LSFC Semi-finals: Meath v Wexford / Dublin v Kildare

Just An Opinion

Thought I'd start a thread on this Sunday's double header. Might as well have it a four way thread considering the two winners contest the final two weeks later. So a double header match thread makes sense.

It has been a pretty dull championship so far across all provinces, but I feel we will have two nice battles on our hands this weekend.

Personally I feel Meath v Wexford will go to the wire and be a 2 point margin for the Royals. Slightly favouring a Meath win with Gillespie and Meade dominating the middle and Reilly continuing his fine form from the last day in Aughrim.

The second game I also see a tight game until the final third/quarter where a strong Dublin bench will be the difference in a 4 point win. Definitely don't see a repeat of the league encounter.

Meath v Dublin final for a 2nd year running!

Dirty Dingus McGee

Wexford Kildare final hopefully.It would liven up the championship.The GAA probably want a Dublin Meath final though.

bruschi

Having seen both Meath and Wexfords midfield in action, I'd be very very surprised if Meath outperform here on Sunday. Wicklow ran them ragged through the middle, and Wexford completely dominated Louths midfield pairing. I too think it will be close, and Wexford will need a much better showing from their forward line than the last day which was very poor. Meath have great strength in depth on their bench which Wexford dont have, so if it is close going into the last quarter, I can see Meath finishing stronger and nicking it. But if we click up front, and the midfield plays as well as it can, then I think we can do it. In short, I'm sitting on the fence.

I think Dublin will beat Kildare.

Lemlin

A feast of football this weekend for me with the Cavan game in Clones Saturday evening and then I'm attending these matches Sunday.

I actually reckon Meath vs Wexford could be the pick of the two games. Two high scoring teams who will go for it from the off. I expect Meath to win.

Wicklow caused them some difficulties but Aughrim is a tough place to go and I thought the result was never in doubt.

To Alcohol

Fancy Wexford in the 1st match. Think man for man they're a little better than Meath. Not a lot in it but Wexford have some very bright forwards.

I don't know what to make of Kildare right now. They made Offaly look half decent but at the same time I don't think the game was ever in doubt. Just did enough to get over the line. They looked to be a team that was either spent or only going at about 80% throttle. Just not sure which one just yet. Dublin have been very impressive this year so far. Seem to have been very focussed throughout the league and have gone in with the ploy of maximum effort for every game to build an unstoppable momentum. Kildare's ploy may have been to come out of the blocks early and secure Div 1 status. After that the real focus was this match. If this is the case and they've planned it that well we could be in for a very tight match. Dublin may well get a sterner test than they might have been expecting. Anything could happen here. Could be the Dubs by 8 points or so or a 1-2 point game either way.

DoctaDee

Talk about the calm before the storm - the Dublin Discussion thread lies on page 2 and the Kildare thread has near enough been cast away on page 3, 5 days before the match. It's probably an indicator to peoples feelings of the elephant in the room and a reluctance to make any outlandish predictions only to be caned for it later on here ... Dublin by 12 points :pac:

klairondavis

Kildare will present a greater challenge to Dublin than Westmeath did but it's unlikely to be enough to get us a result. We're relying on a lot of young and inexperienced players so it's likely to be too big of an ask at this stage of their development. The news this morning that Ollie Lyons is out injured is a big negative because he has carried out a good man marking job on Bernard Brogan in the past.

My prediction would be Dublin by 7 but Kildare to regroup in the qualifiers with a favourable draw.

Red Crow

This is probably the first Kildare v Dublin fixture in the last 2-3 years where there is little anticipation of Kildare being able to turn over Dublin from within Kildare. There is very little hype around Kildare this year. There is little pressure on the panel this year and that may work for them.

On paper I'd have Dublin to win by 2-4 points but I think Kildare might just win this one. They need a big performance becuase I've a feeling this could be the last year under this management team if Kildare can't shake off the poor performances in the later stages of the Championship.

