Archive for category: County Football

Leitrim 0-10 Longford 0-13

Leitrims brave bid to win their first ever SFC qualifier faded at Pairc Sean MacDiarmada tonight.  Spurred on by man-of-the-match Padraig Berry, Longford booked a prized place in the second round draw.

Both sides enjoyed spells of dominance in the first half. Michael Foley and Gary Reynolds starred as Leitrim pegged it back to 0-07 apiece at half-time.

But Longford, despite losing Kevin Smith to a red card, edged it in the second half with Berry, Paul and David Barden and Brian KavanÓgh leading them home.

In dry and near-perfect conditions, the games throw-in was delayed by 10 minutes due to crowd conjestion and when this novel clash got started, Leitrim grasped early control of the scoreboard.

Ger DennÓgan kicked Longfords first point, but the hosts cantered ahead thanks to scores from Michael Foley, Gary Reynolds and Philip McGuinness.

Reynolds kicked clear of the crossbar after Longford goalkeeper Damien Sheridan had managed to keep out a goal-bound shot from Philip McGovern.

Longford ended their barren spell in front of goal with points from Damien Masterson and Francis McGee and a subsequent white flag from full-forward Cian MimnÓgh sent them back in front at 0-06 to 0-05.

The ever-impressive Berry sandwiched a point in before the half-time whistle, replying to another Foley score and an entertaining half was brought to a close by a well-taken point by Carrigallen ace Reynolds.

The second half was just as competitive as the first but Longford, searching for their first Championship win under Manager Glenn Ryan, gradually stretched ahead.

DennÓgan and Foley both had wides before McGee also forced a free wide of the target, following a yellow card for Leitrim corner back Dermot Reynolds.

Reynolds full-back colleague Pat Gilmartin had an excellent game and was a rock for Leitrim on occasions, but he could do little as points from DennÓgan, McGee and Berry saw Longford push ahead.

Berrys score, coming off a brilliant solo run, was quickly followed by Paul Bardens first point of the evening and a superb point from Brian KavanÓgh, wide out on the left. Suddenly there were five points between the sides (0-12 to 0-07).

Foley reduced the arrears, dusting himself off to pop over a free, and the Leitrim management introduced Darren Duignan and James Holohan for the closing stages.

Ray Cox was also brought on and two successful frees from McGuinness, in between Kevin Smiths sending-off for a high challenge on Cox, set up an edge-of-the-seat finale.

Yet Leitrim could not muster another score. The scenario of being two points down with three minutes remaining will be played over in their players minds for the rest of the summer.

David Barden had the final say, Scóring a relieving point for Longford which proved to be the match-winner.

 

 

05-Jul-09 by SBPost.ie

HOME ADVANTAGE for the second round of the All-Ireland football qualifiers will be decided by the toss of a coin, following Sunday evenings draw in Croke Park. While home advantage for this Saturdays first round of matches was based on the first team drawn from the bowl, the second round draw will consist of two bowls – the eight first round winners in one bowl and the eight beaten provincial semi-finalists in the other.

Therefore, the GAAs Central Competition Control Committee (CCCC) will toss a coin to determine which of those teams gets home advantage when they meet on Monday to confirm the throw-in times and venues for the eight second round games, which are all due to be played on Saturday week, July 11th.

Whichever team does win the toss is automatically entitled to home advantage, provided the CCCC deem their home ground is suitable for the fixture.

All eight first round games go ahead this Saturday: Donegal against Carlow, Monaghan against Armagh, Meath against Waterford, Wicklow against Fermanagh, Wexford against Offaly, Louth against Tipperary, Down against London, and Leitrim against Longford.

The usual period of extra-time will also be played if necessary, and provided replays are avoided, these eight first-round winners will then face off against one of the eight teams beaten in the provincial semi-finals: Kerry and Clare, from Munster; Roscommon and Sligo, from Connacht; Derry and Cavan, from Ulster; and Laois and Westmeath, from Leinster.

The draw itself will take place on TV3 shortly after 6pm on Sunday, following their live coverage of the Leinster senior hurling final between Dublin and Kilkenny.

If a first replay is required the draw will go ahead as scheduled, but with the second round game affected postponed until the following Saturday.

