Meath GAA discussion thread

Hammer Archer

CrabRevolution wrote: »

The county board passed a motion a few months ago that no first team can get relegated from junior B unless they want to be, so they're safe for now.

I'd have thought they'd have enough of a pick to not be the worst club in Meath, but obviously not. Do all the young lads play for Dunboyne instead?

Never knew that. I'd say they'd struggle in Junior C as well.
I'm assuming that any young players play with Dunboyne. Then any ones that are good enough will probably stick with Dunboyne. I don't think St. Paul's have any underage teams at any grade. Kilbride were similar up until relatively recently. A lot of their younger players played with either Ratoath or Dunboyne (or even St. Margarets in Dublin at times). Over the last 10 years or so they've put in some amount of work at underage and are beginning to see a massive improvement.

U16s in the Gerry Reilly Cup final tomorrow against Monaghan.

happygoose

Hammer Archer wrote: »

Never knew that. I'd say they'd struggle in Junior C as well.
I'm assuming that any young players play with Dunboyne. Then any ones that are good enough will probably stick with Dunboyne. I don't think St. Paul's have any underage teams at any grade. Kilbride were similar up until relatively recently. A lot of their younger players played with either Ratoath or Dunboyne (or even St. Margarets in Dublin at times). Over the last 10 years or so they've put in some amount of work at underage and are beginning to see a massive improvement.

U16s in the Gerry Reilly Cup final tomorrow against Monaghan.

Yeah, St. Peter's and St. Paul's are the underage team / amalgamation. The underage amalgamation often took in Kilbride (all same parish) years ago but Kilbride are a great little Club now of their own. St. Paul's will be gone soon enough I reckon, it was held together down through the years as many Clubs are by groups of players from certain families, and now those players have past playing age, with nothing coming through behind. These families would be from in behind Avoca, near where the old St. Paul's pitch was, along the old N3. The current location of the pitch is purely because they got a lend of that land off a local developer. It's only 500m away from the townlands of Clonee.

Nobody really playing GAA around Clonee village, and those estates the Dublin side of Clonee are catered for by Erin Go Breagh, who are pretty brutal in fairness.

Buncha Fives

happygoose wrote: »

Yeah, St. Peter's and St. Paul's are the underage team / amalgamation. The underage amalgamation often took in Kilbride (all same parish) years ago but Kilbride are a great little Club now of their own. St. Paul's will be gone soon enough I reckon, it was held together down through the years as many Clubs are by groups of players from certain families, and now those players have past playing age, with nothing coming through behind. These families would be from in behind Avoca, near where the old St. Paul's pitch was, along the old N3. The current location of the pitch is purely because they got a lend of that land off a local developer. It's only 500m away from the townlands of Clonee.

Nobody really playing GAA around Clonee village, and those estates the Dublin side of Clonee are catered for by Erin Go Breagh, who are pretty brutal in fairness.

I always wondered how there isn't a better football club in Clonee, surely the population would be big enough to get a decent team off the ground if there was a willingness among some of the older members of the club to push the club forward...there is clubs around the county operating with extremely small numbers but they are still managing to compete respectfully.

You would have to think that there is some good footballers from different areas of the country living in Clonee and working in Dublin who might be interested in playing with the club if the word was put out that they were serious about making progress.

Kilbride are making good strides at underage level from a very low base a couple of years ago, surely St. Pauls could make similar headway if the interest was there...both clubs supplied some decent players to Dunboyne underage teams over the years, surely if St. Pauls and Kilbride amalgamated at underage level they would be a strong underage club in their own right which could only auger well for both adult clubs.

Other clubs like Slane are starting to make good progress from a low ebb a couple of years back and indeed its all that long ago since some of the now stronger clubs in Meath football were languishing in the junior grades.

