Kildare v Meath

Job done, heads down, next challenge. Seems they are having an injury-plagued season of their own.

http://www.hoganstand.com/ArticleForm.aspx?ID=218003

Despite their injuries I expect Meath to beat Carlow by between 15 & 20, maybe even a lot more, so they will come to the Kildare game brim-full of confidence ( as if they ever lacked it).

Now we must remember that Meath will have 15 starters & at least 10 subs who all brilliant natural footballers & MOD will have them as fit as greyhounds..........

Facing them Kildare will rely on 7 or maybe more callow youths and will have no natural footballers to match the outstanding royals.

Sure Kildare have no chance !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Would the "Dublin Media" buy that .....................................

I think Graham Reilly is one of the best half forwards in the country but the spine of Me-id is very weak 3, 6 8 & 9. I expect us to win this one.

FFS would ya grow up and show a bit of respect to Carlow.

Gillespie is a massive loss and I'd fancy our young lads in the middle against them. Although I'm sure Daryl and Hugh Lynch will be pushing hard.

I'm getting a bit too positive here...someone bring me down!

Starting 15 this time will give Jason Ryan a very good headache. One thing is that the likes of P Cribbin and Mulhall, not to mention Flats and Smith will have to really turn it on in Hawkfield to get into the team.

Not fully sure the real fitness of some of the injured defenders...but by all accounts lads should be pushing hard.

Kevin Reilly is a very good full back, wouldn't say he is a weakness at all, I do expect u to beat them as I think Reilly is their only good back and without Gillespie I think we should get a foothold in the middle and with over 50% possession we will win by 4 or 5.

This thread is really disrespectful to Carlow surely you could have waited till the results of next wks game or else called it kildare v Meath/Carlow...

Let's be honest, there's more of a chance of Stonecold and Jayson Rhine getting it on than Carlow beating Meath.

Taibi wrote:

Let's be honest, there's more of a chance of Stonecold and Jayson Rhine getting it on than Carlow beating Meath.

Lol!   

Seriously Kevin Reilly will pull his usual injury trick

No disrespect to Carlow, but it would be shock of the year if it is not Meath we are playing in the semi final.

Gillespie, Wallace & Davy Dalton are three big losses for them and definitely swings the game in our favour. On the plus side for Meath Shane oRourke is fit for 1st time in a number of years and he will cause us problems, Meath under MOD will play with a 'meathness' and will punish any slackness or mistakes on our part. IMO If we are on our game we will have too much for them and should win with a bit to spare, If we are sloppy for any reason Meath will take advantage.

Meath will never be easily beaten. Even when we had that great record against them under McGeeney they were all games that we had to dig fairly deep to win. I think the current Meath team is potentially a bit better than the team of 2010 and 2011 that we seemed to play them every other month! It's certainly a pacier and more mobile Meath team who won't be a no show like Louth were.

We had to improve on the defensive side of things from the National League. There were signs that we had yesterday - the return of Lyons and Bolton helped greatly, but I don't think the defence was ever put under any real pressure. Lennon did seem to get a bit of success against Mick Foley which would be a bit of a concern and I remember Stephen Bray giving Mick a tough time of it back in the O'Byrne Cup Final. Will Peter Kelly be back for this does anyone know?

Kildare's forward line will cause problems for most defences as they showed during the league and again yesterday. There's a good mix of pace, ball winners and work horses there. We are more than capable of hurting this Meath defence but it will hinge on whether we have tightened things up at the back. All their injuries might tip the balance in our favour a bit but it would hardly be a surprise if they started clearing up once they clear the Carlow hurdle which they should with ease. I'd be hopeful of a Kildare win but I can't see there being more than about 3 or 4 points in it either way. Our options off the bench could be the key. I don't think they have the same quality in reserve.

Think it should be JRy from no until forever. Only one JR in Kildare football ever, no matter what

TommyKeegan wrote:

Think it should be JRy from no until forever. Only one JR in Kildare football ever, no matter what

True! Duly amended.

