2007 Kilkenny senior football final day

kilkennycat2004

For fans of KK football Worldwide!!

There was commitment, there was pride shown in the jersey by all four sides and there was at least 500 people interested enough to attend Nowlan Park to witness.
yes, it was county football final day in Kilkenny but as well as the "haves" there was of course the "have nots"..
There was no match programme, not even a team sheet.
There was no public address system in operation and it took 15 minutes of the intermediate final before someone decided it would be a good idea to switch on at least one of the ground's two scoreboards.
A ball landed in the old stand at one stage and to the surprise of some this was not regarded as a UFO arriving at county headquarters.
Yes, Kilkenny football just about existed to almost complete the 2007 championship. However the senior final ended in a draw and with one of the participants, Glenmore already having an outstanding Intermediate hurling fixture with Danesfort to slot in as well, its probably a case of don't expect a replay any time soon.

To the games.
INTERMEDIATE
The Village return to the senior grade, one they actualy won a s recently as 2003, with a deserved 2-10 to 0-08 victory versus Mooncoin in the opening game.
At half-time the Village led 1-03 to 0-05 the goal having been scored from close range by Eoin Larkin in the opening quarter.
David McCormack was the free taker for the Village although on several occasions in both halves the right corner back came the whole length of the pitch to take frees. Anyway David McCormack scored two points while this number two defender Joe ???? got one point.
(*no match programme remember*)
The Village took over in the second half after Mooncoin had got two of the first three scores and when an unanswered 1-05 was registered there was only going to be one winner. The second goal was the first of these scores, scored by the centre forward after good work by Eoin Larkin and veteran Liam "chuck" O'Connor.
Soon afterwards there was a fine individual break upfield by Jackie Tyrell for a fine score. In my opinion Jackie was the best, most athletic and most natural gaelic player of the 70 plus participants who took part in the two games.
A fine speech by the Village captain, the fullback who praised coach Adrian Finan, how proud he was, dedicate dthe win to his late father & all involved in football with the famous city club.

SENIOR
Glenmore have 19 titles while Mullinavat were going for a first ever having lost last years final to Erins Own Castlecomer.
Horror of horrors for the KK fixtures commitee it ended in a draw , Glenmore 1-06 to Mullinavat's 0-09
Mullinavat started with two pointed frees by TG4 hurling underdog Andrew McGovern while at the other end Glenmore were guilty of wayward shooting.
By the interval Mullinavat led 0-06 to 0-03 with both sides showing a fear of shooting from distance.
The Vat men got the first score of the new half also but a Glenmore point and then a punched goal had them all square, 1-04 to 0-07.
Two further points each in the final quarter and it was only when the man from the football board moved to take away the cup for another day that people realised there was not to be extra time.(*no P.A.system remember*)
Probably a case of roll on November for the replay :-)

Flukey

I've said it very often: Sack the Kilkenny county board if they won't support and promote football, and get one in that will.

Nalced_irl

Flukey wrote:

I've said it very often: Sack the Kilkenny county board if they won't support and promote football, and get one in that will.

precisely

mise_me_fein

I was talking to someone from Danesfort and he says that there are some decent footballers in KK but that the county team is just a cliq of lads that may or may not have the best footballers in the county and it's not run well at all.

If Louth are trying to get hurling going in the county I don't see why KK can't get football going there.....great for fitness if nothing else.

Kojak

Flukey wrote:

I've said it very often: Sack the Kilkenny county board if they won't support and promote football, and get one in that will.

Should the same acquisation not be levelled at many county board who only pay lip service to hurling?

Or better still, have 2 seperate baords - one for hurling and one for football. Its open to abuse by the dominant sport if the county board has duristaction over both codes. They will always side with the more succesful side.

patmac

First off excellent report well done, how many teams contest the championship?

Kojak wrote:

Should the same acquisation not be levelled at many county board who only pay lip service to hurling?

Or better still, have 2 seperate baords - one for hurling and one for football. Its open to abuse by the dominant sport if the county board has duristaction over both codes. They will always side with the more succesful side.

Roscommon have a separate Hurling Board but things don't seem to be improving there much.

mise_me_fein

I think everything should be kept together. I've no problem with Kerry focusing on football more than hurling and the same for Waterford with hurling to football but at least they have a football and hurling team competing.

Flukey

Kojak wrote:

Should the same acquisation not be levelled at many county board who only pay lip service to hurling?

I've said that often too.

Patmac, I think you are referring to the county championship. Anyway, on the intercounty level, all of the other 31 counties, plus London and New York, compete in the championship. Of the 31, there are 10 that have had less success in the football championship than Kilkenny have. That is a fact. As examples, Westmeath only won their first Leinster Senior Football Championship in 2004 and Wicklow never have won one. Kilkenny have 3, which puts them ahead of a lot of counties. So if all of those counties can compete, then so can Kilkenny, even if they only have a handful of counties competing in their county championship. Lots of those other counties compete off a small base of clubs too. Kilkenny have no excuse for not fielding a team, apart from an incompetent county board - no matter how many Hurling Championships they have won.

kilkennycat2004

patmac wrote:

First off excellent report well done, how many teams contest the championship? QUOTE]

Thanks for the comment Pat.

