Kilkenny GAA Thread Part 2 **MOD NOTE POST 1***

Village87

greenspurs wrote: »

..... in a nearly development squad.

Rebuilding etc, so I don't see the panic or rush yet.
It would be great to start winning but I guess its all about blooding the untried, and hoping some will shine.

Still there is a lot of the more established names playing. Eoin Murphy, Holden Buckley,Wally Walsh, Fogarty, Padraig Walsh, Joe Lyng. So i would not really use the word "Development". Of the players absent TJ, Riche, Colin Fennelly, Paul Murphy, there all 29, 30 at this stage so form and consistency, injuries is a big question mark over them. Kilkenny are more or less playing a strong a hand at present. Losing 60%/70% of your matches over the last 2 years and a losing mentality creeping in is not ideal for the current squad of younger players

greenspurs

If the 7 you named were playing, that leaves 8 "less" established players playing. I would not consider that a strong hand !
Ok you disagree with me using "development" , as in the players are developing,
but you end the post by saying "current squad of younger players" ...

brookville

Tom aylward is recovered from injury I wonder could we see him sunday?wouldn't be worst game to throw him in full back definitely good as rob lennon and deserves a run.

citykat

brookville wrote: »

Tom aylward is recovered from injury I wonder could we see him sunday?wouldn't be worst game to throw him in full back definitely good as rob lennon and deserves a run.

You could put one of Duggans mannequins in full back against the Blaas. At most, there'll be one blaa marking our entire full back line.

tbiggertycome

greenspurs wrote: »

If the 7 you named were playing, that leaves 8 "less" established players playing. I would not consider that a strong hand !
Ok you disagree with me using "development" , as in the players are developing,
but you end the post by saying "current squad of younger players" ...

100% agree with you. If you look at the lads who played in our league matches so far this year in terms of their experience at Senior intercounty level it's well short of what we have been used to and as a consequence so have the results.

I'm categorising them as follows
Veteran- Has played lots of Inter county games and showed be well prepared for whats thrown at him
Experienced- Has played a decent bit of intercounty but probably has got a consistent run but should know what he will be facing
Junior- Has played a limited amount of league and championship games and is still figuring it out.
Novice- first year or first time to get games at this level.
Also listed how many minutes they've played so far this league.

Eoin Murphy- Veteran-8th year -140mins
Joey Holden- Veteran-5th year -140mins
Padraig Walsh- Veteran-7th year -140mins
Paddy Deegan- Junior-2nd year -140mins
Conor O'Shea- Experienced-3rd year-96mins
Joe Lyng- Junior-5th year -89mins - no championship starts and very few league starts either
Cillian Buckley- Veteran-7th year -134mins
Conor Fogarty- Veteran-8th year -70mins
James Maher- Junior- 3rd year -127mins
Martin Keoghan- Novice-1st year -86mins
Richie Reid- Junior-4th year -96mins -on the panel a while but first starts in the league out field
Pat Lyng- Junior-2nd year -114mins -missed games due to injury, got little time
Alan Murphy- Novice-1st year -119mins
Walter Walsh- Veteran-7th year -140mins
Conor Martin- Junior-3rd year -42mins -(I think he's there 3 years) with very few starts
TJ Reid- Veteran- 12th year - 28mins
John Donnelly- Novice-1st year -90mins
Liam Blanchfield- Junior-3rd year -29mins
Richie Leahy- Junior-2nd year -83mins -had little game time last year due to injury
Enda Morrissey- Novice-1st year -57mins
Robert Lennon- Experienced-4th year -44mins
Ollie Walsh- Junior-2nd year -26mins
Bill Sheehan- Novice-1st year -70mins

So out of 23 players we've seen in the league we had (according to my judgement/ranking system)
7 Veterans = 30%
2 Experienced = 8.7%
9 Junior = 39%
5 Novice = 21.7%

in terms of minutes played that's 2100 mins (i'm just counting the games as 70mins)
Veterans played 792mins or 37.7%
Experienced played 140mins or 6.7%
Junior played 746mins or 35.5%
Novice played 422mins or 20.1%

For me having 55.6% of time played for us by inexperienced/new to intercounty players is huge. I would say up to a few years ago that percentage would have been about 20% of time played by junior or novice players.

