Limerick Desmond League 2009/10

[buddygeary23]

Friday 28th May
Weekly Observer Division 2 League Cup Final (extra time & penalties)
Rockhill Rovers V Mountcollins 730 Clounreask, (rockhill)

Saturday 29th May
Weekly Observer Division 1 League Cup Final (extra time & penalties)
Kildimo Utd V Killeaney, 730 Clounreask (killeaney)

Sunday 30th May
Weekly Observer Premier Division
Broadford Utd V Glin Rovers 1130 (away)
Ballingarry V Newcastle West 1130 (away)
Rathkeale V Askeaton 1130 (home)
Carrig Celtic V Abbeyfeale Utd 1130 (draw)

Friday 4th June
Weekly Observer Desmond Cup Final (90 minutes)
Athea Utd V Rathkeale 730 (rathkeale)

[walkover]

Good year of football all round. Rathkeale should and in my opinion will win the premier league this weekend and do the double with the cup. Good team that play nice football and they deserve it. The battle from NCW came too late.

Could be messy with relegation though. Ballingarry on a real run and i heard NCW have a few injuries that won't be playing and are going to try out alot of youth players thinking of next season. Could be tight for Abbey and Glin.

Great to see Killeaney back to the premier league.With the facilities they have they should never have been down in Div 1. Congrats to Adare but i can't say the same for their place.

There are too many bad pitches in the top flight now. NCW Rovers is a disgrace they don't play half their matches at home during the year. I know Carrig are relegated but i won't say im sad to lose their pitch. If Ballingarry jumped Glin on Sunday id wouldn't be bad as it would be a shame to have their facilities in Div 1 again.
Its just a bad reflection on the desmond league with poor quality facilities.

What would you recommend to teams with bad pitches can do??
Alot of teams in the Desmond league have little to no money and scrape by one year at time. And also lot's of teams have to rent their pitch from local farmer or county council, in which case they are not entitled to any grants to improve the pitch as they must either own the grounds or have a Long-term lease....

Every team (especially the players) would love to have their own facilites and nice pitch... but who going to pay for it??

[western gale]

What would you recommend to teams with bad pitches can do??
Alot of teams in the Desmond league have little to no money and scrape by one year at time. And also lot's of teams have to rent their pitch from local farmer or county council, in which case they are not entitled to any grants to improve the pitch as they must either own the grounds or have a Long-term lease....

Every team (especially the players) would love to have their own facilites and nice pitch... but who going to pay for it??

Very well said, in an ideal world we would all have perfect playing pitches but I'm afraid we have to deal with reality, as was pointed out clubs have to own their own land or have a long term lease before they can apply for and get grants. Now grants from the Dept of Arts, Sport & Tourism has now being halted therefore making it more difficult for clubs to develop what they have.

[clearly]

Well spoken "walkover", also I wish clubs would start charging a gate for matches, sell their product dont give it away, no doubt the same people complaining of facilities would complain of paying a couple of quid to see a game too....kids pay €2 or €3 euro for basketball or swimming practice or whatever everywhere, every sport has a small charge, but not top Desmond league games, I just think that Football, the most popular game in west Limerick by far in terms of people playing the game, way ahead of GAA, sells itself short all too often. One last thing, to be fair to "Gearysfan", I think he was just trying to compliment the good facilities rather than slag off the bad ones....

[Hairy Legs]

Well if your lucky enough that your club have good facilities then you only have to play on a "poor pitch" a couple of times a season so its not all bad. Spare a thought for those teams playing at home week in week out.
It can slso contribute to players transferring away, which can be disheartening too.
I thought Adare have a fine new set up in by the pitch and putt course???

[walkover]

Well spoken "walkover", also I wish clubs would start charging a gate for matches, sell their product dont give it away, no doubt the same people complaining of facilities would complain of paying a couple of quid to see a game too....kids pay €2 or €3 euro for basketball or swimming practice or whatever everywhere, every sport has a small charge, but not top Desmond league games, I just think that Football, the most popular game in west Limerick by far in terms of people playing the game, way ahead of GAA, sells itself short all too often. One last thing, to be fair to "Gearysfan", I think he was just trying to compliment the good facilities rather than slag off the bad ones....

I agree that it is great to see more teams having good facilities, the more the better I say as well...
For sure there is no harm charging €2 maybe for entrance to a game for adults! At the same time if teams charged more than that, it might deter people from comin to watch a game!

[Have It]

Well if your lucky enough that your club have good facilities then you only have to play on a "poor pitch" a couple of times a season so its not all bad. Spare a thought for those teams playing at home week in week out.
It can slso contribute to players transferring away, which can be disheartening too.
I thought Adare have a fine new set up in by the pitch and putt course???

