Duels of the weekend!

[kerryman]

I was going to post this under the normal match thread, but at 22 pages it'll get lost. Admin, feel free to drag it in there.

Which pairing do ye think will be the best at the weekend?
For sheer fire, history and hype, I'd have to say Galvin Vs. O'Leary. O'Leary is a better player than I thought he was, and Galvin is below par. The only thing sure about it is a minimum of a yellow card each, if not more.

Alternatives (depending on team selection obviously)
Cussen V Tom Sullivan
Donaghy Vs Canty
Spillane Vs Brosnan (now that Brosnan played well against Dublin)
Marc Vs Donnchadh O'Connor
Daragh Vs Nic Murphy
Tom Sé Vs Kevin McMahon - these 2 boyos are in flying form
Morgan Vs O Sé (fiery cute-hooredness versus cool-calm and collected).
Marc O'Sé vs maybe Masters?

[gruaigcatach]

itll be interesting to see who marc ó sé picks up, whether its masters or o'connor, if masters starts.
also i dont think canty will be in a direct clash with donaghy. i'd expect him to pick up the gooch, and if he does then that will be a clash for the ages. the best forward in football going toe to toe with the best defender.

[animal]

gruaigcatach said:

itll be interesting to see who marc ó sé picks up, whether its masters or o'connor, if masters starts.
also i dont think canty will be in a direct clash with donaghy. i'd expect him to pick up the gooch, and if he does then that will be a clash for the ages. the best forward in football going toe to toe with the best defender.

Very possible. They switched Canty onto Gooch as soon as he started turning it on in the Munster final

[seamus]

I agree. Canty will pick up Gooch and Shields will pick up Star.

The Marc question is an interesting one. It all depends on how Cork line out their forward line. Goulding strikes me as a player who can only play 13. Where does that leave Masters? I am still not convinced that Masters and Goulding can play on the same team (both are lazy in terms of tackling and work rate around the park and are natural inside forwards).
I fancy Marc to take up whichever one of them plays 13. If one of them is on the wing then Killian Young is a superb man marker and will give nothing away.

The big problem for me is Reidy on Donncha O'Connor who gave him plenty in Killarney.

I think we will not see Masters and Goulding on the pitch together. One of them will be on the bench. If Goulding starts then Reidy will pick him up and Marc will take Donncha.

[ardfertnarrie]

seamus said:

I agree. Canty will pick up Gooch and Shields will pick up Star.

The Marc question is an interesting one. It all depends on how Cork line out their forward line. Goulding strikes me as a player who can only play 13. Where does that leave Masters? I am still not convinced that Masters and Goulding can play on the same team (both are lazy in terms of tackling and work rate around the park and are natural inside forwards).
I fancy Marc to take up whichever one of them plays 13. If one of them is on the wing then Killian Young is a superb man marker and will give nothing away.

The big problem for me is Reidy on Donncha O'Connor who gave him plenty in Killarney.

I think we will not see Masters and Goulding on the pitch together. One of them will be on the bench. If Goulding starts then Reidy will pick him up and Marc will take Donncha.

Perhaps you right, but I'm sure Padraig Reidy is well aware of what happened in the Munster final and I'm sure he will want to put that right. This could be set up perfectly for him to make a real mark on this years championship. He's got great pace and the Dublin game will give him a huge confidence boost.

[buck02]

I just wonder how Cork will cope with our half forward line. Presuming that O Leary will pick up Galvin, what will Billy do about Declan and Brosnan if Declan plays on the 40. I bet he wont be happy with the idea of Ger Spillane marking Declan, especially given the way Declan ran the 04 & 06 finals when being marked by a similar player in Nallen. I also think that Brosnan could do damage from the wing with either Lynch or Miskella struggling to match his power and pace and runs off the ball.

If Cussen decides to play around the centre of the field then I'd hope that Tom Sullivan would be left in the full back line, either as an extra back, or perhaps putting Reidy on the wing and let Tom Se play around the middle of the park and see if Cussen will be able to stop him on his trademark runs.

In other words I'd leave Cork worry about us rather that get bogged down and the ifs and buts regarding their forward line. I think our backs showed against Dublin that they are all comfortable in any of the 6 back positions and wont be fazed by playing away from the selected position.

[seamus]

Good point Buck.
If Cussens comes out it would make sense to let Tomas off the leash. No point in Tom Sullivan being the extra back,and it does not suit him and he is our 2nd best marker after Marc. Put him tight and release Tomas, Aidan or Killian.

Agree that we should let them worry about us. Lynch's injury has seriously disrupted them. Do they move Miskella back and bring in Masters or Conor McCarthy (love to see him playing). Sexton and Cadogen are the other options and Cadogen is unproven.

I reckon Declan will play 11 to go at Spillane and Brosnan will get serious joy out of either Miskella, Sexton, Oleary or Cadogen.

