Kilkenny GAA Thread

jimmythesulk

Colm Lyons must have being reading this page lately. He has being worth at least a few points to us.

Mad about baa baas

Tj has to be the best kilkenny hurler of all time..Henry was never on a bad team..and by 35 was well past his best..

kksaints

I've been critical of Murphy and his puckouts but that was quite simply a brilliant save right at the end. Great to be back in the final. Lads came back fighting after Clares rally in the 2nd half. Cody and TJ were excellent, Mikey Butler keep Tony Kelly quiet for most of the game, subs all made an impact with some great scores by Padraig Walsh and Cian Kenny when we needed them. There is plenty to work on for the final, some of the forwards didn't perform Donnelly in particular and Tommy Walsh was under pressure for a lot of the match and struggled at times.

kk.man

Ref wasn't great. A dirty win like that is worth a lot going all Ireland. Great grit in this team.

blackcard

Fair play to the lads for grinding out that result. Well on top in the first half. I don't know if they spent too much energy because Clare half backs were completely on top in the third quarter.Lucky goal changed the momentum. Thought we got the rub of the green with refereeing decisions but just about deserved the win. Hopefully match will bring on Adrian Mullen even more and Mossy. Great block by Fogarty and save by Murphy. Mikey Butler will be dissappointed he didn't outscore Tony Kelly but was excellent. Eoin Cody definitely MOM, also won frees. Tough on Clare, there was very little in it

Village87

Eoin Murphy, Eoin Cody, Tj Reid and the Ref, unreal. We were blessed to get through that. Massive massive influence from the 4 mentioned

Charlie69

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120826959#Comment_120826959

Fogartys block wasn’t bad either Village 🤣

me89

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120826997#Comment_120826997

I'd say it broke his heart 😂

Village87

Great block in fairness.. but did he actually get the ball in his hand while playing. Not joking

brookville

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120827008#Comment_120827008

Huge interception and covered massive ground.Always done the hidden work, tracking. Emptied the tank as always.murphy also made a few vital saves.well done lads. It shortens the trip home.

Charlie69

Great win today with great performances from Cody, TJ, Blanchfield, Mullen and several others. They all played well today really apart from Mossy maybe who didn’t look fit.

Savage block from fogarty and one of the best saves I’ve ever seen from Eoin Murphy, just incredible.

I thought Huw Lawlor was savage again and even got on the scoreboard, my only criticism of Huw is he can be a bit too nice and refs find it too easy to blow him for marginal calls. He was pushed in the back and kneed in the arse out over the end line by Duggan for a Clare 65 and he never even complained.

Lyon’s gave us a couple of soft ones but I didn’t feel he favoured us and gave Clare a couple of handy frees too.

The turning point was probably the turnover for Cody’s goal but there was nothing lucky about it as a lot of people seem to be saying, it came about as a result of Kilkennys massive work rate.

Last word goes to TJ Reid, what a leader,what a performance, what a man , the leading championship scorer of all time for now at least and for me the greatest hurler that ever lived.

Roll on two weeks time, a massive challenge but we’re there and we won’t go down easy.

citykat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120826959#Comment_120826959

Ok. I'll bite. Enlighten me about the ref?

Pigeon Chaser

That was a tremendous win. Well done to all involved.

Will stand to us much more than last year. We were really tested, and half way through the second half looked beaten, but hung in there.

A couple of observations.

Firstly TJ ... We owe the man so much. What a warrior. The best I've ever seen.

Eoin Cody .. a masterclass. A joy to watch.

Eoin Murphy ... What a tremendous save at the death. I still cannot get my head around his reactions and agility. Also caught one over the crossbar in the first half.

There were great performers elsewhere .. Lawlor, Blanchfield and Butler at the back were great.

Cian Kenny's introduction changed the course of the game. Thought he had an instant impact and helped us stop Clare's momentum which at the time was huge and the signs looked ominous..

Thought Donnelly and Mossy struggled but thankfully they have an opportunity to put that right in 2 weeks.

I thought Lyons had an ok game. It's such a difficult sport to referee.. No doubt we got a couple of soft ones but so did Clare.. we probably gained a slight advantage on balance from the ref but to be honest, it's probably about a decade or more since we got the rub of the green from a ref in a big game so it's well due. Clare's discipline did let them down a bit. You simply cannot concede that many frees to TJ..

Clare can be proud of themselves. They probably started overly cautious but that's understandable given fitness concerns over 3 and 6 in addition to their memories of last year. They had us on the ropes and a slight lapse in concentration coughed up a goal at a crucial time. Their keeper too made some fantastic saves.

Anyway, it's such a great feeling to be back in the final and it's a great opportunity to test ourselves against the best. The first half of the Galway game too gives us the template on how to go at Limerick.

I can't wait. And I think we have a great chance to go all the way.

Frankie Machine

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120826997#Comment_120826997

Was it he who laid off the lovely first-time hand-pass for a score in the 1st half ? I think so.

hogans heroes

Word for paddy deegan, good s core and distribution was good today.

