Who will win the Nicky Rackard this year. No outright favourite this year as I see with Roscommon and Armagh gone. What's the story with the Fingal team?
would be great to see Donegal or Tyrone win it
outside of that - Longford
Id say Louth - seeing as they won Div 3 in the league
I don't get the whole Fingal (a part of Dublin) and Non-Ards thing. Well maybe Fingal cos of the amount of players in Dublin, but why are Down allowed field a 2nd team... doesnt make sense
Some close games in the First round apart from Sligo's 14 point defeat of Cavan.
From rte.ie
"In the Ulster derby in Letterkenny, Tyrone pipped their provincial rivals Donegal by 2-12 to 2-11 to start their Nicky Rackard Cup Group 3C campaign on a winning note.
Corner forward Peter O'Connor picked off Tyrone's two goals, with both of them scored early in the first half.
The throw-in had to be delayed by 20 minutes as a crash in Strabane had caused a traffic tail-back which the Red Hands' coach was caught up in.
Although they shot into a 2-01 to 0-02 lead, Tyrone were only 2-08 to 2-07 ahead the break as Donegal bagged goals through Kevin and Niall Campbell.
However, the Tir Chonaill men, who lost the 2006 Rackard Cup final, were still behind by the minimum by the time referee Owen Elliot blew for full-time.
Goals win games and Sligo hit Cavan for three at Markievicz Park as the hosts beat the Breffni men by 3-15 to 1-07 in Group 3D.
Cavan got off to a perfect start with Philip Brady accounting for the visitors' goal, but a quick hat-trick - with Aidan Walsh, Joe Bannerton and Paul Severs each raising a green flag - ensured that Sligo held a 3-10 to 1-05 interval lead.
In a low-scoring second half, Sligo's defence stood firm with half-back Walter Gill giving a strong display while Sligo captain Damien Burke contributed five points.
In Group 3B, South Down opened the competition with a 3-16 to 2-16 win over Leitrim in Newry.
Referee Tommy McIntyre ensured a 30-minute delay to the start of what proved to be a cracking game of hurling at Pairc Esler, after the Antrim official was caught up in traffic.
Leitrim got stuck in early on and led by 2-11 to 1-07 at the interval thanks to goals from Clement Cunniffe and Liam Byrnes, with Eoin McGuinness registering the hosts' first half goal.
However, South Down came into their own in the second half, with Liam Morgan scoring a goal within two minutes of the restart.
Although defender Michael Poniard replied for Leitrim, the Mourne men scored eight points without reply to take a two-point lead and they cemented the win with a second McGuinness goal.
In Group 3A, Fingal almost got their first ever Nicky Rackard Cup campaign off to a historic start, but Louth held enough in resolve to finish as 1-13 to 0-14 winners at Dundalk.
Fingal led by 0-09 to 0-02 after 15 minutes, having relied heavily on free-taker Emmet McCabe, who slotted over seven first half frees, but Louth cut the gap to two points by the interval.
Diarmuid Murphy and goalkeeper Stephen Smith were among those who performed strongly for the hosts, and it was a goal from substitute Ronan Byrne with his first touch, which stole the win for Louth."
Longford and Monaghan had byes and could be possible quarter-finalists, though Longford seem to have major County Board problems with club championship football fixtures on next weekend.
Would say the potential quarter-finalists are Group A: Louth and Fingal, Group B: South Down and Fermanagh, Group C: Tyrone and Donegal/Monaghan, and Group D: Sligo and Warwickshire.
Anyone at any of the games?
Aye, ill be at the warwickshire cavan game, getting stuck in somewhere. we've got a couple of handy hurlers now.
The South Down (Non-Ards) team stems from the fact that the three main exclusive hurling clubs in Down are on the Ards peninsula (Ballycran, Ballygalget & Portaferry). There are other dual clubs on the mainland, but none of their hurlers never get a look into the main Down team due to travel/standard ect. In the early 2000's, the now defunct All-Ireland Junior hurling competition used to have the non-ards Down county team to represent them, to give the mainland hurlers a chance to wear the county jersey. With the abolishion of the Junior Championship, the mainland players havent got a look in so therefore the Down County Board allowed them into the Rackard Cup this year.
For someone who has played at that standard/division in the past, it must be great for counties like Sligo/Leitrim to be playing different teams from Down, Dublin & Warwickshire - as it gets very minotinous playing the same teams over and over year after year.
thanks for the explanation highking
I guess anything that keeps hurling growing in the "weaker" spots is a good thing.
I'd say Fingal might beat Longford this weekend
Leitrim to beat Fermanagh
tyrone to beat monaghan
and cavan to beat warwickshire
Fingal will beat Longford
Fermanagh will beat Leitrim
Tyrone will beat Monaghan
Warwickshire will beat Cavan.
Quote from: nrico2006 on July 04, 2008, 01:34:40 PM
Fingal will beat Longford
Fermanagh will beat Leitrim
Tyrone will beat Monaghan
Warwickshire will beat Cavan.
Tyrone seem to be going rightly now after getting rid of a few fellas that are more interested in getting p*ssed than representing the great county of Tyrone........
Would agree with nrico's predictions for the Rackard Cup games this weekend. No mention of them on P241 of Aertel. Tyrone beat a very understrength Donegal team last weekend short of 6 starting players. The Fingal v Longford game will be interesting in what is probably the group of death as louth (Div3 Champs) are also in this section.
Fingal seem to have a fair smattering of ex-Dublin minors and U-21's in their ranks and could be the improving team if they overcome Longford.
Heard that Warwickshire have one or two useful new recruits. Expect that all of the British teams will improve with emigration increasing.
I think Monaghan's 1 point win over Donegal sees Tyrone through. Anyone confirm this?
South Down beat Fermanagh. Turned around a big score in the secon d half.
Warwickshire lost by 2 points against Sligo. 2great chances for goal in the last minute.Great save by the keeper for a 65 from which we missed a good chance wide by 6 inches with keeper beaten. Always next year.
that was amazing save the keeper pull off, The sunday game camera were no were to be seen at all! Cavan will get destoryed in the next round. Donegal will be the team to beat. Silgo have a few handy boys, but they didnt like the phyiscal side of the game.
Are Donegal through?
I would say Donegal are gone with no points.Has something gone wrong there,a soft group on paper.Longford are out after beating Louth who I thought were one of the favourites,that was a tough group
The draw is to made at 10am tomorrow (monday). The top teams in the four groups (Fingal, Monaghan, South Down and Sligo) will get home advantage next Saturday over a second place team (Louth, Tyrone, Leitrim and Cavan). Draw will ensure that teams from the same groups are separated. Semi-finals for sat week drawn on the same basis with home advantage to the first team out.
Some fancied teams (Donegal, Longford) are out with Cavan and Leitrim the suprise quarter-finalists.
Draw made in Croke Park:
NICKY RACKARD CUP QUARTER-FINALS -
Fingal v Leitrim, Parnell Park, 3pm
South Down v Louth, Newry, 1pm
Monaghan v Cavan, Clones, 1pm
Sligo v Tyrone, Markievicz Park, 3pm
South Down or "Non-Ards" against Louth should be the tie of the round. Monaghan and Fingal look to have easy enough draw. Sligo and Tyrone should also be tight. Predictions?
Any odds available?
Quote from: Saffron exile on July 14, 2008, 03:44:20 PM
Draw made in Croke Park:
NICKY RACKARD CUP QUARTER-FINALS -
Fingal v Leitrim, Parnell Park, 3pm Fingal
South Down v Louth, Newry, 1pm Down
Monaghan v Cavan, Clones, 1pm Monaghan by a country mile
Sligo v Tyrone, Markievicz Park, 3pm Silgo unless tyrone get tight and physical
Tyrone bate Sligo 1-20 to 3-10 in the NHL so should be tight.
Quote from: ONeill on July 16, 2008, 07:21:49 PM
Tyrone bate Sligo 1-20 to 3-10 in the NHL so should be tight.
