The 2015 All Ireland Senior Football Championship

Fr Tod Umptious

Now with the league done I think it’s time to start this thread.

Here are my own thoughts

Leinster - Once again it’s a one horse race, Dublin are by far and away the best team in the province, that saw two of it’s teams head down to Div 3 this year, after being in Div 1 last year.
They will be looking to put things right on the AI stage after their loss to Donegal last year.
They have an easy enough run to the final, QF v A side qualifier (possibly Munster loser) and SF v Connaught Champ or B side qualifier

Munster - I think this is a slam dunk for Kerry
Kerry were lucky to a certain extent last year that they did not have to meet Dublin in the final, that’s not saying they had a soft All Ireland, far from it, they had to work very hard in two games v Mayo and v Donegal to win that title, but I somehow don’t think they would have won it had they meet Dublin in the final.
This year, assuming that they win Munster I think they have a very good chance to get to the final, based mainly on the draw.
As I mentioned they (likely) play the Munster final in Killarney, then face a less than taxing QF v the A side qualifier which will likely be one of, Offaly, Longford, Loais, Carlow, Kildare, Clare, Limerick, Sligo, Roscommon, Cavan, Monaghan, Fermanagh, Antrim or London.
I am intentionally leaving Dublin out of that list because I doubt they will lose Leinster, plus I would not expect Monaghan to be there either (see below)
Anyway none of that list would trouble Kerry in a QF
Then they play the SF v the Ulster Champs or a B side qualifier, and the B sides will be one of Galway, Letrim, Mayo, Louth, Westmeath, Wexford, Wicklow, Meath, Waterford, Tipp, Donegal, Tyrone, Derry, Down, Armagh.
That may be a tough one for Kerry depending on how they are when they get to that point, they had an indifferent league campaign and I think they could have problems at the back. The return of Gooch should help their forwards.
But it’s certainly a game they can win so they will be back in an All Ireland.

After seeing Cork in the league final today I think that they have not progressed a single iota from last year.
Getting to the league playoffs is fine but losing by 11 pts at that stage is a much greater indication of your championship capabilities than the 7 league games is, see Mayo 2010 and Cork 2014 for perfect examples of this.
Cork will lose the Munster final, possibly win their 4th Round qualifier v an A side and then lose again to Dublin in the QF.

Connaught - Mayo have a tough opening game in Salthill v Galway (if they get past NY and Leitrim).
It will be Mayo’s first game and Galway 3rd. i would not be surprised if Galway came out winners here but that being said they have a new manager and did not get out of Div II, but on the other had were missing Corifinn players for a good bit of the league.
The loser of this game will have three B side qualifier games before they get to Croke Park, and those may be against the tough northern teams just as easily as they may be against the weaker Leinster teams on the B side.
The winner will likely play Roscommon in the final.
If it’s a Mayo It’d expect them to beat Roscommon, in Castlebar, but I’m not sure how Galway v Roscommon would do.

Mayo really need to win Connaught to have any chance of having another crack at the AI, but even then the path is hard.
QF v B side, likely to be tough nordies (or Galway maybe), and then SF likely v Dublin.
I think Mayo have to ebb like the Cork of the 2000s, they have to just keep sticking at it and something might break in their favour, for five straight years they lost to Kerry in the SF or Final and they eventually won on the 6th attempt v a team that did not expect to be there.
They are a good few years on the road now and based on the league may not have the same vigor as they have had in previous years.
If Ros or Galway win Connaught then I don’t expect they to progress beyond that tough B side QF, they don’t have the big game experience that you need at that level (see Monaghan 2013)

Ulster - Again this year it’s very uneven between the A and the B side. Monaghan and Cavan are the two best on the A side while the B side is much tougher.
I’d expect Monaghan to come through to the final from the A and I have no idea about the B, but possibly Donegal or maybe Armagh, plus the losers in the B will have a really tough qualifier route v other Ulster B siders and Mayo\Galway.
Monaghan have a big opportunity here, they have a decent path to the Ulster final and winning that will help them get back to where they were in 2013. That day lack of big game experience contributed to their loss, and losing the Ulster championship last year put them back a bit as it meant a QF v Dublin, but this year if they win Ulster I think they will have a good chance to get to a SF v Munster Champ or A side qualifier.
Their league SF appearance did them the world of good too.

So in conclusion, the head says Dublin v Kerry final with Dublin winning it, the heart says Mayo v Monaghan with Mayo winning it.

Stinicker

It will almost surely be a Dublin and Kerry final and if that happens Kerry will win it unless of course Joe McQuillan is refereeing it then it is clear the GAA are trying to award the title to Dublin like 2011 and 2013. However Mayo, Monaghan and Donegal will still have a big say. Especially Monaghan who should have beaten Dublin the league Semi-Final. Still I fully expect Kerry to retain Sam Maguire in the Kingdom for another winter.

LeinsterDub

After their performance in croker today it's Dublin's to lose

LeinsterDub

Stinicker wrote: »

It will almost surely be a Dublin and Kerry final and if that happens Kerry will win it unless of course Joe McQuillan is refereeing it then it is clear the GAA are trying to award the title to Dublin like 2011 and 2913

Sorry were you making a point? I couldn't hear it over all the begrudging going on

ciarriaithuaidh

Ignore Stinicker..he certainly doesn't represent the views of the majority of Kerry fans. Refs don't win or lose games, teams do.

Fairly decent summation Fr Tod, even if there is the usual tinge of bitterness towards Kerry seeping through!

