Cill Dara v Uibh Fhaili May 24th

Yes I Would · May 24, 2009, 08:18:48 PM

A half decent club team would have beaten that Offaly side today, although i credit them with a bit of heart in the 2nd half.
Defensively they afforded the strong runners of Kildare just too much space. Hard to realistically judge what level Kildare are at after that.

INDIANA · May 24, 2009, 08:21:18 PM

Kildare are a good side and will cause anyone bother this year. The way Mc Geeney has them setup is top class.

orangeman · May 24, 2009, 08:56:36 PM

Kildare looking good for Leinster final place.

Dinny Breen · May 24, 2009, 09:34:57 PM

Strange game today, Kildare never really got of second gear but I was never comfortable throughout the game and kept expecting Offaly to make a run at us. Probably a good result that although we won comfortablely on the scoreboard there is still an awful lot work to do, to be honest as well it was great to be out of Croke Park for a Leinster Championship game.

Some observations before I sit down and watch the recording.

1. Attitude in the 1st half was spot on and very clinical, lacked composure at times in the 2nd half
2. Work-rate from the players was excellent, also was great to watch the encouragement from the players towards each-other.
3. Need Kevin O'Neill back
4. Need to keep Earley fit
5. McGrillen had a great championship debut imho
6. McGeeney and Grimley now know their players and as Indiana says above has them prepared very well and has created a good team spirit with strength in dept
7. Only 12300 at the game, very poor TV probably knocked about 5K off the gate
8. Offaly to their credit never gave up, Kildare's start made all the difference and Offaly were like Kildare of old in front of goal some bad bad wides in the opening 20
9. Where was the Offaly support?
10. Some strange refereeing decisions today
11. I wish people would stop rating us, Kildare and favourites do not mix well.

Qwerty28 · May 24, 2009, 10:55:15 PM

Best bit of entertainment was the singing of the national anthem.....some technical issues I think!!

AZOffaly · May 25, 2009, 10:18:22 AM

Fairly disappointing, but not overly surprising. I think our chickens are coming home to roost at this stage. The sacking of Paul O'Kelly after the 2003 campaign is something we have struggled with ever since.

At least Cribben gave youth it's head, and hopefully he will continue with that. The only thing is doing it for the first time in the Championship was very risky, and it backfired big time with the start we had. Kildare exploded out of the blocks, and we were still trying to find our championship feet.

The days of training hard for 2-3 months, and then hitting the championship running are over, and Offaly still operate in that way. The difference in body shape between our lads (lean and wiry) versus the Kildare lads (strong and bulky) was immense. And this would be replicated against any of the top 10 teams in Ireland. You can't do anything about height, bar picking taller players, but you can train for power. The trick is combining the skills with the power, and the psychology and tactics, but unfortunately we are about 2 years behind everyone else in terms of conditioning, and have been since about 2006. Dublin set the standards back then in Leinster, and teams like Meath, WEstmeath and Kildare have responded in that sense. Of the front running Leinster counties, only Laois would be of similar bulk to ourselves, and even they are a bit bigger.

I think Kildare will kick on from this, and hopefully Offaly can take this as the watershed moment. When Kildare are horsing you around, you have to do something. (That's not a snub on Kildare, but they would be regarded as runners and footballers rather than horses. If they've added that to their arsenal, then Offaly have to cop on to it too.)

INDIANA · May 25, 2009, 12:59:03 PM

I thought skillwise Offaly weren't bad at all. You can score- which is half the battle. But the difference in power and athleticism was extraordinary. And that was the difference. Could win no 50/50.
Quite impressed with the young midfielder- thought he was excellent. Evans did a decent job on Doyle and Sean Ryan looks a serious player- one of the few offaly players with the right sort of conditioning. I think Kildare are a serious outfit and could well win Leinster this year. They will definitely make the final.

AZOffaly · May 25, 2009, 01:05:26 PM

That's true INDIANA, I think we do have a certain latent amount of football, which we need to hold on to. I don't think it's any coincidence that Sean Ryan is down around UL, and the teams there. Niall Smith has a chance, but we need to hit the gym now. I hope Cribben is given a chance, because somebody is going to need 2-3 years.

Donnellys Hollow · May 25, 2009, 02:15:10 PM

If you'd have offered me a six point win before the throw in yesterday I'd have taken it, so the result is very pleasing. We did mix the good with the bad over the 70 minutes though. I was impressed with the way we burst out of the blocks and never really gave Offaly the slightest scent of an upset. It was great to watch a Kildare forward line perform with such purpose. The movement of both Johnny and Smith was excellent and Offaly couldn't live with them. Its hard to pinpoint why we weren't as slick and purposeful in the second half. Offaly obviously upped their game wanting to come out with their pride intact but we did take the foot off the pedal and if we do that against better teams later on in the year we will be punished.

Dermot lorded it at midfield from early on but Offaly were incredibly naive with their kickouts. Dermot was catching ball with no Biffo within five yards of him and he won't get things as easy if teams target him. Flynn played very well alongside him I'm happy to say. McGeeney has clearly given him a kick up the arse and it was great to see him channeling all his aggression towards the ball. Roly also did well dropping back around the middle third. It's refreshing to see guys like him and Kavanagh who at times in years gone by have flattered to deceive, really imposing themselves on the game. Leper was strangely quiet but he still did a lot of running off the ball which helped create the space inside.

There were plenty of good individual performance in the backs as well but its hard to judge them as a collective unit on the basis of one game when they were rarely under any severe pressure. Hugh McGrillen did a great job on McNamee after some early nerves and Deccie Brennan was tidy in the other corner. Foley slotted in seamlessly into the full back line as you'd expect from him. His man looked like he might outpace him at times but he's such a great reader of the game that he was able to snuff out any danger before it materialised. The half back line was impressive in terms of the amount of breaking ball they won and their distribution of it but they didn't look wholly convincing when Offaly ran at them in the second half. Flanagan could have done better for the Offaly goal and Emmet Bolton looked short of match sharpness. I'd say he could be the one to lose out when Kevin O'Neill comes back.

Doubt there'll be any other changes for the next day but Paudie O'Neill might be looking over his shoulder. It wasn't his best day in the Kildare shirt by any means. Chalky White will be much fitter with three more weeks training under his belt. He looked a bit rusty when he came on. Rob Kelly might be the one who could force his way into the forward line. He's well able to kick points and his power and mobility might be an option on the 40.