Na Cait v Gaillimh, AIF 9 Sept

[seafoid]

I wonder will Sunday be like 1956 with Galway as Wexford , the Cats as Cork and Henry as Ring

http://www.blackrockhurlingclub.com/blackrockhurling.org/jimmy%20brohan%20feature.htm

The images, the vivid descriptions, the verbal accounts, the old photographs, the vast crowds of men in dark or grey suits, the few minutes of flickering black and white RTE film clips can scarcely do justice to this extraordinary contest which captured the imagination of the entire country and which resonates in the telling through the years.

Described as a "titanic struggle" by Raymond Smith, "full of tension, grandeur and drama" by Seamus King, a game "frenzied with excitement" by Norman Freeman, "one of the most absorbing matches in decades" by Michael O'Hehir, a "magnificent struggle" by Tim Horgan, the 1956 All-Ireland Final has assumed iconic status in hurling folklore.

Christy Ring going for his record ninth All Ireland medal...Wexford powered by the giant Rackard brothers of Killanne in the famous hurling parish of Rathnure... the Art Foley save from Christy Ring...Ring continuing into Foley, catching his hand "you've cost us the All-Ireland"...Ring being carried shoulder-high from the field by Wexford's Nick O'Donnell and Bobby Rackard. 

The stories of this All-Ireland final have captured the imaginations of thousands of young hurlers and cemented in a unique way the mutual respect between the hurlers and people of Wexford and Cork. To day Jimmy Brohan remains rather philosophical at the happenings of 1956, where he marked Tom Dixon from Enniscorthy closely throughout the game and supplied the trademark long clearance to Paddy Barry which resulted in a goal to bring the sides level in the final quarter. He still expresses disappointment at the result.

" We could have won it, but it just didn't go our way on the day and good luck to Wexford, they wanted it more".

[ballinaman]

Rumour on twitter that Galway goalie James skehill broke his collarbone in training tonight, he's out for Sunday.... BS surely????hopefully.

[Minder]

Walter Walsh to start for KK ?

[Agent Orange]

Rumour on twitter that Galway goalie James skehill broke his collarbone in training tonight, he's out for Sunday.... BS surely????hopefully.

Galway goalkeeper James Skehill has suffered a suspected dislocated shoulder in their final training session before Sunday's All Ireland Hurling final replay with Kilkenny.

The Tribesmen goalkeeper, who made a stunning save in the first final from Colin Fennelly, sustained the knocking while diving to save the ball.

He has been taken to hospital for a scan but he is now a massive doubt for Sunday's game.

A Galway county board spokesman confirmed that Skehill is "extremely doubtful," for the showpiece final.

[seafoid]

I hope they can bring the intensity of the Leinster final to the match on Sunday

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=rb52kJeCzoA&NR=1

[Absent]

Walter Walsh to start for KK ?

I see the team on Hogan Stand and yes Walter Walsh starts at full forward,a big lad,will KK be playing the long ball in to the full forward line,this will be some tactical battle on sunday,Skehill is a huge loss to Galway if he doesn't make it.

[GalwayBayBoy]

I think Kilkenny have realised that Johnny Coen is cleaning everyone that he's been up against this Summer. He's too quick and his touch is excellent. Putting Walter Walsh on him I think they have decided to take on Coen with size and strength.

Although I see Walsh has been selected at 14 so he could be up against Hynes. Same theory prevails though. Cody isn't going to try and match pace with the Galway defence. Maybe he feels size and strength is the way to go instead. Especially if the weather is bad.

Looks like Skehill will play now. Apparently they popped his shoulder back in. Wonder will it knock some yards off his puck-outs though.

[joe bloggs]

I'd say Walsh will be told to get in and rattle skehill early on if he plays

[Paul Callanan]

That's very bad news about Skehill. I don't think he should play if he's not right and after googling shoulder dislocations I can't see how he would be right. I came across this on ehow.com. They say the typical full recovery time ranges from 4 to 12 weeks

"Treatment and Timeline
The initial phase of treatment is to push the head of the humerus back into the shoulder joint. This is most easily done immediately after the dislocation, as after 30 minutes or so the joint becomes swollen and stiff. If this happens, IV pain medication or muscle relaxants may be necessary to push the joint back into place. Afterward, the doctor will place the injured arm in a sling which will immobilize the joint. This sling should be worn for two or three weeks. After that, physical therapy will be prescribed to continue the healing process."

I hope he's fine and has a stormer again but playing lads who are carrying injuries is a tactic that usually backfires. I'm not sure who our sub keeper is, Ciaran Callanan? Maybe someone on here knows. It might be time to show a bit of faith in him anyway.

[Premier Emperor]

Desperation from Cody now. Putting a giant mullocker on the edge of the square!
And to think Kilkenny fans used to sneer at Tipp using Redser O'Grady at full forward.