10 teams contest our senior c'ship
Mullinavat, Kilmaganny, Muckalee , Railyard, Dicksboro :
St. Lachtain's, Carrickshock, Erins Own, O'Loughlin Gaels, Glenmore

7 were in the Intermediate as far as I remember
Conahy Shamrocks, James Stephens , Piltown , Blacks & Whites, Mooncoin, Thomastown & Rower Inistioge

Flukeys comments on making KK play might sound okay in theory but would not work. In fact he could end up boosting participation levels in soccer & athletics.
The KK seniors actually play in the Leinster Junior c'ship and as a prelude to the c'ship game v Wexford they organised a challenge game with county senior finalists Glenmore at the latters pitch.
While 18 Glenmore men attended the KK junior team could only muster 6 from a squad of 24.
A compromise was reached and they played 12 a side with the home club handing over half a dozen players & that was the final KK preperation for Leinster Junior c'ship 2007.

emoKILLER

it seems hurling is promoted more where im from than football in kilkenny, and im from roscommon!!!

Flukey

KilkennyKat, if they can’t field a team, then that is where proper promotion of the game comes in. If there are 10 senior teams, that’s 150 first team players plus the additional panel members. So that is easily between 200 and 300 players without including other levels. Now, if you asked each of them, would they like to win an All-Ireland Senior (or even just Junior or Intermediate) football championship, or even just a Leinster, how many would say “No”? So, given that they all would want to, whatever their chances of actually doing so, you have a starting point. Waterford even managed to win a Munster Junior title in recent years. An achievable objective would be to at least field a few competitive Kilkenny teams at the different levels.

Given that the second best hurling team in Leinster is the Kilkenny B team, and there are many other good hurlers there, there is an awful lot of good talent that will never get a chance to wear the Kilkenny colours. Despite their quality they probably have as much chance of playing for the hurlers as their footballers have of winning Sam Maguire. So there is a lot of surplus players there, some of whom would make great footballers. The Kilkenny senior football squad and county board could make use of them. It could even help keep them fitter should their chance to play for the county hurlers ever arise. They would not have to give up their club hurling duties to do it either, so that need not suffer.

A lot of the structures used in their hurling success could be used for football. They have an ideal template there, something counties that are weak in both codes don’t have. The skills may differ, but much of the rest of what is there in terms of fitness and other systems they use could be applied.

They could be more imaginative in the way they prepare. Doing those challenge games is one way, maybe having the county team play mid-range clubs from other counties. A few novel competitions could be initiated by the GAA to promote football and hurling in weaker counties. Kilkenny could import a few coaches or even trade coaches with teams that are weak in hurling on a temporary basis or as part of some sort of programme. They could even use their own hurlers to promote football as well as hurling. The likes of DJ are meant to be good footballers. They also have clout and respect, so sticking in a few words of promotion of football while promoting hurling could easily be done, and would not detract from their promotion of hurling. If they have to, maybe they might have to get tough and impose sanctions on clubs and panels for failures in fielding teams.

There are lots of ideas. A half-decent county board, which unfortunately Kilkenny does not have, could come up with plenty more. Even the incompetent county board that they do have could do so. The Liam McCarthy cup may be sitting comfortably in Kilkenny and on Sunday week they may retain their Leinster title, but it is about time a Kilkenny county board started to do their job. None of them have for decades now. Of all people, the man who currently holds the presidency of the GAA, and whose task it is to promote all of the organisation’s sports, should be putting pressure on his native county’s board to do so. That 4th Leinster Senior Football title could at least become a more realistic objective if they did. A competitive team is easily within their compass. There is no excuse.

blackbelt

I find the hypocrisy of some Kilkenny men very sickening.A few lads I know from Kilkenny city says that its ridiculous Dublin can't win Sam given the population and then Kilkenny can't even field a senior football team given the resources they have and the growing population of their city.Its ridiculous that smaller counties with no cities can field a football team while Kilkenny who have the 8th biggest city in Ireland can't field 15 players!!!!

Give me a Kilkenny jersey and I'll line out for them.It is ridiculous that people would give anything to play intercounty football yet nobody in Kilkenny cares and their county board is a joke.They are the only team not to field in two codes.

If this is the case,I'd suggest to the GAA to give London or New York a second chance.They could have a playoff to determine who gets to have two chances at competing in Connaught and Leinster.Plus I've always wanted to see these two sides meet.I think Glasgow,Manchester,Philadelphia and more obviously Boston could also be given funds to have an intercounty team whilst cutting Kilkenny CB funds.Then they'd get their act together.

kilkennycat2004

Flukey wrote:

. Now, if you asked each of them, would they like to win an All-Ireland Senior (or even just Junior or Intermediate) football championship, or even just a Leinster, how many would say “No”? .

This post however well meaning is spoken by someone who wouldn't have a clue about the core value of 95% plus of GAA members in KK.

The actual under age part of KK football does actually take place.

