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Leitrim GAA thread - 4 Like(s)
Replying To kentuckytucky: "Lots of talk about Andy Moran, give him more time I say but an experienced manager like Highlands on Sunday would not have Leitrim playing man on man, we would have parked the bus from the get go and keep the score down and try and get our forwards into play as much as possible. I hate parking the bus tactics but when you are away from home against a division one side it is common sense.
Of course there is an elephant in the room here and that is our best player was on the sideline for the first half, for whatever reason. We could ill afford that also." Absolute nonsense on the point about Hyland. Some lads have short memories. Hyland had 3 connacht championship games during his time in charge. We got beaten out the gate by Roscommon in '19 (14 points). 2020 we were beaten by 11 points in Carrick against Mayo and my memory of that game is that it was played in horrendous conditions which probably helped us keep the score down and then 2021 we again suffered a 24 point hammering.
The manner of the defeats have not changed and have been the same for the past 10-12 years. That is disappointing
I would love to know what people were realistically expecting out of Moran. It would appear some may have expected him to come in and have us running a Galway, Mayo or Roscommon close or challenging for a nestor cup. The man has been in the job for less than a year. We participated in what was probably the strongest division 4 since the league structure was revamped and were extremely competitive and i would say somewhat unlucky not to get out of it. We had some great results and a couple of poor ones. It was a mixed bag. We got out of Ruislip by the skin of our teeth (again) but our last 3/4 visits to London for championship encounters have been the same. Has progress been made? Hard to know, probably open to debate. He is very much a rookie manager and i am sure he accepts that but who will come in, replace him and improve us dramatically. We've been down this road so many times in the past 10 years and we haven't really gone anywhere bar a brief stint in Division 3.
The Division 1 and 2 teams are miles ahead of us in every single aspect. S&C is one thing but it is also the readiness for games and the experience of playing teams at a similar level to them. No quick fix i am afraid and setting a side up to be ultra defensive is as much use as setting a side up to go man to man. Is that how we want to see Leitrim play the game? Damage limitation from the outset. No doubt Moran would have been crucified if he had have done that also so it's lose-lose. The Connacht championship is broken beyond any kind of repair. That is not Andy Moran's or any Leitrim manage over the past 10-12 years fault. You wouldn't send a junior club team out against a top senior club team and expect them to go toe to toe.
juande_ramos (National) - 10/05/2022 13:11:30
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Division 4 - National League - 3 Like(s)
Agreed. We will not get a better opportunity to get out of Div 4 than this year. This seems to be the No.1 target within the camp. Wrynn and Beirne are obviously two big losses but the panel seems to have some good strength in depth and great to have some experienced heads like Reynolds and McWeeney back in the fold. Competition for places must be mighty so should ensure we hit the ground running on the opening weekend which is going to be vital.
10-12 points is generally enough to get a top 2 place. if we hit the 10 point mark we will be very unlucky not to get promoted. We must win all our home games against Wexford, Antrim, London and Waterford i feel. All very winnable fixtures in my view and then look to pick up points on the road. Wicklow or Limerick probably our best bet here. It is hard to judge Derry. No doubt they will have a classy team but they have been in freefall the past few years with a lot of in fighting and certain club players not wanting to be involved. Alot of the teams in Div 4 seem to be on somewhat of a downward spiral and we seem to be slowly moving in the right direction.
The fixtures do appear to have fallen kindly for us also to build up some momentum and get confidence up.
While i am optimistic for the campaign ahead i have been following our beloved county for long enough to know we will certainly never do things the easy way! Exciting few months ahead. Hoping to see good crowds in Carrick and on the road for all our games
juande_ramos (Leitrim) - 08/01/2019 13:06:53
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Leitrim GAA thread - 3 Like(s)
Replying To weatherfieldgael: "It was a great win for Leitrim, but imagine if it was in the proper qualifiers and not in this junior partition cup how much more of a buzz there'd be." Could not disagree more.