Dublin are certainly deserved favourites, Kerry second favourites based on last year mainly, but it's never as simple as a normal 2 horse race. Monaghan, Mayo, Donegal..maybe even a Roscommon or Armagh could rattle a few cages. Cork are a bit of a shambles and were deluding themselves if they believed their league results were a true indication of progress. There is the bones of a decent football team there but can't see anything happening with the current management. Galway are the dark horse I'd throw into the mix. I think Kevin Walsh may get them going well, maybe not totally this year though, but I do think they are one to watch.

Can't wait for it all to kick off. This is the worst stage of the year actually, the gap between the league and start of the real action. :mad:
Can't wait to hear this again..after all these years I still get a tingle down the spine hearing it!

Dirty Dingus McGee

Not as excited as I used to be simply because we have to endure 2 months of largely uncompetitive sh1te util the championship really starts in July.

If there isn't a surprise winner then hopefully Dublin win the championship playing a blistering attacking style of football.Although this kind of contradicts what I said above I wouldn't mind seeing them hammer everyone along the way to be honest.

DDC1990

I may be wrong Tod but your idea that Kerry get a QF against an A side QF isn't right.

If Kerry win Munster, the Quarter Final for Kerry will be against the loser of the Ulster Final or the team that beats them. So Donegal, Monaghan, Armagh, Tyrone or the qualifying team that beats them. Hardly an easy draw as you put it.

Not only that but then you have another Ulster team in the Semi. If Cork get their act together, Kerry and the Ulster side of the draw will have the toughest route there.

For my money:
Ulster: Monaghan
Connacht: Roscommon (have had a feeling about them all year)
Munster: Kerry (but nowhere near as easy as people are predicting, Cork won't play like they did against Dublin)
Leinster: Dublin

munsterlegend

DDC1990 wrote: »

I may be wrong Tod but your idea that Kerry get a QF against an A side QF isn't right.

If Kerry win Munster, the Quarter Final for Kerry will be against the loser of the Ulster Final or the team that beats them. So Donegal, Monaghan, Armagh, Tyrone or the qualifying team that beats them. Hardly an easy draw as you put it.

Not only that but then you have another Ulster team in the Semi. If Cork get their act together, Kerry and the Ulster side of the draw will have the toughest route there.

For my money:
Ulster: Monaghan
Connacht: Roscommon (have had a feeling about them all year)
Munster: Kerry (but nowhere near as easy as people are predicting, Cork won't play like they did against Dublin)
Leinster: Dublin

I don't know how you can be so sure that cork won't play like they did against dublin again. seems to be a recurring theme. the lack of basic footballing ability when they have possession of some of our players is what keep striking me. dublin backs can come up the field and look so comfortable. loughrey is a half back and should be played out there.

Fr Tod Umptious

DDC1990 wrote: »

I may be wrong Tod but your idea that Kerry get a QF against an A side QF isn't right.

If Kerry win Munster, the Quarter Final for Kerry will be against the loser of the Ulster Final or the team that beats them. So Donegal, Monaghan, Armagh, Tyrone or the qualifying team that beats them. Hardly an easy draw as you put it.

Not only that but then you have another Ulster team in the Semi. If Cork get their act together, Kerry and the Ulster side of the draw will have the toughest route there.

For my money:
Ulster: Monaghan
Connacht: Roscommon (have had a feeling about them all year)
Munster: Kerry (but nowhere near as easy as people are predicting, Cork won't play like they did against Dublin)
Leinster: Dublin

You would think that is the case as is every other year that they have had a "pre determined" quarter finals they have paired the provinces the same as the SF.

But they changed it this time.
Munster champs play their QF v Leinster runners up or the team that beats them or the team that beats the Munster runner up, all of which will come from the A side.

So its Meath, Cavan, Sligo, Laois, etc.

thinkstoomuch1

Cork may come within few points to kerry simply as kerry will always control the game tempo but may or may not have appetite or desire destroy cork as unlike last year don't need confidence of such win and I expect kerry be under cooked a bit in they won't show full hand when know have cork number before ball is kicked


Of course we will read how they fear cork they are a challenge the usual yerra and some in cork so gullible they will swallow an anchor and belive it when nothing is farther from the truth


Ulster hard to call

Kerry and Dublin only all Ireland contenders
Mayo haven't a hope under duel management it simply won't work
Galway under Walsh coming team had fine work out v Dublin in challenge last week


Walsh good manager and playing a defensive system but have midfield and forwards

Imo could win connaught and meath tipp two teams do well in the qualifiers



Cork havent a hope winning all Ireland but lucky draw may get to all Ireland quatre final in another false dawn

DDC1990

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

You would think that is the case as is every other year that they have had a "pre determined" quarter finals they have paired the provinces the same as the SF.

But they changed it this time.
Munster champs play their QF v Leinster runners up or the team that beats them or the team that beats the Munster runner up, all of which will come from the A side.

So its Meath, Cavan, Sligo, Laois, etc.

Thanks Tod totally missed that.
Crazy really when you think about it.

The old system made a lot more sense. That's a. Big advantage for Kerry this year, if they face into the likes of Meath rather then Donegal.

