An Mhí v Cill Dara

[orangeman]

Well done Kildare.


Any word on Dermot's injury ??

[agorm]

I only got to the 2nd half on TV as I was returning fro hols but also saw the Sunday Game.

Congrats to Kildare, they wanted it more and I felt before the game that the team that was up for it most would tip the balance of what looked on paper beforehand to be two even teams. I thought losing was a possibility but not to the level of today. They are a very good team and best of luck to them for the semis.

I want to be careful not too be too critical of the tem and management as they have put in a great effort all year but I think that the fact that there is no posts so far from any of the regular contrributers speaks volumes.....we were horrendous in defence , lethargic in attack and asleep on the sideline.......and the second half was just like against Louth.

Chris O' Connor was drawn up he field on a regular basis, harrington was skinned by his man, Caomhin King was almost non existant and Moyles is just not a wing back. The forward line look like a bunch of individuals all having an off day and having no team spirit to glue them together.

My own opinion was  (and is) regarding the Louth situation was that Meath should have offered a replay not becauise Louth deserved one but because meath needed a proper win with players getting the confidence and team spirit from the extra game if they had won it well. It shouldnt have been down to the players of course but when that situation did arise I think that the players and management should have been big enough to say "bring it on". I am not saying that we would be sitting pretty in an All-Ireland semi but I would suspect that we would not have experienced such an abject 2nd half performance again had we done so.

I am not sure where we are going from here and I am also not sure if Eamonn O'Brien is the person to take us there. Perhaps upon mature reflection the Leinster success will be regarded to be a genuine improvement and that O' Brien is te person to take us forward. One point in mitigation for him, the standard of player does not seem to be out there in the county as it was in the past. Leinster success may well be the best we can hope for with this squad of players.

[shark]

Well done Kildare.


Any word on Dermot's injury ??

He damaged his cruciate months ago.  Needs an operation, but has held off so far.  I can only imagine he aggravated it further today.

[Hound]

Well done to Kildare. Totally dominated the 2nd half and were well worthy of the margin of victory. Meath's forwards aren't quite as good as the media made out, and their midfield would do well to make the Top 10 pairings in Leinster. Doyle and Kavanagh are class acts for Cill Dara.

[GroverJr]

Well done KD. great game. wouldnt write off meath.
Semi final - should be good

[ardchieftain]

Well done Kildare. Geezer has them playing out of their skins.
The match against Down should be a joy to behold and i can't help but feel that the team who emerge victorious will go on to win sam.

Hope Geezer leads Kildare to the title and then comes home. Your county needs you !

[Rossfan]

Great second half by Kildare, great mental strength and well worth the € today just to see ye're second half. Hopefully ye'll go all the way.
I thought it was a bit of a pity that there was no mention of Dermot in either the programme or the Public Address.

[ross matt]

Brilliant wn playing great football. In the semi now and still improving with each match. Excellent manager and a squad with depth. Kildare can go all the way and would love to see them do it. (hope Early's injury has'nt finished his season).

[GalwayBayBoy]

Congrats to Kildare. I sincerely hope they go all the way now. I was at the games in 1998 and 2000 when Galway beat them in an All-Ireland final and semi-final and they were very sporting in defeat. Felt for them particularly after 2000 as I think they knew their chance was gone then with that particular team.

[Jinxy]

Sincere congratulations to Kildare. Fully deserved the win and a special mention to Johnny Doyle who looked like he was carrying an injury from early on yet still managed to kick some fantastic scores. James Kavanagh took his goal beautifully, calmness and skill personified. I hope Dermot can make it back for the semi. Great effort to win without him.
As for us?
We still haven't addressed the problems we've had for the last 5 years. We are a first-half team when we used to be one of the best second-half teams around. How many times have we come out after the break and it just seems that every single player drops his work-rate 10%? Is it a fitness thing? I never got any sense even when we narrowed the gap to two points that we could actually win. We are still hopeless at moving the ball out of defense and we are incapable of thinking more than one step ahead. Thus we regularly give a short hand-pass to a man heading straight for a brick wall. We make it up as we go along and no one seems sure what to do with the ball when they have it. No ball into the forwards in the 2nd half and as a result they were having to come foraging out the field. This took them away from goal where Shane and big Joe had been doing well in the first half.
Gutted to be out but sure that's the way it goes.
Best of luck to Kildare in the semi, I was surrounded by white jersies in the Hogan and they were a sound bunch that really knew their football.

[Donnellys Hollow]

Throat is fecked, head is still spinning, got absoutely drenched........ and I've never felt better! We've waited ten years for that and boy was it sweet. Unbelievable performance when you consider big Dermot hit the deck after 57 seconds and gave Meath a six points head start - Kildare have "no naturally accurate forawards" McStay??? They were in the hotzone yesterday anyway! 

Just a word for the Meath lads on here and those who I met yesterday - you are a credit to your county. Very gracious in defeat and your day will come.

[Dinny Breen]

He was fairly back-peddaling on TSG last night, even seem to be trying to take credit for highlighting our lack of scores from the Hotzone the week before, must of been all those Hail Marys we say before each game...

Eoghan O'Flaherty was immense yesterday, he had an arguement with JD before his 1st free on the 45m line and wouldn't give him the ball, he just placed it and popped it over the bar, love that type of youthful confidence..

[AZOffaly]

Fair play to both teams yesterday. On a weekend of great football the best was last. Long range point scoring, great midfield play, super finishing James Kavanagh take a bow, and all with just 30 odd frees. Savage game.

For Kildare, the force is with ye now. Kick on. The 4 weeks layoff will be good for Earley, although if it is cruciate, he's not going to be fully right until an op I'd say. The good thing is ye do have options for the middle anyway even without him, and ye didn't even bring on big Willie.

The forwards are going very well now, and the movement off the full forward line is very good. One point there in the first half from O'Neill I think was exemplary. Ball in to Smith, out in front, lay off to O'Neill running in and pop over the bar. Well within the Hotzone as well Great stuff.

Good weekend for Leinster, and if the GAA hadn't rigged it so ye played Meath we'd probably have 3 in the semis.

[agorm]

Good weekend for Leinster, and if the GAA hadn't rigged it so ye played Meath we'd probably have 3 in the semis.

I dont agree. We are so clueless when things start to go wrong (and they usually do at some stage) we would have lost to any of the other 6 quarter finalists.

I cannot help thinking back to the shambles of a process that lead to the hiring of o'Brien. They wouldnt consider an outsider ("over my dead body" said 1 prominent County Board guy Pat O'Neill of St Colmcilles!!). We now have a management that doesnt seem to be able to read a situation developing and deal with it. He can demonstrate progress , winning the Delaney Cup but I cannot see him developing a side to genuinely challenge for All-ireland honours and, lets face it, thats where its at in a small country like this and I am not sure if he has the nous to take on the big boys in tactics in big games.

[AZOffaly]

That was slightly tongue in cheek agorm, on the basis of our 'rooting for Leinster', but on the basis that you could only have drawn Dublin, Down or Cork, I suspect you are right.