Cill Dara v Luimneach

[Donnellys Hollow]

Portlaoise it is. It's plain daft that these health and safety rules only apply to the championship and you could fit three times the limited capacity for an O'Byrne Cup or league game. I can't recall many problems at the Antrim match two years ago or the Donegal match in 2001 when the ground was packed.

It's disappointing from a spectator's point of view but the Kildare players will probably welcome it. The tight pitch in Conleth's can sometimes work against us. Portlaoise very much a happy hunting ground in recent years.

What rules are stopping it in Newbridge?

Health and safety audit carried out at the start of the year limited the capacity to 4,000 for senior intercounty championship matches (subsequently doubled to 8,000). The ground can hold upwards of 14,000 for O'Byrne Cup, National Football League and club matches though. 

Donnellys- how much was the redevelopment going to cost before the banks went under ?

I'd say this ingenius GAA solution might be brought up again during the silly season before Christmas: http://www.newstalk.ie/2011/sport/dublin-to-get-a-new-gaa-stadium/

We'll give our neighbours a dig out if needed, though we're still waiting on thanks for sending the Chairman of the 'Blue Wave' down to audit you!

Send that young Kilkenny lad down south west of Rathcoole and then we'll talk. There are clubs in Kildare crying out for dual stars don't you know. 

Kildare gave Dublin Arthur Guinness and Larry Stanley. We deserve a bit back in return.

Ah we'll look after him right enough.

Close enough game v Limerick??

Should be. I wouldn't be reading much into the Cavan match. Limerick are a far more experienced and seasoned team. I just hope that the positives aspects like the return to form of Smith & Kavanagh and the more effective use of O'Connor are repeated again. Hopefully then the result will look after itself.

Still think we'll need to change our midfield pairing and get Callaghan fit to have any chance of improving on last year. Can see us coming up just short again against the big boys but if the team go down fighting then that will suffice for me.

[The Burner]

Limerick team for Saturday night.


1. Brian Scanlon, Gerald Griffin's.
2. Andrew Lane , St.Senan's.
3. Johnny McCarthy, St.Kieran's.
4. Lorcan O'Dwyer, Pallasgreen.
5. John Riordan, Fr. Casey's.
6. Stephen Lucey, Croom.
7. Pa Ranahan, Ballysteen.
8. Jim Donovan, St Kieran's.
9. Sean Buckley, Dromcollogher-Broadford.
10. Eoghan O'Connor, St. Mary's/ Sean Finn's.
11. Stephen Kelly, Newcastlewest..
12. Paudie Browne, Fr. Casey's.
13. Ger Collins, Monaleen CAPTAIN.
14. Seamus O'Carroll, Cappagh Kilcornan.
15. Ian Ryan, St. Senan's

If everyone id fit and well that as strong a side as we can put out considering the players unavailable. Doubts coming into the game over Collins, Kelly and Lane but all 3 make to starting line up. Good pace in the half forward line with Kelly and O Connor, Paudie Browne will roam all over the place, O Carroll will probably come out half forward which will leave Ryan and Collins inside. Lucey could possibly play full back to counter O Connors height which will bring concrete out to centre back. All the pressure is on Kildare so the lads can have a really go like they always do. No chance of a kildare team id suppose. Mcgeeney up to his usual antics, Probably be some dummy team in the programme or something

[Ohtoohtobe]

What I'd be most worried about as a Kildare supporter is that we struggle with pacy players running at us. Stephen Kelly certainly fits that bill and judging by the highlights of the Longford game and what Limerick fans say, Eoghan O'Connor does too. That's a dangerous full-forward line they have too and we really need to win the lion's share at midfield to win this game - all the more difficult in the absence of Flynn and our best breaking ball winner, Leper.

Starting to get very worried about this, all the more so because most experts and many Kildare fans seem to think it's a foregone conclusion. Don't be surprised if there's a point or two in this at the end, or if Limerick take it to extra-time - I think it will be a real dogfight and even if Limerick are not as good as in the mid-2000s and don't have Galvin, they've proven their fighting spirit over and over again. Limerick beat Wexford last year and I don't think Kildare are that much better than Wexford, especially when we don't have Flynn and Callaghan.

If we're completely up for it and focused I think we'll win a close one like we did in the Gaelic Grounds in 2008. If we're the slightest bit complacent, we'll be beaten.

[Donnellys Hollow]

What I'd be most worried about as a Kildare supporter is that we struggle with pacy players running at us.

+1

Someone made an interesting point on the Kildare board that the backs in training are probably constantly playing against our own tactics and we don't employ ball carriers down the middle much anymore with the attack now focussed around O'Connor. Might explain why the players look so uncomfortable when ran at.