The GAA has also finalised admission prices for all of this weekends first round qualifiers, with entry to the stands, like last year, costing €20, while admission to terraces has been reduced by €5 to €10.

A further effort to maintain the positive attendance figures for the remainder of the championship saw the GAA yesterday launch a new range of ticket packages to cover the closing stages of both the football and hurling championship.

Six deals – five of which are new – are being offered which are aimed at allowing followers of football and hurling to combine quarter-final and semi-final games. The Hurling Heaven, package priced at €90, includes tickets for one hurling quarter- final and two semi-finals. The Football Feast offers fans tickets for two football quarter-final days and both semi-finals, and costs €99. That works out at less than €25 per match and, on last years ticket prices, offers savings of €35 and €60 respectively.

Other offers include a quarter and semi-final package covering one quarter-final and a semi-final, costing €65, and a Dual Deal for the quarter-final and semi-final stages of both the football and hurling championships priced at €175.There are also Club Pass and Group Pass offers.

The packages were announced by GAA president Christy Cooney at the opening of the new Ticket Shop on Lower Dorset St in Dublin, close to Croke Park.

"We have been very happy with attendances at our games to date this year," said Cooney, "but we have said all along that in these challenging times we would continue to review our ticketing arrangements in an effort to offer our members and followers value for money . . .

"We have attempted to cater for different types of GAA supporters by offering combined football and hurling deals and a variety of options and we are confident followers of our games will take up deals that will provide excellent live entertainment at an affordable price."

 

 

03-Jul-09 by IrishTimes.ie – Ian O Riordan

CONNACHT MFC SEMI-FINAL Roscommon 1-17 Leitrim 0-3 : ROSCOMMON PRODUCED a significantly-improved second-half display to overwhelm Leitrim at Hyde Park on Saturday.

After a dreadful first-half, the home team led by 0-5 to 0-2.

However, unanswered points from Ciarán Murtagh, Niall Kilroy, Daniel Qualter and Cathal Shine within seven minutes of the resumptionÓgave Roscommon a seven-point lead and Leitrim s diminishing hopes vanished when Conor Beirne was sent-off for a second bookable offence after 42 minutes.

Substitute Darren Clabby sealed victory for the home team with a well-taken individual goal in the 49th minute when he shook off a defender and sent a powerful shot to the net.

Leitrim scored just one point in the second half.

Roscommon Manager Wynne believed the pressure of the occasion contributed to the poor quality of the first half.

"Both teams were under a lot of pressure, there wasn t any back door and the winners would be straight into the provincial final. We had to come up with a result.

"We started a bit slow and that reflected the inactivity of not having played a championship match. We played some nice spells of football, but there is plenty of work to be done for the final.

ROSCOMMON : N Connaughton; P Feeney, G Deeney, P Brogan; N Daly, D Butler, C Cafferky; S McNulty, D Qualter (0-3, one 45); J Carty (0-1) , S Oates, B Carthy (0-1); N Kilroy (0-4, two frees), C Shine (0-1), C Murtagh (0-2, frees). Subs : D Connellan for Deeney, D Clabby (1-2) for Oates, C Compton (0-1) for Murtagh, A Feehily (0-1) for Carty, M Sweeney (0-1) for Carthy.

LEITRIM : S Sweeney; S Ryan, D Harkin, J O Brien; M Clancy, S McWeeney, M Quinn; C McWeeney, R Burke; D Flynn, S Flanagan (0-2, one free) , Aaron Hickey; C Beirne (0-1, free) , B Mulvey, E Sweeney. Subs : K Boyle for R Burke, P Hill for Sweeney, R Kennedy for Hickey.

Referee: M Daly (Mayo

 

 

29-Jun-09 by IrishTimes.ie

After a demoralising League campaign that saw the County Minor team swamped in all four outings, Leitrim are hoping for much better things next Saturday when they take on Roscommon in the ESB Connacht Minor Championship Semi-Final in Hyde Park next Saturday at 5.45 pm.

Like the Ladies team last weekend heading to Castlebar, the Minors are hoping that they can put a win-less Provincial League campaign behind them and spring what would be regarded as one of the major surprises of this years championships.

Although 12 weeks will have passed from Leitrims last competitive outing, the hope is that the time in between will have been used to rejuvenate a minor team that lost its four games by an average of 18.75 points but has undoubted talent in its ranks.

