Kilkenny GAA Thread Part 3 **MOD NOTE POST 1***

mercury16

From the moment we started fighting for it, we were well in the game. Wexford were all fight, when we matched that we had a chance but there wides were the difference in the end.

allthedoyles

Only saw the 2nd half and neither Walter / Lee Chin played much hurling at all . The drive of TJ was magnificent

Hitchens

Go behind at all and they're wrote off on here :rolleyes:

Powerhouse

Kilkenny fans are prone to extremes alright but I suppose when the team plays to those extremes too it's understandable! It'll be a fascinating Leinster Final.

blackcard

As ever, you can never criticise a Cody team for effort. However the tactics today were shocking. The lack of concentration on Wexford puckouts was criminal. Kilkenny players with time to spare steadied themselves and promptly hit it straight to a Wexford player. But they battled to the end. All the substitutes made a difference and I was delighted to see Joey Holden play well . Richie Hogan and Colin Fennelly were lacking match practice. I can't recall Kilkenny ever having a smaller full forward line than Sheehan, Scanlon and Hogan? I have the feeling that we are destined to meet Tipperary in the last 6.

Garyp88

blackcard wrote: »

As ever, you can never criticise a Cody team for effort. However the tactics today were shocking. The lack of concentration on Wexford puckouts was criminal. Kilkenny players with time to spare steadied themselves and promptly hit it straight to a Wexford player. But they battled to the end. All the substitutes made a difference and I was delighted to see Joey Holden play well . Richie Hogan and Colin Fennelly were lacking match practice. I can't recall Kilkenny ever having a smaller full forward line than Sheehan, Scanlon and Hogan? I have the feeling that we are destined to meet Tipperary in the last 6.

If clare win tipp are gone. Im not really a fan of Hogan and fennelly walking straight back into a team. Both lacklustre not fit and both look out of place. Has Richie had his day? I'd rather go for the future than the past no doubt he's bin fantastic but injuries have taken there toll. I thought the changes were positive and deegan grew in confidence

bamayang

Garyp88 wrote: »

If clare win tipp are gone. Im not really a fan of Hogan and fennelly walking straight back into a team. Both lacklustre not fit and both look out of place. Has Richie had his day? I'd rather go for the future than the past no doubt he's bin fantastic but injuries have taken there toll. I thought the changes were positive and deegan grew in confidence

Saying has Richie had his day is extremely premature in my opinion. Had those 3 balls turned 6 inches to the right, we’d be all saying he’s looking good. He Wasn’t pulling up trees but got on a bit of ball and was also hard done by for first score. Ref very strangely played advantage for 3 seconds and then pulled it back as Richie struck the first ball over the bar.

I am of the opinion that no matter how fit you are and how much training you do, you cannot come back from a 9+ month injury and pick up where you left off. There will have to be rustiness. Galway game will be too soon but I’d expect him to be back to good form by August. Whether that’s in a KK jersey or if the players are back to their clubs by then...

dastardly00

Hitchens wrote: »

Go behind at all and they're wrote off on here :rolleyes:

Yes, it's fantastic that we won it in the end.

But sweet Jesus, we were absolutely atrocious in the first half. Like, embarrassingly bad.
A lot of questions need to be asked as to why we were so, so poor. The victory shouldn't paper over the cracks

kk.man

All those who cry 'id like to see Richie, I'd like to see Colin etc, I think today proves Cody knows best. It's not our greatest victory but losing to wexford two years in a row would be hard to take.
We have an ordinary team that Cody has made look respectable and Galway were under pressure today without Canning. So ya never know....

C__MC

Good win tonight for kk- a good comeback- would of been some shambles to lose. I think Galway will beat kk by 5 plus in final and the third place Munster team will beat them in QF. Physically and in terms of skill and game plan kk not near any Munster team.

Topcat32

C__MC wrote: »

Good win tonight for kk- a good comeback- would of been some shambles to lose. I think Galway will beat kk by 5 plus in final and the third place Munster team will beat them in QF. Physically and in terms of skill and game plan kk not near any Munster team.

I think physically we will struggle this year but as regards skill for me the likes of Leahy, Donnelly, Keoghan, Scanlon and Sheehan have no shortage of skill, they are a step up in class from Jonjoe Farrell, Conor Martin and Chris Bolger, all of them are very raw in different areas and it's likely to be 2 or 3 years before we see the best of them.

Gentleman Off The Pitch

I was at the town end so couldn't see... was it Chin or Deegan who threw the slaps in the first half ?

blackcard

I think that our starting forwards scored one point from play. After 1-2 the last day. Enough said

FrKurtFahrt

blackcard wrote: »

I think that our starting forwards scored one point from play. After 1-2 the last day. Enough said

An extraordinary fact, and the KK goalie equalled that tally. The subs did well, and maybe Wexford's lack of a break was crucial. I get the impression that this year won't be (from a KK point of view) a winner - but these young lads have frightening talent.

dirkmeister

Gentleman Off The Pitch wrote: »

I was at the town end so couldn't see... was it Chin or Deegan who threw the slaps in the first half ?

