Galway V Kilkenny LSHC Final Croke Park 4pm 04/07/2010

magicface1

Ok guys this is what the GAA have wanted for a couple of years a GALWAY V KILKENNY final to get people interested in the leinster championship again. Im from Galway and think Galway have a chance and hopefully they can put it up to Kilkenny will be a massive challenge to all the players. But Kilkenny will be clear favourates from the start but you never know, it has the makings of a great game if Galway turn up. So heres to a entertaining and close game. COME ON GALWAY.... Oh and best of luck to Kilkenny as well.

Diabhal Beag

We are going to lose. I hope to see a fighting performance though especially Iarla Tannion.

Psychedelic

Hard to see Galway beating Kilkenny after only scraping past Offaly, but you never know on the day what could happen. Galway were very close to beating Kilkenny last year in what was one of the best games of the championship, some battle that was, hopefully it will be like that again.

Royal Seahawk

Galway will have to execute the exact same game plan that got them over the cats in 2001, pull and drag out of them, don't let them hurl at all.
That's the only way Galway can win this game.

cson

Galway by 4.

Those two games against Offaly are going to be the making of this team imo.

coldwood92

COME ON GALWAY!!!

Min

I thought Galway would easily beat Offaly who are nowhere close to Kilkenny in terms of performance, though they do seem to be an improving side.
If Galway is making hard work of beating Offaly then I'm fairly confident Kilkenny will win Leinster again.

teednab-el

I fancy Galway here. I dont know but I think Kilkenny will be found wanting at some stage so I believe this may be the game. Repeat of 2001 and 2005 encounters.

teednab-el

Min wrote: »

I thought Galway would easily beat Offaly who are nowhere close to Kilkenny in terms of performance, though they do seem to be an improving side.
If Galway is making hard work of beating Offaly then I'm fairly confident Kilkenny will win Leinster again.

Might be part of their gameplan. Save the big performance for the big guns! If Galway do what Tipperary did to Kilkenny in last years All Ireland then Kilkenny may be in trouble!

cson

Galway will have the benefit of two tough games against what is a very good and improving Offaly team - for the most part the standard of hurling in both matches was quite good.

Kilkenny coasted past Dublin and from being at that match I thought they hurled a little loose at times and never got out of 2nd gear whilst still hammering the Dubs who were absolutely abject. Once the first score went in it was game over for them imo.

I think Kilkenny could be caught on the hop here and beaten by Galway; that team has been on the go a while and 5 years training and hurling with the intensity they have and winning everything handily; they may lose a little sharpness at some stage. The final last year was the first match they had in about 3 years. Had Tipp been a little cuter they would have beaten them. Half of the battle with Kilkenny is the aura that surrounds them; its a huge psychological hill for teams.

Which is why I think Galway after two hard matches with no pressure as everyone will expect them to be beaten out the gate can beat Kilkenny with daylight between them. If Galway get the ball into JC quickly I'd be quietly confident he'll roast Noel Hickey.

Of course I wouldn't be surprised if Kilkenny embarrass us and beat us out the gate and the above looks very silly come Sunday evening.

magicface1

My Galway team would be:
1. C. Callanan
2. D. Joyce
3. S. Kavanagh
4. O. Canning
5. E. Lynch
6. T. Og. Regan
7. J. Lee
8. D. Collins
9. G. Farragher
10. A. Smith
11. I. Tannion
12. A. Callanan
13. D. Hayes
14. J. Canning
15. A. Harte (if healy is injured)

Big half back line to try stop ball going into full forward line. Thats where kilkenny can hurt galway. Heres to a great game and let the Galway public get behind the team and you'd never know.

TheWarrior

Fancy Kilkenny by 8-12 points. They were brittle by their standards last year as they had no recognized full back- but this year with Noel hickey back don't see them giving up many goals.
Against the dubs they had 48 shots on goal- crazy stuff.

aidan24326

Hard to know how this one will go. I wouldn't be too hard on Galway for only scraping past Offaly, as Offaly turned out to be a bit better than anyone thought they'd be and the standard of hurling in the two games was pretty good. Conceding 5 goals over the two games has to be a worry though. Keep the goals out and Galway have a decent chance.

spideog7

I agree the number of goals the team conceded to Offaly will be a worry. I'm looking forward to the game though, it'll be interesting to see how Galway can match up and it definitely won't be the end of the road for the loser either way. At this stage of the championship no game is easy and I definitely think we have the beating of Kilkenny, hopefully we only have to beat them once!!

flahavaj

I fear KK will decimate them, I think people got carries away after Galway won the league and built them up too much.

With Noel Hickey back and JJ Delaney restored to wingback, KK are stronger than last year and I actually think they'll stroll to the All Ireland.

