Leinster SHC 2010

[leinsterman]

i would'nt be to gone on that panel. brian mullins is still the best keeper in offaly.
ger heilion was took off in the final he was there before. stephen egan great player but was asked
before and did'nt want to play . maybe he has change his mind hope so good player. colm coughlan
will be a big miss i say he is the best free taker in the county after birr's sid he never miss one.
i taugh young barry harding might have got a call up good young hurler. we still have no forwards
unless rory hanniffy will play there this year.

[Slieve Bloom Man]

I also can't believe Colm Coughlan, Eddie Bevans and Mark Egan have been left off the panel. I even felt sorry for Brian Coughlan, he didn't have a brilliant year but he played well for Offaly 21s against KK and he is good player with potential, he is young and should have been left on the panel and allowed time to develop as a county player. But I totally can't understand not having those 3 forwards on the panel. It's not a positive start before 2010 even begins. Hopefully Dooley will have the sense to bring these 3 back in asap.

[joe bloggs]

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The out and out droping of Brian Mullins is also drastic if not (unfortunately) unexpected. On his day he is a gifted goalie and for shot stopping ability would be up there with the best of them. Luckily, Dempsey is also a very talented goalie and he'll slot into the number one jersey with the minimum of fuss.

You are right when you sat Dempsey is a talented goalie, as in an excellent shotstopper, but to say he will fit in with the minimum of fuss may be off the mark. Having seen him in the 1/4 final v Birr one would be less than impressed with his handling and i would have felt the same when i seen him play in the walsh cup earlier this year. He also lost his place on the UL team during the fitzgibbon cup, so i would say he is not the finished article yet. Hopefully he will step up to the mark and prove me wrong.
A goalie i would like to see again would be Mark Mulrooney who deputised very well for Mullins in the past.

[leinsterman]

don't know what where mark mulrooney went to. wasn't on the birr panel for the last 2 year's. he is a good goalkeeper he is tall as well
played in goal when birr won the 06 county final when breder was hurt and done well. was keeper for the under 21's in the leinster final of 07
as well. had a great game when we beat the cat's in the semil final that year in nowlan park. i think he was a sub for the birr intermedite this
year. like to see him back in as well because after jame's dempsey we have no goalkeeper that is good.

[Plain of the Herbs]

The dates were fixed last night but the venues weren’t, pending agreement of the venue for the Dublin/Wexford football match which Wexford want in Wexford Park.
http://leinster.gaa.ie/gaanews.asp

Prem. Rd
Carlow v Laois 23.05.2010 (Sun.)

Round 1
Dublin v Carlow/Laois 06.06.2010 (Sun.)
Wexford v Galway 06.06.2010 (Sun.)
Antrim v Offaly 30.05.2010 (Sun.)

Semi-Finals
Dublin/Carlow/Laois v Kilkenny 20.06.2010 (Sun.)
Wexford/Galway v Antrim/Offaly 19.06.2010 (Sat.)

CRAOBH 04.07.2010 (Sun.)

[uibhfhailiabu]

The dates were fixed last night but the venues weren’t, pending agreement of the venue for the Dublin/Wexford football match which Wexford want in Wexford Park.
http://leinster.gaa.ie/gaanews.asp

Prem. Rd
Carlow v Laois 23.05.2010 (Sun.)

Round 1
Dublin v Carlow/Laois 06.06.2010 (Sun.)
Wexford v Galway 06.06.2010 (Sun.)
Antrim v Offaly 30.05.2010 (Sun.)

Semi-Finals
Dublin/Carlow/Laois v Kilkenny 20.06.2010 (Sun.)
Wexford/Galway v Antrim/Offaly 19.06.2010 (Sat.)

CRAOBH 04.07.2010 (Sun.)

Can anyone tell me what home/away agreements are we in at the moment and whether we are due to play home or away next? I know we're due both Wexford and Laois in Tullamore but I was just wondering is there any other arrangements in place?

[Plain of the Herbs]

Other than Wexford and Laois which you note, there are no others of which I am aware, ie with Kilkenny or Dublin. They've hurled Kilkenny in Portlaoise in recent years while any Leinster SHC matches against Dublin have been in Croke Park. It seems to be Wexford who have been proactive in arranging home-and-away arrangements in the last few years with the Offaly one and also one with Kilkenny.

The hurlers did alternate venues with Westmeath years ago, up to the '71 meeting which was in Birr. The last OY/WH SHC match was in 1976 and was in Croke Park as a double header with the OY/MH SFC match but I couldn't tell ya if that would end the home-and-away arrangement or not. Any of the few times Offaly have hurled Carlow it has been in Portlaoise.

As far as I am aware, it is a condition of Galway & Antrim's entry to the Leinster championship that all matches they hurl be staged at Leinster venues.

In general qualifiers do not count where home-and-away arrangements are concerned as they are usually fixed on a ‘first out of the hat’ basis.

Can anyone tell me what home/away agreements are we in at the moment and whether we are due to play home or away next? I know we're due both Wexford and Laois in Tullamore but I was just wondering is there any other arrangements in place?

