There’s a storm building in the west

guest-slot_

It hasn’t been on anyone’s radar all year as there has been a different story in Dublin and, let’s face it, that’s where the national media go first to get readership/viewers/listenership.

The national media tell us that Dublin are blessed with what is probably the best football team of all time. Radio and television experts from all parts of the country describe their skills as “sublime”, their talents as “awe-inspiring”, their demeanour as “Corinthian” and their march to Sam 2016 as “unstoppable”.

They tell us that it is truly a wondrous time for Dublin GAA supporters and it is really a shame that the final on Sunday will be a duck shoot when lowly Mayo come to town. After all, Mayo have gone from being a top two team in January to struggling to get into the top 5 or 6 now.

Of course, a lot of that is down to goals, the scribes say. Dublin score goals for fun. Mayo really don’t have the same quality of forwards. And of course, Dublin are without two of the 2015 All-Stars in the backs but still have the strongest defensive unit in the country. Mayo on the other hand, leak goals like a sieve.

Strangely, the pesky facts don’t agree – Dublin have played five championship games this year, during which they have both scored and conceded five goals, whilst Mayo have played seven championship games scoring ten and conceding just three.

But the forwards, I hear them say. They score much more than Mayo and their backs concede less. Hmmm… not totally accurate. The facts show that they do score about two points on average more per game, but their backs concede one point more as well, so the grand canyon-esque gulf in class is not supported by the stats.

But then there is the Dublin 50-minute mark burst that blows teams out of the water. Strangely, the pesky facts tell us that it was at this stage against Laois, Donegal and Kerry that the wheels on the Dublin wagon became decidedly wobbly. But of course, as proper champions, the scribes tell us, they steadied themselves and pushed on. Of course, of course … sublime, awe-inspiring, unstoppable, etc., etc.

But slowly, the storm began to build from the west. The nice guys of Mayo began to win ugly. “No, No!” cried the scribes, “this team is gone. Galway are the new carriers of the flame, or Tipperary, or even Tyrone”.

It started with Fermanagh and the penalty. But for that, the scribes insisted, Fermanagh would surely be in the All-Ireland final. Mayo had no right to do that to them. And there was no credit for beating Kildare either, sure they just never got going. And Westmeath nearly caught us, and we should have lost to Tyrone. And when Galway fell to Tipperary, they had fought bravely and Tipperary had a great chance to beat us – but they didn’t.

And that is the point. We are still there. We are where (pre-Galway) many of us were predicting we would be in September. With one difference however, the Dublin GAA scene think this is already over and the scribes (following the need for readership/listenership/viewers) are feeding the beast.

Sunday will be a parade. Non-football people are coming up to me telling me why Dublin will win. And their “facts” are gleaned from the scribes who themselves are woefully out of date. It is like the shoeshine boys giving investment advice before the Wall Street crash.

I was in Castlebar last Saturday afternoon and the sense of calm was palpable. People were arming themselves with jerseys, flags and all the match paraphernalia. There was no fear about next weekend. It’s like we have used it all up in previous years.

This time, we mean business. This year we have a calm before the storm. And make no mistake, there will be a storm.

red-storm-dennis-kirby

Image: Fine Art America (Dennis Kirby)

But here in Dublin, the sun is still shining and so far nobody seems to have noticed the darkening storm clouds that are approaching from the West.

Keep the Faith!

71 thoughts on “There’s a storm building in the west

  1. Nicely captured 🙂
    The goal stat is pretty interesting. How does it extend if including the league results?

  2. It’s the longest run up to a final that I can remember, in an attempt to stay away in the calm and try not to blow a fuse I’ve exiled myself in the Midlands until Friday,but truth be told, the midlanders are as excited about the game as we are! I’m hassled at every corner to talk about the match, so my plan has failed I’m afraid. gonna be a long week, my plan is to just enjoy it, embrace it and come Sunday unleash fury

  3. Fourgoal,

    Thank you.

    You have just answered the nagging question that’s been spinning round my head the last few weeks, Why does this year feel different? No fear!

  4. @JP – Nope.

    NFL Table stats (excluding Semis and Final, which would skew a direct comparison).

    Dublin Were 7 from 7, no draws. 8-91 Scored, 4-75 Conceded (+28)
    Mayo Were 3 From 7, no draws, 5-88 Scored, 7-91 Conceded (-9)

    Dublin went on to score 3-38 in the Semi’s and Final Combined, conceding 0-26 (+21).

