2011 Leinster & All Ireland SFC Fixtures and Results - Official Thread

not worried about the hill. half of them will be late coming in and half of them will be going home at half time

Vodafone - loves Dublin so much he lives in Kildare

Heres my two cents worth on the game on Sunday !!!

If Kildare keep the Brogan brothers and Connolly to a combined total of 10 points I think we have a great chance of beating them. In my opinion the rest of the Dublin team will not score a whole lot between them, there halfforward line are good lads to work but they will not score heavily max a point or two between them. I feel we have a better spread of scorers on our team.

Who will mark the 3 lads in the Dublin full forward line? More importantly who will be given the job of mark Bernard Brogan?

phenomenal
By Colm Keys


Wednesday June 22 2011

What does it say about the changing face of Gaelic football when a 33-year-old can exert such dominance on midfield as John Doyle has done in his last two championship matches? Perhaps more pertinent is what it says about Doyle.

For his 51st and 52nd championship matches, Doyle has performed in a position where his dimensions and his age suggest he shouldn't be an entity.

But birth certs, measuring tapes and weighing scales have become irrelevant in a career that continues to improve through the years.

And that is why Kieran McGeeney was coming to the conclusion anyway, before Daryl Flynn turned awkwardly on his ankle to remove himself from the picture for four weeks, that Doyle could serve the team best of all at the very heart of the action.

It had been coming. Kildare knew they had a problem when they were outplayed by Meath in the middle during their league match in March.

They lost the kick-outs by 27-16, yet still dominated the game.

It has been a phenomenal transition. Universally acknowledged as man of the match against Wicklow in Portlaoise, he was on every shortlist two weeks later against Meath.

Right now, if an index existed that could measure form in this championship, Doyle would be vying hard with Colm Cooper for the No 1 position. And Cooper is in the middle of one of the richest veins of form in his illustrious career.

To look at Doyle's waif-like, angular figure, he appears more cut out for the hard grind of National Hunt racing than the congestion of Gaelic football, hard-boned and square-jawed almost in the mould of Tony McCoy.

But no game stands still and pays homage to stereotype -- least of all football. And nothing advances the evolution more than the composition of the respective midfields on Sunday.

If the teams are picked according to expectation -- Hugh Lynch and Doyle for Kildare, Michael Darragh Macauley (a doubt through injury) and Barry Cahill for Dublin -- only Lynch can claim customary midfield status. The rest measure little more than six foot, with lightness on their feet a priority.

In that environment then, it has been easier to rebrand Doyle.

His transplant to midfield for the opening two games of the championship has, of course, opened up a debate in the county as to whether it's a luxury they can afford.

Kildare's cumulative wides total from two championship games is 35, a level of profligacy that has increased since last season. The logic of positioning your most accurate forward further away from goals just doesn't stack up in some minds.

In 52 championship matches Doyle has amassed 6-217. He has been held scoreless in only two of those games, his debut against Louth and the All-Ireland semi-final against Galway, both in 2000. In two of the last three years he has been Kildare's top scorer. Are they robbing Peter to pay Paul?

However, Kildare's former coach Paul Grimley, now with Meath, believes the switch is the masterstroke of the season so far.

"The thing about John Doyle that no one really factors in about him is that he's a wonderful fielder of the ball. He gets up and holds on to it," says Grimley.

"And he can tackle. He's very honest like that. There are plenty of talented inside forwards who can't tackle and won't tackle. Johnny isn't like that.

"The way a midfielder can dominate his opponent is by getting on the ball more than him and creating more and, in that sense, Johnny will always have an advantage.

"I'd say Kieran and Johnny would have discussed this at length before going ahead with it. Croke Park is a great place to be a midfielder if you have the mobility and Johnny has plenty of that."

In the Kildare dressing-room there is unequivocal agreement that, placed in just about any position, Doyle's value won't be affected in any way.

Ronan Sweeney uses the county's most established midfielder, Dermot Earley, as the ultimate barometer.

"He plays there for the club and I have seen him mark Dermot and hold his own. You could play him anywhere and he'd do a job for you. He doesn't stop working," explains Sweeney.

"But you could genuinely play him anywhere and you'd have full confidence in him being the best in that position.

"He's very hard to deal with around there and he's always looking to attack and when it breaks down, he's looking to go back down the field again. In years gone by people wouldn't have seen what he was doing."

People are starting to notice now.

Sweeney doesn't dispute the merit in those who argue that they are missing something by not having him closer to goals all the time.

"I suppose there is, but we're still scoring quite highly and it is up to everyone else in the forward line to take the burden," he says.

"Johnny still finds space out around the middle and still chips in with three or four points, which he has been doing."

Earley himself has long since stopped being surprised by anything Doyle does on the football field. "I've known Johnny since we went to school together. Nothing surprised me about him. He's still the fittest on the team. He's still probably the most committed," asserts the former Allstar midfielder.

"When most fellas are rolling out of bed, he's up at 7.0 in the morning out kicking. That's the commitment that he has, how much he wants to play with Kildare and win for Kildare.

