The draws for the 2010 GAA Football and Hurling championship will take place in Croke Park tonight and will be broadcast live at 8.25pm on RTÉ Two television and also streamed live worldwide on RTÉ.ie.

Last week, the GAA and RTÉ confirmed that the draws for the two championships will be screened live on RTÉ Television after a schedule was agreed with all four provincial councils.

GAA President Críostóir Ó Cuana welcomed the announcement, saying: "Were delighted that the draws for our inter-county championship competitions will be broadcast live on RTÉ Television. The draws generate huge interest amongst our members and followers of our games and it is always our intention to bring them to the widest audience possible."

 

 

22-Oct-09 by GAA.ie

 

Leitrim got a bye to the Connacht semi final in 2010 and will probably play their game in Hyde park in Roscommon as the winners of London v Roscommon are the opponents.  While London will be a force to be reckoned with this year the Rossies will be determined to cut a path to the semis and take on Leitrim on their home patch.  Leitrim have a score to settle so its going to be a lively championship season in 2010 even though RTEs pundit Kevin McStay has Leitrim written off already.

Galway will also travel this year and they head to New York for their opening game so this left Leitrim, Mayo and Sligo as the teams to fill the remaining positions.  Out of the 3 teams Mayo are drawn against Sligo in the prelim game and the winners will take on the winners of Galway/NY. The big guns of Mayo, Sligo and Galway are all on the other side of the draw and this should make for a very entertaining year.

Prelims:

A. New York v Galway

B. London v Roscommon

C. Mayo v Sligo

D. Leitrim Bye.

 

Semis:

A v C   – New York/Galway v Mayo/Sligo

B v D   – London/Roscommon v Leitrim

 

 

 

22-Oct-09 by Brendan Doyle – PRO

All-Ireland champions Kerry will have to beat Cork once again if they want to reclaim the Munster SFC crown after all four provincial draws for the 2009 Championship were made on Thursday evening.

The draws were conducted at Croke Park and broadcast live on RTÉ Two television, as well as being available live worldwide on RTÉ.ie.

Connacht – 2009 runners-up Galway and winners Mayo have been paired on the same side of the Connacht draw.  Galway and Roscommon were already aware that they faced Quarter-Final trips to New York and London respectively, the Tribesmen just recently having won the 2009 FBD League in the Big Apple. The third quarter-final sees a very exciting looking clash between Sligo and Mayo.

The winners of that then face either New York or Galway with Leitrim already in a semi-final where they await London or Roscommon.

Jack O Connor s Sam Maguire holders begin next year s provincial campaign at the quarter-final stage against John Evans Tipperary, a side who made very decent strides in 2009. The reward for the winners – if that is the right word – is a clash with Munster champions Cork in the provincial semi-final where Conor Counihan s charges will no doubt want to hit the ground running after performing so magnificently this year only to fall at the final hurdle. They defeated Kerry after a replay in last year s Munster semi-final and last month s loss at Croke Park only adds another motive to their desire to want to repeat that.

The other side of the draw sees Clare and Waterford paired off in a quarter-final with last year s unfortunate Munster runners-up Limerick awaiting the victors of that contest in the last four.

In Leinster, Wexford will provide the first opposition for a Dublin side gunning for a sixth successive provincial crown. Those teams meet in a quarter-final and should the Dubs progress they could once again meet old foes Meath en route to the decider.

That pairing would need the right results though with the Royals drawn to play in the Preliminary Round against Offaly. The winners of that thenÓgo on to face Laois in the quarter-final and whoever emerges victorious there will face Wexford or Dublin.

On the other side of the draw Mick O Dwyer s Wicklow take on Carlow with the winners meeting Westmeath, while the other quarter-final sees Kieran McGeeney s Kildare – Leinster runners-up last year – lying in store for either Louth or Longford.

The Ulster Championship begins with a cracking-looking Preliminary Round encounter between Derry and Armagh and a further intriguing fixture awaits the winners who will take on Monaghan, while Cavan will begin their campaign against Fermanagh also on that side of the draw..

Finally, Ulster champions Tyrone – who lost their All-Ireland crown when ousted at the semi-final stage by Cork in 2009 – start with a repeat of last year s provincial decider when they face Antrim, with the winners in line to take on the victors of an attractive looking quarter-final pairing between Donegal and Down.

