Kildare v Offaly

Gaa1928 wrote:

Ohtoohtobe wrote:

O'Neill not happy about our first Championship game being moved:

http://www.kildare-nationalist.ie/2016/02/10/oneill-blasts-decision-to-move-leinster-championship-game/

This is not good, shame on the county board if they didn't even consult the manager.

Is it not the case that the county board were told it was happening - were issued an edict as Cian put it - rather than the county board agreed in consultation with GAA and told Cian it was happening?

Same happened to Dublin, one of most powerful boards in country, and they're giving out stink for same reason but can do nothing about it either. So in this case, I would say the county board cannot be blamed.

Was away for a few days so had no opportunity to comment on the game.

Kildare won in a hack while with generous assistance from the ref we were close a few times.

Now we were thankful for a few handy frees and the even handier penalty but when one of our backs cut the legs from a Kildare lad near our 20m line I expected a free in & feared a Black. So when play was waved on & we got away with it we exhaled with relief.

Longford, on their own boggy patch, will be a tougher test but I would see ye winning by at least 6...

Moolick came on for ucd last night, he should be available for our next game. So would we start him and move Flynn to 10/12 or would we leave one of Flynn moolick or feely out of the team?

Be braindea to leave one of those trio out

We will have some kick out options with two mobile colloseul wing forwards in Cribben and Flynn. Then the two boys in the middle. Feely lined out at full back for dcu according to the programme anyway, wasn't at the game so not sure if he actually played there

Celbridgelad wrote:

We will have some kick out options with two mobile colloseul wing forwards in Cribben and Flynn. Then the two boys in the middle. Feely lined out at full back for dcu according to the programme anyway, wasn't at the game so not sure if he actually played there

He played at full back throughout the O'Byrne Cup for DCU and played well there also.

Celbridgelad wrote:

Moolick came on for ucd last night, he should be available for our next game. So would we start him and move Flynn to 10/12 or would we leave one of Flynn moolick or feely out of the team?

I'd be giving either Flynn or Cribbin a try in the inside forward line.

I think both Flynn and Cribben are more suited running at the Goals rather than playing with their back to goals. Not everyone can play in the full forward line

jim wrote:

I think both Flynn and Cribben are more suited running at the Goals rather than playing with their back to goals. Not everyone can play in the full forward line

I agree it may not suit either player's game completely but it could be beneficial for the team as a whole. We've lacked a proper ball winner in the full forward line in the last two games and both Flynn and Cribbin have some limited experience there. Whichever player could be given license to use his discretion to roam out the field too rather than stay close to goals for 70 minutes. Division 3 is the ideal environment to try out these things so we have a variety of options when the summer comes around.

Yeah it's probably worth a try alright. I'd go with flynn as his powerful running would cause more problems for the defence

Interesting insight into O'Neill's views on the game in the Leinster Leader. He talks about the attacking style and says, "I believe that is the way the game is gone; tackle high up the pitch rather than 14 men behind the ball. It's working for us now but that's not to say it will always work for us; we are a developing team."

Hmm... I think that approach works for teams like Kerry and Mayo, but I have to say I'd concerned if we went in against Dublin with that approach. I know that's still a long way off, but the thing about pressing high up the pitch is that all it takes is one guy to ride a couple of tackles and the whole thing opens up. And as we know Dublin are masters of exploiting that. I hope there's a Plan B being drawn up because I think we'll need a much more rigid defensive system against the top teams. A long way to go obviously.

I agree HG, it is not that long ago that Donegal beat Dublin with an extremely well executed counter attacking game plan and they have started this year very well. While I agree with O Neill that 14 men behind the ball is probably not the way to go, a strong defensive platform aligned with a good transition from defense to attack is probably a better foundation to build than adopting a full court press which if it goes wrong will lead to goals being conceded.

Definitely - teams like Mayo and Kerry have the tools to go toe to toe with the Dubs. We're coming up from Div 3 and it's we were absolutely shellacked by Kerry ago Dublin last year. If we play Dublin this year in a Leinster final, the Donegal-style counter attacking system is the best way to ensure we're competitive. The full court press is music to the Dubs' ears, as it's almost guaranteed to cough up opportunities and as we know goals are like oxegen to them.

As I say, it's only two games in, so I don't want to jump to conclusions. Hopefully it's a case of Cian not showing his hand and keeping a more defensive approach in reserve.

It was amazing that not a single team in Leinster took up the gauntlet thrown down by Donegal. They provided a blueprint for how to beat Dublin and everyone just ignored it! Apart from Westmeath I guess but they only started preparing in the fortnight before the game and it was a pretty lame attempt tbh.

First things first..no team in Leinster have had the same capabilities or skillset as Donegal so no matter which tactics you employed, Dublin would have walloped them. Westneath kept score down a bit but were well beaten too and fell apart in qualifiers. Re pressing, most successful teams do use this at various stages of a game. Ballyboden yestterday for last ten minutes, Sash same in county final, the Dubs do it frequently as well as other teams mentioned. I think we can get hung up on tactics a bit much. What is a full court press anyway only forwards pushing up and contesting kickouts. Ultimately all bar 3 Leinster teams reside in Division 3 and 4. You cant make a silk purse out of a sews ear no matter what tactics you employ.

Interesting piece joe brolly did on Tony mcentee, and how cross play against the blanket defence in the paper today

Lily I'd hardly call Sarsfields a successful team they always choke in Leinster! (Joke)

But seriously - totally disagree with you on tactical approach re Dubs. It's definitely the best way for teams like us to compete with them. Feely, Moolick, Flynn, Lyons, Cribben - all very mobile players with great place well capable of playing running game.

