Kildare v Donegal July 30th 6PM

Cill Dara Abu

This should be a cracker!

Donegal's defensive system will be a major hurdle for Kildare to over-come, I think we have the players to cope with James Kavanagh and Tomas O' Connor in the full-forward line with Johnny Doyle , Eamon Callaghan and Eoghan O' Flaherty pulling the strings futher out the field.

Donegal have some very dangerous forwards in Murphy and McFadden, The battle between Mick Foley and Michael Murphy could decide the out come of this game.

Kildare by 2.

carefulnow100

Tough to call been honest, for the sake of the thread I'l go Donegal by 3

I think After the Ulster win there out to do damage!
And as you said the defensive system could hinder Kildare.

Cill Dara Abu

carefulnow100 wrote: »

Tough to call been honest, for the sake of the thread I'l go Donegal by 3

I think After the Ulster win there out to do damage!
And as you said the defensive system could hinder Kildare.

We now have Tomas O' Connor who since he has come in he has been brilliant, if we are getting swallowed up in mid-field and the half-forward line he is a good option to have to kick long balls into and he is a scoring threat aswell.

rossie1977

will be interesting to see how donegals system works on the bigger croke park pitch, monkeys off the back for donegal though now so going to give the hesitant vote to them, if they can restrict tyrone to just 9 points over 70+ mins i think they can hold kildare to a low score as well

teednab-el

Should be very tight. Fancy Kildare to shade it just.

dcr22B

Going to go with the Fatherland here, Donegal to win by 2.

gaelic cowboy

Very very hard game to call but I will say Donegal by a point.

migemo

Maybe Ulster could be weak this year with the Big Two beaten. Donegal might not be as strong as people think. What about switching O'Connor out to midfield and J Doyle back to attack. Seems a shame to have J D out of scoring range and just picking off the free kicks. O'Connor can win clean ball in the middle.That said i think Kildare should edge this in a low scoring game.

leonidas83

I fancy Kildare in this match myself, think they have enough about them all over the pitch to break down Donegal but i wouldn't be surprised if its an extremely close match. The real battle will be Kildare's defence against Donegal's frontline, have been watching Kildare's backline this championship and have to say its first class, it will need to be on Saturday

DoctaDee

Donegal will win if they can cover the vast acreage in Croker effectively. Restrict ball inside forcing Kildare into long range shooting - which is ropey. Maintain their discipline inside their own 45, as Kildare will be eyeing this to exploit JD's freetaking.

mark_cc

As a Kildare man, I'm very worried about this Donegal side. They are on their own roll as well as ourselves. Genuinely don't know how to call it!

CDH

rossie1977 wrote: »

will be interesting to see how donegals system works on the bigger croke park pitch

The pitch in Ballyboffey is 2m wider and 1m longer than Croke Park.

DoctaDee

CDH wrote: »

The pitch in Ballyboffey is 2m wider and 1m longer than Croke Park.

... and 65,000 people less on a good day !! - point taken on the dimenions btw .. but anyone that played in CP will tell ya it is a different surface/ballgame

Oasis_Dublin

Donegal should just about win this. Kildare have been pretty average all Championship long. Have beaten some pretty average sides along the way. Donegal's defensive system should prevent Kildare's forwards scoring too much.

itsalltrue

hoping Kildare will sneak through with a point or 2 to spare

Dcully

I honestly think Kildare have plenty left in the tank,we havent seen the best of them yet.
Im more worried about this knockout game than any of the others, its going to be very tough but still think Kildare will shade it - just.
Kildares` top players are just starting to hit form at the right time.
Hugh Lynch will be a big loss as is Dermot Earley all year but thankfully Daryl Flynn is fit again.

blackbelt

Oasis_Dublin wrote: »

Donegal should just about win this. Kildare have been pretty average all Championship long. Have beaten some pretty average sides along the way. Donegal's defensive system should prevent Kildare's forwards scoring too much.

Agreed,

The media have Kildare built up to take Sam but Donegal have been very impressive this year by taking Division 2 and an Ulster title.Kildare have won nothing.This is what Kildare should be worried about.

Michael Murphy will be a handful.I think this is a game where Kildare will need to push Johnny Doyle into the forwards to maximise the scoring chances.Donegal system of play is quite similar to Dublin,very defensive and this will cause Kildare to have to take longer range scoring efforts.They don't have the forwards that Cork do and on that basis I will tip Donegal to progress.

dcr22B

blackbelt wrote: »

Kildare have won nothing

Credit where credit is due.

