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Replying To St.Conleth: "I would expect a decent size kildare crowd for upcoming match. Is there much parking in Ballinamore or any suggestions please?" Lots of parking in Ballinamore up around Tesco... it's only a short walk down to the ground itself. There will be very little at the ground itself.
Square_B (Leitrim) - Posts: 1159 - 05/02/2025 17:00:19
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Replying To Square_B: "Lots of parking in Ballinamore up around Tesco... it's only a short walk down to the ground itself. There will be very little at the ground itself." Cheers for that. I have been in the area several times over the years. Did a bit of shooting and fishing around Garadice lake. Never had to worry about parking though. Looking forward to the trip.
St.Conleth (Kildare) - Posts: 1710 - 05/02/2025 18:54:46
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Replying To St.Conleth: "Cheers for that. I have been in the area several times over the years. Did a bit of shooting and fishing around Garadice lake. Never had to worry about parking though. Looking forward to the trip." I hope that wasn't in the 80s..
Good to know the set up with parking as it will be a big step up from club games with competition for parking.
Mugatay (Leitrim) - Posts: 164 - 05/02/2025 20:07:23
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Replying To Mugatay: "I hope that wasn't in the 80s..
Good to know the set up with parking as it will be a big step up from club games with competition for parking." :) too young then
St.Conleth (Kildare) - Posts: 1710 - 05/02/2025 21:35:50
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Replying To St.Conleth: "I would expect a decent size kildare crowd for upcoming match. Is there much parking in Ballinamore or any suggestions please?" Don't Kildare fans all have helicopters anyway
boxtyburgerbuns (Leitrim) - Posts: 126 - 06/02/2025 00:33:47
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McNulty had a super game in the sigerson last night but did he injure himself when he took his penalty, he seemed to hold his hamstring after taking it and hobbled off. anyone else notice this. hopefully i'm wrong.
meathbasedfan (Leitrim) - Posts: 146 - 06/02/2025 08:44:46
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Replying To boxtyburgerbuns: "Don't Kildare fans all have helicopters anyway" Still need parking for them :-D
Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 14821 - 06/02/2025 09:13:46
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Replying To Leitrim1234: "That Clare result was predictable but also probably a little bit better than what I might have expected. Which is telling.
Firstly, does anyone know the injury status of Ben Guckian, Jack Foley and Adam Reynolds? All three would be guaranteed starters and are an even bigger loss to the team considering the sheer number of other players we are missing.
Some of the comments on here are on point but some are dramatic and needlessly sensationalist, but I suppose that's what you expect on an open forum. Some people claiming we wouldn't do any better if we had everyone available is both stupid and insulting to those players.
We seem to have another generational talent in Barry McNulty. He's exceptional. Although I would be worried about the amount of games he's been playing in recent weeks when you factor in his Sigerson exploits. Last thing we need is him to get injured.
Theres no doubt our underage structures and coaching has improved dramatically in the last 5 years and the Centre of Excellence is a huge help in this in my opinion. So the county Board does deserve huge credit.
I do have an issue with the lack of Coaching Education the County Board provides - which has dropped off a cliff since James Glancy resigned from his post - This needs to be addressed Asap. For proof of this, How many Leitrim men have been over our top senior teams in the last 10 years? A handful at the very most.
Also, its no surprise Manor are thriving at underage with the likes of James Glancy and Shane Ward and the Kellys involved. Same goes for St Marys who have really put effort into this area.
But the reality is we have the lowest amount of Gaa players in the country after Fermanagh.
So when 20 - 25 of those top players do not commit to the Senior Panel for whatever reason we are really going to struggle. The plain truth is many of the players who togged out on Sunday would be 3rd/4th choice if we had everyone available. So therefore, a drop of in performance was always going to happen.
As a county where we are so far behind is on S&C. this starts with our facilities - our Gym facilities and our buy in to proper S&C at club level are pathetic compared to most other counties. S&C takes no talent just a structure being put in place by each club but it needs facilities to back it up - which we don't have (outside of a few). So when you do have players dropping off county panels it is too big of a gap for our club players to bridge to catch up in over one winter when they are called up. The lack of good facilities is even more frustrating when you consider the sheer amount of money being pumped into journeymen coaches from each of our neighbouring counties.
Back to the football - I fully expect an improved performances going forward now that the players have had a proper game with the new rules. Keith Beirnes match sharpness will only improve which will ensure our scoring goes up. The likes of Paul Honeyman and co will also improve with more experience. One thing I will say is that I'll be shocked if Darren Cox isn't a starter from now on he's built for these new rules with the amount of space there now is.
If we can get Foley, Guckian, Reynolds and Cox onto the field we will improve instantly and then Casey will also be back at some stage.
Saying all this I still can't see us taking any points in this league.
Hopefully there's a great crowd in Ballinamore on Saturday to support the lads" Agree with a lot of this post.
Like a lot of weaker counties we struggle to keep players.
This can't be seen as a county board issue alone as we have seen with the recent power outages Leitrim has just been forgotten about on a national scale. The county board can play a role in this changing however, through lobbying and soft power with regards to local issues such as planning permission and facilities etc. We have seen this work recently when Ballinamore Gaa got involved in lobbying against their local bank closing etc.
To say that we are not developing players is completely farcical, not true or a lack of knowledge.
I'd argue that we are producing a higher level of players in the last 10 years then we have before and our underage at the moment seems to be on the right track which only bodes well.
The problem is with a lack of local employment and house building we will struggle to keep players in the county (as we have seen this year)
If we had everyone together this year we would in my view have a team capable of challenging in division three - which for a county of Leitrim size is a great achievement.
Here is a team that could have been named if we had everyone (I'm sure others would make 1/2 changes but as a whole this is close)
Killian Gaffey
David Bruen Donal Casey Mark Diffley
Jack Foley Jack Gilheany Cillian McGloin
Pearce Dolan
Paul Keaney
Darragh Rooney Barry McNulty Mark Plunkett
Keith Beirne Tom Prior
A good marker of the abilities of this team is that 10 of those players have started and been integrally involved in Sigerson panels in the last few years. That has never been the case in Leitrim football before.
Then you would be able to slowly introduce some of the younger talent such as Cox, Honeyman, McNamara etc, as subs and not force their development which we now have no other option but to do.
When you look at the above team and then consider the team that lined out in Ennis at the weekend you realise that only 4 players played at the weekend.
And any one on here that says the players that are missing this year would make no difference either is just being a 'Keyboard warrior' online or doesn't have a knowledge of Leitrim football.
LongBall94 (USA) - Posts: 6 - 06/02/2025 09:39:35
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Replying To meathbasedfan: "McNulty had a super game in the sigerson last night but did he injure himself when he took his penalty, he seemed to hold his hamstring after taking it and hobbled off. anyone else notice this. hopefully i'm wrong." Poacher in the media giving out about sigerson competition. If Barry makes the weekend what's the bet he doesn't put Barry's best interest first and rest him. 3 games in 6 days is madness.
Manager has the power to look after his players
williesboy (Leitrim) - Posts: 468 - 06/02/2025 12:43:25
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Replying To meathbasedfan: "McNulty had a super game in the sigerson last night but did he injure himself when he took his penalty, he seemed to hold his hamstring after taking it and hobbled off. anyone else notice this. hopefully i'm wrong." He done a long run up to the penalty compared to the other kickers. Might have tweaked it before kicking
FoolsGold (Cavan) - Posts: 2860 - 06/02/2025 13:23:04
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Replying To LongBall94: "Agree with a lot of this post.
Like a lot of weaker counties we struggle to keep players.
This can't be seen as a county board issue alone as we have seen with the recent power outages Leitrim has just been forgotten about on a national scale. The county board can play a role in this changing however, through lobbying and soft power with regards to local issues such as planning permission and facilities etc. We have seen this work recently when Ballinamore Gaa got involved in lobbying against their local bank closing etc.
To say that we are not developing players is completely farcical, not true or a lack of knowledge.
I'd argue that we are producing a higher level of players in the last 10 years then we have before and our underage at the moment seems to be on the right track which only bodes well.
The problem is with a lack of local employment and house building we will struggle to keep players in the county (as we have seen this year)
If we had everyone together this year we would in my view have a team capable of challenging in division three - which for a county of Leitrim size is a great achievement.
