GAA 2015

[BD]

Might as well get this started up again, with some decent talking points from the last few days.

Was anyone at the Tyrone-Armagh Mckenna cup game? 4 red cards and 14 yellows, though I heard it wasn't actually that bad a game all in all.

Also, Off the Ball had a very good talk with Joe Brolly the other day about the general state of the GAA. I seem to like Joe more than most, but I think most people can agree with him on this point. The sport is becoming an professional game played by amateurs. It's well worth a listen:

http://www.newstalk.ie/player/podca.../2/Joe_Brolly_-_Gaelic_football_is_depressing

And why not get a few predictions:

Football:
Ulster: Armagh, cause why not
Leinster: Dublin
Munster: Kerry
Connacht: Mayo

3 of the 4 pretty much pick themselves, with Ulster being impossible to predict as usual.

All Ireland winner: Dublin

Hurling:

Leinster:
Munster:

All Ireland winner:

 

[Stuff the Goat]

Great win for my own native Co. (Monaghan) against Tyrone last W/end. We have certainly buried "that Tyrone hoo-doo"
We are a much better team than many assume....watch this space!

Ok, quick predictions
Football; Ulster......... Monaghan (why not!)
Connacht..... Galway
Munster....... Kerry
Leinster....... Dublin
All-Ireland.... Kerry
Keep your eyes on!.....Monaghan & Roscommon
Hurling;
Leinster..... Wexford
Munster...... Limerick
Ulster........ Antrim
All-Ireland...Limerick
Keep your eyes on .. Galway ( a noted absence of the Trad.3)

 

[The Black Pearl]

Big weekend coming up for TBP and his fellow clubmen!

2015 Hurling Championship:

Leinster: Galway
Munster: Clare
Ulster: Antrim
All-Ireland: Clare

 

[limerickcitykid]

All I know is the new Carlow shirt is an absolute state. Fecking shite it is.

 

[Stuff the Goat]

Good-luck to ye TBP, hope ye do it!

 

[The Black Pearl]

Good-luck to ye TBP, hope ye do it!

With the help of God, StG with the help of God. Gort can be got at 3/1 which I reckon are great odds for a team that have beaten a power house like Portumna in a County final.

Ballyhale with 10 All-Stars who have something like 36 All-Irelands clocked up between them will be hard beat, saying that they are supposed to be suspect enough in the backs and that's where Gort are strongest. We'll only have to wait and see I suppose, weather is supposed to be good anyways.

 

[Jammydodger7]

Football;
Ulster.......... Donegal
Munster....... Kerry
Leinster....... Dublin
Connacht......Mayo

All-Ireland.... Dublin

Hurling;
Leinster..... Kilkenny
Munster......Clare
Ulster........ Antrim

All-Ireland...Tipperary

 

[Stuff the Goat]

With the help of God, StG with the help of God. Gort can be got at 3/1 which I reckon are great odds for a team that have beaten a power house like Portumna in a County final.

Ballyhale with 10 All-Stars who have something like 36 All-Irelands clocked up between them will be hard beat, saying that they are supposed to be suspect enough in the backs and that's where Gort are strongest. We'll only have to wait and see I suppose, weather is supposed to be good anyways.

3/1 tis a great bet. . . all-Ire's at Co. level mean ZERO when it comes to Club . . . How many All-Ire's of both, in each Co. ?

 

[Stuff the Goat]

Football;
Ulster.......... Donegal
Munster....... Kerry
Leinster....... Dublin
Connacht......Mayo

All-Ireland.... Dublin

Hurling;
Leinster..... Kilkenny
Munster......Clare
Ulster........ Antrim

All-Ireland...Tipperary

quite conservative........ & why not!

 

[RexHamilton]

3/1 tis a great bet. . . all-Ire's at Co. level mean ZERO when it comes to Club . . . How many All-Ire's of both, in each Co. ?

Yeah. I wouldn't read too much into their All-Ireland's with Kilkenny. The Kilcormac lads were children when Offaly last won an All-Ireland and should have beaten Ballyhale in the Leinster Final. Hon Gort ta feck.

 

[Jammydodger7]

quite conservative........ & why not!

They are to be honest but I think there's a big gap between all the best teams in each province apart from maybe Ulster football and Munster hurling. As a Tipp man I follow the hurling closer. I think Tipps biggest obstacle is themselves. I think they're good enough to beat Kilkenny but it's a psychological thing really I think, however with the ageing KK team plus their retirements, this could be there year.

