Killarney - Rd 3 - Ciarraí v Baile Átha Cliath

[Seoirse Ui Duic]

Feb 24, 2015 21:04:17 GMT keane said:

Shane O'Callaghan considered a county standard player by many?

Worth a try maybe.
He played very well for Stacks in the matches I've seen but was also kept quiet by Slaughtneil.
Not his fault really as he was outstanding, but forwards is not really what we are looking for at the moment.
I would still like him to be given a chance. Won't hurt to have another option.

[Seoirse Ui Duic]

Patrons attending Sunday’s Kerry V Dublin Allianz League game are reminded that the fixture is an all ticket affair. There is a €5 pre-purchase discount (€10 pre-purchase and €15 on match day) for all Division 1 Allianz Football League fixtures. One key point to note is that this discount is only valid until midnight on the day before each fixture. Tickets will be available at all the usual outlets such as participating Centra and Supervalu stores nationwide, at tickets.ie, Austin Stack Park and the Kerry GAA Store in the Killarney Outlet Centre.

A large crowd is expected and admission to the stand is on a first come first served basis. Ticket vans will be located in Lewis Road and the Daltons Avenue entrances. Special stiles for Season Ticket holders will be in operation at both the Daltons Avenue end and the Lewis Road end of the ground.

Please be advised of parking restrictions around the venue on the day of the match with limited and controlled parking in Daltons Avenue

[Seoirse Ui Duic]

Dublin are visitors to Fitzgerald Stadium on Sunday next for Round 3 of the Allianz Football League, a game that will have a 2pm throw in. Cork apart, there is no greater rivalry these days for the wearers of the green and gold than the Dubs. We need little reminding in these parts that the pendulum has swung towards the Metropolitans in recent meetings between the sides and we have to go back to the League meeting of 2012 for Kerry’s last victory.

2015 is of course a very significant year in the history of meetings between the sides being the 60th anniversary of Kerry’s famous victory in the 1955 All Ireland final a game that the then captain, Kerins O’Rahillys John Dowling described as “No ordinary All Ireland Final”.

No doubt, the late John Dowling’s grandson, Barry John Keane, and his comrades will be all out to reverse the recent trend of victories for the Dubs and after a somewhat deflating opening performance against Mayo in Fitzgerald Stadium, their first competitive game since the All Ireland Final, Kerry redeemed themselves with a fine victory over Derry in Celtic Park. Dublin did much the same in theier Round 2 game with a fine victory over Donegal in Croke Park having gone under to a late Cork rally in Round 1 in Páirc Uí Rinn.

The points at stake today are vital to both sides. There are no soft touches in Division 1 this year; every point is vital and the fact that Kerry still has a long list of players rehabbing from injury means that players on the fringe of the first fifteen get valuable playing time and experience against the best teams around. It would be great to see the likes of Colm Cooper, Marc Ó Sé, James O’Donoghue and Aidan O’Mahony have to fight their way back onto the team come Championship time!

That of course is the first of four League fixtures in March for the Kingdom: Kerry are away to Cork on the 8th, and then home in Austin Stack Park to Donegal (15th) and Monaghan (29th) before finishing their campaign with a trip to Tyrone on April 5th.

Among the articles in the souvenir Programme for Sunday’s game is a look back at the 1955 epic encounter between Kerry and Dublin by Eugene McGee.

[Seoirse Ui Duic]

Was looking at last year's programmes and it is striking how different the time on Sunday might be from the team in the first championship match (v Clare) and the team in the Munster final last year.

[Mickmack]

2010 Kerry 1-10 – 1-12 Dublin
2011 Dublin 3-10 - 1-15 Kerry
2012 Dublin 0-11 — 1-14 Kerry
2013 Kerry 0-4 - 1-11 Dublin
2014 Dublin 2-8 - 1-10 Kerry


The past five meetings between them have been pointers as to how the season panned out.