For me it's a positive that so many lads are getting a run out, it's about time. Up to now lads would have been slotted into a settled team and asked to preform with strong, experienced players to back them up. I would give most of our lads who've played so far this year a lot of time as they're dealing with a completely different kettle of fish than any Kilkenny hurler, has probably had to deal with since the mid 90's. I think the more game time they get the better. I think over the next year or two these guys will really drive on and be challenging again. I would have liked to see Cody try more players over the last two years in the league but he didn't. I would also still like to see him give more lads a shot in defence. The only back to get his first game for the county so far is Enda Morrissey and he's done well. I would love to see the likes of Conor Delaney, Tom Aylward, Steve Staunton, Tommy Walsh and few others get a go.

tbiggertycome

KIlkenny vs Waterford
E Murphy
J Holden P Walsh P Deegan
C Delaney C Buckley (Capt) E Morrissey
R Leahy C o Shea
M Keoghan TJ Reid P Lyng
B Ryan W Walsh J Donnelly
Subs
D Brennan
J Lyng
C Browne
L Ryan
J Maher
R Reid
C Martin
B Sheehan
A Murphy
L Blanchfield
L Scanlon

JJs Left Hand

Conor Delaney to full back, O' Shea to wing back, PW to midfield. *crosses fingers*

brookville

Happy with the team.great to see delaney and ryan getting a run.His being very firm with the full back line it's the only line not being changed in the last few matches.Thought richie reid would of held on but happy to see the changes.

Garyp88

Everyone writing us off I'm pleased he's making lots of changes should have a better understanding of who he wants for the summer would like to see more of sheehan and pleased scanlons back. If you take the potential of the young lads and then the experienced ones, plus the lads to come back from overseas/injuries the panel looks decent

brookville

Garyp88 wrote: »

Everyone writing us off I'm pleased he's making lots of changes should have a better understanding of who he wants for the summer would like to see more of sheehan and pleased scanlons back. If you take the potential of the young lads and then the experienced ones, plus the lads to come back from overseas/injuries the panel looks decent

Six of last year's under 21 panel starting and four in the forwards. 2 forwards and midfielder underage this year hopefully it bodes well for the future.Still no sign of Ger alyward or john walsh and bolger haven't being seen in a while

babyjesus14

JJs Left Hand wrote: »

Conor Delaney to full back, O' Shea to wing back, PW to midfield. *crosses fingers*

Like that's going to happen. This is the fourth consecutive game he has picked the same full back line so bar a major meltdown I think we can safely assume this is BC's idea of our full back line for the Championship. Glad to see Leahy, Keoghan and Donnelly getting valuable game time and Delaney ( seeing as himself and Donnelly won't be available for the Tipp match) and Ryan getting their first Senior competitive run out.

brookville

Heard bc saying Conor fogarty still has a virus and ger alyward has being going very well and will be back soon,richie is working very hard and his confident he'll be OK but they have to be sensible with him.
On paper Waterford look to have a much stronger team than us and will be expecting the win at home.4 of our fowards have very little experience at this level but I'm happy enough with the 4 lads lyng and mossy have being good and billy ryan has come from no where so he must of being going well while donnelly was good during the week.
Bill sheehan or Murphy would of struggled tomorrow against the Waterford full back line in a wet Walsh park.Billy ryan has pace and good in the air the only thing is his hot and cold and his better half foward running towards the goal although he was excellent full foward in the u21 Leinster final last year he caused havoc in the air.
Morrisey deserves a start after a few good showings maybe he could be better in the air but his a good hurler.