 

2010 All-Ireland Football Championship Provincial Draws:

Munster SFC:

Quarter-Final:
A: Clare v Waterford
B: Kerry v Tipperary

Semi-Finals:
Limerick v Winner Quarter-Final A
Cork v Winners Quarter-Final B

Leinster SFC:

Preliminary Round:
1: Louth v Longford
2: Wicklow v Carlow
3: Meath v Offaly

Quarter-Finals:
A. Winner Game 1 v Kildare
B. Winner Game 2 v Westmeath
C: Winner Game 3 v Laois
D: Wexford v Dublin

Semi-Finals:
Winners Quarter-Final A v Winners Quarter-Final B
Winners Quarter-Final C v Winners Quarter-Final D

Ulster SFC:

Preliminary Round:
Derry v Armagh

Quarter-Finals:
A: Antrim v Tyrone
B: Donegal v Down
C: Cavan v Fermanagh
D: Monaghan v Derry OR Armagh

Semi-Finals:
Winners Quarter-Final A v Winners Quarter-Final B
Winners Quarter-Final C v Winners Quarter-Final D

Connacht SFC:

Quarter-Finals:
A: New York v Galway
B; London v Roscommon
C: Sligo v Mayo

Semi-Finals:
Winner Quarter-Final C v Winner Quarter-Final A
Leitrim v Winner Quarter-Final B

 

 

22-Oct-09 by GAA.ie

The 2010 Allianz National Football League Division 4 fixtures have been confirmed and are unchanged from the provisional list circulated to counties in recent weeks.   Leitrim will have 4 home games  to Waterford, Kilkenny, London and Longford and 4 away to Wicklow, Clare, Carlow and Limerick with a break in round 5 as Leitrim have a bye on March 13th-14th.

 

National Football League Division 4 – Confirmed:

 

Sunday, February 7: Leitrim v Waterford, London v Limerick, Carlow v Longford, Clare v Wicklow.

Saturday, February 13: Limerick v Carlow
Sunday, February 14: Wicklow v Leitrim, Kilkenny v Clare, Waterford v London.

Saturday, February 20: London v Wicklow; Longford v Limerick; Carlow v Waterford; Leitrim v Kilkenny.

Sunday, March 7: Waterford v Longford, Kilkenny v London, Wicklow v Carlow, Clare v Leitrim.

Saturday, March 13: Limerick v Waterford
Sunday, March 14: Carlow v Kilkenny, Longford v Wicklow, London v Clare. Leitrim BYE

Sunday, March 21: Leitrim v London, Kilkenny v Longford, Wicklow v Limerick, Clare v Carlow.

Saturday, March 27: Carlow v Leitrim, Limerick v Kilkenny
Sunday, March 28: Longford v Clare, Waterford v Wicklow.

Saturday, April 3: Kilkenny v Waterford, Leitrim v Longford, Clare v Limerick, London v Carlow.

Sunday, April 11: Waterford v Clare, Limerick v Leitrim, Wicklow v Kilkenny, Longford v London.

FINAL – 24 April

 

National Hurling League Division 4 – Confirmed:

The hurlers will have 5 games in Division 4 and open their campaign away to Cavan and then away to Fermanagh. They will be home to South Down, followed by an away game to Longford and have their final game at home against Monaghan.

 

21.02.2010: Monaghan v Fermanagh, Cavan v Leitrim, Longford v South Down

28.02.2010: Fermanagh v Leitrim, Longford v Cavan, South Down v Monaghan

14.03.2010:  Fermanagh v Cavan, Leitrim v South Down, Monaghan v Longford

21.03.2010:  South Down v Fermanagh, Longford v Leitrim, Cavan v Monaghan

28.03.2010: Leitrim v Monaghan, South Down v Cavan, Fermanagh v Longford

FINAL – 10.04.2010

 

 

15-Oct-09 by Brendan Doyle – PRO

The GAA and RTÉ have confirmed that the draws for the 2010 GAA Football and Hurling championship will be screened live on RTÉ Television after a schedule was agreed with the four provincial councils.

The draws for the two senior championships will take place in Croke Park on Thursday October 22 and will be broadcast live at 8.25pm on RTÉ Two television and also streamed live worldwide on RTÉ.ie.

GAA President Críostóir Ó Cuana welcomed the announcement and said: "Were delighted that the draws for our inter-county championship competitions will be broadcast live on RTÉ Television. The draws generate huge interest amongst our members and followers of our games and it is always our intention to bring them to the widest audience possible."

 

 

12-Oct-09 by GAA.ie

Leitrim 0-10 Longford 0-13

Leitrims brave bid to win their first ever SFC qualifier faded at Pairc Sean MacDiarmada tonight.  Spurred on by man-of-the-match Padraig Berry, Longford booked a prized place in the second round draw.

Both sides enjoyed spells of dominance in the first half. Michael Foley and Gary Reynolds starred as Leitrim pegged it back to 0-07 apiece at half-time.

But Longford, despite losing Kevin Smith to a red card, edged it in the second half with Berry, Paul and David Barden and Brian KavanÓgh leading them home.

In dry and near-perfect conditions, the games throw-in was delayed by 10 minutes due to crowd conjestion and when this novel clash got started, Leitrim grasped early control of the scoreboard.

Ger DennÓgan kicked Longfords first point, but the hosts cantered ahead thanks to scores from Michael Foley, Gary Reynolds and Philip McGuinness.

Reynolds kicked clear of the crossbar after Longford goalkeeper Damien Sheridan had managed to keep out a goal-bound shot from Philip McGovern.

Longford ended their barren spell in front of goal with points from Damien Masterson and Francis McGee and a subsequent white flag from full-forward Cian MimnÓgh sent them back in front at 0-06 to 0-05.

The ever-impressive Berry sandwiched a point in before the half-time whistle, replying to another Foley score and an entertaining half was brought to a close by a well-taken point by Carrigallen ace Reynolds.

The second half was just as competitive as the first but Longford, searching for their first Championship win under Manager Glenn Ryan, gradually stretched ahead.

DennÓgan and Foley both had wides before McGee also forced a free wide of the target, following a yellow card for Leitrim corner back Dermot Reynolds.

Reynolds full-back colleague Pat Gilmartin had an excellent game and was a rock for Leitrim on occasions, but he could do little as points from DennÓgan, McGee and Berry saw Longford push ahead.

Berrys score, coming off a brilliant solo run, was quickly followed by Paul Bardens first point of the evening and a superb point from Brian KavanÓgh, wide out on the left. Suddenly there were five points between the sides (0-12 to 0-07).

Foley reduced the arrears, dusting himself off to pop over a free, and the Leitrim management introduced Darren Duignan and James Holohan for the closing stages.

Ray Cox was also brought on and two successful frees from McGuinness, in between Kevin Smiths sending-off for a high challenge on Cox, set up an edge-of-the-seat finale.

Yet Leitrim could not muster another score. The scenario of being two points down with three minutes remaining will be played over in their players minds for the rest of the summer.

David Barden had the final say, Scóring a relieving point for Longford which proved to be the match-winner.

 

 

05-Jul-09 by SBPost.ie

If your unable to make it to Carrick on Sunday for the big game you can always follow the action with the various Media companies who will be broadcasting in various formats live from the grounds.

On Radio worldwide you can listen to local stations Shannonside FM and Ocean FM.  RTE Radio 1 are also covering the game.

You can also follow a text version thanks to Longford Leader by clicking here

 

 

04-Jul-09 by Brendan Doyle – PRO

HOME ADVANTAGE for the second round of the All-Ireland football qualifiers will be decided by the toss of a coin, following Sunday evenings draw in Croke Park. While home advantage for this Saturdays first round of matches was based on the first team drawn from the bowl, the second round draw will consist of two bowls – the eight first round winners in one bowl and the eight beaten provincial semi-finalists in the other.

Therefore, the GAAs Central Competition Control Committee (CCCC) will toss a coin to determine which of those teams gets home advantage when they meet on Monday to confirm the throw-in times and venues for the eight second round games, which are all due to be played on Saturday week, July 11th.

Whichever team does win the toss is automatically entitled to home advantage, provided the CCCC deem their home ground is suitable for the fixture.

All eight first round games go ahead this Saturday: Donegal against Carlow, Monaghan against Armagh, Meath against Waterford, Wicklow against Fermanagh, Wexford against Offaly, Louth against Tipperary, Down against London, and Leitrim against Longford.

The usual period of extra-time will also be played if necessary, and provided replays are avoided, these eight first-round winners will then face off against one of the eight teams beaten in the provincial semi-finals: Kerry and Clare, from Munster; Roscommon and Sligo, from Connacht; Derry and Cavan, from Ulster; and Laois and Westmeath, from Leinster.

The draw itself will take place on TV3 shortly after 6pm on Sunday, following their live coverage of the Leinster senior hurling final between Dublin and Kilkenny.

If a first replay is required the draw will go ahead as scheduled, but with the second round game affected postponed until the following Saturday.

The GAA has also finalised admission prices for all of this weekends first round qualifiers, with entry to the stands, like last year, costing €20, while admission to terraces has been reduced by €5 to €10.

A further effort to maintain the positive attendance figures for the remainder of the championship saw the GAA yesterday launch a new range of ticket packages to cover the closing stages of both the football and hurling championship.

Six deals – five of which are new – are being offered which are aimed at allowing followers of football and hurling to combine quarter-final and semi-final games. The Hurling Heaven, package priced at €90, includes tickets for one hurling quarter- final and two semi-finals. The Football Feast offers fans tickets for two football quarter-final days and both semi-finals, and costs €99. That works out at less than €25 per match and, on last years ticket prices, offers savings of €35 and €60 respectively.

Other offers include a quarter and semi-final package covering one quarter-final and a semi-final, costing €65, and a Dual Deal for the quarter-final and semi-final stages of both the football and hurling championships priced at €175.There are also Club Pass and Group Pass offers.

The packages were announced by GAA president Christy Cooney at the opening of the new Ticket Shop on Lower Dorset St in Dublin, close to Croke Park.

"We have been very happy with attendances at our games to date this year," said Cooney, "but we have said all along that in these challenging times we would continue to review our ticketing arrangements in an effort to offer our members and followers value for money . . .

"We have attempted to cater for different types of GAA supporters by offering combined football and hurling deals and a variety of options and we are confident followers of our games will take up deals that will provide excellent live entertainment at an affordable price."

 

 

03-Jul-09 by IrishTimes.ie – Ian O Riordan

 

Earlier today a news item was released entitled "Novel ticket deals to entice fans ".  This item included news regarding the 2nd round Qualifier draw and the method of tossing a coin to decide home advantage which was to be perfomed at Mondays CCCC meeting.

The tossing of a coin method mentioned in the article is no longer valid following the notification sent out by Croke Park this afternoon regarding the use of 4 bowls and the NEW method to decide home and away status:

 

 

"Just to clarify the draw will take the following structure:

Bowl 1 – Provincial Semi-Final Losers.

Bowl 2 – 1 st Round Qualifier Winners.

Bowl 3 – Home or Away

Bowl 4 – Dump bowl for County Slips.

A capsule will be drawn from Bowl 1, it shall remain closed and be placed in Bowl 3.

A Capsule will be drawn from Bowl 2, it shall remain closed and be placed in Bowl 3.

The capsules in Bowl 3 are stirred well, one is drawn and opened. This is the home team of tie 1.
The remaining capsule is drawn and opened and this becomes the away team in Tie 1.

The opened capsules and slips are placed in the Dump bowl and this procedure continues until all ties are decided."

 

 

03-Jul-09 by Brendan Doyle – PRO

CONNACHT MFC SEMI-FINAL Roscommon 1-17 Leitrim 0-3 : ROSCOMMON PRODUCED a significantly-improved second-half display to overwhelm Leitrim at Hyde Park on Saturday.

After a dreadful first-half, the home team led by 0-5 to 0-2.

However, unanswered points from Ciarán Murtagh, Niall Kilroy, Daniel Qualter and Cathal Shine within seven minutes of the resumptionÓgave Roscommon a seven-point lead and Leitrim s diminishing hopes vanished when Conor Beirne was sent-off for a second bookable offence after 42 minutes.

Substitute Darren Clabby sealed victory for the home team with a well-taken individual goal in the 49th minute when he shook off a defender and sent a powerful shot to the net.

Leitrim scored just one point in the second half.

Roscommon Manager Wynne believed the pressure of the occasion contributed to the poor quality of the first half.

"Both teams were under a lot of pressure, there wasn t any back door and the winners would be straight into the provincial final. We had to come up with a result.

"We started a bit slow and that reflected the inactivity of not having played a championship match. We played some nice spells of football, but there is plenty of work to be done for the final.

ROSCOMMON : N Connaughton; P Feeney, G Deeney, P Brogan; N Daly, D Butler, C Cafferky; S McNulty, D Qualter (0-3, one 45); J Carty (0-1) , S Oates, B Carthy (0-1); N Kilroy (0-4, two frees), C Shine (0-1), C Murtagh (0-2, frees). Subs : D Connellan for Deeney, D Clabby (1-2) for Oates, C Compton (0-1) for Murtagh, A Feehily (0-1) for Carty, M Sweeney (0-1) for Carthy.

LEITRIM : S Sweeney; S Ryan, D Harkin, J O Brien; M Clancy, S McWeeney, M Quinn; C McWeeney, R Burke; D Flynn, S Flanagan (0-2, one free) , Aaron Hickey; C Beirne (0-1, free) , B Mulvey, E Sweeney. Subs : K Boyle for R Burke, P Hill for Sweeney, R Kennedy for Hickey.

