Sligo/Leitrim & District League 2009/10

[mucker]

any views on how the super league will go this year?

[jim22]

Well with 12 teams in the super league this year could make for a more intersesting league, i heard paddy conlon is heading to city utd correct me if im wrong, neil mckenna has signed for longford town and mark quinn has gone to cliffoney celtic, john bellew is meant to have signed for yeats, thats the only major moves i heard so far, is there any other changes out there ? In terms of the super league it will be between city, carbury, strand, boyle,yeats or manor for the league this season.

[Real Rover]

Super league will have basically two sections this year...6 teams fighting for the title and 6 fighting against relegation. Hard to see past city this year they have a lot of class. City, Carbury, Strand, Boyle, Yeats and Manor being the top 6 teams and Calry, Glenview, Arrow Harps, Aughanagh, Cliffoney and Coolera the bottom 6.

[mucker]

totally agree on the top 6 and bottom 6 teams. glenview arent in the div its ballisodare. they went up a runners up to cliffney. Some tough games to call though. the top teams wont have it easy going to any of the lesser teams.

[redtildead]

between city and carbury for the league imo, im playin for calry and think we will will just avoid the relegation

[Fabrizio]

what kind of team have calry this year redtildead? they are always a tough team to beat. I think the league will be decided on whos fairs better against the smaller teams!! i cant see past City tbh

[Longshanks]

Is there anybody interested in the Sligo/Leitrim League, who is likely to win each division? get promoted? relegated? Oscar Traynor? etc....

[redz rovers]

without trying to state the obvious the super league looks a too horse race between carbury and city. the premier league is very close
cartron utd seem to be hitting a good bit of form maybe a bit to late. and i think merville are to good to be in the division that they are in and
should win it comfortably in the end.

[Longshanks]

Cant and wont argue with any of that Redz, although with the divisions being expanded to 22 games it can allow a team a few slip ups and still be in contention. Cartron, Tubber and Quayside could still have a big say in the Premier, I'm involved with Ballygawley and we are going well but havent been playing great of late - Dromore Villa had us on the ropes big time on Sunday. Merville should stroll Div 1 and probably go to Super League the following season. Toss a coin between City and Carbury!?!?

[redz rovers]

ya premier division is wide open. i know a few of the boys from quayside and there very hit and miss they have the quality but
the committment is another thing. it should be a good end to the season. as for the super league the 2 carbury v city games should be crackers i tink they
will decide the outcome. sligo-leitrim game v clare is on sunday week i hear q-finals of the oscar traynor hopefully they can get a good result. the squad isnt
all that srong tho

[Longshanks]

Yeah Quayside on their day have it, but quite often have an off day, know a few of them too, defo have a squad to come out of the Premier but could as easily turn up with 10 men and lose to a weak team. Carbury are 2 points behind City with 2 games in hand(soon to be 3 games). Kennedy would want to put one of the head to head games soon. No games next weekend because of Oscar Traynor so you're looking at mid-march and the 2 contenders havent played each other yet??? Hope the Oscar Traynor do well, its nice to see a fairer spread of representatives from around the clubs for a change

[Longshanks]

The Premier is tightening up a bit. Ballymote and Ballygawley were held to draws and Tubber won again. Merville beat 9 man Western Rovers 1-0, should go on and win it now.

[Longshanks]

Its a bit of a bizzare decision not to have any league games this weekend for teams that dont have a representative in the Oscar Traynor, especially considering the bad weather we've had and the inevitable fixture pile up thats going to ensue. There are a good few teams with 10+ league games left and a number of these rely on dual GAA/Soccer players, GAA season is going to be in full swing soon which will affect some teams line ups and maybe results. I'd imagine there will be a change from the norm and we'll have double headers over the Easter period.

[redz rovers]

ya gud shout that. there should be games over the easter weekend
i remember there used to be games on a good friday and again
on the easter sunday. it would be great to go back to them again
speaking of the oscar traynor team good luck to them on sunday but the mc sharry
pitch is a disgrace its destroyed doubt there will be much football played its like a bog

[Longshanks]

Yeah heard McSharry is in bits, Innisfree are using it this season and was talking to the ref who did their game there on Sunday - he said its in bad shape. Could be a long ball game and Gino could be the secret weapon?!?!

[redz rovers]

ya pity the pitch will probably spoil the game dont know what clare are like but sligo would like to
get it down and play. cant see gino getting a start but im sure he will be able to do a job
if called upon. i know id hate to be marking him...

[Longshanks]

Alan Flynn has been banging them in for Cloonamahon this season, 16 in 11 games for a mid table side, he would also be a good man to spring from the bench. As I said earlier its nice to see a few of the better players in the lower divisions getting an opportunity in the Oscar. I'd say part of the reason that the Oscar was pulled for a few seasons was because it was the same players being picked from the same club sides and everyone kind of got fed up of it. I hope to get in on Sunday to have a look.