Kkman00

brookville wrote: »

Heard bc saying Conor fogarty still has a virus and ger alyward has being going very well and will be back soon,richie is working very hard and his confident he'll be OK but they have to be sensible with him.
On paper Waterford look to have a much stronger team than us and will be expecting the win at home.4 of our fowards have very little experience at this level but I'm happy enough with the 4 lads lyng and mossy have being good and billy ryan has come from no where so he must of being going well while donnelly was good during the week.
Bill sheehan or Murphy would of struggled tomorrow against the Waterford full back line in a wet Walsh park.Billy ryan has pace and good in the air the only thing is his hot and cold and his better half foward running towards the goal although he was excellent full foward in the u21 Leinster final last year he caused havoc in the air.
Morrisey deserves a start after a few good showings maybe he could be better in the air but his a good hurler.

Disagree with you on morrisey not the biggest man but when I've seen him at club level he's caught plenty of high ball and is quite good in the air

Powerhouse

Garyp88 wrote: »

Everyone writing us off

That must have been some opinion survey you took if you managed to speak to everyone. Tomorrow's game is a very likely win for Kilkenny as they are playing a team that has lost by the two highest margins by some distance in the division. Not sure many are writing Kilkenny off for this game anyway.

brookville

I wouldn't say tomorrow's game is a very likely win,waterford have beaten us the last 3 times and have a much stronger team than us out.they played a b team the last day and were poor against wexford the first day id expect kk to fight hard but we'll do well to win it

Realt Dearg Sec

Powerhouse wrote: »

Garyp88 wrote: »

Everyone writing us off

That must have been some opinion survey you took if you managed to speak to everyone. Tomorrow's game is a very likely win for Kilkenny as they are playing a team that has lost by the two highest margins by some distance in the division. Not sure many are writing Kilkenny off for this game anyway.

I don't know if people are writing them off but it's not a likely win. In our current shape, and in this division, we have no likely wins to be honest.

usualstripes

Realt Dearg Sec wrote: »

I don't know if people are writing them off but it's not a likely win. In our current shape, and in this division, we have no likely wins to be honest.

The way things stand each game is up for grabs but we are not red hot favourites by any means but we really need a win to try to get some momentum going. A win today would give the lads a shot in the arm for the last two fixtures v tipp and wexford. Pitch will be heavy again today but hopefully we can create some good goal scoring opportunities and convert them.

brookville

We got a good performance against cork for 68 mins and 50 mins against clare but today we need to try get the win.
It's going to be very difficult to try get the win but if we do it'll set us up nicely for the last 2 matches.best of luck to the lads today it won't be easy play on that surface but it'll be the same for both teams.he'll probably try use conor o shea as a defensive midfielder and leahy going forward.

usualstripes

brookville wrote: »

We got a good performance against cork for 68 mins and 50 mins against clare but today we need to try get the win.
It's going to be very difficult to try get the win but if we do it'll set us up nicely for the last 2 matches.best of luck to the lads today it won't be easy play on that surface but it'll be the same for both teams.he'll probably try use conor o shea as a defensive midfielder and leahy going forward.

Great to see Lester starting. Don't know what the story with Leahy is. Keoghan and Donnelly doing well. Billy Ryan had chances but was unlucky with them. Blanchfield in and the day m8ght suit him. Push on now hopefully in 2nd half

brookville

Great result always a hard place to go sets us up nicely for the last 2 games

Mixrock

Delighted with how that sounded on radio, interested to hear the reports back from the folks at the match

Great to have a good win when we were thinking they would have the upper hand!

Ompala

Mixrock wrote: »

Delighted with how that sounded on radio, interested to hear the reports back from the folks at the match

Great to have a good win when we were thinking they would have the upper hand!

Deferred coverage on TG4 if you are interested

usualstripes

Mixrock wrote: »

Delighted with how that sounded on radio, interested to hear the reports back from the folks at the match

Great to have a good win when we were thinking they would have the upper hand!

Delighted for mossy getting man of the match. Fully deserved

Mixrock

Ompala wrote: »

Mixrock wrote: »

Delighted with how that sounded on radio, interested to hear the reports back from the folks at the match

Great to have a good win when we were thinking they would have the upper hand!

