Is that the official draw?
I'd say Lifford and Cats would be a great match,
2 lots of Dublin quarters, that cud be interesting>>>
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Is that the official draw?
I'd say Lifford and Cats would be a great match,
2 lots of Dublin quarters, that cud be interesting>>>
Francis at home again!........hmmmm
Lifford looking strong so far this season.....scored five and conceded none in cup. How did the Annacotty - Lifford game go on Monday night?
Anyone seen Raheny lately?
Predictions:
Francis, Lifford, Limerick, Peamount
Yes that is the official draw.
I think Lifford will beat Cats with goals to spare.
It is hard to judge the standard of Limerick Desmonds and Cork League, considering they have both only played once, and only won aet/on pens. I think whoever the winner of their match meets in the semis will make it through to the final.
I think Stella will cause an upset.
My final four predictions -
Raheny, Lifford, Limerick Desmonds, Stella Maris.
Think the national league will come down to commitment and cost.But the problem is
do the league teams have enough talent .Most senior clubs in the country want
grow and get stronger and wont want to supply league teams with players.ultimate goal
has to be more senior clubs rather than league teams,
Why the negativity towards league teams? Some Dublin clubs are strong enough to compete at high level and fair dues to them but most clubs outside Dublin are not. I think it makes sense that the best players in the clubs within a league would come together to form stronger teams that can compete with the strong senior clubs. Some leagues have done very well in the senior cup. And if we had no league teams, i think i'm correct in saying we wouldn't have got our best result in Europe to date?
Mayo and Galway have doen exceptionally well in the national cup and i think Cork have reached the semi final 4 times in 6 years. If these teams were not in the Cup a wealth of talent would not be in the cup because thir club teams are not strong enough. I think there was about 4 weeks notice of senior cup dates given (it's much earlier this year) and as league teams have to run trials etc it caught a couple off guard. I think this is the reason Roscommon had to pull out as there league doesn't start until this month. I'm not saying every league is competitive but the bigger leagues have added to the cup as far as I'm concerned and I hope they continue to do so and I hope a couple of them will be in the national league. Which brings me to my next point.
Noel King was in Cork recently and spoke about the National league. It will start in october take a christmas break and finish in early march. He wants 8 teams but 6 is the minimum for the first season. I think it is the right time to have it too as players are already playing local league and national cup games in summer, this will allow the best players to play for about 9 months of the year rather than just four or five.
And he is bringing the senior squad to Indiana for thirteen weeks in the summer. They will train full time while they are over there and have 5 matches lined up against LA Sol, Boston Breakers, Chicago Red Stars, Argentina and Mexico. And according to King this is costing less than going to the Algarve Cup for two weeks because Indiana FC who are hosting them are getting the games sponsored and are hoping to make a profit on the attendances at the games so they are subsidising the cost of the Irish team going
Lifford drawn away for third time in senior cup.
Was talking to ex Lifford manager last night. He said that in every draw this year in National cups (7 in all) Lifford have been drawn away from home.
I said that over a period of time these things even themselves out. He said that in over 20 years he was involved the ratio of home to away draws was almost 3 to 1 in favour of away draws. He said that Lifford were used to being on the road but the worst part was the time and expense involved.
Some teams are very lucky with the draws.
Imagine St. Francis getting 3 games out of Dublin.
Cork league should comfortably reach semis again.
I don't think Cork will find it that comfortable to get through, haven't they lost two main players to Wilton? A centre midfielder and a their good centre half? I think Limerick Desmond could surprise them, very physical, great work ethic and they might not be the best footballing team in it but they def know how to play!
I saw the Raheny v Mayo game on Sunday. The match was scheduled for St Anne's but was switched to the artificial surface at the Oscar Traynor complex. With a strong wind behind them in the first half Raheny were all over an unsettled looking Mayo team but had been held scoreless by half time. Raheny scored early in the second half and after that Mayo picked up their game while never really looking like the were firing on all cylinders. for a long period in the second half they failed to capitaise on the strong wind in their backs and but in the last quarter Mayo were pressing hard and came close with less than 15 minutes to go with a close range shot from Irish U-17 international midfielder Maria Harrington skimming just inches over the bar. Raheny scored two in the dying minutes of the game. The third was a penalty when the Mayo keeper was red carded for pulling down a Raheny striker in front of the goal. Raheny for the most part looked fit and well organised and while perhaps flattered by this scoreline I suspect they will be no pushover for St Francis. Incidentally it seemed very unsatisfactory that the game was played on the artificial surface given the predominantly dry weather in few days ahead of the match.