How in the name of f*ck Chin wasn’t sent off I’ll never know.

It was some dig he hit Deegan.

Paddy is fast becoming a cult hero.

C__MC

Topcat32 wrote: »

C__MC wrote: »

Good win tonight for kk- a good comeback- would of been some shambles to lose. I think Galway will beat kk by 5 plus in final and the third place Munster team will beat them in QF. Physically and in terms of skill and game plan kk not near any Munster team.

I think physically we will struggle this year but as regards skill for me the likes of Leahy, Donnelly, Keoghan, Scanlon and Sheehan have no shortage of skill, they are a step up in class from Jonjoe Farrell, Conor Martin and Chris Bolger, all of them are very raw in different areas and it's likely to be 2 or 3 years before we see the best of them.

What I meant was a game plan that is being executed with really high levels of skill. The first few weeks of this championship have seen a very high pitched Munster championship. Looking at last night- I was of the impression any of the Munster teams would do untold damage to kk judging on last night. But on any given day- anything can happen. Perhaps we shouldn’t look past the Leinster final but I think Galway will be to strong.

Garyp88

Let's have a look at some positives we are a rebuilding team and last night will do there confidence wonders. To come from 9 points down when most teams would have folded is a great achievement. We have not played well and are possibly suffering from a league hangover but we are winning ugly. You can teach all kinds of tactics etc but you can't teach guts and guile. We've won a league and are in a leinster final and not playing well one day we will click and throw in a performance and it will come. Also in this stage of the season experience matters

carq

Waterford fan here
Good match - hard to know what to make if it with it being a game of 2 halfs.
Next game against galway will tell a lot.
Great spirit shown though and good few new players being blooded, looks like it is the year of the comebacks!

dubcat51

Utter rubbish in the first half but unreal fight and spirit in the 2nd half.deegan the new jackie and padraig simply has to come out on the half back line.blanch needs to play like that everytine he starts.should be good in training to see if richie and colin can comeback to the standards they set in years gone by.leahy also was immense 2nd half.what a team to follow(we can crib about alot of things but the never give in attitude is unreal)looking forward to galway.

Gentleman Off The Pitch

dirkmeister wrote: »

How in the name of f*ck Chin wasn’t sent off I’ll never know.

It was some dig he hit Deegan.

Paddy is fast becoming a cult hero.

Was this incident with Chin captured by Sky or were they still showing the football? All the Wexford crowd around me were saying at the time "he's definitely going to be sent off, threw two punches" but I wasn't sure if it was Chin or Deegan they were referring to since I missed it

droppingball

He threw at least 2 punches if not more, couldn't believe it was not a red. Chin completely lost the head if it was caught on camera I don't think they cam take any action now as he got a yellow for it.

When the game was going away from wexford they were feigning injuries during breaks in play all over the field to break the momentum, once or twice was understandable but it happened about 6 or 7 times. The referee began to ignore them after a while as it was clear that it was Davy gamesmanship. They would have been better served to start trying to find a way to break the momentum with scores.

Thought padraig walsh and paddy deegan bsought the game to wexford and were outstanding

JJs Left Hand

2nd half just papering over the cracks really. I know people keep saying it but PW at full back needs to be scrapped. How can he be the best option there when everytime it goes in it looks like a goal will come and as soon as he moves 20 yards forward the entire dynamic of the team changes. Once again Joey comes on and his ability to go forward improves the team. Has to start regardless if its corner back or half back. Coming around to Villages way of thinking on Paul Murphy. His use of the ball pure chronic yesterday. Deegan brilliant again. Why was Delaney dropped? Bizarre decision to start Conor O' Shea.

James Maher superb again. Even though the 2nd half performance was better, for me, taking off Richie was a mistake. I don't know what's going on there but the last few years Cody is very quick to take him off. I know he hit a fair few wides in the first half but how you could leave Sheehan on and take Richie off is beyond me. And then to bring on Mossy instead of Donnelly or Blanch as well was another head scratcher. Colin should've been hooked after 20 minutes his head was gone.

The changes and subsequent comeback looks good for the management but make no mistake the comeback was based on PW in the half back line, Wexford tiring and TJ going superhuman rather than anything management did.

No starting forward other than TJ scored. Our forward play is depressing but that lad is worth the admission on his own. How he won half the balls he did last night.

Despite all the negativity in my post above I do think this year will stand to us in the next couple of years I'd just love to know what's happened to the game plan for the league. Its just gone.