Fr Tod Umptious

thinkstoomuch1 wrote: »

Cork may come within few points to kerry simply as kerry will always control the game tempo but may or may not have appetite or desire destroy cork as unlike last year don't need confidence of such win and I expect kerry be under cooked a bit in they won't show full hand when know have cork number before ball is kicked


Of course we will read how they fear cork they are a challenge the usual yerra and some in cork so gullible they will swallow an anchor and belive it when nothing is farther from the truth


Ulster hard to call

Kerry and Dublin only all Ireland contenders
Mayo haven't a hope under duel management it simply won't work
Galway under Walsh coming team had fine work out v Dublin in challenge last week


Walsh good manager and playing a defensive system but have midfield and forwards

Imo could win connaught and meath tipp two teams do well in the qualifiers



Cork havent a hope winning all Ireland but lucky draw may get to all Ireland quatre final in another false dawn

It will not be dual managers that will be the reason that Mayo do not win the All Ireland.

And as for Cork getting a luck draw to make it to the QF, they already have that, the A side is very weak.

thinkstoomuch1

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

It will not be dual managers that will be the reason that Mayo do not win the All Ireland.

And as for Cork getting a luck draw to make it to the QF, they already have that, the A side is very weak.

When they loose to kerry who can they possibly meet please

Can you give me a possible list of opponents as I can't find it anywhere

randd1

Leinster - Dublin
Connaught - Mayo
Ulster - Donegal
Munster - Kerry

AI - Kerry

Dubs obviously favourites for the AI, justifiably so and will be the team to stop, but I reckon at some stage, whether the SF or final, Kerry will face Dublin, and I think that Kerry could do a number on them in a one off game, especially if Dublin have the hype going into over-drive, there's just something about Kerry.

Donegal with an outside chance of beating either two, but I don't see Donegal beating the two of them. I reckon Sam will either be in Dublin or Kerry by the end of the year, I'll give Kerry the nod just because they have a bit more of the cute-hoorism about them.

Fr Tod Umptious

thinkstoomuch1 wrote: »

When they loose to kerry who can they possibly meet please

Can you give me a possible list of opponents as I can't find it anywhere

Likely one of Offaly, Longford, Loais, Carlow, Kildare, Clare, Limerick, Sligo, Cavan, Fermanagh, Antrim, London.
Possible but unlikely Roscommon, Monaghan, Dublin

Fr Tod Umptious

DDC1990 wrote: »

Thanks Tod totally missed that.
Crazy really when you think about it.

The old system made a lot more sense. That's a. Big advantage for Kerry this year, if they face into the likes of Meath rather then Donegal.

I'd prefer a totally open draw for the QF and the SF, which is something we have never had.

With the only restriction being the existing one that provincial finalists cannot meet in the QF.

Fireball07

Limerick for Sam.

Boom__Boom

http://www.gaa.ie/content/documents/GAA%20Football%20Championships%202015.pdf

All the details here.

Fr Tod Umptious

Boom__Boom wrote: »

http://www.gaa.ie/content/documents/GAA%20Football%20Championships%202015.pdf

All the details here.

Handy document, but there is an error.

How can Tipp v Waterfrod be A when it then becomes B when the winner plays Kerry ?
The same goes for the other side of the draw, Clear v Limerick are B but Cork are A.

If I recall the night of the draw they did not make it clear on TV which was A and B in Munster, unlike they did for the other provinces.

Nidgeweasel

Monaghan should win Ulster given the draw.

Can't see them realistically challenging for the All Ireland though. They aren't good enough to win it. An Ulster win and a semi final would be a brilliant season for them and represent progress. Thing is though is whether they have enough to push on after that. I don't think they do.


Dublin will win the All Ireland but outside of that you could have a very interesting championship with a fairly level playing field, the rossies, Armagh, Galway, down etc all primed for a good run i'd say.

Ollieboy

randd1 wrote: »

Leinster - Dublin
Connaught - Mayo
Ulster - Donegal
Munster - Kerry

AI - Kerry

Dubs obviously favourites for the AI, justifiably so and will be the team to stop, but I reckon at some stage, whether the SF or final, Kerry will face Dublin, and I think that Kerry could do a number on them in a one off game, especially if Dublin have the hype going into over-drive, there's just something about Kerry.

Donegal with an outside chance of beating either two, but I don't see Donegal beating the two of them. I reckon Sam will either be in Dublin or Kerry by the end of the year, I'll give Kerry the nod just because they have a bit more of the cute-hoorism about them.

Totally agree with this.

Donegal will have a tough campaign in Ulster but they are miles ahead of the other teams in Ulster. The problem in Ulster is everyone will want to beat Donegal and that makes for a lot of tough physical games and it might be to much for the Donegal panel size. If they go a game without Murphy then someone might get a result against them. If they don't win Ulster it will be very hard for them to get to the AI final.

Dublin have tried to change their style of play this year and that won't be tested until a AI final. I just don't think you can change a style of play and win a AI in the same year, but Dublin might do it due to the positive draw.

Galway are my dark horse this year and I expect them get to 1/4 final.

Either Kerry v Dublin or Donegal v Dublin final would be brilliant. Would love to see it Donegal v Dublin as they really hate each other.

iDave

The B side looks like bit of a nightmare. The tough side of Ulster plus Galway and Meath will all be in there at some point.

Nidgeweasel

Ollieboy wrote: »

Would love to see it Donegal v Dublin as they really hate each other.

Do we?

News to me Ted.

Ollieboy

Nidgeweasel wrote: »

Do we?

News to me Ted.

hate might be too strong of a word, strongly dislike then.

And that wouldn't be news to either camp.

Nidgeweasel

Ollieboy wrote: »

hate might be too strong of a word, strongly dislike then.

And that wouldn't be news to either camp.

