Messages

Can anyone tell me the dates and venues for this years compromise rules series in Australia? I was thinking of heading to Australia in October and would like to take in one of the tests if possible. I can't seem to see anything on the gaa website.

Hanratty acting the b****x again thinking he's Rambo to try and cover up his deficiencies as a footballer.

Steal you milk money??  You're some bollix!

Chilll out, just pointing out that if he's not mowing down opponents he's not contributing very much in footballing terms, i don't even know the fella other than seeing him on the field.

No doubt Cross will be hard to beat on this peformance today and they will be worthy favourites after today. The far hungrier team won.

Hanratty acting the b****x again thinking he's Rambo to try and cover up his deficiencies as a footballer.

McConville economical as ever up front, NcNamee as ever looks busy but always want to shoot on sight, Aaron Kernan having his best game in a long while. Other than that its pure workrate that has Cross in the driving seat. Morgan showed his inexperience getting 2 yellows in a minute and can have no complaints. Sean Kelly is the best player on the field but is about the only St Galls player that can take any credit for the 1st half display. Where is Kevin McGourty?

Brutal display of refereeing, this ref is a homer is ever there was one. St Galls are poor though and deserve to be behind in a very poor game. Cross are the experts at grinding it out though and this game is over.

Pat McEneaney is on RTE now, he stated that he had got things wrong and that he didn't blame the umpires as he was the boss. As he said I take the credit for good games and I take the criticism for the bad ones. Which is fair enough.

Seen that alright, at least he had the balls to come out and take responsibility for his mistakes. However I'm sure all Kildare fans will be sick watching this game tomorrow thinking what might have been.

[In actual fact he seems to have done very little in the way of interviews and refused to accept the MOTM award from RTE after the semi-final since he thought he didn't deserve it.]

Remember the pass from Clarke into Fitzpatrick in the 2nd half against Kildare?
A good pass that the midfielder took in his stride and blazed over the bar.
Now I read a couple of articles on the Monday where journalists hailed this as an unbelievable piece of vision (Tom Humphries was one).
A 20 yard pace to a man in acres of space in front of goal does not take vision.
It just takes common sense and in fact there was a far better cross-field pass with the outside of the boot for a Kildare point in the first half but little or no mention of the player involved.
This is a perfect example of the hype that surrounds Clarke.
And if he were to win POTY on the back of this Kennelly-esque media worship then Bernard Brogan will have been robbed, plain and simple.

Couldn't agree more.

Clarke is undoubtedly a very talented player who has got better as the year has gone on. A much more talented player than Kennelly in my opinion and certainly a more humble individual. Clarke has not courted the media in any shape or form since his return. In actual fact he seems to have done very little in the way of interviews and refused to accept the MOTM award from RTE after the semi-final since he thought he didn't deserve it. So to compare him to Kennelly is blatantly unfair.

However I do agree that Brogan is undoubtedly the POTY and he WILL get the award.

He didn't deserve it.
Danny Hughes did.
This is my point in a nutshell.

Can't argue with that  and you may be right that the media are OTT in their praise of Clarke but it is still way more justified than the Kennelly hype. Clarke will be the most talented player on the field on Sunday and he is only 22. After that the hype will begin about whether he is Oz bound again, and I expect that he will.

Remember the pass from Clarke into Fitzpatrick in the 2nd half against Kildare?
A good pass that the midfielder took in his stride and blazed over the bar.
Now I read a couple of articles on the Monday where journalists hailed this as an unbelievable piece of vision (Tom Humphries was one).
A 20 yard pace to a man in acres of space in front of goal does not take vision.
It just takes common sense and in fact there was a far better cross-field pass with the outside of the boot for a Kildare point in the first half but little or no mention of the player involved.
This is a perfect example of the hype that surrounds Clarke.
And if he were to win POTY on the back of this Kennelly-esque media worship then Bernard Brogan will have been robbed, plain and simple.

Couldn't agree more.

Clarke is undoubtedly a very talented player who has got better as the year has gone on. A much more talented player than Kennelly in my opinion and certainly a more humble individual. Clarke has not courted the media in any shape or form since his return. In actual fact he seems to have done very little in the way of interviews and refused to accept the MOTM award from RTE after the semi-final since he thought he didn't deserve it. So to compare him to Kennelly is blatantly unfair.

However I do agree that Brogan is undoubtedly the POTY and he WILL get the award.

Can anyone post up the best available odds on each team for the final. I have a large bet on Down to win the title and am looking to hedge off some of it on Cork if I can get a good price. 1/2 on Cork to win the title outright is the best I have seen yet which is ridiculously short. Has anyone seen any bigger odds in any independent bookmakers?

Does anyone know what the story with Ambrose Rogers is? Will he be fit for the final?

I fancy the winner to come from this weeks semi-final. I think Kildare will be that team but the closer it gets to this game the less convinced I am becoming of their mental strength to close out the deal much in the same way that Dublin and Mayo have failed to get over the line in recent years.

I'm amazed that the bookies have Cork priced at 2/5 favouites for Sam, whoever wins on Sunday will have a serious chance due the expectancy on Corks shoulders to win the title.

If as expected Rogers is out, I think Down can forget about winning this game. He is their leader and most influential player. They simply don't have the strength in depth that other counties have. Lump on Kildare for this one.

[2 teams that play football and try not to desert their traditions by going negative, which is probably why we have failed to make an impact at Provinical level in a long time.]

I think this could possibly be the game of the championship, 2 teams that play football and try not to desert their traditions by going negative, which is probably why we have failed to make an impact at Provinical level in a long time.

Anyway lads there's nothing wrong with having belief for Sunday, there is a difference between cockiness and belief, i personally believe we can win and it's got nothing to do with records, tradition and all the associated bullshit but about the 15 men in red and black and the 15 in green and gold they are pairing off against and I think I have seen enough this year to justify why i believe we can win

anyway best of luck to the lads and hopefully whoever wins will win the whole thing (hope it's down though  )

Have you watched either of these teams playing football recently. Kerry in last years Al-Ireland final give one of the most negative displays I have ever seen from an All Ireland winning team.

As for Down, well 'wee James' has instilled a defensive mindset into his side to rival any other county in Ireland. I would suggest that the main reason why Down have not made an impact at provincial level is because they simply aren't good enough.

Anyway Kerry to win by at least 6 points on Saturday and to march onwards to their 7th final in a row. Arguably the greatest side of all time although the Kerry side of 1975-86 might have something to say about that even if it was in a way less competitive era.

Despicable, sickening act this. The onus for now is on Culloville as a club. Do they:

(a) Protect their own member knowing full well who struck the blow (and everyone within Culloville will have known who done it by now)
or (b) Ban the member from their club and hand his name over to the county board.

If the individual in question had any semblance of remorse he would take it in his own hands to choose option (b).

Culloville have the option to do the decent thing or their reputation will be forever tarnished by this horrible act.

If they don't, then the punishment should be immediate expulsion from all League and championship activity for the remainder of the year.

As an Armagh man I was delighted to see Louth winning on Saturday and playing some sparkling football into the bargain. The challenge will be to repeat this in the semi-final when expectation levels will now be higher. However that full forward line will be hard to stop and with 2 very good midfielders I think they can make a Leinster final. The worry would be whether they are defensively strong enough to cope with a better forward line.

Kildare on the other hand look a demoralised team and I think McGeeney has struggled since the defection of Grimley who most Armagh observers would consider to be real deal whether you agree with his motives or not.