NFL Division 1

Saturday February 4th, 2012
Kerry home TBC

Saturday February 11th, 2012
Mayo, McHale Park, Castlebar

Saturday March 3rd, 2012
Laois, Portlaoise

Sunday March 11th, 2012
Armagh home TBC

Sunday March 18th, 2012
Down, Páirc Esler, Newry

Saturday March 24th, 2012
Donegal home TBC

Sunday April 8th, 2012
Cork, Páirc Uí Chaoimh

Would hope to win the first four - Down in Newry may be tricky. Should beat Donegal at home and them see what happens in Cork. Shouldn't be far off Final though Cork result could be key. Gilroy says Dublin will be looking to win League and with the competition for places there should be a lot to play for. I reckon Cork will be keen on league too. Could be an interesting one. Mind you we'd want to show a big improvement from yesterday!

Parouisa wrote:Saturday February 4th, 2012
Kerry home TBC

TBC!!!!! Every real supporter knows by now that the venue is Croke Park in a double header featuring Tyrone and Kildare

bocerty wrote:

Parouisa wrote:Saturday February 4th, 2012
Kerry home TBC

TBC!!!!! Every real supporter knows by now that the venue is Croke Park in a double header featuring Tyrone and Kildare

Ah he is a bit confused. Not sure if Croke Park is Kerry's home ground or not

Real Kerry Fan wrote:

bocerty wrote:

Parouisa wrote:Saturday February 4th, 2012
Kerry home TBC

TBC!!!!! Every real supporter knows by now that the venue is Croke Park in a double header featuring Tyrone and Kildare

Ah he is a bit confused. Not sure if Croke Park is Kerry's home ground or not

they've certainly played there as often if not more often than the dubs over the last number of years

bocerty wrote:

Real Kerry Fan wrote:

bocerty wrote:

Parouisa wrote:Saturday February 4th, 2012
Kerry home TBC

TBC!!!!! Every real supporter knows by now that the venue is Croke Park in a double header featuring Tyrone and Kildare

Ah he is a bit confused. Not sure if Croke Park is Kerry's home ground or not

they've certainly played there as often if not more often than the dubs over the last number of years

Of course gents - sure we are the undercard!!!! I cut and pasted it for ye - ye hardly think I am going to bother editing it then for ye!! Lazy feckers!

And Croker could indeed be Kerry's home ground - which makes our away win on the last meeting all the more enjoyable - as if that was possible!!

Parouisa wrote:

bocerty wrote:

Real Kerry Fan wrote:

bocerty wrote:

Parouisa wrote:Saturday February 4th, 2012
Kerry home TBC

TBC!!!!! Every real supporter knows by now that the venue is Croke Park in a double header featuring Tyrone and Kildare

Ah he is a bit confused. Not sure if Croke Park is Kerry's home ground or not

they've certainly played there as often if not more often than the dubs over the last number of years

Of course gents - sure we are the undercard!!!! I cut and pasted it for ye - ye hardly think I am going to bother editing it then for ye!! Lazy feckers!

And Croker could indeed be Kerry's home ground - which makes our away win on the last meeting all the more enjoyable - as if that was possible!!

Now I suppose I asked for that Will you be staying overnight for this away match?

Real Kerry Fan wrote:Will you be staying overnight for this away match?

Dunno RKF ... might adopt another Kerry trait and just wait for the Final!!!

Kerry (Allianz FL v Dublin) - Brendan Kealy, Shane Enright, Marc Ó Sé, Peter Crowley, Tomás Ó Sé, Killian Young, Brian Maguire, Seamus Scanlon, Bryan Sheehan, Paul Galvin, Darran O'Sullivan, Sean O'Sullivan, James O'Donoghue, Kieran Donaghy, Barry John Keane.
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Very experienced Kerry side selected for Saturday night's game against the Dubs. Not sure what our Kerry contingent on here think, but it looks to me like Jack O'Connor believes he can wring another all ireland out of them.

