Talk Sport 16dec2024

Paul Gannon here with your Monday Night Sports Roundup starting with Badminton All-Ireland Greatest Championships held last Saturday in Bald Isle in Dublin and Claddagh Duff's Daniel Price-Williams represented his club with great distinction in the singles. Round of 32 he defeated Prashanth Viswanath from Cortoun 21-11, 21-18 into the round of 16 then and he defeated Chin Yu from University College Cork UCC there 21-15, 21-12 which saw him through to the last eight but he lost his quarterfinal match to Dan Ryan from Neenah it went to three sets 13-21, 22-20, 8-21. Dan was partnered with the South Dublin Badminton Club player Norbert Laszlo in the doubles and they came up against Tim Yeoman from UCG and Ciarán O'Connell from Ayrdnachusha and that one went to three sets and agonisingly for Dan and his partner they lost it in the third there 21-19. It was well done to him and a good day's badminton up in the capital on Saturday. In league action Claddagh Duff's Junior B League side had a great 7-1 win down in Letchermoore against Club Mahillan. In that particular west section of that league Oran Moore and Galway Lawner joined first on 15 points, Claddagh Duff now up to third on 8 with the second half of the league still to come after Christmas and meanwhile Galway County team trials process concluded yesterday evening in Galway Lawn Tennis Club and local clubs Claddagh Duff and Letterfrack had trialless at Junior B, Intermediate B and Intermediate A level and they'll have to wait until after Christmas to find out whether or not they have made the final cut. GA next and just one result to hand and with a heartbreaking defeat for Clifton Community School in the knockout phase of the Connock Junior E Football Championship. They lost out in the Connock Centre of Excellence to Claren College on a 4-11 to 4-10 scoreline. A thrilling encounter by all accounts but a devastating loss in the final analysis for the Clifton lads and hopefully they'll come back better and stronger next year. Soccer next and it was a very good weekend for West Coast United following on from the 40th celebrations on Thursday night not surprisingly no adult fixture at the weekend but they had underage matches and the future of the club certainly appears to be on the right path. Under 13 Division 2 3 Cup West Coast awarded a walkover there against Craithwell United in that one and they're through to the quarterfinal without kicking a ball. West Coast Under 13 B team had a fantastic 3-0 away win against East Galway United in the round of 16 in the Division 6-7 Cup and they go through to the quarterfinals and it was a hat-trick of victories for the club when the under 15s and they were competing in the Championship Division 1 Cup in the round of 16 and they had a good solid 3-0 home win there against Loughborough so well done to West Coast Underage on the weekend's work. And fixtures for next weekend the Adam team not an action next weekend either it's still a continuance of Cup action this time at under 14 Championship Division 1 level. McDarragh and I West Coast United and that one is going ahead in Carrow next Saturday the 21st December at 12.30 p.m. and the following day next Sunday the 22nd of December it's the turn of the West Coast United Under 16s who also play at Championship Division 1 level and in their Cup competition they're at home to Badlands Lowe at 2 p.m. in Letterfrack. It's the first time I can ever recall a Badlands Lowe side coming to Letterfrack I might be stand corrected on that Badlands Lowe of course at an adult level have for years and years played in the Roscommon League a huge tradition of soccer down there they've picked up a couple of Connock Junior Cups in the last 10 to 15 years as well so that's a very intriguing match in prospect there at under 16 level. And rugby next Connock J1A League and they've done it again Connemara three on the bounce now Dunmore and now Craig's. Beat Craig's 13-11 last Sunday in the Monastery field and I can't recall that particular league the highest level of junior rugby in Connock being so intense and so competitive in many many years that confirms the top six now ahead of the Christmas break all teams have played six rounds of matches and Connemara sitting proudly on top of the table there on 23 points with Craig's in second on 21. Chuma 19 and third. Ballonet and Castlebar both on 17 but Ballonet are fourth and Castlebar fifth based on scoring difference with Dunmore in sixth on 16 points and as I was saying last week my understanding is that the top four will go forward and have another round robin among themselves at the conclusion of the league with the points carrying on. Just a massive win there for Connemara and well done to them. No rugby fixtures this weekend and I conclude tonight with results from Connemara Golf Club starting with the men's open Stableford this was last Friday the 13th of December first James Troy 38 points second Gerry McLaughlin 38 points. Grossman to Paul Daly on 32 points and third Jim Green on 38 points. The ladies winner was Anne Irwin on 37 points with Evelyn King in runners-up spot there on 35 and then yesterday Sunday the 15th of December this was a Vipar hamper and the overall winner of the men's was Merton Kalaji and he was four up. Division one winner Merton Casey two up. Division two winner Michael Mulcairns one up and the Grossman to Greg Yule eight down and in the ladies first was Fiona Joyce two up second Evelyn King one up. Grossman to Kathleen Burke on ten down and Miriam Harris was third tied and that's my lot for this week. Things quietening down a bit now for the next week or two but I expect to be here next week with a few results to hand we'll talk to you then. John Joel from John Joel's Fish Van would like to wish all his customers a very happy and woolly Christmas and a healthy and prosperous new year. We would like to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you for your business throughout the year especially the regulars. The directors and staff of Connemara West would like to thank you most sincerely for your help and support for our work this year and we wish you a safe and peaceful Christmas and good health and happiness for the new year. From all at the Diamond Hair Studio we would like to thank our clients for their support this year and hope you have a happy Christmas. I'm looking forward to seeing you in the new year. From Rose Caroline Assessment at the Diamond Hair Studio. Wishing all our members and visitors a very merry Christmas and happy new year. We look forward to seeing you all in 2025 from all the teams at Connemara Corporate. Ho, ho, ho! Merry Christmas! Christmas sale now on at Brodericks Electrical, Tattle Bar and Wet 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, Tattle Bar and Wet 