Leinster S.F.C. 2015

[Teo Lurley]

We can all see that not everything is perfect with the line up but lets be honest here, we really don't have many options. We don't have a lot on the bench. If Paul Begley was fit he could go corner back or centre back but he isn't. McMahon wouldn't be up to speed yet, he mightn't be all Summer. Hanrahan has looked dodgy in a few games.
In the forwards what do we have on the bench? Shiel or Kingston to come on for whichever one of them that starts. Merideth was nowhere near fitness, Sheehan? Finn? We just don't have the strenght in depth at all. We're doing very well with what we have considering. If we get any injuries we're in big trouble. Timmons for example, what would we do then?

[redsetanta]

Finn seems to be way down the pecking order. What's the story there?

[From the Terrace]

Options do seem limited, finn is physical player & might of been a good option instead of quigley last 20mins as he ran out of steam a bit after an excellent 1st half, but it seems TOF has just decided to ignore him maybe hes not doing in in training but from last year IFC championship displays i think he still has something to offer us.

[Don Draper]

We can all see that not everything is perfect with the line up but lets be honest here, we really don't have many options. We don't have a lot on the bench. If Paul Begley was fit he could go corner back or centre back but he isn't. McMahon wouldn't be up to speed yet, he mightn't be all Summer. Hanrahan has looked dodgy in a few games.
In the forwards what do we have on the bench? Shiel or Kingston to come on for whichever one of them that starts. Merideth was nowhere near fitness, Sheehan? Finn? We just don't have the strenght in depth at all. We're doing very well with what we have considering. If we get any injuries we're in big trouble. Timmons for example, what would we do then?

You've nailed it right there. Which makes it all the more disappointing to pass up the opportunity to hand that shower their holes when it was there. It might be gone, it might not be, but it was there last Saturday, of that there's no doubt.

[redsetanta]

Same team again for Saturday.

[blueandwhite1]

Not surprising that same starting team was announced. If there are changes, I am guessing we will know at around 7.10 tomorrow.

I think it is good that Kildare are being viewed as favorites for this. No doubt their confidence will be up. I still think we have better footballers.

[redsetanta]

I'd say lads would want to have their tickets bought well before throw in. There will be some scrum at the ticket office with everyone heading there after the Ireland v Scotland game.

Is the Laois v Kildare game on Sky this week?

[redsetanta]

Kildare have named the same team also. You can be sure there will be 2 or 3 changes to that.

What about Laois?

[Giovanni]

I would be hoping for a much better performance this time. I've seen Kildare twice now and it's clear that they don't have great forwards and/or they don't have a great attacking system. We also have a stronger midfield. This fact should give us the confidence to press forward and keep them under pressure further out the field. In my opinion, we should have at least two inside forwards available inside at all times and the ball should be delivered to them quickly. Our inside line are capable of doing damage but they need the right kind of service. I hope they go out in a positive attacking frame rather than just a load of people running backwards just for the sake of it and never putting in a tackle. A leaf should be taken from the hurlers - we have nothing to fear from this Kildare team and we shouldn't play as if we're afraid.

[County Man]

Its showtime again in Tullamore.

Seems its gonna be dry for it and not half as windy as last Saturday.

Moolick is one huge guy so will see if we can win the midfield battle today.

We need at least one goal. We haven't scored a goal against Kildare in championship football since that glorious day we lifted the Delaney Cup.

I'm tipping Ross to really come to the fore today and chip in.

I think Evan O'Carroll can have a massive game.

Hopefully our defence can be better in the tackle and hopefully Donie can produce more genius today.

Looking forward to this one.

[Don Draper]

As we all knew chance missed last week. A hammering would arrive in Leinster, that it happened against as a limited a side as that is unacceptable. Questions to be asked of management, tactics and attitude.

[Giovanni]

I said last week that if we didn't address the problem of allowing opponents the freedom to wander the field without a challenge we'd eventually get hammered. I honestly didn't think that Kildare were capable of doing that to us and, in truth, Kildare are really not very good.

