The GAA Thread

[bandage]

That was gas with Mullane alright. The fooking Thrillers! What's he on?

Can't believe Westmeath beat Galway last night. They gave the worst display I've seen in this year's championship against Offaly in the first round in Leinster. Now they're in the last 8. Amazing what a few lucky draws in the qualifiers can do to recuperate a team. Dublin will pump them though.

Gonna take Fermanagh to beat Donegal at 6/4 today. Might double up with Laois too.

[whyohwhy]

Some shoite yesterday in the Fermanagh/Donegal match, fooking terrible football (I use the term football lightly). It was painful to watch: handpass, handpass, foul, short kick, handpass, handpass, foul, handpass, kick wide, etc etc etc. Such dire football, typical of Nordie football is suppose. Must have been 70 fouls at least.

It was funny to see McIvor get so worked up after in the interview and blame every media, communication and GAA apparatus for the Paddy Campbell debacle. I laughed out when he called the match 'a great game of football', what the fook was he watching? Their match against Cork will be a close one, but they will proably bore and foul Cork into submission.

Laois are better against the wind than with it, can see them beating Mayo, considering Mayo's brutal record in Croker (if its there) and their forwards inability to hit barn doors from 2 feet.

Offaly were atrocicious, but a lot of it that had to do with Joe Higgins cleaning up in the full back line, he was immense. 1 point with the wind in the second half is a woeful return for any team.

Kerry had a handy run-out, but the forwards wont get easy possession like that against Armagh. Moynihan had a bad day and shows the necessity for Tadgh Kenneally to come back asap. Tomas O'Se wont be as bad again (I hope). The Armagh match is probably a match too early for Kerry. Revenge for 2002 will have to wait!

Was really impressed with Longford, their direct running was brilliant and had the Kerry backs under fierce pressure. Brian Kavanagh and the Bardens played really well.

Didnt see the Westmeath/Galway match at all, but I suppose Dublin will be delighted to be playing Westmeath rather than Galway.

[bandage]

Yeah the qualifiers are good that way. Lets people see the likes of Paul Barden playing late in the year. The guy Donaghy was the difference between the teams – they just couldn’t handle him.

Agreed on Joe Higgins. Offaly play a simple game – long ball into McNamee and Deehan – and when someone like Higgins was mopping up in there they had no answer. They were cleaned out in midfield (3 games in a row) which didn’t help either.

Had a laugh at Brian McIvor too but it’s entertaining to see a manager lose the rag like that. Donegal will trouble Cork but think they might fall short although Canty’s a huge loss for Cork. Barry Owens and Marty McGrath are great to watch for Fermanagh but they lack quality up front. Maguire and Brewster did the scoring against us but Brewster was quiet yesterday and Maguire was playing excellently before he got concussed and was a big loss.

Still can’t believe Westmeath are in the last 8. I’m going for Cork/Armagh and Dublin/Laois semi finals. Dublin to reach the final by playing 5 games, all against Leinster opposition!

[whyohwhy]

bandage said:

Had a laugh at Brian McIvor too but it’s entertaining to see a manager lose the rag like that. Donegal will trouble Cork but think they might fall short although Canty’s a huge loss for Cork. Barry Owens and Marty McGrath are great to watch for Fermanagh but they lack quality up front. Maguire and Brewster did the scoring against us but Brewster was quiet yesterday and Maguire was playing excellently before he got concussed and was a big loss.

Owens was impressive yesterday too, a couple of barnstorming runs up field. Had seen you raving on about him before in this thread.

[cullyeile]

Donegal game was poor alright. I think both teams were afraid to lose at that stage of the championship which contributed to the general nervousness of the play on both sides. Would still fancy Donegal to take Cork this weekend. This is the same Cork team who were involved in the worst game of Gaelic football in living memory against Limerick. Then they beat a poor Kerry team to win Munster. Nothing to fear there.

On the Paddy Campbell issue it is a disgrace that in effect he received an 8 week ban for slappin Muldoon in the nads. If that is the standard then alot of players will be missing the championship in the coming weeks.

