Well seeing as how none of the Larries or the Lakers (Go Kobe) seem willing to put their heads above the parapet (unless I missed a thread) I said I'd start one to mark the first game of the new Leinster Senior Football championship season. Longford seem to have been a very fractious and dissatisfied bunch during the early round of the leagues, but their performances against Dublin in the O'Byrne Cup final and the fact that they got themselves out of a very tight spot in the last 2 games of the league would seem to suggest they are far better than their February and March form would indicate. In Brian Kavanagh they have a genuine All Star calibre forward, and with the game up in Pearse Park, you would have to give them a fighting chance of causing a mini upset on Sunday. However, their backs, especially around the full back position, seem to be a real achilies heal, and would give you cause for concern if you were a Longfordian. Or a ShamrockShorian, or a Laurelyeyian or even a Billys Bootsian.
For our beloved northern neighbours, it has been, in fairness, a very impressive year. Notwithstanding Dublin's travails before the league final; a win in Monaghan along with some of their other results, resulted in a well deserved promotion to the top tier which will be a brilliant help come 2009. They are going well, and even if there are doubts around Dessie Dolan's fitness they seem to have a good scoring threat, including the mercurial Martin Flanagan. Flanagan has been the bane of Westmeath supporters since I was playing. He's a bit younger than me, but he has always been touted as a great prospect, slated, renewed himself, sulked off, and is now back in one of those rich veins of form. On his game he would be the best Westmeath player they have, including Dessie, Damien Healy and anyone else. Unfortunately for him, over the years, he's had rare enough days like that.
Westmeath's backs are good, and Damien Healy is still going great guns. Connaughton is a sound keeper, and Duffy in midfield is a very good prospect, improving all the time and with a great pair of hands.
On all known pointers, you would have to give a confident vote to Westmeath, but championship is championship, and Longford at home will be hard beaten in a first round game. I'm not convinced that Westmeath will have a stroll in the park, and in fact I have a sneaky suspicion that Longford might pull off an unlikely looking surprise.
Don't think there is huge optimism in Longford. The inconsistency would get you down. You know there are lots of good players there and there are some sporadic performances to justify it but you don't know what is coming next. Injuries are a problem and altho most counties cry wolf about them at this time of year I know for a fact in Longfords case a lot of them are genuine and although lads may play they would not have done the training you would like coming into the first round of the championship. Added to that our neighbours obviously being on a bit of a high at the moment and I think we are in trouble. The advance warning we gave them just about this time last year will just ensure they are not over confident so that doesn't help!
As AZ said our full back line is a huge problem...to be fair to the lads most of them do not even play in their own clubs full back lines so its always going to be difficult when they come up against top class full forwards. Then you never know how our midfield is going to perform. If we are beaen here we could be in big trouble. Anyway with all that optimism out of the way I'm off down to pearse park to get my ticket and one for Longfords biggest supporter....at 5 years of age he has a lot of heart ache in front of him!!!
And Billy we'll be avoiding the ice cream this year!!
I'm getting into practice for Sunday
(http://www.webtvhub.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/extreme_phobia.jpg)
and then
(http://pomomusings.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/man-crying.jpg)
Howya AZ,
yea it could be a savage spicy start to the championship, noting that the sides played twice last year also. The first match was a fine win for Longford but in the qualifiers Westmeath had regrouped and won convincingly.
From looking at it based on the time since the last championship match, Westmeath went from strength to strength in the qualifiers and in div 2, longford haven't. But we have to throw in the LUKE factor too!
I'd give the nod to Westmeath though overall. I think the seven division one games (well most of them) gives them more in the tank than what Longford encountered, I don't think they'll get ambushed this year.
Quote from: Shamrock Shore on May 07, 2008, 01:08:29 PM
I'm getting into practice for Sunday
(http://www.webtvhub.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/extreme_phobia.jpg)
and then
(http://pomomusings.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/man-crying.jpg)
You seem to have metamorphosised (sp?) from a young one into a grizzled auld lad. That'll be some game to do that :D
Must win game for Westmeath. I don't think we'll see Dessie start and maybe no Duffy either, which leaves us without two of our main players from the NFL. On the plus side, even without these two, we've a much more settled side than we had this time last year. Our defense has been going well, we've actually employed tactics for the first time under O'Flaherta and I'd hope we'd have plans in place to deal with Kavanagh, the Bardens and the ball going in to them. The problem with playing a Dempsey team is that you don't know what in de name a Jaysus to expect, it'll either be O'Byrne Cup Final Longford or nearly relegated to Div 4 Longford. Irregardless, we should play into the gale in de first half, stay with them and then hopefully pull away in the second half. There should be no lack of motivation here as what happened at the same venue this time last year is still fresh in the memory... The Lakers to sneak it by a couple of points.
after the way westmeath played in div 2 .... hard to see longford gettin anythin out of this..
See "our" Lukie is trying his mind games again by saying that Westmeath were "awesome" in the NFL and that they're one of de favourites for Leinster :D Your mind games didn't work against Laois last year Lukie and they won't work against us this year either as we're still mindful of de job we never finished last year as well as de fact that we haven't won a Leinster Championship game since 2004...
Elsewhere I see that the Longford County Board are kicking up a stink over having to cover up their existing sponsors boards with ones advertising the Official GAA Sponsors, i.e. Toyota, Ulster Bank and Vodafone in the football. And whilst de Slashers have taken to the boardrooms Dessie has taken to the bog in order to sort out his dodgy hamstrings, must be a very slow news day in the Sun...
Not expecting anything unexpected on Sunday.
That's as much as I'm willing to venture.
Are these Longfordians in for a big disappointment on Sunday?
(http://longfordgaa.ie/county/photos/longford-laois%2007/000029_longford_laois07.jpg)
Will someone please think of these children?
(http://www.longfordgaa.ie/county/photos/longford-westmeath%2007/000010_longford_westmeath07.jpg)
And these (with a few mins to go in last year's Pearse Park encounter)
Jaysus. It's true, you do age watching Longford. They've added about 5 years in one game :D
:D
Oh it can get much worse than that my Offaly friend (on the day that Offaly took its rightful place in history).
Here is the report of the 1999 clash between Westmeath and Longford in Dunnes Car Park:
Longford destroyed by Westmeath
Westmeath 3-17 Longford 2-09
Do not let the scoreline fool you. Although Westmeath won by 11 points in the end it was only due to a late Longford rally which saw them score 2-04 in the final ten minutes. At one stage Westmeath led by 3-15 to 0-05 - a whopping 18 point difference. So where did it all go wrong for Longford?
The first 15 minutes or so were even enough - with Enda Barden being Longford's main influence. Westmeath got a goal after 17 minutes which gave them added confidence and 10 minutes later added a second. Both Dessie Dolan and Ger Heavin in the two corners were totally on top of their respective markers, Martin Mulleady and Colin Hannify and Longford's defence had severe difficulty in coping with the marauding Westmeath forwards. The third Westmeath goal came on the stroke of half time and buried whatever slim chance Longford had of making a second half comeback. Half time score Westmeath 3-06 Longford 0-05.
The second half started like the first one ended with Westmeath forwards running riot. In the first 17 minutes of the half they had scored 9 points without reply. Longford meanwhile rearranged the defence, with Colin Hannify moving up to the half forwards, and Enda Ledwith going back to mark Heavin - but it was too little too late.
Whether Westmeath took the foot off the pedal in the final 18 or so minutes or they ran out of steam is debatable but Longford put a little respectability on the scoreline with Niall Sheridan getting a goal in the 55th minute and Trevor Smullen also getting a goal in the 61st. Trevor's opportunity came after a Niall Sheridan shot came off the post. Consolation points from Enda and Paul Barden ended a miserable day for Longford.
It was hard to pick out individual Longford performances but I thought Niall Sheridan had the full back in trouble every time he did get posession. Pauric Davis did his best but was well shackled by Westmeath's Dermot Brady. Enda Barden had a fine first 20 minutes but found himself swamped by the Westmeath midfield.