Hammer Archer

I think (though this could be completely false) there was talk of a Kilbride/St Paul's amalgamation a few years ago but Kilbride didn't want to "give up" their senior titles, so to speak.
Would Paul's have gotten money from selling their own ground on the old N3? If so, then surely they would have enough for land closer to Clonee itself.

happygoose

Buncha Fives wrote: »

I always wondered how there isn't a better football club in Clonee, surely the population would be big enough to get a decent team off the ground if there was a willingness among some of the older members of the club to push the club forward...there is clubs around the county operating with extremely small numbers but they are still managing to compete respectfully.

You would have to think that there is some good footballers from different areas of the country living in Clonee and working in Dublin who might be interested in playing with the club if the word was put out that they were serious about making progress.

Kilbride are making good strides at underage level from a very low base a couple of years ago, surely St. Pauls could make similar headway if the interest was there...both clubs supplied some decent players to Dunboyne underage teams over the years, surely if St. Pauls and Kilbride amalgamated at underage level they would be a strong underage club in their own right which could only auger well for both adult clubs.

Other clubs like Slane are starting to make good progress from a low ebb a couple of years back and indeed its all that long ago since some of the now stronger clubs in Meath football were languishing in the junior grades.

Not much of a population in Clonee Co. Meath in fairness, all those estates are on the Dublin side of the border. All new estates, and a very mixed population. Anyone with a GAA Club in Dublin that is moving there to live is likely to stay with their Club, or join one of the strong D15 Clubs like Castleknock or Brigids.

Also, you wouldn't have the strong 'parochial' thing you get where GAA is more dominant, like further into the county.

happygoose

Hammer Archer wrote: »

I think (though this could be completely false) there was talk of a Kilbride/St Paul's amalgamation a few years ago but Kilbride didn't want to "give up" their senior titles, so to speak.
Would Paul's have gotten money from selling their own ground on the old N3? If so, then surely they would have enough for land closer to Clonee itself.

It wasn't their land, afaik, a local farmers, but I understand they got an amount in lieu of the M3 development works that went through the old pitch.

rpurfield

Any ideas if tickets are available in advance for the Kerry match

rpurfield

Everyone must be away, this thread is gone very quiet. Anyone else in Portlaoise today? Thought we made some very bad mistakes which cost the game, aside from the first goal we kept kicking the ball out long in the second half to a dominant Kerry midfield when short had worked well before it.

Hammer Archer

rpurfield wrote: »

Everyone must be away, this thread is gone very quiet. Anyone else in Portlaoise today? Thought we made some very bad mistakes which cost the game, aside from the first goal we kept kicking the ball out long in the second half to a dominant Kerry midfield when short had worked well before it.

Didn't make it. Anyone stand out for us? It's a bit of a worry that our midfield has consistently been a massive weakness for us over the last 10+ years at all grades. We haven't had a dominant midfielder since John McDermott retired as far as I can remember.
Not an unexpected given the strength of the Kerry team.
The league finished up yesterday (barring finals/playoffs):

Division 1 finalist: Wolfe Tones
Division 1 semi finalists: Simonstown & Summerhill
Division 1 relegation: Seneschalstown & Rathkenny

Division 1/2 promotion/relegation playoff: Blackhall Gaels v St. Colmcilles

Division 2 Finalists: Ratoath & Skryne
Division 2 relegation: Ballinlough & Meath Hill

Division 2/3 promotion/relegation playoff: Syddan v Bective

Division 3 Finalists: Trim & Oldcastle
Division 3 relegation: St. Brigid's & Kilmainhamwood

Division 3/4 promotion/relegation playoff: St. Vincents v Slane

Division 4 Finalists: Cortown & Longwood

No changes to the U17 team that beat Dublin in the Leinster final. They play Tyrone in Breffni Park tomorrow at 7:30pm.

Hammer Archer

U17s beaten by Tyrone in the All Ireland semi final 1-14 to 0-10. Wasn't at it but supposedly they left themselves with too much to do after a poor start.
Still, decent campaign for them. Beating Dublin twice and Kildare in Leinster was as tough as it could have possibly been.

Hammer Archer

Minor hurlers just about got the better of Sligo in the B quarter final......
14-25 to 0-6 it finished. Just scraped through with a 61 point win...

