Kilkenny GAA Thread

As a Tipp man, hard luck to Kk in this one. Reading some of the comments on here would make you think Kk hurling was coming to an end! The players are under 17 for this competition - 17! Playing in their own backyard could have put extra pressure on them, and potentially the 2 red cards may have put a bit more pressure on to win. These players are young, for senior teams they've been in similar positions before, have experience and are used to playing together, it's not the same underage. So a bit of perspective wouldn't go astray here, I wouldn't say anyone in a Kk jersey on the pitch didn't try their hardest last night.

I know that a couple of adult clubs in Kilkenny had challenge matches on at the same time outside of the county as the minor match. County Board should have not approved any of those games when the requests came in.

I'd love to see Mark Aylward and Martin Comerford take the u20 position next year, god knows we need a shake up u20 . At least the management at minor have built a very promising bunch of players and have put us in a very strong position for 2025. Mark Dowling and co absolutely butchered a good panel and we got nothing out of them 2 years running, don't get me going about the u20 management again .

Management's job is to manage, kids job is to do what their told. Excellent post JJ

I agree entirely.

Not sure how this would work…. We had no issue working the ball out to our 65 had we? It was from here in that the problems happened. Tipp had 3 banks of 3 on 21, 45 and 65 and 2 more working around the middle. There was no space from 65m in, carrying the ball out at 3/4 pace assumes the full forward doesn't chase? Getting people in space between 45 and 65 for shots looks good on paper but I don't think there was any space there

From what I could see there backs totally dominated our forwards on their 1v1 match ups, except for McDermott in the first half but they mastered him in the 2nd half too. Whether it was a low ball to the corner, high ball down the middle, running it from midfield we were dispossessed or didn't win it initially. When they worked the ball back for a shot from midfield they all went wide (must have hit 8 wides from distance in the last 15 minutes?) It wasn't any of the players fault, Tipp backs were just stronger on the day.

An earlier poster outlined kks game plan all year perfectly in an earlier post and Jake and Ollie and been scoring heavily in most games but were completely tied up on Saturday. Subs that were introduced in the forwards were similar.

If I was to be critical of management it would be that kks intensity level seemed to drop after the 2nd sending off which is natural as you might consider you have the game won. Tipps raised a level for sure, I dont know did kk get back to the level they were at for the first 20 mins for the remainder of the game?

Eddie Brennan was having a go at management on twitter to push up a 7th forward, considering we were being caught on counter attack with a running game it might have had the opposite affect. I think that area was crowded enough as it was. Eddie has been in a similar situation before and might have had more sense

The Tipperary defending was outstanding though, Pat Treacy on community radio has been complementing kks hooking and blocking all year but Tipp were on another level again on Saturday.

We probably made some poor decisions when we had a few chances close to goal in the 2nd half when trying to force goals but you'll get that with young lads. The missed chances down the stretch will haunt them.

It was an enjoyable year with highs and lows. The highs being the 2 Galway games, Leinster final and the great win over Clare. Dublin the first day and the All Ireland loss were the lows. The lads progressed well though and we should get some players off this team to work through the age levels. The u16s got great experience, playing in massive games, over coming the adversity of the early campaign to come good and should have a good team there next year.

On the crowd, I think someone said they thought it was 50/50. I nearly choked on my tea. It was at least 9000/3000 if not 10000/2000 and Tipp crowd were very vocal, it was like a home match for them, very hostile atmosphere for our players and supporters. You'd swear I had sent off the players the abuse I was getting in the stand. I don't know what can be done about it, people don't want to go. Barely a round of applause when the seniors won the Leinster final either. Very poor.

Our lads intensity definitely dropped off after the second red card, our management were clearly getting the message to our players to be careful that the referee would be looking to even things up numbers wise. Our lads hardly laid a glove on an opponent after that and definitely hung back too much and reverted to trying to get a hook or block in.

Quality analysis on the minor. Tipp backs were absolutely outstanding.

Kilkenny supporters are definitely not as vociferous as others, more quietly critical. I have never heard Kilkenny supporters chanting. Agree on the abuse from some Tipperary supporters, shocking stuff. It wasn't like any KK supporters were asking for any red cards. Tipp deserved the victory, their players were outstanding but the behaviour of some of their supporters left a very sour taste

A very disappointing day on Saturday, hard to credit we couldn't win a game against 13 players but ironically the 2nd red card was the losing of the game for us. We were completely spooked and then looked like a team that were afraid to lose whereas Tipp were able to throw themselves into it and hurl with abandon. They were nothing short of fantastic and showed guts and resolve you rarely see in such young men. Every single one of them absolutely emptied themselves, and the most impressive thing was the way they managed to maintain their composure. Their decision making was streets ahead of Kilkenny after the sending offs.
The 2 red cards were the big talking points, and while the 1st was really harsh, the 2nd was a clear red card and a very dangerous challenge. I thought the 1st red was maybe a bit of Karma for Tipp as it was their players overreaction to a similar Galway stroke that got a young man (also) wrongly sent off in the semi. In fairness to Bobby Brennan he made nothing of the slap and didn't fall in a heap and roll around like the Tipp chap did. Both were very unfair decisions on such young lads, your heart would break to see the expression on young Minogues face.

There's also no doubt that the ref subconsciously evened things up after the 2nd red, and the 17 frees to 5 stat clearly shows that. Kilkenny couldn't buy a free and some very, very soft ones were given against us. The very last free awarded absolutely defied belief. He also inexplicably reversed a clear wide ball that the umpire signalled, to give a 65 which Tipps goal came from. The Tipp 14 appealed (impressively!!) and the ref just bought it. It was bizarre.

