Cork v Kildare

[Declan]

Can't make up my mind on this one - Haven't really been impressed by Kildare yet Cork have only had one game in months so I'd wonder if they are a bit ring rusty.
Rebels to shade it I think

[Donnellys Hollow]

I just hope we play with the same hunger and intensity that we showed against Sligo. It was the first time all year that we tore into a team from the start and the pressure we put on the opposition from the full-forward line back was heartening because it certainly wasn't evident against Meath and to a lesser extent against Limerick.

Mayo hit Cork hard early and often last year and they didn't like it. They had injuries that day and it will be fresh in their minds but it is still the blueprint to beat them. Bottle up and frustrate their runners and then attack from deep with pace - Bolton, Lyons, Doyle and McGrillen are important in this regard. Hopefully we can get a good twenty minutes out of Leper and that we'll still be well in the game at that point. Our use of O'Connor last weekend was quite sensible and he could have some joy against this Cork defence. His strength and power could cause Shields problems and he'd have the legs on Canty. I have a feeling they'll try Cadogan on him. Obviously Cork are a far better team than Sligo so I hope the other Kildare players don't revert to type out the field and start raining hopeful garryowens down on top of him again because plan a has to be running and getting that Cork half back line turned and going backwards towards their own goal.

It's a big ask and Kildare have not played well this year. On all known form Cork should be winning this by 5 or 6 points. I don't know why because it defies logic but I'm actually hopeful enough heading up on Sunday. Kildare have yet to exit the championship tamely at this stage and it wouldn't be a major surprise to see the big performance come when they've been written off and after all the upheavel all year. Mick Foley is going to have to continue his excellent form and hopefully Smithy and Jimmers will show what they're capable of on the big stage. Feck it, Kildare by 2!

[heffo]

Hope Kildare do it Sunday. I'm not sure ye have enough quality to win it outright but I'd like to see you win it if we can't

[Donnellys Hollow]

Hope Kildare do it Sunday. I'm not sure ye have enough quality to win it outright but I'd like to see you win it if we can't

You won't be saying that when you see Kildare's newest import introduced off the bench on Sunday:

[yellowcard]

Corks superior forward line to count and they will win this by 5 or 6 points.

[del_carroll]

I doubt it. Kildare's forward line is not as bad as people make out.

Acid test Sunday, of course, but I'd be more worried about our midfield.
[/quote]

yes but am I the only one disappointed at not seeing more of young fogarty... I thought he'd done enough to play himself into contention to be honest but he has hardly had a look in.

[Ohtoohtobe]

I doubt it. Kildare's forward line is not as bad as people make out.

Acid test Sunday, of course, but I'd be more worried about our midfield.

yes but am I the only one disappointed at not seeing more of young fogarty... I thought he'd done enough to play himself into contention to be honest but he has hardly had a look in.
[/quote]

I don't agree. Don't think Fogarty is ready: maybe in the next few years but some people are talking about him like the second coming of the Gooch on the basis of a good cameo against Tyrone and I don't rate him as highly as that tbh.

The closer this match gets, the less confident I am. Looking at the teams on paper, we'd do well to break even at midfield. I think Cork are just a better team than Kildare, even though I think this is a very gutsy Kildare team and there'll be very little in it at the finish.

[boojangles]

Completely irrelevant point but I think it's worth mentioning. From the 30 players named from Cork and Kildare there are 27 different clubs represented. Astonishing.

[Donnellys Hollow]

Fogarty is a great talent but he's still quite raw and inconsistent at this level. I think Larries would have gone very close to winning the county championship last year had he not gotten himself suspended because he was in sparkling form back then. I'd have hoped to have seen more of him in the league but he only started one match.

Fionn Dowling is probably the best young forward in the county right now but he missed most of the early part of the year through injury and has been playing catch up since. He has been togged out for the last few matches. It might not do him any harm in the long run to have missed most of this year because he will have filled out a bit in the meantime and he will hopefully be an important player next year.

[Dinny Breen]

I'd have hoped to have seen more of him in the league but he only started one match.

He actually started last week against Towers, came off just after h/t. Has that look of class about him even though him and every other player playing didn't want to be there.

Dowling will be a good un', really unlucky with injuries, we have some really young footballers coming through who have been exposed to the  kind of environment that is needed just to compete at this level, augers well and should keep us in the shake up for August most years hopefully.