Btw I'm not saying the tactics have to be a carbon copy of Donegal - just when you're playing Dublin, Kerry etc keeping out the goals is absolutely paramount. Mayo have realised that this year, hence the shift in tactical emphasis in the recent league game against Dublin.

Btw Lily, you do seem to be saying we can't compete with the top teams no matter which we play, in which case there's no point in playing at all. Also figuring out how to beat the competition is half the fun of being a supporter.

Any of our lads coming back from injury play in the Aldridge cup yesterday?

Donegal have Murphy, Lacey, McBrearty, McGee*2, McHugh, MacNialis, Durcan, McGlynn. Kildare last year had whom in comparison? Rest of Leinster were worse. We are improving, hopefully Dubs weakening cos if they are not we have little chance of breaching the chasm with them. Thats the reality when comparing us with them.

Have to say I thought Donegal were very lucky to beat Dublin in that semi final. Connolly and Brogan had 2 great goal chances in the first half which they normally would convert. Then some kamikaze defending in the 2nd half gifted Donegal a couple goals. If Donegal were that good then surely they should have beaten a very ordinary Kerry in the final.
I think the secret to success in any game is to take your scores when you are on top. Ireland proved that in Paris yesterday. We never really had the forwards to run up the scores our dominance deserved. I remember playing Offaly off the pitch in Croker in 2000 and still only coming away with a draw after they got a late goal. Similarly with Meath in 2011 when a disallowed Meath goal could have given them a totally undeserved win.
Are our forwards gong to be good enough in the year ahead to take the scores that our new found midfield should provide the supply for? I hope so but haven't seen anything so far to convince me that it will happen.

On another note, interesting that at the end of Colm O'Rourke's column today, he notes that not only have the Meath county board conceded home advantage to Dublin in the first round of the U21 championship, they have happily agreed to play it in Parnell Park because - wait for it - the lights in Navan aren't working. He writes, "We must truly have gone soft in Meath to let this happen."

This was the first I'd read of it and I was gobsmacked. If it was Kildare in the same position I would be absolutely outraged.

O neill lads will do a great job with Kildare but he needs 3 years . People think he can wave a magic wond after 2 games and have us competting with Kerry and Dublin this project will take time to get to the high intensity of the way they play championship football people on this foram wants results straight away .it took mcgeeney 3 years or so to get us to a semifinal which was good goning with what he started with

HauntedGraffiti wrote:

On another note, interesting that at the end of Colm O'Rourke's column today, he notes that not only have the Meath county board conceded home advantage to Dublin in the first round of the U21 championship, they have happily agreed to play it in Parnell Park because - wait for it - the lights in Navan aren't working. He writes, "We must truly have gone soft in Meath to let this happen."

This was the first I'd read of it and I was gobsmacked. If it was Kildare in the same position I would be absolutely outraged.

If there's no suitable pitch in the county for a night throw in you have to forfeit home advantage. Didn't the same thing happen Offaly last year when their home tie with ourselves was played in Portlaoise? The lights in Navan are not even up at the moment.

murof wrote:

Have to say I thought Donegal were very lucky to beat Dublin in that semi final. Connolly and Brogan had 2 great goal chances in the first half which they normally would convert. Then some kamikaze defending in the 2nd half gifted Donegal a couple goals. If Donegal were that good then surely they should have beaten a very ordinary Kerry in the final.

I'd agree there was a great deal of good fortune involved in Donegal's win in that semi final. On another day Dublin would have been home and hosed well before half time.

Dublin are an exceptional outfit at the moment and everyone including Kildare has to hope that they will decline sooner rather than later. Mayo did expose a few chinks in their armory last summer and I don't think anyone would argue that Mayo play a deep defensive game.

Kildare have to find a style that best suits our own players before we start worrying about facing the Dubs. I don't think we've had that since 2010-2011. I believe O'Neill, Murphy, Brennan and Flanagan are thinking long term with this panel and we can't be expecting miracles in year 1. A long campaign with what looks a strong u21 panel is more important than ever this year. We need more young players coming through with a winning mentality.

Agree with those comments on the U21's KK. However after 2013 and last year its hard to be confident about Kildare once we get out of Leinster at underage. Maybe this year its different!

Yes O'Rourke said the Meath should have lobbied to play in the day the weekend previous and he is dead right. He pointed out that the Meath board had previously offered to play the 2014 U21 Leinster final in Parnell Park or Navan!

They totally caved on this one. All the advantages Dublin already have in terms of finances and resources, if they can't agree to play an underage game a few says earlier, things have reached a sad situation.

Btw, I disagree that luck won that game for Donegal. By that rationale, it was luck that won the final for Kerry because Durcan kicked the ball to Donaghy. Donegal came with a good game plan and executed it brilliantly - Jim McGuinness described it as one of the best performances of his time in charge. With the right attitude and a good game plan you can accomplish a lot - just look at the Irish football team beating Germany. Who would have thought that could happen?

There is an awful lot of revisionism about the Donegal-Dublin game up be fair. You do not win three Ulster titles, reach two All Ireland finals and gain Division 1 status through "luck".

And I've got bad news boys - Dublin aren't going anywhere for the next decade, so if we want to compete with them, we need to figure out the best tactical approach. However, I definitely believe Cian O'Neill is the right choice for the job.