NFL Div 2 2020

[les Antiques]

Game off . Rescheduled for tomorrow @1pm

[Junior Ex Laoistalk]

from GAA website...


Please note the following changes due to the current weather.
The Allianz Football League Division One fixture, Mayo v Kerry, will now be played on Sunday March 1 at 1pm.
The Allianz Football League Division Two fixture, Laois v Kildare, will now be played on Sunday March 1 at 1pm.
The Allianz Football League Division Four fixture, Waterford v Carlow, will now be played on Sunday March 1 at 2pm.

[Countyminor]

Kildare tomorrow (weather permitting) is the ultimate acid test. Cast your minds back to the gentle May sunshine in 2017. They had just been promoted to D1, us relegated to D4. They were better than us in every way. Faster. Better conditioned. Played like an actual team. Lower age profile. In comparison we looked slow. Unfit. Disorganised. Our performance was insipid.

Tomorrow the playing field is much more level. In all honesty we haven't taken a backward step since 2017. We've climbed up two divisions, gotten to the last round of qualifiers in consecutive years and are in with a real shot of promotion to D1.

Seems like the perfect opportunity to avenge that painful loss of 2017.

[High Fielder]

That was a reality check. No complaints. Kildare the better team by more than the 5 points. In fact, credit must go to us for keeping the margin to 5. A small crumb of comfort. Their back line is gettable enough, but Evan was all that they were worried about. They did their homework on that, and the midfield in particular, where they dominated. Feely won't get that sort of freedom against the better teams, but he got it today and was the best player on the pitch.

Our line was slow to react to things that were obviously going wrong. They pushed up on us and forced us to kick long, knowing we rarely compete in the air. I thought Tyrell or Dunne might break through this year, but no sign of it. We need a Feely or Quigley or Clancy for days like today, and if we don't have one, we need to crowd the break.

[Chrimtain]

I thought we were really awful today. We were physically bullied, we were slow and methodical in everything we did. We were clueless about wining breaks. I just don't know where we go from here.

[The Boy Wonder]

A good analysis High Fielder - we were indeed fortunate to be only 5 behind at the end.
If Kildare can get their act together for the championship I think they could put it up to the Dubs.
In fairness our lads did keep their heads up when 8 points down and pulled back a few - score difference could be very important.

Next day out we will see whether Westmeath or Laois can claim to be 4th best in Leinster.

[Silkyskillssunshinee]

It felt like it was the young lads who were the ones really getting stuck in today. Sean O'Flynn was probably the best Laois player, and Robbie Pigott did well enough marking one of the best forwards in the county in Daniel Flynn.

Big games coming up against Fermanagh and Westmeath. We need to win at least one of them.

[High Fielder]

A good analysis High Fielder - we were indeed fortunate to be only 5 behind at the end.
If Kildare can get their act together for the championship I think they could put it up to the Dubs.
In fairness our lads did keep their heads up when 8 points down and pulled back a few - score difference could be very important.

Next day out we will see whether Westmeath or Laois can claim to be 4th best in Leinster.

I don't see anything to get excited about witn Kildare. Those backs will get a roasting some time. The Number 2 in particular was panicky and his pulling didn't get the punishment it should have. But we won't beat them any time soon and i think some of that is mental. Kildare get bullied themselves a fair bit, but seem to be able to bully us. That disappoints me

[Chrimtain]

We will do well to avoid relegation now. But on todays evidence, division 3 may he our level.

[town1980]

I totally disagree the only difference today was the intensity shown by Kildare today they themselves have not being bringing it to games they did today we didn’t in any zone of the pitch we did create 3 goals chances I don’t remember Corbit having to save any effort on goal so we weren’t far off ,, you fail to bring that fight and doggedness into every game at this level then your always gonna drop points,, were a Div 2 team in my opinion

[recyclebin]

One point off promotion, one point above relegation. One things for sure, it's very tight and could go either way.

[Pugwash]

I totally disagree the only difference today was the intensity shown by Kildare today they themselves have not being bringing it to games they did today we didn’t in any zone of the pitch we did create 3 goals chances I don’t remember Corbit having to save any effort on goal so we weren’t far off ,, you fail to bring that fight and doggedness into every game at this level then your always gonna drop points,, were a Div 2 team in my opinion

With Donie Kingston & Paul Kingston involved and then having Cahir Healy, Gareth Dillion and a few others providing that added quality and experience.

[Giovanni]

Agree with HF that Kildare are really no great shakes. Feely is an outstanding player but we had 3 good goal chances and butchered them all. Other teams won’t be as kind.

I just feel that our lateral football  that is so much a feature of our play now tends to take the zip and intensity out of our play. I think this lateral play is fine if we want to be patient and to stretch teams a bit but at some point in the play there has to be an injection of energy and pace. We didn’t really have that today.

[Chrimtain]

Agree with HF that Kildare are really no great shakes. Feely is an outstanding player but we had 3 good goal chances and butchered them all. Other teams won’t be as kind.

I just feel that our lateral football  that is so much a feature of our play now tends to take the zip and intensity out of our play. I think this lateral play is fine if we want to be patient and to stretch teams a bit but at some point in the play there has to be an injection of energy and pace. We didn’t really have that today.

You get sick of watching Laois passing the ball back and forth across the field. We play slow methodical football that is so easy to defend against. Do we not have the pacey players who can attack opponents in the manner the opposition were able to do today? They took us on at pace and made life difficult for us, while we allowed them to mass their defence while we played across the field. By the time we kicked it in, O'Carroll was double marked. This is a simplistic way of describing our play, but that's the way it seems to me.

[High Fielder]

It appears as though our options are limited. We seem to have a trusted 15 to 20 players, and nothing outside of that. The stakes are high this year of course, and we have a lot of lads who can't/won't commit. We also have this U20 debate rumbling in the background, and that at least is healthy debate, because it means we're being competitive in that grade. But how many lads are not good enough? Even amongst the subs, there appear to be a number of lads who are not trusted with a starting position.

Outside of the match day panel, how many lads have drifted away or have been deemed not good enough. We have zero cover in midfield despite appearing to have two promising midfielders, and very little cover at the back. I wonder at times what the plan to address these deficiencies is.