By way of example tomorrow night(Thursday) at 7pm the under-14 football squad meet again at St James Park in the city.

To cater for Southern players a bus is provided to collect Southern based players at places like Piltown - Mullinavat - Ballyhale and Thomastown.

The better players tend to be hurlers also, at least with their clubs and in hurling we always cast the net as wide as possible to make sure no one slips through.

Therefore the South & Northern hurling squads at under 14,15,16 and 17 will have a look at 50 or so players in each area. Invariably these would also have dabbled with football.

Bring under age club hurling into the equation and fellas hoping to make club minor hurling teams from 16 and under 21 and adult hurling teams from 18 tend to focus on the club and prospect of wearing an adult club & later a KK jersey in hurling. The clubs play a main part as they want to see them at training for the adult hurling team and I'm afraid I can't see this attitude changing any time soon.

Each club would have maybe one or two personal half interested in the big ball code but in the main Gaelic is looked at as part of what must be endured to prepare for the club hurling season which is massive in KK at al grades.

kilkennycat2004

Tommy Murphy Cup Result from 3pm today

Antrim 3-32 Kilkenny 1-00

Further proof that the foreign code should be forgotten about at adult level in KK until such time as people want to play the sport for other than obligation reasons.

Flukey

There are still players out there that want to play, no matter how few. A bit of proper coaching and support from the county board and they could at least put out a competitive team. I'd also still say that if you asked those few that do turn out, if they'd like to win a medal, they'd say "Yes". As you said yourself, when it comes to Hurling the net is spread far and wide. But most of those that do get caught in it, no matter how good they are, won't reach the standard to play hurling for the county. So quality GAA players will get left on the sideline, not even on the bench, to watch. If a few of them have dabbled with football, then getting them playing it again when they can't reach the standard for the hurlers would at least be an option for them. Many might not be interested, but it should be there, and with proper support from the powers that be. That lack of support from the top does not help to entice these players into another possible option. If they're not good enough to be hurlers they are just let go, which isn't right.

3 - 32 to 1 - 00 should be an incentive to do better next time, not to give up. No Kilkenny hurling manager, of any grade, from county down to club, would let a hammering stop his team from trying to come back again. They'd go out and train twice as hard the next time. Kilkenny hurlers wouldn't be where they are without that attitude. There is plenty enough of that attitude in Kilkenny to be pumped into the footballers. Hurling's example should be channelled as a positive influence on the footballers to try harder, not as a negative influence to put it down. All this "we're not good enough so let's not bother our arses" is not acceptable.

After today's drubbing you can be damn sure the Wexford hurlers will come out fighting the next day. Offaly's hurlers were similarly humiliated by Kilkenny a few years back, but even with their small pool they've kept at it and should have beaten Tipperary last night. If Kilkenny had been hammered today, would Hurling be abandoned in the county? Will their loss in the minor final today, mean the abandonment of all underage hurling? We know the answer to that, and there is no reason why it should be any different for their footballers.

The county board in Kilkenny has to start doing their job. The cup may be going back to Kilkenny yet again this evening with the senior hurlers, but if they can't even have a programme, team sheet, public address system or scoreboard at the football county finals, then the county board are not fit to be in charge of GAA in Kilkenny. No excuses are acceptable. If the interest isn't there in the county, then it is up to them to create it and support it, which they are not doing even at the most basic level, like typing up a team sheet. 3 - 32 to 1 - 00 is a reflection of the county board, not the players. It is time the county board upped their game. Allowing today's fixture to go ahead at 3pm, in the full knowledge that their hurlers would be playing in Croke Park is typical of this lax attitude. You can be damn sure the top brass of the county board were not at the football match. Even if no one would turn up the county board itself should have had that match played at a time when it would not clash and themselves been there to support what is after all their own team. Kilkenny won the senior hurling final today, but the county board once again failed abysmally in their job and should be ashamed of themselves.

blackbelt

I actually mentioned the above to a Kilkenny fan yesterday and the answer I got was this....

"Well we are not good at football so the money all goes to hurling".

It wasn't totally the fans fault but I thought they would say "yeah I agree its ridiculous."

My answer to the problem is to cut Kilkenny funds and distribute them to New York and London whilst having these two teams play off for the chance to compete in Leinster Football Championship.

paulocon

I am just amazed that a team can manage 35 scores in a game of football - that's a score every two minutes not accounting for stoppages/injuries etc...

Was anyone on here at the game?

Flukey

Here is another thought for you all. Last week we had all the excitement about Sligo winning the Connacht title. A magnificent achievement, as we will all agree. Another thing that they achieved last Sunday was this: They are now level with Kilkenny on senior provincial football titles. We'll all agree that Sligo are a good footballing county, yet this is the first time they've caught up with Kilkenny on their provincial achievements since the first ever provincial finals. Kilkenny won the first ever Leinster title, and have always been ahead of Sligo in terms of titles won. So yes folks, statistically at least, Kilkenny are as good as Sligo and they still head 9 other counties too. Sligo will be going passionately for their fourth title next year, and those other 8 counties will also be trying to improve their provincial achievements. Kilkenny should be doing the same.