athy to dominate kildare football

They've talented players alright but some of them, Mulhall in particular, have suspect temperaments. He has the ability to be magnificent but he won't have endeared himself to McGeeney based on yesterdays display. In my own opinion, I don't think he's good enough. Feely has the most potential but you'd worry about him seeing as he lacks the proper physique of Earley, Flynn, Lynch or Brophy. They're the standard bearers after all. No point judging him if he sticks with the soccer anyway.

You'd also have to wonder whether they'll have the appetite (for next year at least) after waiting so long to win it. I imagine this campaign will take a lot out of them both mentally and physically, not to mention the celebrations that go with it. Not to take anything away though.. fair play to them. They've had a great year.

I agree completely on Mulhall, but is it not fair to say that at 20, there is a good chance he will mature? As it is, he is a lot better than he was two years ago in terms of his temperament. On Sunday his head exploded though and the management addressed it.

As for Feely. Well he's 19. Is it not fair to say that it is likely to get bigger and stronger? And that this would happen more speedily if in the current senior set-up?

I referred to the appetite myself, that is THE question. Why I think it WON'T be a factor in the coming years though is that they have always won, up through the ranks. They are hungry to win and expect to win.

But judging them at 19, 20 as finished products is surely a bit harsh.

Gomeraza

I have to take issue with you over Feely. With the exception of Earley , he promises to be a far better footballler than any of the other midfielders mentioned by you. I will be very surprised if he does not make it big time. Their other midfielder is not a bad player either.

Ogie wrote:

But judging them at 19, 20 as finished products is surely a bit harsh.

Wholeheartedly agree.

Judging players at that age is madness. How many underage stars have failed to deliver on their reputations when stepping up to senior football? There have been plenty in this county and elsewhere. Colm Reilly of Carbury is one that sticks out in my mind. Similarly Tommy Archibald but he was not helped by injury. Look outside the county at players like Seán Armstrong in Galway, Donie Brennan in Laois, Jack Ferriter in Kerry. World beaters as minors/u21s but nothing of note achieved as seniors.

It works the other way too. No one would have picked Johnny Doyle out in 1999 or 2000 and said that he'd be one of the greatest ever players to wear the Kildare shirt would they? I remember watching a Kerry minor team in 2001 play in an All-Ireland semi-final against Dublin and there was a young red headed lad playing in the forwards who looked nothing out of the ordinary. Kieran Donaghy couldn't even get a start for the same team. Hugh McGrillen was only a sub for the u21s in 2008.

I think there's too many good teams in kildare for a team to completely dominate.There are probably 5 or 6 teams that can all beat each other.

Athy aren't the only team with good players coming through either. Celbridge. Sarsfields, Clane, Maynooth and more besides have all had good underage teams in the past few years. People seem to think that Athy are the only ones with good youngsters.

But potential's worth nothing unless it's fulfilled. Having said that, a good few of those young Athy lads are already better than most in the county at 19 or 20 without improving anymore.

Adam91 wrote:

I think there's too many good teams in kildare for a team to completely dominate.There are probably 5 or 6 teams that can all beat each other.

Athy aren't the only team with good players coming through either. Celbridge. Sarsfields, Clane, Maynooth and more besides have all had good underage teams in the past few years. People seem to think that Athy are the only ones with good youngsters.

But potential's worth nothing unless it's fulfilled. Having said that, a good few of those young Athy lads are already better than most in the county at 19 or 20 without improving anymore.

Well said. Those four teams in particular are developing young lads that are just as good. Irritating that people seem to only talk about Athy in that regard. Athy have had a fantastic year but it remains to be seen if they can stay as consistent as Moorefield and Sarsfields have been. People forget that the Moores dismantled Athy only last year. I'd never begrudge them success, don't get me wrong, but it's simply nonsense to say they'll dominate.

tomcruise wrote:

Gomeraza

I have to take issue with you over Feely. With the exception of Earley , he promises to be a far better footballler than any of the other midfielders mentioned by you. I will be very surprised if he does not make it big time. Their other midfielder is not a bad player either.

He has great potential, I'll give you that.. I'd just have my doubts if he could hold his own physically at inter-county level (if he gets the call). Looks a bit slight even for a twenty year old. Remains to be seen as we don't know if he'll even be playing football next season.

people all talking about sarsfields celbridge and moorefiled not goin away hhaha likes is everyone goin mad what about laurences, hw many lads left there team this year to go too america they came back week before the athy match and shudda nearly won , according to laurences people this was the worst year they had in the last 10 years and thats not cause athy bet them , laurences lads told me in april they will win nothing this year with the management they had so u cannot forget about them they will be back stronger than ever .

