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Iontas na n-iontas, ach níl aon caint as na mhuintir Maigh Eo faoi Sam i mbliana fós

Ach i ndairire, tá an cheart acu mar tá a lan fadbhanna le fheicáil tríd an fhoireann ag an am sin, mar a bfhacamur i bPairc de Híde agus mar a mhínigh Moysider níos luaite.

Tá JH ag forbairt foireann nua agus is é sin an chéad blian sa thionscadal. Tá siad fós sa sraith roinn a h-áon agus tá an craobh Connachta buaite acu freisin go dtí sin. Sin tús mhaith sa thionscadal, imo.

An bfhuil na lucht tacaiochta sásta le sin don an chead bhlian agus an mbeidh foighneach acu as sin amach i mblaina?

Ceapaim féin go mbeidh.

Ach, ar an lámh eile, tá fios orthu nach bfhuil siad ach trúir cluichí ón an Holy Grail agus b'fheidir go bfhuil roinnt acu ag brionglóideach cheana ... cén dochar, ar aghaidh libh agus go n-eiri an t-adh libh.

Dermot Flanagan captained ye in '88 against Ros all right.

There was a fair Ballagh contingent on board that year including Durks, and the probably lesser remembered Tom Morgan, who had a short enough ic career and started at FF that day.

And of course ye were managed on the day by the Ballagh resident Johnno also.

Not too disappointed - we are improving, the players battled hard and we made mistakes that you get away with in Div 4. If players and management learn from the mistakes then it might serve us better in the long run than sneaking a win.

Interestingly, I came to the same conclusion yesterday evening also, Tatler. 

Well done to Mayo who I thought deserved their win, with a performance where they dug in, battled well and worked hard for each other throughout.

While the game saw some bizarre reffing decisions, Ros made too many errors throughout and lacked the experience to change their approach on the hoof as the game unfolded. The worrying signs during the Leitrim game that our delivery into the forwards was lacking became more evident yesterday, albeit in much worse weather conditions. Our bench was nowhere near strong enough to be effective, unfortunately, unlike Mayo's. It's a steep learning curve for us at this stage, but i'm hopeful we'll have the wherewithal to bounce back and play a more direct game, with Cregger & Wardie's etc attacking qualities being used to mix things up a bit more the next day out.

As for Mayo, they seem to have developed a battling, tenacious quality to their game this year which is always a good sign in a team. If they can get their FF line more involved and contributing from play, and also sort out the FB difficulties evident yesterday, they could well surprise the naysayers and give a good account of themselves in the quarters yet.

not to mention current sports journalist of the year David Brady repeatedly punching an 18 year old seamie o'neill in the head.

Poor auld Seamie, only out of nappies so he couldn't have deserved it - if he kept his mouth shut and his fists away from Brady's ribs that day he might have been left alone

And true to form here comes David Brady's no 1 fan!!!!!!!!!!

Not quite, the original post was an attempt to portray one as the aggressor, when in fact the both of them have well documented history's of being tramps on the field when necessary, nothing wrong with that I might add.

Just trying to add a bit of balance

Quite right Stephenite. A lesser man than DB could have gone down clutching his face and gotten Seamie wrongly sent off, after receiving a dig in the ribs.

[Inda:]

There is another battle taking place off the pitch between Kenny and the Rossies and tensions are mounting.

Picture it:   A short scene from the Connacht Final 2011 in The Hyde. Late in the game, Ros ahead by one.

Inda 'n Frankie sitting in the best seats in the stand surrounded by battalions of baying Rossies.


Inda: They're not happy bunnies Frankie are they?

Frankie: Bunnies Inda??  *Scans the vicinity again*  I still can't see poor aul Cosmo and Baoithe ... are ya sure ya saw them?

Inda: Ho Ho Ho  *After a few seconds though Emphatically shakes his head*
[/i]
         Only having ya on Frankie. Though I heard they steered well clear o' the convent mass in Knock this morming ... can't be too careful like. 

