Meath GAA discussion thread

rpurfield

Anyone any idea what happens with the Premier competitions? I know the finals are top two in each group in each division but I assume there is no relegation as I don't see it mentioned anywhere. Is it just regrading for next year or no-one moves anywhere? There was a handful of walk overs given in it so I assume there is no concern about finishing bottom.

On the walkover front Drumcondra conceded to St. Marys. Boardsmill and Clonard was postponed but it looks like it will be refixed too. I think it's bad form when first teams in particular are conceding games.

dobman88

rpurfield wrote: »

Anyone any idea what happens with the Premier competitions? I know the finals are top two in each group in each division but I assume there is no relegation as I don't see it mentioned anywhere. Is it just regrading for next year or no-one moves anywhere? There was a handful of walk overs given in it so I assume there is no concern about finishing bottom.

On the walkover front Drumcondra conceded to St. Marys. Boardsmill and Clonard was postponed but it looks like it will be refixed too. I think it's bad form when first teams in particular are conceding games.

Wondering same myself as our 3rd team finished bottom of Premier group 3.

The cynic in me says Boardsmill got their 1st team game postponed because the 2nd team are in with a great shout in Premier 8, they're top of the table with top 2 into the final. They had a good 1-11 to 1-9 win over Dunshaughlin yesterday. If they had played the Junior match, they may have had some lads tied to that team and unavailable for the 2nd team in Premier 8.

dobman88

rpurfield wrote: »

Anyone any idea what happens with the Premier competitions? I know the finals are top two in each group in each division but I assume there is no relegation as I don't see it mentioned anywhere. Is it just regrading for next year or no-one moves anywhere? There was a handful of walk overs given in it so I assume there is no concern about finishing bottom.

On the walkover front Drumcondra conceded to St. Marys. Boardsmill and Clonard was postponed but it looks like it will be refixed too. I think it's bad form when first teams in particular are conceding games.

Wondering same myself as our 3rd team finished bottom of Premier group 3.

The cynic in me says Boardsmill got their 1st team game postponed because the 2nd team are in with a great shout in Premier 8, they're top of the table with top 2 into the final. They had a good 1-11 to 1-9 win over Dunshaughlin yesterday. If they had played the Junior match, they may have had some lads tied to that team and unavailable for the 2nd team in Premier 8.

Cavan_King

Hammer Archer wrote: »

Donaghmore/Ashbourne disappoint again. They were absolutely awful against Na Fianna. Na Fianna were equally bad in the first half but improved immeasurably in the second to qualify. Nonetheless, I'd be very surprised if Kells don't finally make the final.
NOM came from 6 down in the second half against Seneschalstown to win by 3 and avoid the relegation playoff. Seneschalstown now play Dunshaughlin in the relegation playoff semi final.
.

Kells are very small in the backline and teams can run through them. James Conlon gave them the run around in the first game and Dunboyne should have had multiple goals in the first fifteen minutes against them.

I have yet to watch yesterday's game vs Dunshaughlin but its on Facebook and I plan to watch it tonight. From what I've heard though, Kells were lucky again Dunshaughlin didn't bring their shooting boots.

Na Fianna will cause their backline big issues if they play Queeney and move Walsh back inside.

Dickie10

what are hurling predictions this weekend?

Hammer Archer

rpurfield wrote: »

On the walkover front Drumcondra conceded to St. Marys. Boardsmill and Clonard was postponed but it looks like it will be refixed too. I think it's bad form when first teams in particular are conceding games.

I'd worry about Drumcondra. For a team that would have been fighting for IFC honours in the mid 2000s, they really have fallen off a cliff since their relegation. I know they're paired with Meath Hill underage, but I'd wonder how many Drumcondra players are on that team.

Any reason why Na Fianna are nearly 1/2 to beat Dunboyne in the hurling? I would have thought that it would be a 50/50 game.

Hammer Archer

Massive win for Ratoath against Kildalkey, 3-21 to 1-12. I know both teams were already through to the knockouts, but with lots of players involved in football with Ratoath and Curraha, the week off could be very important.
Clann na nGael beat Blackhall Gaels, but not by the 9 points needed to overhaul Kilmessan so Kildalkey will play Kilmessan in the quarter finals

jimmy1672

Great win for Ratoath.

Very rare to see a club with genuine aspirations of winning both the football and hurling in the same year.

A feat only achieved on two occasions in Meath before - Navan O'Mahonys in 1985 and Kilmessan in 1939.

Trim and Dunboyne contested finals in both codes in the 2000's but never both in the same year.

Na Fianna could of course also do the double this year but you would get very long odds on that happening...

Hammer Archer

Wins for Trim and Na Fianna mean the semi finals will be like this:

Trim v Kilmessan/Kildalkey
Ratoath v Na Fianna/Longwood

Kiltale will stay in the the A group next year after beating Killyon in the playoff.

In the IHC, the semis will be
Boardsmill v Drumree/Kilskyre-Moylagh
Wolfe Tones v Rathmolyon/Trim

Donaghmore/Ashbourne will play Kiltale's second team in a relegation playoff. Now, they're likely to win that game as Kiltale lost both their games by around 30 points each, but there's no way a club the size of Donaghmore/Ashbourne should be struggling to stay in Intermediate.