In 2019 we beat Wicklow in the qualifiers and drew Clare the week after who comfortably dispatched of us. 2018 we beat Louth and our reward for that was a draw V Monaghan. Now i can only speak from my own experience but beating Wicklow and Louth was great however i knew and expected both Clare and Monaghan to dispatch of us relatively easily as we were well off the pace of those two sides so i would not say i had much of a buzz going into those games. Beating Wicklow and Louth was great and gave us another day out but in reality it was a stay of execution. This is different as we are operating at our level.
The Tailteann Cup win at the weekend was great and i haven't felt a buzz for a championship like i have had this week in a long time going into a Leitrim game. I am glad the panel has stayed together and we are taking this competition seriously.
juande_ramos (National) - 01/06/2022 13:27:40
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Leitrim GAA thread - 3 Like(s)
Replying To kentuckytucky: "So you are saying Highlands isn't an experienced manager?" I never suggested Hyland wasn't an experienced manager. The dogs on the street knows that he is. I have respect for the man and what he did for us during his time in charge. I was responding to your point where you were suggesting that if Hyland was in charge we would have set up differently and possibly not be beaten by as much. In my view that is nonsense as Hyland got three cracks at the Connacht championship and we were beaten out the gate in two of those and probably managed to keep the scoreline somewhat respectable in the other due to weather conditions on the day. The setting up defensive point doesn't wash with me as what is the point in setting a side up for damage limitation. I am sure Moran made tactical errors on Sunday, i am sure he will go away and think he could have done things differently but at the end of the day we are miles and miles off the pace from the Mayo's, Galway's and Roscommon's of this world. This hasn't come to light after Sunday or overnight and the sooner those in denial about the limitations of Leitrim football the better. I have nothing but respect for everyone one of those lads on the panel who put the work in year in year out and have to deal with results like Sunday.
juande_ramos (National) - 11/05/2022 13:20:42
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The Big Question - Support Or Lack Of - 3 Like(s)
As a Leitrim fan in Croke Park on Saturday i must admit i was astounded by the lack of support for Derry in the ground. I know some of your support has become disillusioned over the past number of years but i didn't realise just how bad this was. As the opening poster said it was a national final. Granted a Division 4 final but for us it meant an awful lot. Maybe the GAA community of Derry just are not bothered by such a lowly title? We have had our fair share of dark days and hammerings along the way but i guess we do not have the titles that Derry somewhat became accustomed to down through the years.
You guys are on the way back up and fair play to you. Hopefully the support starts to return too.
One final point is fair play to Chrissy McKaigue for his fine words about the Leitrim team and our fans. thought it was a real lovely touch by the man.
Congrats on being crowned league champions on Saturday and the very best of luck in the Championship. We look forward to welcoming you to Carrick next year for our Div 3 tussle.
juande_ramos (Derry) - 02/04/2019 13:02:04
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Leitrim Inter-County 2020 - 2 Like(s)
Madness to get carried away over Sunday.
Yes it was a hammering and yes they are always hard to take but the bigger picture is we were without the vast majority of our key men. Forget about it and move on.
I do not expect us to come out with many (if any) wins from Div 3 but what i do expect is us to be competitive in alot of the games. We will nearly always be competitive at home and give teams a good rattle but i'd like to see us being more competitive on the road with the step up to Div 3. Our away form was nearly always our achilles heel in trying to get out of Div 4 year on year and we rectified that last year. So what i am looking for is for us to be competitive against higher class opposition on a weekly basis and that in my eyes will be progress. The bookies will have us as big underdogs in each and every one of our games and as the saying goes i have yet to meet a poor bookmaker. Div 3 is an absolute minefield this year and you can probably make a good case for 4/5 of the teams involved pushing for promotion and likewise 4/5 for the drop.
