james-ohara

Lets hear what your thoughts are on St Barnabus going senior, normally when they are mentioned you are straight on . are you for it or agains't it?
The silence is deafning.

Happy Christmas to all.

millbrook (UK) - Posts: 103 - 18/12/2009 14:43:44    517645

I can't see many teams feeling threatened by Barnabus!!! fair play one good season at intermediates and massive improvement and lets hope you can continue but it doesn't mean you will all of a sudden have a dramatic impact on warwickshire football. little steps at a time.... don't run before you can walk.

ehu09 (UK) - Posts: 52 - 18/12/2009 15:04:29    517661

With out doubt St Barnaba's were by far and away the best team in the Intermediate grade last year, you only have to look at some of the hammerings that were dished out to most of the other teams in the league.

I dont feel John Mitchells were the better team in the intermediate grade although they won the championship (I know it sounds stupid), and St Brendans albeit in being beaten finalists in a replay would struggle big time in the senior league and are not yet equipped to step up. St Barnabas with their present squad would be able to compete in the senior league where as St Brendans would not.

But maybe St Barnabas do not want to go senior next year (as would be their right), becuase with the senior league only currently numbering 6 clubs or 7 if Brendans are promoted why would the county board stop them from going up and why would the other senior clubs be that bothered about them being promoted to stop them. And I know for a fact that if it came to the intermediate clubs having a say about the rights or wrongs of promoting St Barnabas they would all provide a resounding yes to promotion so as to offer themselves a more competitive intermediate grade next year.

bill1 (UK) - Posts: 7 - 18/12/2009 15:20:57    517692

bill
I would take issue with your view that John Mitchels were not the best team in the intermediate championship this year.
They beat last years champions St Marys easily in the first round and in the semifinal they beat St Barnabus by one point, a game St Barnabus claim they were unlucky to loose. however if you look closer at the scores and chances, you will notice that Mitchels scored 11 points from play to Barnabus 4 and six frees.
Mitchels had 5 wides from frees. Both sides missed easy goal chances.
In the final replay Against St Brendans they won easily again.
This team only came together after the senior team lost to four masters, when the league was already half over, so there was not a great deal of interest in the league.
The addition of a number of players transferring in made a huge difference.
In the final of the Mulligan cup which St Barnabus won easily, John Mitchells showed thirteen changes from the team that won the championship.
I think that qualifies them as the best.
I have't heard anyone complain that Mac's were not the best team in senior although Four Masters beat them twice and won more games.
I still feel that St Barnabus should step, up if not to senior championship then certainly senior league for 2010. They have the makings of a very good side.

millbrook (UK) - Posts: 103 - 18/12/2009 16:01:54    517754

Millbrook if you want to look more closely at scores in games then take a look at the 2 league games and Mulligan cup games you played v Barnabus. didnt you lose by about 15 points in each of those 3 games? 2 of these matches were home fixture for you. and if as you argue you didnt have the same panel out in these games then why not? can lads only be bothered to play championship cant be bothered with the league? can they not be bothered to travel to Nottingham, show up for the league or the Mulligan cup just cos its late in the year? Fair play on the ch'ship you beat them fair n square but didnt you get the original fixture moved as you were missing loads of lads?dont think anyone is arguing that Macs were not the best at senior as they never took such hammerings from FM

andquick (UK) - Posts: 60 - 18/12/2009 20:20:52    517981

Don't really have an opinion mate, just want to be playing against the best people as possible. I think we would be a good addition to the top league, we have some decent lads so we wouldn't be getting battered every game and we always field for every game. Also, I don't think there are many intermediate teams who want us staying in that league next year, all I kept hearing was that we were a senior team and it was unfair on them. I think we are run the way a gaelic club should be run and I think most people on here would agree with that.

