2011 NFL Division 2

Laois
Meath
Donegal
Sligo
Antrim
Kildare
Derry
Tyrone

Ah the joys of Division 2! It should be a good enough competition I reckon. I expect Tyrone and Kildare to go up and Laois and Antrim to go down. 6 points should keep you up and I reckon Donegal will be able to manage that. Here's hoping anyway.

Meath dark horses 2011...

Laois V Meath
Time: 7 30 PM, Venue: Portlaoise

Donegal V Sligo
Time: 7 30 PM, Venue: Ballybofey

Antrim V Kildare
Time: 2 30 PM, Venue: Casement Park

Derry V Tyrone
Time: 2 30 PM, Venue: Celtic Park

Tyrone team for Sunday

1 Pascal McConnell- An Baile Nua
2 Dermot Carlin – Coill an Chlochair
3 Cathal McCarron – An Droim Mhór
4 Damian McCaul – Domhnach Mór
5 David Harte – Aireagal Chiaráin
6 Conor Gormley – An Charraig Mhór
7 Ryan McMenamin – An Droim Mhór
8 Kevin Hughes – Cill Íseal
9 Aidan Cassidy – Eochar
10 Peter Harte – Aireagal Chiaráin
11 Brian McGuigan – Ard Bó
12 Sean Cavanagh – An Mhaigh
13 Martin Penrose – Achadh Uí Aráin
14 Stephen O’Neill – Clann na nGael
15 Enda McGinley – Aireagal Chiaráin

Getting relegated doesn't seem all that bad when you look at the quality of teams in Division 2. I'm really looking forward to this weekend's clash against the "darkness" and John Brennan's first major test as Derry manager. It will also be a major test for full back Cathal McCarron who may be in line for an awful roasting against Paddy Bradley. McCarron is decent under the high ball but a poor man marker - He didn't last long against Bernard Brogan last year so Sunday will maybe make or break his chances of cutting it for the county. Good to see McCaul back although both he and Cassidy need alot of game time following their serious injuries.

Overall Mickey has selected quite an experienced team and he is obviously trying to get a win in Celtic park having struggled there in recent times. Petey Harte still the only player from the all ire winning minor '08 team on show but expect to see Niall McKenna being introduced once Hub blows a gasket and possibly Ciaran Girvan.

I would predict victories for Meath who as RG say could be dark horses in 2011. Also a home win for Donegal and away win for Kildare against Antrim. - Let the games begin

Jeeze ... this thread is embarrassing ....

Jayo Cluxton wrote:Jeeze ... this thread is embarrassing ....

Would ye listen to the division 1 snobbery coming out.....

Division 2 contains the 2011 ulster championship finalists (Derry and tyrone) as well as the two most likely Leinster championship contenders (Kildare and Meath) not to mention the 1992 All Ireland champions Donegal!!

mugsys_barber wrote:

Jayo Cluxton wrote:Jeeze ... this thread is embarrassing ....

Would ye listen to the division 1 snobbery coming out.....

Division 2 contains the 2011 ulster championship finalists (Derry and tyrone) as well as the two most likely Leinster championship contenders (Kildare and Meath) not to mention the 1992 All Ireland champions Donegal!!

Could ya go back any further?? Seriously it has some big names in it alright and will be possibly the most competitive! We were there ourselves in recent years ...

For a team like Donegal Div 2 is perfect. It's competitive enough that you are getting a good test before the championship while at the same time it's a bit below the radar and doesn't get the same attention as Div 1 (naturally). I'd like us to stay there for the next 2 years (which will be no mean feat) and try to push into Div 1 when the young lads have gained a bit of experience.
Now if all the other teams agree to let us do that it will be great!!

