Cill Dara v Cill Mhantáin - 7pm Port Laoise 25/7/09

[Donnellys Hollow]

She's all set for the road Bud. The old Ifor Williams on the back comes as standard though. There'll be no unhitching her.

Hopefully we'll be hitting Port Laoise come Saturday evening to clog up the roads sample the local delights and have a bit of craic with the natives.

[Donnellys Hollow]

7pm throw in on Saturday evening in Portlaoise apparently.

[Dinny Breen]

7pm throw in on Saturday evening in Portlaoise apparently.

Brilliant news, thought I miss her

[Orior]

Kildare by 8 points (lucky bollixs)

[Donnellys Hollow]

It is going to be part of a triple header according to the CLG website. Parking could be a bit of a pain unless you're there early. It'll be a tight squeeze fitting all those Range Rovers and horse-boxes into Portlaoise!


ESB GAA Hurling All Ireland Minor Championship - Quarter Final
Portlaoise 3.00pm Loch Garman v Tiobraid Árann
(E.T. if Necessary)

GAA Hurling All Ireland Senior Championship - Relegation Round 1
Portlaoise 5.00pm An Clár v Loch Garman
(E.T. if Necessary)

GAA Football All Ireland Senior Championship - Qualifier Round 4
Portlaoise 7.00pm Cill Dara v Cill Mhantáin
(E.T. if Necessary)

[Dinny Breen]

Ah bollix, I won't be there till 6 at the earliest, the yellow bellies are great supporters and will bring a crowd, Tipp minors are flying so expect another good crowd from there, could be close to capacity.

[Donnellys Hollow]

Éamonn Callaghan, James Kavanagh and Mikey Conway are all injury doubts for Saturday night. Leper is still suffering from the groin injury that prevented him from starting the Leinster Final. Conway's knee complaint that kept him out of the Wexford match has flared up again and Kavanagh has a hamstring injury. I'd say Leper is very unlikely to start because he has hardly any training done in a few weeks. The other two lads would be more 50/50 calls but either of them would be missed given their form all year. If they are to miss out, I'd like to see a starting 15 of:

1. Corley (Needs to vary the kickouts more. Some of the criticism of him after the LF was harsh because not a lot of backs were moving for the short kickout.)

2. McGrillen (Nightmare start to the LF but understandable for a lad making his Croke Park debut. Deserves another chance and Mac wasn't much better after coming on.)
3. K. O'Neill (Would like to see him back. Foley has done well but he's not a natural fullback. Surprising that he hasn't seen more action from the bench though.)
4. Bolton (At fault for the Sherlock goal but apart from that I thought he played quite well in the LF. Not a position we're blessed with a lot of options.)

5. M. O'Flaherty (Got through a mountain of ball against the Dubs. Far more comfortable on the wing than he was in the corner last year.)
6. Foley (Class act who'd surely have made this position his own years ago if he hadn't have been cursed with injuries.)
7. Flanagan (Great all year but I suspect he might be a bit too loose for the centre back slot against the top teams. If Conway is out I'd like to see him switched to the wing.)

8. Flynn (A lot of calls for Rob Kelly to replace him but the last time Kelly and Earley were paired Meath cleaned us out. Hasn't done much wrong since the suspension.)
9. Earley (Playing out of his skin all year. We need a plan in place for when he starts tiring in the last quarter of big matches though.)

10. Kelly (I don't think he's good enough in the air to play midfield but he's accurate enough in front of goals to be worth his place in the forwards if Jimmers is out.)
11. P. O'Neill (Kicked two long range points at important times against Dublin. Still get the impression there's a lot more in him.)
12. Sweeney (Not as effective in the LF as he had been previously. Kicked two scores but afforded Barry Cahill too much space. He'll be motivated to put that behind him.)

13. Smith (Had Bastic in all kinds of problems in the first half of the LF. Ball dried up in the second half though. Get enough supply into him and he'll do damage.)
14. Donnelly (Silenced a few doubters (myself included) in the LF. Still think Leper is more effective in creating space for others but Donnelly is a capable replacement.)
15. Doyle (Forced to play too deep against Dublin in order to get his hands on some ball. Would like to see him closer to the goals where Wicklow will struggle to handle him.)

Marty Duffy appointed as referee - expect an evening of frustration!  

[Caid]

Probably the hardest draw possible for Wicklow but nonetheless a game that is winnable.  Will be the most difficult challenge thus far but the players, despite their great record in recent years and victories over three strong Ulster teams, still have a point to prove to the country as everyone seems to be under the impression that it's a one man team and Micko is that man.  A narrow Wicklow victory is possible but they will likely need a goal or two.  Wicklow have the midfield to compete with Kildare but the defence will need to be on top form and keep an eye on Doyle et al.  Expect Wicklow to have a few frontrunners for allstars after Saturday night's game...

[laoisgaa]

Tipp minors are flying

I think you'll find that Waterford won the Munster final!!!!!!

[Dinny Breen]

Tipp minors are flying

I think you'll find that Waterford won the Munster final!!!!!!

Yea copped that the other day, thanks for pointing it out 

So Kildare are unchanged from the Leinster final, hard to argue with that but like DH I would have found room for O'Neill but if things aren't going well expect him to be thrown in early. All the hype all week has been Micko this, Micklow that, expectations are high in their county and I'm delighted they keep referencing last years game, Kildare are a completely different side from 14 months ago, maybe not in personnel but certainly in belief, attitude and commitment. Referee Martin Duffy can be fussy but he had a good game in the Derry v Monaghan game so don't think he'll be a factor, everything points to a comfortable Kildare win but Wicklow won't lay down. Kildare to win by 4 and Johnny Doyle to pick up man of the match.

[Donnellys Hollow]

I'm surprised Mikey Conway has been named in the team. Heard yesterday that he's unlikely to play. I'd like to have seen Kevin O'Neill in but I doubt he'll start even if Conway is out. McGeeney would be more likely to bring in either Scanlon or Chalky in a straight swap. I'm disappointed Kev hasn't seen more football this year because I feel he brings physicality and leadership to the defence. It's possible the shoulder might still be causing him problems and we don't have the benefit of seeing how lads are going in training.

I hope we're disciplined in our tackling tomorrow because if we're not Marty Duffy could whistle us off the field and Hannon will kick frees for fun. I'd also like to see us being a bit more ruthless in front of goal. Against the Dubs we could have engineered more goal chances if we'd have made another pass instead of fisting the point. If we get an early goal or two like we did against Offaly and Wexford than I'd expect us to win comfortably enough. We'll have to start better than we have in the last two matches and we can't afford to have any opening half hangover after the Leinster Final. If we do start well we could pull away in the final quarter because Wicklow haven't used any subs in their qualifier run so far and you'd have to question whether Micko trusts his bench. They'll surely need some sort of impact off the bench after playing three matches in as many weeks. That extra bit of freshness and quality on the bench will hopefully see us prevail in the end.

Cill Dara Abú

[slievegullion]

Will this game be shown on the TV3 website?

Edit: Just checked, suppose I could have done that in the first place. It is being shown but it's 'ROI only'.

[Ryano]

The game is LIVE on TV3 now lads.

[Caid]

I settle down for an enjoyable time listening to a Wicklow victory and then Mickey Harte comes on the wireless to ruin the enjoyment....

[Square Ball]

The game is LIVE on TV3 now lads.

link anyone?