o byrne cup
We have kilkenny( football ) next sunday anyone know where its on , maybe this time someone who has an interest in going to the match might reply , Offally and Wexford are in the shield also and may provide a stiffer test for us It was a bit strange in Port (thats Portarlington for anyone who arrived in Portlaoise after reading the venue on this site ) yesterday, there were no DCU supporters and fair play to the real Laois fans who were there. Great to see the new manager getting excited on the sideline
laoistactician , 05/01/2009 at 23:34

o byrne cup
Has the draw for the o'byrne shield been made yet? Anyone know who we are playing and when?
Andy , 05/01/2009 at 23:22

o byrne cup
donie brennan was without question man of the match.excellant the whole way through! but who is this hand lad from graigue? not the best midfielder and didnt look fit atall ended up been substituted in the 1st half. quigley defintaly should of started. anyone agree?
waterboy1 , 05/01/2009 at 19:32

o byrne cup
Would someone mind going down through the Laois players and giving a summary of how they looked. How did the new guys perform?
BlueandWhite , 05/01/2009 at 17:07

o byrne cup
DCU:

1) Michael Boyle (Donegal)
2) Paddy Andrews (Dublin)
3) Ciaran Gavin (Westmeath)
4) Hugh Gill (Dublin)
5) Declan Walsh (Donegal)
6) Ronan Flanagan (Cavan)
7) Barry Waters (Cavan)
8) Kevin Reilly (Meath)
9) Ray Cullivan (Cavan)
10) David Keenan (Roscommon)
11) Michael Lyng (Cavan)
12) Rory Maguire (Meath)
13) Conor Mortimer (Mayo)
14) Brian Sheridan (Meath)
15) Sean Johnston (Cavan) ____ Didn’t start, think it was Niall Carty (Roscommon) who was in for him.

They are a good team with Mortimer and Sheridan very dangerous up front.
Having said that Laois should have beaten them with the point chances that we missed.
Ross Munnelly missed two 30 metre frees straight in front of the posts when we were getting on top and we could never level with them after that. Donie Brennan was class all through and when we eventually gave the free taking to MJ he never missed one of them. We looked very rusty and not as fit as them and could really do with Kingston at full forward whenever he’s fit.
Lobo , 05/01/2009 at 13:38

Portlaoise Grounds
It's a trend that I don't like to see in the GAA where a club will leave its catchment area & go to somewhere miles away
just to make a killing on the property. I like Portlaoise GAA club, they've always been great representatives for Laois but Willoughby does make a good point about youngsters being able to walk up to training. If you're depending on the parents etc to drive them then you're at a disadvantage already.
A club near where I'm living (not in Laois) won the Senior club championship 20 yrs ago. They sold up their ground for a couple of million & built new state-of-the-art grounds several miles from their village about 10 yrs ago. The club is now Junior grade only. However there is now a thriving soccer club in the village 'cos the youngsters can just walk down & play there.

Clubs should focus on their support base & develop that ahead of their properties.
domoore , 05/01/2009 at 12:35

Portlaoise Grounds
ah now bill. the reason it is hard for me to feel sorry for portlaoise is because they saw ?????? and got greedy instead of appreciating what they had, which was already one of the best grounds and facilities in the county and decided to build in rathleague which is in ratheniska catchment area largely and well out of the town. how many young lads going to be able to walk up there for training or a match. anyway looks like the portlaoise men against the developement were right....
willoughby , 05/01/2009 at 11:31

o byrne cup
can someone post the team from DCU please?
laoistownie , 05/01/2009 at 09:16

Mutiny in Graiguecullen Club
Lobo how do you know this thread wasn,t started by a member of the club? all this thread is doing is prolonging an argument
its very easy to hide behind a username
left back , 04/01/2009 at 23:17

o byrne cup
did we win the shield, when was the replay?? if todays efferts were anything to go by we wont be keeping it for long
dhorse , 04/01/2009 at 22:00

o byrne cup
At least we can defend the shield now...
halfcornerfull , 04/01/2009 at 19:12

o byrne cup
Went to match in Portarlington. Laois were decent. Donnie was very good as was MJ. Alot of the players looked very unfit but I'm certain this will change. The goal wasn't really Nolan's fault to be fair to him and he did stop another few! MJ should stick to the free taking. Quigley was the best in midfield and they made a few changes there. I don't think we could afford to loose Quigley to the forwards as the midfield isn't exceptional at the moment. Any how, even with a loss at least they are trying out other players and seeing what works and more importantly what doesn't.
wannabe , 04/01/2009 at 17:40