There is no doubt that O'Connor will see this as an important game to win given the opposition but, if I was a Kerryman, I'd like to think that he will introduce more new faces over the next couple of months - he'll need them come the summer.

Always love to see Gooch in action but will live without seeing him this time ! Donaghy as captain - am predicting a possible early shower here ...

I think Dublin could struggle for scores, even against the Kerry defence. Huge onus on Mossy Quinn and Connolly to score, and neither of them are the most reliable.

I wonder if the lack of Walsh Cup games will affect the Kingdom. Still, though, I think they will be very keen to win this one, perhaps more than any other league game this year.

Dublin (NFL V Kerry): Stephen Cluxton (Parnell's); Michael Fitzsimons (Cuala), Rory O'Carroll (Kilmacud Crokes), Philly McMahon (Ballymun Kickhams); James McCarthy (Ballymun Kickhams), Ger Brennan (St Vincent's), Craig Dias (Kilmacud Crokes); Ross McConnell (St Oliver Plunkett's/Eoghan Ruadh), Michael Dara Macauley (Ballyboden St Enda's); Paul Brogan (St Oliver Plunkett's/Eoghan Ruadh), Kevin McManamon (St Jude's), Bryan Cullen (Skerries Harps); Diarmuid Connolly (St Vincent's), Eoghan O'Gara (Templeogue Synge St), Tomás Quinn (St Vincent's).

Parouisa wrote:Always love to see Gooch in action but will live without seeing him this time ! Donaghy as captain - am predicting a possible early shower here ...

Weather ok. Should clear by half time.

Armagh are going to recieve a hammering this weekend

Wins for Down, Kerry and Mayo. Dublin reportedly suffering a massive hangover after the All-Ireland celebrations.

Dublin were very poor - Kerry hit something like 18 wides (17 of them attributed to Bryan Sheehan) the second half seemed to be one free after the other conceeded by the Dubs and they looked anything but All Ireland champions. Fennell guilty of a disgusting tackle late on which rightly earned him a straight red and could ahve caused serious damage to Sheehan.

Seen a bit of the Donegal v Down game - the pitch resembled a bog!!!! Great to see Liam Doyle back in a Down jersey and he got an absolute clinker of a goal.

Liam Doyle had a cracking game from CHB. We were 1-03 to 0-01 down afer 8 minutes. Down absolutely blitzed us at the start. We settled well enough and had 2/3 changes to win/draw at the end. We even took Papa Durkan up for a 45 but (for the second time in the game) he put it wide.
Wouldhave been nice to come away with at least a point but considering who were were missing, it's not a horrible start.

Poor League for the Dubs (three wins max) and an early Champiionship exit at the hands of one of the weaker sides in Leinster I reckon. Celebrated too much last year and that is haunting them now.

The Dubs were very poor last night, and Kerry weren't exactly great either.

Dublin's tactics varied little from the latter stages of last year and, as has been commented on here before, that means that they need both brogans on the field, especially Bernard. (The only Brogan they had was Paul, who wore no.10 but was only there to stop Tomas O'Se.) Trying to isolate Diarmuid Connolly and Eoghan O'Gara is a waste of time, as one can't get the ball, and the other can't kick it. It galls me to think that Connolly scored 7pts from play against Tyrone last year, and he will need a huge improvement on form to be around this summer.

Dublin looked very sluggish, and I read this morning that they have had 30 training sessions so far this year. That is fair enough, but it would be foolish to think that Kerry aren't putting in the hard slog also.

Positives for Dublin are few and far between, and Pat Gilroy must avoid the trap of planning only for the championship. Dublin won almost all their games last year, and that winning mentality served them well in the summer. This was a listless display as all-ireland champions, with only Kevin McMemamin really looking to be up for the fight. He played well, and could force his way into more regular contention this year.

