Kilkenny GAA Thread

droppingball

The visibility was very bad at the end of normal time in Thomastown for the u21 match. It looked like it was going to be too dark to finish it and that it would have to be a replay. Looked like the two management teams were on the one page and wanted a replay but referee insisted it had to be played.

It brightened a touch when a downpour came which helped but a 2.30 start was too late with the possibility of extra time.

The standard of hurling was good all things considered. Team with wind totally dominated each half and it looked like dunamaggin were going to win pulling up in the second half but Thomastown dug it out well and dunamaggin needed a long range point from Andy Hickey to level.

Thomastown totally owned extra time and took scores well in torrential rain. They scored as much against the wind in extra time as in whole second half. Might suggest Thomastown were a bit more physical or Dunamaggin maybe used their energy chasing Thomastown lead. Denis Walsh may have won for them if he was playing and was a loss but they fought hard. Best for them was Andy Hickey and Ruadhri Holden (might have surname wrong)

Zach Bay Hammond, Eddie Donnelly hurled well but thought Jack Holden caused all the damage, not sure how much he scored but he made every ball stick.

Mooncoin seemed to be scoring plenty of goals but Thomastown aren't bad, should be a good final with Mooncoin as favorites.

Standard at u21 matches has been high considering the heavy pitches.

Well done to Thomastown Today, a hard fought win. For Ttown to progress going forward there needs to be a shakeup at club level. Speaking to people within the club it seems the current officers are in place since 2014/ 2015, and that a staleness has crept in. It would be great to think on the back of Todays win the club could have a fresh new approach to 2023.

Lowball

As an outsider I haven’t heard good things about the leadership there. Lots of unilateral decisions made in ale houses etc.

Surely there’s a cap on how many years officers can serve?

Deskjockey

Mooncoin must be disappointed. Not many teams score 6 goals in a hurling match and lose

5 18 great scoring for Thomastown all the same at this time of year, fair play to them

droppingball

Great game in the under 21 final yesterday. Two very even teams and both seemed to have no weak players in any positions which is good for country clubs.

Thomastown bench really made the difference with Alex Cass and Rory Connelan making a big contribution. Thomastown dominated extra time, looked like Mooncoins running game in the heavy ground took too much out of them.

Great for our club to see the improvement this team has made as we won the minor b day mooncoin won the minor A, says things are going in the right direction. To win u21a, minor b, u15b, junior a and the camogie has made it a year to remember, still disappointing to lose the intermediate final but we can have no complaints about that.

For Mooncoin with the talent they have I expect to see them senior in the near future as they will get plenty from that u21 team.

Noddy33

Expecting big improvement from O'Loughlin Gaels next year with a management team lead by Brian Hogan and backed up by Alan O'Brien, Alan Geoghegan, Nigel Skehan (Trainer) and Micky Comerford (S&C). Would think it would be a very popular choice with OLG players

Grats

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119901405#Comment_119901405

They must be forgiving Mickey Comerford for "over training" the team during his last stint with them.

Its not long ago since Ttown were playing at A level in u15 and minor grades, so its not great progress to be winning at B level now.

jamesbond2022

Did olg not win the county final the last time mickey Comerford was involved no ?

Realt Dearg Sec

Sad news that Bobby Jackman has died, he managed John Locke's to an all Ireland junior final in 2010 with his son captaining the team. His other son played with realt dearg in Dublin and is still stalwart of the club, that Bobby showed great support for down the years. RIP to a great hurling man.

Speak Now

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119901660#Comment_119901660

Last Sunday was U21 A not B.

Post was in reference to minor and u15 grades.

mwcat

Thomastowns U21 team won minor B in 2018 beating Danesfort by 3 points in a great game. Chaps develop and mature at different stages. A good honest bunch and well done to them. Hard luct to Mooncoin who are a cracking team too.

I think officers normally serve 3 years and then are replaced or step down in the interest of the CLUB. Unless of course your club is unfortunate and has a dictatorship in place! It becomes a sad state of affairs when people out stay their welcome. Im lucky to be part of a progressive club who see the value of officer rotation. Our present chair is stepping down at our upcoming agm.

Lowball

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119912462#Comment_119912462

I agree re the rotation. It freshens things up and brings new ideas and perspectives to a club. A lot of “sure no one wants the job” goes on but that’s rubbish, someone always fills the post. Lack of personnel changes are usually due to vested interests etc

PeggyShippen

I like dipping in on this page. You guys talk alot of sense around hurling. Is it too early to speculate about Kilkennys chances next year ? Can they best Limerick if they meet em again. I honestly dont think they can next year but the year after maybe. It's alot to ask in the management's first year. For me even though it was just a 2 point loss this year limerick were 5 to 8 points better. Kyle Hayes dropped back to protect the goal when 5 up. That was the game.