Cork are in an akward place right now with Lynch's injury and Kerry should focus on getting our game right. If so their weaknesses will be exposed.
In my view their weaknesses are:

Kieran O'Connor - never played well against us and they will be terrified of leaving the gooch on him again.
Shields- same story
Wing back - Lynch's replacement is there to be taken

Wingforward - whether it is miskella or McCarthy or Gould then we have an advantage there.

We have ruthlessly exposed smaller weaknesses in '04 and '06.

[ardfertnarrie]

Good points seamus. It looks like it will be simple case of moving Miskella back to his original championship position of wing back and bringing Masters back in. Where he plays is another question. He would probably be best suited on the wing. In saying that though one has too look at your earlier point that he is lazy and it's doubtful he will get involved in the skirmish around midfield (Particularly with his jaw being so fragile).

[Piggy]

Galvin will have a stormer in the final and we will need him at his best because there will be alot of breaking ball in the center of the field.i know O Leary had a good game in the semi final but id still think Galvin is a much better footballer.

[animal]

I thought Miskella did very well in the 2nd half of the munster final when he came on. He gathered up a huge amount of ball in the backs.

[kerrygold]

cork will be disrupting three of their lines from the last day if they bring miskella back(thats if lynch is out) and they bring masters in at corner forward.

we should concentrate on our own game,hopefully we have learned from '05 to trust our own game and let others worry about us.

the buzz words for me this week are being ruthless,focused,doing our own thing,trusting our own players and trusting kerry football to te hilt and keeping the faith.

for me i feel we will be looking for 4 of our forwards to peak on the day,declan,galvin,gooch and kieran with brosnan and sheehan being very solid.

tommy walsh said after the hurling final,if you have heart and commitment you wont be found wanting,

jacko's attitude to the game was when he played,he was there to do his own thing it was up to someone else to mark him,not the other way around.

i think we should be concentrating on playing our own game to the highest level we can on sunday and see what happens.

o connor is the danger man for me,tom sull would relish that particular challenge i'd say.

[Walter Mitty]

Lets have a look at all the major match ups..it has been scarily right so far with a prediction of a 3 point win for Kerry in the munster final and a 2 point win for kerry vs dublin!!

Its only a rough look over the pairings and I have not exactly analysed each pairing in too much detail. Just giving my gut instinct!

Cork Kerry Advantage

1 Quirke (ammended) vs D Murphy -------------- Kerry

2 M Shields, vs Gooch ------------------Kerry
3 G Canty, vs Donaghy ---------------- Cork
4 K O'Connor, vs Russell/Sheehan --- Draw

5 N O'Leary, vs Galvin ------- -------- Kerry
6 G Spillane, vs E Brosnan -------------Cork
7 Miskella, vs D O Sullivan ---------------Kerry

8 D Kavanagh, vs Scanlon ------------Cork
9 N Murphy, vs Dara Se -----------------Draw

10 J Masters, vs K Young ------------ Draw
11 P O'Neill, vs A O Mahoney --------- Draw
12 K McMahon, vs Tomas Se ----------- Kerry

13 Goulding, vs Marc -------------------- Kerry
14 M Cussen, vs Tom Sullivan -------- Cork
15 D O'Connor. vs Reidy -------------- Cork

Overall
Kerry 6
Cork 5
Draw 4

[Owenabue]

Walter, Quirke will be in for Paddy O' Shea. Advantage Cork there I would think....

[KevinT]

I would call Quirke and Murphy a draw..........................also
Canty v Donaghy .....Donaghy
Masters v Young.......Young

Kerry 7
Cork 4
Draw 4

[gruaigcatach]

kevint said:

I would call Quirke and Murphy a draw..........................also
Canty v Donaghy .....Donaghy
Masters v Young.......Young

Kerry 7
Cork 4
Draw 4

quirke is a better keeper than murphy. also, canty wont be on donaghy, and even if he was if anyone was to edge that battle it would be canty.

[kerrygold]

looks like canty on the gooch for me with the gooch to win that battle

[bigbelly]

we could end up having star and cussen marking each other directly if they both come out the pitch, what a laugh....

[kerryman]

bigbelly said:

we could end up having star and cussen marking each other directly if they both come out the pitch, what a laugh....

If its a foggy day, all we'll see is they're socks.

In the duels above, I'd call McMahon/Tom Se a draw and think that O Leary on current form will match Galvin.

If Gooch scores < 4 points from play then he's lost the duel. I do think Sheehan (if he's playing) will give Kieran O'Connor a torrid time.

[ArthurG]

Canty is a tough operator and I was impressed at his speed, fitness and strength against Meath. Gooch on the other hand hasn't really performed up his high standards for Kerry for at least 2 years. He didn't touch the ball for the first 20 mins against Dub (I know he performed well after but he used to score a lot more in the past). On this evidence Canty should win this duel, but something in my bones tells me Gooch will be man of the match next Sunday.....

