Kilkenny GAA Thread Part 2 **MOD NOTE POST 1***

blackcard wrote: »

DJ had a similar technique as had Eoin Kelly, Eddie Keher back in the day. Basically, if he is on your team, it is legal. If not, it is illegal. I have never seen a referee blow it up though. But, I agree that Alan Murphy's technique is borderline. It seems to rest on his hurl an age.

Funny you should say that as when discussing this today many said the dodger got away with it for years !!!!!but not as obvious as Murphys technique,

blackcard wrote: »

Entertaining match between Glenmore and Ballyragget with a one point win for the former after extra time. Ballyragget missed a great goal chance at the end but Glenmore probably were the better team on the day. Eoin Murphy was like a magnet to the ball for much of the match and landed three frees from over 95 yards. Joe Brennan was good with ball in hand. Overall, Glenmore will have to improve as they gave away too many goal chances. Ger Aylward came on as a sub but hardly touched the ball.

Not sure I would agree that Glenmore were the better team on the day. First half was all Glenmore and they fully deserved their 9 point lead at half time. However for the remainder of the game and in extra time St Pats were by far the better team for me and only the outstanding long range point scoring of Eoin and Alan Murphy kept Glenmore in it. The problem for St. Pats was that they had 4 excellent goal scoring chances in extra time and failed to score even a single point from them. It just wasn't to be their day but I think they'll be back knocking on the door next year. Glenmore would need to tighten up a lot at the back as blackcard said, they were very easily opened at times.

randd1 wrote: »

Two very disappointing games in the park today, hard to believe they were senior SF's.

Not much cut in either, some good skill and good scores alright, but they both felt like challenge matches apart from the 15 minutes towards the end of each game.

Thought Martin Comerford was the standout forward of the day, mostly because he was the main only forward who attempted to run at the goal any chance he got.

All in all, the standard if senior hurling in Kilkenny is slipping a lot. The last few years have been very boring in the knockouts, a few games apart.

The refs becoming more fussy and whistle happy certainly doesn't help matters, but the lack of forwards willing to take a risk and go for goal is a worrying trend. Whatever about the league phase, when the majority of championship knockout matches feel like challenge matches and lack quality, it doesn't bode well for Kilkenny.

The year the Village won was the last senior final with serious cut in it. Well off the entertainment and blood and thunder of Intermediate and Junior.

Couldn't have been much worse than the Clare and Galway finals which I watched today, or the Cork final last weekend, I wonder is it partly a case of inter county being at such a high level now that club hurling looks poor in comparison.

So not surprisingly it's a Loughs Ballyhale final.

First match eventually went to script though Loughs were helped by two soft goals from Rower errors in the first half. In fairness the Rower goalie made amends with a super save from a certain Bergin goal in the second half. For the Rower Ryan, Joyce (D) and Murphy were prominent. For a county player thought K Joyce would've had more of a bearing on the game. For the Loughs Kelly again was the main man with good support from Gorta and Bergin.

Second mach went as most suspected. Ballyhale seemed to only play in fits and starts but when they did, they made it look easy. Their combination play is unparalleled in the club scene at the moment. Henry lined out at MF and got some nice scores along with some enforcing from time to time. TJ looked like he got a knock early on and appeared to carry it for a while though still put in a solid shift. Joey was solid at CB. Fennelly was in and out but still picked off 3 pts. For Clara Bolger was the main attacking threat. Thought Lester was quieter than he'd normally be. Pender was again solid at CB.
Hard to see any other outcome than a Ballyhale win in the final. They were quiet at times today but never let Clara get away from them. Not many club teams could lose a player like Mick Fennelly and not feel that loss.

randd1 wrote: »

Two very disappointing games in the park today, hard to believe they were senior SF's.

Not much cut in either, some good skill and good scores alright, but they both felt like challenge matches apart from the 15 minutes towards the end of each game.

Thought Martin Comerford was the standout forward of the day, mostly because he was the main only forward who attempted to run at the goal any chance he got.

All in all, the standard if senior hurling in Kilkenny is slipping a lot. The last few years have been very boring in the knockouts, a few games apart.

The refs becoming more fussy and whistle happy certainly doesn't help matters, but the lack of forwards willing to take a risk and go for goal is a worrying trend. Whatever about the league phase, when the majority of championship knockout matches feel like challenge matches and lack quality, it doesn't bode well for Kilkenny.

The year the Village won was the last senior final with serious cut in it. Well off the entertainment and blood and thunder of Intermediate and Junior.

My sentiments entirely. I've been to a lot of senior games since the resumption and it's concerning the fall in standard and intensity. I attended all 4 quarter finals and 1 was worse than the other. Semi finals today were very poor fairs.

How did darrsgh joyce do today.also is he staying here.?

phkk wrote: »

No, I think the conditions this time of year don't help at all. I was watching Clare and Galway matches too today and the quality was poor but then again, the pitches were awful. Even though you say there is a difference in quality between inter county and club games, I found it hard to pick out a lot of inter county players on display in Ennis or Salthill and if asked whom were the standout players, I would have picked out ordinary club hurlers I never saw play before.
Even in Kilkenny, very often county players fail to perform to their best for their club and sometimes we're left scratching our heads as to how so and so is on county panel(last weekend in Nowlan Park for eg).
I maintain the quality of matches seriously suffers this time of year. The club games run far too late and was a huge source of annoyance to me and many team mates over the years when you train so hard during the year and yet the summer drags from inactivity and meaningful games.

