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we are struggling badly at moment with numbers , attitude etc. For som eodd reason we seem to start the year well and be monumentally poor in late april, may each year. At least this year we can be poor aginst the good teams rather than the bad teams but unless we turn it around we are in trouble. Impressed by Enniscrone and have noticed their improvement in form in last few weeks. Will be in contention with Mholaises Gaels and in my view if they can keep their heads will be favourites for intermediate.

In fairness , Eugene played football at a level few in the county could aspire too, and is cute enough to boot so not surprised that he is still a mtach winner in Division 4.

Big draw for Geevagh out west which keeps them on track nicely. How did Egan and Henry play Seanie ??Tubbercurry got a bad beating with in theory 3 county starters available. Any word on McGuires injury and its likely duration ? Big blow especially with lack of depth in full back line.

I post regularily on Sligo GAA matters but seldom anywhere else. Don't know Belfast at all so hopefully some of the Belfast based posters may be able to help me. Work for a company that runs sports events primarily in Dublin. We are looking for a venue in Belfast to run a couple of events this summer that entails using a grass pitch with ideally a bar on site or at least nearby. The event will involve 'tag rugby' so bear that in mind with any GAA pitches suggested and vesting etc. Any help much appreciated

After conceding 2 goals in 5 matches , we went and conceded 3 in th efirst 10 minutes against Cloonacool in an abject performance which seriously undermines our chances of staying in Division 3. Hopefully with a few guys back, we can pick it up and there isnt much between any team in this division bar Johns obviously. Pats seem to be struggling fairly badly too but this isnt that unusual at this time of the year.

Geevagh are the team of the year in Sligo at this stage. To be top of their division missing 2 county players is a great achievemnet and is testiment to the hard work going on in Geevagh.

Coolera seem to be getting their act together in Division 1 and whilst they have traditionally over the last few years had a solid defence, their attack is looking more potent this year. A fit John Mac and they will be approaching the championship with confidence. Currys poor year is probably the biggest shock in this division.

See the fixtures are on website for the weekend. Am I alone in thinking that 4pm matches on a Saturday afternoon in late April arent right. Appreciate county minors are playing but whats wrong with Sunday ??

I expect and would pick myself the Connaught Championship winning back line. Whatever the debates about No. 6 , there is no alternatives for this match. Ohara and quinn will be midfield. Again cant see any alternatives. Sligonian is right that we wont win with the same half forward line as the last match. Davey and Brehony should give us more options in the half forward line if fit to start. With the constant chopping and changing over the season with cawley , Mc tiernan and flannery all getting some game time its impossible to know the forawrd line that will be picked. I would pick Curran , Brehony , Henry , Kelly , Beirne , Mc Tiernan with Gaughan, Coen , Davey , Sweeney and Flannery as options. Its a small half forward line hence playing Henry but its still a big ask for O Hara to play midfield at this stage. Strangely no one here is discussing what may be the closest selction debate of them all - Goalie. Combining Greenes mistakes against Limerick and Louth vrs Farrells highly impressive U21 campaign this is much closer competition than you would think. Still Greenes Experience will probably sway the decision but it will be a close run thing.

Recent attempts at teams for Championship  i think we should leave until after Sunday and see how injuries are shaping up.

We normally play well at this time of the year and under pressure so a 3 point win is achievable. Would worry about the draw in Limerick as there wont be much in that match either and we wont beat Longford by 8 points anyhow.    

Met 3 guys from same said club in Dublin recently and enquiried how they were strugglin to field teams at times last season. Without a hint of sarcasm , they discussed amongst themselves it was the fact that the brighest in the county live in their catchment area and hence are working in so many high powered jobs in Dublin and are at various colleges around the country that has them particuliarily struggling midweek.

And poor old us practically at full strength midweek apart from a few guys working night shift in local factories !!!!

Yeah had a surprising comfortable win last night 1-8 to 4 points. Obviously St Mholaises were missing their 2 county players but on the flip side , we gave debuts to 3 young lads. They are still favourites for promotion and should be there or thereabouts in championship but totally agree that the spark seems to be gone from St Mholaises this year and something doesnt seem quite right.

On a much more lighter topic !!

One of the most fascinating parts of Sligo GAA is the club notes in the Champion. All the papers in the county can have all the news they like but if there is no club notes than they are not worth reading. Does anyone else head straight past the diminishing property pages and mart ads straight to the club notes? Is it just me or can you gleam all the knowledge you want about a club by just reading their notes. For example you can see the vibrancy of Geevagh from their notes and the professionalism of Mary's in the best possible sense of that word.

