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Longford GAA thread

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Replying To liosbreac6265:  "some clubs having to amalgamate for underage football is irrelevant. Edgeworthstown amalgamate and they are the most succesful hurling club of the 3. Many youngsters drop away from football or never even play it at all so if hurling was an option locally they might get involved. Kenagh are one of the smallest clubs in the county and are doing their bit so this excuse just doesnt add up. If a club went with a plan to start up hurling there is loads of support from leinster council and croke park. Excuses excuses"
Hurling in longford will never take off and thats just the harsh truth, if the senior championship got to 5 teams in the next 15 years it is doing well!! no excuses from any club, the interest just is not there!! Kenagh are doing their bit at u12 u13 level and fair play to them its great to see! but as the club gets to adult level how many will still be interested in playing? it happens in the football each year too.. you seem very bitter about longford hurling and need to not be slating other clubs for not setting up a hurling program! most clubs struggling each year to gather teams at under age to field a football team so give it a rest!!

Garmin (Longford) - Posts: 97 - 15/09/2022 09:28:33    2440718

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Replying To Garmin:  "Hurling in longford will never take off and thats just the harsh truth, if the senior championship got to 5 teams in the next 15 years it is doing well!! no excuses from any club, the interest just is not there!! Kenagh are doing their bit at u12 u13 level and fair play to them its great to see! but as the club gets to adult level how many will still be interested in playing? it happens in the football each year too.. you seem very bitter about longford hurling and need to not be slating other clubs for not setting up a hurling program! most clubs struggling each year to gather teams at under age to field a football team so give it a rest!!"
Give what a rest? I have two posts on the topic. You are the one who seems bitter, you must be a member of one of the clubs mentioned. It's great that you are able to predict the future with Kenagh and that hurling will never take off. Could you share the lotto numbers?
It won't take off if no effort is made.

liosbreac6265 (Longford) - Posts: 255 - 15/09/2022 14:47:19    2440777

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Replying To LongfordgaaAbú:  "There hasn't been more than 3 clubs in SHC in Longford for maybe 30 years or more. With only 21 GAA clubs in the county, and all bar a handful having to amalgamate (sometimes with multiple other clubs) to make the numbers in underage football, where is the additional hurling support, trainers and players coming from to start building up that tradition of hurling from scratch? Who knows, maybe the Hurling Chairman is investing heavily in growing the sport in Longford."
Ballymahon were fielding up to 20 years ago anyway.

"Who knows, maybe the Hurling Chairman is investing heavily in growing the sport in Longford."

Sarcasm?

Keeper7+ (Longford) - Posts: 8 - 16/09/2022 17:28:13    2440912

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Replying To catchturnscore:  "As a fellow Killoe man , the only thing I'll say is that lads our age (40+) played no or little organised soccer and now Killoe has multiple age group soccer teams , so if the will was there it would have been possible. The hard truth is (and it applies to most counties) a strong football club does not want it's young lads getting distracted with hurling and then having to choose at senior grade which one is priority."
Basically, you're saying people in clubs like Killoe would rather see their young lads playing soccer than hurling. That's really a shocking indictment.

Keeper7+ (Longford) - Posts: 8 - 16/09/2022 17:33:35    2440914

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Replying To Spinx:  "Well said. If these clubs started up a hurling team Clonguish would lose one or 2 players to Drumlish and Killoe, I'm sure Wolfe Tones would be the same and Slashers would proabbly have no team as the majority of their players come from other clubs around the county!"
Sorry for hogging the thread! Had to set up a new account coz haven't been able to log in.

Clubs would need to be setting up at underage first so wouldn't really be taking from the existing hurling clubs. Someone else mentioned Slashers minor hurlers' win - apparently the vast majority of them play football with Slashers or Young Grattans.

