Attractive double bill on the cards at Croker next Saturday night.With season ticket holders able to attend any game of their choice in the code,is it not therefore a little bit silly to schedule other games next Saturday night, to coincide with these,for example Laois V Pride of Britain (Armagh) and Down V Tyrone?
What do you want Tony?
Games spread over 7 days? :D
Would be nice to have an official league double bill opener alone on Saturday night,with all the other matches on Sunday during the opening weekend.
We'll have the red, white and blue carpet rolled out for you in O'Moore Park next Sat. (blue & white being the Laois colours).
Must try and be on our best behaviour too and not go upsetting Ciaran McKeever again ;)
Quote from: T Fearon on January 27, 2013, 10:19:12 PM
Would be nice to have an official league double bill opener alone on Saturday night,with all the other matches on Sunday during the opening weekend.
+1
Quote from: The Boy Wonder on January 27, 2013, 10:25:32 PM
We'll have the red, white and blue carpet rolled out for you in O'Moore Park next Sat. (blue & white being the Laois colours).
Must try and be on our best behaviour too and not go upsetting Ciaran McKeever again ;)
They wouldn't want to be so sensitive this time...
Anyone heading? Hope to make it myself.
Yep - heading in alright - still trying to wangle a couple of premiums though otherwise Lower Cusack
Quote from: Declan on February 01, 2013, 01:26:04 PM
Yep - heading in alright - still trying to wangle a couple of premiums though otherwise Lower Cusack
Just landed a premium, give us a buzz if you wangle your way in Dec.
Quote
Just landed a premium, give us a buzz if you wangle your way in Dec.
Good man - will do if I manage to get one
Seeing as the Lilies are in the bill this seems like a good spot to post my Kildare-centric league preview http://action81.com/blog/?p=6627
I'm heading along tonight as a neutral with me season ticket...thinking of bringing my nephew (u-16) but does anyone know if he'll get in okay as he doesn't have a season ticket?? I presume it wont be a problem but no doubt there is a rule somewhere!
Quote from: Declan on February 01, 2013, 05:43:36 PM
Quote
Just landed a premium, give us a buzz if you wangle your way in Dec.
Good man - will do if I manage to get one
Are you on your own Dec?
no heffo - myself and the missus are going
Quote from: Declan on February 02, 2013, 02:35:31 PM
no heffo - myself and the missus are going
Did ya get sorted yet? Am in the box myself, pm me your number if not
QuoteDid ya get sorted yet? Am in the box myself, pm me your number if not
Just PMed' you heffo
Tactical analysis of Kildare's win over Donegal up here http://action81.com/blog/?p=6637
A good display from Kildare but there's no point in reading too much into it because Donegal barely raised a gallop. It was great to see some of the young players performing so well. Niall Kelly was sublime and Daniel Flynn showed that he's well able for this level. As for the more experienced heads, it was encouraging to see Johnny Doyle operating closer to goal where he can hurt teams and hopefully Tom Connor can keep his scoring run going. I think we still need to have a look at our midfield and at the centre of our defence. Donegal ran through us too easily during the second half.
In fairness DH I thought Donegal worked hard and fought to the end, I real testament to their residual fitness. Also this was a team coming into the game with supreme confidence and self-belief that only winning an All-Ireland can give you, so from that perspective it was an important win for Kildare. We can debate the merits of Donegal's preparation or lack of but for me the bottom line is that it was a good win over the All-Ireland champions in the home of football. Saw a stat on the Kildare forum that Kildare have played 18 competitive games in the last 11 months have only lost twice, winning is habit and if we can pick two points against a Cork side that looked disinterested against Dublin we will go a long way to retaining Division 1 status.
As for the young guns Kelly, Doyle, Brophy, Flynn and throw in Cribben and Dowling we might have a generation to match the impact of Ryan, Rainbow and Buckley in the 90s. No expectation there then...
You're probably have a point re Donegal but there can be a tendency to read way too much into these early league matches. This time last year we were on the wrong end of two beatings by Tyrone and Monaghan and yet we still went up. If we can bed in some of these new players while avoiding relegation it will be an excellent campaign for Kildare.
I think some of you Kildare people are down playing this. I work is Ulster allot and I read a paper last week where one of the Donegal players was quoted as saying that he has just gone through the toughest pre season he's ever had. Just because they didnt play in McKenna Cup people assume poor preparation when in actual fact it mean they could train harder than ever.
This was a massive win for Kildare. Outside of Donegals first 18 they don't have much. With a few injuries and Jimmys wavering focus due to being at Celtic watch the pressure mounting if they loose the next game or two.
It will be interesting to see how well Donegal can keep their discipline as they learn how tough it is to be AI champions in this day and age. Everyone is out to take you down a peg or two by hook or by crook.
I can remember well the 1st round NFL in Parnell after we won our 1st AI when the Dubs really went all out to rough us up and to me that was the start of the Tyrone v Dublin battles from there on.