They won the O'Byrne Cup!

Dcully

The media have Kildare built up to take Sam

I havent seen any form of media claiming Kildare will win Sam.

Oasis_Dublin

Maybe they haven't been built up to win Sam but they have certainly been built up to a ridiculous amount. They were described by the Meath manager as being better than Dublin, and the media seemed to take agree with it. That's not fair, Dublin were the better team in Leinster this year and that was reflected in the result. Anyway, neither Dublin, Kildare nor Donegal are going to win Sam so back on topic!

blackbelt

dcr22B wrote: »

Credit where credit is due.

They won the O'Byrne Cup!

Ok I stand corrected.:o

ayeboy

Probably a bit biased but I think Donegal will just about shade this one. It will be tough going and they are going to have to play for more of the game than they did in the last couple of games. Reckon McGuiness will have them well set up for it mentally. Great spirit in the camp and absolutely nothing to fear. Hope its an entertaining game (to shut up all the detractors) but a scrappy 1 point victory will do me. Mon Donegal!!

largepants

It seems the only ones bothered much about Kildares hype are the Dubs. They have a whole 25 page thread on resevoir dubs about them. Seriously if they are that worried about who the media claim to be the third best they can have it because frankly I think its a load of bunkem.

tossy

The irony of a 25 page thread on a Dub forum whinging about over hyping of another county is just too sweet!

will21

I think Kildare will win,with all the tactics that will be in play i think it will be a poor game,the ulster final was poor and i think derry played alot better against kildare than they did against donegal,kildare by 5

Hammer Archer

Derry played as well as they were let play in the Ulster final. I'd say Donegal are loving the buildup to this game. Very few seem to be giving them a chance.
I can see Kildare resorting to shooting from all angles and as a result having far too many wides thanks to Donegals defence. Overall I think Kildare's attack won't be good enough to sufficiently break it down and I think Donegal will do it by a point or two.

Hope I'm wrong though. Hope this is the year Leinster finally get a team back to the final. It was funny for 5 years or so but its ridiculous at this stage

harpsman

CDH wrote: »

The pitch in Ballyboffey is 2m wider and 1m longer than Croke Park.

Dont think so.

Oasis_Dublin

largepants wrote: »

It seems the only ones bothered much about Kildares hype are the Dubs. They have a whole 25 page thread on resevoir dubs about them. Seriously if they are that worried about who the media claim to be the third best they can have it because frankly I think its a load of bunkem.

I don't really care, I'm merely stating it's incorrect. It hasn't been correct since Leinster Final day in 2002.

Lord Trollington

League meeting in Donegal finished 1-05 TO 0-08.

Could be a similar kind of game, probably one of the worse games of football I have ever witnessed, was going to ask for my ticket and petrol money back on the way out.

Still I fancy Kildare, (heart ruling head). They have the experience of this stage in the past.

johnmcdnl

Very close game throughout but Kildare have always pushed on at the end of games this year... and that's when defensive systems like Donegal's always seem to be at their weakest - when players tire out...

Kildare will know Croke Park inside out compared to Donegal - (when have Donegal played in Croker recently??)

kildare by 3 but the game will be decided in the last 10-15 minutes....

Claonadh1

tossy wrote: »

The irony of a 25 page thread on a Dub forum whinging about over hyping of another county is just too sweet!

Make that 26 pages! Ironic indeed

anton.gall

Donegal 5 point win , will be tight 1st half then the lads the run away with it!!!!

itsalltrue

johnmcdnl wrote: »

Very close game throughout but Kildare have always pushed on at the end of games this year... and that's when defensive systems like Donegal's always seem to be at their weakest - when players tire out...

Kildare will know Croke Park inside out compared to Donegal - (when have Donegal played in Croker recently??)

kildare by 3 but the game will be decided in the last 10-15 minutes....

Donegal won the league final (Div. 2) at the start of the year in Croke Park

DoctaDee

Knickers in a knot over who are the 3rd and 4th best teams this year .. gimme a break .. the number one team will be announced 3rd week of September - and there are 8 teams vying for that. No. 1 at this moment gives no entitlment to be handed the AI.

The PR for Dublin has turned full circle .. from the gushing praise of the 2007 AI SF loss to Kerry (the performance held up lookin @ the final that year), everyone felt that that Dublin team deserved an AI at some stage - (2nd fav team for some) .. the subsequent hidings by an underperforming Tyrone team in 2008, an "ageing" Kerry team with no legs according to Pat Spillane beat them by 17 points and a pitiful loss last year when they never looked like losing. Suddenly the press turns, no bottle, chokers - mediocre displays were met by others with howls of derision. The expectation on Dublin wasn't delivered and people sought to deride them.