Ya, heard the same. Supposed to be a beautiful pitch but something restricting them from playing there. can anyone elaborate for us ?

[clearly]

Wrong there "walkover", a small charge would make MORE people come, not deter them at all, nobody respects something that is free, its greeted with suspicion, thats why nobody drinks Beamish or Fosters and nobody drank Cider until they made it a euro dearer. The country loves giving out about GAA prices but they all go to the games, Junior Football facilities are actualy starting to pass out GAA facilities in West Limerick but can you see the wrong message sent out when its free to go in? If it cost a few quid (just €3) to go in people would respect it more, look for value for money more. So can I start a campaign here now? Can I ask every Desmond league club, especially the Premier division clubs , to give me a thumbs up on this page to having a gateman at every home game next year?
Bring it up at ur clubs AGM, propose appointing a gateman for the year,I garantee it will provide between €1 and €2 grand a year for your club and I garantee it will actualy improve attendances...

[Yorkshire rose]

Ya, heard the same. Supposed to be a beautiful pitch but something restricting them from playing there. can anyone elaborate for us ?
As far as I know it is a community pitch and must be hired out for games (soccer,gaa,rugby etc.) I know the Desmond Schoolboy League have used it for friendlies and training. It has a superb surface but as it is in it's infancy there are no dressing rooms or other facilities at the moment. However if it could be hired out by Adare and as suggested earlier in this forum the club charge an entrance fee then it could be of little cost to the club and improve their football.

[walkover]

Wrong there "walkover", a small charge would make MORE people come, not deter them at all, nobody respects something that is free, its greeted with suspicion, thats why nobody drinks Beamish or Fosters and nobody drank Cider until they made it a euro dearer. The country loves giving out about GAA prices but they all go to the games, Junior Football facilities are actualy starting to pass out GAA facilities in West Limerick but can you see the wrong message sent out when its free to go in? If it cost a few quid (just €3) to go in people would respect it more, look for value for money more. So can I start a campaign here now? Can I ask every Desmond league club, especially the Premier division clubs , to give me a thumbs up on this page to having a gateman at every home game next year?
Bring it up at ur clubs AGM, propose appointing a gateman for the year,I garantee it will provide between €1 and €2 grand a year for your club and I garantee it will actualy improve attendances...

You make a valid point, and €2 / €3 will not break the bank I suppose.
Any club in the top two divisions who have a gate entrance to their pitch should give it a go! Try it for a month maybe, see if it hampers attendance or not... if not then keep it place for the season!

[FiveB]

It's a pity Askeaton missing so many on sunday with a stag (7 Starters), because if they had a full team they might put it up to Rathkeale for a while anyway. Its just a shame for the League that with it being so tight that Broadford and Askeaton fielding weakened teams.

[The1]

It's a pity Askeaton missing so many on sunday with a stag (7 Starters), because if they had a full team they might put it up to Rathkeale for a while anyway. Its just a shame for the League that with it being so tight that Broadford and Askeaton fielding weakened teams.
Did Broadford not draw with Newcastle a few weeks ago, Broadfords problem is the same one that the had all year, they have no keeper, they conceded 8 against Askeaton early in the season, 6 against Rathkeale, and 3 against a number of teams. Its nothing to do with putting out weakened teams

[buddygeary23]

i must agree with u on that...coming towards the end of the season and with teams having nothing to play for and are safe in the premier division the field weakened teams.if askeaton had a full team im sure the wud put up a good fight against rathkeale but i think rathkeale would win anyway with askeaton having a full team..a shame teams dont put out full teams even thou they have nothing to play for

[sky blue]

It's a pity Askeaton missing so many on sunday with a stag (7 Starters), because if they had a full team they might put it up to Rathkeale for a while anyway. Its just a shame for the League that with it being so tight that Broadford and Askeaton fielding weakened teams.

I think you are a week behind there FIVEB.. That stag party was last weekend and Askeaton had no game only on the Friday night. Askeaton will have a full team on Sunday you can be sure of that and it is to be very difficult for Rathkeale but that is what you want every team giving their all until the season is over.

[Have It]

Dont agree that all teams put out weakened teams at this stage of the season. Carrig had absolutely nothing to play for last wk but gave Rathkeale an awful fright before losing late on. It goes both ways, you only beat what is put in front of you. Leagues are won and lost over 18 games, not over the last 2 or 3

[western gale]

Division 2 League Cup Final
Rockhill Rovers 4 Mountcollins 1

[Harry Lime]

Division 2 League Cup Final
Rockhill Rovers 4 Mountcollins 1

Pics from this one
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4005/4648615170_1afd42ca0c_o.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/seanryan/sets/72157624156210568/)

[Notaclue]

Once again I would like to thank you for the great pics. Has anyone got a match report?

