NFL Division 3 2014

[Itchy]

Cavan  match off. Back on at 2 tomorrow pending a pitch inspection in the morning.

[magpie seanie]

Pretty disappointed with the Sligo team named yesterday. I hope Limerick are weak.

[Shamrock Shore]

Twas all set to head to Longford today but events have conspired agin me so I will rely on Shiteside and maybe the odd text from the brother or Laureleye.

Not too often one can say that the first game in a League is a crucial one.........but this is certainly a crucial one for Longford as we are the pundits' choice for the trip south to Div 4. A good start will do wonders....a bad start could see the wheels fall off again like last year.

Safe travelling to all those heading and I hope it's a classic.

[Syferus]

Ros 0-13 Longford 0-10 FT.

Not even an army of Michael Duffys could have stopped us today.

[sligoman2]

Great to get off to a winning start
It would be great to hear what the spectators have to say...

Big game v Fermanagh next week

[ross4life]

Always good to get away win in this division but once again our performance was average at best, major improvement needed if we are to push for promotion this year. Determined display from a patched up Longford team today will be interesting to see how they fare once their key players return.

[mylestheslasher]

Delighted to get out of Breffni today with the 2 points. Cavan started really well but had a strong breeze behind them. Givney was top at midfield and Keating was supreme at FF. All but one of cavans 10 points in the first half came from play while 3 out of four Fermanagh points were from frees. However Fermanagh werent for lying down and gave it a right go in the second half and cavan seemed unprepared for it. We looked cluless at times working it into our forwards and then started making silly decisions and bad passes. Almost every mistake was punished by a Fermanagh counter attack and score. There was only 2 points in it near the end with Fermanagh on top and Cavan looking to the bench for inspiration. Thankfully for us Fermanagh coughed up a really soft goal which Fergal Flanagan was happy to accept. I think the ernesiders will do damage in the league yet. For Terry, he has to have another look as a few lads didnt really contribute today and they will have to up their game and remember it isnt over till its over. Anyway we rarely win our first league game so at least that is done. Next up Offaly and I think we can do the business there too next week.

[mayogodhelpus@gmail.com]

Ros 0-13 Longford 0-10 FT.

Not even an army of Michael Duffys could have stopped us today.

Hey found ya Syf all the way down here in division 3.

[Itchy]

The problem for Cavan today was a fair few players thought the game was over at half time. Playing only average and winning is a good habit.

[rodney trotter]

Not that a good habit, when a better team then Fermanagh can take advantage and punish mistakes. Still good to get off the mark, should be a good tussle in Tullamore next week.

[FermGael]

The problem for Cavan today was a fair few players thought the game was over at half time. Playing only average and winning is a good habit.

You're some craic Itchy. 

Fermanagh put in a good display today.  Very young and inexperienced team today who recovered well after a very nervous start. If we would have had one of Sean or Seamie available i think we would have shaded it.
Cullen twins played really well and Clucker and Decky McCusker had great games.  Tomas Corrigan was excellent upfront and kicked some nice scores.
 
Eugene Keating was a class apart in the first half.  Some great points and gave our defence the run around.

In the second half we ran at the Cavan defence and showed how vulnerable their full back line is.
The goal was a killer blow.  We had the momentum and were only 2 points down.  Just goes to show that you should not mess about with the ball in front of your own goal.  At that stage Cavan were all over the place.  That mistake ended the contest.

Overall very encouraging.  Sean Quigley will be back from suspension for next week and a few others should be back from injury.  Great to see Eamonn Maguire back today.  Did enough in his 20 minute substitute appearance to get a start the next day.

Thought the referee had a good game and the Fermanagh black cards were warranted.  Although one thing i did notice ( especially in the first half) was Fermanagh and Cavan players jumping into the man after they had given a pass.  Obviously trying to get there opposite number black carded.  An unintended consequence of the new rules.

Best game of football i have seen between Cavan and Fermanagh in years.

[Itchy]

What I meant to say was it is a good habit to get into when you play below par you still grind out the win. I'm not trying to belittle fermanagh but clearly in the second half the game turned on its head. You might think that was solely down to Fermanagh upping their game and no doubt they did but I think a few cavan players got complacent too. Cavans full back line held up fairly well, most fermanaghs scores were from out the field so not sure what weaknesses Fermanagh found. Hope it acts as a reality check for Cavan, there will be no soft points in this league.

[Blue in hope]

Cavan nearly threw it away yesterday. They were very dominant in first half and really should have had the game over at half time. Poor second half kept kicking balls in on top of Keating who had three men around him and the only other Cavan man inside the 21 was Tierney. I would be worried with if Keating had an off day where will the scores come from. I though Lyng did very well particularly in the second half where he showed for every ball coming out of the Cavan defence. He will be a good addition this year to the team. It was good to see a full back line and goalkeeper that looked solid throughout the game. Rory Dunne has been magnificent in all the games so far. He has picked up where he left off against Kerry last year.  Fermanagh will cause other teams in this group some problems.
One thing I noticed was while I think the advantage rule is a good thing the ref yesterday was very inconsistent implementing it. One Fermanagh player was doing a lot of fouling and Cavan were given the advantage but no sanction was taken against the player for persistent fouling which would have happened in the old rules.

[tommysmith]

Was disappointed with management yesterday the game was slipping away and they were slow to make changes.  James McEnroe was out of the game for a good 10 minutes before he was taken off.

Good to start with a win but must improve if promotion is to be got.

[Itchy]

A win is a win. Last year Monaghan tanked Meath and the we tanked both Monaghan and Meath. Those 2 counties got promoted and Monaghan won ulster. Nothing is perfect this time of the year.