With everyone back fit the only change who i would like to see in the team is Kelly for Foley at full back. I think Foley still looks a bit off the pace and I would not be confident in him marking Stephen Bray on a big Croke Park pitch. Smith, O'Flaherty and Paul Cribbin coming off the bench would give us a massive lift during the game.

Hard to change a winning team but I would bring in O'Flaherty for Hurley. Possibly Kelly may come in for Foley but Mick probably done enough to warrant another go.

My team.

1. Donnelan
2. McGrillen
3. Foley
4. Lyons
5. Bolton
6. Conway
7. Cribben
8. Moolick
9. O'Neill
10. Leper
11. O'Flaherty
12. McNally
13. Kelly
14. Fogarty
15. Brophy

Pretty potent forward six, hard working, hard running Midfield and a scoring threat from Lyons, Cribben and Bolton.

Throw in the bench with twenty to go. In come any combination of Flynn, O'Connor, Mulhall, Chalky, Hyland, Smith, P. Cribben and most teams will struggle. Like Dublin our bench could be our biggest weapon this year.

Wonder48 wrote:

This thread is really disrespectful to Carlow surely you could have waited till the results of next wks game or else called it kildare v Meath/Carlow...

Really? 'm assuming ur having a laugh here?! Why the f**k should we care about Carlow?

I couldn't careless who wins it. Its merely a means to an end from a Kildare pov.

Disrespectful to Carlow .........  

Rex wrote:

Hard to change a winning team but I would bring in O'Flaherty for Hurley. Possibly Kelly may come in for Foley but Mick probably done enough to warrant another go.

My team.

1. Donnelan
2. McGrillen
3. Foley
4. Lyons
5. Bolton
6. Conway
7. Cribben
8. Moolick
9. O'Neill
10. Leper
11. O'Flaherty
12. McNally
13. Kelly
14. Fogarty
15. Brophy

Pretty potent forward six, hard working, hard running Midfield and a scoring threat from Lyons, Cribben and Bolton.

Throw in the bench with twenty to go. In come any combination of  Flynn, O'Connor, Mulhall, Chalky, Hyland, Smith, P. Cribben and most teams will struggle. Like Dublin our bench could be our biggest weapon this year.

Incredibly hard to pick a team, so hard to leave the likes of Paul Cribben, Mullhall and Peter Kelly out, great sign though it definitely bodes well for the future.

Ye, management would be reluctant to change things too much on a game to game basis especially after a convincing win. Expecting fitness of the 15 v Louth not to be an issue at all then they'd all have made strong case's to go again the next day. Only one perhaps maybe being Hurley who I thought never really fired at all.  After that to squeeze into the team you are expecting someone to really shoot out the lights in training.
If Cribben was back to full fitness i'd expect him to come in, perhaps at the expense of Hurley with Paidi going to midfield officially!

How times change... Not so long ago that I was being laughed off this board for saying Darroch Mulhall and Podge Fogarty were two of the best forwards in the county and should definitely be in ahead of Tomas. Anyway, I'm not the type to say I told you so, but now that I've said "I told you so", I'll move on...

Although - one more point on that. James Eaton and Cian Reynolds should both be in the squad, mystified as to why they aren't. I'd like to think I was right about Mulhall and Niall Kelly, so you can forgive me for saying this with a fair degree of certainty. And before anyone asks - no, I'm not from Athy and I'm not an Athy supporter.

So... excellent performance Sunday. We are playing with a lot more creativity and dynamism in attack than we have for a few years. And as someone who likes to see exciting attacking play, I'm delighted with this. Looking ahead to the Meath game, I honestly think we have far more quality in our squad than they do, which has been the case for a number of years now, and I'm still absolutely baffled by how we lost to them in 2012.

Having said that, they are organised and well-drilled, and unlike Kildare teams, Meath sides generally don't have psychological issues and can be depended upon to put in a performance. Quite simply - they don't give a fuck who they're playing, and I was impressed with the way they put it up to Dublin last summer, which contrasted sharply with our utterly lame performances against the same opposition on the last three occasions.

