Meath Forum

Senior Championship

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Any thoughts on the Senior Football Championship draw?

Group A looks like a bruiser! My fancies to come through are

Summerhill & Dunshaughlin
Dunboyne & Tones
Cilles & S'Town
Ratoath & Skyrne

I've backed Don/Ash the last 5 years as my outside bet so they'll probably win it this year!!! Ballinabrackey don't give anything away easy so I won't be surprised with anything that happens in Group A

I don't think Kells are the team they were a couple of years back. Curraha have a small playing pool and are really impacted by lads going travelling.

I think Cilles are building into a strong team and with the success they have had at 20's and minor I think they will go well this year

I think the Skyrne Trim game in Group D will decide second spot - but then again any team with Donal Keoghan must have a chance!!



Group A

1. Dunshaughlin V 2. Donaghmore/Ashbourne

3. Ballinabrackey V 4. Summerhill

Group B

1. St Peter's Dunboyne V 2. Curraha

3. Gaeil Colmcille V 4. Wolfe Tones

Group C

1. Simonstown Gaels V 2. Na Fianna

3. St Colmcille's V 4. Seneschalstown

Group D

1. Skryne V 2. Ratoath

3. Trim V 4. Rathkenny

Royalblufill (Meath) - Posts: 511 - 21/03/2024 12:08:56    2532476

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If you missed the draws live last night you can see it on YouTube now. Car crash stuff!

royal11 (Meath) - Posts: 102 - 21/03/2024 13:01:14    2532483

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Replying To royal11:  "If you missed the draws live last night you can see it on YouTube now. Car crash stuff!"
What happened?

allroyal (Meath) - Posts: 5 - 21/03/2024 13:50:20    2532494

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Group a ; dunsaughlin to top the group and summerhill get the nod, don/ash (who scraped through last year and only came up a bit short in the semifinal) and brackey would need to pull off a surprise to have a chance of getting through, group b; dunboyne and tones fancied , but dunboyne need to get their act together and not take it for granted, group c; simonstown and cills, group D; ratoath and a dog fight for 2nd place . Looking forward to it

royler (Meath) - Posts: 277 - 21/03/2024 17:56:52    2532543

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Group A ? Oh dear. Group D I think everyone will smell an opportunity there. The others are very even. It really is wide open. Whoever emerges from Group A has to be the favorite. Who that is, well that is anyone guess

seasiderblues (Meath) - Posts: 352 - 22/03/2024 07:53:33    2532587

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Looking at the groups and as the draw does not seed teams, Ballinabrackey came out worse.
There is no doubt based on last year's championship performances that Group A is the toughest group.
If championship draw was seeded, No. 1 seeds semi finalists, No. 2 seed QF, No. 3 seeds Relegation QF & No. 4 seed Relegation QF.

Group A

Summerhill S1

Donaghmore/Ash S1

Dunshaughlin S2

Ballinabrackey S3

(Last year's County Champions, Semi-finalist & QF finalist & Relegation QF winner. Two No. 1 Seeds, one No. 2 Seed & one No. 3 Seed, Ballinabrackey should feel hard done by as they are a number 3 seed.


Group B

Wolfe Tones S1

Curraha S3

Gael Colmcille S3

Dunboyne S4

(Contains only one team which made the QF's last year & three that were in relegation play-offs)

Group C

Simonstown S2

St. Colmcilles S2

Senchalstown S3

Na Fianna S4

(No No. 1 seed, Two No. 2 Seeds, one No. 3 Seed & one No. 4 Seed.)

Group D

Ratoath S1

Trim S2

Skryne S4

Rathkenny S4

(One No. 1 seed, One No. 2 Seeds, two No. 4 Seed.)

madmeath (Meath) - Posts: 83 - 28/03/2024 15:08:11    2534338

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Replying To madmeath:  "Looking at the groups and as the draw does not seed teams, Ballinabrackey came out worse.
There is no doubt based on last year's championship performances that Group A is the toughest group.
If championship draw was seeded, No. 1 seeds semi finalists, No. 2 seed QF, No. 3 seeds Relegation QF & No. 4 seed Relegation QF.

Group A

Summerhill S1

Donaghmore/Ash S1

Dunshaughlin S2

Ballinabrackey S3

(Last year's County Champions, Semi-finalist & QF finalist & Relegation QF winner. Two No. 1 Seeds, one No. 2 Seed & one No. 3 Seed, Ballinabrackey should feel hard done by as they are a number 3 seed.


