NFL Division 2, 2014 in a NutshelL

Here we are again...I may or may not let the excitement get to me yesterday but here's why!

Teams
Louth
Laois (H)
Galway (H)
Armagh (H)
New Teams
Relegated from Division 1
Donegal (A)
Down (A)

Promoted up from Division 3
Monaghan (A)
Meath (H)

Best Case Scenario:  We win the league in style, relegating Meath on the final day for good measure!

Worst Case Scenario: We lose all our home games and spanked away from home and the Meath game on the final day becomes irrelevant!

Most Likely Scenario: We win our first two games at home and by hook or by crook we stay ahead of Armagh and Laois to avoid the drop three years running.

Best team: Donegal 
Worst team: Laois
Dark horses: Down

Best chance of a W: Laois at home
Best Chance of a D: Monaghan away
Best chance of a L: Donegal in Ballyshanon

Longest away trip:Ballyshannon, wear the fox hat? we all know the joke by know but, the 2 hours and 39 mins spin over is no joke!
Shortest away trip:  Newry, 42mins and you can eat some UK tayto at the game tasty!

Toughest Ground: Clones teams will be luck to get many wins there this year.
Nicest ground: Pearse Park, Galway alot of nice stadia this year but Pearse is my winner.

Best looking fans: gonna be controversial and a wee bit biased and say Meath!
Ugliest looking fans: Monaghan mushroom farmer heads on them...

Best Freetaker: Paul Finlay Jap is still the best about
Worst freetaker: Mickey Burke, i can just tell right! McFadden on a bad day is bad!
Top Goalpoacher: Jamie Clarke

Nicest jersey: Down simple but effective design
Ugliest Jersey: Donegals attempt at a Brazilian soccer jersey for the world cup!

Best Goalie: Brendan McVeigh Down
Best Kickout: Rory Beggan Monaghan

Best Defence: Donegal
Defender: Karl Lacey Donegal
 
Best midfield: U21 winning duo Fiontan O'Curraoin and Tomas Flynn from Galway
Midfielder:  Neil Gallagher is literally head and shoulder above the rest

Best forwards: Donegal's full forward line
Best Forward: Man Child Michael Murphy

Selection of What Louth Fans will Sample in the year ahead in Division 2, hence my reasons for being excited.

Dirtiest Player: Ciaran McKeever Grrrrr
Most Annoying Player: Weirdly There is alot in this division, allow me to list them,in no particular order. Paddy O'Rourke, McKeever, Mark McHugh, Dick Clerkin but Billy Sheehan tops the lot Grrrrrrrrr X2
Classiest Player: Conor Laverty Down is classy operator.

Strongest Player: Calum King, Down mma background stonggg.
Weakest Player: Jamie Clarke might not be able to bench press a bag of sugar
but he defo the....Most Skilful Player: I reckon he could curl the bag of sugar over the bar with 4 defenders hanging out of him. he turns so so quick and sharp.


Fastest Player: Danny Cummins Galway explosive corner forward

Slowest Player: Conor Gillespie great hands yes. great pace. no.


Best Player in the division: and best player we'll see all year is Michael Murphy class apart. He does something worth the entrance fee in every game he plays.
notable mentions: Darren Hughes, Gareth Bradshaw, Karl Lacey, Colm McFadden,John O'Loughlin, Paddy McBrearty, Mickey Burke, Jamie Clarke, Conor McManus, Michael Meehan, Mark Poland and many many more

Excited much now? 


 Fixture List
Sun 2nd Feb: Home Armagh
Sun 9th Feb: Home Laois
Sat 1st Mar: Down Away
Sun 9th Mar Monaghan Away
Sun 16th Mar: Home Galway
Sun 30th Mar: Donegal Away
Sun Apr 7th: Home Meath 

Thanks for Reading and there is more to come durnig the week!,keep up to date by Liking me on Facebook

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Following me @LouthProud on Twitter

Dublin REcap O'Byrne Cup

I love playing Dublin. I really do. am I sick and twisted? yes? No? 

Here's my reasons.
They test you, always. As a result they let you know exactly where you are at...they are the bench mark and ultimately they improve you as a footballer, coach or even as a football fan!!

(Last night in Parnell park the Dubs really get behind the team and used the home advantage so well, they intimidate the opposition, jeering a wide, putting players off with banter and wit from the terrace. They add to the atmosphere by pushing and willing their team on when they are on top, some young fella even had the nous to bring a bodhran with him, stand behind the goals and beat it like a marching drum in the Army when Dublin were building an attack up the field. annoying but effective!)

Now to the game itself.

Concentration 

Wet and horrible conditions for football. The drizzle never stopped all evening. They really test you mentally, motivation wise, on why you are even there on a football pitch! and concentration wise, in actually catching the ball and getting your footing!

Overall it just adds to the level of difficulty of playing football.

Furthermore we brought a man back into defence and played it really well. We held our concentration for majority of the game but let it slip at a vital stage. The very end. when the game was won. 

It was annoying, as we defended really well all evening. Organised, Disciplined. Picking up runners, communicating well, tackling well. actually it was a masterclass for 55odd minutes. 

