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I expect the breakdown as follows :

4 props
3 Hookers
4 second rows
6 backrows
3 scrum halves
2 Outhalves
8 outside backs

Props : Horan , Hayes , Best and Young
Hookers : Best , Flannery and Sheehan
2 Rows : O Connell , O Callaghan , O Kelly , O Driscoll
Backrows : Easterby , Wallace , Leamy , Best , Heaslip and Jennings
Scrum Halves : Stringer , Boss and Reddan
Outhalves : O Gara and Wallace
Outside backs : O Driscoll , Darcy , S Horgan , D Hickie , Dempsey , Murphy , Trimble and Carney

My logic in 4 props is that in a match day 22, you need only 3 props so having 4 in 30 should cover that. If Eddie wants another prop it will be Bracken, and then Carney will lose out with Boss providing additional outside back cover. Only positions in doubt next weekend is O Driscoll/ Cullen and Hogan in second row and 2 from Jennings vrs Ferris vrs Heaslip in backrow.

Consistent rumour has it that overtures to David Humphries will be made and given the lack of a quality after O Gara then this can only be a good development if it happens

Results were definitely up on Aertel last night. Cloonacool beat Farnans 0-13 to 2-5 I think, in that remaining match. 2b has turned into a joke and relegation into it is totally unpalatable and this joke of a division were there is only at best 5 committed teams cannot be allowed continue. We are struggling now and lost what I can only describe as the worst match I ever played in on Saturday night to an equally poor St Pats.Thankfully no one had to pay in !!  Hopefully we can turn a corner in the next 3 crucial matches for us but with 0-6 , 1-4 and 0-6 been our last 3 scores its easy to see where our problems lie. Geevagh , harps and Grange are fighting it out for promotion and everyone else is fighting for survival in 2A. Countywide the standout result for me was Farnans thrashing of Johns. Surely Johns had their county players available. Can't help you Seanie on other junior championships as they seem even more low proflie than ever. Finally the fixtures committee / website seem to be reeling from Fergal Henrys resignation with results / fixtures no longer consistently on it. You are better off with no website than an out of date one and commercially the website should be a valuable source of revenue with advertising but sadly that seems a million years away.

Easy knowing we lost at the weekend isn't it !!!

Strange situation in Geevagh / St Molaises Gaels match at weekend were all official results calling the game a draw yet St Molaises Gaels describing  a memorable 1 point victory in their club notes and Geevagh club notes barely mentioning the match at all.

OMS -- Yeah it was another good win alright. Harps admittedly were missing a few but I suppose so were we. Like yourself , I'm still thinking of avoiding relegation but there is no reason we shouldn't push on from that. 10 men on the line may be a small exagaration but the blame squarely lies between a combination of our full back and our captain.

Frustrating alrite to see the website on the blink and for those of us who rely on Aertel on a sunday evening for results even more so. In fairness the website has been kept up to date but the Aertel is very hit and miss . Like yesterday whereby 80% of other counties results are up on it, the blame must lie within the county.

Have not seen this 5 year development plan that was launched last week. Has any contributor here seen it ?? In principle though , its good to see effectively a business plan been put in place for the next five years and that people are thinking in the medium/longterm.

Thats a massive match for both yourselves and Michaels alright Seanie. Obviously Molaises , Harps , Geevagh or Coolaney are unlikely to be in a relegation battle so matches between the rest take on an added importance.

The playing of the first teams match on Sundays is obviously the wrong way round for clubs with two teams. In fact from a social perspective , it would be better for the majority that more matches would be on Saturday night than Sunday afternoon but I presume that its the training schedule of the county team that dictates this ??

Seanie -Were ye playing harps last night and if so how did it go ??

Seanie -- Naturally didn't expect you to agree somehow !! My basic principle here is that having players eligible to play in 2 separate leagues is basically unfair. League matches can be determined by factors outside of that league.For example in say a tight 2 A division whereby Harps have injuries/suspensions /holidays/county players unavailable in their first team in round 12 of the league and therefore have a weak 2nd team that round. In round 13 they are at full strength. A completely different quality of team and this could decide promotion and relegation for 2 other teams. Surely thats wrong ?? ( and just as asking senior club teams to play league matches with their county players is wrong)

Secondly and looking at the current scenario scentifically and consider St Michaels. They have to be considered amongst the favourites to be relegated to 2B where they be scheduled to play their 2nd team. Headwrecking stuff !!. Its also possible that their second team is promoted and their first team relegated. Would make the leagues unworkable. Farnans are top of 2B today and top of 1B . Again they could meet in 2A next year !! To me both these quite possible scenarios would make a complete laughing stock of the 14 man rule.

