Sligo/Leitrim & District League 2009/10

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?

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..

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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!!)

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.

dont pass much notice of dat information longshanks. city and carbury finished 3-3 aet last friday.
city led 1-0 then carbury went 2-1 up. then city equalised late on. then city went 3-2 up and carbury
got bak to 3-3. carbury should have won in normal time were the better side in the 2nd half.However i will still go
for city dis sunday. although great credit has to go to carbury to take 27 points from 27 is no mean feat.
just shows what standard you have to be at now just to win the the super league. im sure ye will be looking
forward to testing yourselves against them next season.

Dont know about looking forward to it, I've already retired twice from Junior football - think my Super league days are well behind me. Though it will be nice to get to play on a few of the better surfaces on a more regular basis. Looking forward to the game on Sunday, should be a real pacey game. Carbury cant afford to play for the draw although it would suit them. Have also heard that there wasnt that much football played in the cup game, both teams were playing direct balls, but then again I heard it finished 0-0?!?!?!

that i would agree with there was a good few long balls played but they also tried to play aswell.
it's funny looking at it both teams dont want to give an inch and i tink nerves could play apart
for the reason being there all former team mates and its not just another league game
its to decide the title and the bragging rights

Well from what I seen of the game on Sunday City were good value for their win. Nibber was excellent up front, a real handful, Marshall did well too took his first goal very well, got a bit of luck with his second, When the game opened up a bit Rooney started to put a few lovely balls through for the front lads. In fairness the game was up when City got their 4th goal, Kennedy even got the trophies out at that stage.

bit of controversy about City's 3rd, linesman was flagging for a goal kick, ref was pointing for a corner, a bit of a stand-off ensued, ref motioned to the linesman to lower his flag, which he did.....if that wasnt bad enough the corner was taken and cleared, ref ordered that the corner be retaken as he hadnt blown the whistle, ref blows the whistle, Marshall swings in the corner, Kelly heads in the 3rd.

Its a pity Carbury finished with 9 men two needless sendings off in the last few minutes, but I suppose the frustration had built up when they realised the game was up.

Ballymote beat Quayside in the cup final, a nice consolation for losing out on the title by goal difference. Calry Bohs beat Cartron in the play-off, Cartron just keep on missing out on getting to the Super League, Cloonamahon held off MCR so remain in the Premier. Season is nearly done now, a cup final and the Champions Cup semis to be played.

ya have to agree longshanks city were good value for there win but 2 big decisions went against carbury.
in the 1st half i was standing down in the corner the ball was going out of play fo a goal kick 2 carbury
and there player clearly handled the ball and put it out for a throw not only did carbury not get the free out which
it clearly was but city got the throw and they scord from it and that made it 2-0. and in fairness 2 carbury they battled back
and young mc loughlin got an oustanding goal, to get them back in to it and to be honest when carbury got it 2-2
there only looked to be one winner

then city,s 3rd goal was the biggest joke 3 times to take a corner kick correct me if im wrong
but i dont think a referee has to blow his whistle to signal a corner kick to be taken after that
the game was up the carbury boys just went to pieces. but city was ruthless and fair play to them
worthy champions there to be shot at next year

Congrats to City United they're worthy winners. Let's not forget Arrow Harps are the only team that beat them...shows just how good they are.

Yeah Redz I heard there was a bit of controversy about the second goal too, it was 2-1 when I got into the game. Carburys heads went down at 3-2 and when the 4th went in it was curtains, I'd wonder how the game would've panned out if Ross McLoughlin had've avoided injury and got more involved in the centre of the pitch, the few times he got in there he seemed to get Carbury motoring a bit.

This Champions Cup lark is a pain at this stage of the season, both City and Ballymote would've been on the **** after picking up there trophies over the weekend and then they have to play each other tonight, City have a cup final on Sunday too that might've kept their celebrations back a bit. Will City play a full strength team?? Then Carbury have to wait till next Wednesday to play the winners, Carburys season ended on Sunday can hardly see them dusting themselves down for that, unless they want to get one over on City(if City win tonight?!?!) We're(Ballygawley) playing Merville tonight too, We're missing a few through injury and one or two are away, I wonder if Merville have the appitite for it either. It would probably be unfair on teams not involved, but I'd say if the Champions Cup was used as a pre-season tournament it would hold more of a clout with the teams involved.

Well Merville were certainly up for it last night, they beat us 2-1 which flattered us to a good degree, our keeper made a few good saves including a peno. Merville were 1-0 up at half time after playing down the hill with a strong breeze behind them, we werent playing well but we fancied our chances in the second half, that was until we tipped off, lost the ball in our defense, 2-0 ten seconds into the second half!!! we got one back with about 15 mins left, Merville kinda fell apart for 5 or 10 mins then, if we could've equalised we may have went on, but they got themselves together and were comfortable enough in the later stages and had a few chances too, although we did hit the post late on. All in all Merville well deserved their win, they will be a force in the Premier next season. There was a collective sigh in the dressing room afterwards, thank god the season is finally over, no one was too disappointed we got what we wanted out of the season.

