Sligo - the Division Four thread, farewell, it's been nice knowing you....

[BigJohnBrowne]

I suspect Sligo are quietly confident about this one.  Is O'Hara likely to be playing ?

[SLIGONIAN]

SLIGO 4-13 LEITRIM 1-8 FT     

We owed them that.

FANTASTIC RESULT, well done lads keep it up. Looking forward to the sligo lads reports. Sligeach abu.

Have to admit i wasnt expecting that!! What happened leitrim?, like this wasnt our best 15, without ohara,brehony,egan, etc...

[SLIGONIAN]

1 SLIGO 3 3 0 0 8-47 3-21 41 6    
2 Antrim 3 2 1 0 5-56 4-17 42 5
3 Waterford 2 1 1 0 4-29 0-18 23 3
4 Carlow 2 1 0 1 2-24 0-26 4 2
5 Wicklow 2 0 2 0 3-21 2-24 0 2
6 Clare 3 1 0 2 3-27 2-37 -7 2
7 Leitrim 2 1 0 1 3-20 6-20 -9 2
8 London 2 0  2 2-20 4-26 -12 0
9 Kilkenny 3 0 0 3 0-12 9-67 -82

With Home games against Carlow and Waterford left and london away it looks very promising that we will get promoted but nothings certain. Wicklow and Antrim will be tough away games.

[45GoneShort]

Just in.  I'll be brief !! Sligo were far superior on the day, our once reliable defence seems to have been ripped apart and demmoralised by Moran & Morrison.  In fairness though Sligo took their goals really well, but if there was bit more authority taken on the line in the first half as regards switches then this wouldn't have turned into a one sided game.

The only way is up from here. Just as well we don't have a 2 week break as we'll need this Carlow game next Saturday to get this defeat out of the system quick.

[SLIGONIAN]

Just in.  I'll be brief !! Sligo were far superior on the day, our once reliable defence seems to have been ripped apart and demmoralised by Moran & Morrison.  In fairness though Sligo took their goals really well, but if there was bit more authority taken on the line in the first half as regards switches then this wouldn't have turned into a one sided game.

The only way is up from here. Just as well we don't have a 2 week break as we'll need this Carlow game next Saturday to get this defeat out of the system quick.

Moran isnt the greatest when the games in progress, but no one seen that coming, things looked promising in Leitrim all yr so far, am i not correct. Leitrim Gaels seemed reasonably happy with things from ive been told but i could be misinformed. With the rossies in waiting Leitrim will seriously want to get there act together and regroup after this becuase the rossies have improved alot.

Sligo are a different animal this yr but Galway look very impressive from what im watching on TG4.ie so I doubt anyones getting carried away looking at the bigger picture.

[Owenmoresider]

Firstly, Leitrim were shocking bad. That London result makes sense after seeing that, were ragged throughout, and were fortunate that we squandered chances and went a bit sloppy when we got a good cushion. Will need tons of improvement, or the Rossies will be relishing Carrick on the 31st of May. Moran & Morrison might be giving us more entertainment in Connacht again, and we can probably thank him for jettisoning Costello from the Mayo setup too. Nice one Mickey!

Now that said, this was probably the best footballing display I've seen from a Sligo team in a long time, definitely in terms of the football played. Plenty of good direct passing and little of the intricate movements which invariably broke down. And forwards who won their ball and could do something with it. Backs held their own for much of the game, and midfield battled hard and won a good amount of possession. While dominant through most of the game, it took a while for it to show, a good number of chances went a begging early on, and Kelly blew a glorious goal opportunity, so that Leitrim were level, 3 apiece, at one point. But it didn't reflect the play, and if we got it together it would be a different tale - and it was. A couple of points and then a good ball from costello set up Marren who buried it as soon as he got hold of the ball. We went in six up, 1-8 to 0-5.

Second half was one-way traffic really, points were swapped before terrible meesing by the Leitrim backs left Sweeney through to finish to the net. And that was practically it. Went a bit sloppy for a while after that, but it was at 2-12 to 0-8 before Sweeney got his second goal. Leitrim got one back after a scrappy enough finish but Sean Davey responded to get our fourth goal. Two more points finished the job. A good day's work all round.