2010... A young Dublin side signalled that they were new kids in town and didn't care too much about reputations. Lost the semi final to Cork by a point and Cork went onto win it. Kerry not firing well in that game or during 2010 apart from Paul Galvin v Cork and Colm in all games

2011... a belter of a game with both teams going for it and which Dublin won by a last minute Brogan point. Scanlon and Moran were at midfield, just back from injury but not for long. We know what happened in the 2011 final.

2012...Dublin didn't turn up in that game. Didn't turn up till the second half of the semi final v Mayo. Kerry starting to rebuild.

2013...Dublin ahead of everyone else all through 2013. Won the All Ireland.

2014...Kerry very much up for it and new lads like Paul Murphy prominent. A few bad kickouts led to goals by Dublin but most Kerry fans went away happy enough. Dublin didn't look impressive despite the win.

[keane]

Ref rode us last year as well IIRC?

[Mickmack]

Written a year ago by Malachy Clerkin...

'''''''''''''''''''''
On a cloudless April evening in Páirc Uí Rinn three years ago, Kerry football strode out for a look over the cliff’s edge and got struck by a sudden and profound dose of vertigo. Their under-21 side went to Cork for the Munster final as favourites – marginally so, but enough for them to feel that the natural ebullience of a Kerry team about to stage a seek-and-destroy in rebel country had been well earned.

Six of them had been given game time by Jack O’Connor in the league already that spring, eight of them had been in the previous year’s under-21 side that skinned Cork alive in Tralee. Despite United and Chelsea meeting in a Champions League quarter-final on TV, traffic on the Boreenmanna Road that night was choked up enough for people to still be arriving in 20 minutes after throw-in. When they did, they saw a scoreboard they had to assume was having them on.

Kerry were getting atomised. If it wasn’t Aidan Walsh and Ciarán Sheehan bullying them around the middle of the pitch, it was Barry O’Driscoll and Dónal Óg Hodnett picking every last stitch loose in front of goal. Cork were 2-3 to 0-1 up after 10 minutes, out the gap and away to the tune of 2-13 to 0-3 by half-time. Even with Walsh, Sheehan and O’Driscoll taken off before the hour was up, it ended 2-24 to 0-8. A torching for the ages.

The sort of torching, indeed, that Kerry teams more commonly inflict – if for no other reason than pour décourager les autres. The deal with underage teams in Kerry has always been simple enough. While there’s no great necessity to be farming All-Irelands, it is and has always been important to trim back the hedges of the neighbours before they get any notions.

Good Cork teams – and increasingly, of course, good Tipperary teams – will flare up from time to time. The trick in Kerry has always been to apply the fire blanket before the blaze gets out of hand, thereby sending the best players in those counties scurrying off to be hurlers. If a minor or under-21 All- Ireland came at the end of it, well and good. Above all, a couple or three players sourced for the senior panel was a job well done. Thus was the Kingdom forged, thus was the Kingdom maintained.

So a 22-point hiding couldn’t be allowed to stand. Within a fortnight, John Kennedy was gone as manager. A fortnight after that, Eamonn Fitzmaurice was handed the reins. After a couple of years as a senior selector under O’Connor, Fitzmaurice was generally held to be a Kerry manager in the making yet he was still only 35. That they pressed him into service so quickly said a lot about how seriously they took their beating.

“I wouldn’t say there was panic,” says Mickey Ned O’Sullivan, who would take over the Kerry minors three months later after an equally ignominious campaign. “But there was certainly a few questions as to how come we were so mentally unprepared for the game. That was the issue, mental preparation on the night. It was looked at, people took stock and they rectified it.”

The dominos that rocked and toppled that night in Páirc Uí Rinn are tumbling yet. Fitzmaurice patched a new team together for the following year, one that against all predictions very nearly beat Cork in the final – a Cork side that contained nine of the 15 who had put the hurt on them 12 months before. They took the game to extra time and only lost by a point in the end.

Fool’s errand
To many, it looked like the county board had sent Fitzmaurice on a fool’s errand yet he very nearly came back with the prize. Given the feeling in Kerry that there was precious little about to roll off the line to replace the generation that had won five All-Irelands in a decade, it fairly sung off the CV when time came to replace O’Connor at the end of 2012. Without that 22-point defeat, it is unlikely that Fitzmaurice would be in charge of Kerry at Croke Park tonight.

