Emmets styleof play is difficult to counter act , gabriels have a strong team and will fare better against a team that play a more orthodox game, buster keeps refering to the stanard of the game in london this is an insult to all players that togged out in sundays final , london is a mish mash of players from all over ireland with contrastng styles and ideas on how the game should be played. Im sure as a sub for sean treacys you wouoldnt have the cheek to voice your opinions in public buster!!! finally my all star team 1. paddy gannon 2. stephen fox 3.Tom kennedy 4.Neil Coady 5. Niall Healy 6. Paddy Waters 7.Kieran Dwyer 8.Daniel Hocter 9. Matt Fitzsimmons 10.Colm Burke 11.Sean Quinn 12.Mark Mythen 13.Henry Vaughan 14.Martin Finn 15.Kevin Mc Mullen

cyrilfarrell82 (Galway) - Posts: 3 - 14/10/2009 20:52:45    454705

cyrilfarrell82 I don't know what posts your reading but you'd want to get your facts straight "buster keeps refering to the stanard of the game in london" I mentioned it once and in agreement with another poster that it was poor compared to other years. It's a small bit more obvious to me now why Galway haven't won an All Ireland in over 20 years when you think that standard is good and I'd have no problem saying that to anyone in public either. Your obviously from outside portumna in Galway where the hurling is tripe. Anyone with a hurling brain of any sort will admit to that the club standard here was poor this year, anyone else is delirious. It will be proven when the Gab's play the Munster champions in the coming months. There is probably between 30 and 40 good hurlers over here about 15 very good and a whole lot of hatchet men. Don't think too many will disagree. Emmett's barely trained as far as I heard had 6 or 7 at training when they did and missing 4 of their starting team and still should of won it, had points taken off them, lads given far to lengthy suspensions, a bit more discipline regarding lads going training and they would of walked the championship and the standard is good? If they were in Kilkenny or Cork at Intermediate level they would of been crucified in the first round.

Buster66 (UK) - Posts: 119 - 15/10/2009 07:32:48    455016

Anyway my All Star team would be: 1. Higgins / Emmett's - Very good in semi and made crucial saves in the final, puck outs could be a bit stronger though 2. Mansfield / Emmett's - Very tight, solid all year, was hard done by in the final with Finn getting MOTM 3. Kennedy / Emmett's - Big presence and commanding under the ball 4. Fox / Murphy's - Was one of only about 3 Murphy's men that had a good semi, consistent hurler 5. Healy / Emmett's - Great year, the heart of the Emmett's team 6. Waters / Murphy's - Very strong under the dropping ball, excellent in semi final 7. Colm Burke / Gabriel's - Although played last 2 games in the forwards easily one of the best backs here 8. Hoctor / Gabriel's - Consistent all year, has that bit of class that London needs 9. Morrissy / Kilburn - A real trier, played very well against the Emmett's and was consistent throughout the championship 10. Mythen / Murphy's - Wasn't at his best for the semi but hurled well throughout the league stages 11. Sean Quinn / Emmett's - Probably wouldn't of started only for Emmett's were short, great final and won the semi for them 12. Trayor / Emmett's - Great touch, had a good year, works hard and never gives up 13. Dwyer / Kilburn - Tricky man to mark, was quiet in the semi but good all year 14. Finn / Gabriel's - Does it when he's needed, starting to believe he can be marked and held from play but always gets the crucial scores 15. Vaughan / Kilburn - Kilburn depend on him a lot, not a free taker but very good from general play, works hard always, wasn't at his best in the semi but good throughout the year. If I had to pick 5 subs they would be: 16. Gannon / Gabriel's - obvious choice, made a few howlers during the year but usually good, good leader 17. Fitzsimons/ Gabriel's - Was solid at wing back in the semi, had a quieter final 18. Carey / Emmett's - Very good in the semi, strong in the air really improved as the year went on 19. Bennett / Gabriel's - Solid as a rock, saw him flatten a few lads throughout the year, won't let anyone run at goal, might be a good security guard at fort knox 20. Cody / Emmett's - Reminds me of Kilkenny's Mickey Kavanagh, doesn't always stand out but will deal with any ball coming down his side, lovely hurler to watch, played very well against the Treacy's when the chips were down, better days to come. As you can see all the subs are defensive but in fairness the backs were the better players all year. My player of the year would be Healy or Hoctor but going by the MOTM award it'll probably go to Finn.