But thats why I like playing the best, you drop your guard for a second and you are punished.
Daniel Watson was the chief punisher, I spent more time today googling who the hell he was, than the total amount of time he spent on the pitch last night!

Nightly Notables

Alot of people were asking me about the positives of last night's game. Although we lost, the performance was alot better than saturday night and as well as the previously mentioned good defensive play I'm going to single out a few others for praise.

Keith McLaughlin had a real humdinger of a battle with Paul Hudson. Although Hudson kicked 2 from play I reckon it was an even battle. It will bring Keith on some more too. Tigerish in the tackle, pacy he'll stay on the panel this season.

Gary Connolly he seems to be AOR's preferred sweeper and to be fair to him he plays the role really well and did so last night too.

Our debutant on the night Robert Brodigan deserves a mention. The Plunketts man played his first match against the Dubs in Parnell park and didn't look daunted or let himself down either!  Fine physique and could be developed football wise. Nice to see AOR show some faith in some youth too. Importantly it will bring him on a ton come March 5th clash with Meath in the Leinster under 21 championship.

On the wings Decie Byrne and Bevan Duffy both put in a ginormous shift. Bevan really came into his own last night his rugby background has him well conditioned for that sort of workload and he grew in confidence as the game went on.


Naomh Martin man Stephen Campbell continues to be sneakily impressive....he's just so busy every time he plays! He tagged on a point for good measure also. His pace and productivity could see him be used as a useful option off the bench or even starting if he maintains his good form.

Forward life line

I know we played with 7 defenders and 5 up top last night, but I still think we are neglecting our attacking play somewhat.  

Combine that with personnel problems (Shane Lennon out long term and Ciaran Byrne gone and a host of injuries) our forwards don't seem to be able to produce a high scoring capacity of late.


I will touch on this again come closer to the league.

Derek Maguire got his first run out of the year. Nice to see him back and should start Sunday now and hopefully be ready to carry the scoring burden somewhat. 




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SnapShots Cardinal O'Donnell Final

A picture can paint a thousand words, and Luckily for me I have Ciaran Culligan photography on the case. 

Sample of Sunday's Action

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Eamonn Carroll Lifts the Cardinal O'Donnell Cup
Possible Louth call up?

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Match UpS HBline and MF

Looking good so far.....no?

THE HALFBACK LINE

Rayzor/Bryan Cullen

Next Match up and next Finnegan, In Croke Park mobility is the name of the game, contrary to what you may think size is not everything, Rayzor’s industry could cause Dublin Damage and put Cullen on the back foot from the get go.

JC/Alan Brogan

Fluidity, pace and mobility are words I’d use to describe.......not Alan Brogan but Jaime Carr! Player of the year last season Brogan being picked up by our best defender is at least a slight weight of our minds. Jaime’s defending will hopefully negate Brogan’s direct running and solo lines of attack.

Decie/Paul Flynn

Flynn epitomises what this Dublin team is all about, Gym monkey packed with an intensity playing style, this usually has him first name down on the Dubs teamsheet. Decie whether you think it or not has a lot of passion for the Louth jersey, he loves the big days out and a big test.(including a sub cameo he made against them in 2010)

Flynn will be that test on Sunday, his ball winning abilities are a lifeline to the Dublin machine, Decie can stand up to his physicality and use it to get involved in a lot of play, Flynn will bring out the best in Decie I’m sure of that.

It gets better...

THE Midfield Pairing's!

Michael Dara McAuley & Eamon Fennell VS Paddy Keenan & Ronan Carroll

In years past we had to worry about the physicality of the Dublin midfield, Sheehy, Bealin, Homan and Whelan but football has moved on and so a blend and new brand of midfielder has emerged.

One with size AND mobility AND athleticism AND whocanplayabitaswell!!!

Paddy Keenan and Michael Dara mcAuley are two of the perfect examples of the modern day midfield frankenstein’s (cool initials to boot). However MDMA has the luxury of playing just 50 to 50 PK has to do a whole lot more for his team going 21 to 21 on some days!

Keenan has to pick up McAuley and let them cancel each other out, they will be making the same runs anyway and also having played together for Leinster earlier in the year will no stranger to each others on field quirks.

Also due to the fact Ronan Carroll will not defend, not can’t...just won’t, Paul Bannon got on a lot of ball in the wayward third quarter against Westmeath. And Luckily went unpunished McAuley is more potent of an attacker of the two Dublin midfielders so lest not let Ronan defend, we know that, so let him play on Fennell and hope he doesn’t have the legs to defend what Ronan DOES do best, Attack. He is, after all our Championship top scorer so far. 

Scorer's Chart

Number 1 on the night


Brian Donnelly's single 'Brimful of Asher from the 45'' from the Album 'placed balls'


(1) Brian Donnelly 3 points (1 45' 2play)
(2) Conor Rafferty 2 points
(3) Adrian Reid 1 point
(3) Ronan Carroll 1 punched point
(3) David Reid 1 free

An Lu abu

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