Kilkenny GAA Thread

brookville

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118621530#Comment_118621530

Or corcoran not take one for the team?

skaface

Ballygunner got a half chance like ye did in the semi final and took it.. Goway boy about diving.. Ballyhale were lucky not to give away more frees with some of the tackles they got away with I thought Owens left it flow as much as he could.

kk.man

Hard luck Ballyhale you have done your club proud. Some record since October 2017.

conor05

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118621574#Comment_118621574

I was thinking Corcoran is surely going to pull him down and concede the free!

jimmythesulk

Hard luck ballyhale. Thought Richie Reid, tj and Colin were very good. Eoin Cody was well marked but the mullens were poor. Adrian has gone back alot and Darren came out second best in his duel with Dessie Hutchinson. Hard to see why he gets so much praise on here.

mullinr2

Yeah Adrian Mullens form is a concern for the summer. I feel Colin could still do a job for Kilkenny. Cody's pride won't ask him back

Mad about baa baas

To be fair to Darren Mullen he is just back from injury and dessie is a class corner forward. I would worry about darren Mullens pace for intercounty though...

The_Ghost

Hard luck to Ballyhale what a journey they’ve been on, finally ran out of luck this year. TJ was prob the only one to hurl to his best and he was brilliant involved in everything as per. Colin played his best stuff out the field again today like the last few days. Cody being well marked was prob the difference in the end and mullen was poor again. Colin and TJ couldn’t drag them over the line today but they should have. Player should have been fouled for the goal and then R Reid should have closed him down more and Mason should have done better with it, wasn’t expecting it at all but some strike. Darren had a tough day but was just back from injury and Dessie is class and got good ball in, the disappointing thing from him was that he’s usually very good on the ball but today he made some poor decisions but these things happen the best hopefully he can stay fit now. Injuries finally caught up on them too. Don’t think they got a converted free in the second half which is unheard off but FairPlay to Ballygunnar, club hurling was brilliant this year.

looking forward to our game tmra hard to know where both teams are going into it and that might be the same afterwards but we really did a performance. Intresting to see Mossy playing in full forward so far this year and Walsh in the forwards. Hopefully we can get a good result and build on from it.

Alonzo Moseley

Hard luck Shamrocks, won a semi when 2nd best and lost a final when in my opinion they were better team.

Very harsh on Darren Mullen, he hurled pretty well on a serious quality player, he has too much hurling for corner back and would make a terrific midfielder to me. By contrast, Adrian's decline is hard to watch, he spilled so much ball today and is so causal in his stroke he gets hooked or blocked repeatedly. His inabbility to gather a fairly routine ball and kill off the game in dying seconds led to the winner. You can see he has extravagent natural ability, but doesn't seem to have that manic Shefflin/TJ type desire to succeed.

Evan Shefflin still has time to make it at IC, great effort. Richie and TJ Reid both brilliant.

Shamrocks are a phenomonon and a credit to Kilkenny and hurling, and will be a force for years to come.

Away from club, huge win for Galway and a reminder that Shefflin heading west might be the worst single development for Kilkenny IC hurling in decades.

And let there be no doubt, a close to full strength Limerick came to this game all guns blazing and ready to rock.

Shefflin is a stone cold winner, full stop, and we let him go, instead yet again going with what sadly looks like a busted flush.

therealdonster

Marrooned

Hard luck on Shamrocks today .Still my favorite team after my own club. Some ambassadors for Kilkenny hurling long may they continue.

bamayang

God we are producing some very mediocre hurlers. It’s actually the decision making that is terrible

me89

Loads of positives today, Hue was great at fullback and that's where he needs to stay. Blanchfield and Kenny played well, Padraig Walsh scored 4 points, made some lovely catches and looked very comfortable centre forward.

Some very poor shooting and a shocker from Murphy before half time was a killer.

Neewollah

Disappointing to lose that in the end.

Few positives:

1. Leave Huw Lawlor Full back. Exceptional in there.

2. David Blanchfield a great prospect. Mikey Carey improving too

3. Cian Kenny another great prospect

Downsides:

1. Our shooting was abysmal.

2. Not sure about Deegan midfield

3. Too many hard workers against natural scorers in forwards. Balance is off.

JJs Left Hand

Hard to know what to say after that. On the one hand I think we were trying a lot of the right things but littered with mistakes and some terrible terrible decisions at times. I've had optimism about league performances before though so we'll see. I'll also caveat all that by saying I thought Tipp were equally as bad as us at times.

If anyone ever suggests taking Lawlor out of full back in here ever again they should be banned.

Some of Murphys puck outs/clearances in the last 15 minutes were madness. Ronan Maher is wearing a yellow helmet. Keep it away from him.

