Life after Brian GAA 2023

[elguapo4]

As we start another year in the GAA calendar, already we have one of the biggest games of the year, the All Ireland club finals in Football and Hurling .I have long since give n up trying to figure out the constant fixture and rule changes that come out of Croke Park, but having such a major occasion at the coldest, darkest time of the year is just bizarre.

Anyway, it's Leinster v Ulster in both codes, as Kilkenny's Ballyhale Shamrocks take on Antrim's Dunloy in the Hurling, and in the football, Dublin powerhouse Kilmacud Crokes face Derry's Glen. Anything less than a comfortable home win for the former two would be a major surprise.

[Discordant Resonance]

Particularly when nothing of consequence is being held on the traditional Patrick's Day slot for the games.

[Discordant Resonance]

And legendary Kerry manager Mick O'Dwyer remarried today at the age of 86.

[elguapo4]

Ballyhale Shamrocks lead at ht as expected in the hurling final but only by two points, 1.09 to 1.07 against Dunloy.

[elguapo4]

Ballyhale win by 1.22 to 1.15, having scored the last four points to make it look a lot more comfortable than it actually was.

[elguapo4]

Kilmacud Crokes beat the brilliantly named Wattie Graham's Glen 1.11 to 1.09 in a fairly dull game.

[elguapo4]

More examples of the eccentricities of the GAA management. Having won the club football championship yesterday, it turned out that Kilmacud Crokes played the last few minutes with 16 players.

The rules call for either a replay, or the result being reversed, but the GAA central committee have said that they can do nothing about it until Glen put in an official complaint, passing the buck to the innocent victims. Bizarre.

[elguapo4]

Glen have put in an official protest, which leaves the entire GAA fixture list in a mess. The reason for having the club finals so early, is to avoid clashing with the intercounty season, which starts with the National League games this weekend. Imagine trying to rearrange an FA Cup final during a World Cup and you have an idea of the quandary they face.

[Discordant Resonance]

In recent years, the National League was the most interesting format for the GAA purist, but between Dublin's relegation to Division Two, and Kerry missing half their squad for 3-4 rounds after the club championships, there does seem to be a feel of shadowboxing this year. But we begin with Divisions Three and Four:

Division Four:

Carlow
Laois
Leitrim
London
Sligo
Waterford
Wexford
Wicklow

Over the last few seasons, there has been a few major counties (notably Derry) who have fallen to the very bottom of the pyramid, but it has been a while since even Laois or Sligo had notable accomplishments. Because of the latter's favourable Connacht draw, they should reach the provincial final, and avoid the Tailteann Cup as a consequence.

Promoted: Laois, Sligo
Bottom: London

Division Three:

Antrim
Cavan
Down
Fermanagh
Longford
Offaly
Tipperary
Westmeath

An incredibly well-matched division, with no obvious promotion or relegation candidates on first glance. This will be the most pivotal tier, as the top two may earn a place in the All-Ireland Championship in the summer, depending on results elsewhere.

Promoted: Tipperary, Westmeath
Relegated: Antrim, Longford

[Discordant Resonance]

And I complete the preview with the top two divisions:

Division Two:

Clare
Cork
Derry
Dublin
Kildare
Limerick
Louth
Meath

A number of intriguing questions arising here - will Dublin look to blow teams out of the water early on, or hold their powder dry for the Championship? How will Colm O'Rourke fare in his first season in an intercounty role, and can Derry's promising 2022 form be sustained?

Promoted: Derry, Dublin
Relegated: Clare, Louth

Division One:

Armagh
Donegal
Galway
Kerry
Mayo
Monaghan
Roscommon
Tyrone

The Kingdom are going for four-in-a-row, but with the Cliffords et al on a well-deserved hiatus, Jack O'Connor will, for once, be satisfied with mid-table anonymity. As such, the title appears to be a free-for-all, but Galway, Mayo and Tyrone seem the most probable contenders.

Champions: Galway
Relegated: Armagh, Roscommon

[Discordant Resonance]

Not sure what elguapo4 will make of that Dublin performance, there were times when they dominated play and held Kildare at arm's length, but for long spells they were extremely sloppy, wasteful in their shooting, and in the end they just about scraped a win by the bare minimum.