Athy maybe young but they have old heads on young shoulders i personally don think they will win a leinster final but wouldnt be shocked if they do , i know alot of the young lads from athy and they will only look at the next game which they have been doing all year

Athy are a decent team with potential to be really good. They benefitted from
The big teams slipping up this year just as Larries &
Celbridge did in recent years.
Time will tell if these young guys are as good as people are saying. Any talk of domination is way too premature.

slipping up future white like come on celbridge laurences and athy are the big teams now sarsfield and moorefield are too but i wouldnt say there is one team in a league of their own yet ,,, celbridge deserved winning they bet laurences and sarsfields to win the cgampionship laurences bet moorefield by 10 points ta win the county final and athy bet carbury larries and sash to win there all deserved the newbridge dominence is def gone but it just makes the kildare championship every year very interesting cause one of 6 teams can win it

i would like to remind ye that Confey are remaining senior status and have defeated athy by 6 points also defeating laurries and drew with celbridge in the league this year ..........

footballguru wrote:

i would like to remind ye that Confey are remaining senior status and have defeated athy by 6 points also defeating laurries and drew with celbridge in the league this year ..........

Yet couldn't win the Intermediate Champioship in 2010

yet won the championship this year and are currently in the leinster final......

Taibi wrote:

footballguru wrote:

i would like to remind ye that Confey are remaining senior status and have defeated athy by 6 points also defeating laurries and drew with celbridge in the league this year ..........

Yet couldn't win the Intermediate Champioship in 2010

Confey have improved massively since the 2010 intermediate championship taibi. This was very evident as they cruised through this years championship with ease, except for maybe the final which by all accounts was a dreadful day for football which any side would find difficult to play in. They have progressed nicely over the last two years under Ronan Quinn who has them very fit and well organised and they are playing some very good football. Having said that senior championship football is a step up again and they will need to build again on this year to challenge the likes of Athy.

Congratulations to both Athy and Confey on their results in Leinster.

I thoroughly agree with northernlilly, Confey have produced some fast, and exciting football. Ronan quinns tactics and methods are paying off and Confey could potentially be a serious outfit in the kildare senior division. But will need to step up another level again next year. Athy will have their work cut out for them aginst garycastle.

browners84 wrote:

slipping up future white like come on celbridge laurences and athy are the big teams now sarsfield and moorefield are too but i wouldnt say there is one team in a league of their own yet ,,, celbridge deserved winning they bet laurences and sarsfields to win the cgampionship laurences bet moorefield by 10 points ta win the county final and athy bet carbury larries and sash to win there all deserved the newbridge dominence is def gone but it just makes the kildare championship every year very interesting cause one of 6 teams can win it

No team in recent times - outside of the Newbridge 2 - have managed to win multiple championships. There has been the Celbridge flash, the Larries flash, and now the Athy flash. I would certainly have Athy ahead of the previous 2 in terms of football. But talk of dominance is rubbish as is any talk of the big clubs being finished. Moorefield annihilated this very Athy team less than a year ago, they beat them easily any time the play in the league. Sarsfields slipped up against them this year but have rarely ever lost to them in league or championship. Larries will rarely ever fear them nor will many teams around the county. They have had a good year this year, next year will tell an interesting tale.

It is an exciting time for Kildare football with a few clubs starting to compete for the senior championship.

Truth is this statement that athy will dominate is rubbish . yes good team but in the past 10 years rare ta not see sash and moores in business end off it moorefield will be back hungry know what its like ta win championships sarsifields with dermot back in mid with mc donald and chalky centre back be solid along with celbridge bringing on strong minors eg conway

moorefield sarsfield and st laurences second teams are all in division 3 or higher and compete in dowling cup at start of year.
anyone else think athy should now be starting to improve their reserve teams and start to compete at higher level along with the bigger clubs above.
after winning county champ, should athy 2nd team be in dowling cup nxt year?

so how many of these athy lads will be brought into the Kildare set up now? Kinihan, Eaton and possibly Reynolds should perhaps get a few run outs in the OB Cup, half of them will be on the U21 panel anyway.