So, I expect a ferocious battle and despite our overall superior quality I am taking absolutely nothing for granted. Hopefully we can put in a performance of similar quality and maybe, just maybe, we'll have minor and senior sides lining out on Leinster final day.

And having said I wouldn't get ahead of myself, I will now get ahead of myself. The open attacking game Ryan has been playing has been great to watch and I think it may get us the win against Meath as well - but it is still far too open for the Dubs if we're fortunate enough to play them. I think the most effective way to play against Dublin is with a Donegal-style counter-attacking game, and indeed I think Donegal and Tyrone are the only teams who might beat them this year.

Shane Curran made an interesting point recently on Second Captains when he said James Horan has the personnel at his disposal to beat Dublin, but lacked the tactical nous. Leaving aside whether or not we have the players to do it, I fear Ryan may fall into this category - I'm not at all sure he has the tactical ability of a Jim McGuinness or a Mickey Harte, or anywhere near it. I would like to think he has a second gameplan worked out in the event we play Dublin (or indeed Cork, Kerry or any of the other top sides) but I somehow doubt it. I don't think it's too much to expect at all - Clare apparently had six different systems under Davy Fitz last year.

If we were to attempt another shootout against Dublin, I fear it could end in another bloodbath. But anyway, that's for another day. Let's hope the boys put in another good performance against Meath, we'll need to to get the win...

Just wondering if anyone knows when Mulhall might be back? Taking an optimistic stance on injuries etc, my team v Meath would be...

Donnellan
Kelly
Foley
Bolton
McGrillen
Conway
Keith Cribbin
Moolick
Hurley
McNally
Kelly
Callaghan
Mulhall
Fogarty
Brophy

Funny, any other year you'd be talking about our great strength in depth, but Dublin's is genuinely ludicrous at the moment...

HauntedGraffiti wrote:

How times change... Not so long ago that I was being laughed off this board for saying Darroch Mulhall and Podge Fogarty were two of the best forwards in the county and should definitely be in ahead of Tomas. Anyway, I'm not the type to say I told you so, but now that I've said "I told you so", I'll move on......

Stall the digger there HG. One swallow never made a summer. The big test for Podge is to follow the performance at a similar level against Meath. Reilly at full back whilst not the best in the country would be well above average and far better than what Louth had on offer.

Lets see how he copes before making an "I told you so" assessment.

Mulhall hasn't kicked a championship ball yet. And ultimately as everyone here says judge the manager on championship ball, judge the players on it also.

Fair enough Jay, although I hope you'll permit me a wry smile at some of the admiring reviews of Mulhall and Fogarty's performances this year. But I have total faith in them, they're good players. I don't expect them to be found wanting.

It's funny - or maybe not so funny - but the likely Kildare-Meath meeting is really, "the battle for the right to get beaten by Dublin". Wouldn't it be great if I - and the bookmaking community - got it wrong...

HauntedGraffiti wrote:

Just wondering if anyone knows when Mulhall might be back? Taking an optimistic stance on injuries etc, my team v Meath would be...

Donnellan
Kelly
Foley
Bolton
McGrillen
Conway
Keith Cribbin
Moolick
Hurley
McNally
Kelly
Callaghan
Mulhall
Fogarty
Brophy

Funny, any other year you'd be talking about our great strength in depth, but Dublin's is genuinely ludicrous at the moment...

There's no way you could drop O'Neill and Lyons. Paudie is vital to the team with the amount of work he gets through and Lyons roasted Louths most dangerous forward on Sunday and got forward for a point from cornerback.

I agree re O'Neill and Lyons. I'd think about bringing Kelly in for Foley and maybe Cribben for his elder brother with Mulhall if available to midfield (officially) and Mulhall into the forwards. Hurley dropping out.

So:
Donnellan
Lyons
Kelly
McGrillen
Cribben P
Conway
Bolton
Moolick
O'Neill
McNally
Leper
Brophy
Mulhall
Fogarty
Kelly

But I've no doubt I'll change that at least 5 times in the next 3 weeks :-)