Meanwhile, just as interesting to follow has been the fate of the players who lined out for Kerry that night. In different times, it’s not hard to imagine that a beating of such magnitude would have carried a stigma. After all, when O’Connor was over the seniors, he was still hearing about a league defeat to Longford long after he’d won his first All-Ireland. This was a Munster final against Cork. Ordinarily, that’s a stain that doesn’t wash off.

Yet run your finger down the team Fitzmaurice has named for tonight’s league opener against Dublin. Mark Griffin, Peter Crowley, Jack Sherwood, Jonathan Lyne, Barry John Keane, James O’Donoghue and Stephen O’Brien are all still standing – some taller than others, of course, yet Kerry seniors all. Another six who played some part that night are on the bench. Come the last rounds of the league, they’ll be joined by Daithí Casey, currently club-tied with Dr Crokes.

That’s 14 of the 20 players who played against Cork potentially seeing gametime during this league. It’s an extraordinary harvest from one underage team. By comparison, the Cork panel for the 2014 league contains eight of the players who contributed to Kerry’s demise that night. Of course, they would have another if Sheehan was still in the country. But then, Kerry might well say the same about Barry John Walsh. “I spoke to his mother the other day,” trumps Mickey Ned. “She says he’s in Argentina.”

Seán Geaney managed Kerry to their last Under-21 All-Ireland back in 2008. A team with another gone-too-soon émigré in Tommy Walsh as the point of the spear, Geaney’s side would also deliver the likes of Shane Enright, Killian Young, Johnny Buckley, David Moran and Kieran O’Leary to the senior cause in time. He looks at Fitzmaurice’s team for tonight and sees the right experiment at the right time.

“There’s some players there who wouldn’t have been out and out stars at underage level but who have kept at it and worked hard and they’re getting their chance now. It might be a bit daunting for some of them. Fellas like Paul Murphy, Stephen O’Brien, Mikey Geaney – it must fantastic for them to be given a chance.

“These are lads who are 22, 23 now – this is the age to do it. I don’t like seeing lads being thrown in at 19 and 20 because in most cases they’re not ready. They’re not up to it physically and it can be too much too soon for them. But at the age these guys are, you’ve been doing weights for three or four years and bodywise you’ve become what you’re supposed to be. Whether you’re good enough now is another question. There’s only one way to find out. Sink or swim.”

Some of them have had their head pretty well dunked already and are still floating. O’Donoghue won an All Star last year, Crowley looked to the manor born in the half-back line. Griffin came in when Young broke his ankle before the All-Ireland semi-final. Lyne has been a regular throughout the last three leagues and has been earmarked for the Paul Galvin role for the foreseeable future.

Of them all, Keane is the one who’s been given the most airtime over the past few years and yet he’s never been able to make his tune stick in people’s heads. He’s played in 13 championship games for Kerry but has yet to start one. An obviously talented forward, his option-taking has never been certain enough to convince management that he’s worth a go long-term. The Kerry forward line has never been an easy place to earn a spot, yet they ache for someone like Keane to make himself undroppable.

In truth, Fitzmaurice really could do with a few of them planting a flag in this league. Last year’s campaign stuttered and coughed from the start and it needed the late arrival of Declan and Darran O’Sullivan and Colm Cooper to keep them in Division One. Fitzmaurice has already said he expects to be without all three until the end of the league so he’s got to go with what he’s got to go with.

This is the generation that will have to carry Kerry through the next five years, through the end of the last Ó Sé, the O’Sullivans, Galvin and Gooch. It’s been a rocky road for some of them – in the past five years, Kerry have lost six times to Cork at minor and under-21 level and four times to Tipperary. In fact, they have one underage win against Cork in their last eight championship matches going back to 2008. That’s a bad habit to be getting into at a young age.

