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Replying To ThePowerhouse: "An alarming drop in numbers considering the St. Brigids amalgamation reached the u13 final in 2024." I agree it's quite alarming. Almost unbelievable. There must a Gulf Sheikh behind this behemoth. This League of Nations even trumps Sheemore Gaels back in the day. The numbers quoted by Micki Mac are disingenuous. They had a sideline full of subs last night and even without their two first choice midfielders, and playing away, they still cruised to a 19 point win over the second best team in the competition. They say they have 23 players within the two year bracket. Rinn Gaels an amalgamation of two parishes have 10. A comparison of boys enrolled in the catchment areas also shows a 2.5 / 1 ratio in favour of the new conglomerate. What went wrong with the amalgamation of MacDiarmada Gaels. They lost too many finals probably and not enough silverware to satisfy the club mandarins. What would be wrong with Ballinamore amalgamating with St Brigids? Why do they need Fenagh as well? Fenagh and Kiltubrid are a natural amalgamation. Ballinamore / St Brigids would easily compete with Rinn Gaels / Manor / Carrick / MacCumhails . St. Joseph's and Rinn Gaels are two excellent examples of rural amalgamations run properly and building an identity. The Drumreilly boys would have been a very welcome addition to St. Joseph's. An interesting aside is all 5 clubs involved are busy applying for huge grants to develop grounds and infrastructure. This is counter indicative of any decline in their respective clubs ambitions for the future. Or if it's like what Micki Mac claims for whom are they building these facilities. If the raison d'etre is to keep their club alive then this is t the way to go about it. As St Brigids will be able to field a team next year then I presume they will be pulling away from Naomh Eoun in 2026. They did after all contest the Div 1 final last season. An amalgamation is always a thorny issue but should be at the very least viable and sustainable and most of all fair to other teams. By allowing this amalgamation to be sanctioned coiste na nOg have completely destroyed the integrity of the competition. It is elitist and short sighted. Is there any point even running a Feile competition next week? It's a complete farce. The only consolation is that at least the clubs are bordering each other and contiguous unlike Fenagh's previous alliances with Allen Gaels and Gortlettragh. Maybe Mohill & Melvin Gaels might amalgamate or Annaduff and Dromahaire, training alternating between St Osnets and Annaduff. Anything's possible it seems. McGarty (Leitrim) - Posts: 3 - 29/04/2025 16:16:50 2605444 Link
Replying To McGarty: "I agree it's quite alarming. Almost unbelievable. There must a Gulf Sheikh behind this behemoth. This League of Nations even trumps Sheemore Gaels back in the day. The numbers quoted by Micki Mac are disingenuous. They had a sideline full of subs last night and even without their two first choice midfielders, and playing away, they still cruised to a 19 point win over the second best team in the competition. They say they have 23 players within the two year bracket. Rinn Gaels an amalgamation of two parishes have 10. A comparison of boys enrolled in the catchment areas also shows a 2.5 / 1 ratio in favour of the new conglomerate. What went wrong with the amalgamation of MacDiarmada Gaels. They lost too many finals probably and not enough silverware to satisfy the club mandarins. What would be wrong with Ballinamore amalgamating with St Brigids? Why do they need Fenagh as well? Fenagh and Kiltubrid are a natural amalgamation. Ballinamore / St Brigids would easily compete with Rinn Gaels / Manor / Carrick / MacCumhails . St. Joseph's and Rinn Gaels are two excellent examples of rural amalgamations run properly and building an identity. The Drumreilly boys would have been a very welcome addition to St. Joseph's. An interesting aside is all 5 clubs involved are busy applying for huge grants to develop grounds and infrastructure. This is counter indicative of any decline in their respective clubs ambitions for the future. Or if it's like what Micki Mac claims for whom are they building these facilities. If the raison d'etre is to keep their club alive then this is t the way to go about it. As St Brigids will be able to field a team next year then I presume they will be pulling away from Naomh Eoun in 2026. They did after all contest the Div 1 final last season. An amalgamation is always a thorny issue but should be at the very least viable and sustainable and most of all fair to other teams. By allowing this amalgamation to be sanctioned coiste na nOg have completely destroyed the integrity of the competition. It is elitist and short sighted. Is there any point even running a Feile competition next week? It's a complete farce. The only consolation is that at least the clubs are bordering each other and contiguous unlike Fenagh's previous alliances with Allen Gaels and Gortlettragh. Maybe Mohill & Melvin Gaels might amalgamate or Annaduff and Dromahaire, training alternating between St Osnets and Annaduff. Anything's possible it seems." Perhaps the amalgamation was sanctioned because of the Ballinamore area community games team which pulls from the same clubs but I'd agree it should not be allowed. Square_B (Leitrim) - Posts: 1282 - 29/04/2025 17:03:07 2605465 Link