"He plays midfield for his club. I've marked him many the times in Sarsfields v Allenwood games and I've come out the wrong side of it, so I wasn't surprised at all."

Central to Doyle's continued improvement at a time when others might be winding down, is his relationship with manager McGeeney.

On McGeeney's watch, Doyle has become an even more robust and energetic footballer, and tellingly the captain's armband has been thrust on him in three of the manager's four years at the helm.

"Ten years ago you wouldn't have entertained playing a player like Johnny as a midfielder," says Grimley. "But things evolve. Johnny is Kildare's most complete footballer. Why not have him in the thick of the action all the time?"

- Colm Keys

Irish Independent

Lets hope the Hammer stays ok for the 70 mins and if so Kildare will win this one

This will be all abot the 15 lads on the pitch,and will also be about how Gezzer works the line.
Im sure they have watched dvds of this dublin side.So if the homework is done and the lads play to what they can we will win by 4This is now the time for Gezzer to show everyone what a great manager he is..

Meanwhile the nerves kick in...............................

ManBearPig wrote:

what are the ticket sales times for this week?incase anyone needs to no???

10-4 and 6-8 pm today and tomorrow
10-1 on Fri.
At Hawkfield

Lads was down in hawkfield yesterday,and tickets will gone by today,unless wexford carlow return some

Surely they'll get more, can't see there being anymore than about 55000 at the game.

Nerves starting to descend alright but still confident of a win. I can just see us shading it at the end, not because of fitness (Dublin will be every bit as fit as us) but because we have better footballers around the park under pressure and a better bench than them.

carburyman wrote:

Lads was down in hawkfield yesterday,and tickets will gone by today,unless wexford carlow return some

Picked up some down there yesterday as well, was told they were starting to sell pretty well and the clubs had also taken a lot more than the last day. To be expected really but don't think we'll see a sell out, Carlow and Wexford will bring a big enough crowd with them too, could be 65,000 - 70,000 at this depending on the weather over the weekend.

Agree marcus,think we will shade it,but going to be might tough

They're trying to sell all the tickets for the lower stands and upper cusack first for the camera view on telly and if they need to they will open the upper hogan and sell tickets for there.

Kildare (SFC v Dublin) - S Connolly; A MacLochlainn, M Foley, H McGrillen; G White, B Flanagan, E Bolton; J Doyle, H Lynch; M O'Flaherty, E O'Flaherty, E Callaghan; A Smith, T O'Connor, J Kavanagh.

Be happy with that team,and if not going well,change

Not much of a surprise really with the same team lining out, Flanagan swapping with Morgan is the only obvious change that'll be made.

Can understand people making a case for Flynn or Rob Kelly to start but at the same time the lads starting haven't put a foot wrong ( Flanagan was unlucky to be taken off early both times out). Good options on the bench for us, reckon we'll have more strength in depth than the Dubs, Flynn into midfield and Doyle into the forwards if needs be, and the with likes of O'Neill, Sweeney and Kelly, we know they can come in and do a job for us.

Feeling more confident now than the initial few days after the Meath game at least.

Very true. I have been lording around sayin rob kelly has to start but then when i look at it the lads have done well and you can always just bring on some of our very strong bench.

Bit disappointed if that is the team that lines out. I think we've missed a trick by sticking with Flanno and Tomas. Would have liked to see Kelly at 14, Flynn midfield (if fit) and Doyle at half forward (effectively another midfielder the way we play). Hope Flanno and Tomas prove me wrong though

I'd be happy with the same 15 again. I'd say Rob Kelly is pushing hard for a place alright. If things aren't going well in the forwards I'd imagine he'll be brought on fairly quick.

will this be actually the team that will start? or is he just naming a team for the program etc?

Great reading in the hearld this evening on kildare and dublin...

fat full forward wrote:

will this be actually the team that will start? or is he just naming a team for the program etc?

There's only one man who knows that sure.











....................where's Fone when you need him!

OVER the past three-and-a-half seasons, Kieran McGeeney has transformed the fortunes of Kildare football – to such an extent that they’re now firmly established as a top-six team and quietly fancied to push Dublin to the brink, maybe even beyond, in this Sunday’s Leinster semi-final.

But his transition from on-field Armagh inspiration to commanderin- chief of another county hasn’t always been a bed of roses.

There have been watershed defeats along the way, setbacks which could have prefaced an unravelling of the Lilywhite/Geezer marriage.

In that scenario, the critics would have enjoyed a field day raking over the embers of another highprofile managerial casualty.

They would have wondered aloud why this archetypal professional in an amateur game, the ultimate “obsessive”, couldn’t convince a sceptical Kildare audience.

They would have cited his rookie status, tut-tutting the notion that even a playing legend can make the seamless leap into inter-county management without serving his apprentice first.

Several pundits were already sharpening their bayonets after that scary championship baptism in 2008 when Kildare succumbed to Wicklow and their wily old general, Mick O’Dwyer.

Quite a few were queuing up too after Kildare’s defensive horror show against Louth 12 months ago.