Deferred coverage on TG4 if you are interested

Living in London so no TG4 unfortunately, but thanks anyways!

TommyHilfiger

Good result the conditions on and off the field are a disgrace in Walsh park the public deserve better .

Ompala

Mixrock wrote: »

Living in London so no TG4 unfortunately, but thanks anyways!

Well..... feck :pac:
A hurling game might have happened if the pitch wasn't in shiiite!

JJs Left Hand

Deegan and Joey making some amount of runs forward when we work the ball out from the half back line. Very football-esqe

Powerhouse

Mixrock wrote: »

Great to have a good win when we were thinking they would have the upper hand!

There was no real evidence that they would have the upper hand. Waterford have had a very poor year so far and had a good few back for just their first game this year, and to be brutally honest are not great anyway. Kilkenny on the other hand have several competitive outings under the belt. Today would have been a bad game to lose. I said some weeks back that there was just as much chance of Kilkenny being in the quarter finals as in a relegation match.

They now have two home games left and could finish well up the group yet. There is a bit of a fatalistic attitude among some here that if Kilkenny can't win everything they must lose everything. In all likelihood Kilkenny are probably faced with an immediate future of reasonable competitiveness, the occasional great win and subsequent false dawn, and probably coming up just short at the highest level. But beating a Waterford team that has been poor recently was never beyond them.

Mixrock

Powerhouse wrote: »

Mixrock wrote: »

Great to have a good win when we were thinking they would have the upper hand!

There was no real evidence that they would have the upper hand. Waterford have had a very poor year so far and had a good few back for just their first game this year, and to be brutally honest are not great anyway. Kilkenny on the other hand have several competitive outings under the belt. Today would have been a bad game to lose. I said some weeks back that there was just as much chance of Kilkenny being in the quarter finals as in a relegation match.

They now have two home games left and could finish well up the group yet. There is a bit of a fatalistic attitude among some here that if Kilkenny can't win everything they must lose everything. In all likelihood Kilkenny are probably faced with an immediate future of reasonable competitiveness, the occasional great win and subsequent false dawn, and probably coming up just short at the highest level. But beating a Waterford team that has been poor recently was never beyond them.

Based on them having lost two games, playing at home and with most of their all Ireland finalist team I for one wasn’t expecting to see us getting out the gate handy. Fatalistic is probably a bit dramatic - though there can be a lot of writing the team off. Good to see younger players pulling out performances. Will do them all a service to have a win under the belt.

brookville

We'll be down delaney and donnelly next week both very good today but tipp will also be without a few so it should balance itself out.Should be a big crowd in the park and today's win should give us confidence.
Morrissey,lyng and mossy have being very impressive and delighted lester was back.Kk hunted in packs today and our hf line probably tired a bit in the 2nd half but a very important win none the less.

mullinr2

Watching the first half on tg4. Kilkenny have not been that good at all. Same lump the ball up into the forwards type of stuff. Tipp will wipe the floor with us next week

JJs Left Hand

Ah lad, come on. The use of the ball has been pretty good considering the conditions from what I'm watching. Not every delivery is going to be perfect but if you can't see the improvement in the movement and off the shoulder running today then I don't know what you're watching.

Tipp will obviously be a massive step up especially considering they're a rarity in hurling these days in that they actively go looking for goals which no other top level team seems to do any more.

brookville

Interesting that he brought blanchfield on around mf where he was hurling with the college.mossy was immense today and had being our biggest find to date.huge workrate an a good finisher his becoming a crowd favourite.
I don't think tipp will wipe the floor with us but it'll obviously be step up in class but they'll miss both john mcgrath and forde both of whom have being hurling very well.kk will always up there game against tipp and we can expect a few more changes the next day

Mixrock

mullinr2 wrote: »

Watching the first half on tg4. Kilkenny have not been that good at all. Same lump the ball up into the forwards type of stuff. Tipp will wipe the floor with us next week