I think I am a bigger fan of McCarron that you seem to be Mugsy. I think that he has a lot of potential to be a good senior footballer, and wouldn't worry too much about what Bernard Brogan did to him. With the ball going into him, and in the form he was in last summer, I don't know too many corner backs who would have held Brogan. McCarron did very well on Tommy Freeman, and also on Daniel Goulding during the league, so I wouldn't be too harsh. What I like about McCarron is his physical attributes - good size, strong, fast. In my opinion, the potential is there, but he now needs game time. If Tyrone can turn him into a decent inter-county full-back, then it would release Justy, which would be an enormous benefit.

As for the rest of the side, McCaul is another who is tall and (before his injuries) fast, but he is very loose in the corner. He also has done his cruciate twice in 3 years, so it remains to be seen what level he can get back to. Personally, I'd have higher hopes for PJ Quinn in the long run. Elsewhere, Cassidy needs game time, as does Enda McGinley, as they both missed most of last year.

Peter Harte is a very fine prospect, and has been the star for St Mary's in the McKenna cup. Although not selected for tomorrow, Niall McKenna (Queens) and Mattie Donnelly (Poly) have also been excellent in that competition. Add them to Kyle Coney and Ronan McNabb, and you have 5 players that should all be in the reckoning come the summer. Or, rather, they'd need to be, if we are to improve on last year. Four of those 5 are forwards, which is what we badly need to find. Aside from the fact that our forward line is still backboned by the old guard, this would release Joe McMahon to a more conventional midfield or defensive role.

Early days, and I'd like a win, but we have 7 league games and (hopefully) 2 more McKenna Cup games to rebuild the side - that should be the priority for the next 4 months.

mugsys_barber wrote:

Jayo Cluxton wrote:Jeeze ... this thread is embarrassing ....

Would ye listen to the division 1 snobbery coming out.....

Division 2 contains the 2011 ulster championship finalists (Derry and tyrone) as well as the two most likely Leinster championship contenders (Kildare and Meath) not to mention the 1992 All Ireland champions Donegal!!

Mugsy after reading this post,im starting to wish we were in div 2..at least then we could give Tyrone there yearly beating....

Banty will place more emphasis on the League than past Meath managers, hopefully not to the detriment of the Royal's Championship chances. So I'd say there's a reasonable chance that Meath will gain promotion.

However the same problems do exist. Shaky defence, multiple choices at midfield - no two standout players, and mercurial forwards. The return to fitness of Cormac McGuinness is an addition as is Kevin Reilly's first injury-free winter in 3 years. But worringly, the u21s that were expected to make the breakthrough in defence, have not managed to earn a starting spot and others like David Dalton and Cormac McGill are left on the sideline too. It's essentially the same set of backs as last year with some positional switches and McGuinness' return. Although Caoimhin King looks rejuvanted at corner-back and Gary O'Brien continues to impress.

The energetic Paddy Gilsenan is a handful for any defence and offers a lot more that the towers O'Rourke and Sheridan, who continue to adopt a shoot-on-site policy with a devastingly poor strike-rate. Sooner or later, one or both, are due a stint on the bench. Cian Ward replaces the talismanic Brian Farrell too, which is a surprise but better news in the fact that the county's two most gifted footballers return to take their place in the substitutes, Stephen and David Bray. Graham Reilly, as well as the aforementioned Gilsenan were the most impressive forwards in pre-season competitions so I suspect they'll give the Laois defence most to think about.

As for the others in the Division, Kildare are always strong under McGeeney at this time of year, and the Ulster duo of Derry and Tyrone will be hard to beat. Meath and Kildare for promotion.

Meath names to look out for in 2011: Paddy Gilsenan, Ciaran Lenihan, Donal Keoghan, Bryan Menton, Shane Gillespie (all u21).

