All Ireland Semi-Final 2010 Sunday 29th August 3.30pm Corke Park Kildare vs Down***Official Thread***

armagh4sam wrote:

Surprised by the positivity on here, need a few Down tips to balance out the karma.

Having tipped Meath and Derrry for karma reasons, il'll tip Down here.

P.S. Down fans very confident of victory.

Good lad A4s keep your recored going as for superstitions I have my lucky top that I shall be wearing no matter if the sun is splitting the stones, the jersey will be on underneath.

21 Pages, almost 10,000 views!!!!

Some going!!

Haven't read an inch of a paper column all week and i hope the players haven't either...

They hype is hitting fever pitch, i really hope Geezser has them grounded.

Fionn these lads are well grounded,it;s not as bad as 98.
Speaking with a few,and there all very cool,not thinking of the next game at all.
These lads know what they have to do on sunday..

Thats Good to here....Youd want to be a fool not to have learnt from 98!! it was madness... and the madness is best left till the whole thing is over.. and I sincerely hope that it will be a happy madness!

Cill Dara Abu!!

Séamus Leonard casts his eye over second of this year's All-Ireland SFC semi-finals as qualifier survivors Down and Kildare do battle at Croke Park.

While the meeting of these two teams at All-Ireland semi-final stage could be considered novel, there is nothing particularly surprising about their progress to this point.

If it had been known that both Kerry and Tyrone would not make the final four, a lot of observers would have tipped Kildare and Down to be among the contenders to take their spots.

In Down's case they took Kerry's place directly. In overcoming the Kingdom, the Ulster side maintained an amazing unbeaten record in Championship games against the Munster giants.

And while Kerry are in a transitional stage and were missing suspended duo Tomás Ó Sé and Paul Galvin, Down's achievement should not be diminished.

The Mourne men have always had capable forwards, although the pressure on Benny Coulter to shoulder the scoring burden has weighed the Mayobridge man down at times.

But the return of Martin Clarke from his stint in Australian Rules has reinvigorated Down's attack this year, with both his dead ball expertise and contribution from open play playing a major part in their improvement.

Manager James McCartan was a forward by trade during his playing career, but he has had to focus on shoring up Down's previously leaky defence in his first year in charge. They had the most watertight rearguard in Division 2 of the National League, where they went unbeaten in their seven games.

They may have lost out to neighbours Armagh in the final, but Division 1 football for 2011 had already been secured and they had set down a marker for what was to come in the summer.

Their Ulster campaign was ended prematurely when Tyrone proved too streetwise for them in the quarter-final, but wins over Longford, Offaly and Sligo in the qualifiers afforded them a crack at Kerry in the last eight of the All-Ireland series.

Kildare's Leinster Championship was over before it even began when they were dumped out by Louth in the quarter-finals.

But just as they did when they were beaten by Wicklow in 2008, the Lilywhites were able to dust themselves down and build slowly through the back door. They needed a replay to get the better of Antrim, but got the result they needed up in Casement Park before accounting for Leitrim, Derry and Monaghan in subsequent rounds.

They came up against a fancied Meath side in the All-Ireland quarters, and despite losing midfielder Dermot Earley to a knee injury early on they managed to run out eight-point winners.

It would have been hard to envisage Kildare coping with losing the Sarsfields clubman a couple of years ago, but the fact they did shows how mentally tough they have become under Kieran McGeeney's stewardship.

As you would expect from a McGeeney team, they are extremely resilient defensively, but the most notable aspect of their performances is the number of chances they create.

Granted they shoot a huge number of wides but they never lose faith and have managed to rack some impressive tallies, including a whopping 2-17 against Derry up in Celtic Park.

Earley has been named in Kildare's starting line-up, but it would be a major surprise if he makes the throw-in and even more surprising if he lasts for anything close to 70 minutes.

Kildare are probably the more complete outfit at the moment, but Down have a proud history at Croke Park. The Mourne men have an impressive ratio of five All-Ireland titles to 12 Ulster Championships.

They haven't reached the All-Ireland semis since 1994 (before the qualifier system was introduced) and so that effectively means that they have won Sam Maguire almost one in every two times they have mastered their province.

Belief plays a huge part at this stage, and while neither side should be lacking in that department, the self-assurance Down showed against Kerry suggests they could be the ones to face Cork on the third Sunday in September.

Verdict: Down




Lads Seamus Leonard hasnt backed Kildare once this year except for the Louth game.
Where did RTE get this numpty from?