Latest crop
The consensus in Kerry is that the latest crop of 16-to-18-year-olds coming up are pretty handy and in the right hands could be the makings of a serious team down the road. O’Connor’s willingness to get involved at minor level would certainly suggest as much.

A manager with three senior All-Irelands against his name going back to take a minor team is virtually unheard of and given the flak O’Connor has endured over the years, you’d imagine he wouldn’t be subjecting himself to it all again without a sense of the future being bright. But again, that’s a fair distance away yet. For here and for now, Fitzmaurice has chosen his troops and is pushing them across the board.

“This is who Kerry have,” says Mickey Ned. “This is it. They have trawled the county and this is the cream of what’s there. There’s no club player playing away and grumbling about not getting his chance. These lads are at the age where it’s time to come good. They’re all between 21 and 24 and this is the time for them to see if they’re going to be Kerry players. This is a crucial age for footballers because this is the time when they can devote themselves to being as good as they can be.”

Plenty of them would have thought this chance had disappeared into the Cork city night in April, 2011. Fitzmaurice’s greatest trick might just have been convincing them otherwise.

[Seoirse Ui Duic]

Last year we started one of the most inexperienced teams ever versus Dublin in the league.
Game played in Croke Park and we lost by a point.
Dublin 2-08 Kerry 1-10

Like most Kerry supporters I walked out thinking we should have won the game, but still walked out of Croke Park smiling.
Like before McManamon was used the right way and got a goal. Again it was silly of Kerry to give away that goal as up until that point Kerry looked like winning. Dublin's subs also made a huge impact whereas Kerry seemed to find it hard to cope with the idea of winning versus Dublin without the Gooch.
Even that early in the year JOD and Paul Murphy showed their class.
Dublin ran through the Kerry defence at will and with the black card being fairly new it was unclear what would be allowed to stop them.
It was something Kerry managed to deal with later in the year and in my opinion that first game was an eye-opener to many of the team and might have been the first match on the road to Sam.


By Eoin Ryan
Dublin made a successful start to the defence of their Allianz Football League Division 1 crown as the 14-man champions edged Kerry 2-8 to 1-10 at Croke Park.
Kerry led by a point at the break, with All Star James O’Donoghue in sparkling form, and looked well-placed to push on when Dublin debutant Sean George was shown a straight red card 10 minutes into the second-half.
That seemed to galvanise the Dubs however, and Kerry managed just a single point with the extra player as the 14 men upped the intensity to grind out victory, only taking the lead through substitute Jack McCaffrey with five minutes left to play.
These sides produced a classic when they met in the All-Ireland semi-final last year but only 12 of the 30 that started last September’s thriller began the game as Dublin handed league debuts to Sean George, Eric Lowdnes, Shane Carthy and Cormac Costello.
Former footballer of the year Alan Brogan also made a welcome return, in his first appearance since the 2012 All-Ireland semi-final, as Stephen O'Brien and Paul Murphy made their first NFL starts for the Kingdom.
Kerry started the brighter and took an early lead through points from O'Donoghue and Barry John Keane (free) before Dublin managed a goal against the run of play.
Costello, showing the talent that made him an underage star, drove at the Kerry defence, sucking in Murphy and Shane Enright before laying the ball off for an easy palmed finish from Kevin McManamon.
The rampaging McManamon almost added a second a minute later after claiming a high ball from Brogan but Brendan Kealy saved well.
Kerry recovered from that blow, putting pressure on Stephen Cluxton’s kick-outs, and hitting three unanswered points before O’Donoghue scored a memorable goal.
Picking the ball up wide on the left, he swerved past Mick Fitzsimons and cracked an angled shot into the roof of Cluxton’s net.
Kerry were five up just 16 minutes in but Dublin struck back, landing points from McManamon, Eoghan O’Gara (free) and Shane Carthy to narrow the gap to two.
O’Gara then put the Dubs in front, gathering Ciaran Reddin’s pass to slip a low shot past the advancing Kealy and into the net.
Kerry looked shell-shocked and almost conceded another goal straight away as Kealy got a slight touch to divert McManamon’s piledriver on to the post.
Keane and O’Donoghue settled their side with points to regain the lead but O’Gara flashed another effort across the face of the goal following more good work from Costello. Kerry 1-7 to 2-3 up at the break.
The Kingdom stretched their lead after the interval, O’Donoghue adding another and O’Brien marking his debut with a fine score as Kerry moved three clear.
The ever-dangerous Costello drew and converted a free but Dublin looked in real trouble when George was dismissed, apparently for an off-the-ball incident.
That was the signal for Jim Gavin’s side to up the work-rate, however, and, aided by the arrival of big guns like Michael Darragh Macauley, Paul Mannion and McCaffrey from the bench, they forced a succession of frees to draw level.
Kerry were flagging in the face of Dublin’s characteristic second-half onslaught and went behind for the first time in the 65th minute when Ciaran Kilkenny swung a wonderful crossfield pass into the path of substitute McCaffrey.
A goal looked on but he sensibly fisted a point, putting the Dubs into a lead which was rarely threatened in the closing stages.
Dublin: S Cluxton; J Cooper, S George, M Fitzsimons; E Lowdnes, C O'Sullivan, P McMahon; D O'Mahony, S Carthy (0-02, 1f); C Kilkenny, A Brogan, C Reddin; K McManamon (1-01), E O'Gara (1-01, 0-01f), C Costello (0-01f).
Substitutes: MD McAuley for O’Mahony (45), J McCaffrey (0-01) for Reddin (49), P Mannion (0-02f) for McManamon (53), D Byrne for O’Gara (56), K Nolan for Carthy (64), D Nelson for Cooper (68)
Kerry: B Kealy; P Murphy, M Griffin, S Enright; P Crowley, B McGuire, J Sherwood; A Maher, D Moran (0-01 ‘45’); J Lyne, M Geaney, D Walsh; BJ Keane (0-04, 0-03f), J O'Donoghue (1-03), S O'Brien (0-02).
Substitutes: A O’Mahony for Geaney (47), P Geaney for D Walsh (61), P Kilkenny for Murphy (67).
Referee: D Coldrick (Meath)