Its going to be interesting to see the Armagh Kerry game. On present form you would expect Armagh to complete an Ulster double on Saturday but Kerry are bound to have one performance in them. Armagh to edge it though due to the fact they know how to grind out results.

On the other side I would agree with Bandage. Laois deserve enormous credit for the way they responded to the hammering by Dublin. It will be very tight against Mayo. Moran is a very good manager but think Laois have the momentum. Dublin should easily account for Westmeath.

[bandage]

Anyone have any opinions on the injury Eamon Maguire sustained against Donegal yesterday? Thought it was just a really, really strong and firm shoulder myself and don’t think it was particularly nasty or malicious. It was just unfortunate that he banged his head on landing. I did agree with Colm O’Rourke (first time for everything) that the GAA needs to look at the situation around players coming back onto the field of play after being injured. I think the main reason Maguire got hurt so badly was because Bonner came from his blind side – he was completely oblivious to his presence and so was unable to brace himself for the ensuing hit. This came about because Bonner was off the pitch receiving treatment and simply raced back and thudded into Maguire. They should adopt the soccer philosophy where a player has to be waived back onto the pitch by the referee after leaving the playing area. A shame for Maguire because he’s had a smashing year.

[cullyeile]

Yeah felt it was shoulder to shoulder alright. The fact that he didnt see him coming obviously was the reason he got so badly hurt. They made the point on the Sunday Game last night that Bonner had been knocked into the fence by a Fermanagh player so he actually hadn't gone off the field for treatment thus allowing him to come back on without the ref having to wave him on.

[whyohwhy]

bandage said:

Anyone have any opinions on the injury Eamon Maguire sustained against Donegal yesterday? Thought it was just a really, really strong and firm shoulder myself and don’t think it was particularly nasty or malicious. It was just unfortunate that he banged his head on landing. I did agree with Colm O’Rourke (first time for everything) that the GAA needs to look at the situation around players coming back onto the field of play after being injured. I think the main reason Maguire got hurt so badly was because Bonner came from his blind side – he was completely oblivious to his presence and so was unable to brace himself for the ensuing hit. This came about because Bonner was off the pitch receiving treatment and simply raced back and thudded into Maguire. They should adopt the soccer philosophy where a player has to be waived back onto the pitch by the referee after leaving the playing area. A shame for Maguire because he’s had a smashing year.

It was some shoulder alright, Maguires head seemed to whiplash forward and hit Bonners shoulder as well as then hitting the ground. An awful bang. That Maguire didnt see Bonner coming was the main reason he was knocked out.

I thought Bonner was coming back on after an injury and not just running back on after being hit into the fencing (which happened a Longford player on saturday too after a sneaky malicious nudge in the back by Paul Galvin (Tom O'Sullivan maybe?) when he had already crossed the sideline).

It was shoulder to shoulder too, but i suppose it looked so bad and the crowds reaction meant that the ref had to give him a yellow card. The commentators on the match said that some of the Fermanagh players gave Bonner a few nods of the head to indicate that they felt it was a fair shoulder too.

[whyohwhy]

From www.hoganstand.com

Carlow wait on poker ace Lawlor
03 August 2006

Carlow won’t know until Thursday night, August 3, if star forward Brendan Lawlor will be able to line out against Antrim in Sunday’s Christy Ring Cup final.

Lawlor’s participation is in doubt as he is contesting a poker classic in Nevada. He won EUR10,000 and a chance to compete in a Las Vegas poker classic in a local raffle.

The chartered accountant left Ireland last Sunday and won his opening game in the competition on Tuesday. Should he win the second round on Thursday night, he will be ruled out of the Croke Park showdown.

“Brendan is in a very good position in the poker classic and is likely to make it to round three which would guarantee him a sizeable amount of dollars,” explained Carlow PRO Tommy Murphy.

The Naomh Brid man scored five points in Carlow’s thrilling semi-final victory over Down and would be a huge loss on Sunday if he fails to make it home.

The Barrowsiders have been boosted, however, by the return of Shane Kavanagh from the US. The Leinster player missed the semi-final, but played in a challenge match last week and is expected to go straight back into the starting team.