[QUOTE=munsterman;1156095]Why the negativity towards league teams? Some Dublin clubs are strong enough to compete at high level and fair dues to them but most clubs outside Dublin are not. I think it makes sense that the best players in the clubs within a league would come together to form stronger teams that can compete with the strong senior clubs. Some leagues have done very well in the senior cup. And if we had no league teams, i think i'm correct in saying we wouldn't have got our best result in Europe to date?
Mayo and Galway have doen exceptionally well in the national cup and i think Cork have reached the semi final 4 times in 6 years. If these teams were not in the Cup a wealth of talent would not be in the cup because thir club teams are not strong enough.
Sorry i came across wrong i,m not being negative towards league teams. I think they are all better for the game and i,v made great friends from meeting such teams. But good club teams evolve out of league teams ,wilton,cork /aisling annacotty,limk/ salthill devon,galway and out of this the competition grows.So it was just the over all view of senior competition i was wondering about.i will be delighted to see a national league start.But please do it carefully and thought fully as we already lost u18 national cup without any replacement.
Ive heard its a walkover to Lifford because all clubs were given opportunity to get postponements of published fixtures the previous week and none was requested for this fixture
I doubt Lifford would be looking for a walkover, its not their style, they would rather play annacotty for the points. But isn't it setting precedent if they do have to play the game that a team can say they can't field a team just to change a fixture when they feel like it. There have been far too many mis-readings of the rules this year around the country- ie. have a look at all the walkovers for various reasons. I don't think thats good enough when we are supposed to be developing and moving forward with women's soccer. We will never gain advantage it things don't tighten up. Just my opinion, not wanting to tread on anyones toes.:ball:
All St Francis' games in the cup last year were at home also. I'm no mathematician but whats the probability of that happening? Its a bit sus i think....
I dont think Lifford have ever looked for a walkover but they should be awarded the game by the Limerick league. Last year Annacotty twice cancelled a cup game against Lifford because they were short of players. Neither time did they follow the rules. The game was played when Lifford were missing half their team but still fielded a young team to fulfil the fixture which Annacotty won. Annacotty have lots of players to call on. They have entered a team in the Intermediate cup as well as the Senior cup. They could have fielded a team if they wanted to. If it was another club they would have played. They can do this because they know that the Limerick league will always back them even when they blatantly flaunt the rules. All clubs are missing players from time to time. Its a pity but you just have to get on with it.
I think whichever works best in the particular area is what has to be done. The best players should be playing in the National cup, if they only get a chance to do it playing with a league selection side, so be it.
Does anybody know how many league selection sides have won the Cup?????
On another note, what is happening with the DWSL, is it going to be another year of disorganisation, seems to be a lot of teams folding/ collapsing, Cant believe they gave a walkover in the national cup, its disgraceful, who is responsible for that?
Woaw! :eek: Can you say Annacotty's no1 fan?!:rolleyes: First all Annacotty gave Lifford a walkover on Tues night for the reasons stated earlier exams, injuries and work committments. I don't think anyone from Annacotty is going to dispute that. Somehow I don't think any team will attempt to play Lifford with a team of 8 some struggle with a 11! They could have fielded a team if they wanted to? Can you please inform me of the reason why they wouldn't want to play? Can you tell me as well what team in Limerick would play with 8 against Lifford? If you knew what you were talking about you would know that both Lifford and Annacotty rarely shy away from playing each other. With all the respect to the other teams in the Limerick league they don't provide as much of a contest as when the teams in question do. Since you claim to know the ex Lifford manager ask him and he will tell you he thrived for these games and would rather play than either one of teams not turning up. Fact.
And as for you implying the Limerick League bend rules for Aisling Annacotty you must be deluded. If you knew your stuff you would realise Aisling Annacotty and Lifford are painted with the same brush when it comes to them. They are almost anti both teams due to their senior status and success and came extremely close to asking both teams to leave the league before the start of this season. The reason 'both teams were too good for the league'. Your post is almost insulting the integrity and work ethic of the Aisling Annacotty management and team. In their 5 year history it was the first time they gave a walkover. And the cup final you talk about please Annacotty had far from a full team also and Irene Hehir actually came to the Annacotty team talk after the game and said Annacotty deserved the win, they have being plugging away years trying to beat Lifford etc and they have a new level of respect for what Annacotty has done in 5 years.
So stop fanning the flames when there really is no need. Annacotty gave Lifford a walkover. End of.:ball: