County senior football championship

[Bord na Mona man]

When they are going to training, the Gracefield footballers carry hurleys so they won't be laughed at.

[Offaly2010]

Are Gracefield in danger of been relegated? what is gone wrong, this time last year they were Division 1 champions

Being from Gracefield and as much as I hate to say it, yes Gracefield are definitely in danger of being relegated. After winning the league last year it has just gone downhill from there.

Getting to a Semi-Final in 2008 and winning the league last year lead me to believe that Gracefield were actually going somewhere but as soon as the Championship came around it was nothing less than a disaster..losing to Brigids,drawing with Pullagh(3-3 - 1-9 in which wasn't far off the worst game I have ever seen)and losing to Clara.

This year has been very poor aswell, terrible league campaign and a draw with Brigids(1-5 - 0-8) and a heavy defeat to Clara(0-14 - 0-4).

Sad to say really.

[black and red exile]

Offaly2010 without giving to much away what is the problem? Lack of interest, lads gone away for the summer? Sad to see the old club going through a rough patch at the moment, the only small consolation is that the shower from the wrong side of the bridge having a rotten time too.

[Daingean Exile]

on a totally different note, its a crying shame there isnt a st vincents senior team with all the good young players that have gone thro good co minor teams in the past few years. likes of Noel graham, ger treacey, mangans, Mattie Brazil, Manns, Liam Brennan, fergal beacon, david carroll who will never get to play senior championship football. their are some outstanding young players in vincents underage too that cant look forward to it when they are older either. their clubs are codding themselves if they think they will get there on their own. small town politics is probably the overiding factor though. narrow minded approach typifies offaly GAA admin people anyway though. even if they didnt join as one club it should be looked at like they do in kerry with the tralee junior clubs joining to play with St Brendans at senior and still play in the junior with their own clubs.

Agree 100%. There has always been a debate in Daingean parish about amalgamating the parish teams to put a team out that could compete at senior level. For the young players who grow up playing together from Daingean, Kilclonfert, Cappincur and Ballycommon at underage level its incongruous that suddenly at senior age they no longer have an avenue to play on the same team. Other posters here like Lone Shark have laid out ways to resolve this issue which surely doesn't apply solely to St. Vincents. The powers that be in Offaly GAA should be looking at other counties and adopt formats that have proved successful in order to create a more cohesive Gaelic Football and Hurling senior championship that should benefit the county teams. The Kerry model in organising their senior championship football is the obvious one to be looking at.

[Offaly2010]

Offaly2010 without giving to much away what is the problem? Lack of interest, lads gone away for the summer? Sad to see the old club going through a rough patch at the moment, the only small consolation is that the shower from the wrong side of the bridge having a rotten time too.

Lack of interest seems to be the biggest problem. The players themselves know that they are going through a rough patch and seem to have the attitude of "it will sort itself out". Thats just not going to happen in this day and age in gaelic football. There has to be 100% effort and commitment from every panel member for every training session and every game. Also,the passion just seems to be gone out of the Gracefield jersey at the moment.

Now in saying all that,was up in Gracefield last night and Gracefield were training and there was 26 lads togged out and ready for training. They had a bit of a training match while I was there and it was good to see that the players were going in hard for every ball that came their way,as if they were all fighting for their places on Friday night. That was good to see but whether they are ready for Tullamore could be a different story.

On the topic of lads away for the Summer black and red exile,Ciaran Kiely is in America for the Summer and so was Adrian Murphy but he is back and should be playing in Walsh Island Friday night.

Also,that shower from across the bridge were bet in the first round of the Leix Championship last night

[black and red exile]

Thanks Offaly2010, heard this morning that result from Laois and it put a big smile on my face . I wonder would the fact that Tullamore played on Tuesday night help Gracefield tomorrow night, I think it possibly will, fingers crossed. Good to see a big effort at training on Tuesday night and no doubt a win against the blues could very well kick start the year for the black and red, good to see Adrian Murphy back, it's a pity though that Ciaran Kiely is still away but I suppose in the current economic climate ya can't blame fellas.

[Plain of the Herbs]

Again, I'm not au fait with the internals of those clubs you refer to, but at this stage I just want to point out that a small population is NOT a barrier to senior status. Obvious examples being Lusmagh, Clareen Ballyskenagh in the hurling. Killurin too. You could also look at Walsh Island in the football, while the likes of Shannonbridge (1996 title winners), Tubber or the Leamonaghan 3 would all have slender resources. In fact a tight-knit community group will probably get you further than a large population base. Just something to bear in mind.

on a totally different note, its a crying shame there isnt a st vincents senior team with all the good young players that have gone thro good co minor teams in the past few years. likes of Noel graham, ger treacey, mangans, Mattie Brazil, Manns, Liam Brennan, fergal beacon, david carroll who will never get to play senior championship football. their are some outstanding young players in vincents underage too that cant look forward to it when they are older either. their clubs are codding themselves if they think they will get there on their own. small town politics is probably the overiding factor though. narrow minded approach typifies offaly GAA admin people anyway though. even if they didnt join as one club it should be looked at like they do in kerry with the tralee junior clubs joining to play with St Brendans at senior and still play in the junior with their own clubs.

[Offaly2010]

Some good news for ya black and red exile to brighten up your Thursday afternoon
Was heading up to the shop there about an hour ago and who did I notice driving by only Ciaran Kiely..
He wasn't training last night but this is great news for Gracefield if he is staying at home for the rest of the Summer!

[Long John]

I reckon Gracefield will be ok. I saw them against Brigids and it was brutal bad football but they still got a draw. Brigids put it up to every team they play. They are a dogged committed bunch that like a small pitch. They were unlucky not to get a win against the super blues the other night and Gracefield matched them when they met. For me Gracefield will do enough to survive this year. 26 is not a bad turnout.

[black and red exile]

Thanks Offaly2010, with Ciaran Kiley home, the decent turnout the other night and the shower from the wrong side of the bridge beaten last night a corner just might be turned for Gracefield, roll on tomorrow night, could be a good time to get the blues so soon after their game on Tuesday night, keep the good news coming, I need it being stuck here in Lillywhite land

[Offaly2010]

Sorry black and red exile,bit of bad news for ya this time..
A neighbour of mine heard the Gracefield team this morning and Kiely will not be lining out tomorrow night but as you say,with Tullamore having played on Tuesday this could be a good time to play them!

Pairc De Gras abu!

[black and red exile]

Cheers Offaly2010, I suppose with Kiley only just home it would be a bit much starting him straight away. I have a good feeling about tomorrow night now, looking forward to the game, my prediction Blackthorns 1.9 Blues 1.7

[Offaly2010]

Yep, looking forward to it myself, could be the game that kickstarts Gracefield's season.

I'm going for Gracefield 2-10 Tullamore 1-11

[offalyman08]

Yep, looking forward to it myself, could be the game that kickstarts Gracefield's season.

I'm going for Gracefield 2-10 Tullamore 1-11

Any other predictions for the weekend?

Ballycumber vs Edenderry
Rhode vs Tubber
Ferbane vs Clara
Erin Rovers vs Walsh Island
Shamrocks vs St Brigids?

[Thereorthereabouts]

Ballycumber vs Edenderry Ballycumber -2
Rhode vs Tubber Rhode -3
Ferbane vs Clara Clara -3
Erin Rovers vs Walsh Island Walsh Island -3
Shamrocks vs St Brigids Shamrocks