There'd be no more antipathy towards Dublin from Donegal than there would be in most other counties really. It's always nice to bring the Jacks down a peg or two and on the flip side Dublin might be abit arsey because the 'culchies' spoiled their procession last summer and feel like they have to prove a point but hey ho.

Things got a bit narky towards the end of the league game but that happens in a lot of games regardless.

corny

randd1 wrote: »

Leinster - Dublin
Connaught - Mayo
Ulster - Donegal
Munster - Kerry

AI - Kerry

Dubs obviously favourites for the AI, justifiably so and will be the team to stop, but I reckon at some stage, whether the SF or final, Kerry will face Dublin, and I think that Kerry could do a number on them in a one off game, especially if Dublin have the hype going into over-drive, there's just something about Kerry.

Donegal with an outside chance of beating either two, but I don't see Donegal beating the two of them. I reckon Sam will either be in Dublin or Kerry by the end of the year, I'll give Kerry the nod just because they have a bit more of the cute-hoorism about them.

I wouldn't be certain of the result between Dublin and Kerry but one thing i can tell you with absolute certainty the Dublin management and players are not effected by the stuff you're talking about. Always find it lazy to suggest otherwise. The bulk of the side have two AI medals and experience coming out of their arses. You couldn't get a more level headed man in charge either.

I think Dublin will win the AI.

Huge respect for Kerry. Very interested to see if they recapture the same bite they had last year. If they can, they are a match for all.

I sincerely doubt Mayo will eclipse their performance level under Horan so you'd have to say they won't be good enough to beat Dublin in a semi.

Hope i'm wrong about Donegal but i think this might be the year the age of some of their key players shows. Would pay double to see Dublin try out plan B against them this year.

Of the rest, Armagh and Tyrone will test (without beating) the aforementioned if they meet them in August.

Jampip

Dirty Dingus McGee wrote: »

Not as excited as I used to be simply because we have to endure 2 months of largely uncompetitive sh1te util the championship really starts in July.

If there isn't a surprise winner then hopefully Dublin win the championship playing a blistering attacking style of football.Although this kind of contradicts what I said above I wouldn't mind seeing them hammer everyone along the way to be honest.

I expect Monaghan to win but Cavan vs Monaghan should be a very competitive game on May 24th.

I also don't think Monaghan will have it as easy to an Ulster final as some people think. Fermanagh drew with Armagh in the League and are improving. They still have a few decent players knocking around.

Nidgeweasel

Jampip wrote: »

Fermanagh

Jampip

Nidgeweasel wrote: »

Care to elaborate? They made the final of Division 3 this year. Monaghan did the same two years ago, nobody had given them a prayer against Donegal in the Ulster final and they won it.

In Sean Quigley they have the top scorer in the League and a forward who would win his place in most teams over the country.

Nidgeweasel

Jampip wrote: »

Care to elaborate? They made the final of Division 3 this year. Monaghan did the same two years ago, nobody had given them a prayer against Donegal in the Ulster final and they won it.

In Sean Quigley they have the top scorer in the League and a forward who would win his place in most teams over the country.

I think sums it up more than adequately.

DoctaDee

corny,95260580 wrote:

I wouldn't be certain of the result between Dublin and Kerry but one thing i can tell you with absolute certainty the Dublin management and players are not effected by the stuff you're talking about. Always find it lazy to suggest otherwise. The bulk of the side have two AI medals and experience coming out of their arses. You couldn't get a more level headed man in charge either.

I think Dublin will win the AI. ........
.

Yeah this pretty much sums up my own opinion too. While Dublin may not win the AI, to suggest journo/ media commentary as over hype is to overlook the fact that they've been the best team in the country for a good 2 years and would stand alone as the only team capable of putting any of the others to the sword. That said I would hasten to add that I think it will be an extremely tight affair with no team offering Dublin the opportunity to play expansive football at the business end of the championship.

Jim Gavin did extremely well to deflect the defeat to Donegal on himself, but in reality he didn't instruct them to play with only 2 defenders. Having spoken to 2 lads that played that day they know that ultimately the downfall was in trying to beat Donegal into the ground. The fact that they couldn't and then weren't even in a position then to consolidate their lead was their ultimate demise.

If Dublin avoid another potential slip up to Donegal I'd expect them once again to win the AI at Kerrys expense.

Stoner

Nidgeweasel wrote:

There'd be no more antipathy towards Dublin from Donegal than there would be in most other counties really. It's always nice to bring the Jacks down a peg or two and on the flip side Dublin might be abit arsey because the 'culchies' spoiled their procession last summer and feel like they have to prove a point but hey ho.

Nidgeweasel, since 1992, I've called you guys plenty of things, but never culchies, it shows how we need to get over these things and talk more. Deep down us Dubs refer all of our Ulster friends collectively.

It's true though you get the feeling that the teams don't like each other. But we have many such enemies, yet so have Donegal, you really get the feeling that Mayo and Donegal have a dysfunctional relationship too..

Stoner

I think an important point is that Kerry are the current champions and they are better this year with more options than they were/had last year.

Donegal seem to have continued on, they have the ability to beat Mayo, Kerry and Dublin but I don't think Monaghan do, they'd need Owen Lennon at his best to have a chance but I don't see it.
I know Roscommon have good forwards and looked good to date but at full flight I think Mayo will beat them, on a path to an AI they might have to meet twice, a Kerry and Cork special but I think Mayo are better conditioned, jury's out on the management though.
Can't see Cork doing much this year still have some great players but their setup looks to be at the wrong level, I can't believe that there is not a more firey Cork man around to do the job. They lack mobility in the middle of the field, but have strong options everywhere else excluding the keeper it seems. It's a pity that the invincible aura they had in 2010 / 2011 has vanished as they had a unique set up with huge men, they made the championship very interesting as you wanted to watch them and how teams would set up against them, I still maintain that if Dublin met Cork in 2011 that Cork would have had two in a row, they had Dublins number four years ago.

