Kildare v Clare

league final and next week v galway are an irrelevant. all about first round of championship now. hopefully d flynn and n flynn back fully fit by then

Lads I have to say some of the stuff here is overly critical of a team that dug it out in the end...

First off Clare are not a bad team and they had their main man back in action and that is a huge lift for them. On our side we were missing an entire inside forward line that has been scoring goals all year.
There were lots of grumbles in the crowd for balls going backwards but Clare had a wall across their own 45 at times.

That being said their goal was a point of concern as it was so soft. On top of that they did get a run on us far too often.
We all praise Doyle here but they came right down his channel as he was sitting deeper. At that point you would like to see Moolick sitting in or even Conway at times.

On the flip Hughes had his arm out for advantage nearly all day, for some seemingly soft things.

It was a good day in the end but we did miss Dan Flynn especially bursting out from full forward and just being a big beast in general.

Well done to all concerned on an excellent achievement of back to back promtions - We would have taken your arm off for such a scenario at the beginning of last season and to clinch it with a game to spare really is a fantastic result so well done to all the players and staff.

I am not going to be overly critical of yesterday, it was one of our poorer performances in the league campaign but hey, we still dug it out when it looked like we would be turned over. Nearly everyone around me feared the worst when Clare nipped ahead near the end but anyone who has watched this team develop this year has seen an improvement in steeliness and patience. Im delighted that yet again, in adversity the team stood up and pushed it home

That was not an easy game, we should never have expected it to be. Its been nip and tuck between us and Clare and we must remember that if they won they would have been well in the promotion hunt, there was a lot at stake for them. It was never going to be a case of turning up for a promotion party. Clare are a well drilled, well organised and skilful side who will cause many teams problems. I wouldn't be surprised to see them challenge for a place in the last 8 again this year.

Couple of observations:

- No one can deny the improvement in our skill levels and decision making this year - You can hear the lads calling "not yet" and "room to break" at different stages, really good stuff. However yesterday I felt we were slightly over possessive with the ball and failed to mix up our play enough like we had done for most of the campaign. Too many times we burst forward then stopped, rather than feeding kicked ball through the channels. Perhaps it was due to a missing full forward line

- Frees, apart from 1 blip Kevin Feely has been flawless on the frees for the past two weeks. Oozes confidence. Will Neil Flynn be back on them when he returns. If not, his place is under pressure. It does increase our reliance on Feely however.

- Pitch. Near perfect day in Conleths but I just get the feeling the pitch is too tight and really does not suit our game. Was deflighted to get out with the win yesterday but the renovations cant start quick enough.

- Keeper, a poor effort to stop the goal. The two goals conceded in the league were arguably down to his weakness under the high ball. However, he has been outstanding and certainly saved us from at least 5 other goals in the campaign. Also, his kick outs are top class. No complaints from me, the high ball issue can be worked on and improved upon.

- Fans - We can be an impatient bunch... Yesterday was one of the biggest crowds of the year and there were a lot of "first timers" back on the campaign yesterday. It was very frustrating to hear the moaning and groaning and "same old Kildare " comments when things weren't quite firing. Anyone that has followed them this year can see the huge progress made and we must remember they are still a young side with tonnes of potential. A little bit more encouragement , support would go a long way I feel. As tough as it was at times, we still did win yesterday...

Loads of other points to make but overall what a great achievement. Delighted this morning. Cill Dara Abu and well done Cian and all the lads.

bigball wrote:

league final and next week v galway are an irrelevant. all about first round of championship now. hopefully d flynn and n flynn back fully fit by then

Couldn't disagree more.. win in Galway please, keep confidence growing.. league final win would be great for all, including us starved of it in the stands.. be nice to have a bit of silverware again.. aswell as keeping the momentum going.

We should be trying to win the next 2 games. We got complacent at the same stage last year and lost 2 games we should have won. Plenty of time to be worrying about the first round of Leinster after the league is finished.
We cant really afford any more injuries as our bench doesn't look particularly strong. Its hard to see who would replace Feely, Doyle or Hyland off the bench. It would be a case of taking players out of other positions that they are currently doing well in, Conway would be an obvious choice to move to midfield or centreback. He is playing really well in his current role and was one of our better players yesterday.
Has anyone got a list of the full panel?

SeamusMurphy wrote:

bigball wrote:

league final and next week v galway are an irrelevant. all about first round of championship now. hopefully d flynn and n flynn back fully fit by then

Couldn't disagree more.. win in Galway please, keep confidence growing.. league final win would be great for all, including us starved of it in the stands.. be nice to have a bit of silverware again.. aswell as keeping  the  momentum going.

Absolutely agree - won't get a better challenge ahead of the championship than a Galway team that's on fire, in their own backyard and needing a point for promotion after 7 years outside the top flight. Plus we haven't beaten the fwckers since 1985 at any level of football. Owe them..

