KILDARE v DOWN: NFL Div 2 Sunday 1st Feb, Newbridge

Big game to set up the rest of the league and possible into the summer.
We only have three home games so it's vital we win them all to be in the mix for Promotion. Also factor in Meath away next week and this game gets added importance.

Down didn't qualify out of their group in the McKenna cup but had a good win against Monaghan away. that was evened out by being well beaten by Cavan at home so their form line is hard to read.
Benny has gone the way of Mick Foley and into the GAA retirement village, but they have good pacy forwards which we tend to struggle against in with the the likes of Poland still knocking about.

Our defence looks better and more aggressive this year but an injury or two and we could be back in trouble. Forwards are doing ok and putting up good scores. Sixteen points against Dublin was decent at this time of year.

Down usually are strong around the middle and it's this areas we are struggling the most in. If we can break even or just win our share I think with home advantage we'll be OK. Loose midfield and we could be in trouble.

My Team

       Donnellan
Kelly Fitzpatrick O'Grady
Doyle Conway (If Fit) Lyons
      Chalky Paudi
Leper Flats Murnaghan
Dowling Fogarty Mulhall

Shame about O'Brien he would have been at six with Murnaghan the sweeper. If Conway is also out then move Doyle to 6 and Murnaghan to 5, bring in Lynch and play Paudi in the half forwards.

Kildare by 3.

Good assessment there Rex and like the look of your team as well. If Tomas is playing instead of Podge again I'll go spare!

One thing I would say - I think it's important we play with a sweeper and maintain our strong defensive system. If both O'Brien and Conway are out, I'd play Doyle centre-back and either David Hyland or Keith Cribben at five, and keep Murnaghan as the sweeper. Safety first.

I agree with Rex about the importance of this game. With only 3 league games at home and a visit to Meath next week, a good start is vital. There were some encouraging signs in the O'Byrne Cup (better defending, return from injury of key players, improved kickouts, some good attacking displays by the likes of Mulhall and Fogarty) but the next few weeks will give us a better idea of where we are at.

I'd be inclined to stick with Hugh Lynch at midfield. His lack of pace was shown up against Dublin but he's better against a more traditional midfielder and we don't have many options here. Long term though, we need to be looking to be getting someone like Dan Flynn into midfield.

Our ball into the forwards was poor at times against Dublin. The return of Eoghan O'Flaherty will make a big difference here as here generally he plays the right ball at the right time. I agree Podge should start instead of Tomas. Podge looked sharp when he came on so we have to go with the man in form.

If Daryl O'Brien and Fergal Conway are both out, I'd play Dave Hyland at wing-back, move Eoin Doyle to the centre and leave Murnaghan as the sweeper. I'd play Lyons at corner back and O'Grady at wing bank. I thought O'Grady did very well against Dublin.  

I think it will be a close game. Down will probably get a lot of men behind the ball and hit us on the break. They have a new manager and will be well up for it but I think we'll win by a couple of points.

Is Marty Clarke back on the Down Team ?

Actually if Hyland starts too it's a right bunch of henchmen we have back there. About time as well - Dublin, Meath, etc have been using Kildare teams as doormats for long enough.

SeamusMurphy wrote:

Is Marty Clarke back on the Down Team ?

no he was diagnosed addision,sdisease

He wont be playing anything for a while so fone.

I think it's unlikely that Kildare will play either Hyland or Conway this Sunday with Maynooth playing Sigerson next Tuesday against UL. It's too much to ask of players to play twice in three days and you have to assume they will be playing a full game for the college. Keith Cribbin is probably the most likely replacement for O'Brien with Doyle moving into the centre.

I'd say you're right about that KK but it's mad that a college game no one cares about would take precedence over an inter-county game that will have thousands at it.

Ohtoohtobe wrote:

I'd say you're right about that KK but it's mad that a college game no one cares about would take precedence over an inter-county game that will have thousands at it.

The GAA is massively concerned about burnout, don't you know.

The return of Caolán Mooney is much more significant to Down. He's involved with college stuff too though I think so I presume he won't be involved Sunday.

Hasn't Doyle been centre-back for most of the games, with Murnaghan wing-back when O'Brien played the sweeper and when O'Brien wasn't playing, Murnaghan was wing-back? Doyle was on the wing against the Dubs and they half dispensed with the sweeper just to push up on the kickouts.

I would say one of whoever is picked with 10 or 12 will be one of the back 7. I'd say Doyle will be centre-back. With O'Brien out, Murnaghan will probably be the sweeper so if I was to guess, he might wear 12!

Down's forwards are pacey - the likes of Jerome Johnston are very tricky. So you'll need a sweeper to try cut off the supply. But you'd be happy enough with the shape Kelly, Doyle, Fitzy and O'Grady are in.

Murnaghan was sweeper against DIT in the semi final when O'Brien wasn't playing and played really well there. I'd say he will be the spare man if O'Brien is out. Doyle has moved between wing back and centre back depending on who he was marking.