[Seoirse Ui Duic]

Round 3 of the 2015 Allianz Football Leagues take place this weekend.

To attend your County's fixture this weekend you simply need to attend the venue and present your season ticket card for scanning at the designated turnstile(s). You can also attend any of this weekend's Allianz Football League games using your GAA Season Ticket card.

Round 3 - Saturday February 28th, 2015
Allianz Football League Roinn 1 2015 Round 3
7 00 PM
Tyronevs.Derry
Healy Park, Omagh
Live on Setanta

Round 3 - Sunday March 1st, 2015
Allianz Football League Roinn 1 2015 Round 3
2 00 PM Kerry vs.Dublin
Fitzgerald Stadium
TG4 (Live)

Allianz Football League Roinn 1 2015 Round 3
2 00 PM
Donegal vs.Cork
Ballyshannon
More info
TG4 (Deferred)

Allianz Football League Roinn 1 2015 Round 3
2 00 PM
Mayo vs.Monaghan
Elverys MacHale Park, Castlebar

[Annascaultilidie]

I hope the match doesn't have to be delayed due to crowd numbers.

[themanhimself]

Feb 25, 2015 16:00:47 GMT Annascaultilidie said:

I hope the match doesn't have to be delayed due to crowd numbers.

I hope so too, or we will miss all the rugby!!!

[Ballyfireside]

There is only one certainty about this year, well assuming death and tax stay away, and that is that Seoirse Ui Duic will be Kerry GAA Proboards Supreme Champion Contributor 2015. I will contact Croker to see if this foregone conclusion can be facilitated on that fateful September Sabbath.

[G_S_J]

I'll be heading out to Killarney early this Sunday because I want to catch the Liverpool v City game, yes lads, the dreaded soccer! Great day of sport in fairness, it's just annoying all these things seem to come in the one burst every now and again. Doesn't really bother me too much if I miss the first half of the rugger though.

The team is out tonight, we might see a bit more experimentation because of that win under or belt. Still, Id love to see us go for it, sick of losing to them.

[Seoirse Ui Duic]

The Kerry Senior Football Team to play Dublin in Round 3 of the Allianz Football League will be posted on the Kerry GAA Website at 9pm tonight.

[Seoirse Ui Duic]

The game might be delayed an hour or two as the Dubs will have to watch the sacar first and head from the pubs to the other side of town to make it into stadiam.
So for those that will miss the ruggers match I have the result here already:

[Deise Exile]

Brian Kelly, Peter Crowley and Paul O’Donoghue return to the panel after injury.

The team, captained by Kieran Donaghy is as follows:

1. Brendan Kealy Kilcummin

2. Pa Kilkenny Glenbeigh/Glencar

3. Mark Griffin St Michaels/Foilmore

4. Fionn Fitzgerald Dr Crokes

5. Jonathan Lyne Killarney Legion

6. Jack Sherwood Firies

7. Paul Murphy Rathmore

8. Anthony Maher Duagh

9. David Moran Kerins O’Rahillys

10. Michael Geaney Dingle

11. Bryan Sheehan St Marys

12. Johnny Buckley Dr Crokes

13. Stephen O’Brien Kenmare

14. Kieran Donaghy (C) Austin Stacks

15. Paul Geaney Dingle

Fir Ionaid:

16. Brian Kelly Killarney Legion

17. Tommy Walsh Kerins O’Rahillys

18. Barry John Keane Kerins O’Rahillys

19. Killian Young Renard

20. Kieran O’Leary Dr Crokes

21. Padraig O’Connor Killarney Legion

22. Alan Fitzgerald Castlegregory

23. Philip O’Connor Cordal

24. Shane Enright Tarbert

25. Peter Crowley Laune Rangers

26. Paul O’Donoghue St Marys

[kerrygold]

It would be great to get something out of this game, two points more would set them up nicely.

[G_S_J]

Barry John Keane out of the side after two good displays. From reports of the Derry game Tommy had a bit more to go than we may have thought, no harm getting Maher back. Good competition in midfield now between, Walsh, Maher and Sheehan. You'd imagine now Moran is one of our guaranteed starters, what a difference a year makes.

A fairly settled team in the league this year, Was hoping to see a wildcard or two on the bench.

[Ballyfireside]

From his gradual 're-adaption' I sense that Tommy Walsh could now go on to be one of the greatest footballers of all time; there is something about him and in a way he has an 'unfair' advantage with his Aussie experience and remember he has been a professional sportsman for a number of years.

[Mickmack]

Kerry only won three leagues games in each of 2013 and 2014 so a win here would see them well ahead of the curve compared to those years.

Always important to beat Dublin. No matter in what, when or where.

I think that of all the lads trying to establish themselves, Jack Sherwood may be the most likely and at CHB, he is given a great chance to impress. Also looking forward to seeing Lyne at wing back.

Maher and Moran should get at least 50;50 at midfield which would be important as younger lads can be very exposed in defence if the opposition are dominating the middle and playing 70;30 balls in to the forwards.

[kerrygold]

Feb 26, 2015 21:02:12 GMT Deise Exile said:

Brian Kelly, Peter Crowley and Paul O’Donoghue return to the panel after injury.

The team, captained by Kieran Donaghy is as follows:

1. Brendan Kealy Kilcummin

2. Pa Kilkenny Glenbeigh/Glencar

3. Mark Griffin St Michaels/Foilmore

4. Fionn Fitzgerald Dr Crokes

5. Jonathan Lyne Killarney Legion

6. Jack Sherwood Firies

7. Paul Murphy Rathmore

8. Anthony Maher Duagh

9. David Moran Kerins O’Rahillys

10. Michael Geaney Dingle

11. Bryan Sheehan St Marys

12. Johnny Buckley Dr Crokes

13. Stephen O’Brien Kenmare

14. Kieran Donaghy (C) Austin Stacks

15. Paul Geaney Dingle

Fir Ionaid:

16. Brian Kelly Killarney Legion

17. Tommy Walsh Kerins O’Rahillys

18. Barry John Keane Kerins O’Rahillys

19. Killian Young Renard

20. Kieran O’Leary Dr Crokes

21. Padraig O’Connor Killarney Legion

22. Alan Fitzgerald Castlegregory

23. Philip O’Connor Cordal

24. Shane Enright Tarbert

25. Peter Crowley Laune Rangers

26. Paul O’Donoghue St Marys

Very strong panel with Marc, Aidan, Colm, James and Donacha still to return to the fold. Kerry should be stronger in 2015, I don't believe the second year syndrome associated with defending champions will be a significant factor this year.

[Jigz84]

Donnchadh being given a breather or is he hurt since the Derry game?

[jackiel]

Feb 27, 2015 13:51:52 GMT Jigz84 said:

Donnchadh being given a breather or is he hurt since the Derry game?

No harm if he's getting a rest, one of the hardest working players we had last year.
Really looking forward to the trip down now. Countdown is on.

[kerrygold]

Kerry v Dublin, Fitzgerald Stadium, 2pm (Live on TG4)
Donegal v Cork, Ballyshannon, 2pm (Deferred on TG4)
Mayo v Monaghan, MacHale Park, 2pm

The All-Ireland and league champions meet in Killarney but, despite their win in Derry, RTÉ analyst Kevin McStay thinks Sam Maguire holders Kerry won't have the edge on Dublin.

Kerry resumed training later than their rivals due to a team holiday and McStay thinks they will still be lagging fitness-wise.

“I can’t see Kerry winning this," he insists. "They couldn’t have the work done. They bumped into a very wobbly Derry team that are really struggling in terms of consistency, injuries and availability of players [Slaughtneil are in the All-Ireland club final].

“Mayo walked it [in round one] against Kerry so I don’t see them beating Derry as a form line. I think it was a poor Derry team that they beat and Dublin will be way too strong for Kerry."

[Seoirse Ui Duic]

Feb 27, 2015 15:16:10 GMT jackiel said:

Feb 27, 2015 13:51:52 GMT Jigz84 said:

Donnchadh being given a breather or is he hurt since the Derry game?

No harm if he's getting a rest, one of the hardest working players we had last year.
Really looking forward to the trip down now. Countdown is on.

Donnchadh proved that he is still operating at a high level and so did Barry John. It's time for other players to prove themselves.
KIlkenny is a player that should really step up this year if he wants to become a starter for the seniors.
I was impressed with O'Brien last year but he was unlucky with injuries. Hopefully he can show us this year during the league that he has to start come championship time.
Both O'Brien and Geaney have not yet feeded off Star the way the Gooch, JOD and Tommy Walsh can so maybe that is why Star is picked at full forward.
Barry John has impressed in both games so far, but his best spot is the very same corners were O'Brien, JOD and Geaney play.
If he keeps the current form he might even make JOD fear for a starting spot. Imagine the impact if you can have JOD and Geaney run riot in the full forwards and then bring on Tommy Walsh and Barry John Keane just as the opposition are tiring. I hope both Barry John and Tommy Walsh come of the bench against Dublin.
Would O'Brien do well as a wing forward I wonder? With Buckley and Sheehan both good at midfield as well I would expect them to hang around there more, while O'Brien has a tendency to drive towards goal more. Sheehan and Buckley both excellent kickers of the ball, but O'Brien an excellent ball carrier who reminds me at times of Darran O'Sullivan. Will O'Brien take up a Darran like role? And where does Darran himself fit into this wealth of forwards with the Gooch and Donnchadh also fighting for places.
Michael Geaney is getting better and better in my opinion on his wing so he might have that position nailed down for the championship, but none of the forwards can be 100% sure of a starting spot. It is good that Eamon tries different combinations during the league as this will matter most during the championship.

