Dublin GAA Discussion Thread MOD WARNING POST #2944

corny

Yeah Connolly has a history of apathetic displays in the league and Leinster championship but for my money thats not the problem at the minute. Don't know whether he's carrying a niggle or just struggling for form but he's not acting the goat. He seemed to be trying hard to get involved but it just wasn't working for him. He was tracking back and doing his work as he should so i'd never criticise a lad doing his best. Hope he works it out. Anyway after last years final my faith in him performing when it matters is absolute.

Uncle Ben

Really encouraging to see the young lads coming through and fitting in almost seamlessly. My only real concern is Cluxton's understudy.

Pierce_1991

corny wrote: »

In Rocks interview with RTE he kind of admitted he was going for goal. Something along the lines of i just thought i'd hit high and hard and hope for the best.

Stoner wrote: »

Was that not a miss ? A Charlie Redmund

Jaysus I didn't even really consider it being a miss it was that high. It looked to me like he had been told to take a point. If that was a miss then please let me never see Deano take a penalty again!

As for the game today it was another good win but it was anyone's match before the red card, we were very wasteful until very late and Kerry threw in the towel once we went a few in front. We need to be a bit more efficient in front of goals. The likes of Mayo could make us pay this year, let's not forget how close they came to doing it last season. Still though, 4 league titles in a row is very impressive indeed!

Godge

Uncle Ben wrote: »

Really encouraging to see the young lads coming through and fitting in almost seamlessly. My only real concern is Cluxton's understudy.

I thought Savage did all right this year and Molloy did well for the U-21s

Pierce_1991

Godge wrote: »

I thought Savage did all right this year and Molloy did well for the U-21s

I'd agree, wouldn't have any major worries if Savage had to come in.

gormdubhgorm

I was at the game. My impression was that things were looking dodgy for Dublin for a long time the game could of went either way. Then the sending off had a major bearing on how the rest of the game panned out. Also the quality of Dublin's sub's compared to Kerry's really showed. Kerry do not have the strength in depth that the Dubs do.
Kerry's team are at the end of a cycle, Donegals team are heading towards the end of a cycle. Mayo are Mayo. Cork do not treat football seriously. There are only two counties left to challenge Dublin. Tyrone and Roscommon after a year or two.

Uncle Ben

Godge wrote: »

I thought Savage did all right this year and Molloy did well for the U-21s

Molloy was excellent all right. I suppose the problem with the senior no. 2 is filling Cluxton's shoes and getting the game time.

Bonniedog

gormdubhgorm wrote: »

I was at the game. My impression was that things were looking dodgy for Dublin for a long time the game could of went either way. Then the sending off had a major bearing on how the rest of the game panned out. Also the quality of Dublin's sub's compared to Kerry's really showed. Kerry do not have the strength in depth that the Dubs do.
Kerry's team are at the end of a cycle, Donegals team are heading towards the end of a cycle. Mayo are Mayo. Cork do not treat football seriously. There are only two counties left to challenge Dublin. Tyrone and Roscommon after a year or two.

If Tyrone still had O'Neill or Mulligan they would be serious threat. They still be the team i'd fear most. Mickey H will be thinking of nothing else. They never gave a flying fk about Ulster other than beating Armagh and Derry. They should have beaten the Mighty Kingdom themselves last year.

Watch that space boys!

ProudDUB

Agreed. Tyrone are my dark horse pick to go the whole way this year.

I think the new crop of players are still a year or two away from optimum development. But if they catch someone on the hop, on a bad day, they could do serious damage. I was at their semi against Kerry last year, where they easily opened up the Kerry full back line, 3-4 times. I think they were as surprised as I was, to find themselves in that position and it showed in their lack of clinical finishing & support play. Mickey Harte will make sure that won't happen again this year.

Uncle Ben wrote: »

Really encouraging to see the young lads coming through and fitting in almost seamlessly. My only real concern is Cluxton's understudy.

No. Running out of teabags or chocolate hobnobs, five minutes before the visitors arrive, THAT is a cause of concern.

Cluxton retiring, is the stuff of nightmares.

Bonniedog

Daughter not long in, in and we were discussing the match and specifically the penalty.

Daughter: "What was he thinking with the penalty?"

Me: "His Da wouldn't have kicked it over the bar."

Daughter: "Did Dean's Da play for the Dubs?"

Clearly, indoctrination did not begin sufficiently early, nor was sufficiently deep...... I promise to do better with the grand children...

ProudDUB

Bonniedog wrote: »

Daughter not long in, in and we were discussing the match and specifically the penalty.

Daughter: "What was he thinking with the penalty?"

Me: "His Da wouldn't have kicked it over the bar."

Daughter: "Did Dean's Da play for the Dubs?"