Think he has that all wrong.Its all on the day.If kildare play like they did against Meath we will win by 4 or 5 points.
If they start slow,that could be our down fall.
Even so what ever happens on Sunday it is a great year,and can look forward to the next few years.
Just look at what there doing in hawk field...

Well if he hasn't backed us except the Louth game then I'm glad he has tipped against us.
I'm hoping that the bloke (never can remember his name) on KFM tips Down as he is the same. He has gone against every game apart from Louth.

Rogers has made himself available for selection.

I think I could be mad saying this, The last few matches we played we started very badly going 4 or 5 points down etc I don't think this is a bad thing as people make out. The players seem to gather them selfs and attack the game harder, they know when they get going they have the fitness scoring power and mental strength to beat any team thats in front of them it just takes that first few bad minutes for them to realize this.

The RTÉ website tipped us against Meath but I don't think it was that Leonard fella who did the column that weekend.

Jesus, you don't want to be hyping it up but ye give out when people tip against you, ye think ye'll win but Down are apparently fierce cocky! It's some laugh

That will suit us all the same.Let them fancy them selfs...

Supporters in fancying their chances shocker!

It's an All-Ireland Semi-Final ffs. Of course Down folk are thinking they'll win just like most of us on here think this Kildare team have a great chance of going all the way.

If anyone thinks either team are going to be cocky going out onto the field on Sunday though they're only kidding themselves.

Ogie, no one is giving out that we've been tipped against.

Just pointing out that the RTE "pundit" has tipped against us all the way.

I hope its not his full time job, he tipped tipperary against Dublin and the Dubs against Cork.

Comedian and media personality Patrick Kielty believes Down's name could be on the Sam Maguire.

Kielty was sub-goalkeeper on the Down minor team that won the All-Ireland in 1987 when the Mournemen defeated Kildare and Cork in the semi-final and final respectively.



"We played Kildare in the semi-final and Cork in the final so I'm taking that as a good omen for us," he said ahead of Sunday's All-Ireland semi-final against the Lilywhites.

"I stood on the sidelines that day and we won and I was standing in Croker when we won in 1991 and 1994 so I will be happy to watch from the stands again this Sunday."

The former Dundrum GAC player, who will be making his way to Croke Park for the first time since he attended the 2003 Special Olympics opening ceremony, has the height of praise for his former team-mate and current Down boss James McCartan.

"James is an exceptional footballer. I remember playing alongside him and Kieran McGeeney for Queen's, both very focused and determined players and the fact that they are rivals this time certainly makes Sunday's game even more interesting.

"It's bizarre, we were in the abyss of Gaelic football for a long time and now we are close to reaching the All-Ireland final, but sure that's the beauty of Down football."

He added: "It was the same for us in 1991 and 1994 and we still managed to take the Sam back to the Mourne so I have every faith we can do it again this time."

Great buzz about the pale today,what will Sunday be like.Everyone chatting about the match

Pi$$ off kielty ya muppet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok lads im off now,chat to you all on Monday and hopefully in great mood.All the best to the lads,go an do us proud,kildare by 5 or 6 points.
Might see you all in graces in naas on sunday night with the lads.Come on Kildare....

rodgers made himself available. this guy is a seriously good footballer, his work rate is worth an extra man on the field and his influence to the other players. we need daryl to pull off a performance like he did against cavanagh last year here.
they were talking about bringing benni coulter out to the middle for rodgers that would have suited us more leaving kelly to mcComiskey

carburyman, how will we know what you look like??? good luck!!

How can a man that was on crutches last week be fit enough to play on Sunday?, Dermot has a better chance that him, he cant even have trained, me thinks Down may line out differently as listed also.....................

Away on for the weekend lads, best of luck. Enjoy the occssion.

I agree Rogers is a good footballer, but we have to remember Down did struggle against Offaly and Longford already this year.

Also Having been up at the Down/Kerry game i thought Kerry won their share of midfield despite having Scanlon and Quirke in midfield who are probably one the poorest midfield pairings in Intercounty Football at the moment.

The late goal from a penalty flattered Kerry to be honest, but similarly Kerry had Donnacha Walsh sent off 10 minutes into the second half despite this Kerry created a couple of goal chances with Donaghy missing both.

Down scored 1-03 in the opening minutes which left Kerry always chasing the game.
Our start on Sunday will be crucial, we dont have to come out of the blocks all guns blazing, we just cant afford to allow Down to do so.

Its all on the day is the infamous cliche, but I believe if we play to our true potential and Down play to their true potential I think we will win with a few points to spare.

Thanks for your support and info Armagh4Sam

Can leave this alone.Thanks for that ,a4sam.....