CrabRevolution

I'd heard a few times during the week that that game was off, then on again, then off. It's not surprising that Sligo were shaky about even fielding.

Hammer Archer

Was always going to be a massacre. Can't be easy for young Sligo lads to travel 3 hours across and back to be beaten by 60+ points.

U21s 1-10 to 0-4 up against Mayo at half time.

Also, shout out to the ladies' footballers. They're through to the IFC semi final after beating last year's runners up Clare 3-15 to 4-11.

Littlehorny

Just a fun question, but how high would you all rank us as a dual county? I saw from a ranking table before that our footballers were ranked 16th and our hurlers were ranked 15th!
I know big counties like Cork, Galway and Dublin are stronger dual counties and i would rank Kerry, Tipp, Clare and Wexford as stronger dual counties. Any one think of any more?

rpurfield

Hammer Archer wrote: »

Didn't make it. Anyone stand out for us? It's a bit of a worry that our midfield has consistently been a massive weakness for us over the last 10+ years at all grades. We haven't had a dominant midfielder since John McDermott retired as far as I can remember.
Not an unexpected given the strength of the Kerry team.
The league finished up yesterday (barring finals/playoffs):

Sorry after remarking how quiet it was I didn't log in for a week:o

In answer to your midfield question I didn't think Adam Flanagan stood out at all for a lad thats played senior and looked like he had potential, in comparison you could see O'Sullivan in midfield for Kerry had played senior. Hard to tell you at this remove who stood out, Shorthall got through a lot of ball when James Conlon came on he played well, made me wonder why he didn't start actually.

Decided not to head to Duleek tonight and missed a belter by all accounts.

Hammer Archer

St. Pat's seem to be Dunboyne's bogey side. Very nearly caused another upset.
Big win for Moynalvey. NOM seem to be in serious decline compared to their recent dominance.
Cilles missed a golden opportunity to get their first win against BHG. Clearly had the more skilful players but just couldn't translate that into scores. Were it not for a fortuitous goal in the second half, they probably would have lost.
Big local derby in Ashbourne tonight. We've a hell of a lot of injuries at the moment so I wouldn't rule out a Dunshaughlin win.

Littlehorny wrote: »

Just a fun question, but how high would you all rank us as a dual county? I saw from a ranking table before that our footballers were ranked 16th and our hurlers were ranked 15th!
I know big counties like Cork, Galway and Dublin are stronger dual counties and i would rank Kerry, Tipp, Clare and Wexford as stronger dual counties. Any one think of any more?

I'd have us similar to Offaly/Laois.

Hammer Archer

Anyone in Navan tonight? They had to switch on the floodlights before half time in Ashbourne because it was getting so dark. Must have been extremely difficult to see towards the end in the Skryne - Na Fianna game.

Hard to believe that was summer football! Ball was like a bar of soap. Decent enough game nonetheless. 2 quick goals early in the second half won it for Ratoath.
Related to the weather, never seen a stand with a sillier design than Ashbourne. Not a bit of cover in it. Everyone was left standing huddled at the back trying to keep dry.

Hammer Archer

U21 hurlers play Kerry in Thurles tomorrow at 2pm while the minor hurlers play Kildare in Trim at 3pm tomorrow.

U21s are unchanged from their quarter final win over Mayo. Still no Gavin McGowan which is a massive loss.

Charlie Ennis Trim, Conor McNally Kildalkey, Iarla Hughes Kiltale, Ronan Ryan Kiltale, Peter Slevin Na Fianna, Darragh Kelly Ratoath, John McCloskey Na Fianna, Luke Moran Trim, Mark Slevin Na Fianna, Josh Wall Drumree, Eamon O Donnacha Clann Na nGael, Conor Kearney Kildalkey, Ross Ryan Kiltale, Mikey Cullen Trim, Peter Farrell Trim.

Minors are also unchanged from their facile win over Sligo.