Donegal Dublin would be a good game this year and something to look forward to if it happened.
There is a surprise in Mayo, they are in the long grass IMHO, have not seen enough of their management to judge them but I've seen enough of them at full flight to respect them. They need a natural fullback, I know everyone talks about their forwards but Kilbride, Donaghy, Brogan, Murphy would /will all ask serious question for them this year.

I'm at the following levels
Kerry/Dublin
Mayo/Donegal
Tyrone /Monaghan /roscommon/ Cork
Armagh /Galway

All IMHO

Nidgeweasel

Stoner wrote: »

Nidgeweasel, since 1992, I've called you guys plenty of things, but never culchies, it shows how we need to get over these things and talk more. Deep down us Dubs refer all of our Ulster friends collectively.

It's true though you get the feeling that the teams don't like each other. But we have many such enemies, yet so have Donegal, you really get the feeling that Mayo and Donegal have a dysfunctional relationship too..

See if he had have said Mayo I'd have agreed. There's definitely an underlying issue there.I really don't think there's any big problem towards the Dubs from ourselves other than the fact it's Dublin and everything that entails.

Are we boggers or nordies? I'm not au fait with distinctions for people from counties outside the capital. I had typed boggers initially but changed it to culchies last minute.

Red Kev

I think Mayo will lose to either Galway or Roscommon. That has the advantage that they get a better run in the Quali's and make things easier for a SF/Final place.

As others have said, it's hard to know with the new management team.

iDave

So Louth will get an injection of the Micko factor this year it seems.

Fr Tod Umptious

Red Kev wrote: »

I think Mayo will lose to either Galway or Roscommon. That has the advantage that they get a better run in the Quali's and make things easier for a SF/Final place.

As others have said, it's hard to know with the new management team.

The idea that the back door is an advantage because it gives a team some sort of a "run" is no longer valid.

Since 2010, when all semi finalists came from the back door, there has been only one team to make it to a SF via the back door, Tyrone 2013.

Right now teams that are serious about winning an AI value the ability to prepare that you get from winning your province.
You do not have to worry about who, where and when you are playing next, which is the case with the back door.

Jampip

Nidgeweasel wrote: »

Are we boggers or nordies? I'm not au fait with distinctions for people from counties outside the capital. I had typed boggers initially but changed it to culchies last minute.

You must have missed the "Mullagh" phase of the noughties. We were all "bleeding Mullaghs".

I'm not sure if it had anything to do with the fact that the town bordering Meath in my own blessed county has pretty much become a satelitte area of Dublin.

Nidgeweasel

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

The idea that the back door is an advantage because it gives a team some sort of a "run" is no longer valid.

Since 2010, when all semi finalists came from the back door, there has been only one team to make it to a SF via the back door, Tyrone 2013.

Right now teams that are serious about winning an AI value the ability to prepare that you get from winning your province.
You do not have to worry about who, where and when you are playing next, which is the case with the back door.

A great post.

Jim had said as much on numerous occasions, particularly in advance of the Derry game in the championship last year. A win against Derry would give Donegal a clear run of some 3/4 weeks before a semi final, and the same thereafter. Much better for training and preparation.

It used to be the opposite for counties like Donegal though. We made a semi on a run in 2003, Fermanagh 2004 that was real crest of a wave stuff. Not the case anymore.

Barrysplague

Lads / Lassies, hopefully this post makes it up here, there is a great event to get a good discussion going on the 2015 All-Ireland Championship and is being held in the Hotel Kilmore in Cavan on Friday week (8 May 2015).

The Ballybay Senior team (Monaghan) are hosting an All Ireland preview night and have secured a very interesting panel - Declan O'Sullivan (Kerry), Michael Meehan (Galway), Anthony Moyles (Meath) and Kevin Cassidy (Donegal). Declan Bogue (Author and journalist) will MC the event and should ensure an interesting debate between the panel.

Four course meal, wine and other entertainment on the night also, all for €50!! Promises to be brilliant!

Tickets can be bought online. I know that I can't post a link for it but if you search 'Ballybay All-Ireland Preview'. you will find the link to buy tickets and more information.

Stoner

Nidgeweasel wrote:

Are we boggers or nordies? I'm not au fait with distinctions for people from counties outside the capital. I had typed boggers initially but changed it to culchies last minute.

Northies, although I heard a debate last year that some had Donegal occupying the intersection.
That said with your excellent execution of the blanket defence it has IMHO placed you firmly as a Northie County.

Ollieboy

DoctaDee wrote: »

Yeah this pretty much sums up my own opinion too. While Dublin may not win the AI, to suggest journo/ media commentary as over hype is to overlook the fact that they've been the best team in the country for a good 2 years and would stand alone as the only team capable of putting any of the others to the sword. That said I would hasten to add that I think it will be an extremely tight affair with no team offering Dublin the opportunity to play expansive football at the business end of the championship.

Jim Gavin did extremely well to deflect the defeat to Donegal on himself, but in reality he didn't instruct them to play with only 2 defenders. Having spoken to 2 lads that played that day they know that ultimately the downfall was in trying to beat Donegal into the ground. The fact that they couldn't and then weren't even in a position then to consolidate their lead was their ultimate demise.