    As an aside, the piece above, while well written, tries to convey a message that itself does not believe. It tells us “Non-football people are coming up to me telling me why Dublin will win. And their “facts” are gleaned from the scribes who themselves are woefully out of date.”

    So people who don’t know better, and the media, who are paid by the column inch – think this game is a done deal? No surprises there, that’s always been the way of things.

    Let me set the record straight – there is not a single knowledgeable fan in the capital who thinks this. Each and every one of them understand the task ahead. We are too many times ambushed to ever fall for the complacency trap again.

    But if anyone on the Mayo panel expects to take to the pitch next Sunday, and see anything but steely determination etched into the faces of every Dublin player, youse are in for an awful shock.

    If you want Sam, come and get it. It won’t be handed over lightly.

  5. If we /they believe we can do it we will do it. I am confident but not overly so. We have the men we have the talent just need to preform to the level we all know that they can and do it for 70 minutes and a good ref with some luck and it’s ours why not?

    A wonderful opportunity

  6. Good man Jaden.
    Nice to see a Dub on here. I live in Dublin and your GAA mates must be playing a double agent type game because all the Dubs in my GAA club don’t give us a prayer. Having said that, there is very little talk in Dublin in general about the game in places other than in the GAA clubs.
    We have no doubt that the Dublin squad will be well prepped for Sunday. But then so will Mayo.
    They know each other very well at this stage and this could be one hell of a battle. Neither team expects anything less.

    Maigh Eo Abu

  7. Is there a case for Conor OShea to start ahead of JDoc and Regan?
    Kevin Mc drops back.
    Our five forwards would be:
    Diarmuid 6’2″
    AOS 6”4″
    COS 6’3″
    Andy a handful to mark currently
    Cillian 6’1″.
    Thats a very hard to beat on 50:50 ball forward line. Especially with Rory OCarroll missing and the pace and power of Mccaffrey gone.
    John Small is physical but then only Cian O’Sullivan is tall with him.

  8. Fair play Jaden. No doubt Dublin are a brilliant team and come Sunday they will be focussed and determined. The Dubs will want the two in a row just as much and maybe even more than Mayo want to finally break down that door. I just feel in my gut that this is Mayo’s year and it won’t matter one iota how steely the Dubs are. We are coming for ya and we won’t be denied, not no more. This is Mayo’s year and despite your best efforts, there’s sweet fuck all that you can do about it. Prepare to be vanquished.

  9. Jaden, there’s no a chance in hell of anybody on the Mayo panel underestimating Dublin.

    One Dublin player that for me epitomises that steely determination and isn’t getting much mention is Michael Darragh McCauley. There was a very interesting moment in the Dubs quarter v Donegal the summed up his attitude. He was taking a drink of water on the pitch, standing beside his opponent who gestured that he also wanted a drink. McCauley aggressively rejected this, skying the bottle to the sideline and shoving his opponent away. The Donegal player was told in no uncertain terms where to go. This happened right in front of the Mayo panel who were watching the match so there’s no doubt where the Dublin lads heads are at right now. It’s the first time I ever witnessed something like that happening.
    It was an incredibly unsporting moment but it showed the attitude of a winner who cares about absolutely nothing else. Cold as ice.
    McCauley has been a thorn in our side every we’ve played them. He’s a massive leader for them. He’ll be the first one to go over to a Dublin sub who has just come on and give a word of encouragement. He’s not the tidiest of footballers but he’s extremely effective and did well against Kerry I thought, so he’s another one that we must have a plan for the next day.

  10. Please say your joking about the weather. Up Mayo Dublin are dangerous but they have to get caught sometime.

  11. i said a few weeks back.

    this “best dublin team of all time” as the media would have us all believe beat kerry by 2 points in the semi final and were only 3 points ahead of donegal going into injury time in the quarter final.

    fine margins.

    there is no way we can go 15/20 minutes without a score and need to avoid a poor passage of play to have a chance.

    would be foolish to write us off.

  12. Quiet here near croker this evening but this is soccer territory producing giles,dunphy and weso within the shadows of the stands . Thats the strange thing about living here this week , no sense of a big match build up. There’s a car parked ob richmond road with mayo flags a flying and i hope to see it proudly festooned next minday morning. .i have a feeling i will!

  13. “If you want Sam, come and get it. It won’t be handed over lightly.”

    Beautifully put and I don’t think anyone is under any illusion about what’s needed from us on Sunday.

