Kildare v Meath Croke Park 2pm June 29th

[Tony Baloney]

Kildare should have at least got one shot on goal from those late chances.

[easytiger95]

Meath did very well for 50 mins and then faded a little - that would be worrying if Dublin come through against Wexford. But I like the look of them - they look old school Meath, big, brawny and ruthless.

As for Kildare, I don't know where they can go from here. Just terribly inconsistent and prone to freezing on the big stage - thought they looked a lot better with Tomas O'connor as a target man to feed off.

[thejuice]

We did well for about 45-50mins. I'm not sure if lads were dropping back all the time but there seemed to be no one to win the breaks from kickouts in the second half.

We defended really well in the first half but got a little stretched towards the end. Can't afford injuries to Reilly so hope he is ok.

It went pretty much as I thought it would but I didn't think we'd get as many goal chances and it's a shame we didn't take them. The younger lads did well, the standouts were Damian Carroll, Stephen Bray, Kevin Reilly and Shane O'Rourke made some great catches but can't be expected to win every lockout for 70 mins on his own.

We will have to be much smarter against Dublin.

[Dinny Breen]

Full back line as highlighted all season here and everywhere came home to roost. Not good enough. Well done Meath took us apart during those championship minutes either side of half time. Hopefully the final is a resurrection and not a slow funeral march.

One gripe they should just play 36 minutes in the 1st half and 37 minutes in the 2nd half and do away with the joke of added time for injuries and stoppages.

Sideline performance worse than the team's 1st half performance.

[Hardy]

I don't know what caused the fade-out
- Kildare finally getting it right?
- Our lads getting tired after big effort and physical toll of handling bigger Kildare lads (if so, I'm staying in bed the day of the Leinster Final for fear of what I'd see)?
- Just the classic problem of how hard it is to get momentum after losing it?

I was a bit worried that nobody, on the field or off, seemed to know what to do. To lose the last 20o minutes 10-3 is a big worry.

On the other hand, with all respect to Carlow, this is our first high intensity match since last July and that last 20 minutes is a better preparation for the Leinster Final than an easy stroll home would have been.

[Jinxy]

I think it was primarily the third option Hardy.
Reminded me of the game against Wexford a few years ago when we coughed up a 10 point lead.
I very much got a sense of 'that's it now lads, the game is won' after our scoring burst at the start of the 2nd half.
The intensity dropped off by about 10% and lads like Ollie Lyons started pushing through the middle, with lads dropping back in numbers but not actually tackling with any real bite.
Kildare kicked a couple of points and then the crowd started getting behind them.
They started winning all the breaks around the middle and started pouring through in numbers.
We were content to pull back around 'the D' and invite them onto us, which is crazy stuff.
I was roaring at the line to go with short kick-outs (which they eventually did) as every kick that landed out around the middle was coming straight back in.
We needed to tap over one or two simple scores in that period to break their momentum.

That said, delighted with the win.
The young lads that came in did well but they are very lightweight.
I liked the look of Flanagan, he could be a serious player if/when he fills out.

[Ohtoohtobe]

Was Paddy Brophy "assisted" in getting injured? Not moaning at all, we could have had the Gooch full-forward for the first 50 minutes and it wouldn't have mattered, just curious because I didn't see it.

[Donnellys Hollow]

The full back line's lack of pace was always the concern going in and it was badly exposed. Felt sorry for the lads inside there. It shows how reliant we are on Peter Kelly and how we could badly do with another few Ollie Lyons clones. I felt he was excellent all game and really took the fight to Meath. Most of the lads kept going to be fair to them but their inexperience showed. Meath fully deserved their win and the margin certainly flattered us in the end. Good luck to them the next day because the Leinster Championship badly needs someone to take on the Dubs juggernaut.

I would start Fitzpatrick and Hyland against Down unless Peter Kelly is fit again. Chalky did well when he came on and he adds a bit more steel to the midfield area where we were very casual yesterday. Eoghan O'Flaherty was another who was left on the line too long yesterday and Mulhall's goal finishing was also missed. I doubt he would have spurned some of the goal chances that we created late on.  Fogarty showed very well but the game passed too many of the rest of them by.

[meathie]

Yes was thinking the exact same myself yesterday, memories of 'that' Wexford game came flooding back....I think there was complacency from our side but also thought we were shockingly poor in parts in the 2nd half. Very worrying when facing the big bad boys in a few weeks. But a win is a win and hopefully they'll improve on the weak 2nd half performance. Bray was excellent at times. Thought G Reilly did his bit when needed also. Really hope Kevin is ok, would be a huge loss. Have to say I was surprised that we got over the Lillys like that, was sure Jason Ryan was doing positive things there. Just needs more time maybe??

I think it was primarily the third option Hardy.
Reminded me of the game against Wexford a few years ago when we coughed up a 10 point lead.
I very much got a sense of 'that's it now lads, the game is won' after our scoring burst at the start of the 2nd half.
The intensity dropped off by about 10% and lads like Ollie Lyons started pushing through the middle, with lads dropping back in numbers but not actually tackling with any real bite.
Kildare kicked a couple of points and then the crowd started getting behind them.
They started winning all the breaks around the middle and started pouring through in numbers.
We were content to pull back around 'the D' and invite them onto us, which is crazy stuff.
I was roaring at the line to go with short kick-outs (which they eventually did) as every kick that landed out around the middle was coming straight back in.
We needed to tap over one or two simple scores in that period to break their momentum.

That said, delighted with the win.
The young lads that came in did well but they are very lightweight.
I liked the look of Flanagan, he could be a serious player if/when he fills out.

[Dinny Breen]

was sure Jason Ryan was doing positive things there. Just needs more time maybe??

Lose against Down and he is dead man walking. He's comments post-game bigger belief, an emperor with no clothes, with a suicide attacking game plan with zero defensive structure that I can see.

[thejuice]

I was amazed at the room we were getting up front. Stephen Bray hasn't played as well in a long time but I feel the opposition had a lot to do with it.

Kildare will bounce back I think. Give Jason more time. I think they have it in them to beat Down and reach the quarters.

[Jinxy]

By the way, as usual the Kildare fans around me were gentlemen to a tee.
Best of luck in the qualifiers.
Beat Down and you know from experience that the show can get back on the road very quickly.

[Syferus]

Kildare don't need roads to get about.

[Ohtoohtobe]

One of our many problems is that too many of our players are gentlemen to a tee as well. Too many Kildare players allowed themselves to be bullied.