Dublin v Kildare - Match Thread!

[Captain Scarlet]

God I went away after giving up twice on that other thread!
So down to the game ahead.
I reckon Kildare will need to absolutely play out of their skins and have everything go their way to come out on top. We also need McGeeney to do something he never has - out think a manager with better players at his disposal.
This craic of dropping men back as sweepers will only invite the Dub speedsters onto us so I'd much prefer us pushing and tackling/ cynically fouling  from the front.
Any thoughts? Just about the feckin game here...

[Syferus]

I have seven million reasons why Dublin are favourites.

[PAULD123]

Ulster has Derry, Down and Tyrone in the top ten but Donegal look like they will take a stroll to the Ulster title. Galway would justifiably consider themselves top ten yet Mayo seeming to be cantering to the Connaght championship. Kildare are Division 1 and Westmeath have just joined them, yet it would be a surprise if Dublin fail to win any Leinster game by 4-5 points. Perhaps Cork and Kerry will have a close tussle for Munster but I can't see it myself.

Does anyone remember a time when the provincials were so wrapped up? I've been watching football for 30 years and at least in Ulster there was never a year when it looked finished before it started.

The sad thing is that Dublin look a class ahead of Kildare  in almost every area of the pitch. I can not see Kildare winning in any way unless Dublin seriously don't apply themselves (which in football has happened to plenty of teams before)

[Fuzzman]

I was thinking that myself Pauld a few weeks back when we lost to Donegal. No disrespect to ye or anyone else in Ulster but I think it's Donegal's to lose

It's made for a very boring discussion board and championship so far but as we know, football has a habit of bringing up surprises.

When's the last time the Dubs didn't reach the 1/4 finals or semis back before 2001?

[Croí na hÉireann]

I was thinking that myself Pauld a few weeks back when we lost to Donegal. No disrespect to ye or anyone else in Ulster but I think it's Donegal's to lose

It's made for a very boring discussion board and championship so far but as we know, football has a habit of bringing up surprises.

When's the last time the Dubs didn't reach the 1/4 finals or semis back before 2001?

Armagh 2003

[macdanger2]

Perhaps Cork and Kerry will have a close tussle for Munster but I can't see it myself.

Which of them do you think wil stroll it?? I'd see that game as being fairly even with Kerry as slight favourites.

I'd expect Kildare to give Dublin a good test as well. Hard to see past Mayo & Donegal in the other two but there could be a couple of tight games for one or both of them yet.

[squire_in_navy_slacks]

I expect a serious game from Kildare......................personally up front I find kildares oconnor a real weak link......................they guy is awful, now watch me eat my words

[lynchbhoy]

think oconnor is a decent player - but out the field where he plays at club level and kildare have been week enough over the years (though two flynns at centrefield iss an improvement - i'd have oconnor join them at third mf).
he's no FF though and OCarroll has no problem dominating him (and most other full forwards).

Kildare will put it up to Dublin, but I'd expect a Dubs win by at least three points. still on the day, anything can happen and a team can collapse.

If cork get their act together I still think they would be better tan kerry - but they are all over the shop each year.

Mayo have improved - but I still dont think it will be enough.

Donegal will find it hard keeping their title as it will be hard to keep all their men fit and healthy two seasons in a row. With a small enough panel, it is their biggest danger this year.

Tyrone could come back into it with the qualifiers givng on the job training and teamwork plus bondng leading to them being a real threat come end of season.

I suppose apart from munster, it will be at and after provncial finals when things will get very interesting.

thoroughly enjoying some of the football being played so far this year - despite some lop sided games.

still think its Dubs, donegal, tyrone with cork or kerry an outside bet and even mayo just after that.

[Hound]

Maybe I dreamt it, but I have memory of O'Connor causing us problems in the past.

