Club Championships 2009

Sport
281

The way I would look at it is that Honan tried his arm looked to move a few lads around in our first three championship games to see if he could strike a better balance, granted his hand was forced to some extent due to injuries(something we were very fortunate with over the past two years), if tulla had taken their goal chances they could have beaten us, while poor shooting cost Inamona against us, the mills didn;t make these mistakes…

He now has the option to return to a similar team as last year, we should have Mush, Conlon and the nihil’s back and they will strengthen us along with collins going back into the corner…We were average enough in the group stages of the intermediate two years ago and in the group stages last year and if we get over scariff and have a bit of momentum going into the knock outs we will be there abouts…

282

[quote=“The Puke”]The way I would look at it is that Honan tried his arm looked to move a few lads around in our first three championship games to see if he could strike a better balance, granted his hand was forced to some extent due to injuries(something we were very fortunate with over the past two years), if tulla had taken their goal chances they could have beaten us, while poor shooting cost Inamona against us, the mills didn;t make these mistakes…

He now has the option to return to a similar team as last year, we should have Mush, Conlon and the nihil’s back and they will strengthen us along with collins going back into the corner…We were average enough in the group stages of the intermediate two years ago and in the group stages last year and if we get over scariff and have a bit of momentum going into the knock outs we will be there abouts…[/quote]

It’s hard to say really how things should ideally be at this time of the year. I don’t think a bit of a crisis is a bad thing once lads respond with the right attitude. It’s too soon for everything to be rosy, you need to be building towards something or needing to improve. You want to be striking it right for the last group game or the quarter-final. Get it right before that and it’ll be gone stale before the serious stuff starts.

283

time for a clear the air pukey…in the next training game just put the flashy corner forward with the socks up and highlights in his hair just back from a summer in America on the veteran corner back who’s struggling for form and a jersey…puck in a few high ones…guaranteed a good mill up…everyone in…meeting in the dressingroom after training about what happened and where the team is going…then into club for a feed of pints…then down to local nightclub for a team bonding mill up with neighbouring club…hey presto…team is back on track and there is abuzz in training as everyone exaggerates the amount of digs they threw…:thumbsup:

284

Group 1 R3

Monaleen 1-9 Fr Caseys 0-14

This result, and given their remaining fixtures, means that Monaleen are most likely out of the championship and will be battling with Hospital to avoid the relegation play off.

It as a good result for Caseys and it is now a battle between themselves and St Senans for the 3rd QF spot, but with senans having the seemingly easier run in Fr Casey could yet find themselves failing to advance.

Group 2 R3

Adare 1-8 Newcastle West 2-5

A tough, physical game and one which Adare will feel they left behind them. They scored at will in the first half to take 1-6 to 1-2 lead at the break, but on the restart they conceded a soft penalty which NCW converted. NCW got on top all over the field for pretty much the remainder of the game but failed to really press home their dominance. Adare got a 45 to level things up with a few minutes remaining, and were then denied a blatant free in front of the posts in the last minute to win it.

The result means Adare are pretty much out of the championship and will have to contend themselves with a battle with St Kierans to avoid the relegation play off. NCW have kept themselves firmly in the hunt for the Q/F spot, with 3 places up for grabs between 4 teams.

285

Good Counsel 1-08, Fingallions 0-11, they do it all again. Let’s hope the real Dubs smash these pretentious north county cheating chancers

286

Very true. The day i played i questioned myself as wheter i was able to play the big ball game anymore. It really is that bad!!

287

Here’s something on a Junior set-up, may have seen it before but for those of you who haven’t…i think its halrious!!

Junior B hurlin (ya cant bate it)
Goalie - must have great goalmouth presence… which is secret code for being fat enough to have his own gravitational pull. Always in the 40-50 age bracket, this is a gent that will almost convince you that he played minor for the county in goal, even though the last time he got his knees dirty diving was at a ceili in 1965 when his version of the Hucklebuck went out of control, with numerous casualties.

Right corner back - the quiet man of the line-up he seems to escape the jokes in the dressing-room just because no-one has ever seen him angry and are afraid of hidden depths. Unmarried farmer with severe emotional baggage. Contact with a woman consists of the handshake at mass on a Sunday morning.

Full back - First started playing gaelic some time in the Pleistocene Epoch. Nicknamed Sledge like “yer man outta U2”. Will get a nose-bleed if he passes beyond his own 50 yard line. Utterly, utterly useless and yet is a great hit with the fans. Quite likes the smell of blood.

Left corner back - Has all the gaelic skills of a piece of cheese and yet has been known to disappear up corner-forwards arses for days on end. An absolute cast-iron guarantee to be made mark the other teams young and absurdly fast superstar in the making.

Right half back - just out of minor, this boyo is sadly not going to get anywhere near the senior team… and yet hasnt missed a training session since early 1989. Selection is basically the managers way of proving that he “doesnt give a damn who you are, if youre not down training were not going to give you a game”.

