Strange that the Div 2 football is getting more talk than this. cant wait for this game. Hopefully the Deice give the Cats a beating. Should be a great game, although on the form of the Cats i dont see them losing, even with out Sheff
but heres hoping.........
Waterford need to win this more than Kilkenny. A win for them will set them up nicely for the championship and show they can take the Cats in a big game. I hope to hell they do it.
Funny one this. Waterford have won the national league only once (1963 when they beat a strong New York team in the final). To win a national title would be a great boost for them approaching the championship. The Munster title would be considered a more prestigious achievement but having won it twice in recent seasons (2002 and 2004) and still not having performed to their limits at national level, a NHL win could be the making of them. Having De Le Salle win the colleges hurling title last weekend when beating Kilkenny CBS is no harm to them either and also massively encouraging for the future.
Kilkenny have won 13 NHL titles, a little surprising really when you consider they have won the Liam McCarthy on 29 occasions. They have a huge range of options in team selection. It is frightening really how seamlessly they can retire players and find others to fill their position. Take for example Peter Barry, he was being touted as the unsung hero in many of their victories and then heaped with praise for a few years. He retires and straight away John Tennyson takes over, possibly to hold the no. 6 jersey for the next 8/9 years. Having such resources guarantees them to be constantly in the reckonig, this along with a ruthlessly competitive manager like Brian Cody in charge keeps everybody on their toes.
Kilkenny will have to start as favourites but Waterford are in with a great shout. The Blaas are a big physically imposing team and if it is a tight game, as I predict, they could do it. It would be great after Donegal being NFL champions last week for the first time that the Decies could shake up the hurling status quo and claim a second NHL for themselves, and leave us all looking forward to the championship ahead with great hope for the GAAboard's favourite hurling county.
Looking forward to this one alright,
Waterford are about 2/1 which is definitely worth a small flutter. A win for the them will really set them up for the cork/clare game. It'll be interesting to see how the Cats do, Galway & Wexford nevere really put it up to them and Waterford will be a far bigger challenge
just read shefflin has been named in the kilkenny team,
Quote from: thejuice on April 27, 2007, 02:29:31 PM
Strange that the Div 2 football is getting more talk than this. cant wait for this game. Hopefully the Deice give the Cats a beating. Should be a great game, although on the form of the Cats i dont see them losing, even with out Sheff
but heres hoping.........
This is a football site really.
hope the deise can do it but it's really more hope then expectation.
Quote from: Roashter on April 28, 2007, 02:03:10 AM
Looking forward to this one alright,
Waterford are about 2/1 which is definitely worth a small flutter. A win for the them will really set them up for the cork/clare game. It'll be interesting to see how the Cats do, Galway & Wexford nevere really put it up to them and Waterford will be a far bigger challenge
I put £3 on Waterford to win at 2/1 just for a we interest when im watching the match. I always like the underdog anyway & Waterford have some real heros like Ken McGrath & Mullane.
Is shefflin definitly starting Juice? I heard he was on the bench although I may well be wrong on this one.
I think it'll be close - it's usually close when Waterford are playing, we rarely hammer teams and rarely get hammered. But Kilkenny are bound to be up for it (it's a neighbour thing) and they see the League as being more important than the Leinster championship, in contrast to Waterford for whom this would mean less than another Munster title even though we've been there and done that recently.
Kilkenny by four.
Edit: and before anyone says I am being blasé about the League, I'd love to win the League. I've had the oul' noggin fried on AFR with the memory of how we lost to Kildare and Roscommon back in 1985 on our way to Division Three. So it would be GREAT to crawl all the way back to the top twenty-two years on. But a smidgin less effort from a Justin McCarthy-led side versus a Kilkenny team putting a smidgin more effort in than they normally might for the League equals a two smidgins swing in favour of the Cats.
A win for Waterford would really set them up for an all Ireland tilt.
Kilkenny are the only team that they haven't beaten in a competitive game in recent times and there is still a bit of baggage that needs to be overcome.
However Kilkenny like nothing better than to keep Waterford in check. They would be a bit of dislike that wouldn't necessarily be purely about hurling. The more rural and reticent Kilkenny hurling folk don't really like the more townie Waterford hurling fans.