Thats tough on Tony Taylor. However big a loss for Sligo , his ability and size in particuliar makes him a massive loss to Harps. Templeboy is undoubtedly a poor surface !!! Gary O Connor was a standout minor about 4 yeras ago but paddy's synopsis of him sounds very accurate. 

Agree with the previous posts that for the good of football in Sligo we need a strong club scene and in essence that requires the county players playing. Impossible for them to play 14 games so I believe a 11 team one round league is the answer.( I am a firm believer in an uneven team league as ordinary club players genuinely need to have weekends off over the season). 7 teams in 2 round Dvision 2 and 9 in again a 2 round Division 3. The 14 player rule should be dramactically increased and this would leave only Harps Marys and Coolera capable of fielding in essence a separate second team panel. All other teams should be encouraged to field second teams and each second team should be in the same equivalent division as their first team with corresponding fixtures and matches played directly after their first team. I'd scrap league finals and force the second placed team to playoff with the second from bottom team in the higher division to stop this yoyo effect .Also agree that championship status should depend on league position rather that the hideous relegation playoffs where the luck of the draw means inferior teams can stay up.

Harps seem to be going well in 1A with Castleconnor following up a good win last week with a big defeat this week. Marys seem to be struggling. Be interested in how Johns are shaping up in 1B as they definitely have the players. Imagine that Farnans and Enniscrone will continue to struggle in that division. Either Molaises Gaels aren't quite as superior to all other teams in 2A or Coolaneys returning players  have made them very competitive but that draw looks an interesting result. Geevaghs form looks excellent though I suspect soccer committments didn't help Pats. Owenmore Gaels put in their best league performance in my memory against Michaels and hopefully will go on from there. In 2B Curry have started well and like any ambitious club the smell of success should keep them interested all summer.

Big weekend alright. By all accounts Moyles is very professional in all his dealings and would expect our ultimate minor team to play to their potential in the Connaught Championship. Unfortunately if one was to read anything into the Galway Connaught league match last weekend, one would imagine that a Connaught championship is beyound them.

Home advantage could make difference for U21's . Its a relatively low profile team with kelly the only player with significant senior experience. Coen seems to be the undoubted star of the team and cant see there being much between the sides at the end.

T Breheny is for the first time coming under pressure and it will be interesting how the team response to being favourites on Sunday. Whilst I don't have a huge problem with pulling back 1 forward behind midfield , 2 seems a little OTT. Rather than getting closer to a settled team for the championship , I am worried that the opposite seems to be happening as the league progresses.

The Hurlers are doing much better than expected however Donegal will test their progress at the weekend. Good to see the base of clubs being represented increasing with Coolera and Shamrock gaels leading the revolution at underage levels.

For what its worth, I share the view that this is a crazy decision.

1.  No adult match should ever be called off to faciliate an underage fixture. If a club is relying on minors to play then they shouldnt be in the competition
2.  Senior match is a red herring as obviously these players were never going to be playing this weekend or indeed many weekends in the next 2 months.
3. The U21 match was scheduled months ago. Either the U21 management attention to detail isn't up to it or else they weren't asked their view prior to the club fixtures being announced. Dont know which is worse. As ever all this does is heap the pressure on the 21's in a winnable match next weekend and Sligo teams and pressure dont mix very well. What if they win ?? Presumably if one follows the logic through , there wont be any adult match in Sligo until they are beaten.

Few if any countys win All Irelands with their players coming from a poor club scene and all this decision does is disenfranchises the club player as Stagmeister so articulately put it. A poor club scene makes is harder to unearth potential county players and even worse makes current county players with their extra fitness and sharpness stand out and leaves them sitting in the comfortzone.

Is the general problem with the prospect of Division 4 football been the level we would be playing league football in 2008 or the fact that we would no longer be playing in All Ireland qualifiers? I have no problem if its an issue with the former but my view goes against the grain on the latter.

In essence I don't have a problem with Division 4 teams not playing in the All Ireland Qualifiers. Sligo will have a chance to win the Connaught Championship and once beaten in this what purpose does the qualifiers serve Sligo football? It causes massive problems to the planning, organising and running of our club championships. It calls for a massive commitment for the county panel to play in a competition that they do not have a chance to win. The concentration should be on League status and Connaught Championship as low hanging fruit relative to winning the All Ireland.

No Division 4 team will win the All Ireland. Sligo's greatest team of my memory being the 2001/02 vintages performed at that level after reaching league semi-final and playing essentially in Division 1 of the country.

