Christy Ring

stevecw · August 07, 2008, 05:18:10 PM

The Carlow/Laois play off is is fixed for this Saturday at 3 in Carlow! Surprised we got home venue for this, makes us for all the away games we've had up to now.

The Carlow manager & county board wanted the game postponed till next week as this will be our 6th weekend is a row playing. But didn't happen & maybe to soften the blow the gaa decided to hold it in Carlow.
Looking forward to it, say there will be a big crowd & would be brilliant to get the win and get to the top level for the 1st time. Won't be easy by an means though.

The Real Laoislad · August 09, 2008, 06:33:42 PM

Laois 4-18
Carlow 2-11

Personally i think its wrong that Carlow after winning the Christy Ring are not allowed to play in the LM next year,This match should never have been played Carlow should be promoted Laois should be relegated

Lecale2 · August 09, 2008, 07:03:36 PM

I agree Laois Lad. 100% right. Carlow should get thier time in the sun. They earned it.

stevecw · August 09, 2008, 08:41:14 PM

^ & ^^ I woudn't agree with that after todays game.
There is no way we are ready for the step up to McCarthy Cup level yet.
Ok it was our 6th weekend in a row playing & there was a lot of celebrating done after last weekend...but still we were outclassed by the worst team at McCarthy Cup level.
Laois were faster to everything, marked much better & took their scores with much more ease than us.
With time up it was 4-18 to 2-9...the 1-2 we got in injury gave it a slightly better luck. (btw the score was 4-18 to 3-11 not 2-11 as ^^ says!)

I think another year at Christy Ring level will be better for us, otherwise if we were promoted we could be on the end of some terrible hammerings which would set us back.

Saffron exile · August 09, 2008, 08:48:26 PM

Th real problem is that Carlow and Sligo have been asked to play promotion playoffs six days after winning their respective All Ireland Finals. If these games are meant to decide if the Ring and rackard winning teams are good enough to gain promotion they should be played two weeks after the finals to give winning teams time to regroup, recover and focus on a strategically important game. Its a first senior all ireland for both counties and I'm sure celebrations, receptions and reduced training took place in the past week a major advantage to the relegation counties and not a level playing pitch to measure the worth or ability of the final winning teams.
These basic factors need to be taken into account when the fixtures are made, otherwise promote the winning teams from each tier.

The Real Laoislad · August 09, 2008, 09:07:22 PM

Quote from: stevecw on August 09, 2008, 08:41:14 PM
^ & ^^ I woudn't agree with that after todays game.
There is no way we are ready for the step up to McCarthy Cup level yet.
Ok it was our 6th weekend in a row playing & there was a lot of celebrating done after last weekend...but still we were outclassed by the worst team at McCarthy Cup level.
Laois were faster to everything, marked much better & took their scores with much more ease than us.
With time up it was 4-18 to 2-9...the 1-2 we got in injury gave it a slightly better luck. (btw the score was 4-18 to 3-11 not 2-11 as ^^ says!)

I think another year at Christy Ring level will be better for us, otherwise if we were promoted we could be on the end of some terrible hammerings which would set us back.

Apologises for getting score wrong..Blame Aertel..
I don't agree though that because of todays result Carlow shouldn't be in LM next year,I did expect Laois to win today but my point is Laois were the worst team in LM last year and lost a relegation playoff against Antrim..
Carlow won the CR and deserve to be promoted
If you don't mind I'll use soccer as an example..The team promoted from the coca-cola is not necessarily better than the team relegated from the Premier League but the team from the Coca-Cola Championship won their division and deserve to be promoted same for those finishing bottom for the Premier division..
I was annoyed last year when after winning Division 2 their was talks of Offaly staying in Div 1 even though they were relegated and Laois staying in Div 2,So if i was a Carlow man i would be very upset that i wasn't in the LM next year

INDIANA · August 09, 2008, 09:13:00 PM

they could at least let carlowand westmeath into the leinster championship. i mean if we're going to invite feckin counties not from leinster we could at least invite what we have ourselves.

Colonel Cool · August 09, 2008, 09:41:08 PM

Carlow aren't ready for the Liam McCarthy but they should be allowed a day out in Leinster. If its seeded they could play Westmeath in the 1st Rd for example. THey don't have to take on Kilkenny or Offaly in Rd 1.

Mentalman · August 09, 2008, 11:07:59 PM

Well Westmeath were invited to play in Leinster this year, its only right the same invite should be made to Carlow next year, they've earned it.

shapes · August 10, 2008, 12:20:42 AM

Sligo lost to Roscommon today so they are back in Rackard cup. After winning last Sunday their were celebrations and their minds would not be fully on it.
Unfair to have this fixture after winning a cup six days previous ah well the usual with GAA fixtures!!

dodo · August 10, 2008, 04:54:34 PM

Considering that Carlow only beat Mayo with a late late goal in the Christy Ring semifinal, I'd venture to say that the powers that be are protecting Carlow from getting tanked by the Liam McCarthy teams. This could set back developing teams badly. It would be great to see the likes of Mayo playing Galway in a Connacht championship but the reality is that they would get a hiding and set back the development in the county.
The difference in the English Championship promotion to the Premiership compared with GAA promotion is that we cannot buy our way out of our shortcomings. The only way is to spread the playing of the game to greater numbers and to assist in improving the skills.

AZOffaly · August 11, 2008, 11:38:26 AM

Hard luck to Carlow, and well done to Laois. As I said earlier, I would have found it really hard to cheer for Laois getting relegated, because they have a lot of good hurling people in Laois, and it would be sad however Carlow were hard done by in scheduling.

I agree that as many counties as want, especially if they are playing the Christy Ring at least, should be allowed enter the Leinster Championship. Then they can drop back into the CR for the qualifiers after having their chance to rattle a big gun or two in the Leinster Championship. I don't believe in excluding teams who want to play in any tournament, especially when they are provincial tournaments.

Well done Laois, and I hope the Leinster Council invite Carlow AND Westmeath to partake next year, at least.

EddieMerx · August 11, 2008, 03:00:15 PM

Congrats to Laois but I feel sorry for Carlow, will another year in the Christy Ring really bring them on? Surely they along with Westmeath and Laois could partake in a round robbing series to see who goes through to the Championship while the 2 losers play in the Cristy Ring

davereilly · August 11, 2008, 03:15:46 PM

In all fairness it's safe to say that Laois are the weakest team in the Liam McCarthy series so if Carlow can't even beat Laois do they really deserve to play teams that are even better? If they win NHL division 2 next year they'll get to see what teams like Kilkenny and Cork are actually like and then have enough experience to beat teams like Laois and Antrim.

EddieMerx · August 11, 2008, 03:22:53 PM

Surely Carlows and Westmeaths aim should be to match Laois before they try to take on the Kilkennys of this world, even the stronger teams can't keep within 5 points of the cats. If they are guaranteed games amongst each other the it can only help them improve along with ensuring Laois don't spend their championship getting hammerings from the stronger counties. If Antrim were also allowed enter this round prelim group then surely it can only be good for all 4 counties