Fee Fi Fo Fum who’s afraid of the big bad Tipp?? Like, I can’t see any reason we would be feeling worse about Tipp next week given having had some green shoots today. I’ll watch the game later on GAAGO but sounds like we were playing in a bog. On radio they kept talking about an impressive work rate and that is a big plus.

kk.man

I said some weeks back that there was just as much chance of Kilkenny being in the quarter finals as in a relegation match.
.[/quote]
Great quote!
It's nice for the lads to get a win. Plus a bit of pressure off.

blackcard

Delighted with the win and good to see Keoghan play well, he won't get five points from play every game but he took his opportunities well and worked hard. Probably between Cork and KK for the second relegation place. Hard to judge anyone on a poor pitch on a murky February day but you couldn't fault the effort. KK still gave away too many goal chances whilst not creating many of their own. Next two matches should be informative.

Cornerback1

2 things - important to get the victory and 2pts. 2nd thing was the performance. In league terms, it was a very decent win. Waterford goal at end put a bit of gloss on scoreline.

I think Waterford will be worried. They haven't been competitve yet so next 2 matches will tell us where we are exactly.

That should be a confidence booster to the lads like week in training. No Delaney and Donnelly next week I'd say. Workrate has been good up until now and that always is effective in a place like Walsh Park.

Plenty of lads have got game time and that'll stand to them. Lester worked hard in middle third and hard workers are needed in this area in league hurling. Good to have T.J. back as well.

Eoin Murphy is a top top keeper. Shot stopping is unreal.

It'll be interesting what team is put out next week.

dubcat51

Just back home,good win and workrate was excellent.pitch is a joke and not fit for hurling.great to see the supporr for the team today.will be interesting season ahead.

Powerhouse

kk.man wrote: »

I said some weeks back that there was just as much chance of Kilkenny being in the quarter finals as in a relegation match.
.

Great quote!
It's nice for the lads to get a win. Plus a bit of pressure off.[/QUOTE]


Yes, I was quite proud of that quote.............

It was a comment in the context of a few assumptions that a relegation playoff was an inevitability. No less than progressing to a Leinster final it would probably take winning only one difficult game to make the difference. They probably need to win next weekend to avoid the relegation playoff as Waterford look doomed and likely to lose all games so all teams will pick up two points against them.

brookville

I heard an interview with cody and I think he said he won't have padraig next week are maynooth in a final?

dirkmeister

brookville wrote: »

I heard an interview with cody and I think he said he won't have padraig next week are maynooth in a final?

Maynooth are in the Ryan Cup semi final on Friday.

babyjesus14

brookville wrote: »

I heard an interview with cody and I think he said he won't have padraig next week are maynooth in a final?

Playing IT Tralee in Ryan Cup semi-final on Friday for which they'll be hot favourites and final on Saturday. Paddy Deegan was there last year too but not sure if he is still in College.

bamayang

Random points:
God Murphy got some battering today. He is a phenomenal talent. As good a keeper as you could ever hope to have.

I would have been crying out for Lester for the last few weeks, but today I realised why he’s not getting chances. He is a never ending trier but the amount of mistakes and poor choices he makes are too high. Bad hand passes, poor clearances to waiting half forwards, aimless balls. He just lacks that tiny bit of composure.

Mossy Keoghan is an immense talent. Himself and Pat Lyng are doing everything right. Working like dogs and taking chances when they come. Pat Lyng is especially impressive as he appears to be aware his strengths ly in assists rather than scores.

Joey has really come on this last few weeks. He has a few little blips in him, but he is really hurling great stuff. Die hard stuff.

Lastly, I don’t know what it is, but I really like Deegan. He’s so oblivious to his sometimes errors, that he’s never short of confidence or playing nervously. He’s always running around looking for ball or playing mad passes to lads that are already marked. He can throw the worst hand pass ever to someone, and 30 seconds later be taking on a shot from 60 yards with his back to goal. Prob doesn’t even check to see if it went over!!