[whyohwhy]

“I expect a fairly bad tempered match with even a sending off or two, but it should prove to be an absorbing contest,”

Quote from Jarlath Burns, former Armagh Player, on Kerry V Armagh on Saturday.

Translates as: "Armagh will wind up Donaghy, Gooch, Paul Galvin and others in order to get them sent off. Armagh will play on the edge of the law, and batter Kerry players as often as possible, there will be no good football played on Saturday, Kerry will not be allowed to play their style of football, its Puke Football all the way"

[humbug]

I like the look of Armagh on Saturday at even money. I'm going to wade in on them at that price. Donaghy appears the big threat but big Joe Kernan will undoubtedly have done his homework on that. I expect the supply to be cut off at source. I can't remember Bellew being tested under a load of high balls into full forward before...it's now so rare at intercounty level. I expect Donaghy to be less prolific than he was against Longford and I predict that he will catch no more than two high balls above his head. My idea of fun this weekend: €100 on Armagh to win.

[bandage]

I might do something sillier like sticking €200 on Armagh to try recoup some of my losses. Also like the look of Waterford at 12/5 but not sure if I'll take the plunge.

[humbug]

humbug said:

I like the look of Armagh on Saturday at even money. I'm going to wade in on them at that price. Donaghy appears the big threat but big Joe Kernan will undoubtedly have done his homework on that. I expect the supply to be cut off at source. I can't remember Bellew being tested under a load of high balls into full forward before...it's now so rare at intercounty level. I expect Donaghy to be less prolific than he was against Longford and I predict that he will catch no more than two high balls above his head. My idea of fun this weekend: €100 on Armagh to win.

Humble pie for Humbug here. Just back from Croker and out the door shortly for some Wicklow IFC action so a few quick thoughts on the game...

I hadn't looked forward to a game in Croker so much in ages. I was very eager to see the Bellew / Donaghy clash. It was so refreshing to see two teams pump high balls into their forward lines. I thought it was a great game and although my head said Armagh I was really delighted to see Kerry come through. They have had it tough from the Northern teams in the recent past but they proved today that they are a steely hard outfit. Dara O'Sé and the other two Ó'Sés were outstanding I thought and hats off to Donaghy too...huge game from him. Didn't see what happened between Galvin and Toal so looking forward to seeing what that was all about. Natural order restored?

[bandage]

humbug said:

Humble pie for Humbug here. Just back from Croker and out the door shortly for some Wicklow IFC action so a few quick thoughts on the game...

I hadn't looked forward to a game in Croker so much in ages. I was very eager to see the Bellew / Donaghy clash. It was so refreshing to see two teams pump high balls into their forward lines. I thought it was a great game and although my head said Armagh I was really delighted to see Kerry come through. They have had it tough from the Northern teams in the recent past but they proved today that they are a steely hard outfit. Dara O'Sé and the other two Ó'Sés were outstanding I thought and hats off to Donaghy too...huge game from him. Didn't see what happened between Galvin and Toal so looking forward to seeing what that was all about. Natural order restored?

Delighted to have attended that game also - excellent for the thefreekick to be offerred free tickets early Saturday morning. When it was 1-1 to 0-2 I turned to rock and said 'this is fooking great stuff' and so it continued in that vein.

Thought all 3 O'Sé's were phenomenal in the second half. Marc has been a constant all year but the other 2 really showed their class today. Thought McGrane had slightly the better of the midfield battle in the 1st half but Dara wiped them out there in the 2nd. Tomás' point and Marc's 2nd were wonderful scores and really crucial.

Loved the Donaghy/Bellew battle - even enough in the 1st half but Donaghy won it well in the 2nd. What a bonus for Kerry to have him playing this well. Is it fair to say they've almost stumbled across the option of playing him there? It's taken so much pressure off Gooch and allows them to vary their play and lines of attack.

Thought Clarke and McDonnell were superb for Armagh too. It was just a class game riddled with quality scores and played at some pace and intensity. Not sure why Galvin lost the head so badly. Was it Toal or Aidan O'Rourke that was acting as 'Maor Uisce'? Whatever happened Galvin totally lost his self control and gave the ref no option but to send him off when he started firing water bottles! Great spectacle though. Dublin/Kerry final anyone?