Now Pat Spillane once the unlikely bannerman for Dublin football sees fit to conduct his own ranking system based on comapartive performances game on game - Kildare move to 3 and Dublin down to 4.

From a Dublin viewpoint - 6 Leinster titles in 7 years dictates that they don't play 2nd fiddle to anyone in Leinster. If Pat had put Roscommon, Mayo, Tyrone or Donegal as his number 3 .. well and grand ..I'm sure that would generate as much discussion as Kildare, but there wouldn't be a tangible comparison - but there is one to Kildare having beaten them 3 weeks previous with 14 men for over half an hour.

If this Kildare team doesn't deliver on the expectation - have a look above at the media blueprint for how they'll deal with it .. Thanks

Temp Barry

Honestly don't know how anyone could rank Kildare ahead of Dublin. Dublin were the indisputably better team when it was 15v15 when the played last.

However, rankings will be irrelevant before the start of any game. Whatever about Cork and Kerry, the next 8 or so teams in the rankings are all capable of beating each other depending on how the game goes.

dcr22B

tossy wrote: »

The irony of a 25 page thread on a Dub forum whinging about over hyping of another county is just too sweet!

The irony of it is we can't work out why all the hype about Kildare.

In McGeeney's 4 years in charge, what has he and the team achieved:

- relegation from NFL1 and a humiliating defeat to Wicklow in Leinster in his first year in charge,
- twice they've lost to Dublin while having numerical advantage for over half of the two games,
- beaten by Louth last year,
- yet to escape from NFL2 after 3 years down there.

The fact is Kildare have YET to win any big game under McGeeney's stewardship and even this summer, let's be honest as to who they've beaten in the qualifiers:

- Laois who were absolutely muck through the entire championship,
- Meath who were unlucky to lose Seamus Kenny at a crucial time and it indirectly led to Emmet Bolton scoring 1-1 to clinch the game
- Derry who suffered from the dreaded "6 day" rule

The fact of the matter is that Kildare are a game side and their first major test is whether they can get one over on the system that Donegal play tomorrow evening. If they are to do so, more people will sit up and take notice of them.

At the moment, the media are swimming so far up Kildare's tail end and it proves that the championship really hasn't caught fire yet when that's what they're focussing on.

largepants

DoctaDee wrote: »

Knickers in a knot over who are the 3rd and 4th best teams this year .. gimme a break .. the number one team will be announced 3rd week of September - and there are 8 teams vying for that. No. 1 at this moment gives no entitlment to be handed the AI.

The PR for Dublin has turned full circle .. from the gushing praise of the 2007 AI SF loss to Kerry (the performance held up lookin @ the final that year), everyone felt that that Dublin team deserved an AI at some stage - (2nd fav team for some) .. the subsequent hidings by an underperforming Tyrone team in 2008, an "ageing" Kerry team with no legs according to Pat Spillane beat them by 17 points and a pitiful loss last year when they never looked like losing. Suddenly the press turns, no bottle, chokers - mediocre displays were met by others with howls of derision. The expectation on Dublin wasn't delivered and people sought to deride them.

Now Pat Spillane once the unlikely bannerman for Dublin football sees fit to conduct his own ranking system based on comapartive performances game on game - Kildare move to 3 and Dublin down to 4.

From a Dublin viewpoint - 6 Leinster titles in 7 years dictates that they don't play 2nd fiddle to anyone in Leinster. If Pat had put Roscommon, Mayo, Tyrone or Donegal as his number 3 .. well and grand ..I'm sure that would generate as much discussion as Kildare, but there wouldn't be a tangible comparison - but there is one to Kildare having beaten them 3 weeks previous with 14 men for over half an hour.

If this Kildare team doesn't deliver on the expectation - have a look above at the media blueprint for how they'll deal with it .. Thanks

The mere fact that you mention that Dublin don't play second fiddle to anyone in Leinster only highlights the fact that the Dubs are a little sour over the fact that Kildare seem to be the media darlings at present. Its only recently where the Dubs were bemoaning the fact that their team were being hyped up by the media. Year after year the hype machine (stemming from the media and not the fans) drove most Dubs to believe that they were AI champs in waiting only to fall flat on their faces time and time again. And now they have dedicated a whole thread on another website giving out about Kildare being mooted as possibly the third best team in the country. Does it really mean that much to you all? Do you want the hype or not?

