Kilkenny GAA Thread

Yeah watching it back there now I really didn't notice how much Tom phelan was doing, he is a savage player

Great performance after the last day which i think was down to sickness and playing 3 weeks in a row and only 6 days between Cork and Galway. That would suck the life out of you IMO.

Onto Galway now in a few weeks and lets hope for a fully fit squad. Lyng i hope knows his starting 15 but more important IMO knows he has a bench and isnt afraid to turn to it. His biggest weakness IMO of his years as boss has being in game management. The biggest positions to solve are 3 and 6 so lets hope he knows his best 2 for them.

There’s definitely a much better feeling about things this morning after that performance last night following the flat showing against Galway. It looks like the illness in the camp had a bigger impact than we probably realised at the time. The energy and sharpness were back and the overall response was exactly what I was hoping to see.

Once again TJ Reid was absolutely outstanding, for a man coming back after a bit of a layoff his touch was good, he looked dangerous every time he got on the ball and you could see he had Ronan Maher on edge all night. His leadership and consistency continue to set the standard for the rest of the team.

There are obviously still lots of concerns and as said earlier both Mossy and Donnelly are struggling for their best form but Mossy even when not going well still contributes on the score board which is the sign of a class player. We still seem to struggle to create chances for our best forwards and get them into the game. Hopefully it’s just a matter of time before they hit top gear.

Eoin Cody and Cian Kenny had quiter nights by their standards but I wouldn’t be worried about either of them. Liam Moore went well again and I love the fact that he has the confidence to break the tackle and take on his man, hopefully he keeps going on this trajectory.
The biggest concern last night was the full back line, we looked vulnerable all evening and a sharper team could have punished us more . I know we have the two Mikeys to come back there but it’s an area that needs tightening up before the bigger championship tests come. The puck out still needs loads of work and going short to Deegan who then launched it every time wasn’t much of a plan but we got a bit of joy out of the long ball when he had both McDermott ( who played well) and TJ to aim at.

All in all though it was a positive performance and a definite step in the right direction. Much more like what we expect from this group.

Worth the admission money to see TJ last night.Absoluteky roasted Maher

Thought last nights performance was good, a game we could have won but also could have lost but on the balance of play thought a draw was a fair result.

See a few lads giving out about Killian Doyle, thought he was decent, far from perfect. Got turned over in possession on a few occasions but thought his deliveries into the forwards was good in the main. He's still only 21 so has plenty of scope for improvement. Eoin Cody seems to be in a lot of people's crosshairs as well, to me he looks like a lad who is trying too hard, if that's not a contradiction, thought his decision making last night was poor which resulting in him carrying the ball into traffic too often. Sometimes less is more.

Either way my mood and my hopes for the rest of the season are a lot more positive this morning than this day two weeks ago.

It was working last night, a Kilkenny effort got ruled wide on screen because of it, as it works even if the umpires don't refer to it I assume that was a point, looked like it was a score to me

I was behind that tipp effort and thought it had gone wide..apparently the linesman over ruled the umpire.

Any word on the injuries, specifically Bolger & Phelan?

Looked back at the game today (commentator was brutal)…, didn’t realise it at the time but when Kilkenny went five points down and were in big trouble (and in dire need of a score and a bit of inspiration)…… who else but TJ Reid pulled a ball out of the sky and scored a savage point over his shoulder out on the sideline,… he scored 1-2 from play in a row to level up the game. It would be an incredible feat in a club match , but he’s doing this at 39 years of age at the highest level against the All-Ireland champions in their own backyard ……what an Incredible player. I’ll miss him when it’s time to call it a day.

Bolger has had a lot of ankle trouble and it looked same story last night. He wasn't able to put any weight on it so it's bad ligament damage or a fracture or dislocation. He looked in serious trouble straight away.

Remarkable that there was no stretcher he had to be carried off the field and around the town end goal line.

anyone know what happened Darragh Corcoran. As I said earlier I thought Deegan smacked into him by mistake, either way Owens should have stopped play but of course he waited for Tip to score and only addressed the problem then.

A bang in a delicate area

I've watched a lot of Mc Dermott over the last 5 or 6 years at underage with club and county and he's a fine hurler. But he needs to be more aggressive, needs to develope that bit of an edge to his game. If God gives you lemons make lemonade, he needs to use his size more.

Wouldnt be 4getting about marty murphy either great hand and great striker needs to up his workrate but think there could be something there.

I'd say after the league, the following 20 players will form the bulk of our championship minutes.

Goalkeeper. 1

Aidan Tallis

Backs. 9

Rory Garret, Mikey Carey, Ivan Bolger, Mikey Butler, Richie Reid, Paddy Deegan, David Blanchfield, Killian Doyle and Darragh Corcoran

Midfield. 2

Cian Kenny and Jordan Molloy.

Forwards. 8

Adrian Mullen, TJ Reid, Martin Keoghan, Eoin Cody, Liam Moore, John Donnelly, Stephen Donnelly, Tom Phelan.

Obviously, there are others who will probably play a small amount of time but the above will be the bulk of it.

Eoin Murphy provides cover for the goal.

Doyle and Blanchfield can provide cover for midfield.

We are short a bit in attack and could do with Harry Shine back and well. As well as the 8 mentioned, Cian Kenny could play in the forwards if needed.

Team for Galway match (Taking that Adrian Mullen and Mikey Carey are not ready for that game)

Aidan Tallis

Mikey Butler. Paddy Deegan, Rory Garret/Ivan Bolger

David Blanchfield, Darragh Corcoran, Richie Reid.

Cian Kenny and Jordan Molloy

John Donnelly, Eoin Cody, Tom Phelan

Martin Keoghan, TJ Reid, Liam Moore