[Discordant Resonance]

Very entertaining game in Castlebar, as Mayo and Galway play out a 1-11 to 2-8 draw, both sides had spells of dominance, but a share of the spoils genuinely was a fair result. Elsewhere, Armagh edged out Monaghan in another Division 1 provincial derby, Derry crushed Limerick on the latter's elevation to Division Two, Fermanagh and Down had Division Three wins over Longford and Tipperary respectively, and both Division Four encounters ended as draws, between Wicklow and Carlow, and Wexford vs London.

[elguapo4]

Not sure what elguapo4 will make of that Dublin performance, there were times when they dominated play and held Kildare at arm's length, but for long spells they were extremely sloppy, wasteful in their shooting, and in the end they just about scraped a win by the bare minimum.

Agree with your analysis, the amount of chances missed by experienced players is worrying. I think our triumphant stroll to the second division title may not be as easy as we thought. Derry in particular will relish taking us on.

[elguapo4]

Kerry as wasteful as Dublin today in a one point defeat to Donegal. The big difference is that they have the Clifford brothers still to come in

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Fair to say no-one will be getting worked up, but still annoying that they persisted with lateral passing in the second half, when most of the joy in the first came from running straight at the Donegal backs. Good to see Stefan Okunbor introduced after his horrific run of injuries last year.

[Discordant Resonance]

A Kerry GAA podcast picked a soccer XI of former intercounty players, and while most are well-known (Charlie Nelligan, Mikey Sheehy, Darran O'Sullivan, the Cliffords), one surprise was learning that Paul Galvin had trials with Cork City.

[Discordant Resonance]

Expect a counter-appeal to be lodged imminently:

https://twitter.com/gavreilly/status/1620402329001529345

[elguapo4]

In Hurling, Kilkenny take the field today against Antrim in the National League without manager Brian Cody, who stepped down after last year's All Ireland final following 24 years in charge. Former Kilkenny u21 manager Derek Lyng is the unfortunate in the David Moyes role .

The GAA management can breathe a sigh of relief, after Glen indicated that they will no longer appeal their illegal defeat in the All Ireland club final, as mentioned above. It seems that fair play means nothing against an opponent with deep pockets who intended to go all the way, as well as a cowardly administration. Just another reason to hate Kilmacud Crokes.

[Discordant Resonance]

Much local celebration, as Kerry's No 26 tomorrow, Joe Linehan, is the first Churchill player to even feature on the senior panel since the late Seventies, so if he plays, they'll practically light bonfires!

[Discordant Resonance]

At the last minute, he was dropped for one Paudie Clifford, who was introduced and promptly ran half the length of the pitch to score a goal. Watch out for Donal "Down" O'Sullivan from Kilgarvan, who scored 1-3 in only his second-ever league appearance.

[Discordant Resonance]

A good start so far to 2023 for Rossies, as victory over Tyrone was followed up by a narrow win away to Galway, while Armagh rescued a Lazarus-style draw against Mayo, and Tyrone themselves rebounded with a crushing of Donegal. Dublin and Derry lead, as expected in D2, while Meath have made a promising beginning to the season. Antrim and Longford are duly struggling in the third tier, but Cavan and Offaly have been unexpectedly impressive in that echelon. No surprise to see Waterford struggling, along with London and South-Eastern counties.

https://twitter.com/GAALeagueTables/status/1622319287741341696

[Discordant Resonance]

The hurling season began this weekend, but the structures of the top tier often lead to facile victories, such as that of Tipp over Laois, or Clare over Westmeath. That said, Antrim provided unexpectedly stiff opposition for Kilkenny in Derek Lyng's feline managerial debut. Elsewhere, Cork defeated Limerick in a game of Championship intensity on Leeside, Waterford drew with Dublin, and Galway won away to Wexford in a game that doubled up as the Walsh Cup decider.

[elguapo4]

I watched the Galway v Wexford game, and I wondered why there was a trophy.

[The Awesome Berbaslug!!!]

Well if anything is going to distract kilkenny people from the departure of Brian Cody its going to be the naming of the gaa star fraud shocker. It's something we should probably postpone too much discussion of until he is named officially, but I think everyone in the country knows who it is at this stage. What kind of house did they grow up in?

[Discordant Resonance]

The story "officially" broke last night, ironically just as Jarlath Burns was being elected GAA President. This morning, the rather farcical situation whereby a Leinster champion of the Joe McDonagh Cup gained automatic promotion, but Kerry would face a play-off, has ended, and the Kingdom will play in a six-team Munster round-robin should they win the title this season.