Here is a team that could have been named if we had everyone (I'm sure others would make 1/2 changes but as a whole this is close)
Killian Gaffey
David Bruen Donal Casey Mark Diffley
Jack Foley Jack Gilheany Cillian McGloin
Pearce Dolan
Paul Keaney
Darragh Rooney Barry McNulty Mark Plunkett
Keith Beirne Tom Prior
A good marker of the abilities of this team is that 10 of those players have started and been integrally involved in Sigerson panels in the last few years. That has never been the case in Leitrim football before.
Then you would be able to slowly introduce some of the younger talent such as Cox, Honeyman, McNamara etc, as subs and not force their development which we now have no other option but to do.
When you look at the above team and then consider the team that lined out in Ennis at the weekend you realise that only 4 players played at the weekend.
And any one on here that says the players that are missing this year would make no difference either is just being a 'Keyboard warrior' online or doesn't have a knowledge of Leitrim football." That team is so good that they could win division 3 with only 14 players on the pitch.
southleitrim_mafia (Leitrim) - Posts: 135 - 06/02/2025 14:34:02
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Replying To southleitrim_mafia: "That team is so good that they could win division 3 with only 14 players on the pitch." Exactly. We are forever the pessimistic optimistic supporters.
gaelsboy (Leitrim) - Posts: 599 - 06/02/2025 18:17:52
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there'll be 4 leitrim men involved in the sigerson final next week 2 for each team, great to see it.
meathbasedfan (Leitrim) - Posts: 146 - 07/02/2025 12:21:53
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Replying To meathbasedfan: "there'll be 4 leitrim men involved in the sigerson final next week 2 for each team, great to see it." Will McNulty and Prior be available this weekend I wonder? Or will they want to play? Huge achievement for them to get to the final but the sheer amount of games they are playing puts themselves at injury risk for a game they won't want to miss!
Interested to see what team lines out tomorrow!
A seriously understrength Laois team compared to last year aswell
Leitrim1234 (Leitrim) - Posts: 333 - 07/02/2025 12:55:20
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Replying To meathbasedfan: "McNulty had a super game in the sigerson last night but did he injure himself when he took his penalty, he seemed to hold his hamstring after taking it and hobbled off. anyone else notice this. hopefully i'm wrong." He was getting treatment on the ground at the end of normal time and the extra time on his hamstring, I don't think it was wise to select him as one of the penalty takers.
Drax_the_destroyer (UK) - Posts: 313 - 07/02/2025 13:19:47
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i can't see either mcnulty or prior starting tomorrow. they'd be too high risk for injury.
meathbasedfan (Leitrim) - Posts: 146 - 07/02/2025 15:36:56
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McNulty, Prior and Honeyman all down to start even with their Sigerson Final next Wednesday. Great news in the short term.
Jack Foley back which is a huge boost.
Eanna McNamara starting his first game at 17.
Not sure why we have named him at wing back when he will play in the corner. Same goes for Honeyman and Riordan O'Rourke who are named wing forward but the dogs on the street no they are in the corner.
Looks like Shane Quinn has left the panel earlier then expected.
Still no Adam Reynolds, Ben Guckian, Cillian McGloin or Donal Casey.
Only one player over the age of 27 in the Sqaud (James Rooney who will never see game time)
Out from Rooney and Jordan Reynolds I would guesstimate that there's not a combined 10 appearances on the sub bench.
That along with 7 of our starting players only making their second appearance of intercounty League football.
Hopefully the lads give it a good rattle against a new look Laois team and that there's a good crowd to support them in Ballinamore.
LongBall94 (USA) - Posts: 6 - 07/02/2025 21:24:23
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Christ this is going to be a long campaign. Horrific first half, we're completely out of our depth.
JimmyNail (Leitrim) - Posts: 269 - 08/02/2025 15:19:19
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Losing 19pts at half time to a team who we beat last year...at home, is fairly grim
boxtyburgerbuns (Leitrim) - Posts: 126 - 08/02/2025 15:19:32
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Christ this is going to be a long campaign that was a horrible first half. We're completely out of our depth here.
JimmyNail (Leitrim) - Posts: 269 - 08/02/2025 15:22:46
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