Talk Sport 9dec2024

West Coast United under-12 girls had a record-breaking 17-0 victory in soccer. West Coast under-16 boys lost 2-1, while under-14 boys won 5-1. Soccer fixtures for the weekend are all cups. In LGFA, 17 out of 40 clubs were not represented at the annual general meeting. A motion was passed to allow clubs more than 50km apart to play matches on weekends. The Galway LGFA will request official recognition for their competition. John McDermott, the outgoing PR officer, said farewell and received applause. In golf, Marilyn Kelly and Sean Shawya were winners. Conamara Rugby had a 15-9 win and are now in the top four. Darts results were given for various divisions. Christmas sales are happening at Brodericks Electrical. Galway Simon Community is working to prevent homelessness. Good evening, this is Paul Dennen here with your Monday Night Sports Roundup. I'm joined by Pat on technical. Starting with soccer, West Coast United under-12 girls had what has to be a record-breaking 17-0 victory over Salt Hill, Devonsea in the under-12 Division Two, three cups. Well done to them and I'm sure they'll be playing at higher divisional levels as they continue on their soccer journey going forward. West Coast under-16 boys who play in Championship, they lost out 2-1 to Kinvara and West Coast under-14 boys had a resounding 5-1 win over Crawford United in their Division One league. Soccer fixtures for the weekend ahead and they're all cups so the emphasis is totally on cup competitions. Starting at under-13, West Coast under-13 is playing in the Division Two, three cup and they're at home to Crawford as the first match in a doubleheader in letter fracking next Saturday. That kicks off at 11.30 and in the under-15s they're in the Championship Division One cup and they play Lough Gray in letter fracking at 1.30 next Saturday. So best of luck there to those two West Coast United teams. Meanwhile the under-13 B team, they're away a 12.30 kick-off against East Galway United. So West Coast adult team who play at Division Two level not in action last weekend and not in action this coming weekend either. Moving on to LGFA and the Galway LGFA season came to an official end yesterday in Lough George with the annual convention. Disappointingly enough, 17 of the 40 LGFA clubs in the county were not represented at that annual general meeting. Cairnach Castle and Gwane Wales, the two local clubs, were indeed represented and there were just a couple of motions that would be of particular pertinence to those local clubs. One was that next season any clubs that are more than 50 kilometres apart cannot be compelled to play their match on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday and will always have the option of having their match played on a Saturday or a Sunday. Now that will be music to the ears of coaches in the Cairnach Castle and Gwane Wales LGFA clubs who sometimes have to travel inordinate distances midweek and they won't have to do that now going forward. Maith agaibh moirtas pealne géal pwllt a bhí ruin ag Cairnach Castle, a Cairnach Castle motion there that the National LGFA body based in Coe Park in Dublin give official recognition to the competition and bring it in onto their official master fixture plan. The national finals of course in the Cairnach Castle are the June Bank holiday weekend every year. So their motion was passed and Galway LGFA will now be asking the national body to to bring that in and also that the May Bank holiday weekend when the local conameric competition in the Comoros is on, that Galway LGFA will make it possible for the Comoros clubs to not have any other fixtures on that weekend. So that's all progress shall we say. And on a more poignant note we had an emotional farewell letter read out at the AGM yesterday written by John McDermott, the outgoing public relations officer for Galway. John has given sterling service to Galway LGFA for the past seven years 2017 to 2024 and he bade farewell yesterday and a resounding round of applause ensued. So the best look to John going forward and represents himself and his club with great distinction at county level and also on the provincial and national stage in his work and I'm sure he'll enjoy a well-deserved break now going forward and I'm sure he will continue to have an involvement in ladies' gaelic football in some way or at some level. Golf next. Conamara Golf Stableford Hamper competition held yesterday and the ladies' competition was won there by Marilyn Kelly on 36 points. Kathleen Burke was runner-up on 32 points. The goals went to Noean O'Neill on 21 points goals. Tecla McDowell was third on 31 points. The winner of the ladies' nine-hole competition was Lucia Canavan on 20 points. Meanwhile in the men's competition the overall winner was Sean Shawya on 37 points. Division 1 in first place there was Dominic Lynch on 35 points. First place at Division 2 level went to Henry Thornton on 34 points and David Stapleton was the winner of the goals there on 26 points. Rugby next and another brilliant weekend for the All Blacks following on from a really hard earned win over Dunmore. They travelled further the weekend gone by to Ballina and to Heffernan Park and came out there on top on a scoreline of 15-9 and that puts Conamara firmly into the top four. Craig's on 20 points, Toome on 19, Conamara on 19 and Ballina on 17 and there's another two clubs on 17 so it is incredibly competitive this year in the Connacht Junior J1 league and apparently what's going to happen this year is that at the end of the round-robin and all of the matches the top four will reconstitute and will play each other again with the points following on to ultimately determine who will get to play in the round-robin qualifier for potential qualification for the All Ireland League I suppose which is the dream of all the you know the clubs at the upper end of Connacht Junior Rugby that they will eventually graduate to the All Ireland League. A brilliant win for the All Blacks and a huge match in prospect now this coming Sunday at 2.30 at the Monastery Field when they will take on Craig's and people will remember that epic cup final last year and it promises to be an absolute brilliant match so all roads lead to the Monastery pitch next Sunday for that top of the table clash and best of luck to Conamara in