I don't mind admitting it but my views of clubs are coloured by their writing in the their notes. For the best part of the 90's, I couldn't stand Coolera simply because of their note writer. Bad refs, bad pitches, injuries, holidays, horrific misses were all blamed for defeats without ever acknowledging the opponents. In fairness this has dramatically changed in recent years. My utmost respect for Harps emanates from their notes. Well written, they are always dignified and gracious and therefore these are all the things I associate most with Harps. I mentioned Geevagh previously and their quality but my pet hate at the moment is their constant referral to first names in their notes " Kevin passed to Darren and he kicked a point". Brilliantly parochial but first names don't seem right when reporting on an adult match. Pats normally just put in the score and the team and in some ways what more can you want. Michaels put in everything but the teams for an obvious reason (or should that read "team"). Ballisodare only put in notes after a relatively glorious defeat or a rare win. Farnans seem to have only Ladies and Bord Na Nog anymore. Bunninadden and St Mholaises are both excellent reads. Can't wait till tomorrow!! Am I sad or what??

I possibly have been most critical of Jordan than anyone one on here in the sense that I have questioned whether his Croosmolina experience has prepared him for intercounty management sufficiently. Think its a fair question. Dont think he has been helped by his late appointment( no ones fault) and the carryover of selectors from previous regime in that they obviously know last years panel better than U21's etc and it is obvious to date than that some of last years panel are struggling to readjust to a different gameplan undr Jordan.

We are all aware that we are struggling in midfield  (with O Hara no longer having the staying power to play midfield , Beirnes avergae introduction to intercounty , Doohans/ Mc Gartys retirement and Taylors injury). However it is the constant changing of the forwrad line to th extend that most days it now resembles a senior clubs forwrad line rather than an inter county attack than is more disappointing. Worry slightly about talk off all the U21's. Dont think either of the midfielders have the physique yet for senior football and think Henry is a more natural half forward than midfielder regardless ( Mano ?? ). Coen unquestionably will be a quality intercounty footballer as i think will Farrell, Gaughan and Ewing but whether its in their best interests and long term Sligos, to be brought in at this moment and time , I would question. Dare I say it , that the Tommy Murphy cup might be a better introduction for them. Incidentally I may in a big minority here , but I am fully supportive of the Division 4 team not getting a second chance.

On Sunday, I expect it to be no different from our last visit to Louth where we were well beaten.

Even though I would like less league matches myself , I dont expect  the model to change soon and in fairness there are worse things wrong in Sligo football. I just look at the 3 week gap in may and 4 week gap in July and query why are we playing football in February. To me the logical solution is start the league later and run the so called "warm up matches" midweek in June and July when college students etc are more available and when there is gaps in the schedule for county matches , league finals etc as there is this year. Owing to the importance of the Benson cup in my medal collection maybe I am biased but to call these once important competitions warm ups is slightly demeaning.

Dont know Seanie with the Sligo match on the 20th going to be a winner takes all game , whether the county players will be released for the club matches on the 13th.

Found it hard to believe that if McIntyre was on the panel Mano , that he wasnt on the pitch. Hence my assumption the other day that he mustn't be on the panel. Based on club championship last year , he certainly was amongst the best U21's in the county. Personally not a great believer in trials and certainly not at U21 level and hopefully a management team will be in place for 2009 before this years club championship thus letting the managemnt analyse the players in the white heat of championship rather than in trials in November.

Anyone with  half a brain and some knowledge of club football with the county would know the identity of Seanie , Mano and Paddyp. The low key profile of Owenmore Gaels and lack of clues in our usernames would help anomity of myself and OMS. Much as I would like too , cant say I am friends with any of the posters on the board though often toyed with idea of a meet up at Xmas somewhere.

See with the postponement of Round 7 of the national leagues next weekend , it will mean another weekend without the county players for the clubs. Feel with all the breaks for "warm up competitions" and poor weather , it has slightly dilluted the leagues somewhat this year and yet we are only 5 rounds away from a 5 week break for the leagues. Cant help but wonder should the warm ups be all played mid week . Appreciate that with county players unavailable and with players away working and in college it may not be feasible but it would certainly concentrate the season way better. I imagine Owenmore Gaels are unique from a demographics point of view in that mid week actually propably would suit our panel better than weekends.

[and a Benson cup medal]

Fortunately I missed the initial comment by the poster and by what's left, I can't even imagine what was said. Didn't think he could get worse than the libellous attack on T Brehony, his attack on his clubmate last year as detailed by OMS and now again a clubmate who represents the county that our poster alleges he is so passionate about (no true Sligo Gael would attack this man and his father who put so much time into their county as personally).