Buster66 (UK) - Posts: 119 - 15/10/2009 08:00:18    455020

Buster 66 I agree with agree with your team of the year alright, I didn't really notice Mansfield much up until the final but in fairness he completely outplayed Finn, outmarked and outhurled him. The Gabriels tactics were obvious enough, try and isolate Finn 1 on 1 with whoever he was marking but in fairness Mansfield was up to the test and therefore deserves his award. That Finn got man of the match is an insult to the chap after he hurling him out of it for the majority of the game.
As for hurler of the year Hoctor definitely had his moments but was well held by the Emmetts midfield in the final so that might shade it for one of the other contenders who I believe to be Colm Burke, Nial healy and Martin Finn. As you quite rightly said Buster it normally goes to the man with a bit of hype around him and therefore I think finn will get it but Healy was outstanding for Emmetts anytime I seen him

Scrapheap (UK) - Posts: 97 - 15/10/2009 17:24:07    455622

Buster66 surely ciaran dwyer or twomey would be a better shout than traynor? I think both of them were far better hurlers all year. Hoctor hardly deserves one either having been outhurled by emmets midfielders in final. Out of interest how are they picked? I imagine there will be a few controversial calls?

apache (UK) - Posts: 36 - 15/10/2009 21:09:39    455843

Apache I did consider Twomey and Dwyer but they were both missing in action for most of the league stages so that's why I left them out. Twomey in my opinion didn't have the strongest final and missed a vital free to put emmetts 6 points up and a poor clearance that led to one of the goals. Dwyer didn't have a lot to do in the final, was normally solid but I didn't see enough of him to be convinced. Traynor was good all year, never missed a game either. It's only my opinion there's only 15 places.

More than likely the team will be made up of the London boys who did very well this year, unfair yes, as they will have the Nicky Rackard all stars but favoritism is a big thing over here.

Anyone know if there's nomination's or just a team picked?

Buster66 (UK) - Posts: 119 - 16/10/2009 07:23:02    456155

I would agree with you there, Twomey had better games, dwyer was solid at wing back certainly suited him better than forwards. I would disagree with giving one to traynor however. You feel it shouldnt be given to a London hurler on the basis of their performance this year which I think is unfair given the amount of hurling they played this year and the success which they had. Is that not more impressive than playing two good games in London? Saying that I suppose thats how the irish all stars are picked, whoever wins it gets the most all stars. Finn was poor in the final yet was the best hurler in London the rest of the year. I think the club scene definitely suffered as a result of London's success. I doubt the same will happen next year after Bolger has stepped down. Maybe this will make for a better club championship?

apache (UK) - Posts: 36 - 16/10/2009 11:20:44    456296

Lads, if ye are giving the all-stars based on performances over the whole championship; meaning they played every game for their clubs, performing consistantly and not on their London form then you can count out these players:
M. Mythen, wasn't his best year for Murphy's
N.Healy, only played 3 championship games for Emmets
S.Fox, only played 3 championship game for Murphy's.
P.Gannon, conceeded the most goals in this years championship.
C. O'Dwyer, missed one or two games as well.
This is why, in my personal opinion, the all-stars should be scrapped! It's hard to be fair while picking these and everyone from nuetrals on here to those on the selection panel picking the all-stars have their favourites who will be picked over others.

MoTeaue (Offaly) - Posts: 68 - 16/10/2009 11:50:17    456320

MoTeaue i think you are getting a bit carried away here, I am definitely in favour of the All Stars, they are a great way of recognising the displays by the hurlers and footballers. As regards lads who only played 3/4 matches, i think it is more down to how they performed in these games rather than the amount of games they played. Stephen Fox for example may have only played 3 games but he made a vital contribution to the Murphys and one of the few to shine in their semi final defeat. In fact only for him and Waters it would have been a complete whitewash. Nial Healy aswell only played a couple of games but was the best player on the field nearly every time he did play so them lads are deserving of all stars. I know from talking to the lads involved last year that the All star night was seen as a great success and the more of these things that can be organised will only further raise the profile of London GAA which has always got to be considered

Scrapheap (UK) - Posts: 97 - 16/10/2009 16:33:56    456594

Last year Noel Hickey got an all-star and he only hurled in 2 matches. Agree that London success did effect London championship but unfortunately that's the nature of the beast. Clubs at home have to train without county players a lot of the time. Who is going to take over as manager of London now and how do we think they'll do? Wasn't at the final but I did hear that the Emmets are to be highly commended for grace in defeat. Fair play to them as they did great things for hurling in London and have been very good ambassadors for hurling over here. Well done.

hypocrit3 (UK) - Posts: 15 - 16/10/2009 18:33:45    456701

I was at the hurling inal last week and was amazed to see such sportmanship from the Emmetts players and mentors,they lost the game at the death through 2 shocking bad decisions by the ref,the penalty he gave was nowhere near a penalty and finn was fouled/dived 2 foot outside the box and the last goal was most certainly a square ball without a shadow of a doubt.These 2 decisions must have been very hard to swallow for the Emmetts lads when they had out hurled their opponents for 27 mins of the 2nd half and actually held them scoreless up to the last 4 mins of the game until the refree decided to act,However,they never complained and then they stood lined up at the gate and applauded their victors off the field showing a great sporting gesture to all who witnessed it.I commend them for doing so and wish them the best in the future and they have gained a new fan in me anyway!!!!!.