It's something we managed to counter in the league final when we bottled Tyrone up but since then Meath got great joy running at us and even Cavan looked dangerous on the odd occasion in the first half. Morgan does the job he's asked to do very effectively but he drops deep in front of the opposition's inside line so it does leave holes through the middle. The onus has to be on one of the midfielders to cover that space by dropping back and both Flynn and Lynch have played that role in the past but who knows whether either are match fit given the paucity of information from the camp. Leper's continued absence is also a major concern as he did not look at all fit when he came on in Croke Park and he was not introduced on Sunday.

I'm expecting one change to the team named with Ollie coming back in for Mac but I would be a lot happier if Flynn was in the middle and Foley was back at the edge of the square.

[Ohtoohtobe]

What I'd be most worried about as a Kildare supporter is that we struggle with pacy players running at us.

+1

Someone made an interesting point on the Kildare board that the backs in training are probably constantly playing against our own tactics and we don't employ ball carriers down the middle much anymore with the attack now focussed around O'Connor. Might explain why the players look so uncomfortable when ran at.

It's something we managed to counter in the league final when we bottled Tyrone up but since then Meath got great joy running at us and even Cavan looked dangerous on the odd occasion in the first half. Morgan does the job he's asked to do very effectively but he drops deep in front of the opposition's inside line so it does leave holes through the middle. The onus has to be on one of the midfielders to cover that space by dropping back and both Flynn and Lynch have played that role in the past but who knows whether either are match fit given the paucity of information from the camp. Leper's continued absence is also a major concern as he did not look at all fit when he came on in Croke Park and he was not introduced on Sunday.

I'm expecting one change to the team named with Ollie coming back in for Mac but I would be a lot happier if Flynn was in the middle and Foley was back at the edge of the square.

I just think back to 2009 and think of the amount of times we dispossessed players around our own 45. It was phenomenal and the moment an opposition half-forward had it in that area he was likely to be dispossessed. We've never really reproduced that consistently. For all the talk of refereeing decisions costing us the Down match in 2010, for example, we just couldn't handle Coulter and Hughes running at us. And we're still vulnerable to it.

[Donnellys Hollow]

I think a lot of it goes back to midfield. Dermot was so dominant back in 2009 and Daryl was a great foil for him. Most teams couldn't win enough ball to put our backs under serious pressure. We haven't had a settled midfield pairing since then.

Dermot has had huge injury problems and even though he's back now, time isn't exactly on his side anymore. In his absence, Flynn has shown how good a player he can be but he never seems to get a good run of games without picking up some little niggle. Had he not picked up that concussion very early against Down who knows how that match could have turned out because Down enjoyed midfield dominance for long periods after he went off. Hughie Lynch looked to be finally growing into the role last summer until he got injured.

Teams like Dublin and Donegal don't have great high fielders but they are excellent on the breaks. Leper is our best player to anticipate breaking ball and you can see how much he is missed even against lesser opposition.

[LilySavage]

Agrees , huge problems midfield and centre back. I thought we had sorted it last year, our backs were brilliant against Donegal last year, we hve 2 games to sort it again if we are going to do anything this year. Mick foley is not theanswer in midfield, if he was he would have gotten a game againt Down when we were wiped out 2 years ago, in fact Paddyy Dunne would be much better midfielder. Its absolutely crucial we get at least one of Flynn/Lynch back in midfield with Foley full back. Might get 15 minutes out of earley but cant depend on the great man at this stage . Johnny Doyle more than capable of doing a good job at midfield. think our backs willtighten up but we  need Leper back and some sort of a platform at midfield.

[Donnellys Hollow]

It's a shame that Conor Brophy is no longer on the panel because he wasn't found wanting against either Dublin or Meath last year and he was good enough to be selected at midfield on the best 15 of the Sigerson two years in a row. Hopefully in the long term Kevin Feely will be able to commit but there was an Athy poster on the Kildare board speculating that Glasgow Celtic were interested in him. We'll have to make the best of what we have there for now and it's not as if we're short of options. It's just a case of avoiding further injuries and getting the right balance.

Best of luck to all the Kildare lads tonight anyway. Looks like it'll be a nice evening for football and there should be a big Kildare crowd descending on our home ground - fortress O'Moore Park, Portlaoise! Hopefully we'll be looking forward to a clash with Sligo this time next week.

[Captain Obvious]

Kildare 0-4 Limerick 0-5 

[Cosmo Kramer]

7-4 at half time. Big test for Kildare coming up here.

[seafoid]

Kildare forwards still a problem area and intensity is no cure.

[maigheo]

gaa scores.ie have game level but Marty on rte has limerick ahead by 1

[ross4life]

Heading into extra time.

[Cosmo Kramer]

Kildare dig it out and get extra time. Big ask for Limerick now.

[Captain Obvious]

Kildare turning on the style in extra time.