If Dublin avoid another potential slip up to Donegal I'd expect them once again to win the AI at Kerrys expense.

But I think the above comment states how much the media/fans do play a part in Dublin's downfall. Nobody in their right mind would think Dublin were going to walk all over Donegal (beat them yes), but the media and some Dublin fans thought it would be a walk-over. Bookies were given Donegal crazy odds. So it does get into the players head.

Living in Dublin for 30 years I feel sorry for the Dublin players in relation to fans/media as it's always pressure and they can't stop going to work and not hearing about it. Also if you play bad in a Dublin jersey it gets notice even more due to media.

I know a lot of ex-Dublin players and even 30 years later people keep talking to them about a or b game.

blowitupref

Is this right the Connacht,Munster finalists on the A side of the draw?

http://www.gaa.ie/fixtures-and-results/championship-wall-charts/

Fr Tod Umptious

blowitupref wrote: »

Is this right the Connacht,Munster finalists on the A side of the draw?

http://www.gaa.ie/fixtures-and-results/championship-wall-charts/

Well it's not right if you look at the GAA website fixture list

https://www.gaa.ie/fixtures-and-results/national-fixtures/gaa-football-all-ireland-senior-championship/

They need to get stuff like this right, seriously

corny

Ollieboy wrote: »

But I think the above comment states how much the media/fans do play a part in Dublin's downfall.

No it doesn't. You have no idea if that mindset was created internally by the management and players or was manifest of media hype.

Its entirely plausible, and what i think is most likely the case, the Dublin players thought ..... they think they're the immovable object, well we're the unstoppable force.

That proves they were tactically naive but it doesn't prove they were victims of media pressure.

Fireball07

The football Championship also starts tonight, with Galway facing New York in Gaelic Park. NY are actually winning at the moment, but it's still in the first half.

While some (including me) are saying the hurling championship is more open than ever, the football championship doesn't seem to be the same. Most people are pointing at Dublin after they romped to a 3rd league in a row; you'll always have Kerry there or thereabouts and with the Gooch and Tommy Walsh back on board, could be even stronger this year. And Donegal & Mayo are still worth mentions, both came close last year. It's hard to see who else though- Monaghan are good but not All-Ireland class, Cork don't seem to have what it takes to match the top teams and the likes of Tyrone aren't quite there either.

However, I would a team like Roscommon to have an impressive campaign; possibly Tipperary too and Galway will be hoping to build on a good qualifier run last year; and then the likes of Armagh, Cavan, Down, Fermanagh, Derry will be formidable opponents for most teams.


Again, Paddy Power odds for Sam:

6/4- Dublin
11/4- Kerry
8/1- Mayo
10/1- Donegal
12/1- Cork
20/1- Galway
25/1- Armagh, Monaghan & Tyrone
33/1- Roscommon
40/1- Meath
50/1- Derry


Again, seems fair enough. They possibly overrate Galway, possible based upon Corofin's performance this season and maybe underrate Monaghan.


And the provincial titles:

Leinster
1/6- Dublin
13/2- Meath
14/1- Kildare
33/1- Laois
50/1- Westmeath
80/1- Wexford
150/1- Louth
200/1- Wicklow
250/1- Longford & Offaly
1000/1- Carlow

No arguments here, impossible to see past Dublin winning again. Some diabolical league campaigns for Leinster teams- both Kildare & Westmeath are relegated for the 2nd year in a row and Kildare particularly will be disappointed at playing Division 3 next year, when it's not so long ago when they would have felt they had the beating of a lot of the top teams. Louth have also faced consecutive relegations and will play in Division 4 next year, as will Wexford. Obviously Longford & Offaly did get promoted and Dublin won the league but if Meath & Laois are the closest contenders, they are way off.


Munster
1/2- Kerry
15/8- Cork
16/1- Tipperary
40/1- Clare
250/1- Waterford
300/1- Limerick

Sad to see that, only 5 years ago, Limerick ran Kerry all the way in a Munster final, now they are the least fancied team in the province. However, they had a decent league campaign, all things considered and beat Clare who are their opening opponents so I hope they can do so again, even down in Cusack Park. But it is Tipperary who now pose the biggest threat to the big two and I would give them a chance against Cork but their backline is still probably a bit leaky despite having serious firepower in the likes of Sweeney & Quinlivan inside and Acheson, O'Brien, Fox & O'Riordan bombing on from out the field. Still, it's Kerry's to lose again and that's why they are odds on. They absolutely demolished Cork in the final last year and it's hard to see them not doing the same.


Ulster
9/4- Monaghan
7/2- Donegal
9/2- Armagh
15/2- Cavan & Down
8/1- Derry
9/1- Tyrone
20/1- Fermanagh
40/1- Antrim

The most competitive province by a mile, the intensity in the matches tends to be huge. Very hard to call but the odds are probably justified but realistically, early in the Championship, most of those teams could beat each other although I think Donegal and Monaghan are the strongest overall. Bit surprised to see Tyrone at 9/1.


Connacht
4/5- Mayo
11/4- Galway
3/1- Roscommon
14/1- Sligo
150/1- Leitrim & London
500/1- New York


Again, it is expected; Mayo are definitely the strongest team in the province but Galway & Roscommon are both on the right path. In fact, with Mayo having new management, maybe there is some value in Roscommon at 3/1; they had a very good league and I rate them quite highly. Galway have some fine players too but Roscommon did get promoted ahead of them so I'd have them as slightly better at the moment.