Oh yeah lost €200 on the game but actually didn't mind given how enjoyable it was. Need Waterford to step up to the plate now.

[bandage]

Really felt for Waterford today. Games are decided by tiny fractions at that level. Cusack preventing McGrath's free from going over, Corcoran on his hands and knees flicking the ball away from McGrath, who was about to clear, and into Joe Deane's path in the lead up to the goal by Naughton and loads of other little things that make all the difference.

Cork have either the most astute or lucky backroom team in sport. Springing a guy like Naughton - good young player though he is - surprised everyone and then he scores 1-1 with his first 2 touches. This follows from the semi last year when they had the balls to take off Curran and Corcoran against Clare.

Those two were immense today with Curran catching some crucial ball there in the last 10 minutes. Thought Jerry O'Connor got 2 really important points in the second half, one after withstanding some quality shoulders by Waterford players. They just don't seem to panic and retain their composure in the heat of the battle.

I said in a hurling championship preview on the site way back in April that the only team I saw capable of ending Cork's 3-in-a-row aspirations were Waterford mainly because in Shanahan, Prendergast and Kelly they had the half forward line to test and disrupt Cork's half back line which instigates all their own attacks and cuts out most of the opposition's. Still believe that and can't see Cork being stopped now.

[iamthelaw]

Lot of guys slipping in Croke Park on Sunday, apparently the woven top-surface makes it very difficult for studs to get a grip at all. Bad enough for these amateur games but I trust they'll sort it before the pros get there for the 6 Nations.

Although if scrums become a lottery, it could negate the weakness of the Ireland (Munster) front row.

[tommymoore]

Saw that guy Naughton playing for Newtown in the club final last March and he looked very good. Wasn't really surprised when I saw him being sprung to be honest. He spend a year or 2 playing soccer with Notts Forest but decided to come home to play hurling for Newtown and Cork. Well that's what some Cork langer told me anyway.
Can't stand Cork but you have to take your hat off to them, 4 finals in a row and almost certainly a 3 in a row. Some team.

[Ball Ox]

[shadow=red,left,300][glow=red,2,300]the GAA thread is gay [/glow][/shadow]
has anyone ever got their penis caught in a toaster???

[curly]

Cracking weekend in Croker coming up, with a big performance hopefully in store from the mighty men in blue on Saturday, and the cunning cats on Sunday. Watch this space, predictions for all ireland winners.

Who is this rangers goon anyway? Have we another Ironbar 1690 on our hands?!

[whyohwhy]

Gentlemen & ladies.

Apologies for not posting lately to rave on about the 38 minute orgasm that was the second half performance of Kerry versus Armagh last Saturday.

What a performance!!. Fuck the Critics and Begrudgers of Kerry Football.

But I suppose fair is fair, the critics were right about us not getting 4 goals against Armagh like we did against the impressive Longford. Our full-back line is still shakey enough, but they wont come up against a better full forward line than Clarke, McConville & McDonnell in the rest of the championship.

Donaghy and Bellew had a great tussle and the abuse between Hearty (Cunt) and Donaghy was great. On 'The Championship' (BBC NI) last night they interviewed him and asked him what was going on. He said that Hearty (Cunt) was giving him abuse for being a wimpy basketballer and dont start crying. They had sideline clips then of the two of them having words before and after the goal, then Donaghy pointing to the scoreboard and rubbing his eyes, quality viewing.

The programme also showed the cynicism of Kerry's tactics (late hits-Galvin, 3rd man tackes etc etc), which I found a bit ironic coming from an Ulster football programme, but fair play they didnt whinge about it. It shows that Kerry can now mix it with the most physical football team ever in Ireland. Cunts said nothing about the 'maor uisce' incident or McKeever's stamp on Declan O'Sullivan and punch in the balls on Donaghy (a combined Forde/Campbell).

Am hoping to get a recording of 'The Sunday Game Live' post match analysis to see Brollys face, the nordie fuck.

The match itself was a great spectacle, best match of the year so far. Armagh should have been further than 2 points ahead at half time, and had our full back line in serious trouble, the midfield minefield was going well for Armagh, with them winning most of the breaking ball. We were living off scraps and the quality of ball going in to Cooper, Donaghy and Mike Frank was poor and of the hopeful quality.