CrabRevolution

Hammer Archer wrote: »

Wins for Trim and Na Fianna mean the semi finals will be like this:

Trim v Kilmessan/Kildalkey
Ratoath v Na Fianna/Longwood

Kiltale will stay in the the A group next year after beating Killyon in the playoff.

In the IHC, the semis will be
Boardsmill v Drumree/Kilskyre-Moylagh
Wolfe Tones v Rathmolyon/Trim

Donaghmore/Ashbourne will play Kiltale's second team in a relegation playoff. Now, they're likely to win that game as Kiltale lost both their games by around 30 points each, but there's no way a club the size of Donaghmore/Ashbourne should be struggling to stay in Intermediate.

Unfortunately apart from a die hard few, I just don't think Don/Ash care about hurling as a club. Their first team plays in the 5th tier of the league and their intermediates seem to be in a similar freefall, though I can't see them losing to Kiltale.

dobman88

CrabRevolution wrote: »

Unfortunately apart from a die hard few, I just don't think Don/Ash care about hurling as a club. Their first team plays in the 5th tier of the league and their intermediates seem to be in a similar freefall, though I can't see them losing to Kiltale.

Theres only 1 adult hurling team in the club. And youd be lucky to see the bare 15 at any training session outside of championship week. It's pretty much junior/intermediate footballers who kind of enjoy hurling. Good work is being put in at underage so will have to see if that makes things any better in a few years.

Hammer Archer

dobman88 wrote: »

Theres only 1 adult hurling team in the club. And youd be lucky to see the bare 15 at any training session outside of championship week. It's pretty much junior/intermediate footballers who kind of enjoy hurling. Good work is being put in at underage so will have to see if that makes things any better in a few years.

That is a fair point. I see their U15s are top of the Division 2 championship, ahead of the likes of Na Fianna, Kildalkey, Kilmessan etc. so they're obviously doing decent work underage.
On a related note, I presume "The Saints" underage hurling team are an amalgamation of St. Pat's and St. Colmcilles? And Loughcrew Gaels would be Kells, Kilskyre, Moylagh etc?

Minor semi finals are at the weekend. Can't see anyone being able to handle St. Colmcille's. They've a terrifying amount of underage talent coming through. You'd expect them to be challenging for the Keegan Cup within the next 5 years or so.
I'd love to see Kilbride win division 2. For a village of only a few hundred people, they've already hammered both Simonstown and Walterstown and sneaked by Navan O'Mahony's. They're up against Donaghmore/Ashbourne in their semi final. I know that they've probably benefited from players coming in from Tyrrelstown, but it's excellent to see a team that wasn't even fielding underage teams not too long ago (their players were going to Dunboyne, Ratoath and Ashbourne) doing so well now.

rpurfield

The Saints are a combination of Pats and Cilles. Serious hurling work going on at a lower level in both clubs so I think it will eventually result in both having their own teams.

You're right about the Cilles pick too. This year the U12 teams are in their own U13 division and the Cilles arrived down to us two weeks ago with enough for nearly two teams with them. They've 3 other U13 teams as well. I think even the likes of Ratoath, Dunboyne etc only have 3 including the U12 team.

Hammer Archer

SHC semi finals
Ratoath v Na Fianna
Trim v Kildalkey

Navan O'Mahony's relegated back to Intermediate after losing by a point to Blackhall Gaels in the relegation playoff.
Na Fianna will play in the A group in 2021 after bettering Kilmessan, the other B group winner. Good to see another recent IHC winner improving greatly in senior.

IHC Semi Finals
Boardsmill v Kilskyre/Moylagh
Wolfe Tones v Trim

Gaeil Colmcille relegated to the B group in 2021.
Donaghmore/Ashbourne survive in the IHC after a 5 point win over Kiltale's B team.

Ballinabrackey will play St. Michael's in the IFC semi-final after beating Clann na nGael 1-14 to 9 points.
I'm assuming that the outstanding IFC group game (Kilmainham v Castletown) won't now be played as it won't affect the final standings in the group.

Hammer Archer

I see that Dunboyne and Kilmessan drew in their final game in the Junior Hurling Championship, leaving both sides on 3 points. However, while Dunboyne have a superior points difference, that's simply because they beat Rathmolyon heavily while Kilmessan were awarded a walkover.
Surely this means there will have to be a playoff between these two sides again to determine the finalist.

CrabRevolution

Hammer Archer wrote: »

I see that Dunboyne and Kilmessan drew in their final game in the Junior Hurling Championship, leaving both sides on 3 points. However, while Dunboyne have a superior points difference, that's simply because they beat Rathmolyon heavily while Kilmessan were awarded a walkover.
Surely this means there will have to be a playoff between these two sides again to determine the finalist.

Yes, if a walkover is given score difference is disregarded. Must mean a playoff now.

Over 10 years ago our junior football team were propping up our group having been hammered in every match,we were already relegated with one game to go. Before the last match the manager of another team in the group was ringing some from our club "innocently enquiring" whether we intended on fielding. If, as expected we got hosed in our last match his team would be out on score difference, but if we gave a walkover his team would get a playoff. In true sporting fashion we took the field and got yet another hiding.

