Football Championship 2014

Mr.Crinklewood

machiavellianme wrote: »

High 5?

More like a dating website.

Boom__Boom

Have Laois even had a sniff of a goal chance in the 2nd half?

Da Shins Kelly

Terrible passing from Laois.

Da Shins Kelly

Don't really see anyone beating Dublin this year, to be honest.

Slattsy

Fair play to Laois, they came and tried to play football. The proper way.

I wish them well, they'll give a lot of teams a run for their money.

LightningBlue

Fair play to Dublin in the second half, they were far more ruthless.
Think they had 14 different scorers in the end (including the subs).

Laois gave everything they had and played a great attacking style of football.
Munnelly, Brody and Kingston were immense and they did v. well at midfield for 50 mins before running out of steam.
They'll have a good run in the qualifiers.

iDave

Have to worry for Wexford now

machiavellianme

Just like last week, a brave display from the leix but with a small pool to select from, it's difficult to compete against the dublins and Galways of this world. The sooner they split Dublin by its various city and county councils the better. It's hard to keep interest when one County dominates and yours is done by June every year.

iDave

Armagh 1.12 Cavan 0.09. Bit of an upset but felt Cavan were a bit overrated though

Fireball07

Some good point-scoring from Laois, particularly in the 1st half, Ross Munnelly is still as class as he ever was.

But they didn't have the legs to last with Dublin and when you hand them goals on a plate like the 2nd one, you're only asking for trouble.

Dublin's pace, power, fitness as well as squad depth will take them through games against weaker counties even when they don't play well. And if there's not outstanding candidate to match them, they could win it on that alone.

TheCitizen

machiavellianme wrote: »

Just like last week, a brave display from the leix but with a small pool to select from, it's difficult to compete against the dublins and Galways of this world. The sooner they split Dublin by its various city and county councils the better. It's hard to keep interest when one County dominates and yours is done by June every year.

Galways? Don't think Galway are in great knick these days, don't think they'll be anything near challengers to Dublin for the title at any rate. Donegal might give them a game if they can improve and get back to their best.

machiavellianme

TheCitizen wrote: »

Galways? Don't think Galway are in great knick these days, don't think they'll be anything near challengers to Dublin for the title at any rate. Donegal might give them a game if they can improve and get back to their best.

Referring to the hurling where laois went down valiantly last week.

ArielAtom

risteard7 wrote: »

I'd say if that game was in Portlaoise or even Tullamore laois might have won.
But the favourite son always gets preference.

I'd say the might have😉

machiavellianme

risteard7 wrote: »

I'd say if that game was in Portlaoise or even Tullamore laois might have won.
But the favourite son always gets preference.

Aye, tullamore and a different team in blue would be singing.
How many championship games have Dublin played outside of Croke Park in the last decade? How many have they played at home in parnell Park?

Da Shins Kelly

Is a Donegal comeback really on the cards? It'd be interesting definitely. The machine they had a couple if years ago was pretty impressive.

Hammer Archer

Away from Leinster, Armagh (rather surprisingly) easily beat Cavan by 1-12 to 9 points.
In Leinster anyway, I can't see anyone getting within 10 points of Dublin. When a team is able to bring on the likes of Mannion, McCaffrey, Rock, McManamon etc. you are going to have to have some amount of luck to beat them. Simply playing well won't be enough.

Lapin

Paul Flynn in post match interview - "Anyday you win a championship match in Croke Park is a good day."

Eh, where else would Dublin ever win a championship match ?

Fireball07

Hammer Archer wrote: »

Away from Leinster, Armagh (rather surprisingly) easily beat Cavan by 1-12 to 9 points.

Bit of a surprise, Cavan were good in the league this year, and I thought they'd build on last year.

STB

machiavellianme wrote: »

Just like last week, a brave display from the leix but with a small pool to select from, it's difficult to compete against the dublins and Galways of this world. The sooner they split Dublin by its various city and county councils the better. It's hard to keep interest when one County dominates and yours is done by June every year.

Huh ? What has Council spliting go to do with it ?

No different in Munster or Connaght. Same teams all the time.

