and further scores from Fallon and Bane again saw out the Galway win. Leitrm ended the game down to 14 men as they had corner back Ciaran Kennedy dismissed.

Elsewhere in the Connacht FBD League, Roscommon got off the mark in Section A with a 1-16 to 1-9 success over NUI Galway at Woodmount while Sligo, who lost to Galway last week, comprehensively saw off GMIT by 1-16 to 0-4