 

[The Black Pearl]

They are to be honest but I think there's a big gap between all the best teams in each province apart from maybe Ulster football and Munster hurling. As a Tipp man I follow the hurling closer. I think Tipps biggest obstacle is themselves. I think they're good enough to beat Kilkenny but it's a psychological thing really I think, however with the ageing KK team plus their retirements, this could be there year.

There'll be at least 4 other counties possibly 6/7 even that'll be smelling blood now and seriously thinking that this will be their year. It's looking like this years championship is going to trump the last two epic championships.

When it comes to the psychological side of things I reckon it's one of the major reasons particularly in the last 4 maybe 5 years that kept Kilkenny crossing the finishing line first, how many times were they on the ropes now but teams just couldn't manage to finish them off, I do still get a lump in my stomach when I think of 2012! But in that period there's been 3/4 counties that were more than good enough to have trumped them and kept them down as well.

No more than the Munster championship, the Leinster championship is going to be a belter this year as well. With the emergence of Wexford, Dublin who are serious contenders, Galway and Kilkenny it's a take your pick job really.

Impossible to call but my gut feeling is that it'll be Davy Fitz and the Clare lads that'll be tearing around Croker with Liam McCarthy next September.

 

[The Black Pearl]

Tullamore now, pitch is frozen in Thurlas. Suits me to the ground too as it's a lot nearer and I can stop and have a few saucepans in my old hunting ground Banagher on my way home. The Banagher women used to go cracked for me when I was camped out there.

 

[The Black Pearl]

Cursh a Jaysus on Kilkenny and everything belonging to them!

In all fairness though there can be no complaints, Gort weren't good enough and it's as simple as that. Hard to see Ballyhale losing to Kilmallock on Paddys day too.

Anyways as a lad says that's that.

 

[Ramshock]

Ulster.... Down
Connacht...Mayo
Munster....Kerry
Leinster....Dublin

 

[bazalini]

Just back from Mullingar after seeing Galway & Referee rob us.

Hit the post in last min, 1-3 down after 4 mins and lost by 1.

Ulster - Donegal
Munster - Cork
Leinster - Dublin
Connacht - Mayo

AI - Mayo

 

[Ramshock]

David Bentley scored 3 points for XMG Rangers

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/feb/19/david-bentley-gaelic-football-crossmaglen-rangers

 

[Gee Male]

NFL Dublin
NHL Kilkenny

Football Championship;
Ulster.......... Tyrone
Munster....... Kerry
Leinster....... Dublin
Connacht......Mayo

All-Ireland.... Dublin

Hurling Championship;
Leinster..... Kilkenny
Munster......Limerick
Ulster........ Antrim

All-Ireland...Tipperary

 

[Jammydodger7]

Haven't seen either game but looking at the scores the Dublin hurlers are on fire at the moment, beating both Tipp and Kilkenny fairly comfortably!

 

[The Black Pearl]

Haven't seen either game but looking at the scores the Dublin hurlers are on fire at the moment, beating both Tipp and Kilkenny fairly comfortably!

They are but to be fair Tipp were only training one night a week in the lead up to that match. KK were missing the B'Hale lads as well as a few more and played a fair bit of the match with 13 men.

I was at both Galway matches (v Clare and Tipp) and going by what I've seen I'd be surprised if they do anything at all this year, there's hardly any pace at all in the team now. And Clare for all the training and preparation they're supposed to have done over the winter aren't looking anything like I thought they would either. Saying that it is only early days yet.

 

[Jammydodger7]

They are but to be fair Tipp were only training one night a week in the lead up to that match. KK were missing the B'Hale lads as well as a few more and played a fair bit of the match with 13 men.

I was at both Galway matches (v Clare and Tipp) and going by what I've seen I'd be surprised if they do anything at all this year, there's hardly any pace at all in the team now. And Clare for all the training and preparation they're supposed to have done over the winter aren't looking anything like I thought they would either. Saying that it is only early days yet.

Tipp have been poor early on in the season now for a few years, even when the Munster championship starts they don't look great, they seem to gear themselves around peaking for the all ireland.

 

[Charlie Foley]

Great win for my own native Co. (Monaghan) against Tyrone last W/end. We have certainly buried "that Tyrone hoo-doo"
We are a much better team than many assume....watch this space!

Ok, quick predictions
Football; Ulster......... Monaghan (why not!)
Connacht..... Galway
Munster....... Kerry
Leinster....... Dublin
All-Ireland.... Kerry
Keep your eyes on!.....Monaghan & Roscommon

another two in a row would be lovely!

