Leinster SFC 2010 - bring on the Royals!

[Lone Shark]

Jaysus, nothing tough about that draw at all!

Meath, then Laois, then Dublin, all to reach a Leinster final - meanwhile I look across the border to the Rossies, where they have to play London and then Leitrim to get to a provincial final - it's not the same game the two counties play at all.

Still, the whole thing is that a little bit of momentum could go a long way. Granted Meath is a hoor of a test in the first game, but if we did get over that, the team would be well up for the next stage against Laois. Either way, there'll be no messing from the off.

I'm sure Tom Cribben will be delighted to have a little bit more lead in time as well. Anyway ,the countdown starts here....

[bula bula]

Probably one of the toughest draws, if not the toughest that we could have gotten. Unless there is dramatic improvement shown by us in the league then it will be out in the first round again. Saying that I personally think that Meath are over-rated and far from unbeatable.

[Bord na Mona man]

Meath's record in Leinster isn't great lately and they do tend to be overrated. What they did in 1991 to Dublin has given them mythical status that still lasts to today.

This year they got to the All Ireland semis. The reaction from the pundits was along the lines of - It's great to have Meath back, football needs a strong Meath, they've been in the doldrums for too long etc.

People seemed to have forgotten that they also made the 2007 semis and the exact same things were said - Meath are back and the future is bright. They didn't build on it the last time, so there is certainly no guarantee they'll do it this time.
That said, at this moment I'd give them the edge over Offaly.

Its been 3 years since Offaly came into the championship with anything resembling proper preparation.
At least Tom Cribben looks interested in managing and up to the task. For starters, the players should get proper Winter preparation work done this year after the farce of previous years.

Outside of the top 5 or 6 counties in Ireland, the standard isn't that high.
For example, look at what Wicklow have done since Micko took over. Or Wexford getting to the All Ireland semi last year. Or Antrim getting to an Ulster final. I'm well aware of the limitations in personal that Offaly have, but we still have been underachieving.

With proper preparation, good attitude, good management a county like Offaly should be hovering around the top 10 in Ireland.
We have an amazing ability to shoot ourselves in the foot though.

[Plain of the Herbs]

I wonder where would that be played. Offaly have always played Meath at Croke Park since time immemorial with the exception of 1995 when Offaly went to Navan. It being a first round match t’will hardly be in Croker, so a provincial venue seems likely. I wonder where.

If Offaly did win, the Laois match would be in OCP as Offaly are due to be at home in that one. I wonder would they get Laois v Meath? They may well do.

There are no other obvious ties to be fixed at OCP, though there’d be a possibility of getting a Kildare v Longford quarter final or Kildare v Westmeath semi final.

[black and red exile]

To be honest its way too early to get excited about next year's championship, we all could be dead by then, for crying out loud it's still 7 months away, we have not even got anywhere near the start of the O'Byrne cup yet let alone the start of the league, let's take things one step at a time starting with the O'Byrne cup, then the league and after that then we can get excited about taking on the royals, if we are all still here.

[GreatDayForTheParish]

By no means a fantastic draw but with the right preparation and proper selection I really believe Offaly can beat Meath. Problem is though is that there would appear to be little or no consensus among supporters or management as to who exactly the spine of Offaly's team should be. Now in all counties there will be differing opinions as to who should be on a team but in Offaly this appears to be especially prevelant with few agreeing on either personnel or positions. Therefeore settling on a team during the league is of the highest priority if we are to make any impact on the championship.

[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.

FIRST ROUND
Louth v Longford 23.05.2010 (Sun.)
Wicklow v Carlow 16.05.2010 (Sun.)
Meath v Offaly 23.05.2010 (Sun.)

QUARTER-FINALS
Louth/Longford v Kildare 06.06.2010 (Sun.)
Wicklow/Carlow v Westmeath 06.06.2010 (Sun.)
Meath/Offaly v Laois 13.06.2010 (Sun.)
Wexford v Dublin 13.06.2010 (Sun.)

