Kildare GAA General Discussion Thread

klairondavis

Kildare team v Longford:

1. Shane Connolly (St Laurence's)
2. Mick O'Grady (Celbridge)
3. Mick Foley (Athy)
4. Joe Kinahan (Athy)
5. Kevin Murnaghan (Moorefield)
6. Fergal Conway (Celbridge)
7. Paul Cribbin (Johnstownbridge)
8. Gary White (Sarsfields)
9. Thomas Moolick (Leixlip)
10. Conor Canning (Maynooth)
11. Eoghan O'Flaherty (Carbury)
12. Cathal McNally (Johnstownbridge)
13. Rob Kelly (Straffan)
14. Darroch Mulhall (Athy)
15. Pádraig Ó Fógartaigh (St Laurence's)

klairondavis

Conor Murphy and Robbie Dunne replace Darroch Mulhall and Rob Kelly.

BNMC

You at the game? Only in from work myself so couldn't make the trip.

Disappointing to see Mulhall on the bench (or maybe an injury?).

Frankie Lee

BNMC wrote: »

You at the game? Only in from work myself so couldn't make the trip.

Disappointing to see Mulhall on the bench (or maybe an injury?).

I reckon Mulhall and Tiernan have probably played their ways onto the panel already and others are getting a chance.

1-11 to 2 points up at half time, may wait till the later stages of the O'Byrne cup to get a competitive game.

klairondavis

BNMC wrote: »

You at the game? Only in from work myself so couldn't make the trip.

Disappointing to see Mulhall on the bench (or maybe an injury?).

I was working up in Sligo today so I said I'd take this in on the way home.

Kildare well ahead of a poor Longford outfit so far. 1-11 to 0-2 at half time. Fogarty with the goal. First score of the match.

BNMC

Frankie Lee wrote: »

I reckon Mulhall and Tiernan have probably played their ways onto the panel already and others are getting a chance.

Probably right, you could throw Tyrell in there too.

klairondavis

There's a challenge match against Waterford next week and the panel for the league will be picked after that.

klairondavis

Facile win by over 20 points in the end. Poor opposition but some very good scoring by Kildare. Mikey Conway and Mulhall got second half goals. O'Flaherty continuing his good form from last season.

BNMC

Great scoring.

I see Athlone IT beat Carlow by 5 points. Looks like there'll be another massacre on Sunday.

roy rodgers

BNMC wrote: »

Probably right, you could throw Tyrell in there too.

Now thats just your moorefieldness coming out in you. :-D

BNMC

roy rodgers wrote: »

Now thats just your moorefieldness coming out in you. :-D

Nope, I'm not a Moorefield man. Far from it actually. Those big town clubs do nothing for me, I'm from a small club out in the sticks.

iDave

Thats some scoring by Kildare

StupidLikeAFox

Jesus, another massive win for us, can anybody stop this Kildare juggernaut?? :pac:

full_irish

StupidLikeAFox wrote: »

Jesus, another massive win for us, can anybody stop this Kildare juggernaut?? :pac:

Good to see that hype and expectation has been tapered down this year :pac:

StupidLikeAFox

full_irish wrote: »

Good to see that hype and expectation has been tapered down this year :pac:

ha, the tongue was firmly in cheek - one can only dream!

klairondavis

Kildare team v Carlow

1. Shane Connolly (St Laurence's)
2. Michael Konstantin (Celbridge)
3. Seán Campbell (Sarsfields)
4. Ciarán Fitzpatrick (Kilcock)
5. Emmet Bolton (Eadestown)
6. Ollie Lyons (Celbridge)
7. Willie Groome (Carbury)
8. Seán Hurley (Johnstownbridge)
9. Hugh Lynch (Confey)
10. Conor Canning (Maynooth)
11. Robbie Dunne (Clane)
12. Adam Tyrrell (Moorefield)
13. Mikey Conway (Nurney)
14. Rob Kelly (Straffan)
15. Seámus Hanafin (Ballyteague)

BNMC

Interesting team. The forward line looks a bit lightweight. Great to see Fitzpatrick back, he's a very good defender, I was disappointed when he left the panel in 2012.

Expect another cricket score against Carlow.

klairondavis

Canning, Dunne, Kelly and Hanafin are all fairly strongly built. Forward line probably lacking in a bit of pace apart from Tyrrell. It's not a problem at this time of year but might hinder some of these lads chances of still being there in the summer. I would agree about Fitzpatrick. It would be no surprise to see him switch with Lyons to see if he could do a job at centre back.

roy rodgers

interesting set up see carl lewis himself is wearing the no 6 jersey good to see him back. hope sean campbell has a good game but thats because i know him but i reckon he is not a inter county player he just missing something.
happy to try that midfield, good strong lads.
but i say this could be the last throw of the dice for mickey conway and rob kelly, them boys peaked about 4 year ago and rob it looking over weight to me. as for connolly still in goals? surely we have a better goal keeper out there. he has being terrible as last few seasons for kildare and even last sunday he was doing more dancing at the ball or kicking it over the sideline in the second half, if he is doing that with the likes of the dubs! forget about winning the o byrne cup.