Laois gave it a go today in the first half, just not good enough over two.

rebel girl 15

Since this thread is for the games, and talking about the football championship in general, rather than sniping at teams, at players and rehashing old debates about home venue or funding or how bigger populations helps success, all issues that have been discussed in previous threads, I'm locking this until the next round of the football championship

harpsman

FWIW Im sure Roscommon will be kicking themselves for the way they threw it away today. When they went 3 points up they started hangin on to the ball out the field and obviously repeatedly got robbed in contact,as they had been all match. They had been getting so much joy from kicking intelligent placed passes into the forwards in the minutes beforehand that it beggared belief imo. Fair play to Andy Moran for kickin to great scores to turn the tide. Im sure Mayo will be worried by their lack of penetration against a very average side, although Im sure they ll still be there near the end of the year.
Was pleasantly surprised by Laois' great first half, predictably the Dubs had too much for them in the end.
Lookin forward to seein the Armagh Cavan brawl

Say Your Number

Mad point kicking the ball over his own head in the Kildare match.

Consey

Say Your Number wrote: »

Mad point kicking the ball over his own head in the Kildare match.

Yep like something I would've attempted 30 years ago !

rebel girl 15

I've reopened this thread, given the Sunday Game is on where all the analysis goes on

Be warned, if its taken off topic again, month long bans will be handed out

Fireball07

Clare losing to Waterford in the replay. Hard place to go for teams in the lower divisions.

Boom__Boom

Fireball07 wrote: »

Clare losing to Waterford in the replay. Hard place to go for teams in the lower divisions.

Both Wateford midfielders blackcarded - one after 2 minutes.

Joe Ó Muircheartaigh @muirioch · 9m
The two black cards received by Waterford midfielders were very harsh - had they been on Clare side, visitors would be apoplectic

Clare have hit 9 wides

SeanJ09

Christ, the RTE commentary on the Tyrone v Monaghan game is shocking.

Neeson

Where's marty morrissey, canning, carney and mcstay?

Two of them could have done the football. Someone else with canning for the hurling. I hope canning or morrissey won't be doing off tube commentary for the soccer later.

Fireball07

Neeson wrote: »

Where's marty morrissey, canning, carney and mcstay?

Two of them could have done the football. Someone else with canning for the hurling. I hope canning or morrissey won't be doing off tube commentary for the soccer later.

I imagine Canning is doing the radio for the hurling.

Hibbeler

Sounds like Meath are running away with it in Carlow. 3-6 to 0-2 at half time

Hammer Archer

Hibbeler wrote: »

Sounds like Meath are running away with it in Carlow. 3-6 to 0-2 at half time

Should be closer. After 20 minutes it was only 3 points to 1 and Carlow would have been ahead had they had their shooting boots on. Only in the last 10 or 15 minutes did we start to kick on.

Boom__Boom

Meath 6-10 Carlow 0-5 after 60 minutes.

Meath with more goals than Carlow have points

The record of Division 4 teams taking a hockeying when they come up against better opposition continues.

How long before Carlow pull out of the football Championship?

Really need a 2nd tier competition for the Division 4 teams.

blowitupref

Boom__Boom wrote: »

Meath 6-10 Carlow 0-5 after 60 minutes.

Meath with more goals than Carlow have points

The record of Division 4 teams taking a hockeying when they come up against better opposition continues.

How long before Carlow pull out of the football Championship?

Really need a 2nd tier competition for the Division 4 teams.

Heavy defeats for London and Carlow this summer however some of the other sides in the div 4 have done ok so far Tipp bet Limerick away and Antrim bet Fermanagh away for example. Last year Waterford got within a few points of Galway.

Looking at the underage results over the last few years football in Carlow seems in a very bad place and no signs of improvement.

Boom__Boom

blowitupref wrote: »

Heavy defeats for London and Carlow this summer however some of the other sides in the div 4 have done ok so far Tipp bet Limerick away and Antrim bet Fermanagh away for example. Last year Waterford got within a few points of Galway.

Looking at the underage results over the last few years football in Carlow seems in a very bad place and no signs of improvement.

Limerick and Fermanagh both Division 3 teams ; Antrim only won by a point while Limerick were beaten by 6. Waterford getting within a few points of Galway last year was more about how bad Galway were.