SEMI-FINALS
Louth/Longford/Kildare v Wicklow/Carlow/Westmeath 26.06.2010 (Sat.)
Meath/Offaly/Laois v Wexford/Dublin 27.06.2010 (Sun.)

CRAOBH 11.07.2010 (Sun.)

[Plain of the Herbs]

The match against Meath has been fixed for Portlaoise, in a double header with Louth v Longford. Seems like a decent double header.

[Bord na Mona man]

McKeigue out for four months

Wednesday April 07 2010

Niall McKeigue's season could be over. Meath's veteran defender is facing a lengthy lay-off due to a ruptured hamstring.

He was stretchered off in last weekend's NFL Division Two defeat to Donegal and the injury has turned out to be worse than initially feared.

He will be out of action for four months, and is unlikely to play for the Royals again this season, unless they reach the All-Ireland SFC quarter-finals.

Manager Eamon O'Brien also has injury concerns ahead of Sunday's final league game against Kildare over Cormac McGuinness, Ollie Lewis (both hamstring), and David Brady (knee).

[Offaly2010]

23/5/2010
Portlaoise
Offaly vs Meath 2:00 p.m
Extra time playable.

Louth vs Longford 3:50 p.m
Extra time playable.

Thought it would have been the other way around..with Louth and Longford having the early throw in.

[uibhfhailiabu]

23/5/2010
Portlaoise
Offaly vs Meath 2:00 p.m
Extra time playable.

Louth vs Longford 3:50 p.m
Extra time playable.

Thought it would have been the other way around..with Louth and Longford having the early throw in.

Presumably this is related to television coverage?

[Offaly2010]

23/5/2010
Portlaoise
Offaly vs Meath 2:00 p.m
Extra time playable.

Louth vs Longford 3:50 p.m
Extra time playable.

Thought it would have been the other way around..with Louth and Longford having the early throw in.

Presumably this is related to television coverage?

Possibly with Offaly vs Meath been shown at 2:00 p.m and Antrim vs Tyrone been shown in the Ulster Championship which has a 4:00 p.m throw in.

[Offaly2010]

Offaly lost to Kildare in a challenge match today in Carbury.
1-10 - 0-8

[black and red exile]

Yeah I was at it and again after a reasonable first half when there was a slight improvement on Saturday ,the less said about the second half the better, to give ye an indication of the dross we indured for the second period, for the first 17 mins or so both teams only got a point a piece from placed balls, we only scored 3 points in the second half and just one point from play from Anton Sullivan about 5 mins from time. I didn't take down any stats from the game but there were a fair few wides recorded on both sides, Kildare were not a whole lot better, they took their scores a bit easier by being more direct where as usual or lads were doing the usual pass the parcel with the ball before someone, normally John Reynolds had the guts to take a pop to record a couple of points, Scott did ok again at No 3, john Reynolds worked his socks off as usual, John Coughlan had a good first half before dying off again in the second half, Karol Slattery tried hard as I suppose they all did but it just is not happening. There was a bit of handbags involving a number of players in the second half resulting in Pauric Sullivan and old man Rainbow getting Red cards, the only bit of excitement in the whole game but overall one to forget again
Oh yeah the half time score was Kildare 0.8 to Offaly 0.5.

[Bord na Mona man]

Meath sweating on Queeney

Tuesday May 04 2010

Meath attacker Jamie Queeney has emerged as a major doubt for the Leinster SFC opener against Offaly later this month after picking up an ankle injury in a club game at the weekend.

Queeney suffered ankle ligament damage during Na Fianna's IFC victory over St Michael's on Sunday.

He is facing a race against time to be for the clash with the Faithful in Portlaoise on May 23.

David Bray is out for the season after rupturing his cruciate knee ligament, while experienced defender Niall McKeigue is also set to miss the championship with a ruptured hamstring.