After Galway/New York tonight, this kicks off in proper next weekend with 3 Leinster preliminary round fixtures (Carlow/Laois, Offaly/Longford, Louth/Westmeath) as well as Donegal versus Tyrone, which is a great opening round fixture.

Fireball07

In the time I took to write the post, Galway scored 7 points in 12 minutes and are no longer losing; 0-9 to 0-4 at the break. Ex-Wexford player PJ Banville has hit 0-3 for NY.

Hammer Archer

Threads merged

Fireball07

Hammer Archer wrote: »

Threads merged

Cheers, forgot this had been made!

blowitupref

A good read from Malachy Clerkin on the Irish Times.

GAA grounds grind into gear as football roadshow begins

On a bright May morning over a decade ago, your correspondent sat across a rickety table in the Paragon Bar in Clones town chewing the fat with the proprietor, one Paddy Freeman. The championship was around the corner and the spirits were high and the idea was to do a piece on people at the periphery of the whole show.
Freeman was a perfect candidate – loud, garrulous, full of chat and mad for the summer to get here. Ulster teams were winning All-Irelands at the time and somewhere along the way to doing so, they generally had to pass through Clones.
In the Paragon, all comers were made welcome. The walls were red, with murals drawn of players from all over, some of whom had never set foot in Clones in their lives. Cormac McAnallen wasn’t long gone and took pride of place on one wall, with Michael Donnellan an altogether more esoteric choice on the one adjacent. The point wasn’t subtle – this was a GAA bar. More to the point, this was a football bar. In a football town.

“This town has nothing,” Freeman piped up at one stage. “Clones isn’t a bad town but it has nothing. The jobs are gone, the young people are gone. If it wasn’t for that football field up over the hill there, there’d be nothing in the town at all. But the football field keeps us going. The summer is mighty.”

Unique
Clones was and is its own unique little corner of the landscape but there are towns like it and Paddy Freemans like it all over the place, each of them waiting for the championship to bowl through over the coming months. We like to think of the championship as a caravan that wends its leisurely way through the country, but the truth is that it comes and goes in a flash.
Eleven weeks from now, everything moves to Croke Park for the various endgames. Most towns see a couple of games at most and the jamboree heads off somewhere else. Last year, for instance, 27 towns and cities hosted championship games (25 if we take out New York and London).
Dublin had 14 separate days of it between football and hurling, Thurles had seven, Portlaoise had six. Next on the list, maybe surprisingly, was Carlow with five. On down through Clones, Mullingar, Limerick and Ennis with four each and a multitude of twos and threes and ones. That’s 25 towns in 24 counties – the Waterford footballers played a Munster championship game in Dungarvan, the Waterford hurlers played a qualifier in Waterford.

Some towns are made for championship hosting. Some can take it or leave it. One Sunday the spotlight could fall on the sort of place where farmers have “PARKING €5” signs stuck to the gates of fields a good three miles from the ground. The next you could be lost on a side street somewhere asking for directions, only to be met with a grudging: “Is there a game on?”

Take Omagh, for instance. You will travel many miles across this fair land without encountering more fervent and committed supporters of their county than Tyrone people. They were long and loud in affirmation of their faith long before they won anything and the years of plenty haven’t diluted their appetite for worship. Yet it’s entirely possible to be on Market Street on a championship Sunday and only barely feel the pulse of it.
The reason is simple. Healy Park is a good mile-and-a-half out the road from the town centre. It’s up a hill and down a dale, out past a park and a school and a housing estate and the Silver Birch hotel. That holy grail of a summer Sunday – a pre-match pint out in the fresh air – isn’t impossible but it’s a big ask.

Something on
On the flipside, you go to somewhere like Tullamore and there’s no escaping the fact that There’s Something On. Offaly folk may have had nothing to shout about these many years; enthusiasm for the prospects of their hurlers and footballers could sink to unplumbed depths, and still the layout of Tullamore and the siting of O’Connor Park at the top of the town make it a grand place to take in a championship day out.
Last summer, Galway and Kilkenny met for a two-game mini-epic in Tullamore. From the Bridge House carvery up as far as O’Connor’s and Kelly’s on the bridge, the streets teemed with devotees. When Henry Shefflin and Joe Canning traded matching points from the ends of the earth to draw the first game, the traffic chugged for an hour afterwards as radio pundits broke it all down.
Proximity to the town attached to the ground is key to a good championship day out. The old reliables like Thurles, Clones, Killarney and Kilkenny don’t work solely for this reason but it’s a damn good start. The square in Thurles to the Town End in Semple Stadium is a 10-minute walk. Ditto Main Street in Killarney to the Lewis Road entrance of Fitzgerald Stadium.

It would be a lazy stroller who needed more than a quarter of an hour between leaving Langtons in Kilkenny and taking a seat in Nowlan Park. And generations of Ulstermen have refined the art of ordering a last one in the Creighton at the bottom of Fermanagh Street in Clones and still being on the Hill for the end of Amhrán na bhFiann.
Location, location, location. Pearse Stadium in Salthill is damned twice – too far out of the city to make it a focal point, far too open to the vagaries of the wind coming in off the Atlantic. O’Moore Park in Portlaoise has always felt a bit soulless, stuck to the side of the M7 with a vast bank of apartments overlooking the pitch.
In Mullingar, any potential majesty of a day in Cusack Park can’t but be undermined by the feeling the game is being played in the car park of the Dunnes Stores that backs onto the pitch.