Kilkenny by 10 or more points.:(

In my opinion Galway can beat KK if they can get Joe canning more involved. He has been class as usual this year when he gets the ball but he has been isolated far too much.

If you compare with last year he was much more involved in games. I have a theory, now I know Ger Farragher is a very good free taker but I think Canning thrives on scoring and the fact he is not taking the frees means he is in the action less and gets his hands on the ball less and it maybe does not help his game.

He is a better free taker too (he just does not miss) but I can see why Ger is chosen to take the frees, keep Canning in there, more balance etc.

KevIRL

Over 46.5points total is evens on PP.

Easy money imo

cson

@ flahavaj

Hickey and Delany were their two worst players [if you get me, it's a total misnomer tbh] against the Dubs in Croke Park two weeks ago imo.

Diabhal Beag

Amirah Fluffy Armpit wrote: »

In my opinion Galway can beat KK if they can get Joe canning more involved. He has been class as usual this year when he gets the ball but he has been isolated far too much.

If you compare with last year he was much more involved in games. I have a theory, now I know Ger Farragher is a very good free taker but I think Canning thrives on scoring and the fact he is not taking the frees means he is in the action less and gets his hands on the ball less and it maybe does not help his game.

He is a better free taker too (he just does not miss) but I can see why Ger is chosen to take the frees, keep Canning in there, more balance etc.

Farragher always took long range frees. Canning takes the short ones. Joe has been carrying a few injuries this year too which didn't hamper him last year.

Diabhal Beag

Diabhal Beag wrote: »

Farragher always took long range frees. Canning takes the short ones. Joe has been carrying a few injuries this year too which didn't hamper him last year.

Joe took all the frees last year (well almost all anyway) in any of the games I saw, I remember him putting over massive frees from inside his own half, he has only taken 2 frees between the Offaly games. He was running out to take that free Ger put over at the end also but he stopped.

You are right though he is carrying injuries you can see it in his movement.

adrian522

cson wrote: »

@ flahavaj

Hickey and Delany were their two worst players [if you get me, it's a total misnomer tbh] against the Dubs in Croke Park two weeks ago imo.

I don't agree with this I thought JJ was excellent against Dublin and Hickey was pretty solid apart from getting turned once in the first half, but no real danger from a shot at such an acute angle.

I wouldn't have any great worry about Hickey against Canning and if he is in trouble there are plenty of options for switching. Dalton,Hogan or JJ could all do a good job at full back if called upon.

From a KK point of view the main concern has to be in the forwards.

Richie Hogan was pretty poor the last day and got taken off. OK Centre forward is not really his position but still thought he was poor.

Larkin wasn't great after coming on and I don't see him starting there. Power only came to life when put into FF which is where he should start on Sunday.

I think KK will win on Sunday but not by much, maybe 4 or 5 points in the difference.

For Galway to win their Half forwards would need to get on top o the KK half back line and I just don't see that happening.

flahavaj

cson wrote: »

@ flahavaj

Hickey and Delany were their two worst players [if you get me, it's a total misnomer tbh] against the Dubs in Croke Park two weeks ago imo.

This means little or nothing when you look at it in the context of it being nothing more than a hard training match for KK.

The KK back six has a much more natural and solid look to it with Hickey at FB and JJ at WB than without, simple as.

Warper

Boyles and PP have KK - 4 pts @ evens for this which I find quite amazing and must be backed. Even if Galway play to their best they could still lose by 5 pts plus. Look at Tipp in last years AI Final who could easily have won but still ended up losing by 5+ pts. Plus last year Galway played their best game of the summer against the Cats but, correct me if im wrong, still lost by 5+ pts. KK get goals and this looks a brilliant spread. Laddies have it +5 pts for Galway as will every bookie come Sunday if not by more.

Diabhal Beag

Warper wrote: »

Boyles and PP have KK - 4 pts @ evens for this which I find quite amazing and must be backed. Even if Galway play to their best they could still lose by 5 pts plus. Look at Tipp in last years AI Final who could easily have won but still ended up losing by 5+ pts. Plus last year Galway played their best game of the summer against the Cats but, correct me if im wrong, still lost by 5+ pts. KK get goals and this looks a brilliant spread. Laddies have it +5 pts for Galway as will every bookie come Sunday if not by more.

Dunno about that. We have played nowhere near our best so far since the League Final. Scoreboard flattered Galway against Wexford, Offaly could have beaten us in each of the semi-final matches. We do enough to win matches but I think the last Offaly match was a badly needed kick up the arse. If we play to our best even Killkenny couldn't stop us. That's not to say we will beat Killkenny because they might have a great game. Galway's performance will determine the result IMO. Anything other than a great showing will equal a KK win.