illbustya (Leitrim) - Posts: 76 - 16/10/2009 19:05:54    456733

Here comes a little moan I let slip through the net. County minor board collecting at the county final, all well and good, i'm 100% behind the home grown talent, if good enough.
However, I do find it comical that a majority or all of that money will go on the footballing side of the underage like the annual trip to America and as i'm aware the hurlers get no such trip, not even across the water to play in a prestigious tournament!
Quite ironic I think that at a hurling county final they were collecting to essentially bulster the football talent in London when really its the hurling that needs the far greater funding and effort put into it over here. Probably goes to show what sport rules London.
To be honest I have only learned about how little is done for the underage hurlers from listening to lads on the bank sunday last and then reading a few threads on here this evening.
What does everyone else think?

MoTeaue (Offaly) - Posts: 68 - 19/10/2009 18:40:00    459275

Moteaue I had a moan about this before, all you get is footballers saying they get nothing and if we played Galway bla bla bla, it is true but it's going to have to come from within the county board

Buster66 (UK) - Posts: 119 - 20/10/2009 07:55:48    459796

emmetts will be back next year, gabriels very average. what happened to big sean , mccaughan and d other lads? poor final also. d state of hurling in london very poor.

decade10 (Cork) - Posts: 2 - 23/10/2009 06:29:08    463807

The reason I left this so long was to see if anyone else would bring up this issue. Did anyone notice a few new faces on both the Gabriels team and the Emmetts for the county final? A colleague of mine, who plays GAA in London, was flying out on Monday and mentioned to me on his return that he saw a few hurlers boarding the same flights. But i'm not surprised, we all know it happens in London and EVERY club have been guilty it just amazes me "people is glasshouses"! If it had of been other clubs there would have been a full funded inquest......London Gaa = Craggy Island!

MoTeaue (Offaly) - Posts: 68 - 23/10/2009 09:28:18    463847

Moteaue I can safely say on behalf of both clubs that there were no illegal players involved on either side. Both teams are probably the most honest teams in London, don't think anyone will disagree. Gabriel's played the same team from the semi except for they changed one forward who had played in the league and Emmett's played the same team from the Semi except for Sean Quinn came in for their cornor back. To be fair I doubt any lads on either side had booked flights for after the match, you might find they were intermediate hurlers.

Buster66 (UK) - Posts: 119 - 23/10/2009 10:13:13    463896

Buster.. that's where you're wrong my friend, I was waiting for this reply (see my face light up with joy).
My colleague happened to get talking to this gentleman in question, friendly Irish talk as you. This young man honestly and most probably very naively told my colleague that he was over playing for one of the clubs in the final but had also hurled championship at home. Most honest clubs, if my memory serves me right weren't the Emmetts that last club in London to have suspensions for illegal players?
To be fair the point i'm making is not directed at the Emmetts its a general vibe to the hipocrital attitude in London and to highlight that this illegal players business is on the whole pretty universal and NEEDS to be addressed!

MoTeaue (Offaly) - Posts: 68 - 23/10/2009 16:45:32    464396

MoTeaue……

St Gabriels -- P Gannon; A Pierce, P Finneran, N Cody; P Bennett, F Tierney, M Fitzsimmons; D Hoctor, C Burke; B Connolly, S Forde, M O'Meara; B Coen, M Finn, C Walshe. Subs: N O'Grady for O'Meara (39); C Sexton for Connolly (41); M O'Hara for Coen (45); I O'Connor for Forde (56).

Robert Emmetts -- N Higgins; C Mansfield, T Kennedy, J Cody; C O'Dwyer, N Healy, B Carey; J McCarthy, K Downes; T Twomey, Sean Quinn, M Traynor; R Jackson, D Laverty, C McMullan. Sub: B Hennerby for McMullan (54).

So which one was it MoTeaue?

The answer, none, all the above players are legal and well known. So no need for anymore conspiracy theories.

Remember there was another final on that day.

Maybe your getting confused with all the conspiracy theories.

langer boy (UK) - Posts: 37 - 23/10/2009 22:12:53    464709

No conspiracy! (One team have been caught rotten) hahahahaha! Hehehehehe! Yahooooooo! I'm guessing this young gentleman was very niave, gave my colleague a lot of information, more than he should have.....
Animals can't help but rise to baited traps! Thought for today.

MoTeaue (Offaly) - Posts: 68 - 24/10/2009 14:29:11    465060

MoTeaue you will have to clarify your comments, from the team lists that langer boy has put up I am struggling to see what players could be illegal? They had all played championship before the final, it's not as if an army came from heathrow on the morning of the match

Scrapheap (UK) - Posts: 97 - 24/10/2009 20:55:02    465341