Team was Fizzy, Harrison, McGuire, Ewing, McNamara, Phillips, Kivlehan, Mullen, Taylor, McTernan, Costello, Davey, Kelly, Sweeney, Marren. Subs were Johnny Davey for McNamara (who got tallied early on and seemed to suffer for it), Gaughan for McTernan, McGovern for Kivlehan (victim of those f**king stupid rules), Coen for Kelly and Stenson for Mullen. FB's were a bit loose on their men early on but did the job well overall. McNamara was struggling after the early hit and Davey came in, was his usual terrier self, did well. Phillips was powerful stuff, and Maxwell will think again about lining him up for a hit, got rattled twice! Cleaned up a fair amount of ball and used it well. CHB - hopefully sorted out now. Kivlehan did well and was very involved, though a little lucky with a neck-high tackle on Barry Prior, and that he dummied Maxwell when he was ready to repeat Geraghty's medicine from 07! Drew a clip on someone in the second half and went, but wasn't bad at all. McGovern didn't have too much to do but did grand. Mullen proved quite useful at midfield, caught and picked up a lot of ball and distributed it well, not the most mobile maybe but could do fine, he's got two fine tutors of that kind of player along the line to guide him anyway. Taylor was quiet and didn't get much ball in the first half, but wasn't too bad in the second. Will come good yet hopefully.

Forwards - well the ? over the Leitrim backline apart, a fine day for them. Costello was a class act, his passing makes a big difference and he doesn't take too much out of it like Breheny would do, unless it's with reason. Kicked a few fine points too. Should be retained at CHF. Davey did the right things today, worked well, hassled and won ball and used it well, and a goal to round it off. McTernan kicked an early point and worked hard but faded in the second half. Gaughan came in and was involved a lot, but my does he need a new set of studs, twas like Bambi on ice at times, 5-6 he ended up on his arse, could have had a goal too but for that. Kelly wasn't too bad, helped to create the second goal with the pressure on McWeeney, and linked up well. Sweeney started a game and did well - a surprise in itself. Kicked a few good points and took two goals well. Gave McKeon a right doing. Marren was lively and kicked a number of points and a fine goal in the first half. Looks a much-improved player from old. Can be a bit greedy but certainly will shoot, something none of them wanted to do a few years back. Of course there were some moments where it got sloppy but by and large it was good football and a convincing win, and sweet revenge for the humiliation in Carrick last year. That'll quieten them!

[Teeling Gael]

Sweeney will get plaudits with goals, Harrison probably was MotM but I was hugely impressed by Mullen and Costello. Both were key in the new kick the ball into full forward line policy that paid huge dividends for particuliarily Sweeney. Costellos vision,ability to hold onto ball under pressure and pass the ball are a joy and his pass for Marrens game turning 1st goal was McDonaldesque. Mullens workrate, general cop on and surprising excellent passing were also very impressive. Concur with OMS on phillips and thought Ewing had an excellent game and he gives depth to full back line when Donovan comes back. Leitrim were awful and rarely does one see McKeon so ineffective. Why play Maxwell anywhere other than full forward perplexes me also.

[RedandGreenSniper]

Fair to say yis are very happy with Costello so far then?

[SLIGONIAN]

Firstly, Leitrim were shocking bad. That London result makes sense after seeing that, were ragged throughout, and were fortunate that we squandered chances and went a bit sloppy when we got a good cushion. Will need tons of improvement, or the Rossies will be relishing Carrick on the 31st of May. Moran & Morrison might be giving us more entertainment in Connacht again, and we can probably thank him for jettisoning Costello from the Mayo setup too. Nice one Mickey!

Now that said, this was probably the best footballing display I've seen from a Sligo team in a long time, definitely in terms of the football played. Plenty of good direct passing and little of the intricate movements which invariably broke down. And forwards who won their ball and could do something with it. Backs held their own for much of the game, and midfield battled hard and won a good amount of possession. While dominant through most of the game, it took a while for it to show, a good number of chances went a begging early on, and Kelly blew a glorious goal opportunity, so that Leitrim were level, 3 apiece, at one point. But it didn't reflect the play, and if we got it together it would be a different tale - and it was. A couple of points and then a good ball from costello set up Marren who buried it as soon as he got hold of the ball. We went in six up, 1-8 to 0-5.

Second half was one-way traffic really, points were swapped before terrible meesing by the Leitrim backs left Sweeney through to finish to the net. And that was practically it. Went a bit sloppy for a while after that, but it was at 2-12 to 0-8 before Sweeney got his second goal. Leitrim got one back after a scrappy enough finish but Sean Davey responded to get our fourth goal. Two more points finished the job. A good day's work all round.