I'm worried about the 4 week break for us, given there's so few starting places up for grabs in the Dubs team. Not easy to keep the training intensities high in that situation. But glad to see Gavin released a good chunk of the players for club games on Wednesday. And presumably for the lads who weren't released there was a good reason, e.g. an injury niggle.

The 4 week break is the same for both teams of course, but I think Kildare have more to work on and more places up for grabs, so they may be able to use that time more fruitfully.

[Captain Obvious]

What did Dublin learn about themselves against Westmeath if anything?

[Jell 0 Biafra]

What did Dublin learn about themselves against Westmeath if anything?

Rock continues to be good off the bench.

[Canalman]

Kildare never have trouble possession wise and to be fair to them traditionally are never afraid to shoot ( not always successful). Have always thought that some day they would hit a purple patch and blow some team away and no reason why they can't do that to Dublin.

[squire_in_navy_slacks]

Kildare never have trouble possession wise and to be fair to them traditionally are never afraid to shoot ( not always successful). Have always thought that some day they would hit a purple patch and blow some team away and no reason why they can't do that to Dublin.

They wont blow Dublin away but could easily beat them that's for sure........................ Id imagine this game will ignite the championship as its been a really dour dour affair so far

[Dinny Breen]

He who has never hoped can never despair. - George B Shaw

Expectations around Kildare are pretty low and I've yet to talk to anyone who thinks we have a chance but we have hope and we might as well build a case for Kildare.

1. Youthful exuberance, Kildare's u21s have energised our set-up and many hold no fear of Dublin and have a good record at under-age level against Dublin. More importantly they didn't feature in the League mauling at Dublin's hands.
2. The league itself provided wins over Donegal, Kerry, Cork and Mayo and a decent semi-final performance against Tyrone.
3. Our last 2 Championship games and the only 2 in the last 10 years against Dublin have been close enough, Kildare were the better side in 2009 and still loss by 3 points (defensive inexperience) and in 2011 by the phantom free, Dublin though were the much better side that day and a draw would have been an injustice.
4. The quarter-final form was statistically on a par with Dublin, defensively both limited their opponents to just 23 shots, Offaly though got 13 scores from their 23 shots while Westmeath only got 9 from theirs. Offensively Kildare got 19 scores from 34 shots (56%) while Dublin got 23 scores from 42 shots (55%).
5. The form of our half-forward line and midfield against Offaly, Dublin left a lot of space against Westmeath and Kildare's more direct approach allied to this could result in opportunities in particular goal opportunities, this is something Jason Ryan (we were top goal scorers in Division 1) has added to our game.

Kildare though need to be at the top of their game and Dublin to be a good bit below theirs, complacency is a horrible word but everyone is taking this game as a Dublin win, the Dublin players will find it hard not to be affected by that, they are a young side so maybe mentally their not quite right to handle that.

Looking forward to this game mind, heart and hope says Kildare but the head says Dublin.

[Donnellys Hollow]

We have some reasons to be hopeful but I think Kildare are just going to struggle to bridge the gap. Too many of our important players, particularly in the backs, are just not in top form at the moment. Mick Foley, Emmet Bolton and Peter Kelly have been way off their usual high standards recently. The two Flynns will do a job at midfield and the pace of Cribbin and Niall Kelly could potentially cause Dublin problems. We don't have a settled full forward line with only JD sure of a place. I'd keep Tomás Connor as a plan B on the bench but I think he will start. Alan Smith's experience might see him get the nod ahead of Paddy Brophy but we'll have to hope that these lads are on a going day. Kildare do have plenty of capable forwards but what holds them back is their lack of consistency. As long as I've been following Kildare we have had talented forwards but they were nearly all players who blew very hot and cold - Paul McLoughlin, Martin Lynch, Johnny McDonald, Eddie McCormack, Pauric Brennan, Tadhg Fennin, James Kavanagh etc.

I do believe that Kildare will put Dublin under pressure but I can't see us winning it. Dublin will open up this Kildare defense when they run at it and we will leak too many soft scores.