it. And I wrap up tonight with darts so starting with the results from week four unfortunately no results to hand from Close or Levy's again I suppose with the weather and power outages and that no matches went ahead but there was action in Molly's and at division one level in the Molly's pool here are the results Alan Flaherty for Conor Haney 1, Jamie Flaherty 4, Matthew McCarty 0, James Flaherty 4, Dan O'Malley 2, Dan O'Malley 4, Jamie Flaherty 2 and Matthew McCarty 3, James Flaherty 3. The top four there at the moment are James Flaherty on 12 points, Jamie Flaherty on 10, Dan O'Malley on 10 and Alan Flaherty on 9. Moving on to division two in Molly's Jackson Graham 3, Paddy Joe Lydon 1, Michael Keneally 2, Jason Flaherty 2, Peter Connors 3, James Kearney 1, Jason Flaherty 3, Paddy Joe Lydon 1 and Philip Welch 3, Jason Haney 0. On the top four there at division two level in Molly's, Peter Connors top on 12, Philip Welch on 7, Michael Keneally on 7 and Paddy Joe Lydon on 7. Top four of course will progress to the knockout phase in the new year and that'll be held at Blinsk House. Moving on now to Canthar na nIlan agus na tarthaí o Canthar na nIlan seo Alanis. At division one level there, Aidan Feeney 4, Evan Lynch 0, Colm Beattie 4, Larry Keady 0, Mike Connolly 3, Noel Donoghue 3, Pari Connolly 4, Pariko Sulawun 0, Aidan Feeney 4, Larry Keady 0, Pari Connolly 4, Mike Connolly 1, Noel Donoghue 4, Pariko Sulawun 0 and Colm Beattie 4, Evan Lynch 1. And the top four there in down south in the Canthar na nIlan pool league, Aidan Feeney on 15 points there, Pari Connolly on 13, Noel Donoghue on 11 and Mike Connolly on 9. No results in from McGrath but we will give you the present position there. This is at division two level. Top four in McGrath presently, Noel Leggett 1st on 9, Muzzy O'Toole 2nd on 7, Marty Mullen and Kevith Purcell 3rd and 4th respectively but they're also on seven points. So they're the top four in McGrath and just coming back to Kios there, top four in Kios at the moment TJ Berry on 8, Pat Keneally on 7, Darry Keneally on 5 and Evan O'Neill on 4. And then finally to Levy's at division one level in Levy's, the top four there, Tommy Flaherty on 11, Joey Ridge on 10, John Joe Donoghue on 8 and Marcin McDonagh on 5. And at division two level in Levy's Pool League there, Mikey Welch 1st on 10 along with Dara O'Coole on he's also on 10 and Lee McGrath and Shane Welch there in 3rd and 4th respectively on 5. So very much a case of all the top fours progressing to the knockout phase in both division one and division two in Glensk House with bottom two to be relegated from the division one leagues down to division two and of course the top two then from division two to be promoted. So after round four, very interesting and still many more rounds to come before we arrive at the knockout stage. And meanwhile the Jimmy Flaherty Memorial Cup was held on Saturday in Mollies and congratulations to Alan Flaherty there who defeated Damien Gleeson from Dunmore in the final. 24 players came out to honour Jimmy Flaherty's memory and had a great competition and 500 euro there was raised for Cree, so well done to all. And there's a break now from league action within the Connemara Darts Federation but Gwana Wales are hosting a couple of memorial tournaments of their own. These have been running out for a couple of years in McGrath and the first of those tournaments goes ahead next Saturday night, that's the Etna Hannigan Memorial Cup in McGrath for any dart players who might want to just keep their eye in shall we say and keep up a bit of competition and a bit of practice. That's my lot for tonight, thanks to Pat on technical and we'll talk to you in a week's time. Christmas sale now on at Brodericks Electrical Castle Bar and West Court. If you're looking for that perfect gift for someone special in your life, call into one of our shops today or go online at broderickselectrical.ie. From TVs to tablets, air fryers to hair dryers, bluetooth speakers to robot vacuum cleaners, all at the lowest prices in store at Brodericks Electrical Castle Bar and West Court. No child should be without a home, yet this Christmas more than 110 families and 230 children will be homeless across Galway, Mayo and Roscommon. It doesn't have to be this way. Last year, Galway Simon Community supported 201 families with 415 children to prevent them from becoming homeless. If you believe every family should have a place to call home this Christmas, donate now at galwaysimon.ie or phone 091 381828. Thank you. Clifton Supply Centre, Galway Road, Clifton. Provide building supplies, plumbing and heating supplies, fuel merchants, DIY and general hardware. Contact the Clifton Supply Centre on 095 21476. Talk Sport and Connemara Community Radio support Galway County Council in their Anti-Litter Campaign. We all have a responsibility to ensure that our roadways, towns and villages are litter free. So whether driving or meeting up with friends, don't forget to always put your litter in a bin. Please play your part. It's easy to make a difference. Be part of the community. Liverpool still need the Premiership. In Rugby, Connemara overwhelmed Zebra in the European Challenge Cup 43-12 there and Connemara had a good win away to Ballina. In GAA, Rigo Alkiron won 8 Kilkoo 10 pints. That was a great match in the Ulster Sub-Final. In Munster, Dr. Crokes had it much easier, 15 pints to Loughmore, Killiney won 6. And in Grand Prix, Norris wins Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and McAllen win their first Construction Championship since 1998. So this is the headline. Now I have online Bernard Lee and I hope to get 20 pints. We will start off as usual with Bernard. Welcome Bernard. Good evening Zeb. We look at the Grand Prix. Norris, he wins the Abu Dhabi and of course McAllen then wins the Construction Championship. Was it 1998 that interests us? Yes, yes and a very good drive by Landon Norris because he had all the pressure of the team. I mean it was one race to win. It was his fourth win of the year but because there was a first lap I suppose coming together there between Verstappen and Piastri. So Piastri was in the other McLaren and they were both hoping to do well as a team and to keep the pressure off the Ferraris. Now they had a 21 point lead going into it so that was a huge benefit