    Quote from Philly McMahon in today’s Indo sums it up for me. He talks about the POTY award as “a popularity contest. Says “I like to think I’m a nice person off the pitch. On the pitch, I’m there to do what I can to help my team win … I don’t care about awards”.

    That, my friends, is where we need to be. If we don’t take to the pitch on Sunday with that attitude – to a man – we’ll be coming home once again empty-handed.

  14. This was a beautiful piece, no more can be said .

    I think we are so used to loosing it doesn’t really hurt anymore the same way as it did , but if we win it will be 1000 times better than any all Ireland our county or any other county after us will win .

  15. Jaden
    It’s true the dubs are favorites and should win, but don’t think that anyone involved on the pitch or sideline with Mayo will be shocked by anything dublin can offer. We ve seen it all and have the deep scars to prove it. It’s dublin that should expect a shock, from what I hear, Mayo are considering taking Sam west for the winter, can you imagine that? The cheek of them!!

  16. Other thing he mentions about the non football fans is so true . I’m currently down in carlow for the year and you wouldn’t believe the way the locals throw off Mayo . Id put it half down to the media for sure .

    Fair enough Dublin deserve to be favorites but definitely not to the degree they are considering we bet Tyrone who were the apparent contenders ….yet the way people speak of mayo down this part you’d swear it was Carlow going up against the Dubs

  17. I think it was bill shankley who said ” winning is not everything. It’s the only thing”. Very true. Dublin are expected to win. Their fans expect to win . The media expects them to win because they are good at winning. They have a knack of winning and all good successful teams have thus knack. Kerry think they have a god given right to win every year and generally they are never far away. Unfortunately for them they are not good enough for the dubs presently. Winning is a habit for dublin and their record states that. No matter what the opposition they win. Winning is what counts. The object is to score more than the other team. U can’t argue with the score board. It’s the bottom line. Our past encounters in finals states that our forward line misfires. And we concede soft goals. If we have done sufficient work on both areas then we will shock them. I for 1 have had enough of losing finals. I want to be a winner. So if any one asks me during the week can mayo win my answer will be ” if we score more than dublin then yes we will win “

  18. Seeing a lot of pundits speculating on
    What do MAYO have to do to beat Dublin.?

    What about What Dublin need to do to beat us.?.

    Simply turn up and do Thier normal you say.
    But would that be enough if Mayo go at them 100 %.

    What are they going to do to counter our best threats?
    What have Gavin and Co got in mind for us ..????
    Now I don’t know but I think it might be an interesting topic on here.
    It’s the kind of thinking that Mayo Management will probably doing so
    Any ideas on what the Dubs are likely planning might be a worthy debate on here.
    Deep thinkers let’s hear from ye.

  19. I would love to see all the Mayo Players with the attitude of McCauley and the bottle of water – COLD AS ICE that is what is required to succeed. Supporters should read PJ Cunningham’s Article on page 13 of the Western People Sports Supplement.

  20. I have a suspicion Dublin will start o gara for a physical presence inside and because we don’t have a recognised full back but believe me our management team will have planned for such a scenario.

  21. Dublin will be very physical and try to bully Mayo. But the bully will be confronted. And when bullies are confronted they run away. Put that in your pipe Jarden and smoke it. I,m glad there is a jack in the camp. They are worried and all the bravado will not hide it. Come out you blue and navies, come out and fight us like men and we’ll make you run away,

  22. Look it! All Dublin have to do is what they’ve been doing for so long .They ve shown clearly that no one has the wherewithal to stay with them esp on the final run in! Mayo fans have matured into very good losers and here they go again enjoying what they can while they can!! I’m sure the players won’t take it too bad either…they’re a seasoned bunch this lot! Yes, they are that and that gives me an idea….supposing ammmmmmm! I’m keeping it all to myself!

  23. Regan/Doherty/Freeman/Dillon/ConorOShea for the 13 jersey

    Whose the best starter ?

    Baring in mind the speedster david byrne will prob be the marker

    Im leaning towards oshea

  24. Steady on there, Muckle – Jaden (not Jarden) has had the courage to come on here into enemy territory and engage in respectful debate and it’s only right that he gets shown the respect he’s due in return so no baiting please.