Team was Fizzy, Harrison, McGuire, Ewing, McNamara, Phillips, Kivlehan, Mullen, Taylor, McTernan, Costello, Davey, Kelly, Sweeney, Marren. Subs were Johnny Davey for McNamara (who got tallied early on and seemed to suffer for it), Gaughan for McTernan, McGovern for Kivlehan (victim of those f**king stupid rules), Coen for Kelly and Stenson for Mullen. FB's were a bit loose on their men early on but did the job well overall. McNamara was struggling after the early hit and Davey came in, was his usual terrier self, did well. Phillips was powerful stuff, and Maxwell will think again about lining him up for a hit, got rattled twice! Cleaned up a fair amount of ball and used it well. CHB - hopefully sorted out now. Kivlehan did well and was very involved, though a little lucky with a neck-high tackle on Barry Prior, and that he dummied Maxwell when he was ready to repeat Geraghty's medicine from 07! Drew a clip on someone in the second half and went, but wasn't bad at all. McGovern didn't have too much to do but did grand. Mullen proved quite useful at midfield, caught and picked up a lot of ball and distributed it well, not the most mobile maybe but could do fine, he's got two fine tutors of that kind of player along the line to guide him anyway. Taylor was quiet and didn't get much ball in the first half, but wasn't too bad in the second. Will come good yet hopefully.

Forwards - well the ? over the Leitrim backline apart, a fine day for them. Costello was a class act, his passing makes a big difference and he doesn't take too much out of it like Breheny would do, unless it's with reason. Kicked a few fine points too. Should be retained at CHF. Davey did the right things today, worked well, hassled and won ball and used it well, and a goal to round it off. McTernan kicked an early point and worked hard but faded in the second half. Gaughan came in and was involved a lot, but my does he need a new set of studs, twas like Bambi on ice at times, 5-6 he ended up on his arse, could have had a goal too but for that. Kelly wasn't too bad, helped to create the second goal with the pressure on McWeeney, and linked up well. Sweeney started a game and did well - a surprise in itself. Kicked a few good points and took two goals well. Gave McKeon a right doing. Marren was lively and kicked a number of points and a fine goal in the first half. Looks a much-improved player from old. Can be a bit greedy but certainly will shoot, something none of them wanted to do a few years back. Of course there were some moments where it got sloppy but by and large it was good football and a convincing win, and sweet revenge for the humiliation in Carrick last year. That'll quieten them!

Great stuff, our days of kicking into the corners is over.
Walsh was a pure footballer and looks like hes instilling that into us, with a more direct style from what i hear.

Costello is doing great and im very happy with him.

[SLIGONIAN]

Leitrim 1-12 Carlow 0-7 ft thats them on 4pts now, we have London and Carlow next, must be 4 pts haul. Leitrim back in the race.

[SLIGONIAN]

London V Sligo this weekend, any of ye heading over?

[SLIGONIAN]

Team to start against London.

Greene
Harrison
Mcguire
Ewing
McNamara
Phillips
KIvelhan
Mullen
Taylor
McTiernan
Costello
S Davey
Kelly
Raymond
Marren

Still the management are still going over stupid mistakes, despite our great start. Raymond is he or isnt commited to the footballers, he did us a favour the last day choosing the hurlers because hes not good enough and the management were then forced to play sweeney FF which worked a treat. Sweeney must be injured. Alot of people i spoke to said McNamara going off changed the game the last day in a good way, as J Davey kept mulligan quiet and J Davey gets rewarded with place on the bench. I think todays game maybe tight if they put young joyce on McNamara he'll destroy him.

[Owenmoresider]

A difficult win, didn't sound great but the conditions seemed to be awful.

Table now, doing the maths:

Played-Score diff-Points

Sligo         4  +48   8
Antrim      4  +41   6
Waterford 3  +26   5
Leitrim      4  -2      5
Wicklow    3  +42   4
Carlow      3   -4     2
Clare         4   -9     2
London     3   -18   0
Kilkenny    4   -124  0

[Owenmoresider]

Hurlers had a good win, beat Monaghan 2-13 to 0-5.

[magpie seanie]

Long way yet to go in Div 4 but we're in the box seat. Antrim and Wicklow away will be tough and Waterford are going nicely too. Should take Carlow at home in which case 2 wins out of 3 would suffice.