james_ohara (UK) - Posts: 33 - 19/12/2009 10:53:29    518260

andquick,
inthe early stages of the league we had a problem fielding a team due to the hurlers being involved in the championship and various cups.
For the record we travelled to nottingham and fulfilled our fixture, a lot of other clubs cannot say the same.
on the point of the change to final fixture, no club should be asked to play a final the day after hurling game with same players.. we only askedfor acouple of days
not eight weeks.
In the quarter final of the mulligan cup we played and beat st marys by 7-17 to 0-04. with a full team.
We turned up for the semi final against egb in very poor conditions, we brought all our college players and a player who was away on hollidays home
only to find out half an hour before game was due to start that the opposition was not fielding a team.
the attitude after this was if clubs are not bothered to play a cup semifinal there is not a great deal of point in us training and bursting a gut to win it.
The way the games were fixed this year is it any wonder players lost interest.
Practically everyone of these players are involved in soccer, rugby or another sport, and by fixing games in the winter these players are being asked to make a choice, In some of our later games we had 4.5players who played morning games.
Why do we have to compete with traditional winter games?

millbrook (UK) - Posts: 103 - 19/12/2009 11:32:36    518266

fair enough but i'm sure barnabus were missing players too at this stage in the season. in fact i know they were missing about 5 for the Mulligan cup final. its not ideal playing games so late in the year but its the same situaution for both teams so you cant really use it as an excuse

andquick (UK) - Posts: 60 - 19/12/2009 12:34:15    518300

I'm not offering it as an excuse or the fact that we had four players playing in the provincional u21 final which had to finish before our game started.
I have congratulated st barnabus on their win.
as i've said inthe past you have to play the team that is put out against you.
I'm glad to see james say they want to play against the best teams, which means they are at least thinking of playing in the higher grade.
This years intermediate teams were competitative, with some great matches and with st chads promoted to inter it should still be competative.
For the coming year I hope the fixture sec. gets the backing of clubs to do a difficult job without interference, so that we do not end up playing finals at Christmas in 2010

millbrook (UK) - Posts: 103 - 19/12/2009 13:12:54    518324

the problem milbrook for me personally and I would imagine most of the barnabas lads is that WE didn't find the intermediate league competitive. Bar 2 tights games with St. Marys we pretty much battered every other team in the league. I think in one game alone we got 10-33. There is no benefit to us or the others in that league for that to happen again next year.

james_ohara (UK) - Posts: 33 - 19/12/2009 14:45:36    518358

John Mitchels beat Barnabas when it mattered, it's a simple as that. They would not make too much of an impression on the Championship if they came up, although I would expect them to pick up league points especially at home.

Che1959 (Galway) - Posts: 56 - 19/12/2009 18:22:43    518495

Exactly Che, when it matters is in the championship, and we never felt under pressure that day to be honest. I also agree with Barnabus coming up, but they'd have to improve a bit again from last year.

dowchabiy (UK) - Posts: 204 - 19/12/2009 20:55:44    518638

with respect dowchaby and che, barnabas made the case that they could compete in the senior league with the consistent league form they showed and 100% fielding. Dowchaby you say they need to improve, but I'm not sure how much of a better season they could have without whitewashing every team. Even if they go up and lose every game, which I don't think they will, they are a team who will field every game. Think its more of a loss to the senior league if they don't get promoted.

indecisive (Cavan) - Posts: 34 - 19/12/2009 21:47:41    518671

Sorry indecisive, I was foolishly using championship form to judge a team, as we all know it's league form that counts. My apologies. Best of luck to Barnabus, my point is if they want to compete with senior teams (obviously they'll go hell for leather for the league), then they'll need to improve, by improve I mean not be beaten by intermediate grade teams when the chips are down. Hope that's clear for ya.

