Tipperary v Kildare

Confirmed (again) for Clonmel.

What's so annoying for me is how the Kildare county board just seem to let themselves get jerked around. I often think Dublin are totally wrong in the stances they take but at least they fight their corner.

In the U21 game for example, Portlaoise is certainly more convenient than Navan for me, and I'm sure many other Kildare fans. Have they said anything at all about it yet? Even expressed regret for supporters being inconvenienced and we'll try better next time?

But sure what the hell - we're only diehards who shell out good money to support Kildare teams all over the country.

Christ have people looked at the pics of this place?!

In all honesty, I've no idea why we can't play league games in Hawkfield if this is now the minimum standard.

Roscommon forced to play in Longford and we're glad to travel here – I mean, come on!

Tipperary 13/8. Kildare 8/13. Draw 15 / 2.

Have never bet against Kildare but 15/2 for the draw looks value considering how difficult we find it to put teams away. The odds for the Sligo game look a bit silly in hindsight. This really is a must win game for us.

Fixture list out from the GAA (gets sent out to season ticket holders) has the game down for 14:00 in Clonmel. Agree with HauntedGraffiti the pictures of the place look dire. Maybe a lot of work has gone into the place since the pictures and it has meant to have held league games before so hopefully we will be surprised for the right reasons on Saturday.
I recall an O'Byrne Cup game against Dublin in 03 almost being cancelled as there was no barrier around the opening of some new pitch out the north side. Surely we are not back at that level again!!!

That was Portmarnock I think.

Don't think Clonmel has had any upgrade on what's shown in those pictures. There's no seating but there is shelter on either side. Let's just go and hammer the sh1t out of the bastard*s

Gaa1928 wrote:

Why is the match on Saturday in the first place anyway.

Kildare asked for the game on Saturday as a number of the panel are involved in the military displays on Sunday in Dublin. Tipperary then asked for the game at 2pm, due to club league matches in the evening. The game was originally fixed for Thurles, as that is the stated home venue, but Tipp have played none of their games in Thurles this year.

Those who said Thurles is in fine fettle, from looking on TV, nothing is further from the truth. Semple is in one of the worst states it has ever been. I walked it Sunday & it's in a bad way. Secretly, the grounds staff are happy to draw Clare away as they will have eight weeks to sort it out for championship. However, someone took their eye off the ball with looking after the pitch over the winter - they obviously need Patsy Power. Then again, GAA fields in Tipp seem to have suffered as badly as Roscommon. Three weeks ago, only two pitches in the whole county of Tipperary were available for games.

Sean Treacy Park (home of Brian Lacey) is an intimate venue, with better dressing-room facilities than Newbridge, but with a small stand. Not ideal, but it was all that was available to Tipp when they played Clare & Offaly. They won both, so you can't blame them wanting to play their third and final game there, but that pitch has struggled to recover after those two games, so it's off to Clonmel.

Believe me, if I was Kildare & had the choice of the three venues, I would pick Clonmel. The pitch is in good shape & will suit quick football. Dressing-room facilities are still better than Newbridge, with the crowd accommodated by two stands - one either side. It is a mixture of Clane & Athy. Clonmel Sports Field didn't bother Wexford last year in the last game of the league & was considered good enough to hold a Munster Club SFC Quarter-Final & Semi-Final...

Plus, ask yourself the question, if Newbridge was unplayable, where would Kildare play their games? And then ask yourself, would facilities be any better than what's on offer in Tipperary?

Fans have a choice of heading down the M9 & going to Clonmel via Kilkenny (N76) or the M8 to Cashel & R688 to Clonmel. Going to Cashel is longer, but it's a better road.

Time to quit the moaning - looking forward to a good atmosphere on Saturday afternoon.

I don't know what Ger Donnelly could have done about the change of venue for the U21 final. The issue, as it always is in the GAA, is communication. Leinster Council fixed the game for Portlaoise, before being told by Laois GAA that the pitch was out of action for remedial works on the pitch, after all the games recently. With no other ground, apart from Parnell Park, having floodlights and the final having to be played at a neutral venue, Navan is the obvious choice. Where else could it have been played?

