Kerry V Mayo - 8/4/12

I'm delighted with the team selection.

Very little downside if Kerry lose and a lot if they win.

How much would we learn if we played a first 15 compared to how much we will learn from this selection?

Would we learn anything from playing any of the first six subs, compared to what we will learn from playing the alternatives?

17. Marc Ó Sé (An Ghaeltacht) 18. Paul Galvin (Finuge) 19. Aidan O’Mahony (Rathmore) 20. Declan O’Sullivan (Piarsaigh Na Dromada) 21. Bryan Sheehan (St. Mary’s) 22. Darran O’Sullivan (Glenbeigh/Glencar)

I think the team selection is great; good for JOC to try out the younger players and mix it up a bit. We have nothing to lose but all to gain from this experience, win or lose. We are in the semi anyways!!!

I'd love to see A O'Mahony FB but how will he contend with the likes of the Brogans? Has he got the legs? He would appear to have everything else and I can vision some mighty fielding, he is a pure footballer, reliable and has his eyes open when delivering it up the field.

I guess JackO will be proven right and that the rookies are good enough to pull this out of the fire, and if they do then competition for places will go through the roof with some seasoned stalwarts having to prove themselves all over again. I can see some of the new blood putting in some steller performances, Eg Curtin v Dublin. Same old story, as inspires my poetry, The Kerry Ingredient, it is times like this when you see the fruits of all the hard work in getting young lads from "possibles to probables, young pretenders to worthy, leading and unrelenting contenders, soldiers of splendour, defiant drven deadly defenders" -I broke into a line of verse there!

Now who are the next Darrens/Declans, Seamus Moynihans, etc. Curtin and Enright for me, although I admit to a North of the county bias. Along with Maguire it is a while since NK contributed such a rush of high quality fresh blood.

Here's to numero 37!

ha ha take a chill pill seamo !!!

I see Maurice Condon is returning to Austin Stack Park tomorrow. We last had the dubious privilege of this presence at the Armagh game. Armagh were worthy winners of that match but Mr. Condon was atrocious with most people unsure in which direction a free would go when he decided to intervene. He rivals Syl Doyle for occupancy of the bottom rung.

In the game V Laois the boys had to make way for the men when Tomas was sent off. Should the boys not do well V Mayo, are they worth continuing with? After all they are in their 20's and good players should have made it at this stage. Its likely that our half back line will suffer if the half forwards do not tackle. Players must know at this time of their life that to win an AI all players must play their part. Or are poor standards now allowed to creep into Kerry football. I think this is the case when I saw that some comments suggesting that a half foraward who cannot tackle should have got 2011 player of the year.

wooooooo I presume that's a shot at Darren O Sullivan? Very harsh if so. Maybe he's no great tackler (neither is Ronan O Gara, but he does ok!!), but Darren does work hard when we don't have the ball and shows a willingness to pressure the opposition. Of course that would be sub-standard in terms of justifying his right to wear the Kerry jersey.....EXCEPT for the fact that he is a huge part of our attack! I don't want to hear about his tackling ability if he's scoring 1-2 a game and winning 3-4 scorable frees per game with his pace and talent.

Is this game available anywhere on the interweb. Are highlights on RTE tonight?

lads does anyone know is it true that the great John Egan has pass on! if true what sad sad news
r.i.p. John.

Are you getting your wires crossed? Your addressing me in the 1st paragraph, and then in the other you make a defence for Darren by comparing him to Micky. I just want to note that I didn't criticise Darren, I was defending him above, making similar points to yours. Just wanted to say that incase there was any confusion.....And alot of people are talking beyond 2012 !

Its great to manage to fit in a game when.your home but a baffling game its interesting to watch the KO'L he can win the ball but hes just not confident with it. Jaysus thou its worth the ticket price to wstch sheehan's free taking pure class!!!

So its a draw 1-12 a piece, how did the game go? did we empty the bench in the 2nd half?
so it Kerry, Cork,Down and Mayo in the semis, is it 1 V 4 and 2 v 3 ? anyone know..

Radio Kerry in and out again today. Lost the last 5 mins. Sounded like a great come back and new stars on the rise. Anyone know the technical reason for this "buffering" that happens when you lose the signal ?

Played with the breeze in the first half but were completely outplayed at mid field with the backs under fierce pressure; Sheehan did his best but Star was trying to catch any ball with one hand and was not at the races; half back line over run ( Brosnan very out of sorts), McGuire given the run around in the corner; Crowley brave but too many running at him to make a difference. 1-8 to 0-3 coming up to half time but 4 lightning points left us in a better position;Gooch very dangerous but the referee disallowed what looked like a perfectly good Kerry goal but then allowed a rather dubious effort from Mayo when it looked distinctly a "square ball". Changes at half time brought Galvin in at 10 for O'Callaghan and Darran for BJK- it could very well have been O'Leary who sat out the second half as he did little in the first and was twice blocked down in possession; the introduction of the aforementioned plus later Declan and Marc had us on the offensive but the ref again intervened incensing the crowd when penalising Gooch for an illegal handpass- strangely this was the only handpass he called all day.Gooch was fouled for a penalty following a storming run by Crowley( now a free man following the dismissal of Mayo wing back for 2 yellows) which Sheehan powered to the net; minutes later we looked like getting another when Curtin ( again impressive) was fouled but the official deemed that play should continue. A draw was secured by a last minute "50" from Bryan Sheehan whose free taking was again of the highest standard.
A draw means both meet again next Sunday in the semi final and surely a final beckons after this display.
One final word on the referee who was to put it mildly diabolical- inconsistent, blowing for unnecessary fouls, not applying the advantage and generally out of his depth- if he was a player for either side serving up this performance he would have been withdrawn early.