 

[utdalltheway]

Was up in Kilkenny last week and was amazed to see every last one of the young lads coming out of school with a hurley in their hand.
The locals were telling me that every Kilkenny kid gets started as young as 4 yrs old. Now that's casting a wide net!
No wonder they get they get their best athletes playing the game. Is it like that in other hurling counties? I've not seen such participation rates in Cork.

 

[The Black Pearl]

Was up in Kilkenny last week and was amazed to see every last one of the young lads coming out of school with a hurley in their hand.
The locals were telling me that every Kilkenny kid gets started as young as 4 yrs old. Now that's casting a wide net!
No wonder they get they get their best athletes playing the game. Is it like that in other hurling counties? I've not seen such participation rates in Cork.

With the exception of probably Waterford the rest of the hurling counties that would be in any way in with a chance of an All-Ireland like Cork, Galway, Tipp, Limerick, Wexford, Dublin, Clare, Offaly and one or two more, hurling would be competing heavily with Gaelic football and other sports as well. Hurling is king down in Kilkenny.

I think there was a story going around there a few years ago that lads were only turning up for the football in Kilkenny just to get a free jersey. There was a pic of a lad playing for the footballers flying around not to sure what level it was at now but he must have been 40 stone weight.

Clare are playing Limerick below in Thurlas later on and going by all the antics going on in both camps over the last few months or so it should be an interesting encounter. Not a lot of expectations amongst the supporters of either county at all this year. It will probably be Davy Fitz's last year in charge of The Banner as well.

 

[Name Changed]

Was up in Kilkenny last week and was amazed to see every last one of the young lads coming out of school with a hurley in their hand.
The locals were telling me that every Kilkenny kid gets started as young as 4 yrs old. Now that's casting a wide net!
No wonder they get they get their best athletes playing the game. Is it like that in other hurling counties? I've not seen such participation rates in Cork.

I was down in Clare last week and went to see a kids football match in Ennistymon. They don't play hurling there. I was amazed. One of the biggest towns in the county which is thought to be all hurling.

 

[The Black Pearl]

Got drowned to the bollix from a rightbastard of a heavy shower there today! Galway were terrible in front of goal but the draw was a fair enough result in the end. Going by what it looked like both teams having a serious amount of cobwebs to shake off I'd say neither will be complaining about having to play a replay next Saturday.

Even though Canning has damn all hurling done for a while now (two consecutive hand injuries) I can't imagine him being as poor next week. Anthony Cunningham has a week to try figure out how to keep Dublin forward Shutte quite. I'm not to sure how he just stood on the side line there today and watch him tear Coen who was played out of position apart time after time for the whole of the 1st half and not try to do anything about it.

 

[sullydnl]

Nice.

 

[The Black Pearl]

Galway 5:19 - 1:18 Dublin

And 3:10 to 0:1 up after a quater of an hour.

Some performance by Galway, from 1 to 15 they hurled like lads possessed. Looks like we'll be heading for a mouthwatering Kilkenny v Galway Leinster final now too.

 

[RexHamilton]

Galway 5:19 - 1:18 Dublin

And 3:10 to 0:1 up after a quater of an hour.

Some performance by Galway, from 1 to 15 they hurled like lads possessed. Looks like we'll be heading for a mouthwatering Kilkenny v Galway Leinster final now too.

Great performance from Galway. Out fought and out hurled Dublin from start to finish. The big one is today though. Offaly v Laois in O'Moore park!

 

[kidbob]

Decent enough match between Kildare and Laois yesterday, ended up 15 points each. The quality wasn't too good though. I'll never understand why we got rid of McGeeney. He had us as the clear second best team in Leinster and twice put up a good fight against Dublin in Leinster finals. It was inevitable that the Dubs would take that extra step and leave us behind anyway. We have no option but to look to the young players but I can't help but feel McGeeney would been handling them better than they're being at the moment. Also we are back to kicking an unbelievable amount of wides.

 

[The Black Pearl]

Great performance from Galway. Out fought and out hurled Dublin from start to finish. The big one is today though. Offaly v Laois in O'Moore park!

Fair juice to Laois and all but I do feel a bit for Offaly these days. Ye BIFFO's will always have a special place in my heart going back to my school and courting days. Many's the forward I rattled while playing full back for St. Rynaghs C.S. I actually met a few of my old team mates in J.J Houghs pub there in Banagher on the way home from Tullamore yesterday. I hope Offaly will be back where they belong someday soon and that's at the top. In the meantime we'll do a job on Chedder's Laois. He'll be sorry he done that U-turn.