Was at Warwickshire v Sligo match on Saturday thought Sligo would be better.Herily a very good hurler who has been on Kilkenny panel but i think he broke his thumb in Birmingham.
Quote from: Saffron exile on July 14, 2008, 03:44:20 PM
Draw made in Croke Park:
NICKY RACKARD CUP QUARTER-FINALS -
Fingal v Leitrim, Parnell Park, 3pm
South Down v Louth, Newry, 1pm
Monaghan v Cavan, Clones, 1pm
Sligo v Tyrone, Markievicz Park, 3pm
South Down or "Non-Ards" against Louth should be the tie of the round. Monaghan and Fingal look to have easy enough draw. Sligo and Tyrone should also be tight. Predictions?
Any odds available?
South Down blow hot and cold so it depends on which team turns up on Saturday. At their best they can win this competition but at their worst they could lose badly to anyone.
Auld Paddy the manager seems to have stumbled upon his best team now with the recent recruits from Liatroim Fontenoys and the Kilclief lads returning. Apparently the first half v Fermanagh was awful while the second half was excellent. I'd expect them to win well if they produce the second half performance against Louth but these matches have been tight in recent years.
South Down 2-16 4-13 Louth
Rackard Cup Semis:
Sligo v Fingal (or North Dublin)
Monaghan v Louth
Any predictions?
Quote from: Saffron exile on July 21, 2008, 12:42:10 AM
Rackard Cup Semis:
Sligo v Fingal (or North Dublin)
Monaghan v Louth
Any predictions?
Fingal v Louth Louth to win
Fingal seem to be improving with each game and they ran lotuh close in their first match, could be very tight if they meet again.
Good luck to Sligo's hurlers. It would be fantastic for them to make Croke Park. From what I hear they will have their work cut out for them with a very good Fingal team standing between them and the final. Still - home advantage and a bit of luck could swing it. Should be 2 lads from my club starting and two others involved. Won our division of Feile (albeit Div 6) on our 6th consecutive visit this year. Not bad for a place that never had hurling in it until about 12 years ago.
Seanie there wouldn't be much in it between Sligo and Louth and Louth beat Fingal. Sligo have been going well of late and have improved vastly from the league when they were dire in some of the games.
I suppose. The lads are confident from chatting to them. They know this is a good team they are playing but they reckon they can do it. Sligo had a fairly poor league but are going a lot better now. Fingers crossed.
The like of Sligo seem to be taking it seriously which is good, and Monaghan are putting in a huge effort this year - pity Tyrone couldn't do the same, you would be lucky if there was a training session with more than 7 boys there, so I was told.
Congrats to Sligo hurlers today on great win over fingal. 1-16 to 0-11.
Play louth in croker now. Players like paul seevers deserve the chance to play there and keith raymond and the rest. Delighted.
Delighted too and hoping to make the game. Its really brilliant that Severs will get to play in Croke Park and I'm obviously very happy for my club mates Ciaran Brenan, Conor O'Mahony and the Cadden brothers. We'll have a decent chance of winning it too.
I'm ashamed to say that I'll be attending my first inter-county hurling game involving Sligo next Sunday. Looking forward to it. Many Sligo lads travelling? Sligonian, you'll hardly bring the '96 Astra all the way to Dublin?
that Sligo game could yet be the following weekend
Why do you say that? Surely not to accomodate Christy Ring. Two wrongs dont make a right. Sligo and Louth I'm sure have already started making their preparations for next Sunday. Any word if the Rackard Cup Final is to be televised as in all of the previous finals? GAA should move one of the qualifiers rather renege on a promise to televise and stage the R and R Finals before a championship game.
Come on Offaly's little brother :D Aren't Sligo paired with Offaly in this GPA scheme?
Quote from: magpie seanie on July 27, 2008, 11:30:45 PM
Its really brilliant that Severs will get to play in Croke Park
How long is Seevers playing for Sligo or what age is he at all at all. He seems to be there for 20 years ?
