Messages

Celtic have been poor this half. Not sure what Suttons on about it's a penalty all day!

I thought it was very soft pen. Clearly pokes the ball away. Would have only been a penalty if it was foul play as getting the ball doesn't matter during foul play.

[Card only at the gate]

Wholesome content.
The GAA was built on principles of volunteerism, humility, amateur status, desire to express our Irishness, community identity and so on. 

Obviously it will evolve with the times and great things are still happening everyday such as the All Stars teams which are springing up in clubs across the country and are amazing.

But:
Threatening SuperMacs?
Journeymen coaches scouring the country for their next small club and fifty quid a night?
Card only at the gate?
Banning charity advertising?
Casement Park debacle?
Games behind paywalls?

That's just off the top of my head. Basically there's a lot of corporate thinking has crept into the organisation that's undermining the core principles and that is wrong in my book. 

Card only at the gate is a positive step forward; unfortunately I know of clubs (and counties) where gate receipts were well short of what they should have been. While some people may not have cards , society in general requires their use more and more, so the GAA is merely reflecting that development.

I've been to club and county matches in the last year and seen old folks turned away at the gate when they wanted to pay with cash. To highlight the daftness of it all, once you enter any GAA stadium one can use cash to buy a program or refreshments.

Personally I've never been to a club game and seen card offered.

Any reports from the 1st round of fixtures last night? Anyone stand out?

Prayers and thoughts with Charlie Brown and his family, hopefully makes full recovery.

Thought big James Rice had a great game for Rostrevor at full forward last night against An Riocht. Good hands. Surprisingly nimble on his feet for a big lad. Chipped in with a few scores and was instrumentle in the game winning goal. Rostrevor will be very hard to beat at Petit Park this year

[And what did he actually get it for?]

When did big Jeff  get his knighthood? And what did he  actually get it for?

I mean , he  never won Wimbledon or  an Olympic gold medal like those other  deserving  knighted folk.

Very good question. 

Services to saying no politics. I'd say he was shoe in to be fast tracked into Lords when he lost the MP seat in lagan valley. Obviously losing the seat is a guarantee now and his lordship is well and truely in the mud

He wouldn't be the first lord involved in moral turpitude, not even in Belfast.

He's Lisburn, a different city altogether 

And not surprisingly he's from Kilkeel, that wee lovely fishing village bedecked in flegs all year round!

Is Harry and Megan still some sort of Duke or Duchess over that quaint wee shíthole?

Hey Kilkeel might be a shithole. But it's my shithole   

Has anyone else had issues getting on to the county website recently? My browser tells me they have invalid certificates and doesn't let me on

Hi Anderson, no I have no problem getting on.

Strange. I've tried a couple of different browsers and on my phone as well. Must be a problem on my end then

Has anyone else had issues getting on to the county website recently? My browser tells me they have invalid certificates and doesn't let me on

[And what did he actually get it for?]

When did big Jeff  get his knighthood? And what did he  actually get it for?

I mean , he  never won Wimbledon or  an Olympic gold medal like those other  deserving  knighted folk.

Very good question. 

Services to saying no politics. I'd say he was shoe in to be fast tracked into Lords when he lost the MP seat in lagan valley. Obviously losing the seat is a guarantee now and his lordship is well and truely in the mud

[marquee forward]

Worst performance of the Yr on the biggest stage. However promotion was the objective and that's ticked off. Total focus to championship now. Our defence still a major concern. Keeper very questionable for both goals last night. Not sure our capt offers enough either. We are short 3 or 4 players including a reliable free taker and a marquee forward. Reality is Down aren't good enough to compete for Sam. They are 16th in Ireland.

O'Hagan was that marquee forward until his injury. Kerr certainly has the potential to be sensational for Down but maybe needs to limit trying to do everything on his own

Poor performance overall and not many players really played to their potential but great to see Barry O'Hagan back after a horrible injury last year where he questioned if he would ever play again in what was a diffuclt week personally for the community of Clonduff with the passing of Lorcan. Big focus now on the championship

If this brings Stormont down it is surely time for something different.

Think it will be ok though.

Because of the New Decade New Approach deal, bringing down Stormont doesn't have the same leverage as before. The executive will continue to run on a caretaker basis for 6 months so will be no loss of ministers making funding decisions. ALso an election has to be called within 24 weeks of the collapse

Compression boots, worth the money or not?

Depends what you are after them for. If you have everything else in order i.e workout, recovery, nutrition, they may be good for a marginal gain. For the average Joe they probably aren't worth the money when there are other strategies to optomise recovery

U20s win with a BP after a poor first half against Scotland but all to no avail as England come back from 21-5 down to win 45-31 away to France. If France had even tried to defend they'd have won comfortably. Terribly shoddy performance.

Ireland are now 14-1-0 in the last three years.

France were very sloppy towards the end and butchered good possession deep in England territory.

It appears that the HRH's have been fiddling their photos
very silly

Regardless of the bad photoshop job that pic could have been taken anytime. They really do think the peasants are stupid.

I've seen a good theory that she's actually in a wheelchair and they've photoshopped her into that garden seat very poorly.

Should that not have been a double movement for last Welsh try?

England played well above the level expected from them and Ireland played well below the level expected from them and it still took a last minute drop kick to win it for England. It's probably the toughest place to go to and get a result against a team that didn't really have anything to lose. Some of the kicks from Crowley weren't up to the standard he has set in first 3 games but Ford also wasn't too hot either for England. Throw in a couple of HIA substitutions for your in form winger and his replacement it was always going to impact their game plan.