Warper

Diabhal Beag wrote: »

Dunno about that. We have played nowhere near our best so far since the League Final. Scoreboard flattered Galway against Wexford, Offaly could have beaten us in each of the semi-final matches. We do enough to win matches but I think the last Offaly match was a badly needed kick up the arse. If we play to our best even Killkenny couldn't stop us. That's not to say we will beat Killkenny because they might have a great game. Galway's performance will determine the result IMO. Anything other than a great showing will equal a KK win.

I think Galway more or less played to their best in last year's meeting between the 2 sides and KK still came out on top by 5 pts +.

Diabhal Beag

Warper wrote: »

I think Galway more or less played to their best in last year's meeting between the 2 sides and KK still came out on top by 5 pts +.

Canning carried us the whole match though IIRC. This time we have Damien Hayes in top form and Ger Farragher having his best year since 2005.

finlma

Diabhal Beag wrote: »

If we play to our best even Killkenny couldn't stop us.

That's nonsense. Maybe if Galway play to their best and Kilkenny are well below average Galway might win. If both teams bring their 'A game' then Kilkenny would come out by at least 5 points.

There's a reason Kilkenny haven't lost a Championship match for almost 5 years - this is the best hurling team that have ever existed, without question, and Galway at their best don't even have a 50/50 chance.

ellewood

finlma wrote: »

That's nonsense. Maybe if Galway play to their best and Kilkenny are well below average Galway might win. If both teams bring their 'A game' then Kilkenny would come out by at least 5 points.

There's a reason Kilkenny haven't lost a Championship match for almost 5 years - this is the best hurling team that have ever existed, without question, and Galway at their best don't even have a 50/50 chance.

+1..

dotsflan

Diabhal Beag wrote: »

Canning carried us the whole match though IIRC. This time we have Damien Hayes in top form and Ger Farragher having his best year since 2005.

yeah but im afraid this year canning has been poor at the back. age is slowly catching him.

dotsflan

dotsflan wrote: »

yeah but im afraid this year canning has been poor at the back. age is slowly catching him.

I'm fairly sure he is referring to Joe carrying us not Ollie.

In fairness to Ollie he was poor in the first semi against Offaly but he upped his game big time in the replay.

finlma wrote: »

That's nonsense. Maybe if Galway play to their best and Kilkenny are well below average Galway might win. If both teams bring their 'A game' then Kilkenny would come out by at least 5 points.

There's a reason Kilkenny haven't lost a Championship match for almost 5 years - this is the best hurling team that have ever existed, without question, and Galway at their best don't even have a 50/50 chance.

I think thats a bit harsh on Galway, they are obviously not as good as Kilkenny but they are not as far behind as you suggest either.

finlma

Amirah Fluffy Armpit wrote: »

I think thats a bit harsh on Galway, they are obviously not as good as Kilkenny but they are not as far behind as you suggest either.

I'm not saying Galway don't have a chance to win. If Kilkenny are below par and Galway play out of their skin then they have a chance.
If Kilkenny play to the best of their ability then they will win and do so comfortably. Kilkenny are probably better than Galway in 12 positions on the pitch.

SIBHCHEVIE

I think it will be a pretty close encounter, I wouldn't read too much into the offaly games as Galway are generally a completely different team when they play Kilkenny.
Last years game was by far the best of the championship last year but i do think more of the forwards need to start scoring rather than relying on canning like they did in last years game.

grenache

Like the previous poster, the only way i can see Galway winning is if there's a more even spread of scores across the forwards. Hayes and Canning cant be expected to carry the whole team. Smyth and Gantley will need to chip in as will Farragher from midfield. The front six will need to click and score at least 4 goals.....if that happens, Galway can win. Anything less and one would expect Kilkenny to have too much for them.

finlma

finlma wrote: »

I'm not saying Galway don't have a chance to win. If Kilkenny are below par and Galway play out of their skin then they have a chance.
If Kilkenny play to the best of their ability then they will win and do so comfortably. Kilkenny are probably better than Galway in 12 positions on the pitch.

First off, KK are better then us, there's no denying that, they're going for a 5 in a row and and have quality in every position with even a few on the bench.
We on the other hand have some quality players but with maybe 7/8 average enough lads who could be playing one day and on the bench another. However i feel we have the best player in the country in Joe Canning, Sheffo and co are amazing strikers but Canning has it all and is well capable of winning hard ball.