Keeper7+ (Longford) - Posts: 8 - 16/09/2022 17:50:51    2440917

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Replying To Keeper7+:  "Basically, you're saying people in clubs like Killoe would rather see their young lads playing soccer than hurling. That's really a shocking indictment."
No, they'd rather they played neither!! But very few lads will ever be lost to soccer at senior level whereas if the GAA club becomes "dual" it can cause issues. Nothing to do with Killoe this is nationwide and in hurling counties/clubs it's reversed.

catchturnscore (Longford) - Posts: 151 - 17/09/2022 10:14:37    2440943

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The time is upon us. Q-Finals of the Longford senior football championship. This is when the championship really kicks off and takes a new life. How do we see the games going?

Colmcille v Mostrim
I don't see Colmcille getting caught out two years in a row by Mostrim. Last year Mostrim came through the group stages in great form and got a shock in the q-final by Dromard and should have lost. I believe this was what set them up well in the semi-final v Colmcille and they blew Colmcille off the park in the first half. Mostrim are not going as well this year. Colmcille will be ready now. And I can see them bringing the intensity from the start and winning by 4/5 points in the end.

Mullinalaghta v Abbeylara
Everybody will rightly be predicting Mullinalaghta in this one. They've always showed their superiority to Abbeylara over the past few years. I think there will be a sting in Abbeylara though. The hammering they took in the leader cup semi final will not sit well with them and they'll be very much up for revenge. Mullinalaghta are still a top class side but they've showed a slowing of pace in the second half of games this year. I think if Abbey can keep it tight in the first half, Abbey will have the legs in the second half and could produce the shock of the wknd. Abbey by 2 points.

LongfordEye (Longford) - Posts: 8 - 17/09/2022 12:15:07    2440951

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Sundays Games
Longford Slashers v Rathcline
This should be a great game if Rathcline don't let the occasion get the better of them. They've had an up and coming team for a few years with plenty of young county talent. Obvious excitement in the club to make it this far and great to see new blood at this stage of the champ. Slashers have a young team too and have the experience of playing in the finals of 2019 and 2020. They're a fast paced team and are well suited to the open expanses of Pearse Park. I feel they are lacking in real scoring power up front though. The clarkes are good footballers but I think they're lacking a marquee forward up front to be good enough to win a title. Slashers by 3

Dromard v Killoe
Undoubtedly the game of the wknd. Looking forward to this one. Dromard have lit up the championship so far with some really good young players and a good sprinkle of experience mixed in too. If they can get through this game they'll pose problems for any team in a semi final.
Killoe have flattered to deceive this year but they'll be a different outfit in Pearse Park. They've a great pick of players. Plenty of county experience in both underage and Senior and they will be confident that they'll be fit to get the win. They'd be used to winning against Dromard in recent years and that may stand to them if they can lift their performance from the group stage.
I'm going to just tip Dromard to pip Killoe in a tight game that hopefully lives up to the potential of being a good open thriller. Dromard by 1

LongfordEye (Longford) - Posts: 8 - 17/09/2022 12:49:23    2440954

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Replying To catchturnscore:  "No, they'd rather they played neither!! But very few lads will ever be lost to soccer at senior level whereas if the GAA club becomes "dual" it can cause issues. Nothing to do with Killoe this is nationwide and in hurling counties/clubs it's reversed."
If a club has the resources it should strive to cater for as many codes as possible. A successful club isn't just measured in championships but if you get the core principles right success will surely follow. The likes of Slaughtneil & Loughmore-Castleiney should be the shining example to all Gaels.

Keeper7+ (Longford) - Posts: 8 - 17/09/2022 14:49:09    2440965

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Replying To Keeper7+:  "Ballymahon were fielding up to 20 years ago anyway.

"Who knows, maybe the Hurling Chairman is investing heavily in growing the sport in Longford."