Clearly, indoctrination did not begin sufficiently early, nor was sufficiently deep...... I promise to do better with the grand children...

Jesus, that's shocking carry on. :eek:

If she ever asks you if Bernard Sr & Jr are related, I'd just pack your bags and leave the country, if I were you.

Bonniedog

ProudDUB wrote: »

Jesus, that's shocking carry on. :eek:

If she ever asks you if Bernard Sr & Jr are related, I'd just pack your bags and leave the country, if I were you.

Ah, she knows the second team near Finglas and all their seed, breed and generation, in fairness

BonnieSituation

O'Rourke about to go on Morning Ireland to chat about game. Anyone got a link to the Sindo article?

Ken Tucky

Great day yesterday. We have had so many dark days due to defeats to Kerry that any day we beat them deserves celebration...

Slightly off topic, has anybody else who has a season ticket not had their attendance chalked up yet. The only reason i am asking is due to a couple of years ago i had major problems with getting my attendance correctly applied.
Seems like it may have happened again yesterday.

Thanks

Bonniedog

It was a great day. Dublin have established a dominance over Kerry that almost equals, and hopefully will surpass, their dominance over Dublin at various times in the past.

As for season tickets, there has been discussion about this on various threads here. Off top of my head, there is thread about "Croke Park tickets", and it was discussed on Mayo and other forums. Definitely seems to be that season ticket holders from around the country are not having their passes properly scanned. Defeats whole purpose of them if your team gets to stage where tickets are hard come by.

Bonniedog

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057508125

Dyr

Uncle Ben wrote: »

Really encouraging to see the young lads coming through and fitting in almost seamlessly. My only real concern is Cluxton's understudy.

Maybe I was seeing things but at one point I thought he came onto a loose ball and tried to chip it from the ground over a kerry players head...thats acting the goat for me

BonnieSituation

Ken Tucky wrote: »

Slightly off topic, has anybody else who has a season ticket not had their attendance chalked up yet. The only reason i am asking is due to a couple of years ago i had major problems with getting my attendance correctly applied.
Seems like it may have happened again yesterday.

Checked there now (10:05) and mine and the brother's are updated.

---

Decent enough article from Tomas:

Though one glaring "in the cheek" compliment. As is their wont.

Tomas O Se wrote:

I drove home from Croke Park with a storm raging inside my head last night because these Dubs have me half depressed. Making hard judgements on old team-mates isn't something that comes easy to me but, for Kerry to not perform again against this team just struck me as inexcusable. And it leaves me asking uncomfortable questions.

I thought that Kerry had learned tactically from last year's All-Ireland final, but Dublin are just so forceful and relentless in what they're doing, Kerry actually don't have the legs to stay with them.
How we were just a point behind when Aidan O'Mahony was sent off is a tribute to how hard the team worked. But, let's cut to the chase here. Dublin are on a different level.
The dismissal was foolish on Aidan's part, but he's been sailing close to the wind too often in my view. I know he's a bit of a marked man, but what he did was ridiculous, basically ending the game.

I thought Brendan Kealey was having a howler on his kick-outs long before he spooned one to Paul Flynn for Dublin's opening goal
Defensively, we tried to do our best, but my brother Marc wasn't at the races, Mahony wasn't at the races, Fionn Fitzgerald wasn't at the races.
We're playing Mahony as a sweeper and I don't think he's the man for that role. The system might work against 30 other counties, but it's against the Dubs you'll ultimately get measured.
And, against them, it's not fit for purpose.

Dublin just look so far ahead of everyone else, it's actually quite worrying now.
At the start yesterday, Marc and Peter Crowley were driving forward and I though we were going to have a real cut. But we stopped. 'Gooch' had been causing problems inside but we stopped putting ball in to him. Or, maybe more accurately, we weren't able.
The Dubs' back-line was outstanding, Jonny Cooper and Philly McMahon brilliant coming forward. James McCarthy is the best defender in the country today. He's gliding into position, but he has this bull strength that just stops an opponent in his tracks.

