The Fish and Chip and 5 pint tour

[azoffaly]

Alright, we are in the first round of the Circuit of Ireland rally, who would we like to get. Not for football reasons, but for a tourist reason, nice weekend away kind of thing. I'm only including currently 'eligible' teams, and assuming to get an away draw.

Tipp (Thurles), Waterford, Sligo, Down (stay in Carlingford).

Teams to avoid (for the same reasons)
Wicklow, Westmeath, Longford.

[Lone Shark]

All things considered ......

I haven't been on a trip over to London yet - that has to have potential. Carlow seriously rocks, and it's safe to say they'll end up in the pot. Chances are Donegal will end up in there too.

You'd prefer to stay away from the real long haul if possible though - i.e. Waterford, Donegal, Derry, Antrim.

Definitely my vote is for Carlow. The Foundry's always been good to me......

[Bord na Mona man]

I presume these are the teams in the draw?

Offaly
Wastemeath
Carlow/Wexford
Wicklow
Longford
Dublin/Meath
Louth
Fermanagh
Down
Donegal/Armagh
Cavan/Antrim
Derry/Monaghan
London
Sligo
Waterford
Tipperary

[Ron]

I think the London trip is out, I think its the case that London have to play their qualifer games away (in ireland).
Some interesting teams in there, Wicklow will be looking forward to it, how will Wastemeath pick themselves up? Donegal/Armagh will be looking for a quarter final place.
I hope that the team and management share our enthusiasm for the annual GAA roadtrips!
Will U2 have more days out in Croker than Offaly?

[Bord na Mona man]

Potential opponents ranked by beatability(?) (Louth excluded)

1 London
2 Tipperary
3 Waterford
4 Carlow
5 Antrim
6 Longford
7 Wicklow
8 Cavan
9 Sligo
10 Monaghan
11 Down
12 Fermanagh
13 Derry
14 Wexford
15 Wastemeath
16 Meath
17 Donegal
18 Dublin
19 Armagh

Who would ye fancy us against?

[Lone Shark]

I actually rate Down very highly. I'd be a bit more along the lines of .....

1 London
2 Waterford
3 Tipperary
4 Carlow
5 Longford
6 Wicklow
7 Sligo
8 Antrim
9 Cavan
10 Monaghan
11 Wastemeath
12 Fermanagh
13 Meath
14 Wexford
15 Derry
16 Down
17 Dublin
18 Donegal
19 Armagh

[the bare biffo]

For football reasons, would westmeat be a good draw to ensure the players are up for it ?

[Ron]

Offaly on their day should beat most of those teams, does anyone know when this draw will be made?
Westmeath or Dublin/Meath would certainly ensure that the team are well up for it!

[Loughers]

I agree with Ron. We shouldn't fear any of those teams, unless Armagh are beaten. The draw is being made the 12th June, same as for the hurling qualifier groups draw. We'll all be so drunk from celebrating, no one will notice.

[Lone Shark]

I wouldn't fear anyone, but that's not to say that I think that a big game is necessarily a good thing. I'd still like to see us get a couple of handy fixtures to start and get the wheels back on the wagon. Ironically the teams we'd be likely to face in round two would be less dangerous - all things being equal I suspect they'll be

Roscommon
Leitrim
Derry
Cavan/Antrim
Limerick
Clare
Laois/Kildare (We've a good record against Kildare and would be kept apart from Laois)
Wexford.

There's nearly more potential pitfalls here in the first round.

I'd say round 3 is time enough for the "concentrate the minds" fixture. Give me a London Roscommon combo till then.

[the bare biffo]

In todays indo, it details the restrictions on the draw for the groups in the hurling qualifiers. They are supposed to be intended to ensure better balance between the two groups and go as follows;

Group One
Two Munster Teams
One Leinster Team
Galway or Antrim

Group Two
Two Leinster Teams
One Munster Team
Galway or Antrim

As a result Kilkenny could find themselves in group one with Waterford, Tipp and Galway for company.
While group two could contain Dublin, Laois, Limerick and Antrim.

Theres balance for ya.

Why didn't they just do the simple thing and cede teams on ability.