I agree with everything you have said to be fair, excellent hurlers like John Conlon and David Burke looked quite ordinary today, due to the conditions and how the players were used but I think my point and your point are not mutully exclusive

I think it's the time of year - quality will always suffer in the heavy sod and the driving rain. It's only natural. I suppose them conns will always favour the more dogged team whereas if we compare it to the dry sod in the middle of summer, the tidy hurlers will shine.

That applies to every county.

dubcat51 wrote: »

Anybody not on the match day 26 for all ireland stand out in the championship to date.

Mark Kelly has been Loughs best player over the last couple of games imo. Himself and Joey will be direct opponents in the final.

Michael Kavanagh wrote: »

Why has he a problem with him

Have to disagree with Unrealtime comments about Codys Judgement on Mark Kelly. You need to remember it was Mark Kelly who dropped himself off the Panel and not Cody. Now that some some balls by Kelly as the easy thing would have just to hang around the panel and try pick up another All Ireland medal. Fair play to him to stand up and say that if im not enjoying it why hang around. It was a brave decision to make to just go back to his club and try to get back enjoying his hurling again. It seems to have done him wonders and if anything brought on his hurling to another level.

If you ask me Kelly got more than his fare chances off Cody but unfortunately couldnt make the most of them. I remember him scoring two good goals against a very poor wexford in championship two years but that aside other than few solid performances in Walsh Cup he just couldnt make it the step up on level. His downfall perhaps that he got known as what every player dreads.......a "Utility Player" that could play alot of positions but he never got the opportunity to settle in any one particular position. I remember seeing him hurl under 21 at midfield and thought he was a fantastic talent and great engine in him. He has a very good paw on him and seems to using his size more so who knows as we have seen with Mark Bergin if he continues to hurl well with the loughs Cody might come calling again........

My look at a team for next year with back up - Some players covering a few positions.
Gk Eoin Murphy, Richie Reid.
Rb. Paul Murphy, Conor Delaney.
Fb. Rob Lennon, Joey Holden
Lb. Shane Prendergast, Evan Cody.
Rhb. Padraig Walsh, Jason Cleere.
Cb. Joey Holden, Cillian Buckley, Kieran Joyce.
Lhb. Cillian Buckley, Paddy Deegan.
Midfield Michael Fennelly & Conor Fogarty. Back up - Eoin Murphy, Huw Lawlor.
Forwards. Walter Walsh, Richie Hogan, TJ Reid, Kevin Kelly, Colin Fennelly, Liam Blanchfield.
Back up. Ger Aylward, James Maher, Chris Bolger, Padraig Walsh, John Walsh, Luke Scanlon, Sean Morrissey, Richie Leahy. I have omitted
Jonjo Farrell, John Power and Conor Martin
It might be a year too early for the likes of Luke Scanlon
, Sean Morrissey and Richie Leahy but I would like to see them in the squad.
Thoughts? Anyone else?

Realt Dearg Sec wrote: »

blackcard wrote: »

My look at a team for next year with back up - Some players covering a few positions.
Gk Eoin Murphy, Richie Reid.
Rb. Paul Murphy, Conor Delaney.
Fb. Rob Lennon, Joey Holden
Lb. Shane Prendergast, Evan Cody.
Rhb. Padraig Walsh, Jason Cleere.
Cb. Joey Holden, Cillian Buckley, Kieran Joyce.
Lhb. Cillian Buckley, Paddy Deegan.
Midfield Michael Fennelly & Conor Fogarty. Back up - Eoin Murphy, Huw Lawlor.
Forwards. Walter Walsh, Richie Hogan, TJ Reid, Kevin Kelly, Colin Fennelly, Liam Blanchfield.
Back up. Ger Aylward, James Maher, Chris Bolger, Padraig Walsh, John Walsh, Luke Scanlon, Sean Morrissey, Richie Leahy. I have omitted
Jonjo Farrell, John Power and Conor Martin
It might be a year too early for the likes of Luke Scanlon
, Sean Morrissey and Richie Leahy but I would like to see them in the squad.
Thoughts? Anyone else?

Would imagine Ger Aylward will be a starter when he returns, didn't see anything this year to persuade me he'd be kept on the bench. It's a good list though, all going well we might not have a team like the golden age but our depth on the bench might look a bit healthier than it has this year!

You would hope that Ger isn't going to lose any of his pace after his injury as he likes to run at defenders. However, it took him a good while to overcome a previous injury and we may not see him back to his best next year. Besides that, Blanchfield has started two championship matches and one league match at 19. Kelly has started one championship match. Both have room for improvement. However, as you say, I think we should have greater depth on the panel and good competition for places.

blackcard wrote: »

You would hope that Ger isn't going to lose any of his pace after his injury as he likes to run at defenders. However, it took him a good while to overcome a previous injury and we may not see him back to his best next year. Besides that, Blanchfield has started two championship matches and one league match at 19. Kelly has started one championship match. Both have room for improvement. However, as you say, I think we should have greater depth on the panel and good competition for places.

I think a fit Ger Aylward is a much better option than Kevin Kelly. I hope Eoin Larkin stays on, 6 months in Syria is not great preperation for the demands of inter county today, so with a proper pre season I think he may go better next year.