I think Dublin learned a big lesson in the 2014 All-Ireland semi-final defeat to Donegal. They were playing this lovely, pure attacking football at the time and got caught with sucker punches.
That was the day, I suspect, they came up with the role that Cian O'Sullivan now plays to virtual perfection. It means they still carry that same attacking threat, but they also have a defensive blanket that is so difficult to penetrate.
And Jim Gavin has this team exactly where he wants them now.
I saw Philly McMahon having an argument with one of the selectors and he was taken off in a flash. Diarmuid Connolly not going well? Off too. The Dubs have so many options, they can send out these messages to their players.
They got an impact from nearly everybody who went in off the bench. Between them, Kevin McManamon, Cormac Costello and Eric Lowndes kicked 1-3. Kerry just didn't have that kind of impact in reserve.
So we were fighting an uphill battle on so many levels. Our bale-out card, the height of David Moran, Bryan Sheehan and Kieran Donaghy under high ball, just never came into play. Overall, our kick-out strategy was a disaster.
But we were physically bossed too. Once yesterday, I saw Paul Mannion up-ending Sheehan to turn over ball. The Dubs have a nasty streak in them that I can only respect. Every time Ciaran Kilkenny did something well, he'd smash into Fitzgerald on the way back out the field, driving him back a few yards, every time.
He's not a dirty player, but he was leaving the kind of calling card I said last week that Kerry needed to start leaving
It's not all doom and gloom for Kerry, we did have a positive National League. But I felt disgusted going home because we just didn't answer any of the important questions.
The trouble is, we'd get away with this again in Munster. Now I'm not saying that the likes of Marc and Mahony are finished, but we simply cannot handle Dublin one-on-one.
It was never a close match in my view. Dublin's pace seemed to have us in trouble all over the field. I wouldn't say the race for Sam Maguire is over, it's just Dublin have every card marked.
Brian Fenton was terrific in midfield, Denis Bastick worked his socks off. Then Michael Darragh Macauley comes in. Where else would you get that? We certainly can't match it.
I would say one thing, the summer is long. But my worry is that Dublin will improve and that's the scary thing
If there is a positive for Kerry, it's that at least it happened now. I don't doubt that men like Marc and Mahony will be on a mission now to get back to Croke Park and prove a point.
But this is the best Dubs team of all time.
That's not just Kerry's problem. It's everybody's.

http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-games/gaelic-football/toms-s-we-will-never-beat-dublin-if-this-failing-system-isnt-overhauled-quickly-34655760.html

yop

BonnieSituation wrote: »

Checked there now (10:05) and mine and the brother's are updated.

---

Decent enough article from Tomas:

Though one glaring "in the cheek" compliment. As is their wont.



http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-games/gaelic-football/toms-s-we-will-never-beat-dublin-if-this-failing-system-isnt-overhauled-quickly-34655760.html

Thats a good article and I would agree with him with regards Dublin. In the 35 years of playing and watching GAA I have never seen such a complete squad, not just team, one one player goes off there are no weak spots. 4 Leagues and 2 AIs in the last 4 years is potentially only the start of it and that squad has some serious players.
I'm not sure how big a part money has in it, is has to help as the depth of the backroom staff leaves nothing to chance, but I don't care if you have 10 backroom staff per player, if you can't kick your points and stop your opposition then no matter how much you have in the background, your not going to win.

Towards the end of the game yesterday the Kerry lads were out on their feet, cramping, yet the Dublin machine rolled on and players who had 70 minutes done were still running rings.

Other teams have to step up, can they though is the question?

Well done yesterday btw!

DoctaDee

DoctaDee wrote: »

Saturday 23 April
NFL Division 4 final
Antrim v Louth - Antrim by 4

NFL Division 3 final
Kildare v Clare - Kildare by 8

Sunday 24 April
NFL Division 2 final
Tyrone v Cavan - Cavan by 2

NFL Division 1 final
Dublin v Kerry - Dublin by 11

Docta knows Dublin, but hasn't a bog about the rest and seeing as I was out the door at 9.30 yesterday morning at U15 football match it skipped my mind to make my bookie pay .. so all I'm left with is a sense of satisfaction, a buzzy type hangover and a half eaten pizza on the kitchen table.

So here's the thing .. I still think Kerry are the 2nd best team around, they paint some lovely pictures on the pitch, but are the least equipped of the challenging teams to match the athleticism and physicality of Dublin. I'd be a big admirer of D Walsh for his relentless workrate, but even he blew a gasket by the end of the 1st half when matched on McCarthy. There'll still be a huge attacking threat with DOS, and Geaney/JOD returning - how Kerry see out the final 10mins of high intensity games in 4 months time will be their ultimate task.

A hugely positive day from our lads and an unheralded display from Denis Bastick doing the selfless work outworking his counterparts, he's a credit to himself and the team at 34? .. he'll be a huge loss when he goes

Stoner

DoctaDee wrote:

A hugely positive day from our lads and an unheralded display from Denis Bastick doing the selfless work outworking his counterparts, he's a credit to himself and the team at 34? .. he'll be a huge loss when he goes

He will certainly. He's a bit like Maher for kerry underrated, he puts in the hits to allow others to do the fancy stuff.

He looked lost when he found himself in front of goal though.

