Tyrone v Kildare AIQF official thread!

[Donnellys Hollow]

Mikey Conway has been ruled out for Kildare. Injured the same knee on Saturday night that he originally injured in the Offaly match. He could have been in line for an All-Star nomination at the least for his performances so far this year so I hope he has a speedy recovery.

Team I'd like to see now Conway's out:

                            Corley
Hughie               Kev O'Neill                Bolton
Flats                      Foley                    Flanagan
               Flynn                  Dermot
Jimmers            Paudie O'Neill              Roli
Smith             Leper (if fit)/Kelly          Johnny


Team I'd expect to see start:

                            Corley
Hughie                Foley/Mac                Bolton
Flats                    Flanagan                 Chalky
               Flynn                  Dermot           
Jimmers            Paudie O'Neill              Roli
Smith          Leper (if fit)/Donnelly        Johnny

[Tyrone Dreamer]

Speculation on KFM that the Hill won't be open on Sunday. Find that hard to believe. I know Cork and Donegal will hardly draw that big a crowd but surely Kildare and Tyrone between them will bring 40,000+. There was at least 30,000 Kildare folk at the Leinster Final.

Would expect a big enough crowd with it being on Sunday, anywhere from 50-70k would surely be realistic. Cork have had a terrible support in recent years but that seems to be changing. They brought a big crowd to Kerry and there was over 30k at the replay in Cork (the vast majority from Cork). Over 20,000 at the Munster final as well. With the footballers on the rise and the hurlers going badly there football support seems to be increasing. Whether they will be keen enough to make the journey up is another matter. Donegal after a few good wins should also bring a good support.

[Archie Mitchell]

I think it will nearly be full. Each team will bring about 15,000 each then some teams will bring more, possibly Tyrone and Kildare which could bring it up to over the 70,000 mark.

Nothing like a nearly full or full Croke Park. And nothing worse than a 1/4 full Croke Park like for the Tyrone v Mayo game last year.

[Zulu]

I'd be shocked if it was anything less than 70K+, Donegal and Cork will bring a decent support (10-15K each) and I'd expect 40K
or more from Kildare/Tyrone and there'll surely be at least 5K from neutral counties so 70K seems a conservative number IMO.

[Our Nail Loney]

Count me in as an official Tyrone fan from now til the end of the summer...

I have taken them to win the AI in a bet so will be cheering yous on from now...

[Aaron Boone]

I'll go for 50,000 max.

[Tyrone Dreamer]

Would be suprised if less than 50k at it. 3 decent supported teams and Cork who have the potential to gather up a good support.

[armaghniac]

Cork footballers are not that well supported, but the hurlers are out now and this may help. Donegal have a significant Dublin based support, whether these are in Dublin or Donegal on a bank holiday weelend, I am not sure.

[gerry]

feck it, i am working until 4pm so it will have to a enniskilen pub full of kildare supporters for me i guess

[Tyrone Dreamer]

Great to see championship football back and great to be back in Croke Park. This is what championship football is all about. Also good to be playing someone different. This is a tough game for Tyrone. Without being at their best Kildare got past a very fired up Wicklow team by 4 or 5. They were excellent for spells in the Leinster final and inexperience probably cost them there. Have been very impressed with their improvement from last year. Much more scoring option nows and look a lot stronger. Mickey Harte will be constatnly reminding Tyrone what happened in 07 and will be looking to show that winning your province shouldnt stop you winning the quarter final. Going to be good. Looks like a high scoring game.

[Tyrones own]

The league game was fairly low scoring.

[Tyrone Dreamer]

The league game on a heavy Omagh pitch last February with only half the first teams playing? Will hardly compare to that. I hope not anyway cause it was brutal.

[DUBSFORSAM1]

If there is a ref who starts booking players for stopping free kicks etcat the start and Kildare learn to be as cynical as Tyrone at stopping goal chances it could make things interesting otherwise Tyrone to win pretty well

Cop on DFS, It's not like Dublin players or any other county's for that matter don't stand in front of
the free taker to watch for the quick pass or will stand back and let some man waltz straight through
for goal simply because he's beaten his marker
If you don't like Tyrone then simply say so!

So you think that sort of behaviour is fully acceptable on the pitch??? I believe it should be an automatic yellow card everytime no matter where on the pitch and needs to be stopped. Remind me the last time a Dublin player took a player down going through on goals....sometimes we would be far better off doing it but its not how I believe football should be played....Did you see Kildare drag Wicklow forwards to the ground, or Antrim to Tyrone/Kerry forwards etc???

[Donnellys Hollow]

The league game on a heavy Omagh pitch last February with only half the first teams playing? Will hardly compare to that. I hope not anyway cause it was brutal.

http://archives.tcm.ie/kildarenationalist/2008/02/07/story26981.asp

NFL Division One Round One
Kildare 1-4 Tyrone 0-7

IT happened in slow motion, like the dream you can't quite run in. Alan Smyth raced across the end line to leave space in front of the square for Padraig Mullarkey to palm in a goal that seemed as likely as the dreams you wake from. Even in the morning after this result it was hard to absorb the fact that Kildare had rescued a point from a venue so far from home and a team so far from average.