BNMC

Hard to disagree with any of that roy. Injuries have decimated Conway's career. He is the most naturally gifted footballer I have ever watched. He still possesses a magic left peg but his pace is a huge problem. He was never the paciest of players but the CL injuries have slowed him down even more. It's a pity. He's only 27/28 so maybe he will comeback into contention at some point.

Was never a fan of Rob Kelly's myself, he had a great start to his Kildare career but has gotten progressively worse over time. He fell out with his club a while back and refused to play with them at times. Maybe it all went to his head?

Connolly's an average keeper but to be honest but there's not many great keepers floating around the club scene in Kildare.

Looking forward to seeing Séan Hurley again this year, he has huge potential.

klairondavis

The only thing that lets Connolly down is his kickouts. He is a good shot-stopper and is very solid under the high ball. Donnellan probably has a better kickout but he doesn't come close to Connolly in the other two categories. I think McCormack is back on the panel as understudy to the two lads and he has been playing outfield for Allenwood over the last few years. That says a lot about the quality of keeper in the county. McNamara from Celbridge who will be the under 21 keeper this year is a good prospect.

Rob Kelly is also one of the strength and conditioning coaches to the team now. I would have seen him quite a bit at junior and intermediate level. He never really got an extended run of games in his best position which was at full forward. He is a good ball winner and can kick accurately off both feet. He was never as good out the field which is where he found himself most of the time for Kildare. Similarly to what BNMC says about Conway, Kelly was probably not the same player when he returned after doing his cruciate. Poor Conway is a shadow of the player that he was pre 2009. All credit to the lad for coming back after two years out but he will never scale those heights again.

roy rodgers

I know credit to the likes of conway and kelly it was horrific injuries that they came back from but at the end of the day they are using up game time to blood new players. we all had our day but some times we have to accept that we are just not good enough at a level..
as for connolly, yeah he is a good ball stopper but he shouldnt be stopping balls going in that far thats the backs problem. you dont see the like of cluxton or murphy stopping to many shots on target maybe one or two a match as there backs are well organized but their kick outs is what wins matches and we are so sh1t at that..
fair play to ryan for giving all these a chance to prove themselfs but i just hope he picks the best and dont be hanging on to past credits that some fellas are still carrying.

just wondering, smithy hasnt played a game yet is he injured or has he left the panel???
I should know this but i actually dont rate him as a county player for the last two years now:o
you have to be ruthless sometimes

DARK-KNIGHT

Oqne player i miss is andrew mcloughlin.. fantastic player imo

Frankie Lee

DARK-KNIGHT wrote: »

Oqne player i miss is andrew mcloughlin.. fantastic player imo

McLoughlin won't return or get another call up, he gave enough years service to Kildare anyway. At his peak in Kildare's dark years he was one of the best corner backs in the country.
Despite having lost a yard of pace he would have been a good option to have last season when Kildare were struggling big time in defence.

klairondavis

Smith had an operation before Christmas. He's one of a number of more established players who will be under big pressure to get a place this year. Like a lot of Kildare forwards he has plenty of talent (top scorer from play in the 2009 championship), but too often he will go missing when he's needed. Pure confidence player. If he kicks a point or two early on and he could take a defence apart. If he kicks an early wide the head can drop very quickly these days. Nothing seemed to go right for him in the county final last year.

I'm not sure McLoughlin would cope too well with the new black card rule! Top man though. Ellistown were flying high during the middle of the last decade.

Frankie Lee

klairondavis wrote: »

I'm not sure McLoughlin would cope too well with the new black card rule! Top man though. Ellistown were flying high during the middle of the last decade.

It will be a long time before they ever get a group of players like that at their peak again. 2004 was their best chance of winning a county title but they bottled it in the semi final against Laurence's.
That generation also produced Mullarkey and Munster rugby player Johne Murphy who were both massive losses at the time. While a few others in Towers 03 championship winning team played for Ellistown underage at some stage.

Frankie Lee

Under 21's down 8 points to 2 at half time against Roscommon.

Frankie Lee

11-2 down now, looks like they will be taking a hammering, on the bright side it is January and they should learn from it.

klairondavis

I heard that they weren't at full strength. Brophy and Hyland only played a half each and Kelly is to come back in. Have to say though that it's unlikely this group will go as far as last year's team.

roy rodgers

anyone have the final score??