  25. I think it was John Casey or one of the lads on the,panel last week in Castlebar that said that Mayo had being planning for Dublin or Kerry for a long way out and id have to go along with that and if this is the case Dublin should be very wary of us.I think Michael Darragh and Kevin Mc are putting a lot of work into tracking back and helping out their defense in order to reduce the exposure of the jinks in their defense. I really believe we can expose this weakness.If Kerry had more pace they could have caused more damage. We have to turn up and bring to the game a hunger that Tipp displayed against Kilkenny. We must keep the scoreboard ticking over just like Tipp did and not retreat into ourselves. Finally at some stage we have to grab the game by the scruff of the neck and make it the COYBIB Brigade in the hill think to themselves, Jaysus I think we are fucked.Hon Mayo!!!!

  26. Has anybody else been having trouble with Mayo GAA Lotto? I have been getting text messages all summer about the lotto and despite my best efforts cannot get on to the site. When it stated I made a ten week entry but when I tried to renew I had problems with my password. Several emails to SmartLotto brought no result but when I copied to Mayo GAA Administrator I got results and renewed my subs for ten weeks. But when I tried to rem=new again the site threw up a notice about a problem with my credit card but no info about what the problem was or how to resolve it. Nor did emails bring any response and I presume that Mayo GAA Admin has enough on their plate these last few weeks to worry about a lotto contributor.

  27. Dave..maestro of mind games..j mc g..I did use the word apparently but my friends had heard same this evening..On a separate note just back from table quiz in castlebar and disappointing to see so many people I know that go to all mayo matches hitting table quizzes in the hope of getting a tkt..crazy..

  28. Toughnup: I love that last line because with all the millions of words written and spoken that’s it in a nutshell.
    Maigh Eo Abu

  29. The best way to play the lotto is to go to directly (the like frm old website never worked for me – new site might be different):

    http://www.smartlotto.ie

    – Scroll down select ‘play now’ (in orange)

    – click ‘find a club’

    – ‘Discipline’ select ‘GAA’
    ‘County’ select ‘Mayo’
    ‘Club’ select ‘Mayo GAA Players Welfare’

    At the top of the next page hit ‘Play’ (in green).

    🙂

  30. Donaghy suggested on Mayo TV last night we need AOS as close to goal as possible. Felt a Full Forward line of COC, AOS and Andy would do a Tipp on the Dubs! He might be right, lots of pressure on their full back line and Cluxton. Blitz the Dubs and blow them away. Mayo by 8.

  31. I think you need to read it in the spirit it’s written, Mayo51 – I quite enjoyed it myself. Galway God Help Us! as the name of a craft beer gave me a chuckle.

  32. There’s a storm building and is expected to make land fall at approx 3.30 on Sunday in the central area of Croke Park. It is anticipated that this area will experience some very determining meteorological elements which will have their origins in clearly emerging systems from the west! Very strong devouring occlusions are forecast for the area later in the day and Dublin folk are advised to take great care at all times and especially on the field of play!!

  33. Love the analogy of a storm brewing in the west. Ties in nicely with some of the sentiments expressed by McGuinness in the IT yesterday – do we have it within us to unleash one all consuming performance to deliver nirvana?

  34. I like Clerkin and have to admit his article was pretty funny (we still have to be able to have a laugh)…..and I am confident who will be laughing come Sunday evening!

  35. Does anyone happen to know what tickets former Mayo players are being given. I happen to know one who has been given a really bad one and is a bit disappointed.

  36. This article reminds me of a scene from the Dark Knight Rises (which I have slightly edited):

    Mayo: There’s a storm coming, Mr. Dublin. You and your friends better batten down the hatches, because when it hits, you’re all gonna wonder how you ever thought you could live so large and leave so little for the rest of us.

    Dublin: You sound like you’re looking forward to it.

    Mayo: I’m adaptable.

  37. Mayo51 I think I agree with you, but maybe I read it in serious mode.
    I found it hard to understand what the prob with the song ‘green and red of Mayo’ was he picked out the line ‘soft & craggy boglands’ but could have gone on to speak of ‘tallmajestic hills’ – anyway as Willie Joe said maybe I should have read it in the spirit intended, I’ll go back and do that now and without being on the defensive!!

  38. That Malachy Clerkin article is fantastic. Probably my favourite sports writer out there (though there is some good competition) and that piece just made me laugh out loud. Roscommon God Help Us! 😀

  39. @Just Outside Ballagh I could well see that FF line start. I’ve also an inkling that we might see Alan Dillon getting serious game time as a traditional CF to tie up O’Sullivan. O’Sullivan has being dropping back further all year to cover the FB line with O’Carroll gone. If we play ball through an out-and-out CF he’ll have to be picked up freeing a little space inside. Although this may mean abandoning the sweeper system and playing 6 forwards – will we have the guts to go with this?