[Longshanks]

Redz I've had the pleasure of marking Gino a few times, set pieces and corners and the like. Height wouldnt be a problem but his bulk and the way he uses his body make him a handful, and his good touch, although his mobility isnt great, but then again neither is/was mine.

[celts1888]

surely if the pitch is a bog there is plenty of time to change the fixture to another venue there must be more playable pitches in the region?????

[Longshanks]

Celts I take it you havent had the pleasure of playing much footie in Sligo/Leitrim. The facilities up here arent great. there are about 32 clubs and I'd say only 50% have proper dressing rooms showers etc. As for quality pitches, about 8 or 9. But McSharry Park is probably the only fully enclosed pitch with FLoodlights/dressing rooms etc. the playing surface is generally good if a bit on the heavy side.

[the real deal]

surely if the pitch is a bog there is plenty of time to change the fixture to another venue there must be more playable pitches in the region?????

i agree wit u....

[redz rovers]

well from what i know of it they did try and get the showgrounds for sunday
but sligo rovers are at home to shams on sat nite so i dont think they got permission to use it the following day.
from talking to a few of the players they are not impressed with the state of the pitch its not as if it is going to suit them.
just as longshanks was saying its not as if there is many more grounds around sligo-leitrim to switch the game too.

[Longshanks]

League fixtures back on this week, weather has been good so most matches should go ahead....Stand out fixture is the Merville v Coolaney game in div1. Coolaney really would need to win this to put as much pressure on Merville as they can for the run in. Carbury and City should pick up away wins against Arrow harps and Cliffoney, although Cliffoney could be a tricky one for City. At the bottom Coolera need the 3pts at home to Ballisodare to keep their chances of staying up alive. In the Premier its a top v bottom clash, Ballymote v glenview, should be a home win, 2nd v 4th Ballygawley v Cartron could go either way, the form team Tubber are away to a fairly handy Dromore Villa side, a Tubber win would see their title charge really take off. Please go the decent spell of weather continues so we can get a good run at the league games.

[redz rovers]

ya some good games this weekend. will prob go to watch cliffoney and city and then go watch coolaney
and merville in the afternoon. city wont get it easy down in cliffoney seen them play against carbury
a few weeks a go and before carbury scored the 1st goal cliffoney were the better side. i tink merville will
get the better against coolaney but it will be tight. ballygawley and cartron will be a good game that will be tight aswell
its interesting weekend ahead.

[Longshanks]

Cartron beat Ballygawley 1-0, very tight game that Ballygawley dominated for large portions. Cartron keeper pulled of two outstanding one on ones at 0-0. Defensive mess up allowed Cartron their only real chance to that point(70 mins), took it well. Cartron were under severe pressure for the closing stages but broke a few times and nearly doubled their lead. Tubber and Dromore was called off and Ballymote won 2-0 against Glenview. Great results for Ballymote!! I see Merville beat Coolaney 2-1, how was that game Redz?? Arrow Harps couldnt field a team against Carbury, comfortable win for City too.

[Longshanks]

Carbury had a good win in Conn cup in Manor, heard Manor could've gone a couple up early on. City Carbury game at weekend, should be a humdinger!! Merville hammered Aclare 12-0, surely they'll win Div 1? Ballygawley had a great win up in Tubber, down to 10 men for about an hour. Quayside beat Glenview to sneak back into the title/promotion race, they've Ballymote and Ballygawley in their next two games. things are beginning to hot up?!?!

No fixtures on Good Friday, WTF?!

[Longshanks]

Any reports from the City v Carbury match? Merville put up another cricket score!! Ballymote had a big win against Quayside. Cloonamahon held Ballygawley to a draw cartron got a walk over and Tubber won. The Premier league is really hotting up now

[historynut]

Am I correct in that the McSharry & Foley Cup is the principle knock-out cup for clubs in membership of the Sligo & Leitrim League ?
From a liitle digging unearthed the following - can ayone fill in missing years.

2008/09 Cartron United 2-1 Ballymote Celtic
2007/08 Cartron United 3-1 Carrick Town
2006/07 Cartron United 2-1 Treacy United
2005/06 Yeats United p8-7 Strand Celtic

2002/03 Abbey United 2-1 Strand Celtic
2001/02 Strand Celtic 3-2 Carbury
2001/02 Abbey United

1997/98 Glenview Stars 3-1 City United
1996/97 ? r/up Coolaney United

1994/95 Strand Celtic
1993/94 Strand Celtic

1991/92 Strand Celtic
1990/91 Strand Celtic

[redz rovers]

tne mcsharry and foley used to be the main cup competition locally it used to be contested
between the top 2 divisions (the super league and premier league) but now the mcsharry and foley cup
is just for the premier league teams where as the robert cawley cup is for the super league teams.

abbey utd won the competition from 2001-2005. until strand beat them on pens in the semi-final in 2006

[historynut]

Reply appreciated Redz Rover - gather then only divisional knock-outs now, no overall league knock-out ? So only chance a club in Division below Super to play against a top tier club will be to draw them in the Connaght Cup ?

