Kildare v Meath

I cannot see Mulhall being ready. He had surgery I believe last Monday. That leaves less than 4 weeks from that to the next round.

He would need to be back in training at least 2 weeks before the game in full contact I would reckon to be considered.

Cannot see it myself.

Smith and O'Flaherty looked really good when they came on last day so we have options if Mulhall is not ready. I would be more worried about Foley against Bray as he struggled against him in the O'Byrne Cup. It would be good to have a fit Kelly as an alternative if things go wrong.
Wallace is a big loss for Meath as he is so pacy and open up defences. Confident we have the squad to win this one.

There's a lot said here about mulhall and if he'll be ready for the next game but the question I'm asking is was he missed? For me he wouldnt get ahead of Niall Kelly, podge or paddy Brophy.

West side it's a panel game these days and if mulhall was playing the last day he would no doubt have racked up his fair contribution! and if he came on as a sub he would offer something different. Was delighted he had such a good league, I was one who never knocked him on here either and at the end of the day the lad is confident in his own ability like Brophy, Kelly and fogarty.
It's great to say we have a healthy panel of forwards looking for positions and like Alan smith and Flaherty showed if you come in you come in to add to what is a strong set of scoring forwards.
Great to have himself & Peter Kelly back looking for a place and ready to make a difference when introduced.

Westside I still have those three in my team as well as Mulhall!

Re my team selection - Lyons and O'Neill are both excellent players and the kind of guys you'd be hoping would make an impact if you introduced them off the bench.

However... Peter Kelly is an out and out psychopath and as Liam Hayes says, you always need one - preferably two - in defence. Upfront, I think the six I picked present a serious scoring threat as well as providing huge workrate and intensity.

But we do have a strong squad at the moment, and there are more to come from last year's minors. It's a shame we have to operate in Leinster with one of the best Dublin teams of all time, but they're not going to drop their standards anytime soon so we just have to do our best to compete with them (maybe - gasp! - even beat them occasionally...)

Leaving out Lyons is crazy talk. He's our best defender in my opinion.

Of course you're going to have a great bench if you leave you're best players on it.

With they way the game is gone now and for the purpose of this debate maybe we should be picking a starting 15 and and a finishing 15 as its obvious that apart from injuries most subs are now tactical, I for one will have to go off and think about that one     

If anyone is going to miss out to accommodate Peter Kelly coming back it is more than likely going to be Foley. It will be very interesting to see how Meath line out on Sunday and particularly how their full forward line takes shape. Lyons is a terrific man marker as he proved again at the weekend. He could be the man too keep tabs on Graham Reilly for 70 minutes.

It's hard to see many changes to the rest of the team. Mulhall will probably struggle to be back in time but his freetaking from the right hand side could be missed more the next day. I can't remember us having any frees from that position against Louth. It looked like Niall Kelly was the man who was assigned to be taking them if Kildare's warm up was anything to go by. Fogarty kicked very well from the other side which was good to see.

A fit again Paul Cribbin would also push hard for a place but it's hard to see who he would come in for. I don't think he is particularly suited to the half back line while McNally continued his excellent form and Hurley provides a great option for kickouts. Cribbin could be an ideal player to throw on after 40-45 minutes once McNally has ran his guts out for the cause.

ballyboy wrote:

With they way the game is gone now and for the purpose of this debate maybe we should be picking a starting 15 and and a finishing 15 as its obvious that apart from injuries most subs are now tactical, I for one will have to go off and think about that one     

Great idea! That could throw up some interesting talking points especially now that you can use 6 subs:

To start:

To finish:

murof wrote:

Smith and O'Flaherty looked really good when they came on last day so we have options if Mulhall is not ready. I would be more worried about Foley against Bray as he struggled against him in the O'Byrne Cup. It would be good to have a fit Kelly as an alternative if things go wrong.
Wallace is a big loss for Meath as he is so pacy and open up defences. Confident we have the squad to win this one.