If you had the 16 teams in Division 3 and Division 4 - or even the bottom 4 from Division 3 and all Division 4 teams competing in the 2nd tier competition at least you would avoid the absolute hammerings and it would give these teams a chance of winning something if they have a good year, so they can build on things. A major issue with a lot of these teams is getting the best lads in their county to line out for the teams. If you reduce the odds of getting a battering significantly and give them an actual chance to win something I think lads would be more likely to commit. As it is if you are a manager of one of these bottom 12/16 teams who you draw takes on huge significance, especially in the qualifiers - if you draw a Division 1 team, you are nearly guaranteed a hammering compared to if you draw a team at your level.

Basically I think if things continue as they are you are going to see the bottom teams continue to take hammerings which is going to do the sport of football no good in these counties.

Always_Running

Football is dying on its feet in Carlow and not much coming through at underage level for them either as they lost their last two u-21 championship games by over thirty points.

Lemlin

Monaghan looking like the best placed team to give Dublin a run for their money at the minute.

Dr. Kenneth Noisewater

2nd tier my eye. Tommy Murphy cup anyone?

Say Your Number

It works well in hurling but most football teams think it's beneath them.

jethro081

Say Your Number wrote: »

It works well in hurling but most football teams think it's beneath them.

The thing is though, football counties can change their fortunes, sometimes dramatically, in a way small hurling outfits can't.
In 2003, monaghan were ranked in the bottom five teams in ireland. They went out and beat then all ireland champions Armagh in the first round of the championship. This was on the same day that limerick came from nowhere to beat cork in munster.

Counties like fermanagh, sligo and antrim have all contested provincial finals when nobody gave them a chance in the relatively recent past, the same is true of louth.

While there are traditionally strong counties who are always around, smaller counties can have spells of being competitive at provincial level, and that's why they don't want to bow out. If a second tier championship was introduced then counties like fermanagh and antrim would never have gotten the chance to compete in provincial finals.

Fr Tod Umptious

jethro081 wrote: »

The thing is though, football counties can change their fortunes, sometimes dramatically, in a way small hurling outfits can't.
In 2003, monaghan were ranked in the bottom five teams in ireland. They went out and beat then all ireland champions Armagh in the first round of the championship. This was on the same day that limerick came from nowhere to beat cork in munster.

Counties like fermanagh, sligo and antrim have all contested provincial finals when nobody gave them a chance in the relatively recent past, the same is true of louth.

While there are traditionally strong counties who are always around, smaller counties can have spells of being competitive at provincial level, and that's why they don't want to bow out. If a second tier championship was introduced then counties like fermanagh and antrim would never have gotten the chance to compete in provincial finals.

Exactly.
Plus the football qualifiers have given teams opportunities that they never would have otherwise.
Wexford and Fermanagh have made it to All Ireland Semi Finals on the past 10 years, and performed admirably on the day.

shockframe

Some of the teams going bad in football right now are also predominantly football counties so having your flagship team playing in a second tier system wouldnt go down well with some.

These counties will have to get their house in order. It's grim at the minute but the likes of roscommon, kildare and meath are doing better at underage so the likes of these counties should be competitive in the years ahead.

Mayo's all ireland at minor last year was a big boost.

Tyrone though should really be looking at getting a new voice in. Harte is starting to lose a bit of the mystique from the last decade.

Say Your Number

There is a bigger drop off in quality in hurling, second tier teams like Laois and Antrim usually lose comfortably to the top sides, in football the gap is a lot closer. a middle ranked county like Sligo nearly beat Armagh in 2002 and Kerry in 2009 that would never happen in hurling, this year Sligo have an outside chance of winning a Connacht title an equivalent hurling team wouldn't have a hope in winning anything for years.

harpsman

Boom__Boom wrote: »

Limerick and Fermanagh both Division 3 teams ; Antrim only won by a point while Limerick were beaten by 6. Waterford getting within a few points of Galway last year was more about how bad Galway were.

If you had the 16 teams in Division 3 and Division 4 - or even the bottom 4 from Division 3 and all Division 4 teams competing in the 2nd tier competition at least you would avoid the absolute hammerings and it would give these teams a chance of winning something if they have a good year, so they can build on things. A major issue with a lot of these teams is getting the best lads in their county to line out for the teams. If you reduce the odds of getting a battering significantly and give them an actual chance to win something I think lads would be more likely to commit. As it is if you are a manager of one of these bottom 12/16 teams who you draw takes on huge significance, especially in the qualifiers - if you draw a Division 1 team, you are nearly guaranteed a hammering compared to if you draw a team at your level.