Whilst i would love to see us stay in Div 3 I would also not be too disheartened if we do end up getting relegated so long as we have been competitive.
juande_ramos (Leitrim) - 15/01/2020 13:26:25
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NFL Division 4 - 2 Like(s)
The best part of 300 of the Leitrim diaspora expected to be travelling over from America for Saturday if reports are to be believed along with probably a similar kind of number (if not more) travelling from the UK and other parts of Europe. Most clubs in the county have buses laid on and no doubt the Sligo to Dublin trains on Saturday morning will be packed once leaving Carrick and Dromod stations. I really wonder will anyone be left at home to mind the house at all.
It really is great to see & I am really looking forward to our day out in Croker. 2006 was an awfully long time ago. We will enjoy if for sure and fingers crossed we will give it a good go. No reason why we can't.
juande_ramos (National) - 28/03/2019 17:01:56
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Division 4 - National League - 2 Like(s)
Fantastic result in the end on Sunday but plenty of room for improvement and i for one will not be getting carried away just yet. Being honest Wexford were extremely poor and showed very little fight once we got the couple of goals in quick succession but credit where credit is due to our lads who once they smelt blood they drove on and were clinical. I was impressed with the pace in which we turned defence in attack in the second half and some of our attacking moves were a joy to watch.
Our standout performer was obviously O'Rourke who just oozes class but i suspect he will be given alot more attention (not that it will bother him!) down in Aughrim on Sunday but we have enough quality in the forwards now to not just be solely reliant on him for scores. Sean McWeeney was the other standout performer for me on Sunday also. The impact from the bench was very pleasing and we have serious options for forwards coming off the line. When you have the luxury to bring a player of the quality of Rooney off the bench then i think that speaks volumes. although i think he may be in the starting 15 come Sunday.
The wagon rolls on to Aughrim on Sunday where we all know we will get nothing easy and we will need to up our performance levels again to overturn a Wicklow side who are somewhat improving. We have a poor record in Aughrim although we did win impressively in the same venue two years ago. I see some much room for improvement in our team which is very exciting and pleasing. Great start on Sunday and we go again this Sunday. It would be fantastic to be welcoming Antrim to Carrick in a few weeks with 4 points tucked neatly away in our arse pocket.
I said this before but i will say it again. 10 points will see us finish in the top two i believe.
juande_ramos (Leitrim) - 29/01/2019 13:21:33
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This Weekend's Football Qualifier Matches - Call Them - 1 Like(s)
Replying To tulachmhór: "Antrim caught a few of us off guard and down beating tipp caught a few also. Carlow let me down.
Onto round 2:
Westmeath v Limerick-westmeath by 8
Longford v Tyrone -tyrone by 2 aet
Antrim v Kildare-kildare by 7
Leitrim v Clare- Clare by 8
Down v Mayo- mayo by 10
Derry v Laois - derry by 2 aet
Offaly v Sligo - offaly by 7
Monaghan v Armagh - Monaghan by 7
Bar derry v laois and tyrone v longford (both games a flip of the coin to me) I cant see many interesting round 2 games. I expect 4 round one winners to progress easily to round 3.
Mood is changing around offaly, people are increasingly coming around to my way of thinking (peaking for summer) and we are predicting a long summer here should we get a relatively favourable round 3 draw. The lads we are missing may prove costly in the future but were doing ok for now. As the old adage goes, league means nothing come championship time." "As the old adage goes, league means nothing come championship time."