Referee: M Daly (Mayo

 

 

29-Jun-09 by IrishTimes.ie

Please note that this weekends qualifier game is cash at the turn stiles except for the stand which is ticket only.   Any one interested in purchasing tickets should put their order in with their club secretary immediately and the tickets will be distributed to all club secretaries on Wednesday night.

Stand – €20*

Terrace/Sideline – €10

Student/OAP – €10

Under 16 s -FREE

 

*  €10 concession only for OAP s on Stand tickets

 

 

 

29-Jun-09 by Brendan Doyle – PRO

After a demoralising League campaign that saw the County Minor team swamped in all four outings, Leitrim are hoping for much better things next Saturday when they take on Roscommon in the ESB Connacht Minor Championship Semi-Final in Hyde Park next Saturday at 5.45 pm.

Like the Ladies team last weekend heading to Castlebar, the Minors are hoping that they can put a win-less Provincial League campaign behind them and spring what would be regarded as one of the major surprises of this years championships.

Although 12 weeks will have passed from Leitrims last competitive outing, the hope is that the time in between will have been used to rejuvenate a minor team that lost its four games by an average of 18.75 points but has undoubted talent in its ranks.

There is also the prize of a place in the Connacht and All-Ireland Quarter-Finals after yet another revamp of the Provincial competition saw the championship revert to the traditional knock-out system.

However, the biggest task for Leitrim is getting the self-belief back in the squad, something that was definitely hit for the last game of the League against Mayo when five first choice players failed to travel for the game in Ballyhaunis.

Roscommon scored a 4-10 to 2-3 victory when the sides met in the Minor League in Boyle in March, a victory illuminated by 1-3 from Scott Oates.

In that game, Leitrim got the perfect start of a first minute goal from Conor Beirne but RoscommonÓgradually took over and scored an unanswered 2-2, the goals coming from Oates and the dangerous Shane Leydon.

Leitrim trailed 2-8 to 2-1 at the break, the second goal coming from an Aaron Hickey penalty and while the second half saw Leitrim hold the home team scoreless for the first ten minutes, Roscommon were just too strong as they eased home.

Any hopes that Roscommon will be over-confident for Saturday would seemed to be dashed by the comments of Roscommon Minor Manager Gary Wynne who is expecting a typical Leitrim/Roscommon clash and preparing his troops accordingly, particularly with the addition of Under 21 star Cathal Shine who will give Roscommon huge midfield presence.

The Roscommon Manager, much like his Leitrim counter-part Sean Logan, is not reading anything into the League meeting between the sides but there is no doubt that Roscommons confidence will be boosted by the result.

For Leitrim, there is no doubt the talent is there Aughawillan pair Shane Flanagan and Morgan Quinn are very highly rated as is captain Sean McWeeney from Aughnasheelin.

However, one would prefer to see Flanagan back in his natural centre-forward position and Quinn in his natural centre-back slot rather than the swap between the pair that occurred during some of the League games earlier this year.

Melvin Gaels Packie Hill also impressed for the Minors during the year while Glencar/Manors James OBrien and Aaron Hickey are highly rated prospects.

Eslins Conor Beirne is another player to watch while Conor McWeeney, Shane Ryan, Micheal McWeeney, Kevin Davey, Brian Mulvey, Keith Boyle, Thomas Cornyn, Declan Brennan and Ronan Kennedy will all be in contention for starting places.

Leitrims record in the Minor Championship has been poor over the past decade with the last victory coming back in 2002 when the Minors defeated Sligo to reach the Connacht Final.

Since then, there have been a few near misses, most notably two years ago when a late Sligo rally in Ballinamore denied Leitrim a place in the Quarter-Finals.

However, the Minors have struggled in the main although as Under 16s two years ago, this squad did put in a series of good performances in the Ted Webb and Fr Manning Cups.

It is reported that the Minors have shown much improved form in challenge matches in recent weeks, most notably against Armagh, but the odds are still very much against them for next Saturday.

In some ways, Leitrim are in the perfect position of no hype, no pressure and no expectations in what is Leitrims last chance of Connacht glory this year. Leitrim will need to raise their game quite a bit, get a good start and build on it to shock Roscommon on Saturday.

 

 

 

 

 

This full report is available thanks to the Leitrim Observer
– it s available in this weeks edition of the Observer and online here

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

27-Jun-09 by John Connolly – LeitrimObserver.ie