City beat Ballymote 3-1, although I heard Ballymote could've/should've won the game. City v Carbury in the semi( ding ding seconds out round 4)

Can Ballymote and Ballygawley stay up next year? If Abbey Utd come back, City and Carbury will feel it. Glenview will go. The lads wont want to play in the lower regions of the league. A FREE pitch for Abbey or somebody.

It probably depends on what improvements both can make to their squads, improvements will have to be made. Cliffoney and Ballisodare managed to go up and survive last season, but even at this stage the bottom three will be from Ballygawley, Ballymote, Ballisodare, Calry, Aughanagh. There does always seem to be a fair bit of player movement between the town teams, but if Abbey or St. Johns where to join the league all the town teams would be weakened.

City hammered Carbury 5-1 in the Champions Cup last night, and Merville stand in their way of a treble. Merville are pretty strong through the spine of the team but you'd have to fancy City

City beat Merville 1-0 in the final of the Champions Cup, a clean sweep of trophies for them. I would like to see the cups being played during the season and not being left till the end when most teams have nothing to play for. How many walk overs were there in the cups this year?? There should be an effort to have a SLigo/Leitrim Cup that has all the teams in it, even if it is at the expense of the Champions Cup

ya good point longshanks sligo-leitrim cup would be a great idea instead of da teama part-taking
in da fai junior cup dat seems 2 be a waste of time. especially when our top teams wont turn up
when they get 2 da latter part of the competition and i dont mean that as a dig at any of da clubs
because im sure they have there reasons and they are very well run clubs. that would free up them
weekends for dat competition to take place. silly season has started already with rumors flying around.
will ye be looking to add many to your squad longshanks

I think we'll have to, emigration is rearing it ugly head again. We lost our striker and top scorer for the run-in, he left for Canada. Theres rumours that there could be a few more lads leaving after the GAA season, but it may not happen. One or two dont want to play in the Super League, they'd be more 'social' footballers and feel they would struggle for the fitness and pace of the top league. Who knows maybe the World Cup will inspire them to give it a crack.

Most of the teams in the super league shouldn't be feared at all...id safely say both ballymote and ballygawley would hold their own against most of them. Ballymote have a good young team and id expect them to do well next season and ballygawley should stay safe too if they manage to keep the same squad together (which i see may not happen though unfortunately). I've played 4 years in the super league myself and i've found that if a team has the right attitude and works hard they will do fairly well. I'm looking forward to next season already!

Both teams could hold their own against most sides on their day, but its how many 'days' will you have. I know its a cliche but its all about getting a good start to the season to build up momentum and keep the interest going. Get City, Carbury, Boyle in the first few games and you could be playing catch up already. Seen a bit of the Carbury City game that decided the league and to be honest there wasnt a whole pile to be fearful of, with the stakes being so high there was very little good football played, but I'm sure through the course of the season they played some great stuff. I'd say Boyle will be a force to reckon with in years to come, they have a fantastic underage setup and a fairly big catchment area. Their U-16's and U-18s both won the league and have some fantastic players who are coached to get the ball down and keep possession.

while i agree with what has been said about not been fearful of anyone in the super league
it would be foolish to under estimate any team especially city and carbury they could go out and dismantle teams very easily
look at da final league table and how many points was back to the 3rd place team. however i do think
ballymote and ballygawley will more than hold there own and i would say calry and aughanagh will go down
next season. boyle wont be to far behind next season if they can have a full team every sunday. seen them play
against city in boyle and they should have hammered them.

Jaysus Redz, i wouldnt under estimate any of the Super League teams, they're not in the Super League for no reason after all. Even though the season has just finished and looking to the next one I see the Super league being 2 tiered. City Carbury Boyle Manor Strand and Yeats will be the top half and Ballisodare Cliffoney Aughanagh Calry Ballygawley and Ballymote the bottom half. Though the top two will probably pull away again. I'd Pick Merville and Coolera for promotion in the Premier League.

i dunno longshanks about that. i think ye will be very hard bet especially at home dont mean any disrespect
ye wont win it but i would tink ye will be in the top 6. premier league will be very tight wouldnt like to call it

Dunno how we'll manage with the pitch, I was dug up a week or so ago and is to be relaid, cant see it being ready for the start of season, could have to play a lot of away games...

Ya i seen the pitch there during the week its a strange sight...i know it usually looks like a ploughed field but now! ;) I'd say merville will win the premier if they keep the same two men up front....cant call the super league yet as i have no idea what players will play for what team!