There is also the prize of a place in the Connacht and All-Ireland Quarter-Finals after yet another revamp of the Provincial competition saw the championship revert to the traditional knock-out system.

However, the biggest task for Leitrim is getting the self-belief back in the squad, something that was definitely hit for the last game of the League against Mayo when five first choice players failed to travel for the game in Ballyhaunis.

Roscommon scored a 4-10 to 2-3 victory when the sides met in the Minor League in Boyle in March, a victory illuminated by 1-3 from Scott Oates.

In that game, Leitrim got the perfect start of a first minute goal from Conor Beirne but RoscommonÓgradually took over and scored an unanswered 2-2, the goals coming from Oates and the dangerous Shane Leydon.

Leitrim trailed 2-8 to 2-1 at the break, the second goal coming from an Aaron Hickey penalty and while the second half saw Leitrim hold the home team scoreless for the first ten minutes, Roscommon were just too strong as they eased home.

Any hopes that Roscommon will be over-confident for Saturday would seemed to be dashed by the comments of Roscommon Minor Manager Gary Wynne who is expecting a typical Leitrim/Roscommon clash and preparing his troops accordingly, particularly with the addition of Under 21 star Cathal Shine who will give Roscommon huge midfield presence.

The Roscommon Manager, much like his Leitrim counter-part Sean Logan, is not reading anything into the League meeting between the sides but there is no doubt that Roscommons confidence will be boosted by the result.

For Leitrim, there is no doubt the talent is there Aughawillan pair Shane Flanagan and Morgan Quinn are very highly rated as is captain Sean McWeeney from Aughnasheelin.

However, one would prefer to see Flanagan back in his natural centre-forward position and Quinn in his natural centre-back slot rather than the swap between the pair that occurred during some of the League games earlier this year.

Melvin Gaels Packie Hill also impressed for the Minors during the year while Glencar/Manors James OBrien and Aaron Hickey are highly rated prospects.

Eslins Conor Beirne is another player to watch while Conor McWeeney, Shane Ryan, Micheal McWeeney, Kevin Davey, Brian Mulvey, Keith Boyle, Thomas Cornyn, Declan Brennan and Ronan Kennedy will all be in contention for starting places.

Leitrims record in the Minor Championship has been poor over the past decade with the last victory coming back in 2002 when the Minors defeated Sligo to reach the Connacht Final.

Since then, there have been a few near misses, most notably two years ago when a late Sligo rally in Ballinamore denied Leitrim a place in the Quarter-Finals.

However, the Minors have struggled in the main although as Under 16s two years ago, this squad did put in a series of good performances in the Ted Webb and Fr Manning Cups.

It is reported that the Minors have shown much improved form in challenge matches in recent weeks, most notably against Armagh, but the odds are still very much against them for next Saturday.

In some ways, Leitrim are in the perfect position of no hype, no pressure and no expectations in what is Leitrims last chance of Connacht glory this year. Leitrim will need to raise their game quite a bit, get a good start and build on it to shock Roscommon on Saturday.

 

 

 

 

 

This full report is available thanks to the Leitrim Observer
– it s available in this weeks edition of the Observer and online here

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

27-Jun-09 by John Connolly – LeitrimObserver.ie

TWO SIDES best described as Connachts forgotten men these days defied the searing heat to serve up a real cracker in Carrick-on-Shannon, where Roscommon emerged worthy winners.

Joint Leitrim Manager John Morrison wasnt too thrilled that the programme notes highlighted Roscommons 97-year unbeaten championship record in Carrick, but that record stayed intact, despite the home side throwing the kitchen sink at them.

Leitrim couldnt have asked for a better start — a marvellous goal from debutant Colm Clarke after 80 seconds — and full-back and captain John McKeonÓgot another stunner at the start of the second half, to give them every chance of toppling their arch-rivals for the first time in nine years.

But Fergal ODonnells young Roscommon side, who had folded more than once during the NFL when hit by goals, responded splendidly, grabbing two goals (one penalty) of their own in the first half and reacting to Leitrims second with three unanswered points in five minutes.

Their composure under pressure, better accuracy from distance and superior bench strength ultimately proved the difference as the Rossies won their first game in Connacht in three years to line up a crack at Mayo.