The most alarming part is big rural parishes having to amalgamate at underage when our population overall has increased. boxtyburgerbuns (Leitrim) - Posts: 243 - 29/04/2025 17:52:40 2605489 Link
Replying To boxtyburgerbuns: "The most alarming part is big rural parishes having to amalgamate at underage when our population overall has increased." What do you define by a big rural parish? What big rural parishes have you in mind? McGarty (Leitrim) - Posts: 3 - 29/04/2025 18:40:41 2605498 Link
Negativity V positivity Interesting article in today's Leitrim observer by John Connolly about the above in Leitrim ,particularly in relation to the Leitrim Senior men's team. He has a fair point when he says the Poacher bashers on social media have had a bad run the last few weeks, with Leitrim unexpected performance against Mayo .Add in U20 and minor successes and my God there is a danger of light appearing!!!! As he points out failure to push on in the Tailteann Cup will have the gloom merchants in full flight again. I joeman123 (Leitrim) - Posts: 561 - 30/04/2025 11:26:39 2605622 Link
Replying To joeman123: "Negativity V positivity Interesting article in today's Leitrim observer by John Connolly about the above in Leitrim ,particularly in relation to the Leitrim Senior men's team. He has a fair point when he says the Poacher bashers on social media have had a bad run the last few weeks, with Leitrim unexpected performance against Mayo .Add in U20 and minor successes and my God there is a danger of light appearing!!!! As he points out failure to push on in the Tailteann Cup will have the gloom merchants in full flight again. I" The record books will show Mayo beat us well at home, those that remember the day will remember they made hard work of it, it's true. But was that down to the players or to Poacher or to both? My money is on the players and to the poorest Mayo side this century, in an era they had pretty impressive teams. Majority of people I saw bashing Poacher on social media were not even from Leitrim. They appeared to be from other counties. And to the point of having a reasonable game against a div 1 team, isn't that why expectations should be high we can qualify for knockouts in the teacup. For example if we are put in a group with Fermanagh, Wexford and Waterford...wouldn't you expect us to be in at least third position in that group? But then if we are drawn against New York in a preliminary quarter final would you be confident we'd beat them? boxtyburgerbuns (Leitrim) - Posts: 243 - 30/04/2025 12:36:46 2605650 Link
Replying To joeman123: "Negativity V positivity Interesting article in today's Leitrim observer by John Connolly about the above in Leitrim ,particularly in relation to the Leitrim Senior men's team. He has a fair point when he says the Poacher bashers on social media have had a bad run the last few weeks, with Leitrim unexpected performance against Mayo .Add in U20 and minor successes and my God there is a danger of light appearing!!!! As he points out failure to push on in the Tailteann Cup will have the gloom merchants in full flight again. I" One swallow does not make a summer. Don't forget it was the shield competitions we won, ie for the two worst teams in the competition. Galway played practically a second team and we struggled to beat them. If there's light appearing based on that it must be an oncoming train bláthach (Leitrim) - Posts: 42 - 30/04/2025 12:43:22 2605655 Link
Replying To joeman123: "Negativity V positivity Interesting article in today's Leitrim observer by John Connolly about the above in Leitrim ,particularly in relation to the Leitrim Senior men's team. He has a fair point when he says the Poacher bashers on social media have had a bad run the last few weeks, with Leitrim unexpected performance against Mayo .Add in U20 and minor successes and my God there is a danger of light appearing!!!! As he points out failure to push on in the Tailteann Cup will have the gloom merchants in full flight again. I" Delusion v Reality There are those amongst us, who, if they were turkeys, would vote for Christmas. They'd convince themselves that it'd be a good idea. Kind of like the Brexiteers or MAGA supporters. Blind loyalty can often lead to defending the indefensible. People take a stance and are embarrassed to admit they were wrong. Very often they double down and become even more zealous. Your loyalty is commendable but deluded. The first step on the road to recovery is to admit you've a problem and by you i obviously mean Leitrim football. A couple of moral victories does not make a summer. ThePowerhouse (Leitrim) - Posts: 221 - 30/04/2025 13:08:54 2605662 Link
Replying To bláthach: "One swallow does not make a summer. Don't forget it was the shield competitions we won, ie for the two worst teams in the competition. Galway played practically a second team and we struggled to beat them. If there's light appearing based on that it must be an oncoming train" Don't be saying that here, Joe & Co won't be happy. Square_B (Leitrim) - Posts: 1282 - 30/04/2025 13:13:38 2605664 Link
Tailteann Cup Group 1 Kildare Sligo Leitrim Tipperary What do we think? I suspect if we got to pick the tabs in our group, we'd pick none of those. Tacaí Liatroma (Leitrim) - Posts: 1165 - 30/04/2025 13:59:30 2605680 Link
