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Club Football Championships 2026

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Replying To Maestro: "Dont know if Ashbourne have been impressive in attack at all and don't really have a stand out forward. They have been very impressive in defence but i think Tones will have too much for them. I think O'mahony's will be too good for Duleek and have got better with every game. Curraha should be no where near Junior with that team and it should be comfortable enough for them." Curraha me eye. A cut above junior level but middle of the pack intermediate team at best. People were talking Curraha up as a shoo-in for Leinster, despite them being far from convincing last night. A half decent Ballinlough team could have had 5 or 6 goals. Ballinlough had 14 men for the second half and were still running through the Curraha defence for goal chances. Some contentious refereeing decisions helped Curraha establish a flattering lead. Better teams have come out of the junior over the years. People would be better off forming their own opinions rather than buying into the hype generated by a podcast. summerof09 (Meath) - Posts: 338 - 17/10/2026 11:44:43 2697616 Link
Replying To canalend96: "After watching the senior semi finals at the weekend I have to say dual players are showing signs of exhaustion, those that are fit to play anyway. Summerhill were missing Iarla Hughes and Ronan Ryan due to their hurling match V Ratoath the week before and Ratoath missing Ben McGowan, with Jack not coming out for the second half due to the same game. Bryan McMc, Cian Rogers and Hayes looked off the pace, all 3 are dual players as well. Those players would have played 9/10 cship games in 9/10 weeks. You could see WT's and DA were fresher, more intense and at full compliment. Are clubs expecting too much from dual players or are clubs better off getting players to choose?" It is challenging for team management. But good management can find solutions, its not difficult. Ratoath stuck with a 15, picked in the bar. Good Senior players some with county experience sat on the bench while duel players ,unable to perform due to not recovering from hurling played a full match. Club bs policy Ashrules (Dublin) - Posts: 606 - 18/10/2026 14:14:17 2697730 Link
Crikey lads. Hard to watch the game on Clubber. Low trajectory of camera angle, poor quality of close in shots, pitchy commentary due to poor acoustics and can't get the score right at HT to top it off. Tough watch but we'll persevere!!! GenderNeutral (Meath) - Posts: 133 - 18/10/2026 14:41:08 2697733 Link
Replying To GenderNeutral: "Crikey lads. Hard to watch the game on Clubber. Low trajectory of camera angle, poor quality of close in shots, pitchy commentary due to poor acoustics and can't get the score right at HT to top it off. Tough watch but we'll persevere!!!" Spot on GenderNeutral. Surely it should be possible to at least get the score right, that's completely within their control. MillerX (Meath) - Posts: 1136 - 18/10/2026 16:33:24 2697748 Link
Congrats to the Tones worthy champions and very consistent over the past few years. A club for a siege mentality hopefully they can represent Meath well in Leinster I think they have a decent draw with the Wicklow champs in Ashbourne in a quarter so they've a decent chance of progressing LeitrimRoyal99 (Meath) - Posts: 1586 - 18/10/2026 19:18:22 2697784 Link
Have to feel sorry for Don/Ash, they really just faded away in the final quarter. Really thought there was life in them after their resurgence just before half time. Their forwards weren't firing at all, particularly when they needed a few scores down the stretch. Their midfield was also poor enough, I would've expected more from Menton and Co. Fair play to Tones I suppose, usually not one to have time for them but hope they go far in the All-Ireland series and represent our county well. I also think that in the end it was detrimental for Ashbourne to have a home final. The pressure was put on them and Tones love to spoil a party. Just a thought. RoyalStalwart24 (Meath) - Posts: 131 - 18/10/2026 19:41:18 2697786 Link
Very poor Final! Felt like a friendly match. Ashbourne played the occasion and forgot to play the match. Thomas O'Reilly should have got man of the match. He was brilliant. Meathman721 (Meath) - Posts: 10 - 19/10/2026 09:46:41 2697831 Link
Replying To RoyalStalwart24: "Have to feel sorry for Don/Ash, they really just faded away in the final quarter. Really thought there was life in them after their resurgence just before half time. Their forwards weren't firing at all, particularly when they needed a few scores down the stretch. Their midfield was also poor enough, I would've expected more from Menton and Co. Fair play to Tones I suppose, usually not one to have time for them but hope they go far in the All-Ireland series and represent our county well. I also think that in the end it was detrimental for Ashbourne to have a home final. The pressure was put on them and Tones love to spoil a party. Just a thought." Donaghmore Ashbourne were not good enough, it is as simple as that. Their forwards didn't play well because that is the way they played all year and are bang average. You could have played that game anywhere in Ireland and the result would have been the same. I wouldn't be using home advantage as an excuse. The game was a lot like the final they lost 10 years ago to Simonstown when they were outclassed by a far superior team and never looked like winning it. Maestro (Meath) - Posts: 615 - 19/10/2026 11:15:26 2697847 Link
Hate to be overly negative but i was so disappointed that not even one of the Junior A, Intermediate or Senior final in Meath was a close game. I think in each respective grade i could name 3 or 4 teams better than Ballinlough, Navan O'Mahonys and Ashbourne. So many clubs underperformed in this years championship. GILES96 (Meath) - Posts: 22 - 19/10/2026 11:19:04 2697848 Link
Credit to Ashbourne yesterday for how well they hosted the final, very well organised and had more than enough capable stewards on duty. It is a fantastic facility that they have Analyst (Meath) - Posts: 1526 - 19/10/2026 13:15:04 2697873 Link
Well done to Curraha, D/B and Tones. All 3 were convincing winners which must be very satisfying for them all. Curraha should be looking at Leinster and possibly all-Ireland glory now given Meath clubs history in the competitions as well as the fact they were senior only a couple of years ago. Duleek/Bellewstown were very impressive. Sucked the life out of NOM at midfield particularly and didn't give them a platform for the quick ball into the forwards that was very much needed. Wolfe Tones were full value for their massive win. All their big players stepped up, especially after half time. Someone mentioned Clubber. I was astonished to see their camera's position in Dunganny on Saturday and seeing the clips afterwards, it looked as bad as I thought. Who is making those decisions? Maybe they need to stay in their lane. Best of luck to all 3 teams in Leinster. GoalsWinGames (Meath) - Posts: 329 - 19/10/2026 14:22:06 2697889 Link
Replying To Analyst: "Credit to Ashbourne yesterday for how well they hosted the final, very well organised and had more than enough capable stewards on duty. It is a fantastic facility that they have" Is this a joke? I thought the situation was nothing short of a county board disaster. Paying 20 big ones for a ticket and to have patrons climbing up on walls to be able to see the game is a joke. Game shouldve been in trim or simonstown. RegionalsGuru (Meath) - Posts: 77 - 19/10/2026 14:50:14 2697899 Link
Replying To GILES96: "Hate to be overly negative but i was so disappointed that not even one of the Junior A, Intermediate or Senior final in Meath was a close game. I think in each respective grade i could name 3 or 4 teams better than Ballinlough, Navan O'Mahonys and Ashbourne. So many clubs underperformed in this years championship." Who is better than NOM in intermediate? Realistically? They beat Meath Hill out the gate, brushed past St Pat's in the semi. Castletown the only one that comes to mind but they haven't played well all year, so I just don't see their form holding up against them either. You can't say Oldcastle because they flopped out in the group stages losing to Duleek. Duleek absolutely benefited from Armstrong coming back, after losing to Casteltown in the group stages, it looked like it was all over for them. But they had a nice run to the final and were more than good value for their win. They will struggle at senior though. As for senior, yeah Ashbourne clearly weren't up to that level, a few nice performances all year but they have no forwards, and were always going to be found out by a better team on the day. Cabbagepatch1667 (Meath) - Posts: 196 - 19/10/2026 14:51:34 2697900 Link
Replying To Cabbagepatch1667: "Who is better than NOM in intermediate? Realistically? They beat Meath Hill out the gate, brushed past St Pat's in the semi. Castletown the only one that comes to mind but they haven't played well all year, so I just don't see their form holding up against them either. You can't say Oldcastle because they flopped out in the group stages losing to Duleek. Duleek absolutely benefited from Armstrong coming back, after losing to Casteltown in the group stages, it looked like it was all over for them. But they had a nice run to the final and were more than good value for their win. They will struggle at senior though. As for senior, yeah Ashbourne clearly weren't up to that level, a few nice performances all year but they have no forwards, and were always going to be found out by a better team on the day." 67% of inter teams better than the mahneys RegionalsGuru (Meath) - Posts: 77 - 19/10/2026 15:24:42 2697905 Link