GaaHead wrote:

Gaa1928 wrote:

Why is the match on Saturday in the first place anyway.

Kildare asked for the game on Saturday as a number of the panel are involved in the military displays on Sunday in Dublin.  Tipperary then asked for the game at 2pm, due to club league matches in the evening.  The game was originally fixed for Thurles, as that is the stated home venue, but Tipp have played none of their games in Thurles this year.  

Those who said Thurles is in fine fettle, from looking on TV, nothing is further from the truth.  Semple is in one of the worst states it has ever been.  I walked it Sunday & it's in a bad way.  Secretly, the grounds staff are happy to draw Clare away as they will have eight weeks to sort it out for championship.  However, someone took their eye off the ball with looking after the pitch over the winter - they obviously need Patsy Power.  Then again, GAA fields in Tipp seem to have suffered as badly as Roscommon.  Three weeks ago, only two pitches in the whole county of Tipperary were available for games.

Sean Treacy Park (home of Brian Lacey) is an intimate venue, with better dressing-room facilities than Newbridge, but with a small stand.  Not ideal, but it was all that was available to Tipp when they played Clare & Offaly.  They won both, so you can't blame them wanting to play their third and final game there, but that pitch has struggled to recover after those two games, so it's off to Clonmel.

Believe me, if I was Kildare & had the choice of the three venues, I would pick Clonmel.  The pitch is in good shape & will suit quick football.  Dressing-room facilities are still better than Newbridge, with the crowd accommodated by two stands - one either side.  It is a mixture of Clane & Athy.  Clonmel Sports Field didn't bother Wexford last year in the last game of the league & was considered good enough to hold a Munster Club SFC Quarter-Final & Semi-Final...

Plus, ask yourself the question, if Newbridge was unplayable, where would Kildare play their games?  And then ask yourself, would facilities be any better than what's on offer in Tipperary?

Fans have a choice of heading down the M9 & going to Clonmel via Kilkenny (N76) or the M8 to Cashel & R688 to Clonmel.  Going to Cashel is longer, but it's a better road.

Time to quit the moaning - looking forward to a good atmosphere on Saturday afternoon.  

Reference the match being played on Saturday  -  that's fair enough, no argument there.

GaaHead wrote:

Gaa1928 wrote:

Why is the match on Saturday in the first place anyway.

Kildare asked for the game on Saturday as a number of the panel are involved in the military displays on Sunday in Dublin.  Tipperary then asked for the game at 2pm, due to club league matches in the evening.  The game was originally fixed for Thurles, as that is the stated home venue, but Tipp have played none of their games in Thurles this year.  



Those who said Thurles is in fine fettle, from looking on TV, nothing is further from the truth.  Semple is in one of the worst states it has ever been.  I walked it Sunday & it's in a bad way.  Secretly, the grounds staff are happy to draw Clare away as they will have eight weeks to sort it out for championship.  However, someone took their eye off the ball with looking after the pitch over the winter - they obviously need Patsy Power.  Then again, GAA fields in Tipp seem to have suffered as badly as Roscommon.  Three weeks ago, only two pitches in the whole county of Tipperary were available for games.

Sean Treacy Park (home of Brian Lacey) is an intimate venue, with better dressing-room facilities than Newbridge, but with a small stand.  Not ideal, but it was all that was available to Tipp when they played Clare & Offaly.  They won both, so you can't blame them wanting to play their third and final game there, but that pitch has struggled to recover after those two games, so it's off to Clonmel.

Believe me, if I was Kildare & had the choice of the three venues, I would pick Clonmel.  The pitch is in good shape & will suit quick football.  Dressing-room facilities are still better than Newbridge, with the crowd accommodated by two stands - one either side.  It is a mixture of Clane & Athy.  Clonmel Sports Field didn't bother Wexford last year in the last game of the league & was considered good enough to hold a Munster Club SFC Quarter-Final & Semi-Final...

Plus, ask yourself the question, if Newbridge was unplayable, where would Kildare play their games?  And then ask yourself, would facilities be any better than what's on offer in Tipperary?