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 095-214-76. Talk Sport and Connemara Community Radio support Galway County Council in their anti-delitter 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, be part of the community. G'day and welcome to Connemara Community Radio and Talk Sport. Good evening listeners and welcome to Connemara Community Radio and Talk Sport. The headlines this evening in Camogis after two good firsts on Lara, won 17 to 6 pints there and six McGrath sisters on the field at the final whistle. They are of course the daughter of Michael Hopper McGrath, the great Calgary hurler. In ladies football, Keith Heavenkong didn't win four in a row and in soccer, Liverpool lead by two pints with a game in hand. In rugby, Connock had a good win and Connemara defeat Craig's by two pints, 13 pints to 11 at the Monastery Field. And in rowing, Paulo Donovan wins Sportstar of the Year. I have online now Bernard Lee. Welcome Bernard. Good evening Viv. I suppose he's busy with darts and a lot of other things. Yeah, so obviously coming in on the Christmas period, Viv, every year the World Darts Championship goes on there in the Addy Pelly in England and it has started there in the last 24 hours and there'll be a series of matches in the run-up just before Christmas and then the serious business I suppose will kick in there after Christmas into the new year. But it's great entertainment for people who like the darts and there's some good personality in it. There's a little bit of Irish interest as well already. There's a young gentleman there, Keane Barry, he's an up-and-coming player. I think he's ranked down around the 50 mark in the world. There's the likes of Willie O'Connor, Dylan Flevin, there are two Irish players meeting. On the Friday, the champion is from last year, that's Luke Humphreys. He's going to start possibly a giant favourite. Of course, darts very much kicked into the public imagination there last year with Luke Littler, the young 17-year-old, 16 going on 17-year-old at the time and he was only defeated in the final there by Humphreys in a tight match. He's back hoping to win the title. He'll be on now for the next few nights if people want to tune in. It's good evening sports there on the Sky Channels. We better go to the Premiership, Saturday's game, Arsenal-Nil, Everton-Nil. I thought Arsenal might scrape a win there, but no. Yes, no, they would have been well fancied to do that, but Everton had a slow start to the season and they were conceding a certain amount of goals. They didn't seem to show it up at the back, but I could never have imagined that they'd have gone to Arsenal and got a nil-all draw. It's a rare enough result in the Premiership, a nil-all draw, and certainly with Arsenal at home, I would have fancied if there was to be a draw, there'd be goals in it, but they held out. So overall, it's points dropped for Arsenal and because they've had a slow enough start, it's been a bit up and down. They're a bit like maybe the other contenders there, Man City, etc. They need to be making up points and need to be winning these games. A draw is a drop of two points. It's better than a defeat, but still, in the context of a very consistent Liverpool there, it's not what you want. So a disappointed result overall for Arsenal and that, but a good one for Everton. Right. Another draw I have here, Liverpool 2-2. Yeah. So there was a sending off in this, which affected Liverpool's, I suppose, ability maybe to win the game, even though they've done very well to get the point in the end. Fulham are a decent team, home or away. We've mentioned that before. They've got some very good scalps under their belt and they led early on and then with the man-send-off. Liverpool still, for a lot of periods, didn't look like they were a man down, but at home, at Anfield, they're trying to make it a fortress and it wouldn't have been a bad result. Now, we know they lost earlier in the season to Nottingham Forest at home, at Anfield, and there isn't many blips on their record, Liverpool. So a two-all draw isn't a blip, really. It's a decent and open draw. There'll be days when things won't go your way and if you have a man-send-off in the Premiership, it's normally a sign that you're not going to do too well overall in the match. Very often that's the case, but a two-all, not a bad result, especially the way other results went so well. Solomid, again, a decent enough team. They're in eighth position, but Liverpool maintaining a little gap there to the top on 36 points, so they won't be too disappointed overall. Newcastle has a very comprehensive win over Leicester. Yeah, so Newcastle. Again, they're a bit topsy-turvy back to basics and they've had some good wins earlier on in the season. As I mentioned before, they remind you a bit of Aston Villa. There's great potential there and then they go on these runs of three or four games without winning or maybe even drawing and dropping points from being in a very serious contention at the top end of the table. But they got it together. Leicester, we know, Ruga and that's the way it's taken over there and he's been undefeated, I think, up to now. He got a rude awakening, shall we say, at this fixture and Newcastle well on top and good value for their four-nil win there. Leicester, again, not at the healthier end of the table down there in 17th position there on 14 points. Just above the relegation zone. But look, it's going to be a long season for them and Vanessa Leroy will have to work a bit of magic there to keep them afloat and to keep them in the Premiership. But it'll be a good relegation battle. Aberdeen, as I said, not out of it either and like the Palace in West Ham, not a million miles away. But overall, good win for Newcastle and while they're not threatening the top four, shall we say, they're up in 12th position. But it's very compact there and a couple of wins and maybe some healthy goal differences as well can move you up seriously up the table and so a good win overall for them. Was it three times for a win? It's a big jump, really. Well, it is and I mean, if you look at the table, you know, there is a period of teams there between 22 points up to 27 and that's only two wins up to 28 even. And you can go from fourth, fourth, you know, even Manchester United down there in 13th position. Two wins, you can go from 13th up to fourth, fifth, you know, depending on how results go. But certainly, because we're only coming up to Christmas, there's plenty of points to be fought for and positions could change, especially where new managers are coming in as well. And, you know, you can get a kick from them as well, a boost in performance. So, as I said, Newcastle would like to be a lot healthier. They were in the Champions League position there a number