So a very disappointing end to the Championship. Westmeath now go on to meet Laois on June 13 in the Leinster quarter final. I predict that Westmeath will easily beat Laois to go on to meet Dublin or Louth in the Leinster semi-final. Good luck to them.
Longford manager, Michael McCormack was pulling no punches after last Sunday's game, stating clearly that it was a disappointing day for Longford football. He suggested that the occasion of playing in front of 15,000 might have got to some of the players. "I am highly disappointed. Whatever happened the occasion might have just got to some of the players. It's probably with a young team, you are always going to have that problem. We had a lot of young fella's in and that occasion probably got to them. It looked that way on the field and that goal they got before half time probably killed us," said a quite dejected McCormack. But far from being totally downcast about the game, he found many positive things to build on in the coming months, especially with the younger players coming in.
"There has yes been encouraging signs. We would be very disappointed with that performance, but there is a future in this team, this team has great potential, but they did not play to their potential today. Westmeath are a very good side and they have improved considerably well. I think our guys have as well but they did not show it for whatever reason," said McCormack. Describing where it went wrong for Longford, Michael McCormack pointed to the amount of breaking balls won by Westmeath. "They (Westmeath) were very strong on the half back line and half forward line and we weren't picking up breaks. Early on we had chances and hit them short and things just didn't go for us today. The 'keeper made three or four good saves in the first half and maybe we were unlucky not to get a goal in the first half early to settle us down. The first goal came and I'd say it probably put a lot of doubts into our players heads," said Michael.
McCormack also commented that the game started at a fast pace and despite the defeat, he believed that the players will learn from it. "It was very fast all right. The pitch was in good order. It started very fast. Our players are very disappointed with themselves and they know themselves that they played way down below par. But its' a learning process for them. It always hard enough to learn the hard way and maybe it's the way they should learn," McCormack said. He was full of praise for Westmeath's performance, but pointed out that the performance of some Longford players might worry Lowry.
"Westmeath are very strong all over the field. A very good side. The only thing looking at today's performance, I thought our full forward line done very well, Niall Sheridan and Pauric Davis were always there inside winning it. That's they only place that Westmeath were down. We just couldn't get enough ball into them," said Michael. McCormack also revealed that two of his players were carrying injuries going into the game and that the extra week did Westmeath some good. "Enda Barden and David Hannify were both carrying injuries going into the game. We had two very hard games against Wexford and probably Westmeath had the better rest with those three weeks to prepare to for today's game. We just had two weeks and the first week was just a recovery. But I am not just making excuses. Today we just didn't perform," emphasised McCormack.
So what of the future for Michael McCormack and Longford seniors? "I don't know at the minute," he replied. The team is being built and hopefully there are a lot of young people who will hopefully come back in and play. We will be encourage by all the young fella's and there is great interest shown in the county team this year. We got good coverage over the last month and the crowd today from Longford will have given us a buzz. It's just unfortunate that we did not play better. If we had of played better and lost, we would be happy, but we didn't and we are not happy," concluded McCormack.
'It was a good team performance - Lowry
Westmeath manager, Brendan Lowry was obviously in a buoyant mood after his side's eleven point win over Longford in Cusack Park on Sunday last and was pleased with his team's all round performance. "It was a good team performance - we move the ball well and got the ball well and got the ball into the danger area quickly. If you get the ball into the danger area quickly enough you're bound to get some breaks," said Lowry. Although admitting they got more than their share of the breaks, but he said that was owing to their dictation of the pace of the game. "Things worked out for us very well out there. But we dictated the pace of the game to them. We can be a problem for anyone when we are dictating the pace of the game," said Brendan.
The influence of his under-21 players was not lost on him and he enthused that they had a positive effect on the panel. "The effect they have is to increase the pressure for places in the panel. They are young lads and nothing scares them. Having had success, they've had their expectancy levels are high and that has a good effect on other players too," said the All-Ireland winner with Offaly. Next for Westmeath are Laois in Croke Park - again a repeat of last year when Westmeath were beaten. Lowry believes his side can go one better at least, which reflects the thinking of the entire county. "It's up to us to show we can improve. We played well enough against Laois last year but we have got to show we can raise our game again," concluded Lowry.
On a final note I was disgusted with the stewarding in Cusack Park yesterday. I arrived for the match at half two and it took me half an hour to get in. Three turnstiles for 5,000 people is pathetic and the start of the game was held up for 5 minutes so that people could get in. Late comers, I am sure missed, most of the first half. For a ground that has been recently redeveloped it is just not good enough. Unfortunately I do not have an e-mail address for Westmeath County Board for an expression of opinion. Perhaps a web-site, official or unofficial will develop soon.
Anyone know if this game is being broadcasted by Setanta online or is there any other way I can get the game over here in San Fran?
Quote from: Roseyland on May 08, 2008, 06:22:17 AM
Anyone know if this game is being broadcasted by Setanta online or is there any other way I can get the game over here in San Fran?
It will be broadcast on Shannonside, provided you're willing to put up with Longford commentary:
http://powerlink.powerstream.net/002/00187/live2.asx (http://powerlink.powerstream.net/002/00187/live2.asx)
Starts at 7.30am California time.
Longford exploit peculiar traits of home turf
By Eugene McGee
Monday May 14 2007
LAST week in this column, we wrote about how few teams are capable of winning the All-Ireland championship and some people took that as a note of despair which, of course, it was not.
There is much more to the championship every summer than producing Sam Maguire Cup winners and yesterday at Pearse Park in Longford, we got a perfect example of that.
A typical local derby between Longford and Westmeath, over 10,000 people in attendance on a warm summer Sunday . . . what more could a real GAA fan want?
Certainly no Longford follower could ask for more, having journeyed from the depths of despair at halftime to unbridled joy later on as they watched their heroes stage a Lazarus like comeback and grab a dramatic victory — their first win in the Leinster championship for six long years.
What we got yesterday in Pearse Park was the heart and soul of Gaelic games as opposed to all the cosmetic stuff that now attaches itself to big games at a higher level than this.
The players put aside all thoughts of personal safety as they battled for the honour and glory of their county and there was hardly a dirty stroke in the 75 minutes played.
In the end, Longford were very deserving winners because of the manner in which they clawed their way back just after half-time and then ran themselves into the ground to prevent Westmeath building up any useful attacks.
The second-half score of 2-8 to 0-3 in favour of Longford shows just how much effort the players put in to secure a meeting with Laois back in Pearse Park again in three weeks' time.
Like many other GAA grounds, Pearse Park has its own little oddities that visiting teams are not often aware of and one of these is that there is a 'scoring goals'. Traditionally, at Pearse Park, this is at the town end of the ground. When there is a strong wind blowing into those goals, that peculiarity becomes very important indeed . . . and so it proved to Longford yesterday.
Westmeath had those advantages in the first half and Dessie Dolan and Denis Glennon lofted over no less than seven points from play from all angles and distances.
That was the basis for the total demolition job the maroons inflicted on the home team in the opening period. The Longford defence virtually collapsed, with Westmeath scoring four unanswered point at the start of the game and near the end of the half scoring another 1-6 without reply. And it could have been even more as they missed two open goal chances from inside 10 yards as well.
It was a barrage of destruction that would have finished many teams, but Longford were saved by Pat McEneaney's half-time whistle which gave them time to get their bearings.
They knew that the wind and the 'scoring goals' factor would certainly help after the break, but they could never have imagined that within just eight minutes of the restart they would have wiped out the eight-point deficit with two goals from Brian Kavanagh and two points from Paul Barden.
This barrage of scores overwhelmed Westmeath and one could see their earlier confidence and bravado disappearing before our eyes.
Longford were never going to lose after that and even their previously awful defence tightened up enough to restrict Westmeath to just three points in the concluding 38 minutes.