dowchabiy (UK) - Posts: 204 - 21/12/2009 21:52:52    520047

dowchabiy , you won the championship fair and square.You beat a good barnabas team on the day in the semi by 1 point . their is no one from barnabas be grudging you your championship win and you are intermediate champions of warwickshire 2009 through merit. However dont tell me for 1 minute that you did not feel under any pressure on the day of your semi final win aginst barnabas , it was a closey contested match with mitchell's coming out on top by the smallest of margins.You seem to be jesting that Barnabas had a good season through out 2009 but not when it mattered in the championship , but that the league , mulligan cup and also the combination with leicester in the scanlon cup count for very little. dowchabiy i beg to differ with your somewhat small minded opinion. It is quite clear that barnabas have got their act together in 2009 and have been a credit to Nottingham and also to Warickshire gaa. They have had a fantastic season and should be applauded on their success and encouraged to continue on and compete at the highest level if possible. They did not win the championship but i think they have proved their worth and should be given the chance to compete in the senior league 2010. They took the decision to go down at the end of 2008 from senior to intermediate in order to rebuild and start again and hope to at least compete in 2009. It has been quite evident in recent years that some other clubs who have won the league or championship have took the decision not to go up a tier to senior they have felt that they would be unable to compete at that level and they have opted to stay in a league that they are comfortable in.I realise that they want they want to be able to compete on a weekly basis , so it would be the easy option for Barnabas to stay at intermediate and have another sucessful season next year. But they dont want to be in the comfort zone , they want to be contesting in the senior league and championship. In what area do you think they need to improve ?and why do you think they will go all out for the league and not the championship as per you previous post? why do you think that you had it in the bag on the day of the inter semi ?and why do you keep spelling Barnabas Barnabus ?and why are you so negative towards Barnabas ?

carracastle (Mayo) - Posts: 34 - 22/12/2009 21:37:20    520984

I think there has been a bit of a over reaction to what Dowchiaby said and im sure he neve ment to cause offence. Im sure everyone at Barnabas will agree that to step upto Senior they will need to improve but this should happen naturally by playing against a better calibre of opposition. There is no doubt from what i have seen of Barnabas that they will compete at Senior level and could even cause an upset on championchip day if everything was to go right for them. Lets hope the county board sees sence and promotes Barnabas and St. Marys to Senior level although i think it would be a step to far for the Leicester team.

Mick83 (Wicklow) - Posts: 67 - 22/12/2009 21:49:05    521000

Guys, i think you have to keep this in perspective. Barnabas are a team good enough to compete in the Senior League and so i think should get promoted. I'd also say that John Mitchells inters are not far behind their Seniors.
I would not go over the top however like some and rave on about how successful Barnabas have been etc... as it should have been expected.

Any team who drops down a division you would expect to be as strong or stronger than the top teams in that division, especially given the gap (generally) between the two divisions. Add to that the fact that they then signed seven or eight lads from Ireland, then you would expect them to wipe the floor with everybody. The fact they didn't I would suggest makes it a slightly disappointing season for Barnabas, and i'm sure deep down they would agree.

gael2000 (Mayo) - Posts: 81 - 22/12/2009 23:17:43    521073

Alright carracastle, listen, Barnabus had a decent season, nothing better than that, they went down to intermediate and won the league. Fair play like. Was that what they aimed for at the start of the season? I'd have my doubts. Not being small minded. Championship is what counts. Hope they do well next year.

dowchabiy (UK) - Posts: 204 - 23/12/2009 00:05:51    521114

I thinks thats the point, some of the players who played for John Mitchells in the intermediate championship would have been involved for the Senior team if the Seniors had still an interest in the championship. As Millbrook said around championship time they had attracted a few new players who then played in the intermediate team but I would imagine that if Mitchells were still in the senior championship then some of those new transfers would have been playing senior rather than intermediate championship football. And there is nothing wrong in doing what they did, if you get new lads in who are good enough and can legally play intermediate why would you not play them.

Barnabas were a good side this year, but as Gael2000 said they would be dissapointed not to win the championship as it makes them the first side to drop down to intermediate in the last 3 or 4 years not to win the championship. But they have had a very successful year and have plenty of silverware to show for it and would hold their own in the senior grade.

bill1 (UK) - Posts: 7 - 23/12/2009 09:56:19    521192

Barnabas - probably the most forward thinking and advanced club in warwickshire by a country mile. Still have numerous friends playing for them, they have nothing but great reports to say for the organisation and delighted to see they have improved so much since my days there. John Mitchels on the other hand, I know one of the committee members reasonably well, I'd imagine they should be concentrating on getting players to training instead of b*t*hing and moaning on here.

intheno (UK) - Posts: 207 - 23/12/2009 14:09:51    521386