O'Byrne Cup and O'Byrne Shield 2012

Here are the first round fixtures in the O'Byrne Cup:

Meath vs Wexford
Louth vs Kilkenny
Wicklow vs DCU
Longford vs AIT
Kildare vs DIT
Offaly vs Westmeath
Carlow vs Dublin
Laois vs UCD

All 2pm next Sunday. First named team drawn at home.

Kildare the reigning champs, obviously the team to beat. Dublin All-Ireland champs have their first competitive game since that famous Sunday last September, have they trained much since? 2012 could be a short year for them.

The colleges will be strong at this time of year, as perusual. But Meath are a team going places and I expect them to pick up their second piece of silverware (following their Fitzsimons Cup triumph) of the new season. Banty is promising an improved showing in 2012, and I think we can expect him to unleash some new talent in this early season competition. Graham Geraghty's road to recovery is continuing but his absense is nevertheless a loss to Meath's chances.

Ah Graham will be back, I'd be more worried about not having Shane O'Rourke around..

Loyal2TheRoyal wrote:Dublin All-Ireland champs have their first competitive game since that famous Sunday last September, have they trained much since? 2012 could be a short year for them.

Any basis whatsoever for this comment L?

Parouisa wrote:

Loyal2TheRoyal wrote:Dublin All-Ireland champs have their first competitive game since that famous Sunday last September, have they trained much since? 2012 could be a short year for them.

Any basis whatsoever for this comment L?

Parouisa, the Dublin footballers have been parading the cup all the war from Coppers to the Cayman Islands since Cluxton's free. The party has not stopped - they've really lived it up this past three and a half months. Dublin face an early exit, the dream will be all but over by mid-Feb as relegation beckons.

Loyal2TheRoyal wrote:Parouisa, the Dublin footballers have been parading the cup all the war from Coppers to the Cayman Islands since Cluxton's free. The party has not stopped - they've really lived it up this past three and a half months. Dublin face an early exit, the dream will be all but over by mid-Feb as relegation beckons.

Parouisa wrote:

Loyal2TheRoyal wrote:Parouisa, the Dublin footballers have been parading the cup all the war from Coppers to the Cayman Islands since Cluxton's free. The party has not stopped - they've really lived it up this past three and a half months. Dublin face an early exit, the dream will be all but over by mid-Feb as relegation beckons.

Laugh you may but did Eammon Fennell and Bernard Brogan not spend their christmas in Bangkok?

Meanwhile their Meath counterparts were in Pairc Tailteann all over the Winter.

Hard to know what to expect from Carlow except nothing. Beat Offaly in a challenge match New Years Day. Could beat the reigning All Ireland Champions.

Of course Carlow could beat Dublin and probably will. I don't expect many or any All Ireland winners to feature. The O'Byrne Cup offers a chance to look at fringe and younger players - nothing more. Anyone who reads anything into a competition at this time of year is mad! Last year Dublin lost to Westmeath in the opening round. Mind you such was the backlash across the county at this reverse that the lads went on to win the big one ..... the O'Byrne Shield.

ps Loyal - I am reliably informed that one of your top lads has been doing plenty of winter training - right up to this weekend. Lifting pints.

Who is lifting pints Jayo?

Loyal2TheRoyal wrote:Who is lifting pints Jayo?

The same person who was lifting them all last summer, supposedly.

Geraghty will be a player for Meath this year as well as a selector!! Well he will pick himself I suppose. Does this show the paucity of talent in the Royal County? GG will be 39 in May! Not a good sign methinks! Sure Whelo's only 35 ....

Good win for Meath today. I was in Pairc Tailteann to witness what I would describe as a satisfactory performance from the Royals. Showed the hunger is still there by racing into a 0-7 to 0-0 lead but let Wexford back into at the end of half so still not immune to the odd lapse in concentration. Finished off well though once we got the goal, in the second half, and it was a cosier win than the final 3 point margin would suggest.

We do have some serious prospects though. Paddy Gilsenan is one of the most gifted footballer to arrive on the scene since Ollie Murphy broke onto the team in 1997. So that's a positive as we've been lacking natural forwards. Another man Alan Forde is a name to listen for. Graham Reilly is flying too. Unfortunetely, it's the same old faces knocking around the middle of the field so woes might continue there for another year.

Louth next Sunday in Navan. A repeat of the infamous Round 1 Qualifier last year where we absolutely destroyed them. More of the same I reckon.

Quarter-Finals:

Meath vs Louth
DCU vs Longford
Kildare vs Offaly
Dublin vs UCD

I'll predict Meath, DCU, Offaly and UCD to be four remaining this time next week.

Satisfactory Loyal yes, but I wouldn't be quite so complimentary of the three lads you named. They were making a lot of runs, but then not finishing or running out of space. Not a bad display though. Conor Gillespie wasn't a strong enough presence in the middle of the pitch and McGuinness was a bit quiet for my liking, but lots to build on.

Dublin now in nose-bleed territory! And our hopes of defending the O'Byrne Shield dashed too! Maybe this could be our year. Interesting to see the Meath people enthusing about lads playing in the OBC on 7 Jan!

Mind you, you'd be very stretched trying to keep an eye on the Dubs lads - what with Gillers XV, UCD, DCU, Dublin IT .....

Meath might be better off playing a college team at this stage than the likes of Wexford or Louth ... it would tell them exactly where they aren't ...

Interesting to see Donegal scoring a whopping 9 points today! They really ran amok! Mind you they conceded a massive 11 points. Jim Mc was an avid student for many years but I doubt he enjoyed getting dumped by Jordanstown.

JOhn Doyle to capt the Lillies this year again. Look forward to seein him on the steps of the HOgan in Sept liftin Sam.

Dublin 4-14 UCD 0-12. Students given a lesson by a still makeshift Dublin team. Lot of headaches ahead for Giller - but nice headaches to have.

Meath should take care of Louth tomorrow at home and I am tipping DCU to beat Longford in Ballymahon. Kildare should beat Offaly and set up a semi with the Dubs. If we can win that it could be a novel final with the Blues v DCU.

Parouisa wrote:Meath should take care of Louth tomorrow at home and I am tipping DCU to beat Longford in Ballymahon. Kildare should beat Offaly and set up a semi with the Dubs. If we can win that it could be a novel final with the Blues v DCU.

Well all the above has come to pass. But I think it will mean a lot more to Kildare to win next Sunday than the Dubs so wouldn't be surprised to see the Lilies prevail on home soil. On neutral soil I would expect DCU to beat Meath but Pairc Tailteann on a Saturday night is a big ask. Wouldn't rule it out though.