Also in 2006 Derry came to Omagh and beat us playing a strategic fouling game that stopped us building any momentum all over the field.
I think McGuinness will soon find out how the honeymoon period doesn't last long and how nasty teams can get to win at all costs against their new champions.
How did ye think young Paddy Quinn played last night? Did MD Macauley come off injured?
Enjoyable evening in HQ last night. Thought Reilly was very inconsistent reffing the first game and both teams were getting quite frustrated. Was very impressed with young Kelly for the lillies and Michael Murphy is a class act. Shocking error by Durcan but overall Kildare would have to be happy with that performance. I was pleasantly surprised by Dublin's performance and although the winning margin flattered due to Cork's shocking inability from frees/45s (I counted 7 misses from straightforward positions), I thought Paddy Andrews showed well and the two corner backs did OK. Still have concerns around the middle but there were signs that young O'Conghaile might be there over the next few years - this year might be a bit early for him though.
Early days and I hope Mannion is OK as it was an awful clash.
thought kildare learned a lot from this one tactically, about breaking through a blanket defence with the personnel they have, and in defence, how to stop runners coming at them. good game for both sides. we look like we have work to do on our defence.
as for being ai champs and sides gunning for you... comes with the territory, but i don't think we should be overly obsessed about defending our reputation and feeling like we need to win all the time. what's important for donegal, same as every other side, is developing our game, tweaking things here and there that are not right and building up some form for when it counts.
can't remember who posted the link, but it was appreciated. cracking game for the beginning of feb.
Hi guys,
Tactical analysis of Dublin's win over Cork now up http://action81.com/blog/?p=6642
Emmet
Tidy performance from Dublin last night. Handling and foot passing very good and younger lads didn't look overawed. Andrews played well and hopefully will kick on from here . Nice to see us play crisply last night after the pitiful display in the opener last year v Kerry.
Always a pleasure to see Kerrigan play........... pure class.
Kildare looked good last night.
The support for Cork and Donegal last night was downright embarassing give how many from these two counties live in Dublin.
The Donegal lads are absolute mountains of men........... can only really be appreciated by seeing them in person.
Quote from: ck on February 03, 2013, 09:35:08 AM
I think some of you Kildare people are down playing this. I work is Ulster allot and I read a paper last week where one of the Donegal players was quoted as saying that he has just gone through the toughest pre season he's ever had. Just because they didnt play in McKenna Cup people assume poor preparation when in actual fact it mean they could train harder than ever.
This was a massive win for Kildare. Outside of Donegals first 18 they don't have much. With a few injuries and Jimmys wavering focus due to being at Celtic watch the pressure mounting if they loose the next game or two.
They're just back from Dubai three weeks ago and they were late even beginning training! For most of Donegal's players, that was their first start of the season, in some cases their first game since the AI final. As for our squad strength, granted, its not overly deep, but in which county is it? Cork? They didn't cope too well in 2011. Dublin? Look how they missed Alan Brogan last year. We seamlessly used 20 players in each game to great effect last year and were missing players like Michael Murphy and Neil Gallagher at various points in the championship. No county is going to thrive without their very top players. Lacey, Murphy and McFadden would be just about irreplaceable in any team.
You consistently seem to have it in for Donegal for whatever reason, but I seriously doubt that there will be any pressure on McGuinness in Donegal, regardless of how the league goes. For sure the national press will start a campaign, but who gives a f**k about them, especially after the last couple of years? Outside of staying in the top two divisions, preferably division 1, the league doesn't matter when it comes to the championship. We were in disarray, without a manager, and lost six of seven games in 2003, before regrouping and making an AI semi. We won the league in 2007 and scraped past Armagh in Ulster before being blown out of it by Tyrone and Monaghan. We barely survived last year (losing first two games to Laois and Down - how'd that "psychological advantage" work out for Down in the long run?) with six points and went on to win the AI. In the 1992-1993 league, we went hell for leather and won all seven league games, before reaching the final against Dublin and losing in a replay (there were 60,000 in Croke Park for those games, which shows how seriously everyone took the rematch of the previous year's AI final). That replay was a couple of weeks before the Ulster Championship and the run cost us a number of important players and arguably our AI title. Donegal will be just fine this season, regardless of the league. Doesn't mean we're going to win another AI, but we'll be serious contenders, just like four or five other teams.
QuoteHi guys,
Tactical analysis of Dublin's win over Cork now up http://action81.com/blog/?p=6642
Emmet
Interesting stuff Emmett. Agree with how open we looked at the back alright but I think you were over generous to Bernard. Correct his distribution was first class but he lost too many possessions in the second half for my liking. Signs he's getting back to form though
Good to see that Cluxton is captain for the year
It was the ease in which he fitted into a new role that impressed me. Looked far more at home in a pass-first position.
Very enjoyable night in Croker on Sat with the first game the pick of the bunch. Niall Kelly impressed for a débutante as did Jack McCaffrey for the Dubs. Premium definitely needed in February to warm the cockles between the halves, bitter.