  40. The dubs are a hard running, hard hitting, highly motivated bunch who believe in themselves and the system. (I say hard hitting as a compliment)

    We’re not bad at the hard running and hard hitting ourselves mind you!! We need to bring that on Sunday with alot of controlled aggression. However, the physical side of the game has to be ball focused, otherwise someone will miss something.

    For me the foundation of a good performance for Mayo is similar to what Tipp did in the hurling, the first step has to be to outwork Dublin, hassle and harry them and put them under pressure (no easy task)….Then when we have the ball we try to implement our plan. Im sitting on the fence a little regarding team selection, however, I would like to see two big men in the full forward line at some stage with Andy or Cillian playing off them (Barry Moran, Aidan O’ Shea, maybe even Tom P).

    Also, I agree with Willie Joe regarding our big players and how we need big performances from them. Every team has a few special players, guys that are above the rest, and for Mayo to get over the line we really need those guys to be on top of their game for 75 minutes and drive right to the end.

  41. loved Malachy Clerkins piece, that sounds something like you would write Liam!!? was just the little laugh I needed today

  42. The weather forecast is not not pleasing, I agree with you yew_tree. If it’s not raining at the start of the match, it will be by the end. Looks like another soaking for those on the Hill, and anywhere before about Row J on 3xx in the stands.

    Greasy conditions do not make for good football, as we know from Castlebar last Feb, or Croker last September. This could easily turn into a messy scrap.

    @Just Outside Ballagh – I’d take any advice given by Donaghy with a fairly large pinch of salt. He was deployed as the target man on the square in the Semi, and was kept scoreless. As a Dub’s supporter, I’d be happy to see Aidan standing around the square, it would be better than watching him run at a defense looking to offload over the shoulder. He can’t contest long Dublin kickouts from there either.

    @kevmy – you make a very valid point, the sweeper system (6+Sweeper) will be the rock Mayo perish on if it’s deployed. Doing it reeks of damage limitation. I honestly wonder if the sideline has the cahones to really go for it, Sunday will tell us.

    COS Surely has the 13 Jersey nailed on.

    I don’t believe for a minute that Jimmy is helping the lads out, I can’t fathom that the Mayo management team would even consider it. The very thought smacks of desperation.

    Myself, I like the way this is building up. All the talk is concerning what Mayo need to do to beat Dublin. Dublin already know what they have to do. It’s all academic anyway, as Mike Tyson said:

    “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth”.

    Make no mistake, at some point on Sunday, both teams will get punched in the mouth. It’s how they react that will determine the order of teams walking up the steps of the Hogan stand.

    COYBIB, and good luck to the Western Gaels when they take on the men of the Fort of the Dane.

  43. Good luck to you too, Jaden, though obviously we’re hoping our luck holds better on this occasion! In this world where depressing baiting and so-called banter is increasingly the norm (and I’ve seen two fairly disgusting examples of this – one from our side, the other from Dublin – on Twitter in the past 24 hours) it’s good to see that reasoned debate can and does still happen. Long may this continue to be the case.

  44. Our forward line needs to function properly if we’re gonna win. Past efforts in finals has seen our forward line not deliver. Not classy enough. Whoever is picked needs to take responsibility and get in correct position to shoot. I have said before philly mac will probably pick up aido. If he does then he will try take aido for a tour. We don’t need aido doing that so he needs to be tracked. Dublin have the ability to play with abandon. They believe they can win. My final thought now is find a more attacking role for keegan other than shadowing connolly. I think keegan should pick up kilkenny. He has fucked us up more timed with his point scoring and needs restraining. He starts a lot if attacks for them so let him follow leeroy around give him something else to think about

  45. I agree WJ, Social Media has alot to answer for in allowing a platform to every bleating Donkey with an internet connection.

    The GAA was founded on the principle of cohesion rather than division. Some people loose sight of this at times.

    I might sneak into Shrule for a late one sometime this week with my Kickhams jersey on, and see if anyone notices. It does a passable impression of the Mayo strip, if you don’t look too closely.

  46. It does, indeed, Jaden, but that’s maybe no accident. If I’m not mistaken there was a Mayo involvement in the founding of Kickhams, hence the Green and Red, or so I’ve been told. I’ve nothing to offer as supporting evidence of this asserion, I’m afraid, but someone with connections to the club told me once that this was the reason for their colours.