Sarcasm?"
2001 was Ballymahons last year. Only 3 hurling clubs in SHC for 27 of the past 30 years. Stretched to 4 clubs when Clonguish Gaels (formed in 1998) joined Slashers Gaels, Wolfe Tones and Ballymahon Gaels in SHC for 3 years (1999, 2000 & 2001) before Ballymahon faded away after 2001, and then back to just 3 clubs after that. I don't think those 3 years of 4 clubs changes the point on quantity of hurling clubs in major competition over the past 30 years (which is a significant chunk of time). This despite a number of Croke Park initiatives over that long period to grow the game in weaker counties. The other reality is that underage football is now mostly amalgamations which shows a clear lack of players in clubs (not an irrelevant observation in this discussion), and begs the question... where would new hurlers for new hurling clubs come from in a county which had average of 3 hurling clubs for the past generation and where underage football is struggling with numbers as it is? Would love to see hurling expand and flourish, but I don't see how it does based on where we are and have been for 30 years, and also with the other options and pressures lads have nowadays. Would require a level of root and branch reform and resourcing the likes of which no CB has shown themselves capable of to date, and which the current crop most certainly is not.

And yes, the other comment was sarcasm :-)

LongfordgaaAbú (Longford) - Posts: 586 - 18/09/2022 10:13:42    2441004

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Almost a Saturday of upsets. Abbeylara and Mostrim will be kicking themselves, but fair play to Mullinalaghta and Colmcille for sticking it out. Mullinalaghta clearly not motoring as they once were, but still hard to stop. Still hard to see past a Mullinalaghta v Colmcille final.

Today should be Rathcline and Killoe, but lets see.

LongfordgaaAbú (Longford) - Posts: 586 - 18/09/2022 10:19:27    2441006

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Replying To LongfordgaaAbú:  "Almost a Saturday of upsets. Abbeylara and Mostrim will be kicking themselves, but fair play to Mullinalaghta and Colmcille for sticking it out. Mullinalaghta clearly not motoring as they once were, but still hard to stop. Still hard to see past a Mullinalaghta v Colmcille final.

Today should be Rathcline and Killoe, but lets see."
..... Ehm, maybe I can claim my account was hacked! Some victory for Slashers. Didn't see that coming. Goals win you nothing on a Saturday and everything on a Sunday.

LongfordgaaAbú (Longford) - Posts: 586 - 18/09/2022 16:13:11    2441039

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Well done Dromard, well worth their win. No issue with the black card, could challenge some of the overcarrying decisions at key stages, but all in all better team won. No need for the remonstrating after the final whistle that led to the reds, and i'm sure lads will be spoken to about that, as they should be. Interesting pair of semi finals now.

LongfordgaaAbú (Longford) - Posts: 586 - 18/09/2022 19:30:50    2441066

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Super win for Slashers and sets up an interesting tie with colmcille lucky to get through yesterday. Colmcille better at the back will probably see out the win. Second game the mighty have fallen dromard outclassed killoe and were lucky to only loose by five. Will be an excellent contest between them and mullinlaghta also lucky to beat abbey

slasher9 (Longford) - Posts: 252 - 18/09/2022 19:38:32    2441071

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Slashers very good today and given space they will punish you, the big lad inside was a handful.
Dromard just edged out Killoe to deserve their win but the referee was so bad towards Killoe. Got the black card right on Killoe but didn't give Dromard any for pulling players down.

williesboy (Leitrim) - Posts: 450 - 18/09/2022 20:28:54    2441078

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Replying To botheyesclosed:  "Even though the group stages are not even over, the Senior Championship is for Mullinalaghta to lose. The only team that has a chance to catch them out would be Colmcille. I don't think they will as Mullinalaghta will have learned from the League Final. Dromard may go on a good run if the draw favours them but ultimately wont have enough. Slashers are still a good bit off the pace of the leading pack. Killoe aren't at the races at all and will be lucky to scrap through to the Q/F where they will bow out. Rathcline may get to a semi final as long as they beat Carrickedmond this weekend, it would be interesting to see them against either Mostrim or Slasher in the Q/F.