Group B

Wolfe Tones S1

Curraha S3

Gael Colmcille S3

Dunboyne S4

(Contains only one team which made the QF's last year & three that were in relegation play-offs)

Group C

Simonstown S2

St. Colmcilles S2

Senchalstown S3

Na Fianna S4

(No No. 1 seed, Two No. 2 Seeds, one No. 3 Seed & one No. 4 Seed.)

Group D

Ratoath S1

Trim S2

Skryne S4

Rathkenny S4

(One No. 1 seed, One No. 2 Seeds, two No. 4 Seed.)"
Agree here, I'm from Ratoath and can definitely say we got the 'easier' group in comparison say to Group A. Obviously anything can happen in a given game of football and there can be upsets if teams under or over perform but I think seeded draws would lead to better knockout games. However the flip side is that last year Dunshaughlin would technically have been a Seed 4 given they only came up from Intermediate and they could well have beaten Ratoath in the quarter finals so while I would like to see seeded draws I don't think it is the biggest issue that needs resolving in the county

ratlag (Meath) - Posts: 582 - 28/03/2024 15:26:31    2534341

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Is the Senior Championship in Meath as poor as Colm O'Rourke suggested? Disappointing to hear those types of comments.

winatallcost (Meath) - Posts: 583 - 28/03/2024 17:45:57    2534358

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Replying To winatallcost:  "Is the Senior Championship in Meath as poor as Colm O'Rourke suggested? Disappointing to hear those types of comments."
Have to wonder why the biggest county town (Navan) is unable to produce a player capable of making senior team?

What does that say about the standard/competitiveness of county championship or Meath football in general?

bert09 (Meath) - Posts: 1807 - 28/03/2024 19:08:30    2534368

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Replying To winatallcost:  "Is the Senior Championship in Meath as poor as Colm O'Rourke suggested? Disappointing to hear those types of comments."
Yes he is right.
Why?
Too many clubs, not enough participation.

Demographics of Ireland have changed massively.
GAA is not the sport of choice for many people now, with soccer, basketball, rugby, prefered by many. In addition smaller families units are far more common.

Soccers popularity is on the rise, and only for its incompetent, Dublin centric governing body soccer would be #1 nation wide.

The day of Football or Hurling only is gone.

Sooner either a proper regional competition or amalgamations happen with smaller clubs in Meath, standards will gradually continue to fall.

Get use to Meath club level remaining below par.
Hard as it is to swallow, it's the inevitable outcome.

Meathooooo (Meath) - Posts: 88 - 28/03/2024 22:14:37    2534395

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Replying To bert09:  "Have to wonder why the biggest county town (Navan) is unable to produce a player capable of making senior team?

What does that say about the standard/competitiveness of county championship or Meath football in general?"
I don't think that's a very fair comment. Aodhan Mallon was on the county radar this year. Carolan from Simonstown was asked in I believe and Brian Conlon and Mark Delvin are 2 players who could definetly play with Meath.

COUNTYTOCOUNTY (Meath) - Posts: 30 - 29/03/2024 08:56:00    2534415

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Replying To madmeath:  "Looking at the groups and as the draw does not seed teams, Ballinabrackey came out worse.
There is no doubt based on last year's championship performances that Group A is the toughest group.
If championship draw was seeded, No. 1 seeds semi finalists, No. 2 seed QF, No. 3 seeds Relegation QF & No. 4 seed Relegation QF.

Group A

Summerhill S1

Donaghmore/Ash S1

Dunshaughlin S2

Ballinabrackey S3

(Last year's County Champions, Semi-finalist & QF finalist & Relegation QF winner. Two No. 1 Seeds, one No. 2 Seed & one No. 3 Seed, Ballinabrackey should feel hard done by as they are a number 3 seed.


Group B

Wolfe Tones S1

Curraha S3

Gael Colmcille S3

Dunboyne S4

(Contains only one team which made the QF's last year & three that were in relegation play-offs)

Group C

Simonstown S2

St. Colmcilles S2

Senchalstown S3

Na Fianna S4

(No No. 1 seed, Two No. 2 Seeds, one No. 3 Seed & one No. 4 Seed.)

Group D

Ratoath S1

Trim S2

Skryne S4

Rathkenny S4

(One No. 1 seed, One No. 2 Seeds, two No. 4 Seed.)"
Absolutely , I'm screaming for this the last 5 years , Championship draw has to be seeded for the sake of impartiality.

Yes you have to beat everyone if you want to win a championship they say however I want to see the best 8 teams in quarters.

To be honest I think the draw is not too bad considering it was open, yes group A looks like the group of Death however I think all 4 teams will be confident they can progress.