The second half was a masterclass from D O'Se, ably supported by his 2 brothers. He controlled midfield and had McGrane in his pocket, the amount of clean high ball he won was amazing.

Gooch's runs were creating space for the ball into the full forward line to be of better quality and more accurate. He was tieing up McGeeney (who apparently was a midfielder, but you wouldnt think it, the way he played all the match in front of the full back line) and McNulty. Donaghy had the better of Bellew now but Mike Frank was a disappointment. The half forward line were winning any breaking ball and tieing up the much vaunted Armagh half back line. That Armagh's half forward line got 1 point between them says it all about their tactics and Kerry's half back line's (especially the imperious Moynihan) dominance.

We deserved the victory and I cant remember the last time Armagh lost by 8 points in the championship. It showed the dominance we had, and it ends the Armagh era for now (thank god).

Hoodoo, what fucking hoodoo?

Roll on Cork.

[bandage]

whyohwhy said:

Gentlemen & ladies.

Apologies for not posting lately to rave on about the 38 minute orgasm that was the second half performance of Kerry versus Armagh last Saturday.

What a performance!!. Fuck the Critics and Begrudgers of Kerry Football.

But I suppose fair is fair, the critics were right about us not getting 4 goals against Armagh like we did against the impressive Longford. Our full-back line is still shakey enough, but they wont come up against a better full forward line than Clarke, McConville & McDonnell in the rest of the championship.

Donaghy and Bellew had a great tussle and the abuse between Hearty (Cunt) and Donaghy was great. On 'The Championship' (BBC NI) last night they interviewed him and asked him what was going on. He said that Hearty (Cunt) was giving him abuse for being a wimpy basketballer and dont start crying. They had sideline clips then of the two of them having words before and after the goal, then Donaghy pointing to the scoreboard and rubbing his eyes, quality viewing.

The programme also showed the cynicism of Kerry's tactics (late hits-Galvin, 3rd man tackes etc etc), which I found a bit ironic coming from an Ulster football programme, but fair play they didnt whinge about it. It shows that Kerry can now mix it with the most physical football team ever in Ireland. Cunts said nothing about the 'maor uisce' incident or McKeever's stamp on Declan O'Sullivan and punch in the balls on Donaghy (a combined Forde/Campbell).

Am hoping to get a recording of 'The Sunday Game Live' post match analysis to see Brollys face, the nordie fuck.

The match itself was a great spectacle, best match of the year so far. Armagh should have been further than 2 points ahead at half time, and had our full back line in serious trouble, the midfield minefield was going well for Armagh, with them winning most of the breaking ball. We were living off scraps and the quality of ball going in to Cooper, Donaghy and Mike Frank was poor and of the hopeful quality.

The second half was a masterclass from D O'Se, ably supported by his 2 brothers. He controlled midfield and had McGrane in his pocket, the amount of clean high ball he won was amazing.

Gooch's runs were creating space for the ball into the full forward line to be of better quality and more accurate. He was tieing up McGeeney (who apparently was a midfielder, but you wouldnt think it, the way he played all the match in front of the full back line) and McNulty. Donaghy had the better of Bellew now but Mike Frank was a disappointment. The half forward line were winning any breaking ball and tieing up the much vaunted Armagh half back line. That Armagh's half forward line got 1 point between them says it all about their tactics and Kerry's half back line's (especially the imperious Moynihan) dominance.

We deserved the victory and I cant remember the last time Armagh lost by 8 points in the championship. It showed the dominance we had, and it ends the Armagh era for now (thank god).

Hoodoo, what fucking hoodoo?

Roll on Cork.

Agree with most of that but I have never had a problem with the way Armagh played the game. Kerry were always able to give as good as they got in the physical stakes imo and I think it's a fallacy to suggest they were bullied illegally by northern teams because frankly, they weren't. Saturday was just a good game and very physical as you'd expect. From thefreekick box I noted that Galvin put in some of the dirtiest hits, especially the one on McGeeney in the first half. That's not to say Armagh didn't put in a few either. But Kerry won on Saturday as they were the better team on the day. Much like Armagh were against Kerry in 2002 and Tyrone were in 2003 and 2005.