One only needs to reread his attack on Con to see how bizarre his logic is. Buckass tore this apart much better than I possibly could. Again his regular self praise for attending county matches etc is particularly grating. I only know the identity of Mano, OMS, Paddyp and Seanie of the regulars here and I know that each of them have put more time into Sligo GAA at grassroots level than the poster will by attending Sligo matches for the rest of his life and I have never heard them boast once about their dedication to Sligo GAA. Then that's what true Sligo Gaels do.

On a lighter note, I have to take issue with Seanie on his detailing of Cons CV. Surely you should have said 3 county medals and a Benson cup medal A unique combination but sadly the neglected Benson cup medal is the centrepiece of Teeling Gaels medal collection !!

I see that as I type, the poster has announced he is leaving to board to manage Sligo after been rejected as a player for been too small.In an emotional good bye he forgives Seanie, as he is only human. Sadly OMS and himself seem to have parted on bad terms and I don't even merit a mention. There is only quote that summarise the departing poster and should be his Gaaboard epitaph

God help yee if in 15yrs time I manage me county.

Dont particuliarily want to a have a very specific Sligo U21 chat on the national page so if can indulge me on local forum making a couple of points about our U21's.

Obviously its extremely disappointing to lose a match when 5 points up at half time, a wind in your backs and a man up. Roscommon obviously improved but we froze fairly dramactically.

When the margin between victory and defeat is so narrow , one tries to look at what could have bridged the gap. . Every club and county team has players who cant or wont committ but for a small county like Sligo to see players of Adrian Mc Intyre, Pat Cawley and Jason Marrens abilities not involved hurts Sligo much more than the bigger counties.

No nothing of Keith Raymond apart from he is an outstanding sportsman. Again perhaps he isnt good enough ( he played midfield for U21s last year though) , perhaps he simply is in the bracket mentioned above(in that he simply didnt want to be involved) but I hope he wasnt involved because he was a dual player and couldnt give the necessary committment. Dual players are rare and obviously particuliarily so in Sligo and if this was the case , then surely some kind of accomodation could have been reached. As I say , I know nothing of the guy or why he wasnt involved but again like the 3 mentioned above, its a shame he wasnt involved.

My biggest gripe though is the age old battle in Sligo with soccer. Gary Curran is probably (one of)the best player(s) at U21 level in Sligo and he is now lucky to make the bench for Sligo Rovers. For Sligo GAA to advance , we cant afford to be losing battles for players like Gary Curran with the Rovers. There surely is enough finances involved with patrons of Sligo GAA that players like Gary Curran are so well looked (decent job , college scholarship etc)  than actual money with Rovers isnt enough to entice him  out of Sligo GAA. The margin between victory and defeat is that small.

Think their has to be a mistake on your intermediate one Seanie. Worried and all as I am about your ability to bilocate, I think ST Michaels who effectively have the very same team playing ye in Division 4 and us in division 3 at the one time will struggle even more !!

Credit to sligogaa.ie for a very up to date website but am finding the new fixtures/ results section hard to follow. Is it just me ??

As a st molaise gaels man it pains to me to say this. We have 2 players on senior panel but watching the u21s there are far better players not on the panel from bigger clubs. Gilmartin, Gaughan, coen, ogrady and henry. Doesnt really make sense to me.

Think its a fair point Sligonian. Would always have considered both the St Mholaises Gaels guys as backs rather than forwards also despite their U21 positioning. One of my difficulties with the senior setup this season is actually with the selectors. Cant understand how you can change manager and yet keep the same selectors that existed under the previous regime. This is no reflection on the selectors who I believe were pivotial last summer but to me it is football suicide to change managers but keep the same selectors. To circle my point , i think the Mholaises Gaels players made the senior squad on the back of good performances with the County Junior team last summer under last years regime.

Finally , on a previous thread , a Mayo poster posed the question " Has Tommy Jordan been found out ? ". Think its a fair question. Hopefully this is just our traditional early season form coupled with a later than most counties training start but by Castlebar in June ( hopefully) , the Mayo faithful will be calling on his appointment as Mayo manager. However dont think the sideline has been particuliarily good to date during the league and Jordan did get this job on the back of Crossmolinas success .That was backboned around 2 of the most gifted players of their generation nationally and a fistful of inter county players to boot so at this moment in time its a fair point to query Jordans ability at this level also.

You have a short memory Sligonian.

"I really shouldnt entertain this BS and its nearly always someelse who starts it, rarely if ever me."

Last autumn you wrote an outrageous libel on this board which was rightly censored so whilst I admire your passion , comments ilke the above are hugely hyprocritical and greatly diminish your value to this board. Whatever about other message boards , there should be no place on this borad for rumour , heresay and innuendo.