We would have performed far better as a team against 15, than we did against 13. The wheels just came off.

I think management deserved great credit for their run to the final. They put their trust in young players and they delivered 4 days on the trot to reach the final, but they clearly panicked yesterday and misread the game. The boys needed much clearer direction and clearly we used the extra players really poorly, and the sense of impending doom enveloped them the same way it did the boys. I'm sure they have huge regrets as it was clearly a final we left behind us.

On the support, it was at least 60/40 to Tipp, and we should be ashamed of ourselves that that was allowed to happen. We call ourselves a hurling county but our support is pathetic and getting worse. If we couldn't make it to Kilkenny to support our future stars in an All Ireland final, then it's all a cod. Embarrassing display of support.

Finally, and this isn't sour grapes, as Tipp 100% deserved their win, but the behaviour of the Tipp management has been mentioned by a few, and whilst they have obviously done a superb job with this team, and managed the game unbelievably well, miles ahead of KK management, their collective behaviour on the line was nothing short of disgraceful. The intimidation of officials and shouting and screaming and jumping around that was going on was scandalous. Grown men who should be ashamed of themselves. That Woodlock is an absolute ape, it's amazing he's in law enforcement. Trying to get young players sent off on the biggest day of their lives is as low as you can get. The young men they coach were a credit to their County and their parents and families, but their management team should be embarrassed by their own behaviour.
The referee and his team lost control of them after the 2nd red, and they were basically allowed to do as they liked, including repeatedly leaving Kilkenny standing on the field for minutes on end at the intervals. I don't blame them for trying that at all, it was pure gamesmanship, but the referee never once hurried them up. It was very unfair on the young Kilkenny lads.

Well done to Tipp, undoubtedly the greatest underage display I've ever witnessed.

We should have pushed one of the spare players into midfield and used him as an off the shoulder runner. We basically had 2 players doing the same job when we only needed one. I'd have substituted a defender for a midfielder/half forward. Instead we just did the normal, put a wing forward on for a wing forward and a corner forward replaced a corner forward.

We played the ball reasonably well around the back, but once it passed midfield the cohesion and composure just stopped, with too many players doing their own thing and repeatedly taking the wrong option. Our distance shooting was also shocking and that needed to be miles better. 22 wides tells its own story.

Not making any excuses but as someone else said i was siting around kk lads who hardly clapped. Tipp seniors being so poor and the u20 bet they really got behind the minor team 2 weeks ago and had everyone involved with hurling urging supporters to go.They organised loads of buses and got as many as they could to the park and it definitely was a help. I think its a absolute disgrace that the county board and clubs cant work together and get as many buses to the match Saturday and any big days like last Saturday but it doesn't surprise me either. I know the young lads would be mad to go. It's a great day out.

Tipp management would of drilled it into the players that they can win here and what it would mean but we can blame what we want but the bottom line is tipp were the better team on the day and deserved the victory. The 2nd red card was a disaster for us because whatever about the first one we hadn't a bulls clue what to do and as often happens the free counts go against you. Kk got spooked and took on pot shots and kept taking the wrong option and the longer it went on the harder it got.How we didn't push up and react a bit was disappointing. No one could of predicted two chaps would be sent off and that led to panic stations across the team and management.We must all remember these are 16 year old chaps and anyone with young lads will know they have a good bit to go. It was the talk of a lot of workplaces today and it will definitely take a while to process this one but the only thing is you would be hopeful they can bottle this hurt and drive it on next year but we seen with the u20 there's absolutely no guarantees we will even get out of leinster next year.

Just a general question,are we gone afraid to win all irelands or is that harsh? If we get and lose the final it's 3 in a row and 5 the last few years. Is this contributing to the smal support l.

Looking Forward to the match Saturday and I was talking to a clare man who knows his stuff and he is confident the time has come to get this hoodoo off their back. Like kk the time is running out for clare to get over the line. Both teams will have identified weakness and if I remember correctly the league match in Ennis and the league final they made hay running at us through the center. Richie had two bad days so he will be hoping to rectify that. Clare have options and Rodgers could probably run at our defence and draw frees.I would be very nervous of Tommy Corner back on reidy. We will need huge workrate from everyone and lads doing a lot of the dirty work. Rumours are butler will pick up sod who is in unbelievable form. Kk need to be very disciplined because clare have a habit of invisible snipers taking them out from the stand.Even sod raises his two arms once he gets possession so he has the free at the very least. We have a few lads guilty of doing it aswel before I get attacked. Cian Kenny isn't getting the eoin larkin free as much anymore and blanchfield isn't too bad at manufacturing a free. The one where players put their arms up in the air and immediately get advantage is a bug bearer of mine. Cleary will have to stop his dragging because the umpires will be well warned before the match. Everyone had copped onto hogan ducking Into every tackle buying frees.

Kk will want to get at conlon he has being under a good bit of pressure. He will want to sit in the pocket like Richie Reid but we will have to push up on him because that's what clare are going to do with reid. They will see how limerick put lynch on reid and made him mark.Can we bring something a bit different to the table this wknd? Cody should be dragging hogan around the place and make it as uncomfortable as he can. Mullen or donnelly could do well off conlon because they are very good strikers. We need to bring something a little new to the table this year because clare will push up and run run run at us. We will want to get a few shots off on quilligan but not like what wexford were trying to do hitting it from far out.

I wonder is Brookville on holidays.

Eh, what?

Adrian Mullen rumoured to be doubtful with a muscle injury but expected to start… not ideal , has become a very important player and leader on this team.