[whyohwhy]

bandage said:

Agree with most of that but I have never had a problem with the way Armagh played the game. Kerry were always able to give as good as they got in the physical stakes imo and I think it's a fallacy to suggest they were bullied illegally by northern teams because frankly, they weren't. Saturday was just a good game and very physical as you'd expect. From thefreekick box I noted that Galvin put in some of the dirtiest hits, especially the one on McGeeney in the first half. That's not to say Armagh didn't put in a few either. But Kerry won on Saturday as they were the better team on the day. Much like Armagh were against Kerry in 2002 and Tyrone were in 2003 and 2005.

Galvin was over the top on his 2 'tackles', The Championship showed a clip of McGeeneys face at one stage, he was getting a bruiser, i'm delighted to say!

I'm one of the people who has a problem with the way they play/played. It was always borderline, they perfected the 3rd man tackle, surely fouled more than any other team. And let nothing stand in their way of winning (normally a good thing, but not with Armagh).

A lot of the problem lies in the fact that there is no clear definition of a tackle in football!

I think the Mattie&Paddy (i.e stamp and punch in the nads) by McKeever was a disgrace, beaten to the ball by a better player, so foul him and stamp on him. Typical of em!

Remember, Armagh only beat Kerry by 1 point in 2002 (I still blame Paidi for that defeat). Tryone beat us by 3 last year and admittedly 7 in 2003 (semi). Losing 2 all-ireland finals by a combined 4 points is hardly a poor return

[bandage]

I watched the games today and am confused about the humbug/rangers bet. What exactly is it again? The ref played 2 minutes injury time and let the play go on for that amount of time so who wins? Does the fact that he didn't award a soft free to one team mean he was protecting the draw? Though he gave Mayo a free near the end of normal time I think it was a foul. Decent game but not at the same level of intensity that Dublin and Kerry (the last day) are operating at.

Clare really needed to take a couple of the goal chances in the first half to have a chance of winning it. Shefflin gave a masterclass and thought Fitzpatrick and Eddie Brennan were smashing. Brennan was always a bit flash when he played corner forward and was often called ashore early. Now he's playing wing forward and is getting through a mountain of work. Davy Fitzgerald is very entertaining in the goal. Did you hear the abuse he was giving the umpire when he pulled him up for stepping out of the square for the puck outs? As Donal O'Grady said it's harsh to call a keeper up for that without giving him a little warning first. Like how is one stolen yard going to make a difference at the end of the day whereas the punishment, a 65 for KK which Shefflin pointed, could have been critical but for the late flurry of points KK added on.

Westmeath showed how gash they are yesterday and never threatened Dublin. Did anyone see the guy hurling wing forward for Donegal? Grey hair, balding, with a grey moustache and socks pulled up to his knees. Classic.

Also, getting back to last week. What was that stamping incident in the Kerry/Armagh game? McKeever? Missed it at the game and didn't see any highlights.

[whyohwhy]

bandage said:

Also, getting back to last week. What was that stamping incident in the Kerry/Armagh game? McKeever? Missed it at the game and didn't see any highlights.

McKeever fouled Declan O'Sullivan from behind, DOS went down, McK 'stumbled' and instead of jumping over DOS, stamped/placed his foot forcefully on the back of DOS's right leg, on the hamstring.

Donaghy saw it happen, ran up to McK to remonstrate and got a slap in the balls for his trouble and went down, understandably, like a ton of bricks.

Nothing has been said about it in the media or GAA disciplinary circles at all, which is fooking typical especially since it is exactly the same as what Matty & Paddy did. Disgrace

[cully]

didn't watch any GAA over the weekend however all my mates reckon the dubs will pump whomever wins between laois and mayo, i said that laois have been playing well since losing in the leinster championship and if they beat mayo might test the dubs, and they scoffed at that. whilst i never claimed to know my GAA, surely a team who's beaten tyrone and meath should be some use, no ? is it all set up for an old firm final between the jacks and kerry?