Benny Tierney soldiered for many years with McGeeney in Armagh and was always convinced he was made for inter-county management … but even he initially feared that the leap into Kildare’s hotseat may have come a “wee bit quickly”.

“He had an awful bit of a debacle against Wicklow and I’m sure half the country was secretly smiling,” Tierney reflects. “But after that blip, he’s had a serious run of great results with Kildare.”

This is reflected in their status as ‘back door’ renaissance men, reaching successive All-Ireland quarterfinals in 2008 (post-Wicklow) and 2009 (narrowly losing to Tyrone) before coming within a crossbar’s width of beating Down in last year’s All-Ireland semi-final (post-Louth).

Talk to any Kildare player now and it’s abundantly clear that they follow his word religiously. “You don’t stop learning from Kieran – he has an abundance of knowledge,” enthuses defender Andriu Mac Lochlainn.

“His belief in us makes us believe in ourselves. It might sound strange, but belief is what separates the Kerrys from the also-rans,” declares Ronan Sweeney.

Yet, as Sweeney also confirms, there were teething problems in that first season. They were the lowest scorers in Division One that spring, averaging less than 1-8 per game, en route to relegation.

“He was probably feeling his way around a bit,” the Kildare veteran recalls. “And so were we. It was a totally new system; he was bringing in totally new ideas to Kildare that we had never seen before.”

STRESSES

Sweeney stresses that the players “knew from day one that we were lucky to have him” and never once didn’t trust their new manager.

But he admits: “We probably were trying to play a way that didn’t suit the players that were here. It was probably a bit negative …

“After we were beaten by Wicklow in the championship, we had a good auld chat and realised that, look, we’re going to play the way that will suit both the management and the players. And we came up with a system then that’s been working for us ever since.”

MANY years beforehand, Benny Tierney had identified the traits of a manager in waiting. “I always used to compare him to Roy Keane – and Keane went straight into management too,” the former Armagh ’keeper relates. “Just a driven personality, somebody who exudes confidence and charisma.”

Charisma is not necessarily a word that echoes with the McGeeney stereotype, but as Tierney outlines: “Geezer might come across to some people as maybe this withdrawn introvert, but when you’re looking for motivation or looking for somebody to lift you, I don’t think there’s any guy I played with that can do it more.

“I guarantee you – at training – he’s probably running around with (the Kildare players) and hitting a few of them as well! He’s a hands-on coach and, if you do the business for him, then he’ll be your friend forever.

PIVOTAL

“I remember with Armagh, if Geezer missed a training session we were all able to take it handy for a night. I wouldn’t say he missed two in about 10 years … and when he wasn’t there it was as if there was a drop in standards. That’s how pivotal he was as a player, and I’m sure he’s exactly the same as a manager.”

By sheer coincidence, Tierney was attending a family function in Naas last August when he bumped into his old comrade on the night of Kildare’s heartbreaking defeat to Down. “I got an inkling of what the players thought of him, just by talking to a few of them. And it was just absolutely huge respect,” he reveals.

“You think about it,” Tierney then reflects, “he’s an outside manager who has come into Kildare. Very few of them get more than a year or two. You look at Banty in Meath, for example – he’s under serious pressure and he hasn’t even fulfilled a year yet.

“When you’re an outsider, you’re always viewed on with a wee bit of jealousy and a wee bit of ‘why couldn’t we get a man from our own county to do it?’ And he has more than banished those fears.”

EOGHAN O’GARA is making a late run for inclusion in the Dublin team to face Kildare in this Sunday’s clash of the Croke Park titans.

Manager Pat Gilroy is already committed to making one defensive change for the Leinster SFC semi-final, with Paul Brogan favourite to replace injured corner-back Philly McMahon.

However, speculation is mounting that there could be a further alteration up front, with O’Gara pushing strongly for a recall at fullforward.

Such a move would entail breaking up Dulbin’s prolific full-forward division of Diarmuid Connolly and the Brogan brothers, with Alan Brogan favoured for relocation to the halfforwards. This inside trio shared 1-11 (1-9 from play) during the quarter-final against Laois.

A raw, rampaging talent, O’Gara established himself as a goalscoring target man during last year’s run to the All-Ireland semi-finals.

His game-time this season has been severely curtailed by a retrospective eight-week suspension (following a flashpoint during the league win over Kerry) and subsequent injury.

However, he replaced Kevin McManamon after 47 minutes of the Laois game and has emerged as a ‘live’ starting contender ahead of Friday’s 8am team announcement by Gilroy.

Meanwhile, Leinster Council chiefs have defended the rate of ticket sales for Sunday’s double-header, even though just 28,000 - excluding corporate and premium seats - had been sold by close of business yesterday.

“It’s on a par with where we were for these fixtures last year,” said chief executive Michael Delaney. Then, 60,035 saw the Dublin/Meath and Westmeath/Louth double-header

O'Gara will not start and if if does it'll be a huge slice of good luck to Kildare.

He is not better than any of their current full forward line. He got lucky against Tyrone last year and made his name then.