Great win. Great team.

brookville

I'd love to see tom aylward full back next weekend but I'd say he'll probably go with joey,I was very impressed with the defence today and the subs all done well when introduced.

Charlie69

Delighted for Conor Delaney today.. for a young lad making his debut he played with the composure of an old hand, first touch was good on an awful surface and used the ball intelligently.

usualstripes

bamayang wrote: »

Random points:
God Murphy got some battering today. He is a phenomenal talent. As good a keeper as you could ever hope to have.

I would have been crying out for Lester for the last few weeks, but today I realised why he’s not getting chances. He is a never ending trier but the amount of mistakes and poor choices he makes are too high. Bad hand passes, poor clearances to waiting half forwards, aimless balls. He just lacks that tiny bit of composure.

Mossy Keoghan is an immense talent. Himself and Pat Lyng are doing everything right. Working like dogs and taking chances when they come. Pat Lyng is especially impressive as he appears to be aware his strengths ly in assists rather than scores.

Joey has really come on this last few weeks. He has a few little blips in him, but he is really hurling great stuff. Die hard stuff.

Lastly, I don’t know what it is, but I really like Deegan. He’s so oblivious to his sometimes errors, that he’s never short of confidence or playing nervously. He’s always running around looking for ball or playing mad passes to lads that are already marked. He can throw the worst hand pass ever to someone, and 30 seconds later be taking on a shot from 60 yards with his back to goal. Prob doesn’t even check to see if it went over!!

Great win. Great team.

Just on your point about lester. I don't agree. Lester as you say always gives 100% but he has held our midfield together on many occasions. Look at midfield today. He was in there with Conor o shea. It was his 1st start of thhe year and to me he performed better than o shea. O shea, albeit a fine hurler, gave too many sloppy passes.30 seconded after he gave the last poor pass he was called ashore.
On the match itself the full back line gave up a few goal chances but the pitch had a lot to play in judging the movement of the ball today.
Can't say any more about Murphy in the goal than we've said already.
Full back line did ok. Padraig a super flick as shanahan was bound for goal.
Joey and Deegan better today.
Half back line looked solid enough considering Conor was making his 1st start and Morrissey only his 2nd. Promising to say the least.
Thought midfield did ok. Great to see Lester getting game time. O shea did ok but for some poor passing.
Mossy deserving of motm. A super prospect. Likewise lyng did very well. Tj was a serious prescence.
Walter was pulled and dragged all over the place by Coughlan. Did well.
Donnelly did well and took some good scores.
Billy Ryan tried hard but the accuracy left him down today.
Blanchfield was strong when introduced. Worked hard out the field. Maher was also good when introduced.
Overall a positive performance.
The newer guys like Morrissey, delaney, keoghan, Donnelly and lyng are stepping up.
We will be without three or four next Sunday but we are making progress.
We are showing determination and grit which helps when trying all these new faces.
Cody said Richie Hogan is a while away.

mullinr2

I agree about Lester. The amount of over cooked or undercooked handpasses he gives is unreal. His distribution is very poor.

brookville

mullinr2 wrote: »

I agree about Lester. The amount of over cooked or undercooked handpasses he gives is unreal. His distribution is very poor.

Can be very way word with his shooting and his striking but this time of the year suits him and he can never be faulted for effort always gives his all.
Cody has a dilemma on his hands next week he won't like trying someone else full back but a good performance from someone like tom aylward could be a blessing in disguise.they won't have forde,callinan or john mcgrath and he might as well try someone else he might need backup during the year.

TommyHilfiger

What I was happy about to day was the handling of there sweeper TJ stayed on him the whole time they didn't know who was the loose man, I think the match against Wexford is going to be a very important match for us because we are going to set down a marker against them.

Comerman

Did anyone get the free count? I thought Waterford got a lot of soft frees and Burca should get an Oscar for the dive before the goal. Overall there were a lot of positives today and all players worked hard on a pitch that looked like the cattle were taken off it this morning before mass.