Frankie: *Glumly* Tell me about it Inda. I couldn't even chance thou'll confessions in Knock meself yesterday with the blasted Boyle ICA on their annual safari there.

Inda:  *Excitedly* Some stout defending by The Rossies there Frankie!

Frankie: *Swallows hard, then shouts loudly*  The Mort has it Inda, The Mort has it ... an he's shapin to shoot ... *worriedly sucks in his breath*

The Mort shoots.

Inda: *Disgustedly* Ah sh*te Mort, you've skied the ball wide and out into the graveyard, ya useless so and so.

Frankie: *Gleefully, Forgetting himself for a minute* Yes!!! Come on The Ros!!! That wan fairly screwed off th'aul boot Inda!

Inda: *Sourly* Less of your lip Frankie boy, that mad lookin space cadet with the smig is lookin over this way again ...

Frankie: *Beside himself *  Harvey ... Harvey ... where are ya Harvey ...


Battalions of baying Rossies continue to roar on their team as Frankie rocks gently to and fro in his seat.

Offaly though were the architects of their own downfall, 14 wides is lilyitis but without the possession.

In a nutshell, that's the story of the game.

Offaly had the majority of the possession but wasted a huge amount of attacking possession and scoring opportunities throughout. Limerick had a lot to prove after their debacle against Kerry and were game this time around, making the most of their possession esp early on. Their FF line looked dangerous and had the measure of the Offaly FB line anytime they got the ball, with Ger Collins & Ian Ryan having fine games and causing havoc whenever they ran at Offaly. Despite getting their noses in front early on, Limerick could never put The Faithful away and only wrapped the game up with Collin's late goal. Deserved win for the Treatymen, but stilll not looking like they're anywhere near the standards of previous years. Offaly don't ever seem to embrace the qualifiers with any great enthuasiasm, so while they know they probably left it behind today, they'll also be the first to admit they didn't deserve it due to their misfiring attack.

The Mayo poor-mouthing of how Roscommon are favourites is ridiculous when you bear the facts of my first comment in mind. We should expect to go up there and win.

I can't say I was all that surprised to hear James Horan talking up Roscommon after Mayo's win over Galway. Sure isn't it practically a GAA tradition!

He was the fan's favourite for the job. It's his first season in charge at inter-county level.

He's a young manager trying to build a new team, in a county which demands and expects success.

Why wouldn't he talk up The Rossies when you think about it. A manager couldn't go wrong doing that, could he?

Except ... I dunno ...this is Mayo we're talking about here after all.

More experienced heads than Horan have previously tried to change Mayo's approach, withour success.

I was surprised at how deferential his comments towards The Rossies were though - and worse still they didn't even really stand up to scrutiny.

I suppose the world is always turning though - but the spectacle of Mayoites beal-bochting their chances against Galway the last day, followed by yeer manager now talking up The Ros as a superpower of the last few years ... well, I don't mind admitting I find it all downright disconcerting somehow or other.

And then again, could it be that some of Johnno's ideas regarding the downplaying and evening out of expectations have belatedly started to take root?

Surely not Mayoites, surely not? Say it ain't so lads, say it ain't so ...


PS      Just saw your post there R&GS. Phew! Good to see some consistency in a world gone mad after all 

[I was under the impression that Conor Laverty scored the opening goal and point for Down... scoring 1-4 in the first half... but I'm at work and didn't see or hear the first half - only what I have read. But I do remember the commentator talking about Paul McComiskey's point in the 60somethingth minute being his opening one.]

Yep, sorry about that - i'm booking the aul appointment with specsavers 

I think McComiskey got a first half free from the left side though, no?

Down started like an express train and could have had three goals in their first four attacks, as they employed a two-man FF line early on. Marty Clarke flashed an early goal chance effort just wide of the right hand post following a menacing move the length of the field, while the Banner keeper pulled off a fine save which was dangerously close to being a foot block, from Benny Coulter. Conor Laverty, in behind the defence, eventually managed to slip the ball to the Clare net past keeper Joe Hayes, and added to his own and Marty Clarke's early frees saw Down leading by 1.2 - 0.0 and seemingly cruising. A slow starting Clare - who initially also withdrew some of their forwards to the middle third - then shook themselves and worked their way back into the game. With both midfielders getting to grips with things, they pulled back three points without reply before a mix-up under a greasy dropping ball into the Down square saw Clare FF Timmy Ryan flick the ball to the net to see Clare leading by 1.3 - 1.2 It was score for score from there to the interval, with Conor Laverty scampering in twice from the right to fist points for the Mourne men late on,while each of the Clare midfielders kept the scoreboard ticking for the Banner.  HT Score Down 1.6 Clare 1.5. With the wind to come in the second half, my feeling was that Down would have enough to see the game out comfortably, provided Clare didn't find the net again. The Down forwards looked to be in a different class to Clare's attackers, with a greater industry, mobility and range of scorers and thus they hit Clare for six points upon the resumption to go 1.12 - 1.6 up and apparently home and hosed. This included a good effort by lfb Brendan McArdle. However, the Banner are known for their indomitable spirit and battling qualities and as they completely took over at midfield again, they started to reel in Down with points from David Tubridy 0.4 (3f), Joe Dowling 0.2, and chb John Hayes 0.1 to level matters at 1.12 apiece. A desperately unlucky Clare just lacked the big game composure and craft to engineer more scores however, despite enjoying the possession to do so, while Down keeper McVeigh replicated his Clare counterpart Joe Hayes' earlier first half save with what also looked like being dangerously close to a foot block. Paul McComiskey then hit an early injury time free to edge Down ahead by a point again. Clare still had  a kick in them however and Down can thank Conor Laverty for his tireless tracking back, as he cleared a certain Clare goal off the line well into injury time. That seemed to give Down heart and acted as a body blow to Clare, as the Mournemen regained possession of the ball and broke downfield to win a free which McComiskey hit narrowly wide, signalling the last action of the game. Clare will be desperately disappointed to not at least have gotten a draw, but should take great pride in their fighting performance which fell agonisingly short, while Down will simply be relieved to have survived. They have a talented spread of forwards, but had big problems at midfield and in the middle third at times today.

Programme on Shannonside about Dermot now, just started.

http://powerlink.powerstream.net/002/00187/live2.asx

[Hell I'm getting frustrated writing this, if I were a Mayo man living in Mayo I'd be kicking up holy war.]

Hell I'm getting frustrated writing this, if I were a Mayo man living in Mayo I'd be kicking up holy war.

You are not a Mayoman. Please don't lecture us on how to be one.

As regards the upsurge in Connacht footbal in the 90's I think the revivial of the FBD had soemthing to do with it - since the introduction of colleges into the FBD then the value of it disappeared.

True  TJ - one ingedient that likely also contributed to the renaissance of Connacht football back in the mid - late 90's was the revival of the FBD. It had been a few years since the Gael Linn had been staged by that time, iirc.

After the early rounds of the NFL were played in Oct-Nov, there was a break of a couple of months before the NFL resumed. The FBD was played off during this break with pretty much full squads of reasonably fit, regular first team players representing each of the counties. The standard of football on offer in the competition was high, providing some enjoyable spectacles as the neighbouring counties had an opportunity to play with expression, without any of the tensions or rivalries which can sometimes adversely effect league and championship encounters.

Supporters got a lot of enjoyment and entertainment out of attending those games too. It wasn't at all unusual to hear remarks from supporters of each of the counties along the lines of "jaysus, these FBD games are brilliant, as good as anything you'll see later in the year."

An attractive off-season competition then, it dovetailed nicely into the greater scheme of things and seemed to bring the counties on and set them up nicely for the more serious campaigns ahead.

However, when the GAA subsequently delayed the start of the NFL until February, it had a detrimental effect on the standard of fare on offer in the FBD unfortunately, as lads weren't up to match speed or fitness etc and squads were open ended going into it. Consequently, it's now a 'blowing out the dirty petrol' and 'checking out young fringe players' type competition, which somewhat negates the benefits of the earlier years.

Seafoid is also correct though, when he say that there's no greater incentive to improve than to see the neighbours doing better than you in the championship. Once one of us starts making a mark nationally, it will be hell for leather for the other two to try and catch up!

Strangely enough this seems like the longest summer ever and we're hardly half way through June yet. We've played two good championship games so far against Div 4 standard opposition, but it almost seems like the NY game was so long ago you'd find yourself wondering was it played last year, while it's such a long wait until the Connacht final you'd imagine it'll almost be next year before it comes around ... most peculiar scheduling, all said. Of course steady development tends towards longer term sustainability, so it's going to be interesting to see can Ros step up another few levels and be competitive against the Galways or Mayos of the western world, on a big occasion such as our provincial final. Realistically I'll be delighted if Ros are competitive in this one and really put it up to our opponents. It'd be a real boost to hopes for their further development if they are tbh, regardless of who actually wins.

Bhí sí ag gearán faoin méid cluichí a bhí acu i rith na deireadh seachtaine.

Bhi Stiofáin Seoighe ag gearán ar TG4 tar éis an cluiche ceannais idir Cloch Cheann Fhaola agus Maigh Cuilinn inné, agus bfheidhir go raibh an cheart aige. Dar leis, ní raibh sé maith go leor go raibh 'bye' ag an fhoireann baile [CCF] sna QF's ar an Satharn, cé go raibh ar Maigh Cuilinn an tír a thaistail go CCF sa chéad áit, agus ansin cluiche le am breise a imirt ar an Satharn acu.  Níor thosaigh an fhoireann baile CCF ag imirt ach ar an Domhnach, dar leis. Nuair a thainig an cluiche ceannais timpeall inné, bhi ar MC imirt don tríu úr sa deireadh seachtaine, ach ní raibh sé ach an dara cluiche le h-imirt ag an fhoireann baile, CCF. Mar sin, bhí buntaiste mór orthu de dheasca an tuirseach a raibh ar na fhir MC tar éis an deireadh seachtaine fada a bhi acu, dar le Stiofáin. Comhgairdeacheas do CCF ar aon nós, is foireann maith iad le peiladoirí cumasach.

Is cluiche íontach íontach mhaith é an cluiche ceannais sóisear idir Naomh Muire agus LLL, agus caithfidh mé a rá gur bhain mé an sult as an cluiche sin. Bhi gach rud intí, caighdéan ard, scóranna dochreidthe, chinneadh conspóideach agus sa deireadh Naomh Muire ag teacht ar ais as an uaigh in am breise.Ní raibh móran eatharthu sa deireadh, ach chríochnaigh Naomh Muire i bfhad níos laidre agus is dócha go raibh an bua tuillte acu mar sin.

[I see on another site]

Thankfully the match is in Castlebar and the Mayo team should be able to find it without too much trouble. I see on another site that whilst the Mayo supporters supported the local airport in Knock the Mayo team did otherwise. Apparently in a noble gesture to re float a stagnant economy the Mayo county board spread their cash around a bit.

Hence the players gathered from all over Mayo in Castlebar. Then got the bus to Galway. From there they flew to Waterford. From there (sigh...I am getting travel sick at this stage) they flew to Southend. From there they bussed to London. And from there they made it onto the pitch the next day, travel weary and road and air lagged.

How dare anyone suggest that the county board might have got a handier way over i.e like the cattle boat from Dun Laoighre or a yacht from Westport.

Kudos to Press Officer  ... very entertaining

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