The simmering rivalry between them would really erupt if Waterford started to beat them regularly.
The matches would be played to the roars of exuberant Waterford fans and the sounds of Kilkenny farmers in their Sunday jumpers gritting their teeth. ;D
I'm heading over and I expect Waterford to win it, assuming two things.
1) Justin doesn't make lunatic changes for the sake of making changes, just picks his best players in their best positions and lets them get on with it.
2) Waterford are hungrier for this than Kilkenny will be. Waterford strike me as a team that need to be confident, moreso than a lot of the others. Kilkenny and Cork can hang in there and pull out victories playing badly. Waterford usually need to be flying. I think Waterford will want this to set themselves up for a run at the All Ireland.
I am not a fan of Waterford when the red mists descend, but in fairness to them they rarely bitch and whine when they are caught, and Mullane's behaviour a couple of years ago was in direct contrast to other people's handling of a well deserved suspension.
I'm not mad about Justin McCarthy either, but for Mullane, Paul Flynn, Tony Brown and Ken McGrath, as well as the blaa eaters fans, I hope they win tomorrow, and Liam....assuming they don't play Offaly.
Will be going to the match tomorrow and I think Waterford will do it, though listening to Justin you'd almost think the league final was an inconvenient challenge match.IMO if Waterford don't win tomorrow then it's hard to see them winning the AI they deserve.
I've a lot of time for Justin McCarthy. He's alway ready to travell north for a bit of coach etc but I'm surprise to hear him down playing the National League final! Waterford have only won it once before and you can be dam sure Cody isn't down playing the importance of this match. A couple of years ago Waterford played Galway in the NHL final were well beaten; then stuffed Clare the next weekend in Munster. This year Waterford aren't out in MSHC until mid June so there's no reason to take it easy. Maybe Justin's saying something different in private? I don't know.
KIlkenny are hard to beat at the best of times and if there's doubts in the Waterford camp about the importance of this game they won't be up for it when the going gets tough. Kilkenny to win by 3 pts.
Quote from: slow corner back on April 28, 2007, 06:11:47 PM
Is shefflin definitly starting Juice? I heard he was on the bench although I may well be wrong on this one.
Kilkenny Squad Announced:PJ Ryan; N Hickey, B Hogan, JJ Delaney; J Tyrrell, J Tennyson, T Walsh; D Lyng, W O'Dwyer; E Brennan, M Comerford, R Power;
H Shefflin (Capt), J Fitzpatrick, A Fogarty.
Waterford team: C Hennessy; E Murphy, D Prendergast, J Murray; T Browne, K McGrath, A Kearney; M Walsh, S Molumphy; E Kelly, S Prendergast, S Walsh; J Mullane, D Shanahan, J Kennedy.
Are they going to line out as named? Cha Fitz at 14 is a bit of a surprise, when he can run the game from midfield.
Cha played in there against Declan Ruth in the semi final. Prendergast is another big man, so maybe they are going to try running him.
Quote from: thejuice on April 29, 2007, 10:36:47 AM
Quote from: slow corner back on April 28, 2007, 06:11:47 PM
Is shefflin definitly starting Juice? I heard he was on the bench although I may well be wrong on this one.
Kilkenny Squad Announced:
PJ Ryan; N Hickey, B Hogan, JJ Delaney; J Tyrrell, J Tennyson, T Walsh; D Lyng, W O'Dwyer; E Brennan, M Comerford, R Power; H Shefflin (Capt), J Fitzpatrick, A Fogarty.
Fair enough juice. Perhaps I should not listen to so much chat in the pub from "informed " people, lol
Still love the ould bar stool philosophers.
As Shane macGowen says
"The most important thing to remember about drunks is that drunks are far more intelligent than non-drunks. They spend a lot of time talking in pubs, unlike workaholics who concentrate on their careers and ambitions, who never develop their higher spiritual values, who never explore the insides of their head like a drunk does."