FT Draw Donegal 2-11 Sligo 1-14

Donegal 2-11
Colm McFadden
Michael Murphy (f)
Dermot Molloy (f)
Michael Murphy (f)
Dermot Molloy (f)
Colm McFadden
Rory Kavanagh
Leo McLoone
Colm McFadden
Goal Michael Murphy (pen)
Leo McLoone
Goal Neil McGee
Stephen Griffen

Sligo 1-14
Tony Taylor
Mark Breheny (f)
Mark Quinn
Adrian Marren
Mark Breheny (f)
Stephen Gilmartin
Adrian Marren
Adrian Marren
Goal David Kelly
Mark Breheny
Adrian Marren
David Kelly
Sean Davey
Mark Breheny
Tony Taylor

0-06 to 0-08 at HT
Donegal down to 14 men before HT
Sligo went 1-11 to 0-06 ahead in 2nd half
Sounded like Sligo deserved the win.

Antrim will beat Tyrone....in Division 3 next year.

By my reckoning Derry and Kildare are the only teams with a 100% competitive record in 2011.

Crushing defeat for Tyrone I'd imagine. Haven't won in Celtic Park in 20 years or so now but even against this ordinary Derry side, I thought they might have got a result. Kildare only bet Antrim so they can't get carried away. And then Donegal and Sligo, draw, don't think either will have much of a say in this Division so the shock of the round must be Laois beating Meath. Worrying times for Banty and his expensive management team. The only teams that Meath have succussfully negotiated every time they've met in 2011 in competitive competition are as follows: Kilkenny.

patrique wrote:Antrim will beat Tyrone....in Division 3 next year.

Patrique this is a football thread not a hurling one !!!!!

bocerty wrote:

patrique wrote:Antrim will beat Tyrone....in Division 3 next year.

Patrique this is a football thread not a hurling one !!!!!

Must be a concern for you Bocerty that your county couldn't see off this Derry side, who to be fair, under new management are reputated to be nothing special? Or have I got it wrong, maybe Derry have improved?

Its been 30 years since we beat Derry on their soil but we possibly could have deservedly sneaked a draw today on the second half performance. We're Still registering far too many wides. We were very poor in the first half and as predicted McCarron was no match for Paddy Bradley, The sooner justin McMahon comes back to fill that space the better.

The positives that could have been taken from the game would have been the performances of Niall McKenna when introduced in the second half, finally a midfielder who can jump higher than two feet in the air, I'm tired looking at Hub Hughes and his decision making in front of goal. Brian mcGuigan, Ricey and Penrose did quite well as did Enda McGinley and young Pete Harte who I really like but was moved from Right half forward, to left half back and finished up in corner forward but there are several in the must do better bracket including Sean Cavanagh and Stevy O'Neill who were both dissappointing today by their standards especially O'Neill. I just hope it was an off day for him and not a sign of things to come. He had a chance at the end of the game to level it but shot wide, A fully confident stevy O'Neill would have split the posts.

As for Derry, well Bradley looked very sharp and they do possess a great leader in CHB Barry McGoldrick, McCloy was very solid at full back. They landed some nice scores from distance and Brennan certainly seems to instilled a bit of passion in them again. They'll not be far away from the promotion shake-up

mugsys_barber wrote:He had a chance at the end of the game to level it but shot wide, A fully confident stevy O'Neill would have split the posts.

Fcuk ya Stevie - cost me 5 GT points! Mugsy I reckon this is a big year for Cav. He has been poor enough for last 2 seasons - by the standards of previous. Really like/admire the guy but he doesn't seem to be enjoying his football this last while.

mugsys_barber wrote: but there are several in the must do better bracket including Sean Cavanagh and Stevy O'Neill who were both dissappointing today by their standards especially O'Neill. I just hope it was an off day for him and not a sign of things to come. He had a chance at the end of the game to level it but shot wide, A fully confident stevy O'Neill would have split the posts.

Agree totally about Cavanagh - he has been a big problem for a couple of years now. If anyone else had been consistently as poor as he has, they would no longer be considered an automatic first choice.

As for O'Neill, how many top games has he played for Tyrone in the last 5 years? Virtually none, is the answer. Everyone talks about his performance against Dublin in the floodlit game in Croke Park, but that was a 1st round league game, and he wasn't exactly under pressure. Yes, he has been injured. Yes, he was retired for a while. But realistically, is Stevie O'Neill still a top forward? On the basis of what we have seen, not only can't he be considered a top forward, but there also have to be major question marks over whether or not he can get back to that level again. He might get there, and I certainly hope he can, but we also have to start looking to alternatives.