Wexford Park is so far out of the town centre that you sometimes worry about a game getting too interesting, for fear that any over-eager boisterousness could wake sleeping kids in the quiet neighbourhood nearby.
Some grounds have character. Pearse Park in Longford is a handsome little music box of a stadium. Dr Cullen Park in Carlow is the only ground in the country where the players have to go through an underground tunnel to make it from the dressing rooms to the pitch. Celtic Park in Derry is dug into the side of a hill, Hillary Step-style, with the Brandywell below it and the city graveyard sprawling away up across the Lone Moor Road.
Some grounds do not have character. For all of Clones’s attributes as a hosting town, St Tiernach’s Park itself is a hotchpotch of half-carried-out ideas and well-intentioned plans.

Páirc Uí Chaoimh’s reputation as a desperate old kip should have been dealt with long ago, but it has taken until now for the diggers to move in. Cusack Park in Ennis has been rusting at the edges for years, its main distinguishing feature being the country’s most battered and tattered old scoreboard.
Scoreboards make for a fun case study, as it happens. This being the GAA, there is obviously no consistency from one ground to the next. The one in Ennis would shame the lowliest junior club – wooden slats that haven’t changed in decades, chalkboard-style numbers faded from the rain. Roscommon’s Hyde Park scoreboard is a huge green galvanised edifice that doubles as a shelter from the rain.
In Ballycastle, it’s a matter of two stakes in the ground, two stakes supporting them and a ladder up the back with a hassled scoreboard operator hoping to God that the free-takers are having an off day.

Elsewhere, modernity’s creeping advance reveals itself in different ways. In Castlebar, the digitised scoreboard is striped across the main security control centre. In forward-thinking Tullamore, they flash up the name of the scorer after every point – something not even the bells-and-whistles merchants in Croke Park have ever seen fit to match.
Some grounds have clocks. Some even have clocks that work. Some, like the one in Portlaoise, go up to 35:00 before being reset to 00:00 for the second half. If you see furrowed brows up in the press box there some days, it’s because cloth-brained hacks are trying to add 35 to 17 while noting down a sub and keeping an eye on the kick-out. We were never warned that a facility for numbers would be part of the job spec.
Yet for all the variations from ground to ground, certain things are the same no matter where you go. From MacCumhaill Park in Ballybofey to Fraher Field in Dungarvan, you will still run afoul of yellow-bibbed stewards who guard the entrance to the Árd Comhairle with their lives. You will still pay €2 for your choice of warm Coke or cold tea and your chances of eating anything that isn’t a crisp or chocolate are slim to none.

Best fed ground
Oddly enough, if we take Croker out of the equation, the best championship ground in which to get fed is Ruislip in northwest London. They get one big day out a year – the Connacht championship opener at the end of May. To their immense credit, they hang up their brightest colours.
There might only be a crowd of around 3,000 through the gates, but it’s a proper day out when you get there. The guardians of London GAA throw up a couple of marquees and proceed to make merry. They sling burgers and fire out pints and bottles to beat the band. They stick the other game of the day up on the big screen in the clubhouse while the crowd flows in. It can feel like the one place anywhere all summer that the actual championship is being celebrated.
By the end of July, it all gets funnelled down into a series of weekends in Croke Park. Much and all as supporters and teams are desperate to make it to the All-Ireland series, there’s no doubt that a little of the character gets soaked up in the sponge of Dublin 3.

The various pubs of lore around Croke Park haven’t had a good recent run of it. Quinn’s in Drumcondra has fallen foul of the food safety laws. The Hideout on Campbell’s Row is sadly no longer with us. Gaffney’s in Fairview is still going strong but it’s a bit out of the way and in the wrong direction if you’re coming from or heading to the city.
For all that, Croke Park is still the solitary modern, well-appointed GAA ground in the country. The one place you can be assured that there are enough toilets (not to mention enough clean ones). The rare place you can grab a beer. The only ground with a functioning corporate element, where you can eat properly and comfortably and at your leisure.

Everything ends in Croke Park. For an 83,000-ish seater stadium, there’s barely a bad vantage point. The lower-stand corners where the Hogan and Cusack meet the Canal End aren’t great and if you get stuck right at the end line at pitch level, you’re sometimes better watching on the big screen.
If that ever happens, here’s a tip. On all but the very biggest days in Croke Park, there is always room on the upper level. And there isn’t a single bad seat up there either, assuming you don’t suffer from vertigo.
The key is to walk to your seat like you personally bought it and donated it to Michael Cusack himself. Stroll into the Upper Cusack – making sure to breeze past the security lads without catching their eye – pick a seat a few rows away and go and plonk yourself down. Nobody will question you.

Microclimates
The other tip is to bring both suncream and a heavy coat. No place in Ireland has more microclimates than Croke Park. Even as the summer sun blazes into the Upper Cusack, it can be perishing in the Upper Hogan. Prepare for all eventualities.
Most of all, though, make sure you go. Go anywhere. Go to Thurles or Longford or Castlebar. Go to Killarney for the Munster final and pick out the Reeks in the distance. Go to Breffni Park in a couple of weeks and watch Cavan and Monaghan wrestle away down in the bowl. Go to Limerick next month and use the match programme to shield your eyes from the sun.
And whether your team is there or not, go to Croke Park sometime in August. Take your seat high up on the upper level and feel the place shake as the anthem finishes and the ball is thrown in. For an hour-and-a- half, you are where something matters. The summer is mighty, as Paddy Freeman said.
Where else would you be?

iDave

Depressing times in Offaly. 8 years without a win in Leinster