As for Kerry, they will be pleased that some of the newer lads (O'Donoghue, Keane, Curtin) showed well, but that must be balanced against disappointing performances from Galvin, Scanlon, Tomas O'Se and Donaghy. Donaghy failed to thrive having been given the captaincy and, the all-ireland final aside, the last time he has looked like the Star of old was, well, when he actually was the Star of old.

Kerry looked quite pedestrian at times, with only Darren O'Sullivan giving them a real cutting edge. His pace creates real panic in defences, and he has become one of Kerry's most important players.

Kerry will be pleased with a good win but, and I appreciate it is February, I'd worry about how much is left in the tank of some of their older stalwarts.

Armagh 0-10
Cork 1-7

Armagh scored 1 point in the entire first half against 14 man Cork. Armagh scored an own goal to give Cork a 1-4 to 0-1 lead at half time. At the start of the second half Cork extended their lead to 1-5 to 0-1 when Armagh started brought themselves back into the game with 7 unanswred point in ten minutes. Both team the exchanged scores with the game ending in a draw.

Was not expecting that result. Accpeted defeat at half time but happier with that, especially with such an inexperienced team with one or two exceptions. Geoghan made a fantastic save to deny Cork a goal in the closing minutes.

. thought anto, forker, the bigger of the two raffertys (Caolan?) and McVerry all had very good second halfs. A bit more composure by McVerry could have won us the game. Duffy and Rafferty showed great pace when running with the ball. Very pleased with the performance. Though Vernon was very good (apart from when trying to pass, loses a serious amount of attacking opportunities with wayward hand passing). Looks like finally we have some pace and competition in the forward line

samin12 wrote:
. thought anto, forker, the bigger of the two raffertys (Caolan?) and McVerry all had very good second halfs. A bit more composure by McVerry could have won us the game. Duffy and Rafferty showed great pace when running with the ball. Very pleased with the performance. Though Vernon was very good (apart from when trying to pass, loses a serious amount of attacking opportunities with wayward hand passing). Looks like finally we have some pace and competition in the forward line

Wouldn't say so. If it takes 35 minutes for the forwards to get into gear we will be annihilated. Kerry will score a lot more next week. Perhaps I am being a bit harsh but would say that with a bit more competition the forwards might play a lot better and this could be a decent championship for Armagh when Stevie and Clarke return. Fingers crossed!

Thats what i mean, Stevie and the two clarkes back along with those boys and we have the making of a good forward line. McParland, Grugan, Michael O'Rourke and probably a few more Cross boys also competing for forward positions. Not worried about the Kerry game, just hope that towards the end of the league we are looking promising.

Im going to be a bit more reserved, Armagh have shown no consistency for a while. Grimley should keep the players on the right track. Some good management from Armagh by using small forwards, going by the amount of frees Armagh had.

GAA-Fan wrote:Im going to be a bit more reserved, Armagh have shown no consistency for a while. Grimley should keep the players on the right track. Some good management from Armagh by using small forwards, going by the amount of frees Armagh had.

believe me, not saying we are going to be the team to beat or anything. just saying that there was some encouraging displays. Was also very impressed with work rate, at times last year alot of players looked uninterested and had little fight in them. Thought today, effort levels were raised and we won most 50-50 balls in the second half against a physically strong cork side. cautiously optimistic.

Tyrone were very impressive in 2nd half. You cant keep a great man down ie Steve O'Neill. Mulligan played well but consistency is his problem. Kerry will be happy overall. Poor shooting at times but really I was more interested in the newcomers and all gave a good account of themselves. Galvin and Sheehan actually did play well.Well it was the wake up call Dublin needed as they were very lackluster in 2nd half and Fennell really did his midfield prospects no favour. Watched Armagh v Cork today and as it was very exciting at times the referee's inconsistency was unbelievable. Kerrigan deserved the red card and I wonder will the CCCC look at the other incidents which went unpunished/? Both teams can take something from the game but early days yet.Never saw Conor Counihan so animated on the sideline which says something about other decisions. Overall a good start to the League.