Centre back - disgruntled former senior player, tried to remove senior manager at agm and now has about as much chance of playing senior as he does of playing Hamlet in the Globe. Hasnt been junior training all year and is still absolutely guaranteed his spot on the team.

Left half back - county u-16 star, great white hope for the entire club. About 5 foot 4, he is still told to get under the puckouts and take the game to the opposition… secret code for dont pass it to anyone unless your life is in serious danger.

Midfielder - chronic alcoholic who last scored a point in the late 70s and yet reckons he is justified in having a go for a point from anywhere inside the oppositions half. Well-liked character because he always gets his round in at the post-match season.

Midfielder - the full backs older brother, who sports a rather strange looking bandage on his knee - probably hiding teeth marks or something. Prone to making strange guttural noises every time he strains himself. Eats five dinners a day and is a prime suspect for a coronary.

Right half forward - quietly-spoken business-man who hails from the village. Drives a flash motor. Lads who live in the pub in the town dont know what to make of him “but he was an awful annoying young fella in school”.

Centre forward - third of the set of brothers that includes the full back and midfielder. Is the target of all the brothers clearances… ALL of them. Probably the local A.I. man or something… by the way thats not A.I. in the Steven Spielberg meaning of the word.

Left half forward - utterly, utterly useless 25 year old who by some fluke of nature happens to be a deadly accurate free-taker. Tries to avoid open play altogether as he is far too important to the team to get injured. Is basically the teams only source of points.

Right corner forward - happily married man who hasnt played hurlin since he was 12 but has suddenly decided to take up the game again. Natural talent (like his genitalia) completely and utterly over shadowed by his beer belly. Guaranteed to bag a goal or two and gain for himself some ridiculous nickname like “Schillaci” or something.

Full forward - hasnt scored since the end of the war but is captain of the team and an all-out nut case. The line commonly quoted to excuse his complete in

288

Gavin 2 knows the score.

SFC Rd 2 in laois this weekend, losers group and Winners Group playing.

Losers Group
Mountmellick v O’Dempsey’s
Mountmellick got destroyed by a half a Portlaoise side in 1st rd which was a huge shock to all as MM would have a few decent young players there (John O Loughlin, Ger Reddin, Colm Coss). O Dempseys have been an up and coming side for a while but got pipped by a Joe Higgins/Tom Kelly charged Joes side in the first round (Joe and Tom both playing in the forwards now).

I fancy MM to bounce back here and O Dempseys to go into the relegation play, an unworthy place for a dcent side, but its the luck of the draw.

Verdict: Mountmellick
The Rock v Graiguecullen
Graigue up 2 years from a surprise soujourn in the IFC fancy themselves far too much in my opinion. Good footballers, but something not right with that Club. Barry Brennan the enigma of Laois football the go to man, and that says it all.
The Rock are a solid function SFC side and wont fear the Carlow border men. Mark Dunne the main man still for The Rock, but they’re a solid outfit, and it would be no surprise for me to see them knock Graigue into a relegation battle they will, like O D’s, most likely be too good for.

Verdict: The Rock

Ballyroan Abbey v Crettyard
Laois years Laois and Leinster IFC champions Ballyroan Abbey are struggling with injuries and withdrawls this year, but still have MJ Tierney and Padraig McMahon so wont be easy to push out.
Crettyard are the oddest team in the SFC, no stars whatsoever, but they’re fighters and aren’t a nice team to play. This is to their benefit, and I admire them for it.

Verdict: Ballyroan Abbey, but they’ll be made fight for it.

Portalington v Timahoe
Timahoe got a great run last year to get to County Final, but they had the easy side of the draw and got some momentum up. With Clancy and Quigley in midfield, they’ll win enough ball, some young tidy forwards too.
Port are a Club in bother, great underage work being done, but whether it will be in time to save them from the drop is the question. Timahoe lost to Port in Div 2 semifinal, expect Timahoe to right that one this time out.

Verdict: Timahoe

Winners Group

Portlaoise v Arles Killeen
Tie of the round without a doubt. 3 in a row chasing weakened Portlaoise v big recruiters Arles Killeen. Portlaoise destroyed MM last time out to the surprise of many, still down a lot of starters from last year, but 10 U21 titles in 12 years means you’re ok back up wise. Tuohy is back from Auz too so he’ll help out.
Killeen have Donie Kingston, nuff said. Give him ball at this level and he’ll be hard bet. Donie Brennan and Beano fill out a serious forward line, but the problems arise elsewhere. Give Portlaoise a dodgy defence and they’ll chew you up, this will be interesting, but I don’t bet against the town.

Verdict: Portlaoise

Arles-Kilcruise V Stradbally
Stradbally look the 2nd form team in Laois this year after Portlaoise. Have a few injuries but they’ve got serious pace, somethign Kilcruise don’t have. Colm Kelly will point all the frees and Gary Kavanagh is still a threat.
Kilcruise do have Ross Munnelly though and he’s always a threat. Chris Conway and his younger brother David are also threats, but the little town for me.