of years ago. And, you know, 12th position wouldn't be great for them. But as I said, if the form continues, they'll do well. Right. Nottingham Forest to Aston Villa 1. Yeah. So, Forest, you know, they've been the surprise team. There's no blind clock around now, but he did his magic with them back in the day, late 70s, early 80s. And they were, you know, the kings of Europe as well. But they're rising up there and, you know, to be in fourth position coming up to Christmas, I mean, the fans must be just in dreamland. And, again, Villa, a result that, you know, they would like to have got a point. It's not easy to go to Nottingham, but there was maybe a couple of great saves by Martínez, the Villa keeper, and also maybe a mistake for the winner. But overall, Nottingham doing very well there. And as I said, up to fourth position, above Man City and Villa and United and Spurs and all of these other teams. It's amazing. Not at all. No, not at all, as I said. And within one or two results, they may be getting into the top two or three. So, as I said, some good scouts. As I said, the only team to beat Liverpool at Anfield and to beat Liverpool. They've nearly been unbeaten in all competitions there. So, they won that one nail back earlier in the season. But continuing their good form, they've got a lot of good scouts under their belt. And Villa, disappointingly, would be, you know, down further than they would like to be because they had started quite well and they got into fourth place last year. But their sixth position is still very healthy overall, as I said. If you can get a bit of form into the early part of the new season there, 2025, after Christmas and, you know, there's plenty of points out there to move you up the table. That's right. And there's a lot of games around the Christmas time. There is. No, there's certainly a time when it's great excitement with two or three matches over the Christmas period and interesting fixtures. And you get some strange results as well, whether it affects people mentally or teams. And usually, though, the top teams, they always seem to come through and they don't have any banana skins to fall under. But you can never tell. Anything is possible. And there's some interesting matches coming up. But as I said, Liverpool will be leading going into the Christmas period, more than likely, even though the gap that they had, which was quite healthy there two weeks ago, has come down a bit. But yeah, so looking by the time we're chatting in early January, you know, things might have changed a little, but not to any great extent. But for now, as I said, it's been a very good period for Arne Flatt, the new manager at Liverpool there and going well on all fronts. Right. At the bottom of the table class, Wolves won Ipswich 2. That was a big win for Ipswich. Yeah, a late winner for them. And of course, it cost the Wolves manager his job there. He's been on a sticky path there for a while. Lots of... I think we spoke to that last week or the week before. Yeah, yeah. And then, yeah, quite a lot of goals conceded as well when you look at the stats on it. So, you know, there are casualties at this time of the year. And, you know, when you're down at the bottom, and again, this was a real six-pointer and you're at home to a team that's, you know, it's a real six-pointer, you know, to nine points. Yeah, and 12. I mean, if they had won that, they'd be 12 and Ipswich would be nine, whereas Ipswich are 12 now. And that's not a result that's going to augur well for any manager to hold his job. And so they've got the late winner. And Ipswich have been unlucky in some recent matches not to get more points. A couple of late sort of wins could have been theirs and they've had, okay, it's a late defeat as well. But overall, you know, what goes around comes around and they got the late winner there. So, a good one for them. And that puts them on 12 points and Wolves, unfortunately, are nine there. So that's obviously on five as well. So there might be a bit of a gap starting to develop them. That's not what you want. But as I said, there'll be a new manager coming in at Wolves now and they might get a kick off the table, a boost from the new manager and we will see how that goes. Yeah, you have to invest a bit to want it. Well, yes, yeah, it all depends. Yeah, I'm not saying any team is full of money. Newcastle is obviously one of the richest clubs in the world and we know that. We've even seen the difficulties at Man City when you see what all of their riches and I know they have injury problems as well. But you can see that any team can be affected from time to time, even with good players and good coaches. And maybe it shows the competitiveness of the Premiership as well, the Premier League there. So that's part and parcel of it as well. So on any given day, top can give bottom, bottom can give top a good game and a win or a defeat or whatever, or take points off them. That's always been the case and it continues to be the case. Right, we'll go to some of those games, Brighton 1, Crystal Palace 3. Yeah, so Brighton, look, again, they're a team that's done well, they're up in ninth position. But again, they've had a couple of bad results. I mean, and at home, they'd have been disappointed with that because they could be in a very healthier position. Palace, you know, down, we'll say at the wrong end of the table, but this win boosts them up there to 15th place on 16 points, I think. And it's a good win for them. Wouldn't have been expected away from home. But they got there and, you know, Brighton are going well. But again, if they had a few more successes in their home fixtures, you know, they could be up on 27 points there, which would be very healthy indeed. You know, you're up there nearly with the Arsenal and the Man City if you're up there. So they're not too far off. But home form is important, get as many points as you can at home. But as I said, these are the sorts of results that can happen. So good away win for Palace. Chelsea to Brentford 1. I think we predicted that, but it's a little bit tighter than I thought it would be. Yeah, yeah, they were made to fight for it and they had a man sent up, Koukourel, I think they're at the end of the game there. But overall, I think they'd be happy, you know, to come out on top. And of course, they've closed, I mean, maybe the surprise package of the season so far, Chelsea, because they were well down the league last year, but they're up in second place. And they've closed the gap, even though they played a game more, they've closed the gap for Liverpool to two points. So they're up on 34 points. Liverpool, obviously on 36. But Chelsea, one game more played, but still very healthy position to be in. And you know, four points ahead of Arsenal. And as I said, all those teams below them like City and and Arsenal, as I said, Villa and you know, down to Spurs who might have been hoping to be higher up and United as well. But no, certainly, Chelsea, the new manager Maresca there has done a good job organising them. They're likely I mean, at the moment with a bit of a gap in the way Arsenal and City are slipping, they're the more likely contenders. But again, I still think Liverpool are going to have a bit of a sticky period. I think it's all going to tighten up. And it'll be interesting to see if any of those top teams come into the transfer market there in the January sales there for maybe boosting their teams and their squads. Money is tight and not everybody can do it. But if they can, they will. And sometimes that could be the difference between winning a title or not. Okay. Manchester City one, Manchester United two. That was a very cool win for United. I thought City was at least strong. Yeah, and for a long period of it and quite late on, I think up to 87 minutes, they were 1-0 up. So it looked, you know, one of the main sort of a 1-0 win for City over United. But they never really, they're not the City of old. And they didn't look like they were going to score a second goal, which is never quite like them. They're not a team that always hangs on for 1-0 wins. But they're going through a difficult period. And United, of course, wasn't it? Yeah. But of course, it was a penalty. There was no debate about that. It was crazy sort of defending at the back and just he just plowed straight into the attacker and a good penalty by Fernandes there. But they might have been happy with one, but another long ball breached the defence. And, you know, the winning goal was a great piece of skill. Maybe the defenders should have done better on the line. But overall, it's nearly the sort of thing that happens when things aren't going your way. These things happen. So overall, yeah, you could see it's like a good victory, obviously, for the new manager at United. You know, he's had a couple of blips along the way as well. But he's come in there and this will be a great win for him to, you know, obviously boost the situation there with the, you know, coming into the team there. And of course, they have some other big games coming up. But the derby, it's always a match that, you know, if you win it, you win it for the fans because they have the bragging rights for the rest of the year. And, you know, regardless of where you finish, if you beat them, and certainly with Man City beating, coming out on top in a lot of the recent games there, this will be a nice, a nice sweet one for them there. So yeah, good, good, good victory for Amiran there, the new manager at United. They're fighting on all fronts and they'll start to climb the table, you know, United up there on 22 points. So they're in, you know, 13th position, it's not healthy. But again, a win can shoot straight up there and it's a two wins to put you up to top four or five. Now, the final game, Southampton made it top number five. That boosted the goal difference anyway. Yeah, it was one of those games I tuned into after 20 minutes and I could relax. I think we're nearly three and a half at this stage. And that doesn't happen too often with your sports sports. No, no, no, no. So it was kind of an early Christmas present. But yeah, look, it's Southampton going through a difficult period. And of course, their manager, Russell Martin there lost his job as well on the back of it. But look, they were five nil down at halftime. So the record books were beckoning for Spurs, but they had to manage themselves and look at they have a few injury problems and key matches coming up. This week, they're they're they have to protect themselves. They have a big league cup quarterfinal against Man United on Thursday. That's a huge game for Spurs because it's a chance to win a trophy. To begin for United as well as well with Amaran, the new manager there, he'd like to try and get a trophy under his belt. And so that's up and coming. And so they held out, they won at a canter in the second half, maybe the fans might have liked the sixth or seventh goal. Southampton didn't do much. And you know, they're obviously where they are at the bottom of the table. But you know, five points is not a great return for them. Yeah, shocking, shocking defending and look Spurs on their day can hit anything. We know that they beat Man City at Man City's ground there about three weeks ago, they're four nil. So look at they have got some big results. And they're also the highest goal scores in the league. Spurs at the moment, so they've got a you know, this boosted their their goal difference. And as I said, Spurs only in 10th position, but you know, they're plus plus 17. And when you look at a lot of the teams well above them, they're minus one plus five, even the likes of Man City are only plus five on goal difference. So you're plus 17. And the only city are Liverpool and Chelsea plus 18 on goal difference. And we'd say if Spurs did get a run of games together and a few points, their goal difference will push them up the table ahead of some of those other teams in and around them. So obviously, they've conceded a few as well. But generally speaking, decent enough return and five goals away from home is always a good one. And Southampton, as I said, their manager lives at the moment. And just as well, Southampton will be up against Liverpool on Wednesday. So the League Cup quarterfinals are on now as I said this week. So Arsenal will be up against Palace on Wednesday night, Newcastle versus Brentford, everybody looking to try and get Wembley and get to a semifinal. Southampton versus Liverpool. Southampton without a manager against Liverpool will be trying to get to a semifinal and then Spurs versus United on Thursday. So some interesting teams there all trying to get the first trophy of the season with the semifinals coming after Christmas and the final as well in usually February, early March. So big game for Spurs to try and get a trophy. It's 2007 or 2008 since they won a trophy. And as I said, it is, yeah, I know Liverpool as well. Look, they've won a few trophies in the interim. Newcastle are a team hoping for a trophy as well. As far as the rest of Newcastle, final would be great because one team would be breaking the record of Newcastle, nearly a lot further back to winning a trophy back I think in the 70s there. So those matches coming up, so that would be the last hurrah before Christmas. And then you'll have the Christmas fixtures, as I said, they'll be interesting as well. But by Thursday night around ten o'clock, we should have our four semifinalists. And it'll be interesting. You could have Arsenal, Spurs, Liverpool and maybe Newcastle or United as well. So maybe some of the lesser ranked teams like Palace, Brentford and Southampton might have something to say on that because the cup can be unpredictable. And depending on what teams you put out. Yeah, that's true. They might miss a full team though. Okay, we'll just move on to Saturday. We'll go through these fairly quick because we're running out of time. Aston Villa versus Man City. Yeah, so I'm going to go Villa. Look, they need to improve themselves home advantage there. But I'm going to go with City to get back on winning track and I'm going to go 2-1 away with Man City. Right. Brentford versus Nothingham Forest. Yeah, Brentford decent as well. Forest flying high, but I'm going to go with a 2-1 win for Brentford. They're unlucky. They were unlucky maybe at the weekend to lose 2-1 and I'm going to go home win 2-1 at Brentford. Brentford, that'll be a surprise I suppose. Well, yes, but they have the ability. They're an attacking team. Forest going well. But sometimes, it wouldn't be overly surprising with their home advantage. Right, that's a big advantage. Crystal Palace versus Arsenal. Yeah, Palace on the back with some decent results. And of course, what's interesting, they're playing in the League Cup quarterfinals as well just before that this weekend. I'm going to go with a draw on that because of Palace at home and I'm going to go 1-1, which wouldn't be a great result for Arsenal, but it would be good for Palace. 1-1. Right. Ipswich versus Newcastle. Yeah, Ipswich on the back of a good away win at the weekend. Newcastle as well, hoping to continue their good 4-0 win at the weekend. But I'm going to go with a draw on that one as well. 1-1 home advantage. Ipswich have a lot of good attacking ability. They do concede from time to time, but I think 1-1 might be a bad result overall for both of them. Okay, and the final one on Saturday, West Ham versus Brighton. Yeah, so again, difficult to say. Both teams' top seats are, Brighton is sometimes better away from home than they are. But I'm going to go with 2-2 on that. I think a draw, as I said, coming in on the Christmas period, there should be goals in it and hard to separate them on form. So 2-2. 2-2. Sunday, Everton versus Chelsea, 2 o'clock. Yeah, a good one there. Everton on the back of a good 0-0 draw against Arsenal. And home advantage. Look, Chelsea, I think, have the bit between their feet. They want to finish as high up as they can in the run into Christmas. They could even possibly, I'd say, nearly be top by the end of the year if results go their way. I'm going to go with an away win. Everton 1, Chelsea 2. So, right. Fulham versus Southampton. Right, so obviously, yeah, Southampton under, they probably will only have an interim manager at the time. But Fulham on the back have some decent results. I've got to go with a home win. I'm going to go 3-0 to Fulham on that one. Leicester versus Wolves, 2 o'clock. Yeah, so obviously Wolves may be under an interim manager as well, and Leicester under the new manager. So, with Van Nistel right there. And I'm going to go with a home win. I think Leicester might have too much for them. Wolves should be in a little bit of disarray. So, I'm going to go 3-1 Leicester on that one. Manchester United versus Bournemouth. Yeah, Bournemouth have been decent as well. Never ruled them out. But United may be trying to make a fortress now and getting some good results under the belt. And at Old Trafford, I'm going to go with 2-0 to United on that one. Right, and the match of the day, I suppose, will be Tottenham versus Liverpool. Yeah, hard one to predict. Liverpool, it will be a real test for them now to get to three points. Spurs are on a little bit of an improving curve. But I'm going to go just hard overhead. I'm going to go 2-1. It's a common enough result in some of these games. And Spurs have come out on top in recent times, maybe against Liverpool and against some of the top teams. Hard fought. It wouldn't surprise me if Liverpool get a result. I'm just going to go hard overhead, 2-1 to Spurs to kind of keep their move up the table and maybe to take the second defeat on Liverpool in the league. But Liverpool have the ability to get a result anywhere. But as I said, hard overhead, 2-1 to the Spurs on that one. If you were to call the winner at this early stage of the year, who would your money be on? Well, certainly Liverpool have a lot going for them. But they're like in the Grand National, coming up on the rail, you have Chelsea there and they're already in second place. And there's a nice momentum about them, a lot of attacking play. And I just think City are falling. But now I expect City to put a run together. And Arsenal seem to be stop, start, stop, start. So I would say, look, I put it between Liverpool and Chelsea at the moment. But not to be surprised, so many results can go against you and drop the points. And all of a sudden, teams that were out of the picture are back in it. But certainly Chelsea are the dark horses and a good fight between them. If it's a good battle between two teams and that will run away success, even the neutral band will enjoy that. So that's kind of how I see it at the minute. Right. OK, Bernard, we'll leave it. Thanks very much for taking our call. OK, thank you. And good evening to you. I.E. O'Doherly Family Jewellers, Clifton. From watches to watch batteries and jewellery repairs to presents for their special occasions. With beautiful wedding and engagement rings, O'Doherly Jewellers will look after you and yours always. Jonathan and his family wish you all a happy Christmas and a healthy New Year. O'Doherly Jewellers Diamonds of ring vial. Everything to the farmer at the keenest prices. Farm and animal feedstuff, fencing, drainage and building supplies, winter warmer food specials and smokers coal. Four bags of coal, 90 euro. Ten bags of coal, 225 euro. 20 bag of coal, 550 euro. Free local delivery. Call 09543486. Diamonds of ring vial. Wishing all their customers a very happy Christmas and a prosperous and healthy New Year. Connemara Holiday Lettings has a wide selection of holiday homes in Connemara County, Galway. If you have any friends or family who are looking to book a holiday home, please check out connemaralettings.ie or call us on 353 95 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 treasures. Make Christmas shopping and dining an experience to remember with our wholesome winter menu and delightful handcrafted gifts. Fill your larder with homemade Kylemore Christmas fare and choose from a beautiful range of gift ware and award-winning chocolates handmade in Sister Grenadine'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 Kine, welcome Tony. Thanks Yvonne, good evening dear. Good evening and I suppose you're a thousand pound lighter are you after the weekend? Yeah we had as you said we had our last our last draw there at Friday night and yeah we're a Lowry's bar so a great crowd great crowd there on the night. That was a great night. Oh it was a good night good night so there was a price there there was a hamper and it was a spot pretty spot prizes vouchers and bottles and boxes and stuff given out on the night so I most people who went home with something something in their something in their hand and of course the usual draw at the end of the night of a thousand euro and a winner there came from Rounstown then Rosie Mangan in Burvey in Rounstown was a winner to her. Oh that was a great Christmas present. Yeah nice nice nice nice prize to get on the end of the night so that was that that was the prize given out and yeah so that's that's it now it's a 50-50. And there won't be any any drawn out for the new year I suppose? No we're going to actually we're going to actually take a break with the whole draw actually at the moment we're going to um ticket sales haven't been haven't been what we'd hoped they'd be for the last while and that so it's been a bit of a struggle really to get to get the jackpot out and all that so um we're um yeah we said we'd run it to Christmas we'd have a final draw Christmas we're going to have a look at the whole thing now in the new year and maybe come back maybe with something different uh maybe a different format or something so uh we would normally take a break around Christmas time as we were into January. Yeah that's right. So yeah so we'll see so at the moment it's 50-50 in its current current format it's uh it's finished now at that time as I said uh we have a few ideas we have a few ideas a few different ideas maybe to come back with something different so um it's our committee now to get our thinking caps on over the holiday period and uh we'll see we'll see we'll we'll come up with it. Yeah well there isn't much time it's running yet if you don't make a few. I know no no because it's something that has to be making money as I said we didn't lose any time on us but um as I said ticket sales are some of our tickets. It's not a hard work isn't it? It's not a hard work you know with ticket sales there's a lot of time out of it they need a break now I think as well and uh yeah as well and that so uh yeah I just say it's something that we just took we're uh something we've been thinking about for the last few months and uh I just said we decided that we would run it up to Christmas do our Christmas draw and then we'll take a break and take a step back and have a look have a look at things in the new year and see see what we can come back with. Yeah I think that okay we'll go on to the field and the Cahooghe that's it they did a great win over Shangarra 117 to six points they did they did I mean yeah as I said uh and six of my sisters ran at the field in the final weekend. Yeah fantastic achievement to six of the one family on the field. Amazing. Yeah of course the father was of course a great heart of the family. Yeah I've won a couple of irons with back in the 80s as well so you know there and uh it's a fantastic achievement for you know for the for the club and um you know they've been the lynchpin really of Cahooghe for the last number of years and uh you know they were beaten I think in the final last year. They were I think it was a point or something. Yeah very close last year they were checking very close last year they said that you know they gathered last February the team meeting and decided that you know not a long-winded goal effort they were going to go for an hour and all the way through and you know they were comfortable winners yesterday you know they were always in control of that game and then you know they dominated you know they dominated I think the McGrath sisters were very good to be together in the field to leave McGrath was excellent throughout and our sisters scored one five in the full four and so you know I have plenty of the good good good Cahooghe players there as well but uh you know they're a very very very good side overall and um you know as I said that they're uh you know their side is going to be around it for far and wide as well you know they're all relatively young they are really you know there's a great blend of experience there with you that was where they said you know that the new younger girls coming on coming on stream as well and uh you know they were just saying yesterday they're a club that uh you know they seem to be tried in as a club that they're going to be feeling I think there's three or four adult teams next year and come out the 11th and uh you know so they're obviously you know the numbers are good down there and um you know that they're building building a strong club and uh you know there's great foundation in place there at the moment yeah and in the ladies football then of course because Kevin comes on they won four in a row they did they did again another you know another another fantastic club that has you know achieved so much so much in golden football in the last instance of course there's a number of families involved there you have the Tivoli sisters involved there and you know um they've just you know again you know they've been around they've been dominating that ladies football both in the county and outside of the county you know four in a row in any in any sport is a massive achievement you know it's a hard thing to do isn't it it's a hard thing to do it's a hard thing to do it's hard not to think like each time yeah to get it right to get it right to get the peak right and they just seem to get it right every year they seem to come at the right time they seem to peak you know they do you know that they get out of Galway and then you know they move on to Connaughton they move on to the Ireland series and they just seem to get stronger as they go on and um yeah they again yesterday you know they were just a game that uh they were in control of it i think you know they're always in control of the game they were and with that bit ahead all day in this dependency as well you know and so that didn't matter in the interim and um yeah so they were you know they were they were the dominant side and they would deserve the victories yesterday as well or on saturday i think that was on saturday evening so um overall it was you know a great weekend for Galway you know for all the clubs and the ladies it was i wonder what will that follow on to the county teams then well you'd hope you know you'd hope there was between the ladies football yeah having these players you know what i mean i mean i know most of them do play with the county and us but you'd hope that certainly you know i could give a club you know the club scene is going well in the county and you know it should it should you know benefit the county team is what it says so you'd hope there's a number number of girls from both codes there which would progress on to the county team and uh you know hopefully um for Galway you know that you know they had a pretty decent year this year that level that's sure they were beaten you know the footballers were beaten in all Ireland so it seems to be the county seems to be plenty of talent in the county there hopefully that's how you know that these club size women that it was just just to just improve things for the next year grand uh we'll change sports for a second what do you think apollo gonna go on winning the sports star of the year ah yeah nice good award look at he's achieved fantastic things as well he's with his brother there at one stage and now you know every year that's so you know when the world championships or olympics come around you know he's right up there at the top of the frame you know he's there always in the framers and i think you know it's due due recognition for that achievements down through the years for him and you know he's a guy that's going to be around you know he's still you know he's still you know he's a young age and that's when i think you know he's relatively young yeah yeah i think he's one of these guys that's going to dominate that sport for the next number of years you know and um yeah so it's fantastic achievements you know and uh you know well well deserved well deserved for him yeah no i'd say that's about it have we anything else no everything else quite everything has to say quite so the county teams won't be playing until march i suppose at least well no the league of course the national leagues will start uh clubs clubs won't be back to march league yeah will the league start at the end of january uh the national league yes jack the last yeah the national league so start for the other at the end of january yeah they're playing our mayor i think yeah i remember the first game at home with the lights on saturday night so that'll be that the first game kick off for this season yeah yeah so that'll keep up the season and then division one again go all the two it's you know you know i think at this stage you've got to be division one it's the most competitive division time you have to have any chances all right oh yeah you know with the championship literally coming straight after the league and it's a great you know it's a great preparation you know you certainly see that you know teams are getting stronger as the league you know the first three or four rounds are getting stronger it's nearly championship size that's out by the end of the league because they're prepared for championships so um you know first of all you know your achievement i think is to get enough you know get enough wins to stay in it and then you get into the final that's another bonus as well but it's not the end of the world if you don't either and uh so yeah i think oh yeah i think all right they'll be they'll be well prepared for it now and then you know the pre-season trade and the start is early now and i think they've already a couple of challenge matches lined up for early january i think they're up until the first weekend in january to take you there and challenge and that so um yeah they'll be prepared now of course with the new rules and that for the league as well yeah that'll be link threshing how is there any great change or whether and i think so i think we're going to see more attack in football i think we're going to see more scores in games obviously it's going to be you know tries to get used to it and that there's a mistake all wrong but look at yeah to live with mistakes i think you know they'll be quick enough to catch on and after a few rounds of league i think everyone will be getting used to it but uh i think hopefully hopefully it'll encourage more attack in football and i think it'll make things more exciting and that's what we want really because um you know unfortunately football you know it's gone very negative gone very very defensive yeah we need to you know it's okay of course you have to defend you can't attack all the time either the certain one defending has to be done but i think this will encourage you know it's courage teams to attack and i think it will encourage you know the good scorers to shoot shoot on site scores so hopefully it'll be a benefit to the game yeah no no what i'd be afraid of is that the club scene it's going to be very difficult on the referee it is that's so bad in the county because you have uh yeah six or seven officials at the local you have to go for referees it'll be difficult but i know that there's something going to have all the referees in for training courses now i think from january on and that and then let's update yeah all that so but it will be difficult look at as i said you know everyone's probably going to struggle with the mistakes they're going to be made but sure because we just have to get get on i think in time we all get used to it they'll bed in after a while yeah they'll bed in after a while they'll bed in after a while you know a few rounds of the league and that's everyone to get used to that so yeah yeah transition period that we that we get used to pretty fast so hopefully it'll be excitement anyway okay tony we better leave this like it that's fine that's great yeah let's talk again soon okay bye all right bye bye so that was tony kinder i have online now pj hickerman welcome pj thank you brother viz thank you lovely autumn day and the week before christmas it's 10 12 degrees and we shouldn't be complaining with a great win yesterday against our nemesis craig's that's right and conox had a good win as well hadn't it yeah yeah great win great win away against perpignan which would be a strong french side uh changes from the last game uh conox so they seem to have brought new life to it uh to the whole proceedings you know so there's a lot of there's a lot of big games going up now and even um the intercrows they'll all be taking certain off next week now for the christmas and new year's where the the home four provinces play each other on a home away basis you know so it's carnage of two home and two away so it should be exciting it should be good to if you get a good run of lads together injuries are killing pot at the moment you know right yeah there's injuries all right yes there's a lot of injuries in robin pardon there's a fair few injuries and there'll be of course the tackles or so uh yeah but it's but it's not the um you'd wonder is is that there is this strength conditioning is it is there or what is because it seems to be all these niggly bits you know calf muscles you don't really hear of much broken bones apart from that uh apart from that uh cruciate ligament thing that's always always going you know