[seafoid]

That's very bad news about Skehill. I don't think he should play if he's not right and after googling shoulder dislocations I can't see how he would be right. I came across this on ehow.com. They say the typical full recovery time ranges from 4 to 12 weeks

"Treatment and Timeline
The initial phase of treatment is to push the head of the humerus back into the shoulder joint. This is most easily done immediately after the dislocation, as after 30 minutes or so the joint becomes swollen and stiff. If this happens, IV pain medication or muscle relaxants may be necessary to push the joint back into place. Afterward, the doctor will place the injured arm in a sling which will immobilize the joint. This sling should be worn for two or three weeks. After that, physical therapy will be prescribed to continue the healing process."

I hope he's fine and has a stormer again but playing lads who are carrying injuries is a tactic that usually backfires. I'm not sure who our sub keeper is, Ciaran Callanan? Maybe someone on here knows. It might be time to show a bit of faith in him anyway.

Wasn't he in goal when they won the League 2 years ago? 

[seafoid]

Desperation from Cody now. Putting a giant mullocker on the edge of the square!
And to think Kilkenny fans used to sneer at Tipp using Redser O'Grady at full forward.

Tsk tsk. And to think as well that Eddie Keher said Kilkenny had no interest in back door all Irelands.
What is the world coming to ? 

[seafoid]

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/2012/0929/1224324602453.html

Cats' spirit should prove key

Over the course of 140 minutes, Kilkenny have slowly come to grips with the Galway threat, writes NICKY ENGLISH

THE LONGER the rivalry has gone on this year the less certain the outcome. I gave Galway no chance before the Leinster final but they caused Kilkenny all kinds of trouble that day and up to a point in the drawn All-Ireland three weeks ago.
But not all of the trends have been positive for them. Whereas we'd thought Galway had weaned themselves off total reliance on Joe Canning and Damien Hayes, the more the two matches went on the more their attack has looked like a Joe show.
It still poses problems for Kilkenny and there's a big decision to be made on who marks Canning given the failures of Jackie Tyrrell the first day and JJ Delaney three weeks ago.
There were some defensive successes for Kilkenny in the All-Ireland. Tyrrell did a good job tracking Damien Hayes and Brian Hogan took a grip on the game in the second half, but with Galway having retreated the danger was Kilkenny defenders getting in each other's way – which is how Niall Burke's goal against the run of play happened.
The man-marking model they adopted the last day may have impacted negatively on Kilkenny in that it kept Tommy Walsh quiet and I'd say Brian Cody won't let that happen again.
There's one element of the three-week break that will suit Kilkenny and that's the time of year. Already the leaves are down and the ground is so much heavier than when Galway implemented the fast striking and movement plan that worked so well in July.
It's not that Galway can't 'surprise' Kilkenny a third time; it's that they're unlikely to be able to do it to the same extent. If Cillian Buckley's introduction can bring about any sort of improvement in the middle the champions can make at least some inroads into Galway's dominance in the area.
I take the view that Kilkenny have been getting to grips with Galway and have won almost 120 out of the 140 minutes after the early hammer blows in the Leinster final. They've also ridden out a few sucker punches. The latest of these is having had to keep going for an unscheduled extra three weeks in unfamiliar conditions. This could prove the biggest obstacle of all but I think they have enough resilience to pull through.

[seafoid]

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/2012/0929/1224324603079.html

The Irish Times - Saturday, September 29, 2012

'Stay chasing. Stay being honest'
The most pleasing thing for the Galway management was their young team had the composure to compete and play, writes KEITH DUGGAN


THE BROAD message from Kilkenny is they didn't do themselves justice in the All-Ireland final but for Galway, that drawn match was a lesson of immense importance.
Kilkenny are seasoned practitioners in the rhythms and ceremonies of hurling's special Sunday but for Galway, it was all blazingly new. And the most pleasing thing for Anthony Cunningham and the selectors was their young team proved they had the composure to compete and play through the occasion.
"The message I would pass on is that whoever takes the initiative and shows the most nerve will win," Cunningham remarked as the build-up for tomorrow's replay resumed in earnest.
"There are areas we can improve. Our forwards didn't score as much in the second half as we would like.
"Our defence will have to be as good the next day – and we let them in for two chances in the last 10 minutes. We can ask questions about coping. Henry Shefflin orchestrated at centre forward and really pulled strings. If he produces a performance again like that, he will cause us problems.

"We had two or three glorious chances after half-time. And we kept saying: we have to show composure when those chances come up. Because we will have a run and Kilkenny will have a run and it is down to containing Kilkenny a bit more and being a bit more ruthless in front of goal.