Basically I think if things continue as they are you are going to see the bottom teams continue to take hammerings which is going to do the sport of football no good in these counties.

I wish this had happened last year-then I wouldnt have had to watch a div 3 team (Monaghan) hammer my team (Donegal,who were Ulster and All Ireland champions at the time) in the Ulster Final:mad:

WesternZulu

Lemlin wrote: »

Monaghan looking like the best placed team to give Dublin a run for their money at the minute.

Based on one win against Tyrone?

IMO they still rank behind Cork, Kerry, Donegal and Mayo.

I would go as far to say that Dublin would get a tougher game from Tyrone than Monaghan!

Monaghan seem to be good in Ulster but are not the same team outside the province.

jethro081

WesternZulu wrote: »

Based on one win against Tyrone?

IMO they still rank behind Cork, Kerry, Donegal and Mayo.

I would go as far to say that Dublin would get a tougher game from Tyrone than Monaghan!

Monaghan seem to be good in Ulster but are not the same team outside the province.

Based on what? one loss against tyrone?

you can't have it both ways.

Lemlin

WesternZulu wrote: »

Based on one win against Tyrone?

IMO they still rank behind Cork, Kerry, Donegal and Mayo.

I would go as far to say that Dublin would get a tougher game from Tyrone than Monaghan!

Monaghan seem to be good in Ulster but are not the same team outside the province.

Based on performances this season and last. They already had an established unit of players and are adding youth to the fold. They have one of the best finishers in the country in McManus as well.

I'm also basing it on the fact that teams like Mayo and Donegal haven't been playing particularly well.

Fr Tod Umptious

Lemlin wrote: »

Monaghan looking like the best placed team to give Dublin a run for their money at the minute.

Dublin's downfall will be when they are not able to go on a second half blitz to win a game in which they have started slowly.

During the league and Laois they have mostly relied on upping the eford in the second have to go on and win a game.

Someday they will once again be lethargic in the first half, go in a few points down, but will not be able to win the second because their opposition will be too well organized defensively to allow them to do that.

Monaghan are a good candidate for that well organized defensive team.

Nidgeweasel

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

Dublin's downfall will be when they are not able to go on a second half blitz to win a game in which they have started slowly.

During the league and Laois they have mostly relied on upping the eford in the second have to go on and win a game.

Someday they will once again be lethargic in the first half, go in a few points down, but will not be able to win the second because their opposition will be too well organized defensively to allow them to do that.

Monaghan are a good candidate for that well organized defensive team.

This is how Monaghan stopped Donegal also.

flasher0030

Lemlin wrote: »

Based on performances this season and last. They already had an established unit of players and are adding youth to the fold. They have one of the best finishers in the country in McManus as well.

I'm also basing it on the fact that teams like Mayo and Donegal haven't been playing particularly well.

It's early stages yet, but before the Championship started I predicted Monaghan to get to the semis. They have the skill, the bit of guile, and they've added that bit of cynicism needed to progress (not that I'm condoning it or anything).

Your statement in relation to Mayo and Donegal is on the basis that they are playing below par, and will raise their game when needed. To be honest, I do not think that is the case. Being a Mayoman, I would love if Mayo could do so. But based on what Mayo have produced in the past 5 months, I don't think it's there. Not so sure about Donegal. Bit unpredictable.

Lemlin

flasher0030 wrote: »

It's early stages yet, but before the Championship started I predicted Monaghan to get to the semis. They have the skill, the bit of guile, and they've added that bit of cynicism needed to progress (not that I'm condoning it or anything).

Your statement in relation to Mayo and Donegal is on the basis that they are playing below par, and will raise their game when needed. To be honest, I do not think that is the case. Being a Mayoman, I would love if Mayo could do so. But based on what Mayo have produced in the past 5 months, I don't think it's there. Not so sure about Donegal. Bit unpredictable.

My statement in relation to Mayo and Donegal just said they aren't playing particularly well. Nothing more. At no time did I say I think they will raise their game when needed.

Perhaps they will but at the moment it doesn't look like it. Both teams look tired. Donegal have a few young lads coming through from some decent U21 teams but I know nothing about Mayo's underage setup.