Although if Kildare kick the ball out like they did against Tyrone in the league semi final then Dublin will batter them. Some really poor kicking from the keeper has been a real problem for Kildare.

aidan24326

What sort of a crowd are they expecting on Sunday? 50,000 maybe? More?

I hope it's two good games anyway as the championship has been very poor so far.

Lemlin

klairondavis wrote: »

Kildare will present a greater challenge to Dublin than Westmeath did but it's unlikely to be enough to get us a result. We're relying on a lot of young and inexperienced players so it's likely to be too big of an ask at this stage of their development. The news this morning that Ollie Lyons is out injured is a big negative because he has carried out a good man marking job on Bernard Brogan in the past.

My prediction would be Dublin by 7 but Kildare to regroup in the qualifiers with a favourable draw.

What new Kildare players should I be watching out for klairondavis? I was at three games of yours last year (two x Meath, one x Cavan) so would be interested in keeping an eye on the new additions and seeing what difference they are making.

Hammer Archer

Watching my first Meath game live on TV on Sunday since the 2000 league final replay against Derry (and that was only because I got stuck in traffic on the way to that game). Gonna be a weird experience.

I'm always worried any time we play Wexford. By all accounts, their midfield dominated Louth a few weeks back and that is our usual weakest link. I think both team's strengths are in the forwards. Wexford's full forward line of Lyng, Barry and Banville is exceptional and if we give too many frees away inside the 45, we can expect Brosnan to punish us. For us, Graham Reilly and Eamonn Wallace both had excellent games against Wicklow (Wallace especially has improved since the league). Newman was also pretty decent and we had the likes of Joe Sheridan and Paddy Gilsenan waiting on the bench.

I would hesitate to say that our defenders are slightly better than Wexford's, though our half backs weren't really at the races at times in the first half against Wicklow. But to be honest, I don't know enough about their defence to be confident in that. To win, I think we'll have to get goals, and probably more than one. I'm not so sure that'll happen unfortunately. Whoever wins, I can see it being a high scoring game and I'd be surprised if there's much more than a score between us at the end.

As for the other game, while Kildare have the advantage of there being no hype whatsoever about their Leinster semi final (unlike the last two seasons), I can't see Dublin not winning this with a bit to spare. I'm going to say it'll be a Wexford v Dublin Leinster final.

klairondavis

Lemlin wrote: »

What new Kildare players should I be watching out for klairondavis? I was at three games of yours last year (two x Meath, one x Cavan) so would be interested in keeping an eye on the new additions and seeing what difference they are making.

Niall Kelly and Paul Cribbin in the half forwards and Dan Flynn at midfield would be the obvious trio to look out for although the latter is likely to be lost to Aussie Rules once Kildare go out.

It's possible that a few more younger players will feature. Paddy Brophy and Mark Donnellan both started against Offaly and they may or may not retain their places. Sean Hurley is back on the panel after a brief suspension and there's every chance David Hyland will start now that Lyons is out.

castletownman

Hammer Archer wrote: »

Watching my first Meath game live on TV on Sunday since the 2000 league final replay against Derry (and that was only because I got stuck in traffic on the way to that game). Gonna be a weird experience.

I'm always worried any time we play Wexford. By all accounts, their midfield dominated Louth a few weeks back and that is our usual weakest link. I think both team's strengths are in the forwards. Wexford's full forward line of Lyng, Barry and Banville is exceptional and if we give too many frees away inside the 45, we can expect Brosnan to punish us. For us, Graham Reilly and Eamonn Wallace both had excellent games against Wicklow (Wallace especially has improved since the league). Newman was also pretty decent and we had the likes of Joe Sheridan and Paddy Gilsenan waiting on the bench.

I would hesitate to say that our defenders are slightly better than Wexford's, though our half backs weren't really at the races at times in the first half against Wicklow. But to be honest, I don't know enough about their defence to be confident in that. To win, I think we'll have to get goals, and probably more than one. I'm not so sure that'll happen unfortunately. Whoever wins, I can see it being a high scoring game and I'd be surprised if there's much more than a score between us at the end.