"They have so much class – they can fire in a few goals and rattle over three or four points in a short period of time. There is never a bad Kilkenny player. We had a tremendous performance that last day from Paul Murphy, a young player coming through. Brian Hogan took the game by the scuff of the neck when he was maybe outplayed in the first half."

It is fair to say that as meticulous as the Galway backroom team is, they had not planned in great detail for a draw. But it didn't take them long to realise that they wanted to get back west as quickly as possible.

"I'd say as we were leaving the field, as you are walking off the pitch, you are thinking about 10 different things," coach Mattie Kenny says, " but that was something we decided very quickly."

That plunged Cunningham into unexpected and slightly comical territory. As a member of Galway's 1987 All-Ireland winning team, he was invited to Dublin for a Saturday evening banquet. The team were due to be honoured before Sunday's game. Instead, his wife and children went to Dublin on Saturday and he stayed at home alone with the family dog for company.
"And to make matters worse, they were all staying on the Sunday night and we headed off home with the team. The dog was delighted to see me. He wasn't planning on seeing me until Monday evening."

And so Cunningham did what a lot of Galway hurling people did on the Sunday night: he watched the game.
"Well, part of it anyway. The following night we would have worked on it and the following few nights with Mattie when the players were resting, we went through it. So we figured out analysis and one-to-ones. It was no different than any other match. We did it after the Leinster final and after the Cork match."

Much like James Horan and Mayo, the Galway hurling management have spent the season emphasising the areas in which their players can improve. One of the least mentioned aspects of the drawn final was the September experience was new to the Galway sideline as well. One of their bravest – and toughest — decisions was to call Conor Cooney ashore after sending him on as a substitute.

"It was a very harsh decision to have to make because we are conscious of the impact on the player," Tom Helebert says.
"But we just felt that Conor hadn't got to the pace of the game quickly enough as an impact substitution. In the context of the game for 75 minutes, we had to make it and were prepared to make it. It can be hard sometimes because there is so much going on. The tendency is to watch the ball but you can't do that. You have to watch the guys – what they are doing, how they are shaping up and how they are coping.

"If you see warning signs of a guy starting to leak or run out of juice, then you have to respond to that. But all those scenarios are considered long in advance. But we spoke about it and Conor is a very important part of our panel and has been good for us and is very much in our thinking for the next day."

They have heard the various interpretations of the drawn final, including the theory that Galway will never have as good a chance to beat Kilkenny, and just don't see it that way.  "Before the final, we were going to Croke Park and 82,000 people except those in Galway thought we were on a hiding to nothing trying to beat the reigning champions," Helebert says. "That it was mission impossible to try and beat the reigning champions. But there were points that reinforced that what we are doing is right.

"Players look for stability, trust and reinforcement and that's what we bring to the table. We have a game process that is broadly working and they understand it and are playing for it. So we are starting to tick boxes that are no longer things to worry about. You know: I am fit. I am hurling well within myself, I am comfortable within my environment. And then you move on to the next level: how do we compete?

"But critically for us – we saw in the relegation play-off against Dublin – we don't quit. That has been a big, big thing for this group to get their heads around. Stay working; stay chasing; stay being honest."

All of which the Galway team will have to do again tomorrow. The sense emanating from Kilkenny is of a team set upon righting what they feel was a collectively flat performance saved by the heroics of Shefflin.
"You should always expect anything from Kilkenny," Cunningham says, "they can burn you from any corner with scores and with defending. For instance, Michael Fennelly, may have been disappointed with his performance and will thunder into the game tomorrow.

"So you can expect fireworks from Kilkenny and we will have to meet that."

And he smiles when asked what he hopes Galway can bring to Kilkenny.
"Fireworks as well."

It might just be a decent game.

[bp]

That's very bad news about Skehill. I don't think he should play if he's not right and after googling shoulder dislocations I can't see how he would be right. I came across this on ehow.com. They say the typical full recovery time ranges from 4 to 12 weeks

"Treatment and Timeline
The initial phase of treatment is to push the head of the humerus back into the shoulder joint. This is most easily done immediately after the dislocation, as after 30 minutes or so the joint becomes swollen and stiff. If this happens, IV pain medication or muscle relaxants may be necessary to push the joint back into place. Afterward, the doctor will place the injured arm in a sling which will immobilize the joint. This sling should be worn for two or three weeks. After that, physical therapy will be prescribed to continue the healing process."

I hope he's fine and has a stormer again but playing lads who are carrying injuries is a tactic that usually backfires. I'm not sure who our sub keeper is, Ciaran Callanan? Maybe someone on here knows. It might be time to show a bit of faith in him anyway.

I know a lad who regularly dislocates a shoulder during games, puts it back in and plays on, the problem with Skehill is how it might affect his puckouts I'd imagine.