[western gale]

Once again I would like to thank you for the great pics. Has anyone got a match report?

Rockhill were four nil up in this game before Mountcollins got a late consolation, it was a poor game before an equally poor crowd

[buddygeary23]

just wanna say best of luck to all teams playing in the premier division tomorrow morning..who wins the league tomoro between ncw and rathkeale deserve to win it and also to the teams in danger of going down..sad to see abbeyfeale,ballingarry and glin fighting to stay cos they have great facilities and are good footballing teams..so whoever goes down with carrig i suppose deserve to go down and same with the title so best of luck to all teams involved :)

[western gale]

Division 1 League Cup Final
Killeaney 1 Kildimo Utd 0.

Killeaney tonight won the division one league cup with a one nil win over Kildimo Utd at Clounreask, Darren Sheahan getting the winner in the fourth quarter, his left footed effort from twenty two yards flying past the keeper. A hard fought win for Killeaney who had Shane Fitz sent off very early in the game for two yellow cards while Sean Lynch made two very good saves, one in each half. Man of the match was Killeaney centre half Patrick Madigan

[Notaclue]

Yes, it was a great strike from Dicey, a great goal worthy of winning any match. Man of the match could have gone to any of Killeaney's back four, keeper, Gary Kelly in midfield or indeed Dicey for that great goal, but Madigan leads by example and got his award on merit. Kildimo United also must be complimented for their contribution, as they never resorted to hoofing the ball even though they were chasing the game for the last 18mins. They came close in the last 5 mins when Paudie O'Connell cleared off the line following a Kildimo corner. The Desmond League management should however be ashamed of themselves asthere was nobody on the gate for admittance and they lost out on a tidy gate. Once again Joe had the pitch in great condition, so he will be a very pleased gentleman tonight.

[Yorkshire rose]

Yes Joe had the pitch in excellent order as always..........has anyone seen Fr.Joe recently?

[Notaclue]

Congratulations to Rathkeale on their League title. I feel sorry for Ballingarry, as they really gave a great effort to avoid the drop, but they left themselves with a mountain to climb after their poor start. I suppose that Rathkeale will be expected to do the double on Friday evening against Athea Utd.

[western gale]

Yes Joe had the pitch in excellent order as always..........has anyone seen Fr.Joe recently?

Stuck in a bowl of humble pie most like :o

[western gale]

Premier Division
Broadford Utd 1 Glin Rovers 6
Ballingarry 1 Newcastle West 0
Rathkeale 2 Askeaton 1
Carrig Celtic 3 Abbeyfeale Utd 3

[Have It]

Hard luck to Ballingarry. Great effort.

[clearly]

Over 35's league starting this week, or next week, great fun, all for charity, players paying €20 each I think to play and make a few quid for a worthwhile charity. The referees are good enough to do it for €40 a match. Why dont the flippin' ref's do it for free? Lousers...And no crap about how there would be no game without the refs please...this is a short summer tournament bit of fun to help a charity. Lousy refs....

[snafu]

So another season finished apart from the desmond cup nxt Friday.

Let me first say congrats to Rathkeale on winning the premier division, Well deserved they only lost 1 league game all year showing great consistency which is needed to win leagues.
Rathkeale are probably favourites for the desmond cup, however after winning the league they might not have the same "hunger" as Athea to win it.
Il go for Rathkeale to win it 3-0 with 2 of the goals coming late on.

Also big congrats to Adare who got promoted for the second year in a row which is some achievement and it will be interesting to see how they get on in the premier next year.

I was surprised to see the Abbeyfeale and Glin only avoided a relegation playoff by a point. Abbeyfeale finished 3rd last season and then shelved out big money (around 8 grand im told) for a new manager.surely they wont be paying him again next season?


only 12 weeks til the start of the new season, so around 6/7 weeks til the start of pre-season. so enjoy the break :)

[Gearysfan]

I must agree. Congratulations to Rathkeale on closing out the league. Only losing one game is the quality of real champions and they have proved that through the whole year. I must say that it was nice to see the league going to the last day and been more interesting.
Fair play to Ballingarry for putting up a brave fight right to the end. Pity they left it a bit too late beacuse they do deserve to stay up for giving a 100% effort.

