Leinster Minor Football Championship 2014

Dinny Breen · July 02, 2014, 05:09:49 PM

Couldn't find a thread on this.

Anyhow semi-final stage on Saturday and next Thursday.

Kildare v Laois in Newbridge this Saturday at 3pm and Offaly play Dublin next Thursday night 7 30pm in Tullamore.

Outright Betting

Dublin 4/6
Kildare 11/4
Offaly 4/1
Laois 8/1

Not sure what to expect from the Laois minors, they went down to Wexford Park as underdogs and came away with the win against a fancied Wexford team. Kildare were far from convincing against Westmeath but beat a strong Longford team in Longford. Would be confident of a Kildare victory but with minor teams you can never say.

In the other game I think Offaly might spring a surprise, they have been going well and there are signs that the Dublin conveyor belt is starting to dry up a little.

Dont Matter · July 02, 2014, 05:19:18 PM

Ye do up the kip yet? Even a little bit? Hope you're not planning to use ours if you don't get downed.

The match itself should be easy for the Lilies, we might just show up to give ye a hand with your finances. Friendly neighbours that we are.

Dinny Breen · July 02, 2014, 05:27:28 PM

Quote from: Dont Matter on July 02, 2014, 05:19:18 PM
Ye do up the kip yet? Even a little bit? Hope you're not planning to use ours if you don't get downed.

The match itself should be easy for the Lilies, we might just show up to give ye a hand with your finances. Friendly neighbours that we are.

Na still a sh*thole!

Are you traveling up? Confident?

Dont Matter · July 02, 2014, 05:35:26 PM

I'll be there, saw our lads against Carlow. Nothing to write home about. Wouldn't be advising any gamble on our fellas anyway. Sure the wee Lilies have been hittin the weights since 12 haven't they?

Donnellys Hollow · July 02, 2014, 07:58:38 PM

Didn't make the Westmeath match but I did see the win over Longford. This team doesn't possess the individual talent of last year's bunch did but they showed a great team ethic to recover from a very bad start. Mescal is exactly the type of player that Kildare are not producing enough of. Strong defender, reads the game very well, leads from the front. I was also very impressed with Boyle from Rathangan at midfield. Tall and gangly player who will run all day. Ben McCormack is a fine skillful footballer. Beside him his clubmate Dempsey who played in goal last year is a great ball winner but is probably lacking a half yard of pace. Michael Kelly from Athy put on an exhibition in extra time.

A win this Saturday guarantees a quarter final place. Kildare football could do with a boost after the no show on Sunday.

Go home ref · July 05, 2014, 03:51:37 PM

Kildare 3-03 Laois 0-02 HT

Go home ref · July 05, 2014, 04:29:19 PM

Kildare 3-11 Laois 0-05 FT

Syferus · July 05, 2014, 04:32:21 PM

Quote from: Go home ref on July 05, 2014, 03:51:37 PM
Kildare 3-03 Laois 0-02 HT

What's caused Laois to fall off the underage pace after being the pace-setters not much more than a decade ago? There has to be a lesson there for other counties and themselves. They joined the Manning Cup at U16 this year.

Kildare are flying at U16 and at minor and U21 at Leinster but they still have yet to make a meaningful break-through at AI level.

Dinny Breen · July 06, 2014, 11:49:01 AM

Quote from: Syferus on July 05, 2014, 04:32:21 PM
Quote from: Go home ref on July 05, 2014, 03:51:37 PM
Kildare 3-03 Laois 0-02 HT

What's caused Laois to fall off the underage pace after being the pace-setters not much more than a decade ago? There has to be a lesson there for other counties and themselves. They joined the manning Cup at U16 this year.

Kildare are flying at U16 and at minor and U21 at Leinster but they still have yet to make a meaningful break-through at AI level.

God forbid we become the Roscommon of Leinster!!!

Laois were disappointing and once the game settled they started to struggle physically, the half-time scoreline was very harsh on Laois but Kildare always looked like scoring goals and punished Laois in a 10 minute spell before half-time with three of them.

Lacey's coaching is again evident here with a lot of focus on our defensive structure with Mescal knowing his role and playing it superbly, minor next year as well I believe. The half-back line in particular were just a wall with a superb work-rate. We created loads of opportunities could quibble we weren't clinical enough but it's good to have something to work on and our decision making in the last third was not good enough at times. With good squad dept Brendan Hackett will have some nice selection headaches for the final.

Still a third Leinster final in 5 years (should have been there in 2010) for an age-grade at which we have traditionally struggled is a good sign for the future.

manfromdelmonte · July 06, 2014, 01:46:30 PM

Laois are going well at underage hurling, is that part of the reason?

Donnellys Hollow · July 07, 2014, 01:39:09 PM

Quote from: Dinny Breen on July 06, 2014, 11:49:01 AM
Lacey's coaching is again evident here with a lot of focus on our defensive structure with Mescal knowing his role and playing it superbly, minor next year as well I believe.

I don't think he is Dinny. This is his third year starting on the team.

Good to get back to the final and guarantee a quarter final spot against either Cork or Kerry. The final will be a tough ask. Dublin will always be strong and there seems to be a lot of confidence behind the Offaly team this year with Kellaghan over them.

Quote from: manfromdelmonte on July 06, 2014, 01:46:30 PM
Laois are going well at underage hurling, is that part of the reason?

I don't think there is that much of an overlap between football and hurling in Laois. The county seems to be split geographically between the two with hurling strong in the south and west of the county, football in the north and east. They led the way with the development squads system in the nineties and had a visionary in Dempsey driving the whole thing forward. Dempsey isn't involved anymore and they have stood still while other counties have caught up and passed them by. Christy O'Connor had an article in the Sunday Times yesterday stating that Laois had 105 players attending u14 trials in 2007. Only 46 players attended trials this year.

Dinny Breen · July 10, 2014, 08:04:26 PM

Offaly minors getting toasted tonight, awful pity, looks like the occasion got to them and they did a Brazil on it.

Leinster Minor FC Semi Final Offaly 0-3 Dublin 3-7 (HT)

Blowitupref · July 10, 2014, 08:27:52 PM

40 mins gone Dublin 5-10 offaly 0-4 the dubs will probably be all Ireland favourites after this result.

Syferus · July 10, 2014, 08:40:38 PM

Quote from: Dinny Breen on July 10, 2014, 08:04:26 PM
Offaly minors getting toasted tonight, awful pity, looks like the occasion got to them and they did a Brazil on it.

Leinster Minor FC Semi Final Offaly 0-3 Dublin 3-7 (HT)

If it wasn't for your clubs playing U16 games the night before you played Offaly in the Manning Cup you'd have walked the Manning Cup and Offaly wouldn't have been in a position to win it. They flattered to deceive at under-age last year and this result is only proof of that. The two best teams in Leinster by quite a significant margin are in the final.

rodney trotter · July 10, 2014, 08:46:15 PM

Leinster MFC Semi Final FT - Offaly 0-6 Dublin 6-13