There's more in Eoin Cody . He misses alot and there has to be more in the half backs. I dobt rate Richie Reid but then he's not a bad hurler, definately not a dominant centre back . I'm being harsh here but I'm being honest.

tibruit

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119913108#Comment_119913108

"5 to 8 points better"

Really? I thought the final score just about summed it up. Barring a ref having a meltdown the scoreboard usually doesn`t lie. Kilkenny shut out Limerick`s inside scoring machines, but Limerick had a long puck out strategy that they executed well and KK failed to deal with effectively. That got them over the line in the end. KK have a young team now and it is something that ran below the radar a bit last year.

I`d like to think we will be better next year but then you have to factor in new management. I wish them well, but I seem to be a dinosaur who doesn`t obsess about us playing the short game and thinks that Cody shouldn`t have retired. Sometimes you have to be careful about what you wish for.

tbiggertycome

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119913108#Comment_119913108

Limerick were the better team on the day there is no doubt and deserved their win. I'd agree that 2 points was about fair and if you consider a few things that could improve us next year there is plenty of reason to be hopeful in Kilkenny. Limerick will still be raging hot favourites but as we know in Kilkenny the longer the winning streak goes on the harder it becomes and the more likely you are to pick up injuries to key players like Cian Lynch this year and Casey already for Na Pairsaigh. Henry and Brian Hogan in 2010 were irreplaceable and led to our downfall. The strength in depth of dominant teams is usually greatly exaggerated and as it was in Kilkenny's case, it certainly is in Limericks now too. They have 20 very good players but there is a sharp drop off after that, a sharper drop of than Kilkenny had back in the day.

If you watch the Kilkenny county final last 20 minutes you'll see our AI starting midfield getting torn to shreds when they played together while the game was still there for the winning. I think getting the likes of Ronan Corcoran into the setup would be a big boost, we lack natural midfielders he is one of very few in the county. If we can find a stronger midfield combination than Kenny and Browne I think it improves us no end.

Our lack of a puck out strategy and our inability to deal with Limericks was easily a 5 or 6 point swing. You'll never get it perfect but I just feel that, that Kilkenny team while playing with more clarity than it had in a few years was still lost a lot of the time especially on puckouts. Derek Lyngs U20's were much better on their own puckouts than the seniors. and I think the addition of the two players I mention below could really aid in stopping the Limerick darts that went straight to hand and over the bar but you won't stop them all, three less would have done though.

I think Darragh Corcoran and David Blanchfield should be given plenty of time as I think they would be better able for Limericks big men than Deegan and Carey. I think Blanchfield showed very well when he came on against Hegarty after not playing since the first round of the Championship round robin. There might be concern about Corcorans speed at that level but only game time will tell.

Lastly a new management team doesn't always need time to bed in. I think it was wise of Derek to keep on Phelan and Comerford and add them to his own team. Look at the bump and boost Tyrone players had when they got to try something different than what Mickey Harte had been offering. They failed this year but their in an ultra competitive province, were we have a game or two to find our feet.

None of these are a given but for me these are all things to be positive and hopeful for. There are likely plenty who can point out plenty of reasons to be pessimistic but I think we have a great chance of getting back to an AI and if we do I'd really fancy us no matter who we're playing. It's all fine margins at intercounty level, Limerick are probably the best coached team to ever play hurling and have it off to a tee. For us to come within 2 points without our lads and manager being as comfortable with our game plan tells me there's room for improvement. We will see if we can find any improvement, only time will tell.

PeggyShippen

Great Post. Id agree with nearly it all. There are lots of reasons to be confident for 2023 for Kilkenny.

Yeah considering the halfbacks were over run and yere midfield didn't really motor .. I watched back the final again today on Sky. All the times ye went 6 down and came back,it says alot but I would still contend that it was more comfortable than 2. Kilkenny are in leinster and I don't mind if ye don't agree but that's a huge advantage. So ye can plan ahead abit.

Ye need a dominant centre back. Blanchfield was decent when he came on. He caught that good ball over Hegarty but by God he's very skinny. How did he get to this point and not get a proper nutrition and weights plan. He's playing catch up. He's got ability though. Careys gone for the year isn't he? He was decent. The size difference was massive ..Richie Reid got roasted in the air by Hayes.

Limerick will find it tough next year. There's no young fellas knocking down the door. O Neill, coughlan might get starts but that's about it. It is harder every year but if Limerick get to the final...they ll win it again. Kinnerk and Kiely are very complimentary to each other

Kilkenny puck outs. There is no plan. The short ones are awfull. There's no rhythm. With a short puck out you have to be moving...and there has to be over lappers. The long ones...well yer goalie hits the long ones too high ,gives the likes of Byrnes a rake of time to wind up a run and leap.

Fullback line is grand. Full forward line grand TJ amazing..Mullins in patches is great. Eoin Cody.. if he takes the pressure off himself abit he could be awesome. Tries too hard. Yeve a good side but there's something lacking...

kentu

No sign of any retirements yet from any of the older players, I'd say if any are Richie Hogan, Fogarty and Buckley most likely in my view.