Mutiny in Graiguecullen Club
Lobo said: Thats what I love about Laois, when one of our number are down we all rally round and support them... thats what makes this county great.
Right.
Is he joking? Everyone knows that Graigue are far from universally liked in Laois. Fact. Many admire their stubborness but thats about it.
All Star , 04/01/2009 at 13:41

Mutiny in Graiguecullen Club
First of all this post wasn't started by a member of this club and in my opinion any member that did reply was right to do so.
There has been a lot of problems within the club for a number of years now (as there is with most clubs) and most of the true Graiguecullen people are fed up to the teeth with it.

Things are very good at underage level as has been seen with their success's at county level over the years but the problems start when the more senior "Chiefs" take over those teams and for some reason have failed to bring on some very promising young lads.
Its obvious that there has to be change in the attitude and structures of the club as some of the older men are living in the past and still talking about the great success's of the Tommy Murphy era as if it were yesterday.

Now dont get me wrong, those were great days for the club but you cant survive on past glories forever and its about time these lads woke up and see the way this once great club is going. These older guys have given their lives to the club and they should now be the men who stand up and lead by example. They are not going to live forever and we would all like to remember them for the good that they have done and not for bringing the club to its knees.

So please lads( ye all know who I mean), remember that the club is bigger than any individual and will go on when we are all dead and gone. Dont ruin all the years of the great work that ye did when things were bad by a few silly squabbles now that could be detrimental to the club going forward.

To answer "left back" most of the problems HAVE been resolved inhouse and as can be seen by this forum all of the clubs around us have been nothing only supportive of a resolution (and NOT delighted!) and for that I thank them all. Thats what I love about Laois, when one of our number are down we all rally round and support them... thats what makes this county great.
Lobo , 04/01/2009 at 01:09

Mutiny in Graiguecullen Club
Lads this is not my club or county but i cant believe the posts on this anyone that calls themselves club people and then posts rubbish on this forum the club can do without surely this argument can be resolved inhouse all the local clubs around ye must be delighted
left back , 03/01/2009 at 21:21

Playing football in north west England
There is a new club forming in Chester called Chester Noamh Padraig. Anyone who lives in Chester and/or the surrounding areas and are interested in playing Gaelic Football drop me an email shanec2k@gmail.com. Those who travel to Manchester or Liverpool can save time and money on fuel and travelling and join this club which is extremely convenient. This club has ben founded on the back of a very successful University team in Chester. Anyway people looking forward to hearing any responses , thanks Shane
Monaghan in exile , 03/01/2009 at 20:55

Portlaoise Grounds
totally agree with Clinton....absolute disgrace that so called "town men" should try put a halt to the development!
TheTownEnd , 03/01/2009 at 20:26

Portlaoise Grounds
hard to feel sorry for them? its people like you that make people in the town sick. what was wrong with the flagship club in the county taking the extra step and trying to make a development to encourage kids all over portlaoise to take up and prosper at our games? does that not benefit the county as a whole? the whole thing is sad but don’t you worry, croke park wont see a club like portlaoise stuck. wonder if you could say that about your club wiloughby? by the way there’s a few so called portlaoise supporters and clubmen who should hang their heads in shame over the way this development was NOT ALLOWED to reach its full potential. you know who you are.
bill clinton , 02/01/2009 at 18:56

Portlaoise Grounds
not nice to see. a symptom of the way the GAA has got more into property development focussed than dealing with games participation at grass roots. im sure portlaois will hang tough and carry on with developing good teams. meanwhile a lot of massive GAA buildings will be keeping pigeons sheltered for years to come
dhorse , 02/01/2009 at 12:31

o byrne cup
DCU, what hapened to the o'byrne shield
dhorse , 02/01/2009 at 12:27