For Leitrim, another day of great endeavour was spoiled by some bad finishing and late handling errors, which, Morrison believed signalled they still lack the necessary self-belief.

"At the end of the day we didnt take our scores but they got easier frees than we did," he said.

"I still believe Leitrim were as good as Roscommon but the whole county has a problem with self-belief," he stressed, pointing out that Leitrims history makes them vulnerable mentally when small things, like decisions or bad shooting, goes against them.

The gods certainly werent with them yesterday.

After starting without their best forward, Emlyn Mulligan, they lost their next best free-taker — James Glancy — to injury after just 21 minutes.

And, after 24 minutes, when Barry McWeeney sent in a long ball to David OConnor who tangled with John Nolan, they also looked to have had a strong penalty appeal ignored.

That looked particularly harsh given that Senan Kilbride had been awarded one after 18 minutes which Karol Mannion slotted brilliantly.

The sides were level (1-4 apiece) at the time so it was a turning point, particularly as Donie Shine then scored an amazing long-range point and Kilbride snuck in to grab a second RoscommonÓgoal after a Conor Devaney shot came off the upright.

Leitrim then shot three consecutive wides to go in four points down (2-5 to 1-4) at the break.

They bounced back immediately on the re-start when defender McKeon scored a marvellously worked goal.

Tougher

At that stage, it was a case of who would blink first and Roscommon proved tougher mentally, with Sean McDermott, Devaney and Gary Cox then pointing without reply to go four clear again, from which Leitrim never recovered.

As the sweltering heat took its toll, Roscommons youth — ODonnell started five of his 2006 minors, including Shine, and brought on three more — gave them fresher legs and, apart from Shane Foley, Leitrims subs did not have the same impact.

Roscommon also had better attacking options with Shine and Cox Scóring some sublime points and Kilbride proving a real handful in the first half when Leitrim looked particularly vulnerable under the high ball.

The wisdom of not starting McKeon at full-back on him will be long debated locally but Leitrims defence did recover its composure later.

But an absence of attacking options still remained their Achilles heel.

Of their forwards, only Declan Maxwell (starting at half-forward but later thrown in to full) and Paul McGuinness shone, and when the latter scored a great point after 60 minutes it was Leitrims first from play for a full 40 minutes.

They also never quite matched up in midfield where Michael Finneran dominated in the late stages.

ODonnell was clearly relieved to get his sides first big senior test over.

"We were so nervous coming in, as a management team ourselves, we really felt the pressure," he admitted.

"We mightnt win too many trophies but our main thing is to make Roscommon competitive again," he stressed. "Their goals werent in the script but sometimes youre maybe better getting the set-back and having to fight hard, which we did."

scorers — Roscommon: D Shine 0-5 (2f), S Kilbride 1-1, K Mannion 1-0 (pen), G Cox 0-3, S McDermott, C Devaney, F Cregg, K Higgins 0-1 each. Leitrim: J McKeon, C Clarke 1-0 each, J Glancy (1f), R Cox (2f), P McGuinness 0-2 each, T Beirne, D Maxwell, D Beck 0-1 each.

Roscommon — G Claffey 9; P Domican 7, J Nolan 8, P Kelly 8; S McDermott 8, D Flynn 7, D Keenan 7; M Finneran 8, K Mannion 6; G Cox (capt) 8, B Higgins 6, D Shine 8; C Devaney 8, S Kilbride 8, J Dunning 5. Subs: P Gleeson 7 for Keenan (25), F Cregg 8 for B Higgins (44), K Higgins 8 for Dunning (56), D OGara for Kilbride (72).

Leitrim — nÓgill 7; D Reynolds 7, M McGuinness 6, B Prior 6; B McWeeney 7, J McKeon 7, J Glancy 6; G McCloskey 6, S Canning 6; D Maxwell 8, C Clarke 7, P McGuinness 8; R Cox 6, T Beirne 7, J Glancy 7. Subs: D OConnor 7 for Glancy (22), G Reynolds 6 for Glancy (30), D Beck 7 for McWeeney (46), B Gallagher 6 for McCloskey (54), S Foley 8 for Clarke (63).

Ref — D Fahy (Longford).

– Cliona Foley

 

 

01-Jun-09 by Irish Independant.ie