One thing is for certain, there should be no quarters in relegation , semis only, bottom teams into relegation. Finishing third on 3 or maybe 4 points should not be punished, should have a small reward.

thelutch (Meath) - Posts: 1072 - 29/03/2024 09:17:04    2534422

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Replying To bert09:  "Have to wonder why the biggest county town (Navan) is unable to produce a player capable of making senior team?

What does that say about the standard/competitiveness of county championship or Meath football in general?"
Why even say this, the county championship is the same as it was when he took over. He knew this prior to taking the job. Using it now as an excuse it seems...

Ed2010 (Meath) - Posts: 109 - 29/03/2024 09:36:48    2534424

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Replying To Ed2010:  "Why even say this, the county championship is the same as it was when he took over. He knew this prior to taking the job. Using it now as an excuse it seems..."
I was disappointed with his comments. I mean it's not like he is just given a panel of players from the Meath competitions a few days before a game and told to pick the best team. I am now looking at Meath Club football competitions and there are 10 league divisions for football with about 10 or so teams per division. That's a hell of alot of players playing football in Meath. The county management team has serious options when it comes to selecting individual players and also pretty much has these players from October to July to work with them so I think the answer to the development of these players lies closer to home and within the county setup than anything else. His comments came across as lazy in my eyes.

winatallcost (Meath) - Posts: 583 - 29/03/2024 12:29:29    2534448

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Replying To winatallcost:  "Is the Senior Championship in Meath as poor as Colm O'Rourke suggested? Disappointing to hear those types of comments."
Very dissapointing comments. Would you hear any other county manager thrashing the main adult competion in their own county in public? Very much doubt it.

Everyone knows it needs to improve, and steps are being taken to do that, but it may take a couple of years before you see major improvements.

What sort of a message is it sending out to players playing in the Senior Championship later this year, who are hoping to get a call up to the county team, that the Senior County manager is watching the games but thinks its rubbish.

There is no problem with him having this opinion, but given the fact the he is the MANAGER of the Senior County Football team, he should be relaying this message in private to those in charge of running the competitions in Meath, not announcing it to the country via the national media after a league game where his team has had their backside handed to them again!

BigJoe14 (Meath) - Posts: 997 - 29/03/2024 13:44:40    2534457

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Replying To BigJoe14:  "Very dissapointing comments. Would you hear any other county manager thrashing the main adult competion in their own county in public? Very much doubt it.

Everyone knows it needs to improve, and steps are being taken to do that, but it may take a couple of years before you see major improvements.

What sort of a message is it sending out to players playing in the Senior Championship later this year, who are hoping to get a call up to the county team, that the Senior County manager is watching the games but thinks its rubbish.

There is no problem with him having this opinion, but given the fact the he is the MANAGER of the Senior County Football team, he should be relaying this message in private to those in charge of running the competitions in Meath, not announcing it to the country via the national media after a league game where his team has had their backside handed to them again!"
Was a great championship when simonstown won it

royler (Meath) - Posts: 277 - 31/03/2024 14:41:34    2534796

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Replying To BigJoe14:  "Very dissapointing comments. Would you hear any other county manager thrashing the main adult competion in their own county in public? Very much doubt it.

Everyone knows it needs to improve, and steps are being taken to do that, but it may take a couple of years before you see major improvements.

What sort of a message is it sending out to players playing in the Senior Championship later this year, who are hoping to get a call up to the county team, that the Senior County manager is watching the games but thinks its rubbish.

There is no problem with him having this opinion, but given the fact the he is the MANAGER of the Senior County Football team, he should be relaying this message in private to those in charge of running the competitions in Meath, not announcing it to the country via the national media after a league game where his team has had their backside handed to them again!"
Was a great championship when simonstown won it

royler (Meath) - Posts: 277 - 31/03/2024 19:37:49    2534856

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Can see Trim being in a relegation battle this year.

Irish_downunder (Meath) - Posts: 640 - 02/04/2024 09:40:27    2535121

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Replying To Irish_downunder:  "Can see Trim being in a relegation battle this year."
Why would you say that. They missing lads from last year. Did they not get out of the group last year?

Meath4Sam2020 (Meath) - Posts: 141 - 02/04/2024 22:13:06    2535280

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Replying To Meath4Sam2020:  "Why would you say that. They missing lads from last year. Did they not get out of the group last year?"
Yes looking at recent results, management team and lads that have stepped away I'd imagine they will struggle in the group.

Irish_downunder (Meath) - Posts: 640 - 03/04/2024 08:38:25    2535318

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