Meath Forum

Meath A League Predictions

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It's a straight shootout now in 1A between
Summerhill Colmcilles and Ratoath with all the pressure on Colmcilles to do it as they have no players missing, all that underage success will have start winning something at adult soon
Dunshaughlin to go down, they are finding the going tough in 1A coming up from intermediate last year

Senchelstown and Navan going well in 1B with Ballinabracky slipping up and looking like they will fail to make it up to the big boys again this year

In 2A Meathhill and stamullin look a good bet for final with a shout out to Nobber doing well

Ballinlough and Ultans are going well in 2B with Cortown not going away

3Ais Bridget's for me and Kilbride to come with a late run

Slane or Cortown should be fighting for this one out in 3B
But a second team may sneak it

Awaywin (Meath) - Posts: 116 - 17/05/2023 20:35:16    2479312

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Replying To Awaywin:  "It's a straight shootout now in 1A between
Summerhill Colmcilles and Ratoath with all the pressure on Colmcilles to do it as they have no players missing, all that underage success will have start winning something at adult soon
Dunshaughlin to go down, they are finding the going tough in 1A coming up from intermediate last year

Senchelstown and Navan going well in 1B with Ballinabracky slipping up and looking like they will fail to make it up to the big boys again this year

In 2A Meathhill and stamullin look a good bet for final with a shout out to Nobber doing well

Ballinlough and Ultans are going well in 2B with Cortown not going away

3Ais Bridget's for me and Kilbride to come with a late run

Slane or Cortown should be fighting for this one out in 3B
But a second team may sneak it"
Trim, Dunshaughlin, Na Fianna and Skryne - between those for relegation. Ratoath will win league and championship this year.

Tinchy1 (Meath) - Posts: 66 - 18/05/2023 09:39:20    2479353

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With the A leagues coming to an end and promotion not sorted in most division who do we think will make finals and win?

Jpjohnny (Meath) - Posts: 13 - 07/06/2023 11:18:37    2484687

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Normally the league gives teams outside the top 6 a chance for silverware, But this year there are few players from the top ones with Meath so Ratoath and Summerhill have no excuses. Unfortunate for Colmcilles as it blocks them from getting a step on the picking up trophys ladder.

Ashrules (Dublin) - Posts: 549 - 07/06/2023 11:33:10    2484697

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Whoever made the decision regarding mixing senior team 2nd teams with smaller first team clubs, what a major mistake!!! How many walkovers were given last night and many of the previous rounds as a result of senior clubs not fielding. This is no good for anyone even for the clubs benefiting from walkover. Players find out at very short notice and clubs miss out on having a game for their supporters and getting money from the gate. Senior clubs seem to have a take it or leave policy with the fine obviously not a worry in the slightest. Perhaps fixtures need to be looked at aswell with 3 rounds of A leagues being played Tuesday after bank holiday weekends. There is also a major difference between playing a senior 2nd team on a Tuesday or Thursday with the whole integrity of competitions being jeopardised. Seems to have been very little thought gone into the whole programme with the number of walkovers being at an all time low.

County board, WAKE UP!!

winatallcost (Meath) - Posts: 587 - 07/06/2023 12:58:11    2484726

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Replying To winatallcost:  "Whoever made the decision regarding mixing senior team 2nd teams with smaller first team clubs, what a major mistake!!! How many walkovers were given last night and many of the previous rounds as a result of senior clubs not fielding. This is no good for anyone even for the clubs benefiting from walkover. Players find out at very short notice and clubs miss out on having a game for their supporters and getting money from the gate. Senior clubs seem to have a take it or leave policy with the fine obviously not a worry in the slightest. Perhaps fixtures need to be looked at aswell with 3 rounds of A leagues being played Tuesday after bank holiday weekends. There is also a major difference between playing a senior 2nd team on a Tuesday or Thursday with the whole integrity of competitions being jeopardised. Seems to have been very little thought gone into the whole programme with the number of walkovers being at an all time low.

County board, WAKE UP!!"
I don't think putting the second teams into the division 3, 4 and 5 of the leagues is a major issue if the fixtures are thought out properly. Anyone involved in club football will know that the bulk of the second teams will make up the bench of a first team and if that first team has county players in either code then the second's will obviously lose even more to make up the numbers (which is the way it should be done as second team players will use the league as a chance to put their hands up for first team selection).
Why or how the county board seem to think its acceptable to put a first and second team game on the same night is mind boggling. Aside from the obvious logistics problem of players being available as mentioned above, from a supporters point of view it limits attendances at both games, and if there are family members playing on both first and second team then it puts pressure on parents etc deciding which game to attend. Just put games with a clubs second team on the day after or two days later. Lads who don't get meaningful game time for their first team can then still play the following night, and anyone who did play obviously won't tog out for 2 games in 2 days so the competitions integrity is still kept in tact.

ratlag (Meath) - Posts: 582 - 07/06/2023 13:57:10    2484746

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Putting 2nd teams into the A league was a sop to senior teams after they booted 2nd teams out of the main championships. I don't think anyone ever imagined that clubs would be expected to field 2 teams simultaneously though.