Frankie Machine

I hope we will not compound Limerick's advantage in being 3rd quarter specialists by being off the gas ourselves.

Maybe I'm going too far here, but I wonder if Scruff was deliberately trying to deflect the ball over the bar for the wonder-save, rather than just getting the bas to it and rebounding it right back into the melee. Some game management if he did.

Lyng is the real deal on the sideline, and I think whatever happens the next day, his stock is moving in the opposite direction to Henry's.

Lot of fire in the bellies at the game-end reactions, which is brilliant to see.

9/1 for the draw is not a bad bet.

JJs Left Hand

I think at this point in time regardless of how well you play in the 1st half you need to come out with a different set up as teams are so good at using half time to adjust now. And Limerick are the masters of it. You have to come out with a different look.

On today nothing much to be said that hasn't been. Thought Tommy Walsh and Blanchfield struggled badly today and that's two games in a row Tommy has been targeted. Lawlor on Gillane and Tommy on Flanagan is surely the plan for the final but I'd be worried about him.

Delighted to see Fogarty get that block. I don't care if he never touches the ball as long as he continues to read the game defensively better than ANYONE else in our panel. He's not there to play the ball.

Thought Tom Phelan was poor. Thought he gave Ryan loads of rope and lost him multiple times. Touch was poor as well.

Cody unreal. If he got the ball in that Gillane gets he'd be the best forward in the country. Some boy to win dirty ball.

Everyone else played well enough.

Butler is some boy. I love him.

That save. Mother of God. Crazy reaction speed. Don't think he cared where it went bar getting the stick to it although he appears to flick the hurl upwards so think he was trying to get it over the bar. Great follow up by Deegan and Richie when you compare it to Mannion yesterday.

And as for TJ. Covered every blade of grass. Creator Supreme. I've always had JJ as my No. 1 but this lad is a genius.

Comerman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120826997#Comment_120826997

I was afraid to mention it 😁

Comerman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120827008#Comment_120827008

Just having a laugh 🙄

mullinr2

Given that we have lost our last 3 All Irelands we have been in surely we can't lose a 4th. A good few on the panel wont want to lose another one and will surely be a fierce motivator.

Charlie69

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120827351#Comment_120827351

You can be a very proud Comer man this evening my friend. As JJ said Conor knows his role in this team and he performs it effectively and selflessly year after year. He might not be as swashbuckling as some of our greats but he has been an unreal servant to Kilkenny.

Alonzo Moseley

Great win, far more valubale than last year's as Clare turned up the heat in 3rd quarter.

Mullen hasnt been mentioned but I thought he was fantastic. Cody's only blot all day was the failure to lay off to Mullen for an almost certain goal.

Loads of positives but still, 4 of starting forwards were poor. We surely cant risk same starting team. Reverse for me, start P Walsh and Walter and bring on Ryan and Mossie for last 20 mins. Tom Phelan decent in first half but blown out of it 2nd. Thought Donnelly was very unfortunate to be yanked off ahead of Ryan and Phelan.

Think we are in slightly better shape than last year with better options off becnch for sure.

Comerman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120827499#Comment_120827499

Does the job Quietly in the background 👍someone said here if he starts in midfield we were fucked, just goes to show what some people know eh!!

Charlie69

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120827510#Comment_120827510

I know his legs are not what they were and probably won’t give you 70 mins but I thought starting without him in last years final in favour of Cian Kenny in midfield was a big mistake against that Limerick team.

Charlie69

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120827509#Comment_120827509

Mullen was unreal for a man with so little hurling done. I was worried about his and Mossys match fitness before the game but Mullen just oozed class , he got a couple of scores and his work ethic is incredible.

JJs Left Hand

Donnelly went down right before he went off and the ref thought he was trying to time waste (reasonable assumption at the time) but he was gesturing towards his chest. He went over to the line and there seemed to be a change in plan for who Kenny was coming on for.

We've seen the last two games how valuable bringing the older lads on for the last 15 mins is so I think it would be lunacy to start them now.

Charlie69

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120827306#Comment_120827306

Great point about the quality of ball going in to Gillane compared to Cody. We still have a lot of work to do here and still huge improvement needed on the puck out.

Ceist_Beag

Two absolute wow moments today. That block and that save, both unbelievable.

TJ is just unbelievable, he does it time and again and makes it look easy. His free taking is flawless and his workrate is brilliant. He's such an example to everyone.

There was a lot of good today but special mention to the sideline because it was getting away from us in the second half until they made changes. Kenny, Buckley, Richie and to a lesser degree Wallie and Padraig all made positive contributions.

Also honourable mention to Lawlor, he's such a complete player, a joy to watch.

Comerman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120827499#Comment_120827499

And that's why he's hurling for the county and some are just keyboard warriors eh!

kk.man

I'd love if this team goes on to win this all Ireland for a number of reasons. Firstly for themselves because they have been knocking on the door for too long. Secondly I have never seen a kk team in as good as shape or space since the last time we won. The older lads have really stood out under Lyng's management not just today but all year. Today was a game of men and as good as I've witnessed. Finally I'd love to put to bed this Munster hurling is better for once and for all.