[redz rovers]

well there is a competition called the champions cup aswell. that is the top two teams in each
division play off thats when there was 4 divisions. dunno wot will happen now dat there is only
the 3 divisions

[Longshanks]

Redz considering there were 4 cups(1 for each league)last season I'd imagine there will be the 3 divisional cups and one for the whole league or else they'll have to drop one

[redz rovers]

well the robert cawley will be for the super league
mcsharry and foley for the premier league
and the euro tab for the 1st division. i would say they mite drop the champions cup waste
of time anyway. abbey utd won the league 6 times i a row and only won the champions cup once
they werent that bothered with it. now other teams mite be interested i cant say

[Longshanks]

Carbury have a big game against Athenry in Conn Cup at the weekend, gives City a chance to go an extra 3 points ahead of them too. Can see City winning the Super League, Carbury still have 11 league games left to play and by the time they play the 1st of those it'll be mid-April. City could be 15 pts ahead with 5 more games played on Sunday and Carbury could be looking at a Connacht Cup final(best wishes to them). Arrow Harps are doomed and Coolera look to be going down too, Manor and Calry should claw themselves to safety too, looks like Aughanagh for the play off spot.

Innisfree pulled out of the Premier league. Ballymote gain 2pts(drew with them) and Cartron gained 3pts(lost to them). really tight at the top now. Ballymote 19pd 45pts, Ballygawley 17pd 37pts, Cartron 18pd 37pts, Real Tubber 17pd 33pts. Ballygawley and Ballymote have to play each other, Ballymote also have to play Tubber and Tubber also have to play Cartron. Its in both Ballymote and Ballygawleys hands, if they win all their games they win the league, if either slip up and Cartron win all theirs they win it and if Tubber win all theirs they could nick it too(unlikley) but probably 2nd. with Innisfree gone leaves it to Glenview and Carrick to fight it out for the playoff spot.

Merville to cruise past Coolaney in Division 1, Coolaney to get promoted and MCR the playoff spot.

Best of luck to Carbury at the weekend!!!

[southern red]

Aye, premier league run-in should be a ding dong battle, could go to the final day. .
If paddy power was doing a book, he would be paying out on City already id say
Good luck to Carbury on sunday.

[redz rovers]

i agree would like to wish carbury the best of luck against athenry. wouldnt rule them
out of the league running just yet they have a lot of games left but from talking to one of ther players
in the showgrounds they have only 3 away games left the rest are at home and as he told me they have only lost 1 home
game in 2 years at home in all competitions thats some record at any level. shank i tink ballygawley will sneak the premier league
cartron got going 2 late the momentum is wit them winning the last 7 in a row was at the game against gurteen showed a great team spirit and kept battling for each other
just what you want this time of season.

[historynut]

Shame S&L does'nt run a league web-site.

[renovater]

I see the new season has just started in Mayo while most other leagues will be winding up, I see this year fee's to play in Mayo with 2 junior teams is €2600 also €15 to registra with the club.
thimk that would work out €100 per player to play.
what sort of fee would it cost to play in your league based on last year fee,s
Do you think our fee are over the top???

[Longshanks]

I heard from a few in the Carbury camp that they never really got into the game and that Athenry were comfortable for most of the match, although I think they scored their goals towards the end of each half, one said it was 'men against boys' but I'd say he was just disappointed to go out at Semi stage. It'll will be hard for them to pick it up now, they cant afford to drop any points in the run in, although the year they won it they had to beat Abbey in the last game, Deja vu on the cards against City??

Premier his hotting up, Ballymote got an injury time equaliser against Gurteen, Cartron had a handy win in Glenview, Ballygawley played well in the first half against Enniscrone and could've been 6/7 up at halftime, went in 2 up, made it 3-0 in second half, Enniscrone got one back from the spot and really piled on the pressure towards the end. Tubber got a w/o from Quayside. Any of the top 4 can win it now

[Longshanks]

Premier League is really really tight now. On Wednesday night Gurteen got a late penalty to level with Ballygawley 1-1. On Sunday Ballymote got yet another late equaliser this time against Tubber. Ballygawley beat Gurteen 3-1. Leaves the top of the table like this.

Ballymote 21pd 47pts,
Ballygawley 20pd 44pts,
Cartron 19pd 40pts.