DoctaDee

largepants wrote: »

The mere fact that you mention that Dublin don't play second fiddle to anyone in Leinster only highlights the fact that the Dubs are a little sour over the fact that Kildare seem to be the media darlings at present. Its only recently where the Dubs were bemoaning the fact that their team were being hyped up by the media. Year after year the hype machine (stemming from the media and not the fans) drove most Dubs to believe that they were AI champs in waiting only to fall flat on their faces time and time again. And now they have dedicated a whole thread on another website giving out about Kildare being mooted as possibly the third best team in the country. Does it really mean that much to you all? Do you want the hype or not?

The simple fact is that any real Dub supporter will put their hand up and say that Dublin have always found a better team than them every year. It's 16 years since they won an AI, and coincidentally 16 since they were in one. The learning curve over that time determined that they should have at least appeared in one .. 2002 v Armagh, 2006 v Mayo and last year v Cork were 3 occasions that they should've made that step. Case could be made that they'd have faired pretty well in 2002 against Kerry and last year against Down - no chance with the fantastic Kerry team of 2006.

So the fact yer hyped doesn't make you any better a team than what the sum of your parts allow .. The Dublin team will strive again this year to make an AI Final with either people throwing rose petals at their feet or sh!t in their face... and if and when we're beaten most will trudge out of CP not bemoaning poor refereeing decions, player performance or media punditry ... just simply for another year we've found the team that's better than us ... Thanks

Thomas1981

up Donegal! Donegal to win by 2 points!

gooch2k9

CDH wrote: »

The pitch in Ballyboffey is 2m wider and 1m longer than Croke Park.

Horrible pitch though.

itsalltrue

Good article on the Kildare website regarding tomorrows game. I have to agree with the comment about the media hyping Kildare. They will sell alot more evening heralds in the likes of Kildare then most other counties outside Dublin and so when Dublin aren't playing they will fill it full of Kildare talk.

I'm very hopeful the players don't get caught up in this and produce a good performance tomorrow. Also i would hope of the experience of the last few years will help Kildare when they meet the "big" teams. We really need to push on and start beating them. Coming a point or 2 short is not good enough anymore.

One final point regarding the inability to beat Dublin who had 14 men. Its not an excuse as we should have pushed on more but GAA history is filled with references to the team with 14 men winning. Even this year there have been 3 or 4 occasions on which this has happened. Sometimes the motivation of losing a man can spur on a team to win.

dcr22B

itsalltrue wrote: »

One final point regarding the inability to beat Dublin who had 14 men. Its not an excuse as we should have pushed on more but GAA history is filled with references to the team with 14 men winning. Even this year there have been 3 or 4 occasions on which this has happened. Sometimes the motivation of losing a man can spur on a team to win.

Fair point itsalltrue, it still doesn't excuse the fact that instead of using the extra man to their advantage, Kildare got it brutally wrong by using the extra man in defence instead of going for Dublin's throat like more experienced teams would have done.

Minister Boyce

The media are hyping both teams. Both teams with young managers who have done well so far this year and when it comes to this end of the championship the media attention will obviously grow. The vast open spaces of Croker appears to be a myth Mac Cumhaill park appears to be marginally bigger.

The biggest issue is the mindset of the donegal players when they get to croke park. It has been a daunting place for us tir chonaill folk in the past with the exception of the AI Final in 92 and league Final in 2007 where some of the deamons were exorcised. Jim no doubt will be aware of this and will take heart from the Div 2 League final win earlier in the year.

Fitness will determine who will see this out. The interesting stat is that both teams appear to play their better football in the 2nd half. Kildare open up their lungs and play a running game. Donegal intensify their tackling and grind their opponents down. I would not expect a high scoring game but man it will be tense!! I'm sorry to say it but I don't care how ugly it is, I just hope Donegal shade it!

Dots1982

dcr22B wrote: »

- Meath who were unlucky to lose Seamus Kenny at a crucial time and it indirectly led to Emmet Bolton scoring 1-1 to clinch the game

This point really annoys me, Banty was complaining about it as well, Meath were able to bring on a fresh sub for Kenny yet appartenly his removal meant that Bolton could go coasting through the Meath defence untouched for the last 10 mins which makes absolutely no sense to me.

Don't even get me started on Banty giving out about not having Geragthy for that game.

Anyway Kildare to win hopefully.

gooch2k9

Minister Boyce wrote: »

The vast open spaces of Croker appears to be a myth Mac Cumhaill park appears to be marginally bigger.