  47. @catcol

    Unfortunately I think a wet day would suit Dublin. I think Dublin players have a better basic skill set, which becomes more apparent in wet weather.
    If you go back to when James Horan took over this was one of the things he said he had to work on with Mayo players then, basic skills. I think its more natural with Dublin.

    Now, not saying they are better footballers, as a footballer is made up more that just skills, but if you can’t make that first time pass because you dropped the ball at your boots while trying to catch it, it makes a big difference.

  48. I’ve heard the same assertion about Kilbarrack (Naomh Barrog) GAA club, seems there was some involvement with one of the Founding members being a Mayo man too.

  49. @fear an chomartais

    How do you know I didn’t write it? Eclectic bunch of posters on this here blog, many in different guises….

  50. As far as I’ve ever been told, the strip is the inverse of the Mullinahone GAA strip. (Green, with red hoop) This Tipp town is the birthplace of CJ Kickhams.

    The Club CJ Kickhams was merged with Ballymun Gaels in the late 60’s to create the current Ballymun Kickhams.

    We’ve a couple of Mayo lads (The Burkes) playing for us. That’s about the only Mayo connection I know of.

  51. It is great to have Dub on here,I miss Martin the Dub,the gaa is about opinions,and banter,so when the game is over we can shake hands,and share a pint or two,so all the best after Sunday,but on Sunday Mayo will prevail,by 2 14 to 1. 8 up Mayo

  52. Good lads they are too, Ardnaree men. James played with the seniors for a while in the Horan era. As I said, I can’t swear by the story I heard about the strip but it was from someone who did have club connections.

  53. Interesting Makiuse on Dublin’s superior skills. They beat Kerry of course in appalling conditions last year. Still we ran them very close in Castlebar, with half a team.

    If my memory serves me, all our previous finals from 1989 on were played in glorious weather. Damn the bit of good it did us. Maybe a monsoon is what we need.

  54. @catcol, I reckon that a wet day should suit us better really. Anything that slows the Dubs down should be of benefit to the opposition. In saying that, they did cope well last year against Kerry in dreadful conditions.

    A wet day though, with a few high balls in on top of Cluxton or between him and his full-back line ideally, to try and cause the maximum amount of damage could pay dividends for us. Cluxton trying to catch a wet ball under his crossbar? It could slow down his kick-outs too a bit. I’d have more faith in Clarke doing well on a day like that, than Cluxton.

    You’d think that a game on a wet day would turn into a real battle, which should suit the more physical team. Players like the O’Sheas, Boyler, Barry Moran, Keegan and Vaughan, you’d think would relish a game like that.

  55. Watching that programme on TV last night All-Ireland Sunday and the very wet day would make you think that if you get a similar day we should think seriously about the big man in at full-forward. We only saw snatches of it but Donaghy had them at sixes and sevens and caused all sorts of problems in there when he came on. He had one great catch and offload similar to the one he got against us in 2014 but in this instance the other guy fumbled the ball with a goal on, pity O’Donoghue didn’t do similar against us. It also looked like O’Carroll pulled him down as a high ball was coming in and I’ve seen penalties given for less, replay in Limerick comes to mind.

    Big Barry may be an option in there, particularly if the day gets messy or even the twin towers as Dublin did not look comfortable and a Kerry goal would have changed everything.

  56. Apologies Wille Joe.and to Jaden(and in particular the pelling error Just the blood starting to boil and the pressure is getting to me. Hope Mayo can contain the pressure better than me.

  57. Yes HSE agree with a lot of that. Barry would really revel in that situation. And agree again that Clarke would do better than Cluxton. Not so sure about Andy in those conditions though; think he doesn’t like the yielding ground, more of a good to firm man?

  58. @Catcol. Andy is a good to firm man, but he’s not alone.

    Young Cillian is the same, as is Bernard absolutely, and to a certain extent Connolly.

    It’s much of a muchness in fairness. The forecast is improving though, so maybe it’s a moot point.

    @Muckle – No worries. I hope your lads deal with the pressure a little better, or maybe I don’t 🙂

  59. Shane forde from ballycastle played for kickhams a few years ago.he’s back to his roots again.

  60. I enjoyed clerkins article, and I think rumours of Jesus’ involvement are just that rumours. I too thought of Martin the Dub corick bridge, I miss his contributions. We are going to win this one lads. Roll on Sunday

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *