National Football League 2013

I thought I saw Morgan warming up. Bolton and Conway didn't seem to be there.

Heard Mikey Conway's injured. Think it's his knee. Not 100% sure. Hopefully he won't be out for long.

think bolton has larngitis

Was hugh lynch in the subs? I would play mick foley at centre back.

McHugh is unreal. I specifically remember him saying on the TV last year that there was no young talent coming through in Kildare and that was a serious problem for us. The only conclusion you can come to is that he doesn't know what he's talking about.

How did Daryl Flynn play?

In reality , the game yesterday did not matter so that is possibly why it did not get any coverage. I listened to it on KFM and it seemed that Kildare were all over the place with Eoghan O'Flaherty a half back and Peter Kelly a half forward etc.

The one concern I would have at this stage would be that we are no nearer getting a settled team for the championship eg who will play 6 and who will play 8 and 9 etc. Injuries are probably playing their part but these key positions need to be decided on as soon as possible. Anway looking forward to next Sunday.

Flynn looked heavy legged to me and Down held a clear upper hand at midfield with K King and in particular McKernan playing well. Flynn will be better for the outing - even if he came off early enough. Can't see him playing v Tyrone if we're serious about winning. Didn't see Lynch togged out either come to think of it. Hurley did well again when he came on - seriously big man with a serious talent.

Yesterday's result didn't overly concern me as it was a meaningless and the game was a chance to experiment and get game time into the likes of Leper and Daryl. However, what did concern me were some of the decisions made on the sideline. By all means experiment but do so with players in positions that may have the potential to work. Peter Kelly at wing forward didn't make any sense at all. I thought initially that he was going to be used as an additional defender (similar to the way we've used Morgan in the past) but apart from a couple of occasions when he dropped back to cover the attacking Cribben he played as an orthodox wing forward. This never had the potential to work and can't have done his confidence any good. He finished up at midfield after Cathal McNally replaced Willie Groome which was another bizarre move when the P. O'Neill centre back experiment didn't appear to be working either.

Another decision I thought was poor was to replace Daryl so early in the second half (unless he was carrying an injury). He clearly needs game time and although he wasn't setting the world on fire he was still ahead of Willie Groome, whom the game just seemed to bypass. Given the importance of a fit Daryl IMO it would have been better to have left him on for longer.

I know posters have a wide range of opinions on TOC but I felt the game was crying out for his introduction at half-time. Our full forward line needed a focal point; Johnston and Smith weren't on their game. When the decision to eventually introduce TOC was taken and he stripped off why was he left standing like a spare for a full 5 mins getting cold. He must have wondered why he bothered taking off his tracksuit.

As has been said the introduction of the u/21's and TOC did improve matters. Other players that did well for me were Cribben and Johnny who despite missing a 13 metre free was my Kildare MOTM. As always he ran himself into the ground. On one occassion in the second half he chased 50 yards accross the pitch on a lost cause to try and close down a Down movement, passing his other two inside forwards who didn't feel it was worth their effort.

One of the big worries we've had all year is that our defence opens up like the Red Sea when teams run at us and it was very evident again yestereday. I'm not sure what the answer is but maybe it's a return to MOF (being listed at wing forward but) playing as a sweeper coupled with a strong centre back, either P Kelly or Foley.

Another issue is the kickouts. Connolly, although his shot stopping was very good yesterday, misfired on the kick outs again. Donnellan appears to have the edge here although he's probably not as good as Connolly under the high ball.

Hurley's introduction gave us more ball winning capability in midfield which is a huge issue for us at the moment but did anyone else feel he needs to track back a bit more when we're defending ? I know he play'd earlier in the week with the u/21's but he was fresh into the game any should have been capable of covering back a bit better than he did.

So where are we at now that we've played 7 rounds of the league ? What's our best team ? Should we play the u/21's against Tyrone or concentrate on the u/21 Championship ? To my mind we should pick our best 15 next week and try to win both competitions. We've never won the League and we're in a semi-final. Chances don't come along that often; there are a limited number of trophies on offer in a given year and when an opportunity arises you should go for it.

So what's our best team at present ? Personally, I'd go with the following:-

1) Donnellan
2) Lyons
3) Foley
4) McGrillen
5) Cribben
6) P Kelly
7) Bolton
8 ) Hurley
9) O'Neill
10) Dan Flynn
11) N Kelly
12) M O'Flaherty (to sweep back in front of full back line)
13) J Doyle
14) O'Connor
15) Brophy

Very harsh to leave Eoin Doyle off your team Fear, in my opinion he has been one of Kildare's better players throughout the League. Would have him ahead of Bolton at the moment on form.

Other than that I like the look of that team although I am not a fan of playing a permanent sweeper as it just invites attacking wing backs such on to us.

Topcat, even the suggestion of leaving off Bolton is lunacy

What would my team look like......
1) Donnellan
2) Lyons
3) Foley
4) Kelly
5) Cribben
6) Conway from U.21's
7) Bolton
8 ) Hurley
9) Darryl Flynn/Moolick
10) Dan Flynn
11) N Kelly
12) Leper
13) S Johnston
14) O'Connor
15) Brophy

Stonecold wrote:

What would my team look like......
1) Donnellan
2) Lyons
3) Foley
4) Kelly
5) Cribben
6) Conway from U.21's
7) Bolton
8 ) Hurley
9) Darryl Flynn/Moolick
10) Dan Flynn
11) N Kelly
12) Leper
13) S Johnston
14) O'Connor
15) Brophy

Jesus Stonecold, hope you're wearing a flak jacket!

As per GAA website

Tyrone v Kildare is a 2.00pm
Dublin v Mayo is at 3.45pm

Tickets - Adult €20; Juvenile €5. Hill €15.

Ogie wrote:

Stonecold wrote:

What would my team look like......
1) Donnellan
2) Lyons
3) Foley
4) Kelly
5) Cribben
6) Conway from U.21's
7) Bolton
8 ) Hurley
9) Darryl Flynn/Moolick
10) Dan Flynn
11) N Kelly
12) Leper
13) S Johnston
14) O'Connor
15) Brophy

Jesus Stonecold, hope you're wearing a flak jacket!

I'll give up my panel if you want
16. Eoin Doyle
17. J Doyle
18. S. Connelly
19. A. Smith
20. H. McGrillen
21. M. Conway
22. P. O'Neil
23. P. Fogarty
24. M. O'Flaherty
25. F. Dowling.

Best thing about having made this semi is the chance to get another full game into Leper and Darryl.
My team would be something like (though I'd be shocked if it was anything like the one that will be picked):
Donnellan;
Eoin Doyle, P Kelly, Hyland;
Bolton, Foley, M O'Flaherty;
Hurley, Darryl;
Lep, Niall Kelly, Eoghan Flats;
Johnston, Doyle, Cribbin.

Stonecold wrote:

What would my team look like......
1) Donnellan
2) Lyons
3) Foley
4) Kelly
5) Cribben
6) Conway from U.21's
7) Bolton
8 ) Hurley
9) Darryl Flynn/Moolick
10) Dan Flynn
11) N Kelly
12) Leper
13) S Johnston
14) O'Connor
15) Brophy

Swap Johnston for J.D and I would not disagree and would be love to see how it got on.

Rex wrote:

Stonecold wrote:

What would my team look like......
1) Donnellan
2) Lyons
3) Foley
4) Kelly
5) Cribben
6) Conway from U.21's
7) Bolton
8 ) Hurley
9) Darryl Flynn/Moolick
10) Dan Flynn
11) N Kelly
12) Leper
13) S Johnston
14) O'Connor
15) Brophy

Swap Johnston for J.D and I would not disagree and would be love to see how it got on.

Here here. Give Conway and Brophy some exposure. See how Cribbo on the wing looks on the big pitch.
Leper and Daryl gettin games under the belt too.

Whatever the team for the semi-final I think its time to play as close to the championship 15 as possible, enough with the experimenting its time to get a more settled looking team, picking one is not easy but I think too much chopping and changing is not going to progress things at this stage.

1)Donnellan
2)Lyons
3)Foley
4)P.Kelly
5)E Doyle
6)Callaghan
7)Bolton
8)Hurley
9)Daryl Flynn
10)Daniel Flynn
11)N. Kelly
12) Cribbon
13) J. Doyle
14) OConnor
15) Johnson

I'd make Bolton defend a bit more he's good at it when he focuses and use J Doyle & N Kelly as link up and support for T OConnor & S Johnson.

Fear An Geata wrote:

Yesterday's result didn't overly concern me as it was a meaningless and the game was a chance to experiment and get game time into the likes of Leper and Daryl. However, what did concern me were some of the decisions made on the sideline. By all means experiment but do so with players in positions that may have the potential to work. Peter Kelly at wing forward didn't make any sense at all. I thought initially that he was going to be used as an additional defender (similar to the way we've used Morgan in the past) but apart from a couple of occasions when he dropped back to cover the attacking Cribben he played as an orthodox wing forward. This never had the potential to work and can't have done his confidence any good. He finished up at midfield after Cathal McNally replaced Willie Groome which was another bizarre move when the P. O'Neill centre back experiment didn't appear to be working either.

Another decision I thought was poor was to replace Daryl so early in the second half (unless he was carrying an injury). He clearly needs game time and although he wasn't setting the world on fire he was still ahead of Willie Groome, whom the game just seemed to bypass. Given the importance of a fit Daryl IMO it would have been better to have left him on for longer.

I know posters have a wide range of opinions on TOC but I felt the game was crying out for his introduction at half-time. Our full forward line needed a focal point; Johnston and Smith weren't on their game. When the decision to eventually introduce TOC was taken and he stripped off why was he left standing like a spare for a full 5 mins getting cold. He must have wondered why he bothered taking off his tracksuit.

As has been said the introduction of the u/21's and TOC did improve matters. Other players that did well for me were Cribben and Johnny who despite missing a 13 metre free was my Kildare MOTM. As always he ran himself into the ground. On one occassion in the second half he chased 50 yards accross the pitch on a lost cause to try and close down a Down movement, passing his other two inside forwards who didn't feel it was worth their effort.

One of the big worries we've had all year is that our defence opens up like the Red Sea when teams run at us and it was very evident again yestereday. I'm not sure what the answer is but maybe it's a return to MOF (being listed at wing forward but) playing as a sweeper coupled with a strong centre back, either P Kelly or Foley.

Another issue is the kickouts. Connolly, although his shot stopping was very good yesterday, misfired on the kick outs again. Donnellan appears to have the edge here although he's probably not as good as Connolly under the high ball.

Hurley's introduction gave us more ball winning capability in midfield which is a huge issue for us at the moment but did anyone else feel he needs to track back a bit more when we're defending ? I know he play'd earlier in the week with the u/21's but he was fresh into the game any should have been capable of covering back a bit better than he did.

So where are we at now that we've played 7 rounds of the league ? What's our best team ? Should we play the u/21's against Tyrone or concentrate on the u/21 Championship ? To my mind we should pick our best 15 next week and try to win both competitions. We've never won the League and we're in a semi-final. Chances don't come along that often; there are a limited number of trophies on offer in a given year and when an opportunity arises you should go for it.

So what's our best team at present ? Personally, I'd go with the following:-

1) Donnellan
2) Lyons
3) Foley
4) McGrillen
5) Cribben
6) P Kelly
7) Bolton
8 ) Hurley
9) O'Neill
10) Dan Flynn
11) N Kelly
12) M O'Flaherty (to sweep back in front of full back line)
13) J Doyle
14) O'Connor
15) Brophy

Agree and disagree with a lot of what you say Fear.

It possibly was a game to try out a few new things. Things that would be beneficial to us come championship. An All Star corner back playing wing forward was is not beneficial my eyes, unless the management know things that we don't. Peter Kelly is a top class corner back, a complete man marker. He's a lot more comfortable on the ball than he use to be but its not a strong point of his.When he got forward he just wasn't comfortable taking on a shot or supplying the inside forward line with quick accurate foot passing, which is what you need to beat a blanket defense. And that leads me onto my next point.

Our attacking play is the crux of our defensive problems.

We were far too slow and ponderous in our attacking. Contrast how Down broke from defence and how we did. We simply didn't break from defence quick enough which allowed Down to filter 13/14 men back.
This made them extremely hard to break down. High ball played in, hoovered up by the down defence. Low ball played in. Smith and Johnston surrounded by 2/3 players. Turnover ball. Down on the attack. 6,7,8 Goal chances by running through our defence in numbers - Three, four and five lads running at pace from deep. I'd like to see a recording of the game but very little came from Down letting in long ball, majority came from runners from deep.

Not even the great Glen Ryan at centre back could prevent these kind of attacks. Down carved through us at will. And this has been our failing for quite some time.
Offence is the best defence. Break at pace, get strong powerful runners on the ball moving it at pace. Get it to men who can deliver telling passes inside and get it in early. The thing then is for the forwards to take on the shot and put it dead.

No turn over ball. If they have space take on their men draw the free or lay it off to our own runners coming through. The big teams particularly Dublin, Donegal and Tyrone thrive on turn over ball. That is where they punish you most.

Obviously to play this kind of game you need to have the personnel on the pitch to implement such a plan. I don't believe we did yesterday.
Flynn and Leper are continuing their return from injury. Willie Groome was not at the races at all. Positional calls like O'Neill at 6 and P.Kelly at wing forward were just wrong and would have me question whether they took this game entirely seriously.

It just wasn't a functioning team yesterday. It lacked every single aspect in which you need to compete at the top level.
3-13 against Down, 1-13 against Tyrone, 0-13 against Mayo and 2-20 against Dublin. We've conceding on average almost 17 points a game this league.

Contrast that with Dublin who are conceding 12 and you can see that we have real problems that need addressing.

I'd like to believe that we have some sort of plan in place come championship. We may watch this space.

Or do we have a plan that is just not up to it? Zonal marking, no support for attack, not enough competing at kick out breaks. If we play any team that defends and attacks as a unit it's a recipe for disaster. but hopefully your right Heisenberg and there is something more.

I suspect the decision to play Kelly wing forward was down to the very fact that he's not always comfortable on the ball. I believe the management are trying to improve his all round game particularly given that we are strong at corner back. My team for Sunday assuming under 21s are chosen:

1 Donnellan
2 Lyons
3 Foley
4 Kelly
5 Cribben
6 Callaghan
7 Bolton
8 O'Neill
9 Hurley
10 Flynn
11 Kelly
12 E Flats
13 Brophy
14 Doyle
15 Johnston

Didn't think I'd ever suggest dropping McGrillen but he is just looser than the other two corner backs.

Tough to pick a team at the moment, a lot of options, and a lot of changes with u21s in and out of the team, it will be important to try and get a settled team asap, centre back is the one position that we do not have many options for, so i have picked foley as centre back on my team, even though ideally i wouldn't take him out of full back, maybe conway from u21s will be an option there?

1 Donnellan
2 Lyons
3 McGrillen
4 P Kelly
5 E Doyle
6 Foley
7 Bolton
8 Daryl Flynn
9 Hurley
10 Dan Flynn
11 N Kelly
12 J Doyle
13 Brophy
14 OConnor
15 Smith

Subs
E OFlaherty
Cribbin
Leper
Johnston
Fogarty
Moolick
M OFlaherty
Dowling
ONeill
Lynch
F Conway

e.s.b. wrote:

Tough to pick a team at the moment, a lot of options, and a lot of changes with u21s in and out of the team, it will be important to try and get a settled team asap, centre back is the one position that we do not have many options for, so i have picked foley as centre back on my team, even though ideally i wouldn't take him out of full back, maybe conway from u21s will be an option there?

1 Donnellan
2 Lyons
3 McGrillen
4 P Kelly
5 E Doyle
6 Foley
7 Bolton
8 Daryl Flynn
9 Hurley
10 Dan Flynn
11 N Kelly
12 J Doyle
13 Brophy
14 OConnor
15 Smith

Subs
E OFlaherty
Cribbin
Leper
Johnston
Fogarty
Moolick
M OFlaherty
Dowling
ONeill
Lynch
F Conway

I quite like the shape of that team but I hope we pick a substitute goalie on the bench just in case!

I fear we may end up with a bit of the mish mash we've had in the second half of the league, where the U21s play a bit but not the whole game. Personally I wouldn't want to see this - go one way or the other.

I think Fear On Geata may have a point - pick our best 15 and go all out to win both competitions. We are really not in a position to be blasé about league semi finals.

My first fifteen for Sun would be something like...

Connolly
Lyons
Kelly
McGrillen
Cribbin
Foley
Bolton
Daryl Flynn
Hurley
Callaghan
Kelly
Dan Flynn
Johnson
Fogarty
Doyle