Final Standings Group 1
Mullinalaghta
Dromard
Slashers
Mostrim

Final Standings Group 2
Colmcille
Rathcline
Killoe
Abbeylara

Q/Finals (Winners)
Mull v Abbey (Mull)
Dromard v Killoe (Dromard)
Slashers v R/cline (Slashers)
Colm v Mostrim (Colmcille)

S/Finals
Not sure how the draw works out from here??"
I'm not doing too bad, maybe I should start putting money on these games.
The results are going pretty much to form being shown all year. Its hard to change form unless something different is tried, which is why Dromard won yesterday. Killoe continued to try and carry the ball through a tough defence and took big hits.
Slashers used all the space available with good early passing and got rewarded, even though I think Rathcline were pretty poor and just happy to have avoided a relegation battle.
Colmcille made to battle all the way, a lot of leaks in defence, showing Slashers they have hope next week.
Mullinalaghta got the job done. Not playing well, they are still producing results due to experience and mentality. They have slowed a lot, and can be beaten.
If Slashers play the same way against Colmcille, they could edge a high scoring game, however I think Colmcille are a big step up from Rathcline and should win once they don't have another slow start.
Mullinalaghta should have too much for Dromard, they wont play into Dromards hands like Killoe. Dromard wont get the direct goals either as Mullinalaghta are a different beast down the middle.
So, with not many upsets this year so far, I'm not going to predict any next week.
Mullinalaghta v Dromard - Mullinalaghta to win
Slashers v Colmcille - Colmcille to win

botheyesclosed (Longford) - Posts: 121 - 19/09/2022 09:36:53    2441130

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Replying To botheyesclosed:  "I'm not doing too bad, maybe I should start putting money on these games.
The results are going pretty much to form being shown all year. Its hard to change form unless something different is tried, which is why Dromard won yesterday. Killoe continued to try and carry the ball through a tough defence and took big hits.
Slashers used all the space available with good early passing and got rewarded, even though I think Rathcline were pretty poor and just happy to have avoided a relegation battle.
Colmcille made to battle all the way, a lot of leaks in defence, showing Slashers they have hope next week.
Mullinalaghta got the job done. Not playing well, they are still producing results due to experience and mentality. They have slowed a lot, and can be beaten.
If Slashers play the same way against Colmcille, they could edge a high scoring game, however I think Colmcille are a big step up from Rathcline and should win once they don't have another slow start.
Mullinalaghta should have too much for Dromard, they wont play into Dromards hands like Killoe. Dromard wont get the direct goals either as Mullinalaghta are a different beast down the middle.
So, with not many upsets this year so far, I'm not going to predict any next week.
Mullinalaghta v Dromard - Mullinalaghta to win
Slashers v Colmcille - Colmcille to win"
Agree with predictions.
Will Barry McKeon be gone for the semi? Looked to do his hamstring and only a week to recover.
Slashers will be hoping to have Peter Lynn back also to add to their defensive unit which may allow Dermot Brady to hold centre back and not leave them as open.
Enda Macken and Daire O'Brien is going to be some battle. O'Brien put in some performance yesterday but Macken is a whole new test. If he contains him, hard to know where slashers will get all their scores.
Whoever picks up Jack Macken will have their hands full also. The young lad is an outstanding kicker of the ball.