We are, I think, a pretty serious team when we have the ball. We have a good midfield, plenty of scoring forwards and, individually, some decent defenders too. However, when we don't have the ball, I don't think it's harsh to say that we must be one of the worst teams in the country. I'd love to see the tackle count from that game and I'd say you could count the number of proper tackles in single digits. Kildare lads, as a rule, had no-one within 5 yards of them and had the freedom to pick out any one of 4 or 5 team mates at any point in time.

We were a point up at half time (and could have been more if the goal chances had been taken) but that was due to our good attacking play. We still weren't working hard enough or getting close enough to Kildare when we didn't have the ball so it was only a matter of time before they took advantage. We played the same way last week and got away with it. You won't get away with it in too many championship games.

In an attacking sense, there were plenty of good performances but Donie was again head and shoulders above anyone. JOL was also excellent, Evan O Carroll was very good, Niall Donoher contributed, Quigley did better this time. But none of these lads really did their defensive duties properly.  That's really disappointing because you would think that that's the easier part to get right.

Unless there's a very radical change in the way we approach these games, I can't see us going much further. This would be a shame because we have enough players to cause a few surprises in the championship.

[Teo Lurley]

Yes we blew the chance last week. Kildare did some drills behind the terrace at half time, while Laois were standing on the pitch in their positions Kildare were getting fired up in a huddle with some fella (not Ryan) shouting at them and getting them fired up. They ran out the short distance to the pitch, game started and they blitzed us. Game over within a few minutes.
Maybe our players were feeling confident at half time. We were the better team. Then when they upped their game we were unable to answer. We looked shell shocked. The mistake by Brody rocked us and they took advantage. Their running game through us worked because they have more pace around the middle, simple as that. Quigley, O'Loughlin and Boyle are too slow getting back.
Kingston was excellent again but it's really sad to see Ross in the form he's in. It's probably his last year and his confidence is just gone. A great player for us for well over a decade though, he owes us nothing. We can talk about the management, the tactics, how different players performed and all that but at the end of the day the reason we're not at the races is because a number of our best players don't want to play for their county.
We had many players playing out of position on the starting team, we had a few 19 year olds starting and we had practically nothing on the bench. We have the Portlaoise sub keeper in goals, Healy's playing hurling and the only other Portlaoise player we have is Dillon. Where are the rest? They've dominated Laois for years. Why don't they want to play for their county? I think O'Leary was with Jack Nolan in the commentary box, he's 29 I think. He should be playing. Kevin Meaney, Gary Walsh, why aren't they there? Merideth and McMahon have come back but they're nowhere near the right level of fitness for inter county football.
We know how difficult it is to give the amount of commitment needed to play for Laois these days but do any of these players not feel a bit of guilt looking at that yesterday? Shouldn't they be out there helping their county? Until everyone starts rowing in the same direction results like yesterday will happen. This is not to criticise the players we have. They've put in great effort and some of them have played in foreign positions to what they're used to with no complaints.
I'm just angry today but I want to see a team with our best players playing, it will probably never happen. If all these players trained all year and were available it would make a huge difference to the team. Not just the starting 15 but the bench and the competition for places: Nolan, Healy, O'Leary, McMahon, Merideth, Walsh, Cahilane, Meaney.

[Asal Mor]

Good post TL. Laois are my second county and I always take an interest. Strange situation with the Portlaoise fellas alright. O Flatharta must be under big pressure at this stage. Surprised Laois gave him the job after his stint with Galway.

[The Monument Road]

Wher do i start. Hugely dissapointed and expected us to win easily enough and to some extent we should have. We started well, owned midfield, our forwards were working well enough and the backs (full back line especially ) were doing ok.The rot started with the missed penalty and Quigleys open goal miss. Should have been up 7 or 8 at half time and we would have moved on after the interval. Ross's confidence is shattered and maybe he should have left it to Carroll or Kingston. He also coughed up a lot of possession where Kildare scored directly from turnovers. I'm not going to be too hard on Ross as he owes us nothing. I also wonder if the first half tackle on Brody affected him as he gave away a goal or two and several points with his short kickouts. He is a good goalie so he must have been affected. laois are not 13 points worse then Kildare. Not in a month of sundays.
Teo Lurleys comment about kildare doing drills at half time is interesting though....