Well done Waterford. No county deserved it more.
great game... roll on the championship
good to see a different county winning - waterford got the luck that's deserted them in recent years. decent game if a bit scrappy at times.
Great for Waterford and for Hurling. Now we need Waterford to take it to the next level and match the Cats and the Rebels.
I thought it was great stuff, congratulation to waterford, i thought they might regret some of the wides. Also thought the ref didnt give them much in the second half. I'd say cody will play cha in midfield from now on, that the worst i've seen him play since i last saw him inthe forwards. Waterford seemt o have stoped leaking soft goals, their defense was excellent throughout, Carney, Prendergast and of course McGrath, mighty stuff.
Thought this was a craicing second half from waterford, congrats, gald they showed the bottle to edge it out
One of the toughest games Ive seen in along while and great that waterford should come out on top showing that they can mathch teams physically aswell. They are serious contenders for the AI now but Kilkkenny are still lethal and could have nailed this game a few times today. Great day for hurling Congrats To Watreford
Always happy to see Kilkenny lose,a bit of slagging on the way now to my Kilkenny mates.
Well done to Laois also, wasnt much of a game, what happened to Wicklow, that's some way to lose yer unbeaten run!
Tsk. Henry Shefflin putting frees wide from 20 metres out? Kilkenny bottled it.
;D
Great game to watch as a neutral although like most GAA fans I have a soft spot for Waterford. Great 2nd half and they won it well in the end. Good for Waterford & good for hurling.
Good for the game I think for Waterford to win this one. They've been involved in many great games and maybe "deserve" an All-Ireland but in GAA you deserve what you get and you must go out there and seize it. They are capable. Roll on the summer.
I don't know much about hurling but it was a great game to watch and Waterford deserved to edge it. Some rock hard feckers play that game. The ref I thought played it just right, he let the game flow especially in the last 20 minutes, in the face of no prisoner tough tackling and shall we say 'competitive' challenges.
Well done Waterford. They took all Kilkeenny had to throw at them in the seond half then raised their game and went on to win it. At last they seem to have solved their goalkeeping problems. Clinton Hennessy had a great game.
Well done to Waterford, great to see them lads finally pick up a national title. A lot of little breaks went their way yesterday but I don't think that they will be too far away come Sept. They showed alot of bottle when Kilkenny rattled off 5 points in a row at the start of the second half and ran out deserving winneres.
They've stopped leaking soft goals, which makes them a very useful oufit as they're well able to score and have been for years. Hope they can go on to lift Liam in Sept.
One little gripe i have from yesterdays game,Why did the Kilkenny/Waterford teams come onto the pitch while the Laois captain was giving his speech?
It was like now the minnows are finished let the big guns get all the attention,surely they should have respected the fact that Laois had won and give them their moment?You could not hear the Laois captain over the sound of the fans shouting for their respective teams
Fair comment Laoislad, although it's probably just down to bad organisation more then anything.
Laois looked good yesterday in what was a poor game, think yez have a chance against Limerick?
Laoislad, why is Zane Keenan not on the Laois panel?
Also, whats the story with James Young being listed as a Tinnahinch player? When did he move club? What were the circumstances of his move? Hes a fair player for any club to get. I'm surprised there wasn't more said about that.
Hard to judge Laois on that game. Wicklow were awful. Laois look to be in rebuilding mode, which is no harm. A couple of the forwards looked nippy, but their hurling was a little sloppy at times. On a drier day they might be decent enough.
No i wouldn't think so too be honest,it's a huge step up in class
I do think though that it's unfair we have to play them at all,really Laois should be promoted as Div 2 champs i can't see why they have to play a play off
Once again the Gaa with all their talk about promoting hurling are siding with the big guns of hurling,instead of actually rewarding the likes of Laois with a automatic Div 1 spot
i think it's for this year only, but i'd be unhappy in your shoes.
some unfair relegations in both codes if you ask me, very rough on some teams dropping from division one to division three inthe football for example.
what happens if offaly's motion for a ten team division one gets the go ahead? do the losers of the play off have to play off against offaly to see who is the 10th team or whats the craic?