Ballygawley are away to Glenview on Wed, then they have to play Ballymote at home(date not fixed yet). Carton are home to Dromore Villa and Glenview and away to Tubber. If Ballymote beat Ballygawley they win the league, if Ballygawley beat both Glenview and Ballymote they win the league, if Cartron win their 3 games and Ballygawley/Ballymote game end in a draw Cartron win the league.

City slipt up in the Super league, still think carbury have too much to do to win it.

[Longshanks]

Premier League update:

Ballygawley beat Glenview 6-0, Cartron beat Dromore 3-0. Top of the table is now:
pd pts gd
Ballygawley 21 47 39
Ballymote 21 47 33
Cartron 20 43 15

Cartron are away to Tubber on Sunday and home to Glenview Wednesday, if they win both they are definitley promoted and will be waiting on the out come of the Ballygawley v Ballymote match. If either Ballygawley or Ballymote win that match they'll win the league, however it its a draw and Cartron have won their two games then Cartron will win it. If Cartron drop any points then both Ballygawley and Ballymote would be promoted and then a draw would do for Ballygawley to win the title. I wonder has there ever been a tighter finish to the league?

[southern red]

its tight to call it yet, but id have to lean towards Ballygawley with home advantage in the last game..
When Real Tubber won it 2 or 3 years ago, 1 goal was the winning margin i think..

[Longshanks]

Looks like the Premier title will be decided by the Ballygawley v Ballymote game on Sunday week. Real Tubber beat Cartron 2-1 with a last minute penalty. A draw will win it for Ballygawley but Ballymote need to win the game to be champions. Cartron will finish 3rd and be in a play-off with Calry Bohs(unless Aughanagh lose by 7 to Carbury.
Coolera and Arrow harps are relegated from the Super League. Carbury are now 12pts behind City with 5 games in hand. I think the games might catch up on Carbury(7 league games to go and the cup too).

[redz rovers]

things are hotting up now in the super league and premier tink ballygawley will beat ballymote
seen them against glenview played some nice football. carbury are eating in to city's lead
think they have to much to do tho.

[Longshanks]

Thanks for the vote of confidence Redz. We seemed to stand off Glenview for the first 10 mins or so and we were quite subdued. Once we got into the game we played well and cut them open a few times, we were lucky with 1 or 2 of the goals but then again we missed some sitters too. the pitch in ballygawley might be a factor in the Ballymote game, its fairly tight and bobbly/soft, certainly doesnt suit Ballygawley and doubt it will suit Ballymote either. That game is fixed for 2:30 on the 9th, clashes with the last round of games in the Premiership, still should be a big enough crowd at it.

[Longshanks]

Carbury and City both won last night, think aughanagh are conceding the points to Carbury too. Leaves Carbury 7pts behind with 3 games in hand and still to play City. That Carbury/City games is down for the 23rd May, should be a humdinger. In the Premier League Glenview bet Gurteen 1-0, they play each other again on Sunday, Glenview have to win by 6 to avoid being relegated. Looks like it'll be Cloonamahon v MCR in the playoff for the Premier League and looks like is Calry Bohs v Cartron in the playoff for the Super League.

[Longshanks]

Ballygawley won the Premier League on Sunday, following a tight, nervous 0-0 draw with Ballymote. In front of what was the biggest crowd at a Junior game that I have ever seen(it seemed to dwarf the Abbey/Carbury one years ago). It was a game of very few chances, both teams hit the crossbar late in 2nd half and each keeper had only one save of note each to make. It probably wasnt a great spectacle but the atmosphere was electric.

at the other end of the table Glenview were relegated leaving Cloonamahon to play off against MCR for the last spot in next years Premier League.

It looks as though the Carbury/City game is fixed for Sunday week.

[redz rovers]

congratulations 2 ballygawley game wasnt great but they got da job done.im sure
they will be a force to deal with next year. great 2 see a big crowd there .good for junior football.
there is a rumor going around that abbey are starting up again next year and that all there former players
have agreed to sign back. i assume they will have to start back in the bottom division but that will be a disaster
for the league dont want to be 2 disrespectful but they will destroy every team. it would practically be the
sligo-leitrim oscar traynor team. City are playing Carbury fri nite in the semi-final of the robert cawley dress reharsal for the big league game

[Longshanks]

Think Carbury are missing a few tonight, I'm sure both teams would gladly sacrafice tonights game for the right result on Sunday week.

I also heard the feelers were out about St. Johns putting in a Junior side too, probably seen what Merville have done and reckon it is achievable. If the auld Abbey side was to be put in the bottom division it'd be a joke division(10-0's every week!!)

[Longshanks]

Carbury beat Boyle 4-1 last night. Leaves them 4 points behind City with 2 games in hand. Carbury v City on Sunday should be a cracker. If City win they win the league, if its a draw Carbury would win it if they beat Manor and Coolera.

Heard the cup game last Friday finished 0-0 aet, City winning on pens.