Hammer Archer

All 6 football semi finals on Meath GAA TV this weekend. €10 per game (bit steep) or €32 for all 6.

Hammer Archer

Seneschalstown retain their senior status by easily beating Dunshaughlin 2-18 to 2-9.

Utterly bizarre ending in the Junior semi final between Vincent's and Dunsany. Vincent's won 1-7 to 0-9 but the referee played over 15 minutes of injury time. Now the Dunsany keeper did get injured and required lengthy treatment, but I've no idea where the 15 minutes came from. And Dunsany did pretty much everything but equalize. They had probably 5 or 6 chances to equalize throughout injury time but couldn't take them and Vincent's managed to tag on two points from breakaways after attacks broke down. The worst Dunsany miss was in the 15th minute of injury time, they were awarded a 20m free just to the right of the posts yet somehow put it wide.
I'd love to see Vincent's win the final as I'd like a new team in Intermediate rather than a team that yoyos up and down, but if either Ultans or Ballivor show up, they should have way too much for them.

rpurfield

Hammer did you pay the €32 for the games? I didn't myself as I didn't think I'd be around to watch all six! I'll happily pay the €10 for Summerhill Ratoath if I'm at home to watch it, should be a cracker.

Hammer Archer

I did. I probably won't get to watch them all, but I'll definitely get to watch the two senior semis and probably at least one other. Plus, you get the option of watching the games back.

Hammer Archer

Trim continue their relentless march in the IFC. Bad news for their hurlers as James Toher went off injured in the first half. Seemed to aggravate his calf injury.

Hammer Archer

Both Wallaces on the bench for Ratoath.

Hammer Archer

Ya boyas! Second Keegan Cup final in a row. That was some third quarter coming from a point down at half time to 5 points up. Jack Flynn was immense!
Barry Dardis, unfortunately, had a poor day from frees. He missed 3 or 4 relatively easy ones which put Summerhill under pressure.

Curraha survive so it'll be Nobber and Dunshaughlin fighting to stay in Senior.
St. Pats incredibly lost to Ballinlough having led for most of the game but conceded three goals in the last 20 minutes. Surely they're not going to suffer two consecutive relegations.
Donaghmore/Ashbourne are the first Premier Championship Division 1 champions after beating Skryne 1-13 to 1-7.

Hammer Archer

Na Fianna went 6 points up 5 minutes into the second half before completely collapsing and not scoring again until injury time. Kells completely dominated and ended up winning by 8. They were a completely different team. If they do perform like that for the whole game, they can beat Ratoath. If they perform the way they did in the first 35 minutes, they'll be beaten out the gate.

Ballinabrackey beat Michael's by 6 to reach the IFC final.
Castletown will meet Pat's in the IFC relegation final after losing to Drumbaragh 3-16 to 4-10.

Ballivor made the Junior final with a 19 point win over St. Ultan's. Hell of a lot of one sided games in the Junior championship this year.

rpurfield

What's the craic with the Wallace's Hammer? Was it just a case of them concentrating on the running and only coming back into the squad lately?

Hammer Archer

rpurfield wrote: »

What's the craic with the Wallace's Hammer? Was it just a case of them concentrating on the running and only coming back into the squad lately?

I think that was it alright. Loads of people unconnected with Ratoath were trying to make it out to be trouble in the camp.
Both of them competed in the national championships at the end of August. Eamonn reached the final of the 400m while Joey was in the 100m heats. Those championships would have been the end of the athletics season so they probably returned to the footballers once finished.
Suppose it was easier to train for athletics than football during lockdown.

rpurfield

Hammer Archer wrote: »

I think that was it alright. Loads of people unconnected with Ratoath were trying to make it out to be trouble in the camp.
Both of them competed in the national championships at the end of August. Eamonn reached the final of the 400m while Joey was in the 100m heats. Those championships would have been the end of the athletics season so they probably returned to the footballers once finished.
Suppose it was easier to train for athletics than football during lockdown.

Yeah I was thinking that. There was reference to sticking with lads that have been there all year on the match commentary and I thought it was an allusion at more than them just doing something else. Sure ya can't beat a good rumour :pac:

CrabRevolution

Attended a game at the weekend and saw that they kick everyone out (or try anyway) in between the matches of a double header to ensure they stay within the 200 spectator limit. It got me wondering about the SHC and IHC semi finals on Saturday with Trim playing in both. They'd have a tough time asking fans to leave after the Intermediate match to make room for a different set of fans from the same club.

Lo and behold I now see the venue for the Intermediate semi final has now changed from Páirc Tailteann to "TBC". The time hasn't changed though, which would make things quite difficult for anyone wanting to see both matches, or even panelists of both teams.

dobman88

This is fantastic news. I've enjoyed going to the last 3 county finals since moving to Meath and was trying to figure out a way of getting into PT again this year. But this will do just fine.

https://twitter.com/GAA_BEO/status/1308376621389434885?s=19

rpurfield

I wonder will that affect the streaming of the finals. I'd intended to get access for all three as they will be good games.