What you may ask of the Tommy Murphy Cup. Again I feel if used properly it is an excellent tool to develop new talent. One caveat is that it should be played on a midweek night and has little impact on club championship (maximum 3 games after all). Club players who are in the height of fitness have their best opportunity to impress then rather than in FBD league games in January.  If your senior teams managerial rein is over after the Connaught Championship it is either an excellent opportunity for the new incumbent to look at players or more realistically the U21 manager to look over some of his hopefuls. If your outgoing manager is contracted to manage for a second year , its a useful opportunity to cast the net wider.

As I outlined at the start, my view is considered as going against the grain but it's an issue that deserves debate particularly in the light of the doomsday scenario people are portraying relegation to Division 4 and the ensuing non-qualification for the All Ireland qualifiers.

We gave Harps a 10 point start at half time before we got remotely into the game. The "14 man first team Rule" gives them a very strong spine and as ever they will be very competitive in 2A. Like Seanie I feel  its unlikely that C/M will beat them on Saturday but surely pride most be hurting in Achonry and they may surprise them.Surely the 2 group matches should have been on at the one time ?? A Harps win makes our match meaningless on Sunday and theres nothing worse than playing a meaningless match on a wet pitch at the start of the year

Glad to see that fixtures are now out two weeks before matches which is a great aid to organising ones life around GAA matches. Hope it continues.

Had a look at the newly revamped sligogaa.ie site and to be honest whilst its an improvement and has the fixture list and results up to date , there is vast parts of it way out of date or not completed (a complete turn off for a website ) and to my eyes it isn't the most user friendly.

On to the actual football. Slightly offended Seanie that you didn't classify our result as noteworthy!!! Apart from beating Ballisodare , it was our first competitive win against another clubs first team since August 99 !!! Coolaney have obviously injuries but as most of them are relatively long term I cant see them winning promotion in the league. As we may be going to Coolera on Saturday week looking for a result in possibbly a dead fixture for the home team , it may be for selfish reasons that OMS and myself will leap to the defence of Cooleras finest on the Sligeach vrs An Mhi thread !!!

The results that stood out for me were Easkeys win over Tourlestrane , the comprehensiveness of Harps win in Pick n Choose. Shamrock Gaels easy win over Drumcliff and Enniscrones draw with Coolera in Kiernan cup. St Mholaises Gaels seemed to signal their intent in Benson cup scoring 16 points againsy Michaels. 

Presumably as Jason Farrell and David Kelly are part of the senior panel they will be starters on U21's. Seeing Stenson has started ( though not often finishing for NUIG in Sigerson) he will be playing. Stephen Coen a minor last year seems to be starring in challenge matches and seems the real deal so again I imagine he will start and John Scanlon was leading scorer in senior championship last summer so again he should come into the picture. Dont think the other young star of last years senior championship -- Jason Marren is involved but I could be wrong.  B Murphy , N Ewing , C O Grady and Stephen Gilmartin were standout players in the 05 minor team so presumably they will be close to the starting 15. To be honest , there are 4/5 of that minor team Seanie that I've never heard of and a couple that I have that have fallen away fairly badly so I imagine it will be quite a young team.

[Sligo IT 1-10 Garda College 0-09Yet again this afternoon, Sligo IT proved themselves to be the comeback kings of 3rd level Colleges football when they turned a 5 points to 3 half time deficit into a 1-10 to 9 points victory against the Garda College at the Templemore venue.First half points from Michael Doherty, Barry Regan and Andy Moran kept Sligo in the hunt during the first period and further scores from Doherty and Moran had them level at 6 points apiece early in the second half. When Colm Boyle struck for the games only goal midway through the second period, Doherty and Moran tagged on a further couple of points and Sligo never looked back and now go through to the Sigerson Cup weekend which this year takes place at the Queens University campus on the weekend of the 2nd and 3rd of March.]

Courtesy of oceanfm

Sligo IT 1-10 Garda College 0-09

Yet again this afternoon, Sligo IT proved themselves to be the comeback kings of 3rd level Colleges football when they turned a 5 points to 3 half time deficit into a 1-10 to 9 points victory against the Garda College at the Templemore venue.
First half points from Michael Doherty, Barry Regan and Andy Moran kept Sligo in the hunt during the first period and further scores from Doherty and Moran had them level at 6 points apiece early in the second half. When Colm Boyle struck for the games only goal midway through the second period, Doherty and Moran tagged on a further couple of points and Sligo never looked back and now go through to the Sigerson Cup weekend which this year takes place at the Queens University campus on the weekend of the 2nd and 3rd of March.