But you are writing Sligo off and saying you will beat them by 7 points based upon what??? let me guess.......their league performances/results?? I am open to correction but i do not believe Sligo have won a game all year and the closest they came to winning a game all year was against Offaly in the league (losing out by a point). Sligo were already dead, buried and relegated to Div 4 whereas Offaly had to win to stay up. Most bookies have you at -4 which is probably about right but here don't let yourself get too ahead of yourselves. Sligo are at a very similar level to yourselves really and it will be alot closer than the comprehensive 7 point win you are predicting in my view.
juande_ramos (National) - 10/06/2019 14:00:53
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Championship Predictions Competition - W9 - 1 Like(s)
Cork v Kerry - Kerry by 4
Westmeath v Galway - Galway by 5
Kildare v Dublin - Dubs by 6
Tyrone v Armagh - Tyrone by 3
Meath v Down - Down by 2
Tipperary v Waterford - Tipp by 3
Cavan v Offaly - Cavan by 4
Laois v London - Laois by 8
Mayo v Louth - Mayo by 5
Monaghan v Clare - Monaghan by 6
Roscommon v Sligo - Rossies by 8
Donegal v Derry - Derry by 3
Limerick v Wicklow - Limerick by 3
Longford v Carlow - Longford by 4
Wexford v Leitrim - Wexford by 4
Fermanagh v Antrim - Fermanagh by 3
juande_ramos (National) - 30/05/2023 16:28:55
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NFL Division 4 - 1 Like(s)
Replying To Offside_Rule: "Just shows how tight this league can be though and how it can come down to small margins. Our matches against Derry and Leitrim could have easily have went our way but instead we lost both by the minimum and now the season is all but over bar our 2 championship games. You either laugh or you cry!!!" Div 4 is ruthless when it comes to this.
We have been on the receiving end of it from years so i do understand your pain. In years gone by Leitrim would have been beaten below in Aughrim last weekend and yesterday at home in tight games like that.
juande_ramos (National) - 11/02/2019 13:34:52
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Division 4 - National League - 1 Like(s)
I am sure changes will be made come throw in time Saturday both starting personnel and positional. Cannot see us lining out 1-15 as named being honest.
You have to feel for McKiernan if McCrann indeed has got the nod to start. He has done nothing wrong and has played a huge part in getting us promoted. That standout save below in Limerick along with other big saves against Antrim and Wicklow were game changers or match winners in themselves. McCrann only rejoined the panel halfway through the league didn't he? Very very strange call if you ask me.
juande_ramos (Leitrim) - 28/03/2019 16:52:17
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Division 4 - National League - 1 Like(s)
Yes another huge game on Saturday.
I would expect it to be another tight affair but this team has already shown they are more than capable of coming out the right side of that type of game (something we haven't been great at down through the years!). I wouldn't say Terry will make too many changes to the 15 that started against Antrim. I'd like to see Rooney start given the impact he had the last day but won't be surprised if he is left on the line. I think if McGovern is fit he will start him on the edge of the square ahead of Moran but that may be the only change.
Win Saturday and Derry win on Sunday i think we will be pretty much home and hosed. That would open up a 4 point gap to those in 3rd place with 6 points to play for. If we lose on Saturday i do not think it will be the end of the world as i do strongly believe that 4 points from our remaining 4 games will see us finish in the top two. Limerick while on 4 points are in somewhat of a false position given that the 4 points have come against historically the two weakest sides in the division (London and Waterford). The first real test they had was in Aughrim and they failed. I still expect them to give us plenty of it Saturday and we will get nothing easy. Limerick must win which means they will have to give it a go at some stage which may just be what we need given the pace of our forward line who if given a bit of extra space will do damage.
I am confident our lads will come out the right side after another real battle.
juande_ramos (Leitrim) - 18/02/2019 13:59:04
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NFL Division 4 - 1 Like(s)
Another big 2 points yesterday for Leitrim. We dug it out at the death for the second week in a row which is pleasing but still plenty of improvement needed.
The win sets us up nicely for the promotion run in. While Derry haven't pulled up any trees to day I expect them to beat everyone and therefore finish on 14 points. As a Leitrim man I want Derry to beat both Wicklow and Limerick! If Derry get turned over by one of these then it will turn the division into a real dogfight. Wicklow beating Limerick yesterday was a good result for us also (so thank you to our Wicklow friends!!)