The introduction of David Barden at corner-forward at half-time was the psychological time bomb that destroyed Westmeath. He was sore about being left off the team after having his recent suspension halved and he ran like hell at the opposing defence, giving his marker John Keane a total roasting.
Kavanagh's goals in the second and fifth minutes sparked panic in the Westmeath backline and the gaps appeared which allowed Kavanagh and a host of other Longford players loft over the scores at regular intervals.
Westmeath also lost control at midfield, ironically in view of the fact that Longford's main man there, Liam Keenan, was unable to start the second half due to injury.
Paddy Dowd, who had been a third midfielder in the first half to little effect, played a stormer when allocated a regular role there alongside Bernard McElvanney.
The most amazing aspect about the second half was the total failure of the Westmeath attacking set-up. Just as Longford had done in the opening half, their forwards tried to walk the ball into the scoring area with an orgy of short passes, but time after time they ended up in a heap of bodies and got nowhere.
Why Westmeath were not able to isolate Dolan and Glennon and send long balls into them was a mystery. Dolan got no score from play in the second half, while Glennon got one point.
The 'game of two halves' cliché was apt yesterday. Westmeath scored 1-8 from play in the first half and only 0-2 in the second. Longford got 0-2 from play in the first half and 2-6 in the second.
I expect this to be a very tough one for Westmeath and I hope the squad and management are approaching it as such. Longford have shown the last couple of years that nobody can go to Pearse Park (think I got it right this time...) and get a win without a big fight in recent years, even the Dubs were nearly caught recently...
Any talk of upsets if Longford win is nonsense. Based on league form Westmeath should have enough but league form goes out the window now.
Apparently Dolan tweaked his hamstring against Dublin in the league final, he should never have been brought on and if Westmeath loose a tight match on Sunday O'Flaherta has alot to answer for. Whether Dolan plays or not is irrelevant, an extra weeks recovery would have made a big difference to fitness levels as well as his hamstring.
Quote from: AN other on May 08, 2008, 07:45:15 PM
I expect this to be a very tough one for Westmeath and I hope the squad and management are approaching it as such. Longford have shown the last couple of years that nobody can go to Pearse Park (think I got it right this time...) and get a win without a big fight in recent years, even the Dubs were nearly caught recently...
Any talk of upsets if Longford win is nonsense. Based on league form Westmeath should have enough but league form goes out the window now.
Apparently Dolan tweaked his hamstring against Dublin in the league final, he should never have been brought on and if Westmeath loose a tight match on Sunday O'Flaherta has alot to answer for. Whether Dolan plays or not is irrelevant, an extra weeks recovery would have made a big difference to fitness levels as well as his hamstring.
Did Dolan feature in the final against Dublin? Sounds a bit crazy, he sustained the hamstring damage during the Monaghan game in Clones.
He did. He (Dessie Dolan) was interviewed in yesterday's Evening Herald and he pushed the management to be brought on only to tweak the hammer again. I think Tomás is probably blameless if he doesn't make it.
Well Dolan hasn't made it. He did do the damage against Monaghan and tweaked it against Dublin when brought on. It was crazy. Dolan might have been pushing to be brought on but O'Flaherta had the final say. Sunday's game is far more important than the game against the Dubs. Dolan's been suffering with hamstring problems for most of the year so far.
Duffy hasn't made it either. Westmeath's task has got all the tougher.
With the two injuries carrying through, the team is the same as the team which took on the Dubs, which was a predictable enough selection were Dolan and Duffy not to make it.
We've had the same first 7 for virtually all the league which should stand us in good stead on Sunday but you're only as good as your last game, the same applies to the good performers like Flanagan, O'Donoghue, Wilson and Harte the last day. We'll need repeat performances from all on Sunday and probably a bit of luck to get the win.
Ironically, I think this almost makes an upset less likely. It's going to be extremely hard to see Westmeath looking beyond this game now. Dolan is a huge loss, but I actually think Duffy might be a more important miss against Longford. If Martin Flanagan has one of his round the world soloing tours on Sunday, Westmeath could be in trouble, but I think they'll be very focussed now. I'm still tipping Longford for an upset though :D
Foireann Iarmhí v Longfort
1. G. Connaughton;
2. F. Boyle,
3. K. Gavin,
4. J. Keane;
5. M. Ennis,
6. D. Heavin,
7. D. Healy;
8. D. O'Donoghue,
9. M. Flanagan;
10. F. Wilson,
11. J. Smyth,
12. D. Harte;
13. A. Mangan,
14. D. Glennon,
15. D. Bannon.
Strong half back line.
Quote from: AZOffaly on May 09, 2008, 09:46:59 AM
Ironically, I think this almost makes an upset less likely. It's going to be extremely hard to see Westmeath looking beyond this game now. Dolan is a huge loss, but I actually think Duffy might be a more important miss against Longford. If Martin Flanagan has one of his round the world soloing tours on Sunday, Westmeath could be in trouble, but I think they'll be very focussed now. I'm still tipping Longford for an upset though :D
I'd agree re Duffy AZ. We struggled in midfield last year against Longford and I think it is what cost us the game that day in the end. Along with the two early second half goals of course... Duffy has been playing great stuff this year so far and we need him back to full fitness soon if we are to do well this year. We do need a big game from Flanagan in his absence, but he's been producing them consistently this year so hopefully he won't blow it now...
How is Donal Donoghue doing out around midfield? I'd have classed him as a bit immobile in at full back, but he might have the stamina for midfield. Has he the football for it?
No news on the Longford team yet. Some of these lads will surely start:
(http://www.longfordgaa.ie/county/photos/00001_training_wmeath08.jpg)
The jive lives on in Larryland!
Quote from: AZOffaly on May 09, 2008, 10:38:37 AM
How is Donal Donoghue doing out around midfield? I'd have classed him as a bit immobile in at full back, but he might have the stamina for midfield. Has he the football for it?
O'Donoghue's a good footballer in my opinion. He is a bit slow but he's done well in midfield this year. He's been playing there with Shamrocks for a few years now I think. His distribution is generally accurate and he's produced some great forward passes from midfield in the league, most notably his ball into Bannon that lead to the goal against Monaghan. He's been playing as almost a third midfielder or replaced a midfielder in any of the games he's been playing as half forward this year, the new position seems to work for him. He's not been found wanting too much in the air either, while he's not capable of producing the fielding of either Duffy or Flanagan when they're on top of their game he's a good ball breaker and winner. Sunday will be a big test for him.
I see Brian Kavanagh togged out in what appears to be a Westmeath jersey. He wouldn't be a bad replacement for Dolan.
Team as expected, hopefully O'Flaherta's decision to bring on Dessie the last day doesn't come back to haunt us Midfield is gonna be key now, need even more from Flan and O'Donoghue than they've given us so far, Dowd's strong running has to be curtailed. Another big performance needed from Bannon, nothing like having Dessie on the bench to keep you focussed. Speaking of focus, there should be two things running through the panels minds on Sunday.
1. What happened last year in Pearse Park
2. We haven't won a game in the Leinster Championship since 2004
Don't spare the whip Westmeath!!!
I've studied this thread carefully and although you all have made fairly relevant points concerning different boyos who are great but let's be honest. Who gives a fcuk. You'll win nothing. This is like the FA preliminary rounds. Fcuk away aff to the Tommy Murphy and let the big boys play. I own you two.
Like, longford or longfort? Make your feckin minds up. And iarmhi. Sounds like scurvy.
Quote from: forkinknife on May 09, 2008, 10:53:32 PM
Sounds like scurvy.
Was it scurvy or the crabs you hard knifeinfork?
Entertaining enough. Westmeath took their foot off at the end and were lucky that time was up - Longford had gained the momentum, if only they had woken up 10 minutes earlier.
Some very nice scores - the Longford goal in particular was a cracker.
Didn't see the game, half decent report on Hoganstand already though.
Leinster SFC: Westmeath see off Longford
11 May 2008
Westmeath had two first-half goals to thank for this 2-10 to 1-10 Leinster SFC victory over Longford at Pearse Park in the season's championship opener.