Replying To Cabbagepatch1667: "Who is better than NOM in intermediate? Realistically? They beat Meath Hill out the gate, brushed past St Pat's in the semi. Castletown the only one that comes to mind but they haven't played well all year, so I just don't see their form holding up against them either. You can't say Oldcastle because they flopped out in the group stages losing to Duleek. Duleek absolutely benefited from Armstrong coming back, after losing to Casteltown in the group stages, it looked like it was all over for them. But they had a nice run to the final and were more than good value for their win. They will struggle at senior though. As for senior, yeah Ashbourne clearly weren't up to that level, a few nice performances all year but they have no forwards, and were always going to be found out by a better team on the day." You say Oldcastle flopped out, they lost 1 group game to the eventual winners. That was a brutally tough group. Castletown were most peoples pick to win it, they were just so flat all championship. I think Meath Hill and St Pats lost a lot of belief when their star players Breslin and Jamie Murphy were carrying injuries. Duleek will struggle but as long as Armstrong can come back for a relegation semi final or final next year I don't see Duleek getting relegated. The amount of belief he must instill in his teammates is unreal, he draws so much attention from the opposition. Sheridan2010louth (Meath) - Posts: 360 - 19/10/2026 15:31:00 2697907 Link
Ashbourne's stand was built almost 20 years ago but is still the most recent stand built in Meath club grounds, which is a credit to them. The only other stand I know of in Meath is the little one in Castletown. Unfortunately other than the (250...?) seats, Ashbourne doesn't have a lot going for it as a venue for major games. The rest of the ground is just flat which is the same as 90% of club grounds. I'd hazard a guess that more people could comfortably watch a match in Simsonstown or Trim which have large elevated banks to watch from. CastleBravo (Meath) - Posts: 1763 - 20/10/2026 10:45:56 2697986 Link
Replying To LeitrimRoyal99: "Congrats to the Tones worthy champions and very consistent over the past few years. A club for a siege mentality hopefully they can represent Meath well in Leinster I think they have a decent draw with the Wicklow champs in Ashbourne in a quarter so they've a decent chance of progressing" I doubt they will select Ashbourne as their home ground. Simonstown right beside them makes a lot more sense. Maestro (Meath) - Posts: 615 - 20/10/2026 13:52:48 2698014 Link
Fairly disappointing end to the football championships this last weekend. None were really a contest heading into the last 10 minutes. Donaghmore/Ashbourne have played in Keegan cup finals ten years apart and lost by 9 and 10 points in both finals. They were so impressive against Ratoath so their no-show in a home final will be a hard one to get over. In saying that the Tones were so so impressive, they breezed through the semi final and final without breaking a sweat. Every year they are talked about as maybe a top 4/5 team but they have 2 championships in 6 years, which easily could have been 3 only for a last minute defeat to Dunshauglin 2 years ago. The age profile of their team is really good and i doubt they will lose any starting player. With the likes of Daniel O'Neill returning next year they should only get stronger. Their aim now should be doing back-to-back which hasnt been done in Meath since Ratoath in 19/20. They should also be aiming for a respectable showing in Leinster, although I would Cuala, The Downs and Portarlington ahead of them. The Intermediate was a tight affair for 45 minutes, but maybe lacking in quality. When Duleek pushed for home Navan O'Mahonys had no answer for them at all and died with a whimper, which will be a big disappointment on Brews Hill. Duleek finished very strongly and only for a crazy amount of missed goal chances they could have been out of sight at half time. O'Mahonys didn't score for the last 20 minutes while playing with the wind which is a damning indictment for a team who played such swashbuckling football in the semi-final. Robin Clarke was the best player on the pitch by quite some distance, in saying all that I think duleek will struggle at senior next year. Meathmaverick (Meath) - Posts: 111 - 20/10/2026 15:19:49 2698025 Link