As for the other game, while Kildare have the advantage of there being no hype whatsoever about their Leinster semi final (unlike the last two seasons), I can't see Dublin not winning this with a bit to spare. I'm going to say it'll be a Wexford v Dublin Leinster final.

Graeme Molloy (who is usually a pillar of consistency) aside, keep an eye out for young Michael Furlong. Due to make his first start in Croker and is a tight, determined man marker, and has been a breath of fresh air to what looked like a somewhat beleagured defence in recent years. Played well on his championship debut the last day, and is one of the graduates of the under-21 team that won Leinster in 2011. Flynn and particularly Malone are good ball carriers but are culpable at times in defence.

Should be a belter of a match though, and as a loyal Wexford football supporter I go up to Croker with happy memories of the last two times we played Meath in the Championship, namely Matty Forde's 12 points against them in 2006 (I think) and that unbelievable comeback in Carlow in 2008

As was mentioned earlier, it should be a scorefest. But this Wexford team have garnered so much experience of playing in Croker, the likes of Red Barry and Brosnan really excel in the wide open spaces of the big stage, that I think hope they will have just that little bit too much "cuteness" for the Royals and advance to their third Leinster final since 2008.

copacetic

aidan24326 wrote: »

What sort of a crowd are they expecting on Sunday? 50,000 maybe? More?

I hope it's two good games anyway as the championship has been very poor so far.

Prob nothing like that. The same games got that a couple of years ago, but that was based on them being more competive, their is quite an assumption on both sides of both games of how they will go which will probably drop crowd back to 35 or 40.

bruschi

copacetic wrote: »

Prob nothing like that. The same games got that a couple of years ago, but that was based on them being more competive, their is quite an assumption on both sides of both games of how they will go which will probably drop crowd back to 35 or 40.

really? whats the assumption on the Wexford Meath game? As all I can see is that most people think its 50-50, even the bookies can barely split them.

and as much as I can see Dublin beating Kildare, I think Kildare are a better side than last year, and wouldnt be surprised to see them pull off a shock.

Fiery biscuits

In terms of Wicklow and Meath, in my opinion Wexford are the favourites.

Midfield: Wexford completely dominated Louth in midfield the last day and any midfield that dominates one with Paddy Keenan in it, hasn`t had a bad day at the office. In contrast, Meath`s midfield pairing never would inspire confidence in me and all Meath supporters would admit that it probably the area most lacking in the current team.

Forwards and defence: Both teams are well stocked with forwards in fairness and the open spaces of Croker should suit both sets. Biggy Reilly is an absolute star and I would be amazed if he is kept scoreless. If Wexford can keep him to 0-2 it would be an achievement. Similarly Eamonn Wallace will be well suited to the Croke Park pitch with his speed. Stephen Bray is due a big game and this could be the weekend. On the other hand, Wexford have some great forwards also. Ben Brosnan is a weapon from frees and Red Barry is a fine player who always shows his abilities in Croker.

This brings me on to the defence and I don`t think either defences are tight at all. Meath`s defence wasn`t exactly watertight against an average enough Wicklow attack. Similarily, despite dominating Louth at midfield, Wexford conceeded a lot of scores. Whichever team can tighten up their defence will probably prevail but it remains to be seen whether it is possible to do so in such a short time.

All things considered, if I was a betting man I would go for Wexford by two or three. On paper, they are likely to win the midfield battle and their forward line of lyng, banville and barry are experienced campaigners with pedigree and therefore I think this will get them over the line. I think it will be close!

Dublin and Kildare will not be as close in my opinion. In recent years Kildare have huffed and puffed but never got over the line and I don`t see anything to suggest this won`t happen this year. Kildare have some good young players coming up like Kelly but Dublin have them in the same abundance and more..Costello, Kilkenny, Rock, Mc Caffery. I reckon the game could be close enough for 50 minutes but the Dubs will pull away. Unless Dublin have an off day (including their subs) and Kildare play to their fullest potential, I can`t see Kildare winning this one (eventhough it would refreshing to have a new Leinster winner).