Score-wise, the winners did most of the damage in the first period and were on top for much of the 70 minutes, but still had to withstand a spirited late Longford revival.
Tomas O'Flatharta will be delighted with the result as this is Westmeath's first win in the provincial phase of the knockout competition since they took their breakthrough crown four years ago. The victory books a quarter-final meeting with Offaly.
There wasn't an awful lot between the team in the first half but timely - and fortuitous - goals from Alan Mangan and Dennis Glennon saw the Westmeath men into a 2-4 to 0-5 interval advantage.
Westmeath made a late change to their starting line-up, with talismanic attacker Dessie Dolan coming in at corner forward after shaking off the ankle injury that kept him out of the Division Two decider.
Former Lake County boss Luke Dempsey started with the previously-announced XV, which meant no Declan Farrell, no David Barden and an inexperienced half-back line containing championship rookies Enda Williams and Paul Kelly.
The mean Westmeath blanket defence was nowhere to be seen in the second minute as Kevin Mulligan powered through unchallenged to pop over a nice opening point off his left boot. At the other end, Dennis Glennon had a sight of goal but took too much out of the ball and was closed down well by Diarmuid Masterson.
Martin Flanagan won and converted a free beautifully to level the scores on five minutes. In the sixth minute, Glennon was awarded a controversial penalty after going to ground under pressure and the kick was taken by the man who had started that move - Alan Mangan.
The No.13 took a very poor kick straight at Damien Sheridan but the home county's goalkeeper fumbled the ball to the corner of the net for a vital early score. Moments later, Dolan - wearing No.28 - was mere inches off target with a delightful goal effort off the outside of his right boot.
At this stage, the men in blue were in all sorts of trouble, with the visitors dominating possession, winning all the ball from kick-outs, and leading by that Mangan goal.
Longford has some respite with a couple of attacks but Brian Kavanagh missed the target twice, with 13 Westmeath players swarming around inside their own half. When Flanagan clipped another free over the black spot on 13 minutes, Westmeath led by 1-2 to 0-1.
Kavanagh had a bad wide after carving the Westmeath defence open on the quarter-hour mark. Clearly he wasn't going to repeat his 2007 haul against the same opposition. Francis McGee struck a post from a long-range free before Dolan opened his account from a soft free after Glennon had seemingly been cleanly dispossessed but Tyrone referee Michael Hughes spotted an indiscretion of some sort.
Another strange call from the official gifted Longford a free, which McGee converted for his side's second score on 20 minutes. Three minutes later, the hosts scored again when McGee claimed another free after Flanagan was harshly adjudged to have thrown the ball to himself.
Westmeath had momentarily lost their way in the sweltering heat. They were defending tenaciously but offering little attacking threat. McGee missed his next free but Kavanagh swung over a great sideline kick on 26 minutes to close the gap to two. The response was supreme from Flanagan, who showed his class with a wonderful score from play: 1-4 to 0-4.
Kevin Mulligan became the second Longford man to hit the post and their luck was out again when Masterson was penalised and booked after executing a textbook shoulder-to-shoulder tackle. Jamesie Martin knocked over an inspirational point off his left foot to again reduce the gap to two but Longford's joy was short-lived.
Just after the half-hour, Glennon scored a freak goal from an impossible angle. The big full forward seemed to have lost control of the ball after cutting in along the endline from the left and there was a question of overcarrying and also a suspicion that he threw the ball onto the ground, but he got his foot to the rolling ball and it went through the keeper's legs for a fairly bizarre and crucial score.
The two goals had the Division Two winners in charge on the scoreboard, while wides #7 and #8 from Martin and midfielder Liam Keenan did little to help Longford's cause. On the stroke of half time, Kavanagh found himself in a one-on-one with Gary Connaughton but the Westmeath netsman won the battle to keep his goal intact.
David Barden came in at half time for Longford and Fergal Wilson opened the second-half scoring from a free after Flanagan went to ground all too easily. That was the only score inside the first eleven minutes of the second period and Longford could make no inroads into the two-goal deficit until Paul Barden struck one off his left foot after Westmeath were guilty of over-elaborating in defence.
Dolan converted a free from his hands in the 49th minute after he had been fouled by Keenan (yellow card) as he tried to take the ball up off the ground. Martin popped over a free at the other end and there were five points between the teams with three-quarters of the game gone - 2-6 to 0-7.
Wilson restored the two-goal cushion with yet another free and Glennon finished a rapid counter-attack with a smart point when he collected a precise pass from Dolan after getting out in front of Kevin McArthur to buy himself a precious split-second.
Workaholic Mangan finally got his first score following a wonderful break out of defence from Damien Healy and the match was well and truly over with ten minutes remaining - 2-9 to 0-7.
Martin's late free seemed to be of little relevance until Paul Barden followed it up with a stunning 65th-minute goal that had the gap suddenly down to four. Within seconds, Kavanagh slammed over a great point with his left peg and suddenly - unbelievably - there was just a goal in it, 2-9 to 1-9. Where had the eight-point gap gone?
Glennon hit a post and Kavanagh kicked wide in a frantic finish. Longford needed a goal to force a replay but Masterson opted to take his point in the second minute of added time. The tension was at fever pitch now but the last score of the match fell to Wilson, who knocked over his third free to confirm victory for the visitors.
first game out so can't expect much, thught it was poor enough though. too much ball given away by both teams, questionable shot selection and an indifferent refeering display. westmeath much the better side,even though they need to improve. had all the excitement really of a wet weekend in ballyhaunis.
It was a mercy killing of sorts even if the Longford goalie will be having nightmares about that game.
The blight of Divers.
You should be allowed to kick a player rolling on the ground after they have dived.
Very disappointing game - some awful football from both sides. Surprised the margin was 3 at the end. If Westmeath were any good it would have been more. Some awful misses by us and the two soft feckin goals (I know one was a penalty but it was a dreadful effort) and I think we may have seen the last of Damien Sheridan in goals. He has had a nightmare season so far.
Fogra
Please please please please get rid of that shaggin Pipe Band
In summary two poor teams with Westmeath just about less bad.
Quote from: Shamrock Shore on May 11, 2008, 08:37:00 PMI think we may have seen the last of Damien Sheridan in goals. He has had a nightmare season so far.
Doubt that, Shamrock. Leaving out the industrial relations aspect, there are no very obvious successors. Not sure that young Watters or Burns from Killoe would be ready to step up to the big time yet.
Went down to the local to see it , and they had fuckin' Man U and Chelsea on. :( Load of boring bollocks, Irish pub me hole! Saw the goals, penalty was desperate goalie was worse, 2 goal was stoppable but the forward did well to make the opportunity.
Quote from: thejuice on May 11, 2008, 09:10:01 PM
Went down to the local to see it , and they had fuckin' Man U and Chelsea on. :( Load of boring bollocks, Irish pub me hole! Saw the goals, penalty was desperate goalie was worse, 2 goal was stoppable but the forward did well to make the opportunity.
I think you also know that it was a bit optimistic to expect a Longford v Westmeath game on ahead of the the last day of the premiership.
Both Westmeath goals were dubious according to the Sunday Game.
Penalty was soft and Denis Glennon took 12 steps before he poked it in.
Missed that at the game but I am quite cross now. Not saying we deserved to win it, by no means, but with an incompetant ref then the odds are really stacked against you.
Just like the disallowed goal v Laois last year.
Bah >:(
Quote from: Tankie on May 11, 2008, 09:30:01 PM
Quote from: thejuice on May 11, 2008, 09:10:01 PM
Went down to the local to see it , and they had fuckin' Man U and Chelsea on. :( Load of boring bollocks, Irish pub me hole! Saw the goals, penalty was desperate goalie was worse, 2 goal was stoppable but the forward did well to make the opportunity.
I think you also know that it was a bit optimistic to expect a Longford v Westmeath game on ahead of the the last day of the premiership.