When you factor in missing county players, the senior team needing a panel of 20+ etc. the "2nd" team that takes the field for my club is effectively our 3rd team. It makes more sense to just give a walkover than head across the county on a tuesday evening to get an absolute pasting from a Junior or Intermediate club's first team.

Before the big reorganisation, our 2nd team was a decent Junior A team and even now at championship time is still at the high end of the premier. The way the league is run now though is only fit for giving walkovers in.

CastleBravo (Meath) - Posts: 1664 - 07/06/2023 13:58:47    2484747

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Replying To ratlag:  "I don't think putting the second teams into the division 3, 4 and 5 of the leagues is a major issue if the fixtures are thought out properly. Anyone involved in club football will know that the bulk of the second teams will make up the bench of a first team and if that first team has county players in either code then the second's will obviously lose even more to make up the numbers (which is the way it should be done as second team players will use the league as a chance to put their hands up for first team selection).
Why or how the county board seem to think its acceptable to put a first and second team game on the same night is mind boggling. Aside from the obvious logistics problem of players being available as mentioned above, from a supporters point of view it limits attendances at both games, and if there are family members playing on both first and second team then it puts pressure on parents etc deciding which game to attend. Just put games with a clubs second team on the day after or two days later. Lads who don't get meaningful game time for their first team can then still play the following night, and anyone who did play obviously won't tog out for 2 games in 2 days so the competitions integrity is still kept in tact."
I agree the issue is mainly with the CB and how fixtures are layed out but it must be said that these are 2nd teams with all the senior teams involved having at least 3 teams so its not a numbers issue. CB probably should have ensured that there were no clashes involving first and 2nd teams and in hindsight this is quite straightforward. There seems to be very little thought process and it's damaging to Meath football as a whole.

winatallcost (Meath) - Posts: 587 - 07/06/2023 15:00:30    2484769

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Here is the county board logic when it comes to fixtures - ''Get the games played whenever, wherever and however and get the league program finished and out of the way as quickly as possible.'' Hurling league fixtures are also taking up a disproportionate amount of time. Are there really that many dual players in Meath? No is the answer. But there appears to be strong hurling voice/voices on the county board.

Logic such as the integrity of the competition, fairness to second teams and players and the burden put on clubs to fulfil fixtures does not come into it.

BigJoe14 (Meath) - Posts: 997 - 07/06/2023 15:14:22    2484772

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So who's going to win each division so ?

Jpjohnny (Meath) - Posts: 13 - 07/06/2023 15:58:02    2484786

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Replying To BigJoe14:  "Here is the county board logic when it comes to fixtures - ''Get the games played whenever, wherever and however and get the league program finished and out of the way as quickly as possible.'' Hurling league fixtures are also taking up a disproportionate amount of time. Are there really that many dual players in Meath? No is the answer. But there appears to be strong hurling voice/voices on the county board.

Logic such as the integrity of the competition, fairness to second teams and players and the burden put on clubs to fulfil fixtures does not come into it."
Unfortunately agree that this seems to be the mindset when totally wrong. For a few years now, hurling leagues are getting priority with weekend games. I'm sure many club supporters would like to have an occasional home league football game on a weekend day? Even slight changes to the fixtures programme could be hugely beneficial to all involved. At this rate, football in Meath will slide further into the abyss with more club players opting out. Leadership, thought and effort needs to come from CB before a conserted effort will come from clubs to follow on and put best foot forward for our club competitions. From what I see, there are huge numbers of ambitious young players willing to buy in but this enthusiasm will eventually ware thin if they don't see it as a worthwhile option!

winatallcost (Meath) - Posts: 587 - 07/06/2023 16:07:01    2484788

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Replying To winatallcost:  "I agree the issue is mainly with the CB and how fixtures are layed out but it must be said that these are 2nd teams with all the senior teams involved having at least 3 teams so its not a numbers issue. CB probably should have ensured that there were no clashes involving first and 2nd teams and in hindsight this is quite straightforward. There seems to be very little thought process and it's damaging to Meath football as a whole."
Yes some clubs will have 3rd teams, but these teams are firstly in the middle of their championship at the minute, and secondly its just a bad as second teams playing first team players in order to win at all costs if teams are putting out their 3rd team just to fill a fixture. It takes the integrity out of the competition because teams aren't coming up against the same squads week in week out so 2 first teams could play against Ratoath, Dunboyne, Ashbourne for example and face two completely different groups of players, which throws the rest of the league all over the place as it isn't a fair and accurate representation. I know its not what you are saying, but an attitude of "sure they're big population clubs, they have bodies to play so to hell with em" is a huge problem, lads playing 3rd team will plan their life outside of football around the 3 team fixtures, as do first and second team players. The very simple solution is just to not fix them for the same night, this will also free up refs as they won't won't be needed for as many games on the one night.
At the end of the day we have lads aged 17 to nearly 40 who we can't to keep involved in the game and their clubs for as long as possible, but when things like this are happening its easy to see why they get sick of it and just walk away

