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Corofin v St Galls match OFF

Really looking forward to this game  - both sides had good wins last week. Derry were excellent in this fixture last year, especially Eoin Bradley and Enda Lynn.  Why is this a home game for Dublin this year - It hought the fixtures were reversed each year?

Attended the game last night, very enjoyable first quarter particularly CJ's brilliant touches.  As an outsider(Derry man) I have a couple of complaints about the game presentation.  There were no programmes which people like me who dont recognise players need.  There were no announcements of Ntional Anthem, subs, time added etc.  For the biggest club game of the year in Antrim the presentation left a lot to be desired

[and finally]

is this game on bbc?

on the bbc its called and finally gaa

just after driving up the falls road - very disappointed in the amount of decorations. A few shops and whitefort had flags out but if this was another county in their first ulster final in many years every business and house would be showing their support. Indeed a weel known bar which always advertises on big match days in casement to attract customers did not have a single decoration! Quite a few of the players travel on this road and i know from speaking to one of them they are dissapointed. From what I have read and heard there is much better support out in the county

watched utv and bbc tonight to see buildup to the big match this weekend - not a word! As previous poster said if 30 -35000 were attending a local soccer match we would have it every night.  Indeed there are 2 other gaa matches with local interest this weekend which will be watched by 10-15000 people which would easily outnumber the total attendances at local soccer games during the season. Personally I dont care anymore if utv show gaa as they have become a bit of a joke station but I do care about bbc not least because I pay for the right to view their output.  Im not suggesting a friendly between glentoran and nortel doesnt deserve coverage , just that a match or matches attracting many thousands of licence payers should also be covered. Comeon BBC lets play fair

[You are not charged for your own seat.]

Just got this email
As a Season Ticket holder for a county competing in the League Finals on Sunday week you have already guaranteed yourself a seat in Section 305 Cusack Lower. To get your seat number you must pass through the Season Stile - Stile C1 at the rear of the Cusack. You are not charged for your own seat. This is good  news as I thought I may have to pay for it.

Now you can also bring a friend or family member along with you to see your county play in Croke Park!

the following was also included in the email
Cork, Monaghan, Derry & Kerry Season Ticket holders can now purchase an additional pair of tickets for the Season Ticket stand section (305 in Cusack Stand) for the big clash under lights in Croke Park on Saturday 31st January 2009.

These "guest" tickets are €25 each for adults, €5 for juveniles . Supplies are limited and it is first come, first served.

Sat down tonight to watch the BBC local news expecting to see a preview of the Tyrone/Derry game on tomorrow.  It didnt get a mention, in fact GAA didnt get mentioned. I was very surprised as this event will probably have the most spectators of any sporting event here this weekend.There was extensive coverage of soccer,cycling, ice hockey, rugby.  Will this game get radio coverage on Sat? Two weeks ago I sent away £139.50 licence fee but obviously this is the only interest local BBC have in me.  I suppose if there is a skirmish at the match no effort will be spared in covering it.

listening to my local station Radio Ulster on my way to work this morning.  They had live reports from Bourgoin on Rugby and from Spain on soccer giving the latest news on the upcoming matches.  Obviously this costs a lot in a time of cutbacks. I was wondering if any reporters will be flying into Omagh or Clones for the matches which are of interest to a great many people this Sunday

Good article on the lack of coverage in the Star today by Karl O'Kane.  Covered the same arguments made by Paddy Heaney and others on this board.  By the way could we organise a collection over the next couple of days and maybe we could gather enough to send  reporters to Clones and Omagh even if it was just with mobile phones to phone in the scores a few times.  I know we shouldnt have to do this as we have already paid in our license fees

[all]

Watched the programme last week on Martin Clarke - excellent programme.  At the end of the programme the announcer said 'For all your weekend sports be sure to tune in to Radio Ulster on Saturday at ......' Do they still believe all sports take place on Saturday? Hello there -  I believe there are some weekend sports   on Sunday which are not being covered

we seem to be concentrating on UTV and Adrian Logan here. This is a mistake.  UTV is a commercial station who do not have to broadcast any GAA if they dont want to and thats fair enough. We dont have to watch that channel. It obviously makes business sense to them to satisfy the Unionst viewers needs.  BBC are different - we pay a licence fee and have a right to a fair share of radio and tv time.At present what we are getting from them is disgraceful. It seems obvious to me that if 2000 watch a soccer game and 10000 watch a GAA game then more people are interested in this game and therfore it should receive proportionally more coverage!

[Nothng!]

Was in Celtic Park yesterday with about 7000 others.  I brought my radio to follow the other games and reports.  Nothng! On my way up I listened in at 5minutes  to 1 to here the latest GAA news, teams etc. Nothing!  On my way home surely there would be at least the usual Sunday Sport programme after 6news. Nothing! where has happened to the GAA coverage?  Are we not entitled to expect the same sports coverage as soccer gets on Saturday. There were even  larger crowds in Omagh and other venues yet these games did not merit any coverage.  There was probably more at one of these games than all the Saturday soccer games in total. Are we back to the bad old days when our games did not get a mention except when there was something negative to report

 i get setanta sports with ntl/virgin  I dont get setanta ireland which shows gaa matches.  Anyone know if its possible to get setanta ireland in the north

I feel sorry for footballers who have to try and workout what type of referee will turn up   Some refs are very sloppy and let all sorts go and then dig his heels in over some trivial offence  The following list covers things which I find most annoying
1. refs allowing players to take frees from the wrong place  - I mean where the player starts his run from where the foul occurred and eventually kicks the ball from in front of the posts.For frees about 45/50 metres out a couple of metre stolen is crucial  The position of the kicking is not so important for a free out of defence
2 Throw passes - it is not possible to make a hand pass with ONE hand In my view at least a quarter of passes are throws
3. Square balls are only given when a 45 is taken - because the ref is up with the play.  Why dont umpires advise the ref
4. Forwards constantly get frees even though they have grabbed the defender - we saw it yesterday in the Tyrone/Monaghan match.  Everyone (apart from refs) knows this is happening but week after week we see the frees given and defenders booked.  Could umpires and linesmen(as in soccer) not advise the ref.  At present the only time linesmen intervene is to identify a player who strikes