I dont think it needed both games on, the Chelsea game was irrelevent unless Man U lost so they could easily had the GAA on the 2nd TV, ah well, thank f**k its over for now anyway.
Just watched the game there again on the Sunday game.
For Westmeath a lot of our players will be taking a good look at themselves after today. Good save from Connaughton. Boyle only showed later in the game. Gavin must have got a rocket at halftime, he really started to get out in front in the second half. I still feel John Keane hasn't got back to his best form. Our half backs weren't as impressive as during the league, probably with the exception of Healey, who could have had a goal, and definitely should have taken a point. O'Donoghue worked his socks off and put some great blocks in, and a few more than decent passes. At the end of the day Flans scores were the difference between the sides, and while he was a lot better than this time last year, I'd still reckon he wasn't mobile enough. Then again I could say that about a lot of the players out there today, the heat was definitely a factor, but playing the first round in Pearce also seems to effect Westmeath too, there is definitely apprehension, if not a fear factor. Smyth and Harte worked themselves into the ground without having much to show for it. Up front we were not great. Wilson, despite taking his scores from frees, was only a shadow of himself in the league - why was he switched to rthe right from the left where he is obviously more comfortable? Buddha gave a couple of little cameos, and with 1-1 would seem alright, but hand passed a couple of balls away in vital positions. Denis was Denis. You would just wish sometimes he would take on shots earlier instead of always feeling the need to beat his man twice. Very lucky with his goal also. As for Dessie? I think most would agree at the least he shouldn't have started. I hate to say anything bad about the lad, as he isa legend in my eyes, but today he wasn't at the pace of the game, and was very slopy with his handpassing. He also took on a chance for glory when there was a player better positioned. I got the feeling reading his body language that he was battling with himself as much as the opposition. Hopefully the couple of weeks before the next match will allow him to get back up to match pace as he would want.
Luke had obviously done his homework, and left a man in front of our front two at all times, and it worked well. We were also murdered in the half forwards, which is not unusual for us as we only play two at most, but today it was very obvious that we will struggle with that tactic in the Championship, but it's not like we are suddenly going to find another scoring half forward at this stage of the year.
From a Westmeath point of view we'll just be glad to get out with a victory. A well needed reminder that league is league but championship is championship.
Going by the Sunday game it appears the likes of Westmeath & Longford really shouldn't bother their arse annoying the rest of the country? But what can you do...I suppose the GAA could put some of the bigger counties out earlier, and see quite how impressive they would be two weeks out from a league campaign?
Also Luke would want to dry his eyes a bit. Westmeath got two more frees than Longford. Longford also got a series of frees on the 40 infornt of the posts, which luckily for us 13 missed. I have a lot of time for Luke but there is no need to remind us we owe him a lot every time he is on the box, mentioning 2001 for the umpteenth time. We had similar problems as Longford seem to suffer now - lovely players going forward, but no shape or tactics at the back. I'm a fan of the way he wants to see football played, the pity is that's not the reality of the game. You need a bit more than nice football and nice footballers, you need a tough edge, and do need a fair bit of cynicism unfortunately. And you also need to cut your clothes to suit your cloth.
On another point, saw Evanne Ní Chuilinn up close in the flesh for the first time. Grrrrrrrr!!!! ;D
Quote from: Shamrock Shore on May 11, 2008, 10:02:59 PM
Both Westmeath goals were dubious according to the Sunday Game.
Penalty was soft and Denis Glennon took 12 steps before he poked it in.
Missed that at the game but I am quite cross now. Not saying we deserved to win it, by no means, but with an incompetant ref then the odds are really stacked against you.
Just like the disallowed goal v Laois last year.
Bah >:(
Good news is that there were no serious injuries and no coffins (either real or metaphorical) need to be measured yet.
Luke has never been the most gracious loser however I'd have to agree that the 2nd Westmeath goal in particular was a joke.
Quote from: Mentalman on May 11, 2008, 10:38:05 PM
Good save from Connaughton.
It was straight at him at a very tight angle to be fair - the only way it would have went in is if he had stepped to the side.
As a totally unbiased neutral I thought Westmeath got the benefit of nearly every decision going...very hard to see where the penalty came from, disgraceful decision to allow the 2nd goal taking into account the 10/12 steps and the throwing the ball in the air....Booking for No4 after a perfect shoulder...and some other really soft decisions...
Watching that game I don't feel there is too much to fear from a Dublin viewpoint....Westmeath will suffer badly with all that handpassing against a strong forward line...
Could have easily lost it despite being well ahead in most areas of the pitch for most of the match. It might have been an idea to make a couple of subs towards the end as many Westmeath boys were clearly becoming fatigued. The Longford comeback also coincided with Flanagan's move to the rear... it was very obvious. Dessie looked off the pace at times and made basic uncharacteristic errors. Did O'Flaharta need him to get matchtime? I was sure Bannon would come in after half time.
Is it just me or do I notice the Sunday Game boys carrying a patronising sneer when discussing Longford/Westmeath as if they were U-16's . .. "they've a lot to learn yet". This stuff drives me mad. Give Westmeath a virtual bye into a provincial final (Munster/Connaught) and a population of a few hundred thousand and they might win more titles. Oh Yeah, an odd home game might help. In order to even get a whiff of Dublin Westmeath have to beat Longford and Offaly away. This then entitles them to play against Dublin in their backyard. Bring the Dubs out to nice provincial ground for their first round matches, I say. They should have to earn their Croke Park outings like us poor waifs. Ah Feck...... I'm beginning to sound like my father.
Nice touch after the match when the players from both sides were surrounded by gossouns as they warmed down and nobody tried to stop it. My young fella was horrid impressed at getting so close to them so soon after the match.
One small point. How mad is it expecting the keepers to lep over advertising to retrieve a ball in a space created by two lines of that hoarding. Its unfair and insulting for senior players.
With regard to the pipe band, I think they are fine but I would be glad not to hear them for the third year in a row next year.
Quote from: DUBSFORSAM1 on May 11, 2008, 11:02:26 PM
As a totally unbiased neutral I thought Westmeath got the benefit of nearly every decision going...very hard to see where the penalty came from, disgraceful decision to allow the 2nd goal taking into account the 10/12 steps and the throwing the ball in the air....Booking for No4 after a perfect shoulder...and some other really soft decisions...
Watching that game I don't feel there is too much to fear from a Dublin viewpoint....Westmeath will suffer badly with all that handpassing against a strong forward line...
Wouldn't agree with that. I thought he gave some soft frees to both sides, but also found it hard to give some players any - Dolan being a case in point - his reputation obviously proceeds him. Glennon obviously travelled for his goal, but it was a penalty in my opinion. The booking on 4? Is that one where he put the player over the sideline? If it was, he stuck his shoulder into his chest, which in no way is a fair shoulder. Or was that the high tackle? The ref also handed out a yelow, to Paul Barden I think, for raising his hands after winning a free. That was followed immediately by a yellow for Westmeath for feck all. I didn't think the ref had a great game, but at the end of the day Longford had thier chances to win the game but didn't take them.
As for whether Dublin have anything to fear I think you are being a little bit presumptious no? Apart from the fact Offaly have something to say about that, I think Louth might too.
Quote from: Mentalman on May 11, 2008, 11:23:23 PM
Quote from: DUBSFORSAM1 on May 11, 2008, 11:02:26 PM
As a totally unbiased neutral I thought Westmeath got the benefit of nearly every decision going...very hard to see where the penalty came from, disgraceful decision to allow the 2nd goal taking into account the 10/12 steps and the throwing the ball in the air....Booking for No4 after a perfect shoulder...and some other really soft decisions...
Watching that game I don't feel there is too much to fear from a Dublin viewpoint....Westmeath will suffer badly with all that handpassing against a strong forward line...