yeah it looks good now with the uh the new stadium coming up over the ashes in the at the old clan stand so hopefully there's a good exciting time to head for you know right and you know the public didn't get much bigger than going to the stadium next saturday even five you know if we on your on the throes there like you know yeah yeah because they're like lynster look very strong like even against that claremont team which was a big big team against them you know the amount of riches that lynster have they were geordie barrett you know you know you see what the big movies will they bring the full team i wonder or will they go lynster lynster yeah i i believe they will because the the full team they did claremont which was surprisingly the con didn't play any of their three international um one of the year you know and so you don't know what the reason that was they're saving them for this game come against you know yeah you know to try and get a good start in the urc and this can make it make or break your season these four games over the christmas period because you know like especially when you're playing your what we call the home nation like knollster munster lynster i guess if you get a good result and then you're you can sign up the quickly you know yeah you're in a good position yeah yeah yeah like ulster were well hammered again the weekend yeah yeah i'm very poor yeah yeah but that bordeaux team is a fine team which are the five or six internationals out the back like you know that the brittany he's 14 on the i bet you like he's the nearest thing to a deer i've ever seen running my god the speed of him you know from stand up stars to go on he's unbelievable so yeah so that's it uh yeah we had a great game yes yes it was a great way yeah yeah yeah 13 11 and we were losing eight three at half time and we were playing up we were playing up the hill and against the wind so it wasn't looking uh favorable for us to come back against a good fellow craig team but yeah the connemara never seemed to die uh it was a real team effort yesterday now from our subs coming on and off and rolling on and off and uh everything and to get to try to put it ahead jack long got to try there was seemingly 21 phases of play which is a phenomenal for the for junior rugby to hear see that many phases without anyone making a mistake without anyone you know so yeah in the end i'd say for grit and determination connemara are well worth their win you know but it's uh it's a lot of years since uh connor have lost out in that pitch in the in the junior in the junior record yeah that's that was right craig's have never beaten the actually uh cup cup or or league out in the monastery field uh in the last couple years they've beaten us up up in their home of craig's and they've beaten them the cup final and the sports ground yeah but as regards taking our scouts say that it'll be very dreary walking up the hill away from the to the clubhouse after every match but you know it is it is testament to the to the connemara lads how they they don't believe that uh that there's not in their destiny or in control uh they never seem to panic they never seem to uh uh you know not believe that they're not going to get over the line and it's it's it's it's the commandery and it's the it's the all it was all the nuts together that makes it great to watch you great to be part of you know and it was testament just like the crowd was out there from both sides you know it just showed that it was a big crowd yeah yeah so it's sort of all going fairly well for the moment that we've uh the last league game is against uh college ucg in the last week in january and if we win that we should top the table and that means that the semi-final and final should be all home advantage to connemara so if we keep going we'll have the final is home advantage as well is it yeah yeah but that's because of the uh the state of the sports they're put yeah they're to change the format a little bit this year you know but uh yeah but it'll be still good to contest the league final out in the out of the monastery field uh with a big crowd behind you and yeah yeah and and the condition the pitch is in it it's fabulous at the moment with all the rain it's getting and all the kids that are on it but yeah it's holding up well you know and uh there's probably a break now with most of the they're probably planning all this week and then the following week is christmas week so it'll take a bit of a rest and if it gets a bit of fine weather and and it's 10 to 2 it'll be ready for the rest second half the season you know right you know the seniors next home game is the 12th of january it's the first round of the cup against ligo so looking forward to everyone getting up for that oh okay and then you know captains versus presidents i suppose it'd be it had been talked about a little bit but uh that is very a very attritional game it's nearly two years as a cup game too isn't it yeah but we're trying to say that if the lad wants to organize a tag a tag uh game in the which is yet but what is tagged tomorrow you know so the thing that is going ahead is the christmas swim for the ruby lab they're doing it and two cards can be taken from tom king's or griffin's bar and kevin q or kevin ward can be contacted as well it's up on our social media to and it's all in aid this year of the therapeutic widening center which is another great facility in in town and in the area for all the people you know so that would be nice to get a big support for that and see raise as much money as you can on the christmas day uh yeah and all refreshments will be provided and all that kind of stuff you know and the lotto at the moment is 4 200 so uh there's probably one more lot of sleep before christmas day so it'd be nice going for somebody if they got it and but so do it online and do it often you know and uh we're hoping to hold our christmas lotto uh party uh in the middle of january we've decided we'll we'll try and beat the january blues and everybody's down and feeling down and the the dark nights are still here so we uh we put we're aiming for the second or third sunday in january for our christmas lotto so that'll that'll help people get over january you know okay peter we're running out of time and sir if you're available next week you can remind us all of the things that will be coming up during well then we'll do a refreshment of the whole year yeah yeah go back over all that okay thanks very much thank you brother thank you god bless right bye-bye okay listen that's about it my thanks to Bernard Lee for the soccer tony kine for the gene and the pj heffernan there for the ruby so until we speak again next week this is Vivian St. Sloan I was Bernard Clark Court 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