Smith was excellent. Flats scored a great point but he pulled out of one challenge when the ball was there for the taking. It's a weakness in his game and while he is one of our most skillful forwards I wonder is that one of the reasons he didn't start? May be an unfair observation and I think the lad is a class footballer but it's not the first time I've seen him be a bit windy.

kickingking wrote:

If anyone is going to miss out to accommodate Peter Kelly coming back it is more than likely going to be Foley. It will be very interesting to see how Meath line out on Sunday and particularly how their full forward line takes shape. Lyons is a terrific man marker as he proved again at the weekend. He could be the man too keep tabs on Graham Reilly for 70 minutes.

It's hard to see many changes to the rest of the team. Mulhall will probably struggle to be back in time but his freetaking from the right hand side could be missed more the next day. I can't remember us having any frees from that position against Louth. It looked like Niall Kelly was the man who was assigned to be taking them if Kildare's warm up was anything to go by. Fogarty kicked very well from the other side which was good to see.

A fit again Paul Cribbin would also push hard for a place but it's hard to see who he would come in for. I don't think he is particularly suited to the half back line while McNally continued his excellent form and Hurley provides a great option for kickouts. Cribbin could be an ideal player to throw on after 40-45 minutes once McNally has ran his guts out for the cause.

Fogarty took and scored one from the right in the second half although it wasn't most difficult of angles

The start team // finish team is an interesting topic. Cork did it a bit the year they won the All Ireland. Colm O'Neill for instance never started but always came on around the 50 minute mark and of course the Dubs now seem to have it down to a fine art.
I don't think Kildare are in a position to be able to do this. We need to start with our strongest team. We have options now like Big Tom / Smithy off the bench to change things up a bit if need be but against the Dubs there is no point in finishing with your strongest team if you are out of the game by half time.
It's interesting to note how Dublin start games. Apparently the mantra pumped into players before the game is first 15 minutes just mind the house. If opportunities open up take them, but not to waste energy relentlessly probing. The Dubs can do this safe in the knowledge that all teams come out against them determined to get an early foothold in the game. This is the time in the match where the onslaught against them will be most intense. They are drilled to sit back and absorb this expanding minimal energy while the opposition comes at them with all their worth. Once the Dubs see opposition blow out for the first time they then pounce whilst the opposition are trying to get their second wind!

Interesting stuff about starting and finishing teams. I think we have to pick our best team and go hell for leather from the start to have any chance against the better teams. It's great to have strong options on the bench to freshen things up when players start to tire. Good to see Alan Smith looking so sharp when he came on - he could challenge for a place on the team if he could rediscover his form of 2009.

The only change to the team I'd like to see would be at full-back. If Peter Kelly doesn't make it, I think Ciaran Fitzpatrick could be a good option. I think he would have the pace to get out in front of Stephen Bray. It would be madness to consider not playing Ollie Lyons after his display against Louth.

HG, I assume Reynolds is no longer a Leitrim Player if Your touting Him for a White One (jersey) ?.. and without being too harsh, He might want to be nailing down a Red (Athy) Jersey before We start talking Him into a White One.
However I do agree with your assesment of Daroch and Podge.

Lads unless there is an injury or loss of form in training that starting 15 should remain almost untouched.
Foley will be under pressure if P Kelly is getting right but just a thought re who is to mark Bray who is hardly a big target man why couldn't Ollie Lyons take him up?
Others pushing hard will surely be Smith and Flats. Don't think it's a foregone conclusion that P Cribbin will get back in especially at his brother's expense. Paul is great at bombing forward but if he has to actually mind a good wing forward it's not his game at all.
Keith has a great work ethic, speed and is a good man to tackle (as in clean hands on the ball). Would he be an option to pick up Graham Reilly as he would sacrifice his own game to keep him quiet.
That leaves Paul pushing for a place up front where he is realistically at his best.
That is just a thought but to be honest looking at his sharpness the last day Bolton could get Reilly as he owes him a tough game.