Fans have a choice of heading down the M9 & going to Clonmel via Kilkenny (N76) or the M8 to Cashel & R688 to Clonmel.  Going to Cashel is longer, but it's a better road.

Time to quit the moaning - looking forward to a good atmosphere on Saturday afternoon.  

There's always a reason whether we agree of not is the issue

Gaahead. Newbridge probably has the worse dressing rooms in Ireland so that argument is irrelevant.
Couldn't really argue with you otherwise.

Surely the point is why five changed to the venue rather than the standard. And for the last few days almost daily changed. If a week out Tipperary Town wasn't playable or Clonmel was playable, why the need to keep d**king about between the two. Just pick the one suitable and leave it be, otherwise just causing confusion.

GAA Head - first just to say well done a detailed explanation of the situation. There's been a lot of confusion and it's good to see the reasoning laid out.

However, with respect, I would totally disagree you on both counts. Won't go over it again as I have think it's time to start focusing on the matches and I've detailed my reasoning elsewhere. But the organisation of the Tipperary game has been a total shambles and it should have been played in a neutral venue.

On the U21 game, we have certainly done an excellent job of accommodating Dublin - I note their fans' are enjoying Kildare supporters' disgruntlement (in a way, can you blame them - and we should have fought to have the game in Portlaoise when the venue was ready. The GAA are perfectly willing to throw protocol out the window when it suits them - holding an All Ireland semi final replay in Limerick being the most spectacular example - and we should have stood our ground.

No matter - on to the games.

@GAA Head Fair Enuf - the biggest problem with all of this to me is that the County Board in Kildare went out of their way and compromised themselves to change this game due to work commitments / Easter / military displays etc. on Sunday for 30-40 players on the County Panel..
and then turned around and fucked over the 900-1000 club players by fixing a round of League Games on Sunday without a care .........

I never thought of it that way Mick. Double standards.

Good man micky spot on.. We have 5 fellas in the military and all involved in Sunday's parade.. we looked for a change with the CB and the opposition to no avail.. Shocking stuff altogether.

Team for Saturday:

Mark Donnellan, Peter Kelly, Ciaran Fitzpatrick, Ollie Lyons, David Hyland, Fergal Conway, Cian O'Donoghue, Kevin Feely, Tommy Moolick, Adam Tyrrell, Niall Kelly, Eoghan O'Flaherty, Alan Smith, Padraig O'Neill, Eamonn Callaghan

I think that is basically the right team - glad he's gone for the strongest available line-up or close to it.

A couple of tweaks - Hyland and Lyons should be switched. Tired of saying it!

Adam Tyrell is not intercounty standard in my opinion and McNally should be starting, but hey, hopefully I'm proved wrong.

Also, it's a bit worrying that, basically, that's the full forward line from 2008, but no U21s so there you go.

If we win it'll be a big boost. Win with a bit of style and it might ignite the whole season. We live in hope etc.

Serious lack in that FF line

True Flourman but we are seriously short of options without the U21s. Whether you put in Dowling or whoever it's all much of a muchness at this stage.

yeah we are short of options with the U21s missing, I've said it before on here though, if Leper and/or O'Neill are championship starters come May, we might as well throw our hat at it.
Can not understand why Hyland has been removed from 3 either, thought he showed some real potential there.

Pity Dan Flynn and Paul Cribbin are still not fit for this one. We've badly missed their pace around the middle in the last 2 games. Surprised Adam Tyrell is in ahead of Cathal McNally as well.

Can't say I'm too confident based on our last 2 games. Hopefully we can put in an improved performance and get the win.

Yea I wouldn't have moved Hyland from full back either. He has been doing very well there. Surprised Cathal McNally isn't included. The full forward line seems the weakest again alright but what other options are there at the moment? Fionn Dowling, Eanna O'Connor? When Doyle, Cribbin, Dan Flynn and the U21s come back you'd expect to see a very different starting 15.

What's the story with Rob Kelly actually? Is he still on the panel? Is he injured?

Full forward line is like the Rolling Stones going back out on tour again!