Westmeath Vs Dublin - Croke Park

[BluestackBoy]

Is anyone going to tell me that Westmeath are a Div 1 team in full championship mode??

[gwan-ye-boy-ya]

have westmeath management the balls and brains to change this??? i refuse to believe that westmeath are this weak

[Jinxy]

Are people genuinely surprised?
They never had a hope.

[GalwayBayBoy]

Looks like another one-sided game to add to a rapidly growing list so far. The top 4 or 5 sides in the country are just miles ahead of everyone else at the moment.

[Syferus]

A very depressing match to watch. Almost no team wants a piece of Dublin and Westmeath looked a beaten docket after one minute.

[Jinxy]

These are first round games.
You're going to get a few hammerings.

[doodaa]

I would put the lateral handpassing down to Dublins immense workrate in their half forward line moreso than Westmeaths inability to break the line.
Looks like men against boys at present.

[Collins]

You know why crap like this is produced now in the first round of the championship? Because of the qualifiers.

Since the introduction of the back door system, teams know it doesn't matter if they face the best team in the province (and in this case the country) in the first round and lose. Sure they'll get another crack so why bother? It's not as if many care about provincial championships anymore anyway. It's genuinely sad.

Years ago you didn't get such a lack of passion. Yes, there has always been games with a huge gulf in class like this one, but before the back door, you at least had the lesser teams put their heart and soul into it.

They mightn't have won, or even got close by the 70th minute, but at least it was interesting for the majority of the game.

Now we get filth like this - teams with a pathetic attitude (which in turn effects the better team's performance and as a result the game suffers) - on a regular basis.

[Dont Matter]

The top teams are pushing so far ahead it's scary.

[muppet]

Are people genuinely surprised?
They never had a hope.

I can see Heffo in Croker shaking his head in disbelief.

[rodney trotter]

It would be great to see Dublin play a game or 2 outside Croker, no doubt they would probably beat Westmeath in Mullinagr but it would be a bit fair on other teams if they played a game elsewhere. They Play all their league games in Croke Park, not even a massive crowd a the game today - Mullingar would be well able to hold that crowd.

A good size crowd in Mullingar would have a better buzz then a half empty Croker.

[Collins]

Im convinced in games like this, the lesser side's management are aiming not to take a hammering and hoping for no injuries in order to protect some confidence going into the qualifiers.

Still love this sport but despite the drastic financial improvement over the last 20 years - thanks largely to so many games these days - Gaelic football as a viewing spectacle has gone so far backwards in the same time span it's untrue.

[Syferus]

You know why crap like this is produced now in the first round of the championship? Because of the qualifiers.

Since the introduction of the back door system, teams know it doesn't matter if they face the best team in the province (and in this case the country) in the first round and lose. Sure they'll get another crack so why bother? It's not as if many care about provincial championships anymore anyway. It's genuinely sad.

Years ago you didn't get such a lack of passion. Yes, there has always been games with a huge gulf in class like this one, but before the back door, you at least had the lesser teams put their heart and soul into it.

They mightn't have won, or even got close by the 70th minute, but at least it was interesting for the majority of the game.

Now we get filth like this - teams with a pathetic attitude (which in turn effects the better team's performance and as a result the game suffers) - on a regular basis.

Hardly the Qualifiers' fault that Westmeath played containment football from the first minute.

You have a problem with the AIQs, fine. Just don't use it as a catch-all for every bad performance we see.

[Jinxy]

You know why crap like this is produced now in the first round of the championship? Because of the qualifiers.

Since the introduction of the back door system, teams know it doesn't matter if they face the best team in the province (and in this case the country) in the first round and lose. Sure they'll get another crack so why bother? It's not as if many care about provincial championships anymore anyway. It's genuinely sad.

Years ago you didn't get such a lack of passion. Yes, there has always been games with a huge gulf in class like this one, but before the back door, you at least had the lesser teams put their heart and soul into it.

They mightn't have won, or even got close by the 70th minute, but at least it was interesting for the majority of the game.

Now we get filth like this - teams with a pathetic attitude (which in turn effects the better team's performance and as a result the game suffers) - on a regular basis.

Yeah, things were way better when weaker teams trained all winter for one game in the summer and then they were gone.
The championship isn't just about the teams that can ultimately win it.
The qualifiers have thrown up some great games and some big shocks in recent years.
They provide great entertainment and excitement and keep the interest levels up for counties who have no realistic chance of silverware.

[Collins]

Im convinced in games like this, the lesser side's management are aiming not to take a hammering and hoping for no injuries in order to protect some confidence going into the qualifiers.

Still love this sport but despite the drastic financial improvement over the last 20 years - thanks largely to so many games these days - Gaelic football as a viewing spectacle has gone so far backwards in the same time span it's untrue.

Don't be a plonker Rodney.

Your suggestion, while a logical one and actually a necessary one for sporting fairness and integrity, could only be brought about by (a) the GAA opting to lose money and (b) the GAA not going along with the wishes of Dublin's County Board.

Neither will ever happen.