Mad about baa baas

Tipp finished with pretty much their full championship team..we gifted them a goal..we struck a lot of wides

Lawlor excellent full back has to stay there..blanchfield/kenny/Brazzil all have potential..Carey not too shabby..ballyhale lads to come back. Not all doom and gloom

brookville

Agree thought lawlor was immense. The wides absolutely killed us but we done alot right. The last few mins we played ronan maher which was bizarre. Barrett used all his experience and won a few handy frees. I thought deegan and Kenny done well midfield and Kenny could be a find. Leahy is just back but his form is worrying. Billy Ryan was lively but the goal before half time was a killer. Today shows the importance of a free taker. We hadn't one and that along with the poor wides cost us.

Alonzo Moseley

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118625683#Comment_118625683

I'd agree with that but return of Ballyhale trio in forwards (although no way is Adrian an automatic starter on current form) and possibly Hogan too, will greatly improve our strike rate.

Blanchfield and Kenny now firmly in frame. Lawlor outrageously good and P Walsh and TJ could really hum together in forwards.

We lost our way completely from 50th to 60th minute after WW came on, he did shoot 2 good points but thought his arrival disrupted our rhythm.

Also, Murphy reverted to leathering ball in closing stages when maybe a bit more subtlety was called for, as Tipp's backs hurled really well in closing 20 mins when a few of our forwards' limitations were clearly exposed. Barrett and Ronan Maher lorded it in closing stages.

Donnelly's loss of form very disapointing

We deserved at least a draw but lack of a recognised free taker (Donnelly and Kenny both missed a sitter each) and Murphy's howler were very costly, but a decent day with more positives than negatives.

conor05

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118623589#Comment_118623589

I hate saying this about a player but is it Adrian Mullens lifestyle off the pitch is leading to these performances of late on the pitch.

He has all the ability in the world but needs to put the down off the pitch. I know Adrian can do it if he puts him mind to it.

Evan Shefflin wouldn't have a quarter of the natural ability of Adrian, but through hard work away from team training is getting the best out of himself and I think he could do a job as a decent sub off the bench for Kilkenny.

Fred Daly

What is his lifestyle off the pitch he was disapointing yesterday gave away a few important frees that were costly. As regards E Murphy you think back to 2016 all ireland he made hero out of Ronan Maher and Padraig by lobbying balls down on top of them you think he would learn by now.

JJs Left Hand

His "lifestyle" is none of our business and shouldn't be the subject of discussion.

Marrooned

I thought our lads hurled well in the second half but as mentioned already a few silly mistakes killed us. Without been too critical Cian Kenny ‘s striking is very weak and hasn’t improved from his u20 performances a couple of years ag when he kept dropping balls into the goalkeeper he did the same today otherwise a good performance from him today and is a serious talent I just wish players would work harder on their weaknesses for example John Donnelly’s runnning stride improved no end from a few years ago .anyway I was surprised that John Donnelly and Tom Phelan were called ashore.The refereeing was shocking today he gave us very little He gave Paddy Deegan advantage today in his own half instead of giving him a free.Walter was fouled every time he got the ball and got little return for it.

corner back 2

Plenty of positives from today's match. Huw Lawlor is an excellent full back and shouldn't be moved. I do wish we had another option though as centre back is going to be an issue. Midfield pairing of Deegan and Kenny is definitely worth another look as they both have big engines and link the play well. I wish Billy Ryan would head straight for goal more as he is hard to handle when he does. Padraig was much improved from the Antrim game. I would agree with the above comments about the referee as Tipp got their frees much easier. With improved shooting KK could have easily won this game.

droppingball

Thought Huw Lawlor hurled very well today, Tipp were trying to hit Denis Maher with bombs and Huw was outfielding him and mopping up all the breaks.

Essential that Brassil, Blanchfield and Kenny get plenty of time for rest if the league.

The ridiculous goal and two woeful frees we missed handed them the game but delighted with Padraig in the forwards.

Thought we hurled well in patches but our shooting was horrible. With Blanch and Carey as wing backs and leahy and phelan as wing forwards they are looking for plenty of mobility and with lads to come back we should improve.

Feel like Billy Ryan isn't far from taking off and needs to believe in himself. Just glad we are giving lads a chance and trying to mix our game plan.

Marrooned

Fair play to RTE hiring those two bolixes Fitzgerald and mc Grath neither of them even mentioned the contribution of either Kilkenny or Bally Hale to their respective matches.

jimmythesulk

Thought the standard was very poor today. Along way from the intensity of a decade ago. Can't see tipp getting out of Munster this year. As for ourselves we seem to be playing alot through the lines as the modern game dictates. Alot on here like to criticise Cody but the reality is we have about 5 top players and the rest fairly average. No matter what tactics we use the players just aren't good enough to win an all ireland. When Cody retires I think we will go back the way rather than improve.