[Ohtoohtobe]

Dunno lads think both Fogarty and Dowling might eventually make decent inter-county footballers but I've seen nothing from them at underage to suggest either would make a huge difference to the team. Like, if you're going to be a top, top class inter-county footballer, you'd want to be shooting the lights out at underage.

For example, Eoghan O'Flaherty and Alan Smith were outstanding U21s on a national scale - and yet both have had their problems adapting at senior. Not to knock them, but Fogarty and Dowling didn't stand out to me that much at minor or U21 and have a hell of a long way to go to even be in the O'Flaherty/Smith class.

[Frank Casey]

De Paper promising a big interview with another subject of a Kildare transfer controversy tomorrow.

Taster given today.


Tompkins opens up on Seanie Johnston affair

By Kieran Shannon

Friday, August 03, 2012

Larry Tompkins says he is undecided whether Seanie Johnston's transfer to Kildare was for valid reasons, saying it would be incomprehensible to him that someone would leave his home club just to play county football elsewhere.

Tompkins was involved in a high-profile case 25 years ago when he sought an inter-county transfer from his native Kildare to Cork to free him up to play for Castlehaven.

But Tompkins worked as well as lived in West Cork upon returning to Ireland from New York to play with Castlehaven, whereas there have been question marks about what connection Johnston, who still teaches in his native Cavan, has with Kildare beyond having a postal address in Straffan.

"For me the biggest move in all this was him leaving his club. It takes a lot to leave your buddies. You grow up in a place, you're friends, go to school, work and live with those people; those are the best people in your life. There must have been a genuine reason that he left them to go play in Kildare. But if he left his club just to play football for another county he has no connection with, I cannot relate to that mentality and it (the transfer) shouldn't have happened," says Tompkins.

"We don't know enough (about this case). People say he has no connection with Kildare, but how do we know he doesn't? Maybe he's going out with someone from Kildare. Maybe he wants to get a job in Kildare but right now there isn't work in Kildare in his job. You'll just have to gauge it over the next year or two and see what happens. If he has a valid connection with the place, there should be no one blocking the transfer and it was only right that it went through. But if he doesn't...

"If his heart wasn't in his own club in Cavan [Gaels] then I would have doubts about how genuine the transfer is. But again, we don't know enough."

In tomorrow's Examiner Big Interview, Tompkins recalls how his own transfer came about, beginning with a dispute with the Kildare County Board that would see him return to New York where a couple of teammates persuaded him to come work and live in their home place of Castlehaven and help them win their first ever county championship. Weeks after leaving the metropolis of New York, he found himself working as carpenter building a house on Sherkin Island.

"It was supposed to be only for a few months. Playing for Cork never came into the equation. It had nothing to do with Cork. It was all about Castlehaven at the start and Castlehaven could have been in Carlow or Timbuktu."

http://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/gaa/tompkins-opens-up-on-seanie-johnston-affair-202965.html

[Donnellys Hollow]

Dunno lads think both Fogarty and Dowling might eventually make decent inter-county footballers but I've seen nothing from them at underage to suggest either would make a huge difference to the team. Like, if you're going to be a top, top class inter-county footballer, you'd want to be shooting the lights out at underage.

For example, Eoghan O'Flaherty and Alan Smith were outstanding U21s on a national scale - and yet both have had their problems adapting at senior. Not to knock them, but Fogarty and Dowling didn't stand out to me that much at minor or U21 and have a hell of a long way to go to even be in the O'Flaherty/Smith class.

They both have another year left at u21 so it's probably unfair to judge them either way yet. I think they have what it takes both physically and skills wise but some underage lads build on their promise and others fall away. I mean Johnny never really stood out hugely at underage level and he has consistently been one of the finest forwards in the country for over ten years. Look then at someone like Tommy Archibald who was a star forward on a Leinster winning u21 team when still a minor, he only ended up playing a handful of games for Kildare down the years after being plagued by injuries.

Fogarty showed plenty at minor scoring great goals against Dublin two years in a row and I think Dowling showed enough promise with the seniors last year to suggest he has a future. Hopefully they get a good run at it next year and cut their teeth against Div 1 defences.

[Jinxy]

This is a great opportunity for both sides to run the rule over each others best players.

[Syferus]

Oul' Larry of all people should be keeping his trap shut about inter-county transfers. Time doesn't add dignity to everything.