It may be bigger but the surface wouldn't be anywhere near as smooth. Croke Park is like a carpet, whereas MacCumhaill Park wouldn't be the most level pitch(from personal experience). The pitch at Croke Park would allow for a much faster game, ie not as much time to close down the wide open spaces. This could benefit Donegal as well though as they move the ball quickly.

Still fancy Donegal to win it by a score.

Minister Boyce

gooch2k9 wrote: »

It may be bigger but the surface wouldn't be anywhere near as smooth. Croke Park is like a carpet, whereas MacCumhaill Park wouldn't be the most level pitch(from personal experience). The pitch at Croke Park would allow for a much faster game, ie not as much time to close down the wide open spaces. This could benefit Donegal as well though as they move the ball quickly.

Still fancy Donegal to win it by a score.

Agreed. Mac Cumhaill park is in bad need of resurfacing.

dcr22B

Dots1982 wrote: »

This point really annoys me, Banty was complaining about it as well, Meath were able to bring on a fresh sub for Kenny yet appartenly his removal meant that Bolton could go coasting through the Meath defence untouched for the last 10 mins which makes absolutely no sense to me.

When Kenny went off, Stephen Bray was asked to track Bolton but it's anathema to a man who is by his nature a scoring corner forward not a foraging wing forward like Kenny.

Not saying that it was the winning and losing of the game but it was a bit of a coincidence and obvious to anyone watching the match that the game turned on Kenny' substitution.

Minister Boyce

dcr22B wrote: »

When Kenny went off, Stephen Bray was asked to track Bolton but it's anathema to a man who is by his nature a scoring corner forward not a foraging wing forward like Kenny.

Not saying that it was the winning and losing of the game but it was a bit of a coincidence and obvious to anyone watching the match that the game turned on Kenny' substitution.

Watching that game, I couldn't help but notice that Joe Sheridan was played too far out the field, in fact all the meath forwards seemed to retract back out the field when Kildare started to up the ante.

Another issue was the form of Graham Reilly this year. This guy had an awsome first year last year and whilst its difficult to retain the same levels of performance he reached last year, his impact this year was far reduced. Was he injured leading into championship?

Dots1982

dcr22B wrote: »

When Kenny went off, Stephen Bray was asked to track Bolton but it's anathema to a man who is by his nature a scoring corner forward not a foraging wing forward like Kenny.

Not saying that it was the winning and losing of the game but it was a bit of a coincidence and obvious to anyone watching the match that the game turned on Kenny' substitution.

So they were unlucky from your perspective, from mine if Bray didn't track his man he lacked the appetite for a battle when the game was up for grabs, If Banty didn't spot this when he had someone like Peadar Byrne on the bench to bring on then he's not up to making the right calls either and if the rest of the Meath players failed to cover the run of Bolton then they also failed.

Injuries happen in games, we've lost Earley, Peter Kelly, Hugh Lynch and Daryl Flynn for the season or a lot of games yet Banty loses a 38 year old and a player for 10 mins and he's bemoans how unlucky he is.

DoctaDee

Could I just say without starting a flame war, I didn't see the 2nd Kildare/Meath game, but certainly the first game, myself and others around me thought a number of the Meath lads weren't "championship" fit ..

tossy

dcr22B wrote: »

The irony of it is we can't work out why all the hype about Kildare.

In McGeeney's 4 years in charge, what has he and the team achieved:

- relegation from NFL1 and a humiliating defeat to Wicklow in Leinster in his first year in charge,
- twice they've lost to Dublin while having numerical advantage for over half of the two games,
- beaten by Louth last year,
- yet to escape from NFL2 after 3 years down there.

The fact is Kildare have YET to win any big game under McGeeney's stewardship and even this summer, let's be honest as to who they've beaten in the qualifiers:

- Laois who were absolutely muck through the entire championship,
- Meath who were unlucky to lose Seamus Kenny at a crucial time and it indirectly led to Emmet Bolton scoring 1-1 to clinch the game
- Derry who suffered from the dreaded "6 day" rule

The fact of the matter is that Kildare are a game side and their first major test is whether they can get one over on the system that Donegal play tomorrow evening. If they are to do so, more people will sit up and take notice of them.

At the moment, the media are swimming so far up Kildare's tail end and it proves that the championship really hasn't caught fire yet when that's what they're focussing on.

I agree with some if not most of those points,but i still get a twisted laugh out of fans of what is traditionally the most over hyped team in the country getting annoyed at someone else stealing their thunder lol