Wouldn't agree with that. I thought he gave some soft frees to both sides, but also found it hard to give some players any - Dolan being a case in point - his reputation obviously proceeds him. Glennon obviously travelled for his goal, but it was a penalty in my opinion. The booking on 4? Is that one where he put the player over the sideline? If it was, he stuck his shoulder into his chest, which in no way is a fair shoulder. Or was that the high tackle? The ref also handed out a yelow, to Paul Barden I think, for raising his hands after winning a free. That was followed immediately by a yellow for Westmeath for feck all. I didn't think the ref had a great game, but at the end of the day Longford had thier chances to win the game but didn't take them.
As for whether Dublin have anything to fear I think you are being a little bit presumptious no? Apart from the fact Offaly have something to say about that, I think Louth might too.
It was a shoulder to shoulder and even the commentators said they couldn't see how it was even a foul never mind a booking!!! The yellow for the Westmeath player just afterwards was for stamping on the Longford players foot after the foul...
My comment was that if Dublin have to play Westmeath we shouldn't be too worried....I never said we would definitely be playing them...
Quote from: DUBSFORSAM1 on May 11, 2008, 11:38:00 PM
Quote from: Mentalman on May 11, 2008, 11:23:23 PM
Quote from: DUBSFORSAM1 on May 11, 2008, 11:02:26 PM
As a totally unbiased neutral I thought Westmeath got the benefit of nearly every decision going...very hard to see where the penalty came from, disgraceful decision to allow the 2nd goal taking into account the 10/12 steps and the throwing the ball in the air....Booking for No4 after a perfect shoulder...and some other really soft decisions...
Watching that game I don't feel there is too much to fear from a Dublin viewpoint....Westmeath will suffer badly with all that handpassing against a strong forward line...
Wouldn't agree with that. I thought he gave some soft frees to both sides, but also found it hard to give some players any - Dolan being a case in point - his reputation obviously proceeds him. Glennon obviously travelled for his goal, but it was a penalty in my opinion. The booking on 4? Is that one where he put the player over the sideline? If it was, he stuck his shoulder into his chest, which in no way is a fair shoulder. Or was that the high tackle? The ref also handed out a yelow, to Paul Barden I think, for raising his hands after winning a free. That was followed immediately by a yellow for Westmeath for feck all. I didn't think the ref had a great game, but at the end of the day Longford had thier chances to win the game but didn't take them.
As for whether Dublin have anything to fear I think you are being a little bit presumptious no? Apart from the fact Offaly have something to say about that, I think Louth might too.
It was a shoulder to shoulder and even the commentators said they couldn't see how it was even a foul never mind a booking!!! The yellow for the Westmeath player just afterwards was for stamping on the Longford players foot after the foul...
My comment was that if Dublin have to play Westmeath we shouldn't be too worried....I never said we would definitely be playing them...
Well I only saw it in real time so I could be mistaken, if s I stand corrected. I think Healey was yellow carded for us too, for kicking back at a player, despite the fact the player wasn't within striking distance...what you going to do.
On your second point I get ya, so I suppose we'll see, or perhaps we won't, who knows.
dsfm we don't need that sort of talk. i'd be pretty wary of westmeath, i'm not that worried about louth because i think westmeath are a lot better than them. westmeath could have won by 10 today. they've a better full back line than us, a smashing half back line and good primary possession winners at mdifield and a good full forward line. That's a good start. Their weakness is the half forwards which would struggle badly against dublin if either get to the semis. i think they'd give us a right good game. I think we'd win if we performed well but not by much. we've yet to see what we're coming with yet. I doubt westmeath would be quaking in their boots based on our form at the moment
Sensational news from Croke Park this morning and once again gaa.ie enhances its reputation as the source of record for all things GAA. It is, after all, the official website of the GAA, so I suppose we should expect it to be first with the news. Nevertheless, congratulations again to the Aussie crew who run the site for the GAA on being the first to inform us of the sensational reversal of yesterday's result. According to one of their "Latest News" headlines this morning, "Longford progress in Midlands derby".
(By the way, when did we start having "derbies" in the GAA? Nobody told me about that).
:D Yes. These derby matches are a curse if you border with five other counties. Bring on Kings County.
Very disappointed with the performance yesterday. Don't think we played anywhere to the standard we can and yet still could have won. McGee and Kavanagh between them missed about 1-08 which they normally wouldn't miss in a month. Poor I thought around midfield. Don't think our el capitano caught a single ball over the hour. Struggled badly with the blanket defence with lot of the ball supplied to the forwards quite poor particularly in the second half. Disappointed in Dowd. He didn't seen fit and a couple of times in the second half he just let his man run without tracking him.
Berry was terrible and didn't seem fit and Jamise did very litle worthwhile either and was lucky to last the 70 minutes. Would actually have taken him off at halftime and pushed McGee closer to the goals
To me and all those around me of both persuasions the overcarrying for the goal was very obvious and was very very poor by the ref to miss. Thought he was poor anyway but maybe he just got dragged down to the level of the game!!
Anyway on the positive I thought Dec Reilly did a good job on Doan for the second year in a row and Paul Kelly, Noel Farrell and Enda Williams did quite well also.
QuoteCheesy Yes. These derby matches are a curse if you border with five other counties. Bring on Kings County.
Try bordering 7 and see how you like it. :D. By the way Hardy, I'd always have said local derby matches as well.
As for yesterday, I've only seen it once, and caught the last couple of minutes of the Sunday game which had moved on to Dara O'Cinneide trying to look worried as he tipped Kerry, so I haven't gone back over it other than in my head. A couple of random observations from an Offaly perspective.
Westmeath's back are good. John Keane and the Boyle lad are grand, and Kieran Gavin was excellent in the second half, after being caught behind Kavanagh a couple of times in the first half. Mind you, even at that he was still forcing Kavanagh to take shots from mad angles, so he can feel very happy with himself today. The half back line is very strong, even if Natchie didn't have his best game at #5. Damien Healy just keeps going and going, and is an example to any young lad. His cameo solo up the field for Mangan's point was brilliant. Derek Heavin was solid enough on Barden, but quiet at the same time. Having said that, the amount of ball that Westmeath won from breaks was crazy, so the half lines were definitely competing hard. Westmeath are a bit over-inclined to handpass the ball though, and that could cost them against a hard tackling forward line like Dublin, Kerry or any of the northern teams. This 'blanket' defence idea suits them as well, and some of their football coming out, when they got it right, was lovely. By isolating Glennon and Dolan, or Mangan up in front, they give the opposition real trouble as everything becomes a one on one. The problem is their distribution is still iffy, and the Longford centre back ate a lot of ball up, by just standing on the 45 and getting in the way. Offaly will try to approach Westmeath differently I think, the traditional Offaly game, attacking wise, is to let the ball in to Niall McNamee, Thommo Deehan etc long, fast and low-ish. That will hopefully negate the crowding defence, but the lads inside will have to win their battles, and that won't be easy.
Westmeath's midfield was excellent for 50 minutes, until Flanagan started to tire, and lapsed into his old habit of shooting from County Hall in Mullingar, and carrying the ball until he loses it. Up until then he was very good though. Winning kickouts, breaking kickouts, kicking scores and kicking his long range frees well. Donal Donoghue was the quiet man of the pair, but no less effective, winning ball, tackling hard and giving it to a maroon jersey when he had it. I don't think it was a coincidence that Longford started to get a lot of joy out there when Donoghue moved back into the defence and, ironically, David Duffy came on.
Their forwards are a carbon copy of some of the more successful northern counties like Tyrone or Armagh, and if they play to them correctly, they will be dangerous. The half forward line dropping deep to let a two man inside line try to isolate opponents. Glennon is ideally suited to this, as would a fit Dessie Dolan, but Glennon, in particular, needs to be more direct. It will be interesting to see how Offaly try to counter this, and they may take note of how the Longford centre back stayed static. Longford's downfall was the fact that their full back line couldn't really handle the full forward line, and even allowing for Glennon's over doing the carrying, they struggled. Glennon turning his man along the line for the second goal was a case in point, and is unforgiveable at county level.