for them. But really and truly if anything happened to Norris, he got pole position and he won the race. If anything happened to him, the Constructors would have gone to Ferrari and that would have been a huge disappointment for the team. So obviously the drivers had gone to Verstappen but again Norris, he had a very good season. As I said four wins but this was a real test and he passed it with flying colours and they did really well together. I think his teammates, as I said he was driven off the track and he went way down the field in a prominent position but I think he climbed up to 10th position, Piastri in the end to get a point. But really once Norris stayed ahead and with the 21 points lead going into the race, that was enough for him to get it with the 25 points for the win. So a big credit goes to him and he'll be a good threat to the championship going forward next year I would say. Yeah, he says he hopes to win next year but I don't know. What was interesting about Verstappen, he wasn't that happy with the adjudication of some points along the way. Yeah, look he's been in the wars a little bit with his style of driving and this incident and I think he was apologetic as well. He was afterwards but not at the time. No, no, no. But you know in fairness all great champions have an edge to them and Schumacher had it back in the day and maybe Hamilton had a certain amount of it as well. But look, as we said there two or three races ago he got the points he needed to get the win so it wasn't as if he was vying for the championship. It can get very messy. Get it won and done as quick as you can and of course he didn't have that pressure and the constructors was gone as well. Now what was interesting about Verstappen, the amount of points he had accumulated, I think 437 and his team mate was maybe down on 152 Perez and that's a huge difference, 437 and 152 or two team mates in the same car. And of course he got the constructors, if a team mate was doing anything half as good they'd have accumulated the constructors as well. But that's the way it went. And what was also interesting I think was last year McCardin were 538 points behind Red Bull in the championship for the constructors. So they were in fourth place. So they weren't exactly the team most likely to win this year. So you can imagine making up 538 points in one year and I think they were half a second behind the Red Bull in the first five races of the year. It's amazing when you think about where they've come from. They were well done and then to get the constructors, I mean to make up any part of a second but half a second in the first five races. So they did make great changes and the drivers more or less lived up to the ability of the car to get the race wins and accumulate the points. So it was an interesting thing and as we said before next year should be very exciting with Ferrari and with Hamilton there, Red Bull and obviously McCardin there with Norris and Piastri as well and one or two other teams possibly emerging. So overall credit goes to Norris, a very good win to gain the title there for McCardin and it's their ninth constructors title McCardin and their second behind Ferrari. Ferrari have 16 I think and McCardin and Ferrari are the two longest running teams in Formula 1 as it stands going back so many years back to the start of it and a lot of teams have come and gone. But as I said I've the current crop of teams in it, McCardin and Ferrari. Ferrari are obviously the longest serving and the most successful as well with longevity in Formula 1. So that was the season, it was a good season overall it had a lot of ups and downs and a lot of drama in it in the end. Okay we might as well look back at the Premiership last Saturday and the first scheme I see here is Aston Villa won, Southampton missed. For all Southampton they can't get a win at all. Yeah no unfortunately Southampton down at the wrong end of the table there and Villa, Villa have been very hit and miss recently but they got the win here and Southampton didn't really lay a glove on them. So yeah back to sort of winning ways but Villa they've done what they did last year, they did a lot of good results and then a spate of four or five bad results and that's what they've had this so this will put them back on track again a little bit. Yeah so as said Southampton obviously struggling there at the wrong end of the table so it is going to be a long season for them as it has been already but you know Villa up in 6th position there and I suppose there will still be a lot of teams struggling in the lower places there in and around the European Champions League places. So there's still a lot to fight for but they're behind Nottingham Forest which is unusual, Forest have had a good run as well but yeah good win for Villa but a lot of improvement ahead for them if they want to keep up at the top end of the table. Brentford 4 Newcastle 2. Yeah more pressure on Eddie Howe there at Newcastle that's not a result that's going to please the fans but plenty of money there and again he's a bit like Newcastle or a bit like Villa they go on these good runs and then they go on these bad runs and they come three or four games in a row where you're losing or dropping points and no consistency there so that's not a result. Brentford are a very good team Thomas Frank does a great job with them there you know they were down in the lower league for many years but they're back there and they're a solid team now in the Premiership they're never even in the hunt for relegation even though you'd almost imagine they would but Thomas Frank is the manager who's responsible for that. They play good football, get good results, home and away it's good football and you know going well and up in ninth position there it's a decent return but pressure will mount on Newcastle and Eddie Howe after a result like that. Crystal Palace 2 Manchester City 2. Yeah so Man City trying to get back on winning ways they did so during the week but this wasn't an easy fix for Palace they've had a few good results even though they're obviously down at the bottom end of the table they're in 17th position but they led I think twice Man City had a player sent off there and managed to get back to get the 2-2 draw so it's better than a defeat but you know they would have liked to be winning this game to make up the last round in the Premier League. They had some recent results and that was not to be but a draw is better than a defeat so as I said they're still up there in fourth position on you know the 27 points but not the results they'd have liked and they're certainly not playing to the level that they normally do but that might come in time. And of course the adverse weather in Cotswolds, Everton and Liverpool. Now the next one Manchester United 2 Nottingham Forest 3. Yeah well absolutely but I mean Forest are the only team to beat Liverpool this year in the Premiership there and they've done it at Anfield and that's the one big blight I suppose on Liverpool's record but this is a good record but so they've pulled out some decent results but you know obviously you have Ruben Eberham the new manager at United they're hoping to get some decent results and he's got one or two under his belt but this is a big disappointment. And it just shows you that even the previous manager the players are the players and trying to mix around and mix and match and put players in different positions and all he can do is use what's there because he hasn't gone into the transfer market yet but obviously there's a lot of work to be done there at United and maybe a couple of transfer windows will be required. So a good win for Forest and you know the surprise package up and fits to that place there on 25 points and as I said Man United down in 13th position and on 19 points it's a strange looking table when you look at it sometimes but I'm sure the manager will get it right in time but this current group of players they're very hit and miss. Yeah it'll be interesting to see when the new buying in players and selling them how many he can keep and get rid of. Yeah it will be interesting as well. Yes Thursday then Fulham won, Arsenal won. Yeah Fulham have been decent though they're a good team solid team up in 10th position nicely set and halfway on the table there and you know Arsenal would have been hoping to get again a win under their belt you know to be title contenders you have to go away from home and get these results even at difficult grounds like Fulham. But overall they had a goal to fill out near the end with a marginal offside decision could have sneaked the three points but it'll be good news for Liverpool to see Arsenal and City not getting the three points over the weekend and their game of football and of course the Merseyside derby so they'll have that in hand on them. But overall Arsenal yeah they need to get wins out of these games you know making up the few points deficit there of up to Liverpool who are up under 35 points and obviously Arsenal there on 29 and the game in hand for Liverpool. But overall honours even as I said Fulham a difficult place to go to but yeah Arsenal are coming back to themselves but again it's a game you just would have wanted the three points if you were an Arsenal fan not to be. Yeah now Ipswich 1 Bournemouth 2. Yeah so Ipswich look they're obviously down at the wrong end of the table and they led again and they're dropping a few points so they've gone into the bottom tier there in the 18th position and nine points isn't a great return for themselves and Wolves and Southampton down there. And obviously Bournemouth you know they've had some good wins in recent matches as well and they've managed to pull off the win there with two seconds of gold I think but you know obviously you have Ipswich would be very you know got the Irish link with the manager there and there you know a few star players as well. There's Roy's son Liam De Lapp who's been a big star for them he doesn't qualify for Ireland but it's a pity because he'd be a great addition you have Sammy Smavics as well there for Ipswich but a nice Irish connection but as I said they need to do it on the field now they need to pick up the points and you know it was quite a late winner there in the 95th minute I think for Bournemouth. And disappointing there for Ipswich who need the points and certainly a draw would have been decent enough but you know it's very frustrating to be down at the bottom to be leading in the game and then to lose to a 96th minute goal shall we say and that's the situation at the minute so they're a good footballing team Ipswich may be too good sometimes a bit like Spurs you could nearly say you know maybe they don't know how to defend leads but that might be being a bit too critical but hopefully they get it together as I said and might pick up points. There's a bit of a gap emerging there from the three at the bottom up to 13 points to Palace and we said the likes of Leicester and Everton and that so a difficult season ahead but that'll be expected for Ipswich. Ok Leicester 2 Brighton 2. Brighton 1 up at half time? Getting back to 2-2 and yeah yeah Brighton have been a decent team as I said they do well home and away and obviously a good a good a good point shall we say for Leicester even though they were at home and obviously the new manager there the ex-Man Utd player has you know he's kept it together. He had a few good runs there at United but good fighting spirits from his team there to get the two-all draw shall we say and Brighton you know obviously Leicester down there at the wrong end of the table as we know in 15th position I think or 16th shall we say but on 14 points and you know we've mentioned before about Brighton up on 7th position not you know the second season in a row maybe third but they're just very strong and solid good footballing team and you know you learn your your points if you score any get points against them you learn it there as I said they level up consistency even with different managers over the last number of years from Graeme Potter onwards they do they play a good footballing style there at Brighton and are consistent enough so as I said good fight back by Leicester and honours even. Right and the final one Tottenham 3 Chelsea 4 you must have no hair left in your following. Well as I used to say babe it helps to believe in life after death if you're a Spurs supporter and that's we're well tested on our beliefs but look they're the gift that keeps on giving if you're not a Tottenham supporter because they always hit the headlines for you know it's not that two or three games ago they bet Manchester City 4-0 at Manchester City's home ground and you say they've turned a corner and they haven't won since I think it's two defeats and a draw and they were 2-0 up and they gave away two soft penalties in the second half but the game wasn't nearly up by the time the second penalty went in it was 4-2 and Cole Tamver scored two and two very silly mistakes by the Tottenham defenders which has been a par for the course for them in recent years just silly mistakes and well there's a lot of fans who love Ange Postekoglu and the style of play they are getting very frustrated now and he could be having his contract terminated quite soon if the results don't pick up. Now they have one big game coming up before the Christmas I think and I'm not sure of the date it's in the next week or so and that's against Manchester United I think in the quarter finals of the League Cup now that would get the fans back on side if they can get past United and into a semi-final and I think the semi-finals are over two legs and it's very important for Spurs fans they'd put up with not qualifying for Champions League and Europe maybe if they could get a trophy on the board. Now obviously United have the new manager as well and they'll be looking to do well in that but the league composite a lot of teams put out weak in teams Spurs have put out a fairly strong team so Postekoglu has promised the fans they're going to win a trophy this season he said he always wins a trophy wherever he has been in his second season and that's a bit of a hostage to fortune to say that and not deliver it. So I would say that if he was to lose to that and I think they're at home as well in that game if they were to lose to United the fans would certainly lose heart but as long as he keeps going in the cup and they have the FA Cup after Christmas as well and they're still in Europe so they'll put up. In fairness to Spurs there has been quite a few injuries to a lot of their current players and they had two more injuries there the last day so if you look below the level of the performances but as I said it's only two or three games ago they beat City 4-0 at the Etihad there so you cannot always blame it on injuries it's the level of consistency that's required and they haven't met it yet so an interesting few weeks ahead for Postekoglu and for Spurs. No doubt. We'll go on to Saturday's game. Arsenal vs Everton. Right and Everton have had a few decent results but they were bet 4-0 by United there so look this is a home fixture for Arsenal there's no hiding place anymore they're behind Liverpool by a good number of points and they need to be making up the gap now and home win you've got to be winning these especially against a team struggling. Everton will put up a good south defence with Sean Dyche you know he's got them well organised at the back more often than not apart from the blip against United but I'm going to go with a confident win for Arsenal 3-1 home win for Arsenal. Liverpool vs Fulham. Liverpool at home. Fulham will be put up good resistance again and I'm going to go with a similar result to that I think Fulham decent enough to get a goal on the road but Liverpool to hold firm and 3-1 home win for them to stay solid at the top of the table and they'll definitely be top of the table I'd say for Christmas. Right but there's a lot of pressure on you when you're top of the table isn't there? Well there is but you know. You have to keep winning. Yeah yeah but they reckon you know everybody there's a record there of teams who have been top by Christmas how many times they've won more often than not they have it's not always the case but no it's always a nice position to be in you know you're better to be top than further behind and look at it they have a nice healthy four or five point lead they'd be happy with that as well but yeah that should be a home win but Fulham will make the Marinette so we'll see how it goes. Newcastle versus Leicester. Yeah and an absolute must win for Newcastle there because home advantage and as I said with a couple of bad results under there you know in recent matches for Eddie Howe so look I'm going to go with a 2-1 win to Newcastle. Leicester will put up against strong resistance but I think the pressure is on Newcastle and I could almost see him being sacked if he lost that game or didn't win it certainly if he lost it because you can't be arguably the richest team in the world on paper alone and you know as we said before you know you have Ruud van Nistelrooy there the manager from Leicester who took over there. Recently after a stint with Man United and as I said he's undefeated so far got the good comeback draw against Brighton there at the weekend and they'll be tough enough to be confident but absolutely vital for Newcastle to get the home win. Okay so you'll give that to Newcastle wouldn't you? Yeah 2-1 to Newcastle home win. 2-1 to Newcastle. Not as far as Russell Vaston Villa at 5-30. Yeah an interesting run Villa would like to continue the good recent run shall we say climbing up the table but Forrest are above them so I'm funnily enough going to go with a home win for Forrest on that I think they're playing very good football you know and the manager you know he's doing well he's always done fairly well. He was at Spurs for a while back in the day he didn't last long but he had them top of the table for a few games and then it slipped away again so I'm going to go with a home win 2-1 for Forrest over Villa in that one. Over Vaston Villa right. Wolverhampton versus Ipswich. Of course Wolverhampton are down at the bottom or well second from the bottom of course. Yeah so look they are struggling as well second from the bottom an absolute six pointer both of them are nine points so this is one of the big games of the weekend to see who's going to be establishing themselves to try and get out of the relegation zone. Difficult one to call but I'm going to go with a draw I'm going to sit on the fence a bit I think they're even each other out and 1-1 the more likely result there. Yeah it looks like a draw there. Yeah you never can tell in a premiership Viv as we said before it's very competitive and you can get unusual results but look at 1-1 wouldn't be the worst result what they don't want is to lose to one of their favourites for the relegation or a team around them so you know it wouldn't be the worst result but it would be an interesting one to watch. Yeah it's hard to score goals when you're at the bottom I suppose. Yeah and then the pressure as well and I suppose there will be a bit of Christmas atmosphere in the grounds and you'll have a lot of Santa Claus outfits and all of that fun of the fair that Christmas fixtures and you do get some strange results especially coming up to Boxing Day and that it's good fun but look at it as I said those teams down at the bottom they'll be concentrated on trying not to lose and hopefully or Wolves maybe a home win but as I said 1-1 will be what I predict. Right we'll move on to something Brighton versus Crystal Palace towards the end. Yeah and again look at both teams decent enough Brighton up at the top end of the table Palace struggling. They're going very well aren't they? Yeah but Palace can you know they have enough of good footballing ability about them to get a result but Brighton again on the back of the recent result I suppose was too old they preferred the win having led late in the game but I'm going to go with a home win for Brighton and I think again there's a lot of goals in them good football so I'm going to go 2-1 to Brighton over Palace in that one. Chelsea versus Brentford 7 o'clock. Yeah nice London derby there and Chelsea look it was a great performance to come back from the 2-0 loss to early goals to Spurs as we mentioned earlier and it just keeps them going well there at the top of the table and you know up into I think it was second position so that's quite an achievement from where they were last year. And this is a perfect example who knows other teams might drop points around them but Brentford are so good as well it's a London derby as I said Brentford will make them earn it but I'm going to go with a 3-1 win to Chelsea on that one they have a lot of goals in them more than nearly any other team a lot of footballing ability they might concede one or two as well but on the back of the good win against Spurs I'd say their confidence is continuing to rise so 3-1 home win for Chelsea. They should be nicely perched at the top end of the table there in second or third position going into the Christmas period. Right and the big one I suppose Manchester City versus Manchester United 4-3. Yeah that will gain all of the attention of the football world with City's position at the minute and United with the new manager and trying to get a bit of credibility with the fans. It's a big must win for possibly City, Man United are well they're not likely to threaten you know they have no managers coming under pressure. Guardiola is the new manager in place so he's going to try and get the best result he can but I'm going to go with a home win for City I think they need to pick up the points. Anything less and the title it's nearly gone but it's not quite gone because of Man City but they're not the Man City of old who can reel off these wins that they used to do. They might get back to that level after Christmas but for now I'm going to go with a home win 2-0 to City and I think they might just keep United out. But as I said you never know the new manager might get a little bit of reaction but he didn't get it against Boris so whether he will against City is another thing. But I'm going to go 2-0 for City to keep their slim title hopes alive. I suppose for United if they could manage a draw it would be a result as we said. Oh yeah anytime you get a draw against a champion. Well again we've seen some strange surprises. A lot of it will come down to the ineffectiveness of City in recent matches rather than the better ability of United because as I said they didn't find it against Boris at home at the weekend there. But any given day they're particularly slimming off a tight VAR decision and it all changes. But as I said I've just taken City because they need to win it. That might just concentrate their mind enough to get the three points. Right and the final one we have my goodness. Southampton versus Tottenham Hotspur. If Tottenham don't win this there will be questions asked. Oh indeed yeah and look it's the sort of game they could struggle in as well but I think they might have enough about them. I'm going to go with a 3-1 win away for Tottenham. Absolute vital for them to keep pressure. They're not a million miles off getting a decent European position because maybe some of the other teams haven't been doing so well and there's a long part of the season. If they ever got some consistency going they could rack up a lot of points. But as I said if they could get a trophy on the board in one of the cup competitions the fans would be happy with that. But this is not a position you want to be going into we'll say the fans coming into the Christmas period. You don't want to be losing at home or away to a team like Southampton even though Southampton will make them earn it. But I'm going to go with the away win for Spurs and hopefully that will ease a bit of pressure there at the club. Yeah you reckon 3-1 is it? 3-1 yeah I think so. Spurs are always likely to concede but they do have a few goals in them on the right day. But as I said they have a few players coming back from injury. There is a sort of subplot to the reason they've been inconsistent as well. Some defensive frailties there with defenders out and the goalkeeper as well is injured. They have Fraser Foster who is getting on in years I suppose but I won't say he's a weak link. But they do have key positions there and still struggling for a striker up front to score regularly. So there's a lot of issues at Spurs. But as I said on their day as we've seen against Man City recently they can put it together and get a spectacular result. So we'll see how that one goes but 3-1 away win is the prediction there. It's a prediction grand. Okay we better leave it at that so we'll speak to you next week. Yeah one quick one to finish off and just an interesting little aside there on the darts and the darts competition on there. Now the world championships are coming up there from around the 15th of December and they're always a great feature over the Christmas. But there was another WDF world championship. It's for the lower league ranked players and the first time ever an Irish darts player won it. Shane McGurk and he's ranked 157 in the world. But he won it there 6-3 last night in Lakeside I think it was. So it's a very grand but it's second tier championship. He's the first Irish player to win a world championship. And he beat Paul Lim who was 70 years of age in the final and he's from Singapore. And Paul Lim he was the first player ever to score a 9-dart finish in the world championships back in 1990. But can you imagine reaching a world final at the age of 70? But the young Irishman put him out 6-3 so he's the first WDF world championship. As I said it's a second tier competition but it's still quite prestigious for him. He's ranked 157 in the world but won it 6-3. So that was just a little side issue there on the darts. But the darts are going to feature very much in the next few weeks on TV for the world championships. Great, okay. Thanks Bernard for taking our call and hopefully we'll have lines all going next week. Thanks very much. Okay Bill, good evening to you. www.wildlands.ie Diamonds of Ringwild. Everything for the farmer at the keenest prices. Farm and animal feedstuff, fencing, drainage and building supplies. Winter warmer fuel specials and smokeless coal. 4 bags of coal, €90. 10 bags of coal, €225. 20 bags of coal, €550. Free local delivery. Call 095-43486. Diamonds of Ringwild wishing all their customers a very happy Christmas and a prosperous and healthy New Year. 095-22-669. Yvonne and her team would like to wish all a very happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year. This Christmas gives the gift of Kyle Morabbi. Visit our beautiful Connemara estate and experience the festive atmosphere of Ireland's best loved historic treasure. Make Christmas shopping and dining an experience to remember with our wholesome winter menu and delightful handcrafted gifts. Fill your larder with homemade Kyle Morabbi Christmas fare and choose from a beautiful range of giftware and award winning chocolates handmade in Sister Grenaby's chocolate kitchen. Gift joy this Christmas when you shop in store or online at KyleMorabbi.com. Kyle Morabbi, a story so timeless it's still being written. I have online now Tony Pine. Welcome Tony. Thanks for the introduction. It's a quiet time as far as the Gaelic football and holding. We had the club finals in Ulster and in Munster. And in Ulster, every goal cleared on one ace killed 10 pints. That was a great match, I saw that. It was, as you said, a real tight affair. Your man got the point, it was a great point. Great score, great score. He had a goal, you know, that's what you want, someone to have a goal. And up until he was at that stage, down to the last half minute, he better just have a pop. He absolutely nailed it in that winning score as it turned out. So, yeah, they just about got over the line. It was, as you said, a good game. Typical Ulster, tough, tough, tough team affair. There's more hits in Ulster football than there is in Robie, I think. Yeah, I think there is. It's very, very physical. But, you know, it's the referees. He let the game flow as best he could. They sort themselves out around the time up there. They do play with the football. We had some good scores in that game. There was, some great scores. As I say, you had to drive it in. The same thing afterwards, you had to disallow a goal for a square ball. Touch and go, whether the first goal should have stood or not. I doubt it should have, yeah. Yeah, it could have. He looked to be inside, of course. He did, he looked to be inside. White Coats said no. That's right, the White Coats. They're the gods in there and they said no. They said no. Again, they go with you, they go against you. Kaku, they went against Kaku yesterday. Overall, I think Kaku had their chances as well to win it. They had a couple of chances and injuries trying to shoot. They had a couple of wives and they got turned over. So, at the end of the day, when they look back at us, they feel that they came up short, just a little bit short in the end. Yeah, you've got Kieran. They're probably dangerous. We were held yesterday. That's right. They've been scoring regularly through that Ulster campaign. They were well-marched yesterday. But still, it just shows there's other guys. There's a wing-back that came up, that kicked the win and scored in the end. Yeah, when you can get guys, that's a step up to the mark. Kick the win and score. Yeah, so as I said, a tight cause affair in there. They're just getting there in the end. Right. Before we go on to the Munster one, what do you think, will they ever bring in like they have in Sanko with the square ball? Or will they just leave it to the umpires? I think it's just going to be left to the umpires. Left to the umpires. Leave it at that. Yeah, it's something that they haven't touched. In the new rules we talked about last week, they haven't touched that. So, it's going to remain in place. I suppose you don't see as many controversial calls nowadays. No, no. Ten years ago, there was a huge controversial call. They cite the adjusted rules that once you were there, ahead of the ball, it was fine to be in the square. Years ago, you couldn't be in the square at all. Literally, it was like a no-man's land. If you were in there, you were literally told to get out of there. You shouldn't be there. Yeah, so look, as I said, thankfully, we don't see too many controversial decisions nowadays. No, no. Well, the full forward doesn't hang around and say... No, of course, they don't have the time. No, no. Maybe now with the three-man up, that might change it. Yeah, that could change it. I mean, before we go on to Cokes and the Tipperary champions, any other thoughts on the new rules? No, I suppose I could just throw it out. I think the county or the county teams know, the coaches now know where they're going. So, in short, training almost. We're back in pre-season training at this stage now, because of the outing grass, I suppose, for the new year and that. So, I suppose it's just a case now of getting lads used to it. I see there's no pre-season competitions, but they are allowed to play challenge matches. So, I see Galway are down there to play Kildare in a challenge match in early January. Yes. The end of January is at Liga Stadion. Liga Stadion, the last weekend in January. The last weekend in January, I think the 25th, 26th of January, Galway are playing our first round there on a Saturday evening. That should be a good crowd, is that? I would think so, the Saturday evening games should. Hopefully, weather-wise, it was a good evening. I think we sort of expect to be crowded, as I said before. The statistics in the last few years are stating that there seems to be good attendance on Saturday evening games. There seems to be popular spectators, more so than on Sundays. It doesn't suit everyone to go across on Sunday. It's a great head Sunday off, really, with the family and so on. Yes, that means that. Maybe with travel as well for county teams that maybe do overnights, they can get there on Saturday. They have all day to travel on Saturday. They can stay or head home on Saturday night. It frees them up on a Sunday as well. I think it's across the board, it's a positive thing. I think every county goes for it. Most counties now have that item. So, yes, it will be interesting to see. It will be a great occasion, eh? Actually, it certainly will. With the new lights and so on. With the new lights, that's great. There will also be a few harder matches on the night as well. It's a good position for the county to have. Yes, but as I said, back to the rules. I suppose there will be a number of challenge matches in January so that the county teams will get the chance to adapt to these rules and all that. It will be, as I said, we're looking forward to it just to see what happens. It will be interesting. There will probably be a few teething problems in the first two rounds of the league. But after that, I think they'll get used to it. I'm sure probably in a few months' time they will have adapted to it. Yes, yes. It will be OK in the inter-county because you have so many people. The problem will come, as we said, in the local club. Yes, I think the local club are going to find it difficult because when you play the league, the first competition, you just have a referee. Yes, he has to adjudicate and everything. Yes, he's going to have to adjudicate and everything, keep an eye on everything. So he's going to have to watch for everything. So, as I said, it's going to be difficult for the referees because we're all just probably trying to adapt with them. There's probably going to be mistakes made. Once I think people can rely that there are no mistakes made, they can call back something and say, OK, we didn't do that right. Hopefully we'll all get used to it as well. By the Championship, I think we'll be well used to it. By the Championship, I think we'll be well used to it. And then when the Club Championship starts, the good thing is then you have all your mutual referees, mutual umpires, so you have plenty of officials there to officiate. And then at that stage, they're going to be used to the rules at that stage. So hopefully it will either be just an easy progression or just adapt to them as it goes on. Yes. Now, to go on to the months of Covid, that was very easy for Dr Crokes. I was one of the six. Close enough first half. 1-6, yes. Very casey first half, very low scoring. I think 4-3 or something at that time. But you just felt that Crokes just opened up and attacked. They were going to take over and they did. They shot away a number of pints and the game was long over. Long over before the final whistle. A late goal there for the Tipperary team going to that stage. The game was up really and Crokes were comfortable winning that round. They wanted that to raise, really. So we'll see how the new rules will go. There'll be a lot of shooting, I wonder, from 40-50 yards out. It'll be interesting to see, I suppose, because every team has long-range shooters. So I'm sure they'll all be trying to line them up. Get the ball to them, yes. Yes, get the ball to them and have a go. In the springtime conditions, you can have strong winds going down either side of the pitch. So they'll probably shoot the long range with the wind. There'll probably be guys that will have a go, that are afraid to have a go. Because it's all hopefully positive, as we said. Rather than passing it back and forth, the fellas are willing to shoot. You never blame the fella for kicking the wide. Everyone kicks wides. You hope he doesn't kick too many wides. It'll encourage attacking football. It will, yes. We'll see how it goes. We'll see if we see how it goes. Hopefully it'll all work out in the interim. Okay. Lotto? Yes, Lotto. Next Friday night. Yes, we're in Lowry on the night there. So it's our Christmas draw, our last draw of the year. So yes, we'll have extra prizes there, a number of spot prizes there on the night. With a band with the campers and vultures and stuff like that going for the night. It's a great night out. It's a great night. We've had a great night there in the last few years. There's also a bit of entertainment there, a bit of music there. It's good coffee, a spectacular crowd on the night. We'll have the prizes and all that given out. Of course, the main prize at the end of the night is a guaranteed jackpot of thousands. We've been rung up with thousands as well on the night, so it has to be a winner. Always a winner. Hopefully somebody will be going home with a thousand euro or richer or more. That's what we all look forward to next Friday night, the 13th. So you'll have the good tidings, hopefully, for our last one before Christmas. We would have, we would have. OK, so Tony, I don't think we've done anything else. No, I think that's it for now. We might just, next week, along with the good news with the thousands, we might look back at what your highlights of the year were. Oh, fine. Just a few words on it. OK, so we'd better leave it at that. That's right. Thanks very much, Tony. Thanks for the call. Talk to you again soon. My name is Tony Kine. For listeners, Shanae, we've come to the end of the programme. My thanks to Bernard Lee and to Tony Kine. Unfortunately, we weren't able to get PJ back on. Canara had a tight win, but a win nevertheless. And it's never easy to win a William Bell winner. So until we meet next week, this is Vivienne Spence-Long. Golf Course and Galway County Council reminds everyone to use a litter bin at all times and to help ensure that Galway is litter-free. Please play your part. It's easy to make a difference. Be part of the community. Be a part of the community.