Well done to all the management and players a great achievement with a game to spare.
We are very hard to please us supporters, i'm taking a lot of negativity out of a lot of the posts here, can anyone tell me where a team plays the perfect game never, there is always something to work on for the next day and thats the way i would prefer it be it tighten up in the backs passing better etc.
After last year I didnt think O Neill had it but fair play to him. its a slow process building a team to compete and being back in the top division will help this team no end.

Galway 1/4. Kildare 7/2. Draw 10/1.
How sweet would it be to deny them promotion.. then beat meath in croker in the league final.

Match report : posting from phone so probably won't work but God loves a trier

http://kildaregaa365.com/index.php/job-done-cribbin-steers-kildare-to-div-one-kildare-0-18-clare-1-14/

Good job 365.

SeamusMurphy wrote:

Galway 1/4. Kildare 7/2. Draw 10/1.
How sweet would it be to deny them promotion.. then beat meath in croker in the league final.

Clare need a draw or win against Meath to make sure of Division 2 football next year

SeamusMurphy wrote:

Good job 365.

Curious if anyone disagrees that the starting line up looks almost guaranteed for the championship. Assuming the two Flynns are fit it looks like a very settled 15 with McCormack joining them on the inside line.

fone wrote:

SeamusMurphy wrote:

Galway 1/4. Kildare 7/2. Draw 10/1.
How sweet would it be to deny them promotion.. then beat meath in croker in the league final.

Clare need a draw or win against Meath to make sure of Division 2 football next year

I'd fancy Clare to beat Meath. If the Royals do emerge from Ennis with a win it's another good sign for Leinster football though. McEntee seems to have them moving in the right direction after that awful start against us.

kildaregaa365 wrote:

SeamusMurphy wrote:

Good job 365.

Curious if anyone disagrees that the starting line up looks almost guaranteed for the championship. Assuming the two Flynns are fit it looks like a very settled 15 with McCormack joining them on the inside line.

the team that started against Meath and cork is championship team

It does look like it's (team) a given once all are fit.
League final fixed for April 9th.

Yep wouldn't disagree on that the side (barring injury) picks itself. I would wonder if N Flynns place would be under threat given how successful Feely has been on the frees. But as things stand, no changes

Great win yesterday. Yes, we were vulnerable when they ran at us and the other caveats, but I'd much rather work on them with the promotion in the bag.

It's interesting with the other two sides in contention... Personally I think Galway have a lot more to recommend them. I'm not really convinced by Meath at all, think they're paying the price for years of neglect at underage. Yes, they battle hard under McEntee – the minimum requirement for any county team, let's be honest – but I still think they lack quality in midfield and upfront. Having said that, if they do beat Clare in their back yard, it's a fair achievement. I also have no doubt if we did meet in a Leinster semi, they'd tear into us.

That's all a good bit down the road though. Looking forward to the league final in Croker in a couple of weeks… Christ it's nice to be able to write such sentences again.

kildaregaa365 wrote:

SeamusMurphy wrote:

Good job 365.

Curious if anyone disagrees that the starting line up looks almost guaranteed for the championship. Assuming the two Flynns are fit it looks like a very settled 15 with McCormack joining them on the inside line.

Unless it goes totally pear-shaped in the last couple of games – not beyond the bounds of possibility given the history of Kildare football – it looks like a done deal. We do need to shore it up at the back though, definitely. Think we need to work on the midfielders and wing forwards getting back and putting serious pressure on the ball, plus the actual defence holding a better shape.

Eoin Doyle putting out fires all over the shop yesterday but he's not always going to be able to act as the cavalry single-handed. Would say yesterday was a serious warning shot on the defensive front, you could really see it unravelling unless the system is improved.

Strength in depth is still a worry come the hard ground matches when the game becomes a 20 man job.. but that's for another day.

I wasn't digging at Doyle there BTW in my post. As was said he is called into to put out fires so he tends to be deeper than 6, so we do need someone from midfield to just sit there when it's needed.
Daryl Flynn was a great man for that in fairness to him and Moolick or Conway's bulk would fill a hole nicely.

Speaking of Conway I think he is looking great in terms of strength on the ball, work rate and an ability to take it into contact.

Feely to my memory got a black card v Cork. Would be suspended for Salthill. Anyone clarify?

umpireonditch wrote:

Feely to my memory got a black card v Cork. Would be suspended for Salthill. Anyone clarify?

he black card in cork game

Thought it was three black cards over the course of league and championship. Which is still a bad place to be as one more and he gets a one match suspension in the summer when he's needed the most.

Cian O'Neill interview on RTE podcast - see link below - he starts at around 24 mins

http://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/2017/0327/862997-cian-oneill/

Double yellow in league final last year plus two black cards this year could equal a one game suspension for Feely. I think it is 3 within 48 weeks that equal a suspension, not a bad game to miss if he does happen to be suspended!!