I thought McCarthy was excellent yesterday. In the second half Crowley gave away a free for his high tackle on kilkenny, a few minutes later he had McCarthy in a headlock but ended up on his back on the ground. I stand by my comments that he compensates for his overall lack of robustness st this level with the sort of tackling he put in yesterday he was lucky to stay on the field at all and had he been sent off everyone would have been as disappointed with him as they were with AOM, he did take his points well though. Kilkenny was man of the match yesterday Flynn had a good game too. Connelly was the only one in our half forward line that was contained, I'm not sure he was contained really as he had the ball a lot and messed things up himself. AOM imo is a proper centre back. Yes he's been involved in some ugly stuff lately but that happens he's carrying a player or too and he's stretched. Crowley had to be subbed as did McMahon for the same reason good decisions by both managers.
I genuinely think Mayo would beat this kerry team. They have a better half back line than Kerry and their half forward line is improved this year. I think kerry would leak frees to them. Their only weakness is the full back line. They might watch o'sullivan on Donaghy yesterday and pop Keegan on him, not sure if keegan has the strength though, maybe Higgins has it in him. Donaghy looked as fit as I've seen him yesterday, maybe it took some if his strength away getting there, he might be a bull again in a couple of months. I think Mayo would finish stronger than them too.

Good bit of moaning about the treatment of the kerry forwards yesterday. No mention of Crowleys off the ball tackle on Small, or a Donaghy body checks on Small and Cooper in front of the ref, or Enright staying on the field while on a yellow and dragging Mannion down.
I dont like harping on about the ref, and I know it's not every kerry person at it but I read that some thought Enright was unlucky with the penno, he was blessed to stay on imo. You can't have it every way. I think the ref let some kerry lads off the hook in the first 20 minutes.

DoctaDee

I've the game recorded on TG4 so I'll hold fire on specifics until I watch the full game - but my overall impression of Kinsellas performance would veer between brutal and shíte ..

BKWDR

Godge wrote: »

I thought Savage did all right this year and Molloy did well for the U-21s

He did well, although anything would've been better than Currie...

PressRun

The penalty was most definitely correct and probably the only thing Eddie Kinsella got right on the day.

On Kinsella, and I don't want to be going too hard on refs who are doing their best in a sport that's becoming increasingly difficult to referee, but he should not be refereeing big matches any more, imo. How he got the league final after the nonsense in Tralee is beyond me. He's far too controversial. There needs to be some system in place whereby referees are awarded big matches on the basis of consistently good performances throughout the league and championship. This thing of constantly giving important matches to referees who seem to always be at the centre of some strife is becoming very silly.

Stoner

DoctaDee wrote:

I've the game recorded on TG4 so I'll hold fire on specifics until I watch the full game - but my overall impression of Kinsellas performance would veer between brutal and shíte ..

It was what it was DoctaDee, but wouldn't blame him on the outcome.

Great call on the margin, typical Dub bet you only ever read one page on the program.

DARK-KNIGHT

deservedly dublin are crowned league winners. the more I watch this dublin team I wonder is there a team to stop them... i really cant see them being stopped heavily my favourite to win sam back to back. enjoy it lads i hope ye never get to the dreary state that kildare gaa are in at the moment its depressing and bad for leinster as a whole.

dublin are an absolute beast of a team actually probably two teams of class players. enjoy it while its there it can disappear very quickly.

DoctaDee

I was mindful of the fact that there was a fair smattering on young kids around us yesterday .. so was trying to temper my reaction to Kinsellas performance with them in mind - but I let loose a few times so there's some young lads heading to skule today with an extended vocabulary

I'd pay a good bit of attention to the goings on in Div1 of the league - I would've been happy to put money on Dublin -6 or so yesterday - I can't complain tho, Kerry were good enough to cough up against Roscommon earlier in the year which was a nice few bob earned

Bonniedog

Enright was stonewall black card. That was the whole point of introducing the Jaysus thing after the outrage over SC dragging down McManus. Well, what the fk did Enright do?

It is no wonder that players act the bollix with the poor level of officialdom.

And speaking of "officials". Anyone cop the black clad bouncer who stopped the boys bringing the trophy over to that little girl Molly (I think) in the lower Cusack?

Surprised Flynner didn't clock the officious pr1ck.

Now, that's my rant for the day :-)

DARK-KNIGHT

Bonniedog wrote: »

Enright was stonewall black card. That was the whole point of introducing the Jaysus thing after the outrage over SC dragging down McManus. Well, what the fk did Enright do?

It is no wonder that players act the bollix with the poor level of officialdom.

And speaking of "officials". Anyone cop the black clad bouncer who stopped the boys bringing the trophy over to that little girl Molly (I think) in the lower Cusack?

Surprised Flynner didn't clock the officious pr1ck.

Now, that's my rant for the day :-)

Im sure molly would have appreciated seeing paul flynn clock someone. :rolleyes:

maybe the official was under orders not to allow that to happen? rules are rules and all that

bkqwerty

Dublin are a truly awesome team. Hard to see anyone stopping them winning Sam but I suppose it is only April