If we can win down in Limerick in two weeks time I think that is us promoted also (no disrespect to London and Waterford whatsoever but I expect us to beat both at home.)
Looking at the remaining fixtures for our other promotion challengers (Wicklow and Limerick) they both have to play Derry, Antrim and Wexford. Even if we lose below in Limerick In two weeks time I believe another two wins (to leave us on a total of 10 points) will see us finish in the top two. After us limerick have Derry (H), Wexford (A) and Antrim (H). I think they could lose below in Wexford. Wicklow have yet to go to Derry and Belfast and I expect them to lose both.
So let's say worst case scenario Limerick beat us as do Derry and we beat London and Waterford. We will finish with 10 points and two defeats. Limerick after beating us suffer two defeats from the last three games meaning they've lost 3 and similarly with Wicklow.
It really would be some implosion for us to finish on less than 10 points now.
Bookies have us as 1/12 shots to be promoted and as I said last week I've yet to meet a poor bookie. And as someone who likes a bet and leaving my loyalties to one side I don't think I have ever backed against a 1/12 shot!
All this may come across as slightly arrogant but I can assure you it couldn't be further from the case. I am fully aware we still have lots to do and London and Waterford certainly won't come to Carrick and roll over.
Finally, a day Out in Croker would be fantastic but for me that is secondary. It is all about promotion and finishing in the top two and getting out of the pit that is Division 4.
Roll on Limerick in two weeks
juande_ramos (National) - 11/02/2019 08:06:27
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Division 4 - National League - 1 Like(s)
4 from 4. What a feeling. To win our last 3 games in the manner we have shows what this group of men are made of. And the most pleasing thing about it all is that we can all see room for improvement and are aware that this team is not the finished article.
I said before a ball was kicked that 10 points would be the magic number and it certainly seems now that will be the case. Whilst the job is not fully done yet i do not expect us to implode in the manner that would be required from here and i think we will beat London on Sunday with a bit of spare. Probably 5 or 6 points if not more.
It is very hard not to think of the day out in Croker. It will be great to see our county taking to the field in HQ. Lots of counties take it for granted but i do hope we all (fans and players) enjoy the day out because who knows when we will be back there again. I can see our team being an even better outfit playing on the hard ground and wide open spaces of Croke Park. Bring it on.
Croke Park on the 30th of March will be our biggest game since when?
Connacht Final in 2000? All Ireland Semi Final 1994?
juande_ramos (Leitrim) - 25/02/2019 13:12:09
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NFL Division 4 - 1 Like(s)
Replying To green.and.gold: "Leitrim ground out another win yesterday , getting closer to our goal of promotion. If Derry beat Wicklow today I reckon one more win will do us. Getting out of Division 4 after 11 years in it would be a huge step for us." Derry beat Wicklow today and both us and Derry will be 4 points ahead of the pack with 6 points still to play for.
If we beat London next weekend in Carrick we will be promoted I believe with two games to spare as it's based on head to head and not scoring difference. I think I am correct in saying that??
juande_ramos (National) - 24/02/2019 12:33:32
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NFL Predictions Competition - Week 3 - 1 Like(s)
Division 1
Mayo v Kerry - Kerry by 2
Galway v Tyrone - Galway by 2
Monaghan v Donegal - Donegal by 3
Roscommon v Armagh - Armagh by 1
Division 2
Derry v Meath - Derry by 3
Clare v Kildare - Kildare by 4
Louth v Limerick - Louth by 3
Cork v Dublin - Dublin by 5
Division 3
Tipperary v Antrim - Tipp by 2
Fermanagh v Down - Down by 3
Cavan v Longford - Cavan by 6
Westmeath v Offaly - Westmeath by 3
Division 4
Wicklow v London - Wicklow by 2
Sligo v Waterford - Sligo by 10
Carlow v Laois - Laois by 5
Wexford v Leitrim - Leitrim by 3
juande_ramos (National) - 13/02/2023 12:35:25
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