ratlag (Meath) - Posts: 582 - 07/06/2023 16:13:24    2484790

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Replying To ratlag:  "Yes some clubs will have 3rd teams, but these teams are firstly in the middle of their championship at the minute, and secondly its just a bad as second teams playing first team players in order to win at all costs if teams are putting out their 3rd team just to fill a fixture. It takes the integrity out of the competition because teams aren't coming up against the same squads week in week out so 2 first teams could play against Ratoath, Dunboyne, Ashbourne for example and face two completely different groups of players, which throws the rest of the league all over the place as it isn't a fair and accurate representation. I know its not what you are saying, but an attitude of "sure they're big population clubs, they have bodies to play so to hell with em" is a huge problem, lads playing 3rd team will plan their life outside of football around the 3 team fixtures, as do first and second team players. The very simple solution is just to not fix them for the same night, this will also free up refs as they won't won't be needed for as many games on the one night.
At the end of the day we have lads aged 17 to nearly 40 who we can't to keep involved in the game and their clubs for as long as possible, but when things like this are happening its easy to see why they get sick of it and just walk away"
I agree with almost everything you say here and I understand everyone have their own plans but if that's the case, it is only respectful to give a club a number of days notice about a no show which hasn't been the case. Ultimately its a shame the CB allowed a scenario like this to occur in the first place without the foresight to see what was likely to happen.

winatallcost (Meath) - Posts: 587 - 07/06/2023 18:14:46    2484820

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Trim gone anyway.

Dunshaughlin in 2nd relegation spot but looking at the fixtures for the last round I think there is definitely a twist in this. NF and particularly Skyrne could be in big bother.

I see Dunboyne rolled out the big guns from the Meath squad to get them safe so between Dunshaughlin NF and Skyrne now foe the last relegation spot.

Blackspot09 (Meath) - Posts: 1003 - 08/06/2023 09:11:08    2484863

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Is it true that football will be finished for most clubs next week or so with basically hurling only (bar some finals) for June and nearly the whole of July?

Goldback (Meath) - Posts: 58 - 08/06/2023 10:37:14    2484882

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Replying To Goldback:  "Is it true that football will be finished for most clubs next week or so with basically hurling only (bar some finals) for June and nearly the whole of July?"
Yea and thanks be to god. 12 tea.s in A league, 8 in A League hurling.

PatrickTopping (Meath) - Posts: 119 - 08/06/2023 11:07:07    2484890

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Replying To Goldback:  "Is it true that football will be finished for most clubs next week or so with basically hurling only (bar some finals) for June and nearly the whole of July?"
It is indeed. Well done to the Meath CCC.

BigJoe14 (Meath) - Posts: 997 - 08/06/2023 11:08:29    2484892

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Replying To BigJoe14:  "It is indeed. Well done to the Meath CCC."
The year for Club Football and Hurling now seems longer than ever with preliminary cup competitions starting end of Jan/early Feb and championships not concluding until October. U20 competitions go right until Dec some the calender is at least 11 months long. I thought the whole idea of having intercounty in early part of year was to avoid a scenario like this. Don't think it has worked out great while interest in the County scene seems to have dropped with attendances on the floor.

winatallcost (Meath) - Posts: 587 - 08/06/2023 11:19:37    2484893

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Replying To Blackspot09:  "Trim gone anyway.

Dunshaughlin in 2nd relegation spot but looking at the fixtures for the last round I think there is definitely a twist in this. NF and particularly Skyrne could be in big bother.

I see Dunboyne rolled out the big guns from the Meath squad to get them safe so between Dunshaughlin NF and Skyrne now foe the last relegation spot."
Which "big guns" did Dunboyne roll out?

Maestro (Meath) - Posts: 584 - 08/06/2023 12:50:47    2484914

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Replying To Maestro:  "Which "big guns" did Dunboyne roll out?"
Well Donal Lenihan for one. Michael Murphy as well who is on the meath panel. Maybe not a big gun as such but obviously if he's on the Meath panel he's one of Dunboynes best players

Blackspot09 (Meath) - Posts: 1003 - 08/06/2023 13:59:28    2484935

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