Overall, a narrow defeat today wasn't too disappointing, as most Tyrone people would not have expected a win away to a fired up Derry side. Including the McKenna Cup, we now have 7-8 games until the start of the Championship, and it is time to start seeing some new faces get proper game time.

Loyal2TheRoyal wrote:

bocerty wrote:

patrique wrote:Antrim will beat Tyrone....in Division 3 next year.

Patrique this is a football thread not a hurling one !!!!!

Must be a concern for you Bocerty that your county couldn't see off this Derry side, who to be fair, under new management are reputated to be nothing special? Or have I got it wrong, maybe Derry have improved?

certainly thought we would beat them Loyal so yes it is disappointing - that said i do think Derry will be a different proposition under Brennan this year and there will be signs of improvement. I wasnt at the game as i was out on the bike so i cant really comment but it would appear that we were more of the pace than Derry were.

A defeat in the first league game is always a set back especially as it can often set the tone for the rest of the league campaign so the next game is crucial.

Yeah Jayo, well the thing is that he seemed to be going pretty well in the McKenna cup games and perhaps today I was a wee bit sore on him as Charlie Kielt seemed to be in his face for most of the game obviously following instructions from Mr Brennan. Fortunately unlike his brother Colm He has a certain amount of Savvy not to simply lash out at his opponent with a punch to the jaw.
We maybe have become used to Sean performing at a very high level and when he doesn't reach these dizzy heights he faces some criticism. I hope to see more of Sean Cavanagh the "Team" player this year as he does tend to be a little selfish when others are maybe better placed to take scores.

TC - I know what you are saying about SON but there is absolutely no doubting his class. He has scored points over the years that other players wouldn't dream of. That makes it more frustrating - when you know the class of the player - and don't see it enough - for whatever reason. I would be more frustrated with SC as he has largely been injury free and is younger. The one thing though with SC is that he has never really had a nailed down position. When Tyrone played the football they did against Dublin in 2008 he had a licence to roam and teams didn't know how to mark him and so he was devastating. Teams have more nous now. I think SC is like Bryan Cullen and Moyles for Meath. Very good players but management don't seem to know where to play them. Dublin largely recitified this last year with Cullen - Meath still don't know what to do with Moyles. SC seems in positional limbo - management need to sort this - but its clearly affecting his football, confidence and enjoyment of playing.

Loyal2TheRoyal wrote:so the shock of the round must be Laois beating Meath. Worrying times for Banty and his expensive management team. The only teams that Meath have succussfully negotiated every time they've met in 2011 in competitive competition are as follows: Kilkenny.

Yeah L - WTF is going on here?? I never saw so many giants as I did in green jerseys last Sat night in Parnell. And they get beat by Laois? The windiest, moaniest county in Ireland? And they cost me 3 GT points!

I've never really felt much affection towards either side but you expect a team like Tyrone to hammer a team like Derry.

It'll be interesting to see how the form of this match works out. Are Derry improving or are Tyrone regressing?

I fancy Meath, Laois and Kildare to remind the Ulster sides who's boss in this League campaign.

Jayo Cluxton wrote:

Loyal2TheRoyal wrote:so the shock of the round must be Laois beating Meath. Worrying times for Banty and his expensive management team. The only teams that Meath have succussfully negotiated every time they've met in 2011 in competitive competition are as follows: Kilkenny.

Yeah L - WTF is going on here?? I never saw so many giants as I did in green jerseys last Sat night in Parnell. And they get beat by Laois? The windiest, moaniest county in Ireland? And they cost me 3 GT points!

Meath are very poor away from home at this particular stage of the year, best excuse that can be offered.

Banty has his work cut out to emulate EOB.