Delighted for the Waterford blah boys
Think a lot of neutrals would be happy for them
Good hard tough game to watch with some fantastic skills on display
a great advert for the game I thought!
or if any of the other Laois contributors can answer any of my questions, that would be great too.
thanks.
Quote from: The Real Laoislad on April 30, 2007, 10:14:58 AM
One little gripe i have from yesterdays game,Why did the Kilkenny/Waterford teams come onto the pitch while the Laois captain was giving his speech?
It was like now the minnows are finished let the big guns get all the attention,surely they should have respected the fact that Laois had won and give them their moment?You could not hear the Laois captain over the sound of the fans shouting for their respective teams
Thought it was bad form myself too
Am I behind the times or are there plans to make hurling division 1, 2, 3,4 like the football?
Until this is done the winners of division 2 always get a raw deal as it's a massive massive jump.
The only way for them to improve is for those structures I'd say.
Quote from: bottlethrower7 on April 30, 2007, 11:08:22 AM
Laoislad, why is Zane Keenan not on the Laois panel?
Also, whats the story with James Young being listed as a Tinnahinch player? When did he move club? What were the circumstances of his move? Hes a fair player for any club to get. I'm surprised there wasn't more said about that.
Hard to judge Laois on that game. Wicklow were awful. Laois look to be in rebuilding mode, which is no harm. A couple of the forwards looked nippy, but their hurling was a little sloppy at times. On a drier day they might be decent enough.
What other club do you reckon Young played for?
Quote from: The Real Laoislad on April 30, 2007, 10:14:58 AM
One little gripe i have from yesterdays game,Why did the Kilkenny/Waterford teams come onto the pitch while the Laois captain was giving his speech?
It was like now the minnows are finished let the big guns get all the attention,surely they should have respected the fact that Laois had won and give them their moment?You could not hear the Laois captain over the sound of the fans shouting for their respective teams
I was at match and i thought it was bad of them too
imtommygunn - yep, changing around for next years league, will make for a much better league next spring really with 4 home and 4 away games.
Quote from: WeAreBlueWeAreWhite on April 30, 2007, 12:02:07 PM
Quote from: bottlethrower7 on April 30, 2007, 11:08:22 AM
Laoislad, why is Zane Keenan not on the Laois panel?
Also, whats the story with James Young being listed as a Tinnahinch player? When did he move club? What were the circumstances of his move? Hes a fair player for any club to get. I'm surprised there wasn't more said about that.
Hard to judge Laois on that game. Wicklow were awful. Laois look to be in rebuilding mode, which is no harm. A couple of the forwards looked nippy, but their hurling was a little sloppy at times. On a drier day they might be decent enough.
What other club do you reckon Young played for?
Clonaslee, which then became Clonaslee-St Manmans.
Sorry Bottle thrower only just saw you questions
Tinnahinch is Clonaslee/Rosenallis and thats why James Young is listed as playing for them
Don't know why Zane Keenan isn't on Laois panel
Quote from: The Real Laoislad on April 30, 2007, 01:21:07 PM
Sorry Bottle thrower only just saw you questions
Tinnahinch is Clonaslee/Rosenallis and thats why James Young is listed as playing for them
Don't know why Zane Keenan isn't on Laois panel
cheers Laoislad. Keenan is a fine hurler but still very young. I was just wondering if there was any fallout over the recent county final 'controversies', but thats hardly likely seeing as theres other Castletown lads playing.
yea i was wondering where zane was as well, maybe injured? Was he playing at all during the rest of the league?
Great result for Waterford. Anyone else see the aul lad in the crowd jumping around the place with the excitement when Waterford scored their last point? Everyone around him were breaking themselves laughing, nearly fell off the couch myself.
Yea, class stuff alright, not so nice was the shot of the middle aged man giving the kilkenny fans the finger after a waterford score earlier on in the match. hope he's ashamed of himself today.
Quote from: tayto on April 30, 2007, 03:35:13 PM
Yea, class stuff alright, not so nice was the shot of the middle aged man giving the kilkenny fans the finger after a waterford score earlier on in the match. hope he's ashamed of himself today.
Kilkenny fans are very hard to listen too though.... ;)