The result probably poses more questions for Mickey Harte's side than it answers for Kieran McGeeney and his troops. While McGeeney still searches for a team that can play the game he's devised, the game showed it still has a weird way with the world. Kildare scarcely deserved a three-point defeat, two scorers and just two scores from play the sustenance of many cross words, although a draw was, strangely, in keeping with the Lilies league form. They are the side that reached the semi-finals of this competition last year, they are the side that showed they know how to get results in the league and they are the side that despite 70 minutes of inferiority left Omagh the equal of Tyrone.

Aside from Mullarkey's goal, which he coolly palmed into the right corner as players dived across his line of sight, Kildare owed Killian Brennan a debt of gratitude as he plucked a ball from above the cross bar to stop Owen Mulligan kicking the winner from a free in the final minute, just 60 seconds after the goal had gone in.

Both sides wore changed strips, Tyrone in red, Kildare in green, but Kildare were still looking to change their pattern and their mindset yet for most of the first half the only visible difference was in the colour of their kit.

The first long ball to the two-man full forward line of Ronan Sweeney and Dermot Earley, was dropped by Sweeney and it set the tone for most of the half as the midfielders cum forwards struggled to make opportunities but was only part of the problem. The delivery was poor and mostly non-existent.

Tyrone snaffled the breaks at mid-field with relentless pleasure, starving Kildare of quality ball and making life as difficult as they could for the 10, sometimes 13, green shirts behind the ball.

Kevin Hughes and Colm McCullagh both scored in the opening quarter while Tom Corley earned his starting place with a fabulous save from Enda McGinley as early as the seventh minute.

Kildare eventually opened their account after 15 minutes - predictably enough from a John Doyle free - but the home side picked off three in a row through McCullagh, twice, and McGinley. It was a half punctuated by Tyrone frees, 22 in total in the opening 35 against Kildare's 4, yet the period ended with Kildare supremacy. Doyle landed a 45 and then the long delivery to tall men showed its value when Padraig Mullarkey - switched with Earley - fielded James Kavangh's delivery and broke through for a one on one with John Devine only to blaze his shot over the bar.

Tyrone continued to dominate the second period, always with composure and time on the ball, Kildare never really threatening and managing just one point in half an hour while clocking up six wides. Their saving grace was their opponents weren't much better, shooting just two scores and five wides.

By the time the goal was scored, there had been 12 yellow cards, the result of severe refereeing and a tetchy atmosphere that saw Kildare bring a united cavalry to every flare up. Chances to win were presented to both sides, Mikey Conway was wide with a free from the right, Owen Mulligan was foiled by the reach of Killian Brennan.

KILDARE: Tom Corley; Emmett Bolton, Aindriu MacLochlainn, Morgan O'Flaherty; Anthony Rainbow, Kevin O'Neill, Gary White; Padraig Mullarkey, Killian Brennan; John Doyle, Michael Conway, James Kavanagh; Ronan Sweeney, Dermot, Ken Donnelly. BLOOD SUBS: Eamonn Callaghan for Kevin O'Neill (24 to 26); Darryl Flynn for Brennan, (40 to 50). SUBS: Alan Smyth for Sweeney, 54; Darryl Flynn for Donnelly, 60.

TYRONE: John Devine; PJ Quinn, Conor Gormley, Martin Swift; David Harte, Dermot Carlin, Philip Jordan; Kevin Hughes, Enda McGinley; Colm Cavanagh, Raymond Mulgrew, Ryan Mallon; Colm McCullagh, Tommy McGuigan, Shaun O'Neill. SUBS: Owen Mulligan for Mellon, 54; Damien McCaul for Quinn, 61; Niall Gormley for Cavanagh, 63.

REF: Vincent Neary, Mayo.



Can't see it being in any way similar to that match. It was McGeeney's first competitive match in charge of Kildare and there were plenty of big names missing from that Tyrone team. Plenty of water under the bridge since then. I'd be hopeful enough that we'll get more than five scores on Sunday. 

[Tyrones own]

If there is a ref who starts booking players for stopping free kicks etcat the start and Kildare learn to be as cynical as Tyrone at stopping goal chances it could make things interesting otherwise Tyrone to win pretty well

Cop on DFS, It's not like Dublin players or any other county's for that matter don't stand in front of
the free taker to watch for the quick pass or will stand back and let some man waltz straight through
for goal simply because he's beaten his marker
If you don't like Tyrone then simply say so!

So you think that sort of behaviour is fully acceptable on the pitch??? I believe it should be an automatic yellow card everytime no matter where on the pitch and needs to be stopped. Remind me the last time a Dublin player took a player down going through on goals....sometimes we would be far better off doing it but its not how I believe football should be played....Did you see Kildare drag Wicklow forwards to the ground, or Antrim to Tyrone/Kerry forwards etc???

Na they're usually stopped out round midfield with Whelen's fist....... Get out a that FFS with your holier than thou attitude
Why just castigate Tyrone for it when as stated by posters other than myself, it happens everywhere nowadays
Except Dublin that is