In other news if a lad threw the price of a few pints on Waterford for winning the All-Ireland this year he mightn't be a bad investment at all.

 

[RexHamilton]

Fair juice to Laois and all but I do feel a bit for Offaly these days. Ye BIFFO's will always have a special place in my heart going back to my school and courting days. Many's the forward I rattled while playing full back for St. Rynaghs C.S. I actually met a few of my old team mates in J.J Houghs pub there in Banagher on the way home from Tullamore yesterday. I hope Offaly will be back where they belong someday soon and that's at the top. In the meantime we'll do a job on Chedder's Laois. He'll be sorry he done that U-turn.

In other news if a lad threw the price of a few pints on Waterford for winning the All-Ireland this year he mightn't be a bad investment at all.

Ah, we're a long way from returning to the top. A result like Sunday's has been on the cards for a while. The problem is, it was going to take a result like this to make the county board take notice. And even then, they mightn't act. Even if they do, the likes of Laois, Carlow and Westmeath have been putting in great work in underage hurling, so my fear is that our fall from grace isn't quite finished yet.

We showed no fight on Sunday which was very worrying, but equally worrying was our lack of basic skills. Basic catches, rising the ball and striking were all shocking. We can talk tactics til the cows come home but if your basic skills aren't there and there's no fight in your belly then you're fecked either way.

 

[GBBQ]

Fair juice to Laois and all but I do feel a bit for Offaly these days. Ye BIFFO's will always have a special place in my heart going back to my school and courting days. Many's the forward I rattled while playing full back for St. Rynaghs C.S. I actually met a few of my old team mates in J.J Houghs pub there in Banagher on the way home from Tullamore yesterday. I hope Offaly will be back where they belong someday soon and that's at the top. In the meantime we'll do a job on Chedder's Laois. He'll be sorry he done that U-turn.

In other news if a lad threw the price of a few pints on Waterford for winning the All-Ireland this year he mightn't be a bad investment at all.

Did ye play with Pat McIntyre?

 

[The Black Pearl]

Did ye play with Pat McIntyre?

I know there's loads of McIntyres over there but I can't really remember ever hurling for or with a lad of that name in my time there. I was there from around 91-97, Paddy Scales was over us at senior level.


We were handy enough as well. Niall Corcoran from Meelick-Eyrecourt being the pick of the bunch I suppose. He went on to win a Leinster and National Hurling League title with Dublin since.

Are you from that neck of the woods yourself?

 

[GBBQ]

I know there's loads of McIntyres over there but I can't really remember ever hurling for or with a lad of that name in my time there. I was there from around 91-97, Paddy Scales was over us at senior level.


We were handy enough as well. Niall Corcoran from Meelick-Eyrecourt being the pick of the bunch I suppose. He went on to win a Leinster and National Hurling League title with Dublin since.

Are you from that neck of the woods yourself?

Ah I'd say you probably missed out by a couple of years at most. No I'm from Arklow but went to college with him and came down to Banagher a couple of times.

 

[The Black Pearl]

Galway footballers doing well against the old enemy Mayo in Salthill there. They'd probably be 3/4 Pts ahead if it wasn't for the handy frees they're giving Mayo in front of the goal. Gary Sice's goal was a cracker.

Half time, Galway 1-5 : 0-8 Mayo

 

[The Black Pearl]

No sooner had I it said.....

3 mins into 2nd half Galway 1-05 : 1-11 Mayo

That Aiden O'Shea is a pure animal of a man. He just stuck the head down and made bits of the entire Galway defence and GK there.

 

[The Black Pearl]

Danny feckin' Cummins with a goal for Galway. Jaysus Chrisht tonight, hah?

Galway 2-7 : 1-12 Mayo now. Not over yet...

 

[The Black Pearl]

It's as good as over now though. Hanly sent off. Mayo 4pts up, few mins left. A vast improvement on things since the John Mulholland days all the same. Things seem to be heading in the right direction anyways.

 

[The Black Pearl]

And the rest of the days results starting in Leinster and it was all football this weekend.

Meath 2-19 - 3-12 Wicklow
Westmeath 1-21 - 0-15 Wexford
Kildare 3-18 - 1-11 Laois
Laois 0-16 - 0-16 Kildare


Above in Ulster.

Armagh 0-08 - 2-11 Donegal
Derry 0-12 - 0-11 Down


And finally below in Munster.

Cork 1-20 - 1-08 Clare
Tipperary 2-08 - 2-14 Kerry

No real surprises there today. Meath might want to shore up their back line though or Westmeath might do a job on them the next day though.