[bracknaghboy]

Perhaps the GAA should have some guidelines in relation to the home and away arrangments for championship matches instead (like everything else) of making it up as they go along. Its also unfair that Dublin footballers play all their matches in Croke Park. I think the Longford qualifier 3 years ago was their only championship outing outside Croke Park for a few years. Wexford are correct for kicking up a fuss this year and demanding a chance at a home tie against the Dubs. Toss a coin for Christ sake.

[leinsterman]

Perhaps the GAA should have some guidelines in relation to the home and away arrangments for championship matches instead (like everything else) of making it up as they go along. Its also unfair that Dublin footballers play all their matches in Croke Park. I think the Longford qualifier 3 years ago was their only championship outing outside Croke Park for a few years. Wexford are correct for kicking up a fuss this year and demanding a chance at a home tie against the Dubs. Toss a coin for Christ sake.

Thats abit unfair on the dubs bracknaghboy, they always bring a big following to croker or anywhere else they are playing.
and for the record the last time the dubs were bet in leinster outside of croke park was 1981 laois beat them in tullamore,
the dubs won in tullamore, portlaoise, navan, newbridge,wexford park, longford, plus they kicked cork out off pairc ui choimh in 1983
when billy morgan said they always have to play the dubs in croker bring them down to cork for a change he was sorry he said it after.
dublin don't care where they play wexford in dublin or wexford ,the only thing wexford will get out of this is a lesson in football.

[bracknaghboy]

Perhaps the GAA should have some guidelines in relation to the home and away arrangments for championship matches instead (like everything else) of making it up as they go along. Its also unfair that Dublin footballers play all their matches in Croke Park. I think the Longford qualifier 3 years ago was their only championship outing outside Croke Park for a few years. Wexford are correct for kicking up a fuss this year and demanding a chance at a home tie against the Dubs. Toss a coin for Christ sake.

Thats abit unfair on the dubs bracknaghboy, they always bring a big following to croker or anywhere else they are playing.
and for the record the last time the dubs were bet in leinster outside of croke park was 1981 laois beat them in tullamore,
the dubs won in tullamore, portlaoise, navan, newbridge,wexford park, longford, plus they kicked cork out off pairc ui choimh in 1983
when billy morgan said they always have to play the dubs in croker bring them down to cork for a change he was sorry he said it after.
dublin don't care where they play wexford in dublin or wexford ,the only thing wexford will get out of this is a lesson in football.

True. So do Kildare but they don't get to play all their games in Newbridge every year.

[leinsterman]

Kildare only support the team when they are winning or in a leinster final, wasn't to many in portlaoise against offaly this year.
where if it was dublin the ground wouldn't hold them all. anyway i wouldn't put kildare in dublins class over the last 30 years.
kildare don't get many games in newbridge because its a bad town to hold a game no parking in it, ground is way behind portlaoise and o'connor park.

[Plain of the Herbs]

I see the Leinster council have confirmed SOME venues for next year, after being urged to do so by the two TV companies who plan to screen those games live. Why those TV companies need six months notice of those venues is beyond me, but anyway.

The Wexford – Galway hurling match has been fixed for Kilkenny when I would have thought the logical venue for this was Portlaoise on the grounds of the relative distances from each county to the venue, and the travel distances on the AA site back up my presumptions. And anyway, last year’s Wexford – Clare relegation match was fixed for Portlaoise (and reasonably so) and Galway is even further north than Clare.

I wonder if this was a deal done with Wexford after they were denied hosting the Dublin – Wexford football match at Wexford Park? If it is, it seems to me to be grossly unfair to haul Galway an extra 20km to Kilkenny when bringing Wexford to Portlaoise would only add 23km to the distance from Wexford Town and 9km extra to the trip from Bunclody, and even at that Portlaoise would be nearer to Wexford than Galway is. See table below for distances.


Galway to Kilkenny – 168km
Galway to Portlaoise – 148km
Portumna to Kilkenny – 100km
Portumna to Portlaoise – 80km

Wexford Town to Kilkenny – 91km
Wexford Town to Portlaoise – 114km
Bunclody to Kilkenny – 61km
Bunclody to Portlaoise – 70km

[OffalyDub]

Perhaps the GAA should have some guidelines in relation to the home and away arrangments for championship matches instead (like everything else) of making it up as they go along. Its also unfair that Dublin footballers play all their matches in Croke Park. I think the Longford qualifier 3 years ago was their only championship outing outside Croke Park for a few years. Wexford are correct for kicking up a fuss this year and demanding a chance at a home tie against the Dubs. Toss a coin for Christ sake.

Don't know for sure about Dublin players, but Dublin supporters love traveling when the chance (rarely) arises. I presume the players would be under less pressure away from Croker. One thing though, the grants our clubs get from the Leinster Council from time to time, aren't they at least partly funded by big crowds in Leinster Championship matches (i.e. when Dublin are playing). Just a thought, but there's always more to it than football and fairness!!

[Plain of the Herbs]

The match against Antrim has been fixed for Parnell Park, which seems fine to me. Put it this way, it's a logical choice and it doesn't put Offaly at any disadvantage.