Aaron Dunne Killyon, Brian O'Reilly Killyon, Cormac Butler Ratoath, Sean Coffey Na Fianna, Vincent Ward Rathmolyon, Adam Murphy Kiltale, Brin Kelly Kildalkey, Evan Fitzgerald Kildalkey, Darren Hennessy Rathmolyon, Brian Dowling Trim, Tom Fadden Ratoath, Jamie Leavey Dunderry, Nicky Potterton Kildalkey, Darragh Gilmartin Dunboyne, Mikey Mullen Killyon

Camogie team play Kildare in Ashbourne in the All Ireland Intermediate semi final at 4pm on Sunday.

Hammer Archer

U21s were well beaten by Kerry in the semi final and meekly relinquish their All Ireland title. They were beaten 1-23 to 1-9.

Minors were 12 up at half time but got pegged back to just 1 point in injury time. Managed to tag on a couple of more points to beat Kildare 2-15 to 2-12 to make the All Ireland B final against Down.

CrabRevolution

When did Down start competing in the B championship? I know that is their level but for years they never took part, presumably since they'd half a shot at an Ulster title and a place in the All Ireland Minor QF. I always wondered if they were just too proud or something.

Hammer Archer

CrabRevolution wrote: »

When did Down start competing in the B championship? I know that is their level but for years they never took part, presumably since they'd half a shot at an Ulster title and a place in the All Ireland Minor QF. I always wondered if they were just too proud or something.

They competed last year anyway. I'd assume that any Ulster team that doesn't make the Ulster final goes into the B championship. Personally I think all Ulster teams should be in the B championship the way hurling up there has been going recently.
Is there any rule that certain teams have to compete in the B championship? Noticed that Westmeath didn't field a team even though we convincingly beat them in the Leinster minor championship (yet Sligo entered a team).

arctictree

Hammer Archer wrote: »

They competed last year anyway. I'd assume that any Ulster team that doesn't make the Ulster final goes into the B championship. Personally I think all Ulster teams should be in the B championship the way hurling up there has been going recently.
Is there any rule that certain teams have to compete in the B championship? Noticed that Westmeath didn't field a team even though we convincingly beat them in the Leinster minor championship (yet Sligo entered a team).

The qualification for the B championship seems to be very strange. It seems like teams can just enter it if they are from the 'weaker' counties. My own team (Wicklow) don't seem to ever enter the A championship and generally do well in the B. Meath and Kildare were beaten in the Leinster A but entered this. Carlow and Westmeath didn't enter it at all!

Hammer Archer

Dunderry give Kiltale a walkover in their last SHC group games.
Personally I think that Dunderry should automatically be put into the relegation playoff for that stunt. It's blatantly obvious that they only showed up for the games against Blackhall and Boardsmill only to figuratively not show up for games against Kildalkey and Killyon (losing to each by 29 and 47 points respectively) and literally not show up for the Kiltale game. They evidently had absolutely no intention of even attempting to get out of the group (which they still had a small chance of doing going into the final games).

Kiltale top group B with 5 from 5. Trim will top group A if they win against Ratoath tonight. But if they lose, they're out and Ratoath will reach the quarter final. Clann na nGael are in the relegation playoff. They'll face either Boardsmill or Blackhall Gaels. Blackhall have to beat Boardsmill's result tonight by 5 or more points if they're to avoid a playoff.

happygoose

Meath footballers back training last week in Dunganny - 60 lads in.

sc86

the 60 lads should be sat down and asked about their mental state and where their life is going

dunderry should get book thrown at them

Hammer Archer

Ratoath beat Trim to make the SHC quarter-finals

iDave

Yeah yeah whatever.

happygoose

Hammer Archer wrote: »

Ratoath beat Trim to make the SHC quarter-finals

Huge result, sorry I missed it. Great to see.

happygoose

http://www.hoganstand.com/Meath/ArticleForm.aspx?ID=274771

Some backroom team!

Hammer Archer

happygoose wrote: »

http://www.hoganstand.com/Meath/ArticleForm.aspx?ID=274771

Some backroom team!

That's quite an exciting team. Need to keep up the progress of the last few years.