All in all, Westmeath will come on a ton from that. You cannot overestimate the benefit from having a championship match under your belt, and I'd expect them to iron out some of those wrinkles. It will be interesting to see what they do from a selection perspective next time around. David Duffy will start, so what do you do with Donoghue or Flanagan? I'd not be surprised to see one of them, probably Flanagan, deployed at centre forward in place of Smith, and Bannon coming in for Mangan. Doran Harte seems to be cast in the Dooher/Galvin role, and I don't see him being dropped.
For Longford, it's a case of stop-start now. 10 weeks is crazy in fairness and, as Luke said, the lure of America may well tempt some of their lads with summers off work, like Kavanagh. I think yesterday they hung around despite themselves, and seemed to be surprised by Westmeath's tactics. Luke looked like he was a bit shell shocked by their approach in the post-match interview, and I'd say he was caught out by it. Longford were certainly destroyed by the crowding of the midfield, and the funnelling back. They just ran into cul-de-sacs loads of times, and looked as if they were short of ideas. Having said that, fair play to the Larries for sticking to it, plugging away, and Westmeath's deficiencies when they were so on top almost gave them a chance to get a draw or better out of the game at the end, which would have been unreal.
Anyway, Offaly have been warned. Westmeath have a new approach, and a month to fine tune it. We are going to have to be up for it, in a calm and measured way. Ciaran McManus will have to give us a big day at last against Westmeath, because we are in danger of being destroyed around the middle. I think our half back line will be okay, and I think Ger Rafferty will be detailed to mark Glennon, with maybe Niall Darby picking up Dessie. If we can break even between the 45s, I think Offaly's more direct approach will help negate the extra defenders, and if Niall McNamee has a good day, we'll have a chance. A lot of 'ifs', but then again what championship match (especially the first of the year) isn't?
QuoteGood news is that there were no serious injuries and no coffins (either real or metaphorical) need to be measured yet.
How is the latter good news?
I Sky+d the game, as I was abroad until last night - I thought it was very poor fare indeed. As NL says, Longford were awful but could still have won - WH will really struggle if they continue with that short game. I have a feeling that they (O'Flaitheartha
et al.) thought that the Longford midfield would not have the ability to deal with that game, and they were right (to a certain extent). I get the impression that Kavanagh's media attention has taken away some attention to his game, and hopefully he can get his head right again - he was poor yesterday, and Longford can't afford that.
Sheridan - no comment.
Fullback line - not as bad as anticipated, Noel Farrell played well, especially when liberated in the second half.
Halfback line - didn't really cope well with the amount of possession they had (didn't seem to expect to have that amount of it), and didn't use it well enough.
Midfield - swamped, again, big Liam's not a man for the dry sod, and Dowd didn't seem to have his usual spark.
Half-forwards - effectively midfielders, which didn't suit (P) Barden, not his game. Good move for his goal - how many times have we seen him do that for Longford (I can count five or six immediately)? Berry and Mulligan were only poor, intermittently.
Full-forwards - McGee out of his depth, Jamesie incapable of gaining or holding possession, and Kavanagh on a downer.
And we still only lost by three.
north longford your spot on...
With an inside line of kavanagh and McGee i predicted two stars of the summer and thats not an overstatement Mcgee is a class act
Then Was dissapointed with the tactics??
McGee was anonymous for much of the game and left with no confidence
foolishly waste of a good player cause i thinks Kavanagh lacked support and suffered also
to play the whole league with those two in the inside line and then come championship change it
it was never going to work and cost longford the game.........
Quote from: Billys Boots on May 12, 2008, 09:58:42 AM
QuoteGood news is that there were no serious injuries and no coffins (either real or metaphorical) need to be measured yet.
How is the latter good news?
Principally referring to the worst that happened being an ankle sprain, stretcher or no stretcher.
Realistically, while I don't think Dempsey will (or should) be there next year, it was a close enough result - better than I was expecting at any road - for him to be left for the qualifiers.
As far as your favourite player goes - no comment :)
Quote from: AZOffaly on May 12, 2008, 09:52:41 AM
10 weeks is crazy in fairness and, as Luke said, the lure of America may well tempt some of their lads with summers off work, like Kavanagh.
Oh, I'd imagine that Kilmacud Crokes will be looking for bang for their (purely metaphorical) buck. But others will be tempted.
On a side topic, how bad was Ger Canning again yesterday? He is a cretin when it comes to knowing anything about the game.
Quote from: AZOffaly on May 12, 2008, 11:10:21 AM
On a side topic, how bad was Ger Canning again yesterday? He is a cretin when it comes to knowing anything about the game.
He walked by us a couple of times before the game. The auld fella says "Why don't you say to his face what you say when he's on TV". Doh! He is pretty bad though. Poor lad looked well shook yesterday, didn't look like he was taking the heat well at all at all.
I thought some of the things Martin Carney said were idiotic too. Goggins did alright as a first-time analyst - he was on the money about Longford's faults anyway.
Quote from: Billys Boots on May 12, 2008, 11:35:12 AM
I thought some of the things Martin Carney said were idiotic too.
This is a common occurrence. These guys feel the need to fill dead air to justify their existence, even if such comments only prove just how ill informed they are.
QuoteYou should be allowed to kick a player rolling on the ground after they have dived.
I agree. It should be the new Rule 1 and any player within 5 yards of one of these incidents who fails to kick the offender should be yellow carded! Denis Glennon would be in a quare hape after every game if it was brought in.
Quoteany player within 5 yards of one of these incidents who fails to kick the offender should be yellow carded
I can see the queues forming already - great idea.
I see my favourite bug bear is going to continue this year as well. Frees or Sidelines out of the hands being taken from the next parish. I think frees should be off the ground if you are kicking for a score. Your man Wilson must have stolen at least 15 yards accumulated yesterday. His last free, after Dessie was 'buckled' was a good six or 7 yards ahead of where the foul was. He was well inside the 45 kicking it.
As for Brian Kavanagh's 'sideline', by the time he kicked it he was a decent foot pass away from the sideline.
Poor enough game yesterday, would echo what Mentalman said. Couple of further points:
While I see the logic behind putting Nachie on Barden to stop his strong running I still feel it was an error to modify a defense that that had stood us so well in the league. And we were opened up far too easily for the goal, surely the reason we bring so many bodies back is to stop that from happening. Thought Gavin was excellent on Kavanagh and Boyle while not being prominent made sure his man wasn't either. JK and Heavin looked off the place a bit but Heals was superb, he'll break many a half forwards heart before this summer is out. Gary in goals did well but maybe could have got a hand to ball for Bardens goal as it was nowhere near the corner. His short/aimed kickouts need an awful amount of work.
Midfield were excellent I thought, Flan in full flow is a joy to watch and O'Donoghue looks more assured there as every game goes by, his distribution is excellent.
Half forwards won more than their fair share of breaking ball but never really imposed themselves on the game. Willo didn't really do anything apart from the freekicks and Harte was less prominent that previous games. Smyth probably did enough to ensure he starts the next day. Budda's penalty was brutal, you would think that after his "effort" in 05 that he'd never attempt that again, should have been shown up. Took a nice point, hesitated for a couple of others, again prob did enough to start the next day, keep him away from the full forward line though Tomás!!!
Dessie and Denis did ok. Denis has to learn how to turn and shoot and Dessie was lucky to remain on de pitch. Himself and Duffy have 4 weeks to get themselves right.
On the contensious decisions, the penalty decision looked correct from my (and the referees) viewpoint as it looked like a rugby tackle, television looked less clear cut. On Glennons steps, his marker was hanging out of him but the ref was reluctant to blow for a soft pen after previously giving one so he was also reluctant to blow Glennon up for the steps. The shoulder on Boyle was not shoulder to shoulder, it wasn't shoulder to chest either, it made contact with the shoulder socket, a foul, yellow card was a bit harsh but it did look bad as Boyle was sent flying into the hoardings.
Luke and his whinging and his references to 2001 was a bit sickening and he wasn't very collected in his post match interview. Was surprised to hear some of de players come out during the week saying how they didn't want to play us again this year and it doesn't seem like a very happy camp. That said they got within 3 points of us and we need to take a long hard look at ourselves over the next few weeks. The Biffos in Tullamore will be a completely different proposition...
The only real positive apart from a couple of performances is that the whole country will go back to writing us off again and we may surprise one or two teams before the summers out.
An Iarmhí Abú
QuoteWas surprised to hear some of de players come out during the week saying how they didn't want to play us again this year and it doesn't seem like a very happy camp.
I was away all week, so I don't know who was saying that. But there's no doubt that they're not a happy camp - I can't seem to remember when they were.
Quote from: Billys Boots on May 12, 2008, 01:42:20 PM
QuoteWas surprised to hear some of de players come out during the week saying how they didn't want to play us again this year and it doesn't seem like a very happy camp.
I was away all week, so I don't know who was saying that. But there's no doubt that they're not a happy camp - I can't seem to remember when they were.
Damien Sheridan was one, can't remember the other...
There's a man who can talk about himself alright - but I'm being charitable today. :-\
A minor point Croi but unless you were talking to the ref I don't know how you know what hewas thinking re the steps. I'd say a couple of things. It was shown a few times on the telly last night and there didn't appear to be nor was it mentioned that Glennon was being fouled. Secondly he had taken more than 4 steps before he got into the penalty area so it would have been a soft free at that point!
It wasn't pretty at all but better to win playing like that than to loose playing great football.
Westmeath definitely seemed nervy and cagey at the start of this one and Doran Harte probably typified this best. It seemed that they were afraid of loosing this one following the good league and the bit of expectation that came with it, along with the fact that we hadn't won a leinster championship match since '04.
Dempsey's whinging was ridiculous, the referee made a few debatable decisions for both teams and for "nearly every decision" ::) that could be alleged to have gone Westmeath's way I'd be pretty confident the opposite could be found for every instance. Kavanagh's push on Gavin in the closing stages comes to mind, along with a couple of fouls on Dolan not given.
The overcarrying decision is very debatable and is not as clear cut as suggested. It is very common that a referee allows a player extra steps to break from a tackle (especially when they are being fouled) and just because this happens to lead to a goal is no reason for it to be any different. It may not be strictly in acccordance with the rules but it's happening the whole time.
It did look like a penalty to me at the time but would have to admit it looked like less of a penalty on television replays but debatable at the same time. Buddah's effort looked worse on telly than I'd orginally thought it was and he would not be my first choice penalty taker at all. It looked like there was no dedicated penalty taker with a little bit of confusion over who was going to take it, which is a little worrying.
Gavin was my man of the match, he was a little loose on Kavanagh at the start, which is quite typical of Gavin, but he always seems to limit his man to very tough shots on goal and yesterday was no different, frustrated him completely. I'd agree that John Keane isn't at his best this year, or last for that matter but he still does little wrong.
I think the heat really got to Flanagan, he even admitted as much himself after, and he can produce alot better than that. I am a little worried he doesn't have the stamina for 70 minutes of championship football at midfield though. O'Donoghue was very solid again.
Dolan was very obviously rusty and lacking games, hopefully this will bring him on a little as we need him at full throttle. Will be interesting to see if Bannon makes it back into the team for the next day, according to Hogan Stand he had a stomach bug.
It will be interesting to see how the Westmeath tactics pan out for the next couple of games, I would have been critical of the short handpassing game at the start of the league but would concede that it was very effective in the end. I would now be a little bit cagey about its effectiveness during the warmer, more energy sapping days of summer. I feel O'Flaherta will have to use three or four more players to keep the legs fresh if it is to be successful but would not be confident we have three or four more capable players.
Quote from: North Longford on May 12, 2008, 02:11:37 PM
A minor point Croi but unless you were talking to the ref I don't know how you know what hewas thinking re the steps. I'd say a couple of things. It was shown a few times on the telly last night and there didn't appear to be nor was it mentioned that Glennon was being fouled. Secondly he had taken more than 4 steps before he got into the penalty area so it would have been a soft free at that point!
Wasn't talking to him NL but that's how referees/human beings operate and it's just common sense. I'll have to look at it again but he couldn't bounce the ball as ur man was hanging out of him, this is not an attempt to aim the "tackle" at the ball. That new gizmo of circling the steps will be useful to see where the 4 steps were, no one is gonna want to ref a big match soon...
Lads with all due respect and its a moot point now but it was as obvious as be jayus that Glennon over arried the ball. Trying to make a case for someone taking 10 steps actually is silly. Even if he was being fouled which I still don't think he was (there's no advantage rule in GAA anyway), at what point should a ref decide to blow the whistle and which way does he give the decision. I mean we're now saying 10 steps is ok to break out of a tackle. So how many more. Do we blow at 15 but then is a free for excessive overcarrying or do we give the foul. Anyway it makes no odds now.
Glennon overcarries quite a lot. I don't know how he gets away with it but he does. If refs cop on to him he'll be finished. Anyone with a good bit of pace should go round a back if they're allowed 8-10 steps.
rarely turns and shoots. i know as a defender i'd be happy enough to let him get the ball, because he'll always try and go around you in contrast to dolan who could take you to the cleaners if you adopt such a policy.
Quote from: INDIANA on May 12, 2008, 12:25:18 AM
dsfm we don't need that sort of talk. i'd be pretty wary of westmeath, i'm not that worried about louth because i think westmeath are a lot better than them. westmeath could have won by 10 today. they've a better full back line than us, a smashing half back line and good primary possession winners at mdifield and a good full forward line. That's a good start. Their weakness is the half forwards which would struggle badly against dublin if either get to the semis. i think they'd give us a right good game. I think we'd win if we performed well but not by much. we've yet to see what we're coming with yet. I doubt westmeath would be quaking in their boots based on our form at the moment
Indiana - I wouldn't be as worried as you seem to be about Westmeath....Even dominating midfield as they did and winning nearly every kickout (against a midfield far weaker than DUblins) they still allowed more scoring oppurtunites against them...they relied on a lucky penalty and a goal that should have been disallowed...The Dublin forwards won't allow Westmeath to play the ball out as easily as they did today at all and this will be a major impact on the result...
Glennon would definitely benefit from being able to turn and shoot more often. I think it could be a confidence thing, although he definitely doesn't have Dolan's ability to shoot from range I think he has the ability to be picking off a few more scores without having to run at his man everytime and it can get quite frustrating watching him do this.
Quote from: DUBSFORSAM1 on May 12, 2008, 06:41:28 PM
this will be a major impact on the result...
How many times do you have to be reminded Westmeath have a game against Offaly and Dublin one against Louth........
As good a place as an to put this...
Flanagan and McGrath nab Opel awards
13 May 2008
Martin Flanagan and Shane McGrath have been named as the Opel Gaelic Players of the Month for the Month of April in both football and hurling respectively.
Flanagan had put in some superb performances at centre field for Westmeath during their successful NFL Division Two league campaign in the spring, most notably in the win against Monaghan which assured them of a place in the league decider.
McGrath has been fast establishing himself as one of the top young midfielders in the country, which he proved with an outstanding display against Tipp's NHL decider with Galway.
Speaking on Flanagan's selection, Chairman of the Opel Gaelic Players football selection committee, Jack O'Connor said: "Martin was an outstanding performer for Westmeath throughout their impressive league campaign."
"He was particularly excellent in the Monaghan game where he performed heroics on a number of occasions to ensure Westmeath's place in the Division Two final."
Chairman of the Opel Gaelic Players hurling selection committee, Donal O'Grady, commented on McGrath's selection by stating: "Tipperary had a magnificent league campaign thanks in no small part to Shane."
Well done Flan, brings me back to JK and Dessie winning monthly awards in 2004... First of many I hope...
Glad to see the lad get some national attention, he deserves it. Hate to say it though, but they should have seen him a few years back, even better than the current vintage!