The Darroch Mulhall love in is gone fairly quiet in recent weeks, he has hasnt really set the world alight any time i have seen him play. Eaton seems a far better and more accurate option.

Whatever about them dominating - that's all a guess because we're talking about kids - what Moorefield dismantling "this very team" last year has to do with it is beyond me. It's bizarre. "This very team" had ten U21s playing in its first team this year, nine yesterday. So "this very team" would have been younger again last year. What has happened in that 12 months is, shock, horror, they've gotten a year older. More pertinently though, they've taken the lessons on board when they've been beaten, while retaining the confidence of dominating underage. You'd imagine yesterday will do them wonders.

You can't compare them to Larries or Celbridge. They are like NO other team we've ever seen because of their youth. It's ridiculous that this group got so close to a Leinster final. That guarantees them nothing in the future, but I won't be betting against them next year.

As for Feely, it's fair enough to presume that in an inter-county set-up, he would be on a weights programme. And that a year or two of that, allied to becoming 22, 23 years of age, would bring about a metamorphosis. I think that's reasonable to expect. Judging these guys as they are now at 17, 18, 19 and 20 is pretty mad. For the record, he's 19. Dessie Dolan said he'd rarely seen someone like him to catch a ball. He remains the best underage footballer I've seen in Kildare. I was struck by him when I saw him as a 15-year-old down in The Heath and nothing has changed for me. If he's available to Kildare in the next decade, avoids injury and wants to play, he'll be playing. I'll lay any amount of money on it.

Mulhall has definitely gone off the boil but again, that doesn't mean he's a goner. He has things to work on. If he succeeds, he has ability and will only be better on bigger grounds than Newbridge on hard ground. He wouldn't be one I'd be looking at for the seniors right now though. Two Kinihans, Feely, Dunne and Eaton for me, maybe Reynolds too. They won't all be there next summer but I'd certainly have a look at them

Ogie wrote:

Whatever about them dominating - that's all a guess because we're talking about kids - what Moorefield dismantling "this very team" last year has to do with it is beyond me. It's bizarre. "This very team" had ten U21s playing in its first team this year, nine yesterday. So "this very team" would have been younger again last year. What has happened in that 12 months is, shock, horror, they've gotten a year older. More pertinently though, they've taken the lessons on board when they've been beaten, while retaining the confidence of dominating underage. You'd imagine yesterday will do them wonders.

You can't compare them to Larries or Celbridge. They are like NO other team we've ever seen because of their youth. It's ridiculous that this group got so close to a Leinster final. That guarantees them nothing in the future, but I won't be betting against them next year.

As for Feely, it's fair enough to presume that in an inter-county set-up, he would be on a weights programme. And that a year or two of that, allied to becoming 22, 23 years of age, would bring about a metamorphosis. I think that's reasonable to expect. Judging these guys as they are now at 17, 18, 19 and 20 is pretty mad. For the record, he's 19. Dessie Dolan said he'd rarely seen someone like him to catch a ball. He remains the best underage footballer I've seen in Kildare. I was struck by him when I saw him as a 15-year-old down in The Heath and nothing has changed for me. If he's available to Kildare in the next decade, avoids injury and wants to play, he'll be playing. I'll lay any amount of money on it.

Mulhall has definitely gone off the boil but again, that doesn't mean he's a goner. He has things to work on. If he succeeds, he has ability and will only be better on bigger grounds than Newbridge on hard ground. He wouldn't be one I'd be looking at for the seniors right now though. Two Kinihans, Feely, Dunne and Eaton for me, maybe Reynolds too. They won't all be there next summer but I'd certainly have a look at them

Feely is the best underage talent i've seen in Kildare also. If he was available next year i'd be willing to wager he'd be playing senior intercounty football, such is his talent.

I've heard he's been called up to the Senior panel for next year, whether he's available or not is another thing. I've also heard Cian Reynolds, Dunne (who was already there) has also been asked to join up with them.

With the arse falling out of the league of Ireland soccer it could bolster our chances of getting feeley to commit. Would be a fine addition to panel

Good post Ogie, couldnt disagree with any of it. Those Athy players you mention will make a difference to Kildare in the coming years but it wont happen next year. We have to be patient with them as they will need to bulk up to compete at intercounty level. Hyland and O'Keefe are two to watch for the future as they are 2 of the youngest on the team.

Agree completely on Hyland and O'Keeffe, they are incredible talents

O'keefe is 21