Nickindublin

looking at the match in a pub wasn’t great and sky/gaa f.... it up big time. I didn’t see the KKteam that started from the one named Friday night.

What I took from the game is the following:

PWalsh needs to be put back into the HB line and I think last night finally proved that to anyone looking at that game. I know lots of people on here have been calling for this a long time. I believe you put your best players in their best positions.

This short passing game is alien to our players and will take time for them to get used to playing it.

Wexford tired and I think the 4 games in a row caught up with them. They lost the game more than we won it.

The young players need time. They have talent but are not physically ready. People need to get off there back. Blanchfield is a good example. People writing him off. Management see the players every day in training and they know best. Cody has no loyalty.

Players returning need time. Richie Hogan will have a big part to play for KK. Last night was his first game and FF line is not his best position. IMO once fit his best place is out around the middle and half forward line.

brookville

i thought it was hard hard on richie taking him off,he drove a few wides but he was looking for the ball.Colin was very dissapointing you'd nearly know after the first 10 mins it wasnt going to happen.
the subs worked last night joey again like the galway match was very determined and done very well.
donnelly and blanch seem to do better when the game opens up,blanch won some great ball but his finishing let him down.Leahy done very well also.
i was suprised to see conor o shea starting instead of delaney but as others have said padraig needs to come out to 5 it'll be intresting to see will he try someone at 3 for the leinster final.
we cant hide the fact that we were awful in the first half but i think its important to get lads like leahy and donnelly a day out in croke park

Pat Treacy

Nickindublin wrote: »

looking at the match in a pub wasn’t great and sky/gaa f.... it up big time. I didn’t see the KKteam that started from the one named Friday night.

What I took from the game is the following:

PWalsh needs to be put back into the HB line and I think last night finally proved that to anyone looking at that game. I know lots of people on here have been calling for this a long time. I believe you put your best players in their best positions.

This short passing game is alien to our players and will take time for them to get used to playing it.

Wexford tired and I think the 4 games in a row caught up with them. They lost the game more than we won it.

The young players need time. They have talent but are not physically ready. People need to get off there back. Blanchfield is a good example. People writing him off. Management see the players every day in training and they know best. Cody has no loyalty.

Players returning need time. Richie Hogan will have a big part to play for KK. Last night was his first game and FF line is not his best position. IMO once fit his best place is out around the middle and half forward line.

Watching a match in a pub what a waste, yesterday evening was what i was waiting for a long time two big matches i have been in the park the last couple of months its nights like last night makes you proud where you come from . Ljv

Cornerback1

Did we contract Tipperaryaitis...only start plaing in the second half when we're down by a bag of points?

kilkennyboy

You could look at it two ways .cody genius
Started more mature guys like o shea fennelly Hogan expecting a massive physical battle. And when wexford tired (3weeks in a row)throw in the younger lads with legs when the space opened up .very close to the team that won league final finished .

Or

He got it very wrong starting fennelly and Hogan
Work rate very poor from both .Couldn't get to wexford defender to close down .killing us in first half.sheehan and Scanlon thrown around the place like chaps.had no choice only go for changes or we would have been beaten by 10+

Just on the Munster v Leinster comparison
It's like two different games the lack of space afforded a forward in Leinster is suffocating .look at games today and it will be so open free flowing lovely stuff with backs on both sides getting roasted.
3 weeks now to get ready for a crack of Galway
Be competitive would do.and then a quater final.against the 3rd place team in Munster. We would have taken that in February

minty81

Was Delaney dropped or injured?

dubcat51

Couldnt believe joey didnt start yesterday given his performances against wexford this year.padraig at 5 is a must and for me ger awlyatd is phsically better than shhehan or scanlon.richie has 3 weeksyo really kick on and the same with colin(croke park suita colin).the big question is who can play at 3.for me after yesterday I would start deegan there flanked by joey and murphy.really impressed wirh deegan his no nonsense approach to defending really inspires.padraig walsh drives a team just like his brother did and lifts every supporter in the ground.get the team right and we will rattle galway.

corner back 2

Was in the park yesterday and just watched the match back again this morning. Was impressed with the fight KK showed in the 2nd half and thought that Cody got a lot of things right tactically after half time. Wally sitting full forward took their full back out of the game and after Blanchfield came on they played very close to goal which pulled their sweeper back and gave more room for our half forwards and midfielders to run into. After WX corner back was moved off Blanchfield I thought Cody did well by bringing on Donnelly as it was obvious he couldn't handle more physical players. Also TJ was immense and there is a lot of BS online about him getting handy frees. I thought he had to work very hard to get any free from ref and what he did get was because he was the one winning the dirty ball. Ref was very poor and inconsistent for both sides and definitely didn't favour KK as alluded to by Davy. Not sure if we can trouble Galway but good to get to Croke Park and hopefully get a 70 minute performance out of this team.