honda15 (Longford) - Posts: 94 - 19/09/2022 10:21:11    2441141

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Replying To LongfordgaaAbú:  "2001 was Ballymahons last year. Only 3 hurling clubs in SHC for 27 of the past 30 years. Stretched to 4 clubs when Clonguish Gaels (formed in 1998) joined Slashers Gaels, Wolfe Tones and Ballymahon Gaels in SHC for 3 years (1999, 2000 & 2001) before Ballymahon faded away after 2001, and then back to just 3 clubs after that. I don't think those 3 years of 4 clubs changes the point on quantity of hurling clubs in major competition over the past 30 years (which is a significant chunk of time). This despite a number of Croke Park initiatives over that long period to grow the game in weaker counties. The other reality is that underage football is now mostly amalgamations which shows a clear lack of players in clubs (not an irrelevant observation in this discussion), and begs the question... where would new hurlers for new hurling clubs come from in a county which had average of 3 hurling clubs for the past generation and where underage football is struggling with numbers as it is? Would love to see hurling expand and flourish, but I don't see how it does based on where we are and have been for 30 years, and also with the other options and pressures lads have nowadays. Would require a level of root and branch reform and resourcing the likes of which no CB has shown themselves capable of to date, and which the current crop most certainly is not.

And yes, the other comment was sarcasm :-)"
Cashel, Naomh Ciaran (Rathcline) & Bunlahy also fielded in senior hurling championship in the 1980/90s, I believe?

I'm looking at the hurling developments in other counties like Donegal, Sligo, Mayo & Fermanagh where club numbers have greatly increased and comparing to a non-existent plan in Longford. If there are existing successful amalgamations for football, why not use these to platform dual codes?

Keeper7+ (Longford) - Posts: 8 - 19/09/2022 11:57:54    2441172

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Replying To botheyesclosed:  "I'm not doing too bad, maybe I should start putting money on these games.
The results are going pretty much to form being shown all year. Its hard to change form unless something different is tried, which is why Dromard won yesterday. Killoe continued to try and carry the ball through a tough defence and took big hits.
Slashers used all the space available with good early passing and got rewarded, even though I think Rathcline were pretty poor and just happy to have avoided a relegation battle.
Colmcille made to battle all the way, a lot of leaks in defence, showing Slashers they have hope next week.
Mullinalaghta got the job done. Not playing well, they are still producing results due to experience and mentality. They have slowed a lot, and can be beaten.
If Slashers play the same way against Colmcille, they could edge a high scoring game, however I think Colmcille are a big step up from Rathcline and should win once they don't have another slow start.
Mullinalaghta should have too much for Dromard, they wont play into Dromards hands like Killoe. Dromard wont get the direct goals either as Mullinalaghta are a different beast down the middle.
So, with not many upsets this year so far, I'm not going to predict any next week.
Mullinalaghta v Dromard - Mullinalaghta to win
Slashers v Colmcille - Colmcille to win"
You must have a crystal ball! If you were a betting man you'd have made a few pound. I think Colmcille and Mullinalaghta will rightly be the favorites for the two semi finals but I expect both games to be very competitive. Dromard beat Killoe by 5 points and have lots of improvement to do to challenge Mullinalaghta but they have the players to do damage and they've been stingy in defence all year.
Mullinalaghta I'd expect will continue to improve and know how to win semi finals. They'll look to blitz Dromard early and midfield will really tell a tale in this game as both keepers like to go long with the kickouts.
Slashers looked great at the wknd but Rathcline proved they're not at this level yet. Very naive defending. To concede 6 goals in the knockout stages is criminal defending. Colmcille should be tighter but they themselves looked open against Mostrim in the first half to concede goals. Although they defended far more resolutely in the second half. Barry McKeown is a massive loss if he is injured. Will need another outstanding performance from young Macken on the frees.
I predict Colmcille by 3 points.
Dromard and Mullinalaghta draw and Dromard to win on penos for the shock of the championship.

LongfordEye (Longford) - Posts: 8 - 19/09/2022 12:23:57    2441176

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Dromard were quite impressive but Killoe really have gone backwards. Mostrim exposed some serious frailties in Colmcille's defence but Colmcille got on top at midfield after halftime & dominated possession to see out the win.

Rathcline impressed going forward but their defence was non-existent so it's hard to know how good Slashers really are.

Abbey were very competitive & really put it up to their much-vaunted neighbours. Mullinalaghta did just about enough to win but could yet get caught with a sucker punch.

Keeper7+ (Longford) - Posts: 8 - 19/09/2022 12:39:54    2441183

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