All that said i don't agree with your statement that it would take a below par KK AND us playing out of our skin to give us ''a chance'', that's what it would take for Offaly/Wexford to beat them. Even an average KK performance with us playing to the best of our abilities and we'd see anyone off, problem is we can't do it for more then 10-15 mins a half, KK can do it for 70

magicface1

Kilkenny team Galway Team(not named due to injuries)
1. P.J.Ryan
2. J Dalton,
3. N Hickey,
4. J Tyrrell;
5. T Walsh,
6. B Hogan,
7. J.J.Delaney
8. M Rice,
9. M Fennelly;
10. T.J.Reid,
11. E Brennan,
12. E Larkin;
13. M Comerford,
14. R Power,
15. H Shefflin.

You can see kilkenny will target the galway full back line(galway weakest line) massive game for joyce,kav and ollie. Galway half back line will have to stop the ball going into the full back line. Thats why I was saying it should be a big half back line Lynch,Regan,Lee hopefully with Collins into midfield(injury depending). Was feeling we have a good chance all week but now seeing that team I fear for galway but hopefully ill be wrong as long as they give it a good go and a good galway side turn up ill be happy. Would prefer to lose tomorrow and beat them on all ireland final day(he he). I know I know I am in a fairyland but hey we can dream. COME ON GALWAY!

Diabhal Beag

I have a bad feeling that Martin Comerford is going to have a great game tomorrow

PatsytheNazi

I think Kilkenny are a step above, I mean in terms of their talent and their attitude. That is not to say that on a given day any team, certainly the other 3 left, might take them. I'm not giving the title to the Cats just yet, but they have to be favourites.

Diabhal Beag

The hurlers are our only chance at happiness. Would have taken a Sligo defeat if it means the hurlers will bayte Killkenny.

cremeegg

lads ...will i get tickets up there???
last minute decison to travel...

galway man here. I think it could be a shoot out. I believe the galway defence will raise there game... but prob not enough.. when u think of the subs KK can bring on...

derealbadger

ye tickets will be available up there looks like theres going to be a big galway crew

hope is a beautiful thing

UP Galway

magicface1

there's a big rumour going around that John Lee was dropped off the panel. Don't know why but its on HS and GGF so hopefully it isnt true...

derealbadger

i really hope this is not true if it is we are fu***d

magicface1

derealbadger wrote: »

i really hope this is not true if it is we are fu***d

me to hopefully it is crap.. but hey we will have to wait and see.

Conas

Both Galway and Tipperary are highly overrated in my opinion. They are good but they certainly aren't at the same level as Kilkenny. Tipperary won today but there defence left a lot to be desired...in my opinion it was a shambles.

Tomorrow Galway will stick to Kilkenny for three quarters of the match but come the final hurdle they'll lack the will power to kick on and win the match. It's going to follow the same old pattern wait and you'll see.

derealbadger

just heard a bit more about it i think it is true but it is not to do with hurling and i don't think it will be a problem moral wise i hear Galway's training sessions have been full blooded punch ups and all they think they will be very up for this cant wait

magicface1

Conas wrote: »

Both Galway and Tipperary are highly overrated in my opinion. They are good but they certainly aren't at the same level as Kilkenny. Tipperary won today but there defence left a lot to be desired...in my opinion it was a shambles.

Tomorrow Galway will stick to Kilkenny for three quarters of the match but come the final hurdle they'll lack the will power to kick on and win the match. It's going to follow the same old pattern wait and you'll see.

I was there in 2007 when galway matched kilkenny in every position and were a point or two up with ten to go and kilkenny just upped there game and got two goals in the space of two minute and ended up winning by 10ish points I think. hopefully we can get off to a great start and put up a good score and see can we keep it going over the 70 minutes.

KevR

teednab-el wrote: »

I fancy Galway here. I dont know but I think Kilkenny will be found wanting at some stage so I believe this may be the game. Repeat of 2001 and 2005 encounters.

Please god!!

MoreOran

If Galway can win enough high ball in the air, then they are in with a chance but I have my doubts. KK know more about JC now and will concentrate in cutting off the supply.
McIntyre is doing a good job, no bull, and is definitely copying Cody's approach but has he the players?
A good performance tomorrow and a win in Sep would satisfy me but I think we are still short 3-4 players to win the big one. Tomorrow will tell a lot.
Travelling in the morning and cannot wait!!:)

flahavaj

I have a feeling Richie Power is going to go to town on Galway tomorrow.

Not good if John Lee is gone either.

magicface1

Actually starting to look forward to the game. Hopefully there will be a big crowd from Galway up there... Wonder will there be many from Kilkenny up there? Is there a minor match on before?

derealbadger

magicface1 wrote: »

Actually starting to look forward to the game. Hopefully there will be a big crowd from Galway up there... Wonder will there be many from Kilkenny up there? Is there a minor match on before?

yes kk V dublin