Great indeed to see him get a run in Croke Park which is what the three tier system was all about.
QuoteCome on Offaly's little brother Aren't Sligo paired with Offaly in this GPA scheme?
Yeah, so it was announced. Our countys have a similar population but very different fortunes!
QuoteHow long is Seevers playing for Sligo or what age is he at all at all. He seems to be there for 20 years ?
I think he is about 39 or so. Someone posted on the Sligo Hoganstand page (heavy health warning) that he may have played in a minor B hurling All-Ireland final in Croker in 1986. Still as fit as a fiddle.
Quotethat Sligo game could yet be the following weekend
Couldn't see how they'd change the NR final at this stage surely?
Lads whats the word on this been televised ?
Best of luck to the hurlers next Sunday. Great turnaround from an awful league campaign, shame others couldn't do the same. ::) Intend to go up to it anyway, we might outnumber the Kerry followers yet!
the match wont be televised, the gaa has decided not to televise any of the lower tier finals, so much for games promotion.
The whole point of the Rackard and Ring Cups was that they would get a profile. This sh*te does my head in. They clearly don't give a flying fu** about hurling in the lower divisions.
Quote from: Lecale2 on July 31, 2008, 10:00:11 PM
They clearly don't give a flying f*** about hurling in the lower divisions.
In fairness It seems they just don't give a f*** about hurling at all.
Quote from: baoithe on July 28, 2008, 04:24:17 PM
I'm ashamed to say that I'll be attending my first inter-county hurling game involving Sligo next Sunday. Looking forward to it. Many Sligo lads travelling? Sligonian, you'll hardly bring the '96 Astra all the way to Dublin?
Well baoithe, myself my Dad and the 96 astra have been through alot together especially sligo gaa matters. It hasnt let us down yet. i did my driving test in it last week(passed) ;D and it did fine. Might chance it. Sure if we breakdown i'll stick out the thumb and surely some of the sligo lads on here will pick us up on the way ;).
AZ on the Offaly pairing thing, was delighted to hear that a while back, but back to business, how many hurling clubs in offaly? Any chance of yee sharing yer secrets with us?
Attended a lot of these games myself.
I remember about 3 years ago when Sligo were playing Westmeath I think in the football, I went to see the hurlers playing donegal beforehand.
Disgraceful the lack of supporters. Then again when the drives did start marching in they did cheer the team.
RTE and the GAA should be ashamed of themselves the way they are treating these competitions.
Rackard Final is being streamed live on the web at rte.ie and you can also turn down the sound and listen to the commentary from Ocean FM if you're in the north-west.
Not exactly what was promised by the GAA and had been delivered in the previous three finals but better than nothing. Sligeach Abú!
Sligo 2-15, Louth 3-7. About 20 mins left. Colin Herrity in, Larry Cadden off after scoring 1-1.
Sligo 3-18, Louth 3-9. Mick Shelley in and scores a point. Louth down to 14, 7 minutes left. Severs long range goal - all over.
awww balls, the exiles could beat this silgo team. Well done to the boys on there big day out in croker
Quote from: youngfella on August 03, 2008, 01:36:20 PM
awww balls, the exiles could beat this silgo team. Well done to the boys on there big day out in croker
Do Sligo not face a play-off with Roscommon not London?
Yep, they play Roscommon to decide who goes where next year. Think it may be on next weekend but not sure.
Congrats to the hurlers on a fine win. Great for those who have been active promoting hurling in the county. The work being done is finally paying dividends. Delighted for Seevers above all, a great servant, not sure of his age but he did play for Tubber in the SFC final of 1988, so he's older than me anyway. ;)
Quote from: blasmere on August 03, 2008, 03:09:12 PM
Quote from: youngfella on August 03, 2008, 01:36:20 PM
awww balls, the exiles could beat this silgo team. Well done to the boys on there big day out in croker
Do Sligo not face a play-off with Roscommon not London?
I was referering to warwickshire, they ran silgo close now
Just in from Croke park,
Savage display from Sligo. Great team display, Seevers is 39, he had a great game.