As everyone keeps saying though put out who we have and then have the other lads coming in IF needed.

Spoke to a guy today who watched the team training last night I think it was, he said the spirit and the work rate would have to be seen to be believed and that Foley was the man. If thats the case he will start the next day so here's my starting 15

1 Donnellan
2 McGrillan
3 Foley
4 Lyons
5 K Cribben
6 Conway
7 Bolton
8 Moolick
9 O Neill
10 Hurley
11 Kelly
12 McNally
13 Brophy
14 Fogarty
15 Callahan

To finish
Kelly, O Grady or Fitzpatrick anywhere in the full back line
Chalky or Doyle half back line
Flynn midfield
Flats or P Cribben half forwards
Mulhall, Smith or O Connor full forward line

Anyone of these lads has the ability to change the game when called upon

The lads were training on Tuesday and had a light session so I don't know what session this lad was watching last night.

Here's the Meath team to play Carlow. Strong full-forward line.

Meath (SFC v Carlow) - Paddy O'Rourke; Caolan Young, Kevin Reilly (capt), Mickey Burke; Padraic Harnan, Donal Keogan, Damien Carroll; Brian Meade, Shane O'Rourke; Donncha Tobin, Bryan McMahon, Andy Tormey; Graham Reilly, Stephen Bray, Michael Newman. Subs: Conor McHugh, Paddy Gilsenan, Adam Flanagan, Donal Lenihan, Dalton McDonagh, Seamus Kenny, David Brady, Mark O'Sullivan, James McEntee, Sean Curran, David Larkin.

Barring no further injuries and we can field somewhere close to our starting 15 of last Sunday I think we will have too much for Meath. Quite simply I think we are better than them in most areas of the pitch.
As people have already pointed out they will be far more determined than Louth but a good performance should see us have 4 or 5 to spare at the end.
I will be anxious to see how Fogarty does the next day. For me he hasn't really put a string of good performances together yet, I know he has had quite a few niggling injuries but even still I think he needs to prove his consistency. Certainly has the potential to do it.
Saw an interesting stat the other day where Louth midfield won something like 15/18 of their own kickouts. This highlights 2 things for me, one is that we still obviously have some issues there and two is that our own kickout strategy was very good last Sunday. We largely kept the ball away from the middle and the accuracy of Donnelan's kickouts was excellent.

Could have taken him up wrong about what night it was Westside, he has a young lad on the minor team and happened to be there

meath  7 -13  carlow  0- 6


so kildare v meath  29 june  @2pm  live on rte 2

Meath obviously red hot favorites now. 7-12 in Championship football... wow.

We'll be doing well to stay with them.
It's definitely Meath's to lose. I just hope we give them a game.
No pressure on us as we will be very much the Underdog.

Not too much to be read into that other maybe that the fact they got 7 goals, must be something they have been concentrating on in recent weeks, they will not be as profligate as Louth were if we do cough up goal chances.

Sounds very simplistic but if we keep a clean sheet we will win comfortably.

Don't read too much into the result. Carlow were terrible. Meath operated with a two man full forward line of Bray and Newman with Reilly playing deep. I wouldn't be happy with Foley marking either. Brian McMahon was instrumental from centre forward playing very well. Meath kicks out went straight down the middle every time so a strong ball winner is needed in the middle third. Hard to gain much from their defensive display as Carlow were so poor. When Carlow had some possession in the first half meath pulled everyone behind the ball other than 3 forwards and tried to attack at pace from the turnovers. Again very hard to gain much from it as the opposition was poor.

Seen the Kildare juniors beat Carlow a few years back at a match in Palatine. Carlow are only a small step above Kilkenny in footballing terms.

Whilst it's hard to read anything into it, I don't ever remember Kildare scoring 7 goals regardless of opposition so the Meath forwards are dangerous.

Write Meath off at your peril.