Will be interesting to see if Lyng wants them in his plans, if Hogan wants to continue I think Lyng would be delighted as his club form was excellent but we know it's a different ball game between Intercounty and Intermediate club, still class is permanent as we've seen with him before.

tibruit

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119925315#Comment_119925315

I think you are being harsh on the Village boys. They wouldn`t be the first inter county lads that were overwhelmed by a Ballyhale tide. If you are looking for the hurling equivalent of Mickey Harte, I`d be looking more towards Davy or Derek McGrath rather than Brian Cody. So I`m not convinced we are going to see any great bump from a change in manager. If a bump does come, we win the All Ireland.

You see it`s all very well saying that Derek Lyng is going to make us better on puckouts, but he will also have to match Brian Cody in every other department for there to be improvement. Any time I`ve done stats, I`ve found little difference in retention of possession on the opposition 40 when you compare going long to working it out from the back. It`s actually marginally better to go long. That applies to most teams apart from Limerick who are way ahead of the pack at retaining possession when they go long. The big issue is the turnovers. Go short and you offer up a lot of possession and opportunity to opponents in your own half. People tend to remember scores that resulted from working it out from the back and forget about what was conceded through turnovers. It`s similar to a gamblers bias in reality. The gambler will fondly remember his winning bets, but when he tots up his profit and loss he will realize he would have been better off if he had not bet at all.

I was listening Sean Finn being interviewed not so long ago and the Limerick defensive mantra was get the ball to ground and there is then safety in numbers. The aim of the modern forward is get the ball in hand, break the tackle or win a free or find a team mate in a better position. Retain possession at all costs. It is robotic at this stage. As a result, defenders are happy to commit in numbers. Teams will sometimes commit three, even four defenders to an opposing forward in possession.

I actually think that we will soon be seeing a partial return to ground hurling by mid fielders and forwards to counteract this, particularly against the big physical teams like Limerick. Every possession doesn`t have to go to hand. Change the direction of the play, just put it into space along the ground and don`t be afraid to make it 50/50. Put defenders who are now accustomed to committing to the opponent in possession onto the back foot. Defensive hesitancy creates forward opportunity.

Anyway, we enter a new era and it`s certainly going to be interesting to see how things go.

PeggyShippen

Brilliant. I had thought about the ground hurling becoming relevant again. For instance the low ball in that can just be flicked on . It's always going to hand now instead of being 'added' to. Its predictable. Or even a pull in midfield before the ruck develops.

Mullins has to be midfield foe Kilkenny and then maybe Kenny with him. Can Richie Reid play midfield as a sitting holding player.?

The thing about Cody which is taken for granted is the players will be ready to perform everytime. Also he ll make obvious necessary changes fast. Lyng has to keep the good stuff and then teach the new stuff to older lads. That's the tricky bit. Kilkenny aren't an old team but they arent young and malleable either. He's got a tricky job.

lim4ev

I think limerick beating kilkenny in croke Park was really significant for this limerick team kilkenny are so hard to beat anywhere but especially there so I think that could be a monkey off the back so to say for us.

I thought kilkenny were magnificent I certainly didn't think we were much better but we were and that was without lynch and you could say casey we have more forwards that'll be pushing for starting spots like Adam English but don't see more backs coming through. It seems mike Casey's injury wasn't as serious as first feared so that'll help.

next year limerick will be favourites but there's no guarantees as there's too many good sides. for me top challengers are Waterford and kilkenny. Can tj keep it going? I thought he was finished v cork in semi in 21 that'll be 2 yrs by the time it comes around again? What a player!!

After that galway clare , cork and tipp have new managers I think it's going to be fiercely contested next yr

JJs Left Hand

Adrian Mullen brilliant again today. What a player.

barneygumble99

Anyone know if there’s a draw made for club all Ireland semi finals? Or is it made after the provincial finals ??

JJs Left Hand

Verney said on Twitter a potential Ballyhale Ballygunnar clash in a semi final

PeggyShippen

Yeah connacht v Ulster. Munster v Leinster. Bit of a handy one for St Thomas's

Billy Ocean

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119928076#Comment_119928076

Slaughtneil or Dunloy would be no pushover for Thomas's.

Nedflanders02

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119927721#Comment_119927721

Yeah Mullen was excellent especially in the first 20 minutes when Naas were causing Shamrocks trouble! Thought Darragh and Ronan Corcoran were excellent too. Mason pulled off a couple of good saves early on too. Darren Mullen really struggled in the first half but was better after half time

PeggyShippen

Let's see how much of a challenge Slaughtneil are for St Thomas's. Good Derry club and all but not at the top standard no matter what platitudes people utter. St Thomas' will probably win by 8 to 12.