The_Ghost

Think Ballyhale got 2 converted frees in the second half apologies but that wasn’t the winning or losing of the game IMO too many under performers on the day on rewatching it this morning.

didn’t see the whole game today so take off that what you will because of work commitments but saw bits and pieces and the Sunday league highlights. Looked like a mixed bag again really but disappointed to see us revert back to type under pressure again and Scruff’s puck outs are a concern. Huw Lawor by all accounts on here was excellent which is great and I really think he’s good enough to play anywhere weather FB or CB he’s been brilliant since his introduction. Seen alot of P Walsh just by chance and what a hurler, Full back, Centre back, half Forward he’s so good he can hurl them all. Seen a few bad wides but we are Tryna play different for now anyway.

Leahy, Donnolly and Billy Ryan are all inde same boat for me, great skill, great potential but inconsistent and it’s time for them to come of age fed up of saying it but they all suit modern hurling and Leahy and John in particular showed some good short stick passes and hand passes but nowhere near enough and I agree Billy Ryan is just waiting to explode. Wouldn’t worry about result looks like we’re Tryna blood in new players which is great and Kenny and blanch looks great prospects and Carey driving on again.

I’ve absolutely no inside scoop into the team and somebody said a few days ago R Hogan shouldn’t be slogging around in these conditions but I disagree very much this is the time to test if he’s still up the level esp after only been trusted with 10 mins in the semi final last year? Alan Murphy had a decent ish year last year earned his start against Cork but hasn’t had a chance to nail down his spot inde league this year? Again if their injured take no notice and Ino we’re Tryna blood new players and I respect that a lot but I think we need to keep one eye on Championship too. Will Phelan play championship games for us this year and T.O.D? Hard to know.

Tj has proved his class this year he’s not sowing down. Cody is out inde fitz semis during the week but I’d love to see Darren and Adrian get some minutes and confidence into them during the league this year if possible, obviously deserve some rest too tbf. We’re getting there. Give Wally a few game soon too please just to see he seems very determined this year and is a handful who never gets his frees because of his height and size and gives away frees for the same reason. Hard to know with Tipp this year now but they always produce great hurlers and scorers fair play to them. Great game for 2nd round of league.

therealdonster

One was as bad as the other tonight - and I'd include Ursula Jacob in that too. If this is what passes for analysis I'm letting be known to RTE that I am available for half the price of these clowns. This should help cut costs which I hear RTE are keen to do and will free up the funds to ensure all counties get shown.

Village87

Derek McGrath completely turns me off the show. If I hear the term "nice family" one more time ill get sick into my can. All his comments/analysis were nothing to do with the match, all about him and how he knows them and how they have "nice families". The rant about Harry Ruddle and his mother, pathetic.

therealdonster

After a truly awful first half from both sides to be fair we were treated to something resembling a game in the second half. On the first half - the players' first touch was really poor and there was a clear lack of cohesion and intensity from both sides. It is only February though and it wasn't a particularly nice day either, cold and wet so that certainly had a bearing on the poor quality on display in the first half.

The gaffe from Murphy before half time almost ruined the game after Kilkenny had clawed their way back into contention. You could see both sides attempting to adapt their style of play to the possession based, overlapping on the shoulder "new way" of playing. I'm personally no fan of this but it appears teams will need to adapt some form of this if they are to be successful. Anyway, teething problems were apparent from both sides at times as you get the feeling that it does not come naturally to either of these two sides.

The positives from a Kilkemmy point of view were some good individual performances from Padraig Walsh, Billy Ryan without necessarily impacting directly on the scoresheet, Cian Kenny, David Blanchfield and Mikey Carey. Huw Lawlor had a stormer and likely cemented the no.3 spit as his for the year.

I'd like to see Brassil get an extended run to see if he can make centre back/half back line his own. He could be a playmaker from the back as his distribution and vision is good but he maybe lacks a bit of presence so an extended run would see if he could do a job there or not.

For me Paddy Deegan is the back up option at centre back if PW remains up front. However I do like what he brings in terms of physicality at midfield which would be needed at that position against the Limericks & Galways of this world.

Also I'd like to see one or all of John Walsh/Chris Bokger/Tadhg O'Dwyer getting a run V Laois. We need to rediscover a goal scoring threat and that is as much about players available to you and their natural instincts as your style of play. We need someone like one of these to emerge and take the load of the guys who have been carrying it for quite some time now...