[kerrygold]

Gooch or kieran for MOTM i feel,with both sticking one each in the onion sack.

[watchdehop]

arthurg said:

Canty is a tough operator and I was impressed at his speed, fitness and strength against Meath. Gooch on the other hand hasn't really performed up his high standards for Kerry for at least 2 years. He didn't touch the ball for the first 20 mins against Dub (I know he performed well after but he used to score a lot more in the past). On this evidence Canty should win this duel, but something in my bones tells me Gooch will be man of the match next Sunday.....

Gooch had his best game in a while against Dublin I thought.
The reason he didn't touch the ball in the first 25 minutes that day was the ball did not come his way...Once it came his way he destroyed the Dubs!!

Canty is a good player and there won't be much between them if he marks Gooch. It will however suit Kerry to have Canty out of the centre.

[watchdehop]

What about this for a duel:

In the Sunday Tribune: It will be Liam Hayes against Reality!!

Based on past performances Reality doesn't have a chance!!

[ardfertnarrie]

kerryman said:

bigbelly said:

we could end up having star and cussen marking each other directly if they both come out the pitch, what a laugh....

If Gooch scores < 4 points from play then he's lost the duel.

Thats a little strange considering he scored less than 4 against Dublin and he easily won his duel.

[Piggy]

gooch was unbelievable against dublin.cant believe kerry supporters think he hasnt got what it takes to take any back to the cleaners.

[Walter Mitty]

scan1 said:

gooch was unbelievable against dublin.cant believe kerry supporters think he hasnt got what it takes to take any back to the cleaners.

Graham Canty ain t just any back...he is one of, if not the best defender in the country based on performances over the past 5 years.....

[Deleted]

Canty will have his hands full with the Gooch or Star both of whom will cause him trouble.

[Walter Mitty]

danny said:

Lets have a look at all the major match ups..it has been scarily right so far with a prediction of a 3 point win for Kerry in the munster final and a 2 point win for kerry vs dublin!!

Its only a rough look over the pairings and I have not exactly analysed each pairing in too much detail. Just giving my gut instinct!

Cork Kerry Advantage

1 Quirke (ammended) vs D Murphy -------------- Kerry

2 M Shields, vs Gooch ------------------Kerry
3 G Canty, vs Donaghy ---------------- Cork
4 K O'Connor, vs Russell/Sheehan --- Draw

5 N O'Leary, vs Galvin ------- -------- Kerry
6 G Spillane, vs E Brosnan -------------Cork
7 Miskella, vs D O Sullivan ---------------Kerry

8 D Kavanagh, vs Scanlon ------------Cork
9 N Murphy, vs Dara Se -----------------Draw

10 J Masters, vs K Young ------------ Draw
11 P O'Neill, vs A O Mahoney --------- Draw
12 K McMahon, vs Tomas Se ----------- Kerry

13 Goulding, vs Marc -------------------- Kerry
14 M Cussen, vs Tom Sullivan -------- Cork
15 D O'Connor. vs Reidy -------------- Cork

Overall
Kerry 6
Cork 5
Draw 4

UPDATED for naming of the teams:

1 Quirke vs D Murphy -------------- Draw

2 M Shields, vs Gooch ------------------Kerry
3 G Canty, vs Donaghy ---------------- Cork
4 K O'Connor, vs Sheehan ------------ Draw

5 N O'Leary, vs Galvin ------- -------- Kerry
6 G Spillane, vs D O Sullivan-------------Kerry
7 Miskella, vs E Brosnan ---------------draw

8 D Kavanagh, vs Scanlon ------------Cork
9 N Murphy, vs Dara Se -----------------Draw

10 Conor Mac vs K Young ------------ Kerry
11 P O'Neill, vs A O Mahoney --------- Draw
12 K McMahon, vs Tomas Se ----------- Kerry

13 J Masters vs Marc -------------------- kerry
14 M Cussen, vs Tom Sullivan -------- Cork
15 D O'Connor. vs Reidy -------------- Cork


Bench: kerry
Manager: cork
Support: Draw

Overall
Kerry 7
Cork 5
Draw 5

[Owenabue]

Walter, yer half forward line is lining up differently. It's Galvin, O' Sullivan and Brosnan. Not sure if that changes your statistics in any way.

[watchdehop]

owenabue said:

Walter, yer half forward line is lining up differently. It's Galvin, O' Sullivan and Brosnan. Not sure if that changes your statistics in any way.

True but it is more likely that it will be Brosnan on Miskella, Declan on Spillane and Galvin on Noel....

[Jose]

Duels of the weekend

Kerry's sub bench V Cork's sub bench