Verdict: Stradbally

The Heath V Ballylinan
Two clubs middle of the road clubs in the SFC. The Heath are former kingpins, but its been a while now. Ballylinan are a sum of their parts, The Heath are Chris Bergin.

I fancy The Heath for this, even if Ballylinan will be on a high after disposing of a fancied (by themselves) Graiguecullen side.

Verdict: The Heath

Emo V St Joseph’s
Interesting on this. Joes are fancied every year, but injuries cripple them every year. Joe Higgins and Tom Kelly are on one leg each, and have lost other team members to long term injuries also. Noel Garvan is still there, but you wonder will this taped together (albeit talented) side keep going?
Emo are one of the form teams this year, but they’re coming from a very uncompetitive Div 2 which they walked. Paul Lawlor is made for Club football and will be hard to mark. Few other talented young players there and in Darren Strong they have a man strong in name and nature. Emo to get a upset? Worth a punt.

Verdict: Emo

289

what level was that sledge?..sad how far back counsel have dropped in hurling and football…just don’t have the players coming through…

290

Scumpot how are Nells going up there, I heard they won last night?

291

Besta luck tomorrow Gavin :thumbsup:

292

MBB, do you mind giving me the local take on the falling out in Arles and how such a small place ended up with two separate teams?

293

was talking to the great portlaoise man shortly after he had joined…handy ol gig for him there…they seem to be going the right way…they’ll be division 1 next season i imagine…they sold a lot of land or something and are now getting a new state of the art clubhouse and got two laois players !!..i don’t think they’ll go much further in championship but you never know… depending on the draw which was last night but i haven’t seen it…they wouldn’t have near enough to trouble any of the big guns i reckon…

294

Aw jaysus bandage, thats an epic tale, truly epic. Do you have any background to it as things stand?

295

Fair enough, Woolie is an alright sort, bit nuts but I’ve always got on alright with him.

296

My brother gave me the low down a few years ago passing through there on the way to a game but I genuinely can’t remember any of it. Nothing at all.

297

here’s the draw…game over for parnells!!

EVENING HERALD DUBLIN SFC FOURTH ROUND
OTooles v UCD UCD
Ballymun Kickhams v Parnells Ballymun
St Judes v St Brigids brigids
Round Tower, Clondalkin v Kilmacud Crokes Crokes
St Peregrines v Ballyboden St Endas Boden
St Vincents v St Marys, Saggart Vincents
St Oliver Plunketts/Eoghan Ruadh v St Sylvesters Plunketts
Lucan Sarsfields v Raheny lucan

still think its plunketts to lose…

Games to be played weekend 06th september…

298

noticed a few things…the Fingallians team was almost entirely different to the team that lost well to counsel in April (few seniors out perhaps) and the referee (who is a swords local and far too young to ref an Intermediate champ match) was out of his depth. Counsel have a decent youth structure in place with a few good minors coming through (3 of which played a part last night)"

Counsel to take the reply by 4+ points!

299

Ah right ok, lets see.

One Club called Arles, they weren’t up to much, think they might have been Junior or Intermediate at the time.

Played underage with Ballylinan and called themselves St Michaels back then.

The origins of the split are disputed, but basically like all feuds, it came down to a few stubborn aul bollocks and something at just went too far and a split happened.

One Club called themselves St Michaels, the other continued using the name Arles (this was the Club that split initially I believe).

They then both objected to each others names so St Michaels became Arles Killeen and Arles became Arles Kilcruise.

Kilcruise began at the bottom, Junior C and year after year won their way up through each grade until becoming senior. Kileen followed suit, but just as they were winning IFC in 03 Kilcuise inspired by Conway and Munnelly won the Laois SFC.

The biggest trouble came when they had to choose who got the field, I believe it went to the High Courts and all. Both used it for a long time, rotating nights, it wasn’t pretty up there for a long time and still isnt.

Now Kilcruise are on the way down a little, and Killeen are doing their solid best to get that SFC title, “acquiring” a few players on the way, namely Kingston and had Derek Hayden of Carlow last year (hes gone back now).

2 years ago there was efforts made to unite the clans I think, but it came to nought. For a village that didnt have much of a football team when it weas united, it just goes to show how spite can drive people on sometimes!

I wouldnt swear hand on heart thats the whole lot of what went on, but its to the best of my recollection anyway.

300

[quote=“scumpot”]here’s the draw…game over for parnells!!

EVENING HERALD DUBLIN SFC FOURTH ROUND
OTooles v UCD UCD
Ballymun Kickhams v Parnells Ballymun
St Judes v St Brigids brigids
Round Tower, Clondalkin v Kilmacud Crokes Crokes
St Peregrines v Ballyboden St Endas Boden
St Vincents v St Marys, Saggart Vincents
St Oliver Plunketts/Eoghan Ruadh v St Sylvesters Plunketts
Lucan Sarsfields v Raheny lucan

still think its plunketts to lose…

Games to be played weekend 06th september…[/quote]

Those U21s coming through for Kickhams then yea?