Keith Raymond also excellent as usual. Pity we hadn't more support.
Well done to Sligo today, fierce gutsy display especially early on when we were 5 down but blitzed louth all over the field then. This was team display wih all 6 forwards scoring. At 39 seevers is a legend awesome hurler and raymond star of the future. Its a young enough team so hopefully can kick on from here. Emensely proud of them today. A credit to the jersey.
Sligeach abu.
Shapes those who were there made themselves heard with plenty of ethusiastic roars. Fair play to all who travelled.
Dunno much about Sligo hurling, but played against Seevers for Carlow a few years ago. He is a class act. Delighted to see even at 39, he got a medal that he really deserved. I cant even count the amount of Carlow/Sligo league games in front of about 50 people & we'd always be the better team, but Seevers would hit every free, every 65...legend of a player. Thats why im so happy he finally got his reward & medal.
Couldn't make it in the end - other committments had to be given priority unfortunately but it sounded good from the radio. Hopefully it will be on Setanta during the week. Got my hands on the cup alright at Ransboro yesterday evening when Larry Cadden emerged with it from the bus with his 3 club mates and the rest of his team mates. We had a grand bonfire blazing and a great turnout of supporters. Really chuffed for the team and our lads in particular. Larry and Ciaran have been dogged by injuries and its great that they were over them in time to play their part in this success.
Next week v. Roscommon will be very tough in the Ring/Rackard playoff but best of luck to the lads.
Quote from: magpie seanie on August 04, 2008, 07:37:56 PM
Next week v. Roscommon will be very tough in the Ring/Rackard playoff but best of luck to the lads.
I think it's fixed for Carrick next Saturday.
Ye have a great chance as some of my acquaintances from camán territory think all is not well with our crowd this year.
Picked this up from sligogaa.ie but think it orginally came from elsewhere. Of particular interest to people from our "big brother" county!
Galvin: Croker a huge incentive
After steering his side to the Nicky Rackard Cup, Sligo hurling manager Mickey Galvin admitted that the chance to play in a final at Croke Park provided his players with a huge incentive to progress in the third-tier competition.
The Yeats' hurlers endured a torrid league campaign under former manager Frank Burke, losing all five of their games, but since Galvin took the job in April the team has had a massive turn around.
"The possibility of playing in Croke Park in the Nicky Rackard Cup final proved a huge incentive for the players," said Galvin.
"We tried to make the set-up as professional as possible, and bit by bit the players regained their confidence. As well, it was a big help that under the twinning of counties arrangement, we got great help from Offaly players Brian Mullins and Brian Carroll."
Full-forward Keith Raymond scored 1-8 from play in the win over Louth on Sunday and Galvin was quick to laud the forward's abilities after the game.
"Keith is a very athletic type of a player who keeps himself in excellent physical condition," said Galvin. He is an outstanding target man, and his pace and ball control makes it very difficult for any back line to contain him."
Sligo will now face Roscommon this weekend to decide who will play in the Christy Ring Cup next summer, after the Rossies put their status in the second-tier in jeopardy when lost out to London at Portlaoise at the weekend.
Yeah we definitely made enough noise for a small group of people Sligonian. It was a nice gesture from Nicky Brennan to mention all Paul Seevers efforts and also the efforts that Mick Burke has put in over the years.
Well done to Sligo, and a huge congrats to Paul Seevers. If he was born in Cork or Kilkenny instead of Sligo he'd have an All Ireland medal or three by now. Having said that, I'm sure he's delighted with his Rackard medal, and it's great to see the old soldiers getting rewarded like that.
Good to hear Breeder and Brian Carroll went up to Sligo to give a hand out. Remember their help in a couple of years time when your playing Offaly, and don't be beating your big brother :D
Seriously, well done again to Sligo, and commiserations on another nearly day for the Wee County. I hope they come back and win it next year.
Is that the same Seevers that played for the Sligo senior footballers way back ? A half forward I think.
Same guy alright.