Roll on next year and i only hope that it is as tight as this year with a few more teams fighting at the top. Any news on if the league are going to change the format to be like the scottish premier.

[Yorkshire rose]

I think you will find that the referees also donate to the charity. Over the last few years these "Lousers" put 3 on the 3/4 playoff and the final where the donate the fee to the charity. Also these "lousy refs" help out schoolboy football in the Kennedy Cup (no fee charged) and this year will be volunteers at the Special Olympics (no fee charged) Anyway you are entitled to your opinion on the "flippin' refs. Enjoy the tournament.

[western gale]

DESMOND CUP FINAL -
Lads what are the views on tomorrow nights Desmond Cup final vetween Athea Utd and Rathkeale, very little about it on the forum, perhaps due to the pairing not drawing the same attention as say an all premier contest would have done

[Yorkshire rose]

DESMOND CUP FINAL -
Lads what are the views on tomorrow nights Desmond Cup final vetween Athea Utd and Rathkeale, very little about it on the forum, perhaps due to the pairing not drawing the same attention as say an all premier contest would have done

Best of luck to both teams and hopefully it will be a cracker.

[walkover]

Hopefully it will be a good tight game, but I think it's hard to see anything but a Rathkeale win... very hard for a lower division team to hold up to the pressure of the final for the full 90 minutes!

Anyone know who was the last non-premier team to win the cup?

[Harry Lime]

Some pics from the Cup Final last night

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4044/4671544640_e8089bf6c6_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/seanryan/sets/72157624207573262/)

[willysnail]

who won?

[western gale]

Rathkeale 4 Athea Utd 0. All the goals coming in the second half in a game that was literally one way traffic. Man of the match in my book was Athea keeper Tim Enright who kept his side in it in the first half and made some great saves in the second half. Rathkeale were emphatic winners and just as convincing as the scoreline suggests

[clearly]

Thats an acceptable reply Yorkshire Rose, maybe I was a little robust in my original message so I apologise for that. We know ye're only trying to do your best...

[sky blue]

Well Done to RATHKEALE A TEAM ON DOING THE DOUBLE WHAT AN ACHIEVEMENT....

[soccer8]

Well Done to RATHKEALE A TEAM ON DOING THE DOUBLE WHAT AN ACHIEVEMENT....


Yea it's nice to see someone else winning it NCW have been very dominant the last few years.......

[Gearysfan]

Yea it's nice to see someone else winning it NCW have been very dominant the last few years.......

Well done to Rathkeale. Great season, congrats

[western gale]

Desmond League AGM was on tonight. Proposal by Glantine to reduce the number of games played, ie have eight teams in the various divisions was defeated by 50 votes to 37. Proposal by Abbeyfeale to start junior season with the league cup was comprehensively defeated.
The other big news emerging from the AGM was that all Desmond Cup games will now be decided on the day, except for the final.

[Notaclue]

Thanks Western gale. Glad to see that sanity prevailed regarding the league set-ups. I also agree with Desmond Cup ties finishing on the day. I'm not too sure about the league cups as some clubs use it as a pre-season because of GAA commitments of their players. I seem to remember a few clubs getting to the finals a few years ago and later in the season being relegated, so perhaps it's better in the current format. I would also like to point out to Clearly that for the last 8-9 years referees have obliged in the Community Games free gratis as well as going to UL for the Munster finals. I would further state that some of these 'lousers' are unemployed but still continue to give their services free on occasions.

[Johnnie C]

Was the start date for the 2010/2011 season announced at the AGM ?

[western gale]

The start up date of the 2010/11 season will be announced when the league holds its Delegate Meeting. As of yet no date fixed for Delegate Meeting but its usually in late July or early August

[limkdesmond]

ya well done to rathkeale afc on winning the double..good to see a team apart from ncw winning cups..any team losing one game in the season deserves to win the league..congrats

[clearly]

I have clarified that position Notaclue, I accept I was OTT and have apologised to Yorkshire Rose.

[western gale]

I know that this is a junior forum but with the Kennedy Cup taking place in UL all this week I'd like to wish the loocal Limerick Desmond Schoolboys League the very best of luck. They play Midlands today (ko 5pm) and have two games tomorrow against Drogheda (ko 12 noon) and Galway (ko 7pm). I'll post results here when I get them

[western gale]

Kennedy Cup Group 4 result - Limerick Desmond 0 Midlands 1

[western gale]

Tuesday, June 22nd

Kennedy Cup Group 4
Limerick Desmond 2 Drogheda 0

Kennedy Cup Group 4
Limerick Desmond 1 Galway 1