One small concern I'd have is the number of scoreable frees we have given away in the last couple of games. I know the refs have been fussy but there's nothing worse than giving away stupid frees when the fouled player is going nowhere.

just for info, I see tickets for Sunday are €10 if purchased from Hawkfield during the week, or €15 on the day

e.s.b. wrote:

just for info, I see tickets for Sunday are €10 if purchased from Hawkfield during the week, or €15 on the day

Also €10 if bought at Centra/SuperValu

Having jumped on the bandwagon for the Final (and I take full responsibility for jinxing it!) I'd still go with Rex's line-up overall.
Poor luck on O'Brien but no matter I'd still like Murnaghan dropping from the half-forward line. If it was the case that Conway couldn't make it then a newbie could be integrated.
Would Farrell be worth a shout there either...I haven't seen enough to comment but overall he is a good baller. Seamus McNally could also be an option.
As was noted the defence has a much meaner look to it and we will be all the better for it.

I have said it before but I really do think K Cribbin is a genuine midfield option. Neither Keith or Paul are sweepers but in the middle Keith has pace and a serious workrate...
With Donnellan's kick-outs dropping into lads' chests no need to be a big man in the middle these days.

Down team for Sunday

1 Michael Cunningham
2 Darren O Hagan
3 Conor Garvey
4 Luke Howard
5 Damian Turley
6 Brendan McArdle
7 Kevin McKernan
8 Niall Madine
9 Peter Fitzpatrick
10 Ryan Johnston
11 Conor Laverty
12 Paul Devlin
13 Jerome Johnston
14 Conor Maginn
15 Donal O’Hare

Kildare team

1 Mark Donnellan Maynooth
2 Ciaran Fitzpatrick Kilcock
3 Peter Kelly Two Mile House
4 Mick O Grady Celbridge
5 Ollie Lyons Celbridge
6 Daryl O Brien Carbury
7 Eoin Doyle Naas
8 Hugh Lynch Confey
9 Padraig O Neill St Laurence's
10 Eamon Callaghan Naas
11 Niall Kelly Athy
12 Eoghan O Flaherty Carbury
13 Darroch Mulhall Athy
14 Fionn Dowling Suncroft
15 Padraig Fogarty St Laurence's

Two strong looking teams with plenty of scoring potential on both. Good to see Niall Kelly back, personally i would have liked to see Murnaghan continue the role he has been playing, but apart from that, its a good positive team

Hard to argue too much with that team. Would have gone Murnaghan rather than O'Brien but no arguments otherwise. Delighted to see Podge in ahead of Tomas and Niall Kelly back also. Still a lot of good players to come back too : Bolton, Moolick, F Conway, Cribbin, Flynn, Smith..

Didn't O'Brien break his thumb last week hardy chap if he plays with that. Re Kelly he would want to have a bit more about him than he had when playing for UCD in the o Byrne cup. I thought he was v poor that day.

I'm a bit surprised we seem to have moved away from the formation (7 backs) we have been playing up to now. I thought we found once we found a way of playing that makes us more secure at the back we should stick to it, particularly as Down have a few lively forwards. We'll have to see how the teams line out, it could be that Down only play with 5 forwards in which case we'll still have the extra man at the back.
Otherwise it's hard to argue too much with the team. Podge deserves to start and with Flats and Niall Kelly in the team, we should have more creativity in attack than we had against Dublin.
Best of luck to Kildare tomorrow. Cill Dara abu.

Strange team from Ryan and not for the first time. I agree with it all apart from Kelly. Now you could say it's only one position, but it is a pick that discards the sweeper that he has played in every meaningless game this year and a system he has talked up, in favor of a totally different system in the first game that matters.

What was the point of the previous 5 games if he reverts back to last years system that plainly did not work.
So if he is not going to pick Murnaghan who will play the sweeper, to my eyes there is no one who can do it without taking from another area of the team.

I'm hoping Murnaghan will come in for Kelly because he deserves to for the way he has played, if not then in the first game of the year that matters I would be questioning the manager already and what he envisages for the rest of the year.

You'd have to think that they will continue with the same system which would mean flats or leper either doing or sharing that roll. I suppose if down also go with a sweeper O Brien would be free man and one of the other two would be our link man. Anyway it's good to see lads getting an opportunity and there's still loads of pace at the back. Kildare by 4

Very good team best of luck to the lads today.

I don't think the selection of N Kelly necessarily indicates we are dispensing with a sweeper. In fact the selection of O'Brien almost certainly confirms we are sticking with it. As suggested above I'd expect either or both of Leper and Flats dropping back with Eoin Doyle perhaps playing more as a CB. After a disjointed attacking performance last week (despite 16 points in normal time) I fully support Kelly's selection along with Podge - it means we can combine (hopefully) a tighter defensive performance with a more intelligent attacking approach. I realise I am setting myself up as a hostage to fortune with only 2 hours to throw in but here's hoping I'm right. We're going to have 7 dogfights this season to get out of Div 2 and a good start at home is vital. Kildare by 4.

Tactically we are being managed by a Monkey, although Bubbles was thought to moonwalk.

For the second time in successive seasons we have lost in this fashion and for the second meaningful game in a row (Monaghan last year) we have lost when being in control.
The time when Jason Ryan walks out the gates at Hawkfield cannot come soon enough and thankfully its not far around the corner.

I predicted this would happen in an earlier thread and got pilloried for it. Meath will beat us at a canter next week and then we're staring at relegation along with our neighbours Leix.

You reap what you sow. We may have been 3 points up but we genuinely deserved nothing from the game. We conceded 3-13 (2-1) in a minute (how is that even possible) and Down had 10 wides. Again we defended so poorly at times you'd have to question the role of Ronan Quinn and Damien Hendy. Both defenders in their day. And the bowld JR overseeing the whole thing. An omnishambles on and off the field.