That isn't a great teacup draw for us, Kildare, Sligo and Tipperary. That Tipperary game is our knockout game boxtyburgerbuns (Leitrim) - Posts: 243 - 30/04/2025 14:14:26 2605692 Link
Replying To boxtyburgerbuns: "That isn't a great teacup draw for us, Kildare, Sligo and Tipperary. That Tipperary game is our knockout game" Two shots at redemption. A chance to show the progress that has been made since we last played Kildare and Sligo. ThePowerhouse (Leitrim) - Posts: 221 - 30/04/2025 14:37:32 2605707 Link
Replying To Square_B: "Don't be saying that here, Joe & Co won't be happy." Don't reference me, read John Connolly.Of course there are issues.However it gives me no pleasure to call you out for being the most negative defeatist and downright ::::::":: I have seen on any forum. joeman123 (Leitrim) - Posts: 561 - 30/04/2025 14:52:24 2605716 Link
Replying To ThePowerhouse: "Two shots at redemption. A chance to show the progress that has been made since we last played Kildare and Sligo." Hopefully, neither of them are great shakes but are better on paper slightly than us boxtyburgerbuns (Leitrim) - Posts: 243 - 30/04/2025 15:11:43 2605730 Link
Replying To joeman123: "Don't reference me, read John Connolly.Of course there are issues.However it gives me no pleasure to call you out for being the most negative defeatist and downright ::::::":: I have seen on any forum." I'm not deluded like you Joe. You just don't like hearing the truth but let's be fair, you're not the only one in Leitrim GAA circles. Square_B (Leitrim) - Posts: 1282 - 30/04/2025 15:18:23 2605733 Link
Replying To Tacaí Liatroma: "Tailteann Cup Group 1 Kildare Sligo Leitrim Tipperary What do we think? I suspect if we got to pick the tabs in our group, we'd pick none of those." Ya that's a tough draw. Watched kildare last weekend very athletic team, Darragh kirwan, kevin Feely and Alex Beirne very impressive, they could easily have got to a Lenister final and would have fancied themselves against Meath. Sligo we know well, they had a poor start to the league won the last four games and they probably fancy themselves getting to the final, they were very unlucky last year against Down, I wasn't overly impressed with them against Mayo I think the scoreline flattered them but they have some very good players, and they hammered us a few weeks ago so you would hope the players and management would like to improve on that display, I'd probably fancy us to beat Tippeary if we can keep everyone fit and involved, but not a great draw, but when you have been as bad as we have this year (offaly and Mayo the exceptions) there wasn't going to be any easy draw. 3rdmidfielder (Australia) - Posts: 412 - 30/04/2025 15:33:15 2605740 Link
Replying To 3rdmidfielder: " Replying To Tacaí Liatroma: "Tailteann Cup Group 1 Kildare Sligo Leitrim Tipperary What do we think? I suspect if we got to pick the tabs in our group, we'd pick none of those." Ya that's a tough draw. Watched kildare last weekend very athletic team, Darragh kirwan, kevin Feely and Alex Beirne very impressive, they could easily have got to a Lenister final and would have fancied themselves against Meath. Sligo we know well, they had a poor start to the league won the last four games and they probably fancy themselves getting to the final, they were very unlucky last year against Down, I wasn't overly impressed with them against Mayo I think the scoreline flattered them but they have some very good players, and they hammered us a few weeks ago so you would hope the players and management would like to improve on that display, I'd probably fancy us to beat Tippeary if we can keep everyone fit and involved, but not a great draw, but when you have been as bad as we have this year (offaly and Mayo the exceptions) there wasn't going to be any easy draw." exactly, there was no easy draw for us, simples, no team there would have feared us based on league form, but if we can replicate the same form vs Mayo and tweak a few things, we should be competitive and sneak the win vs Tipp gaelsboy (Leitrim) - Posts: 627 - 30/04/2025 16:19:27 2605773 Link
Replying To joeman123: "Negativity V positivity Interesting article in today's Leitrim observer by John Connolly about the above in Leitrim ,particularly in relation to the Leitrim Senior men's team. He has a fair point when he says the Poacher bashers on social media have had a bad run the last few weeks, with Leitrim unexpected performance against Mayo .Add in U20 and minor successes and my God there is a danger of light appearing!!!! As he points out failure to push on in the Tailteann Cup will have the gloom merchants in full flight again. I" In fairness being the fourth best team in Connacht at minor and under 20 cannot be deemed success surely? Backheel (Leitrim) - Posts: 194 - 30/04/2025 16:39:02 2605786 Link
Replying To Backheel: "In fairness being the fourth best team in Connacht at minor and under 20 cannot be deemed success surely?" We're officially better than Galway at U-20 football. Let's enjoy it while it lasts. Tacaí Liatroma (Leitrim) - Posts: 1165 - 01/05/2025 00:23:21 2605894 Link
Replying To Tacaí Liatroma: "We're officially better than Galway at U-20 football. Let's enjoy it while it lasts." Galway's second team you mean?? Their first team hammered us in Cloone!!! bláthach (Leitrim) - Posts: 42 - 01/05/2025 10:10:02 2605940 Link