Maher and Moran has to be the first choice combination for midfield and with Sheehan, Buckley and Walsh there are some excellent subs available.
A lot depends on Kerry's ability to win midfield on Sunday, but Dublin don't have traditional midfielders. They thrive on breaking ball and Moran/Maher might catch the kickouts but will be swamped as soon as they crash down to earth. I expect Kerry to win midfield though but Sheehan and Buckley are needed in the middle third to win the dirty ball with Geaney excellent at clearing it from the danger area.
A lot of the game is played in the middle these days and it is much more crowded than before.Kerry are very capable of dealing with it so hopefully it gives us a platform to dominate the game with.

I would still see the backs as our weakest point, but with Murphy, Lyne and Sherwood in the half backs we have a top class half back line.
Fionn is the in form player in the full backline though and with Griffin and Kilkenny not overly impressive yet that would be the weakest point in my opinion.
All 3 are very good players and it's not that long ago that we were all raving about Griffin so maybe it's just a form issue and something that will come right.
Both Kilkenny and Griffin will have to improve with Aidan and Marc waiting to come back, but I can't see either player staying on much longer after this year so they must be our choices for the future. Enright and Crowley can also be very impressive so I would love to see them come on. We always have the multitalented Killian Young in reserve if either of the backs is in trouble.
All in all, Kerrys defence looks very solid.

It is just a league game so winning isn't a must. Winning against the Dubs is always good, especially after the last couple of years. We wouldn't want them thinking they can beat us every time they meet so maybe it is important to draw the line and show them that from now on Kerry will have their number.
All is not lost though if we don't win and I think the emphasis should be on testing players and different styles/systems/methods.
The league is almost like a sandbox in computer programming: we can try out different things in a live environment with maximum rendements and minimum impact on the championship. Excellent ROI.
I therefore hope that a few of the lesser experienced players will get a go this Sunday, though this might not be impossible.
If Dublin blow us away the way Mayo did we might as well make it an impromptu training session, though if it is too close we don't want to throw the game away either.
They players that have yet to find their form need a good game and Dublin will test them well.
Gavin will have his homework done, but he too will want to try out a few things and rest a few of the older players.
I expect Gavin too to give youth a chance. Dublin are ahead of us currently this decade so for them it will be less of a must win, though they never like losing to Kerry.
I think it will be a close game with both teams wanting to win, both teams not wanting to win by too much either, both teams wanting to experiment and both to lay down a marker for a possible second meeting later in the year.

[fg]

Personally I think Griffin is playing well enough, my problem is with Kilkenny and fitzgerald, I can't fathom how you can say Fitzgerald is in form, the opposite is evident. I feel the half back line is his best position but then again they interchange so often now or are dragged all over the backline when man marking, I also think lyne has to get more involved in the game, he has potential and as for o' brien you're right the half forward position would I think be his best position.

[Seoirse Ui Duic]

Feb 27, 2015 16:54:15 GMT fg said:

Personally I think Griffin is playing well enough, my problem is with Kilkenny and fitzgerald, I can't fathom how you can say Fitzgerald is in form, the opposite is evident. I feel the half back line is his best position but then again they interchange so often now or are dragged all over the backline when man marking, I also think lyne has to get more involved in the game, he has potential and as for o' brien you're right the half forward position would I think be his best position.

I do think you're right about Fitzgerald's best position being in the half back line, but Murphy, Sherwood and Lyne is motoring well there.
Finn can be a very exciting corner back if he gets the basics of that position right. In the modern game positions seem to mean little though and most corner forwards now roam a lot, which is why I think Fionn would be well suited to the position.
Kilkenny has good games and but has the tenacity and the potential to become a very exciting corner back. We will have to make it work though if Young, O'Mahoney and Ó Sé leave us. Crowley I don't see in the fullback line, but excellent in the half backs. Enright might take Kilkenny's spot, but we need more than just two corner backs so Kilkenny needs his chance. If Fitzgerald, Griffin, Kilkenny doesn't work as a fullback line, I'm sure Enright and Murphy will be options, but both also do well in the half back line.
I'm surprised with how little Killian Young is used as he is an excellent half back.
Lyne was used a lot as a half forward, but I believe is a more natural half back. I have little doubt he can do very well there and I sincerely hope he will show that soon.
Griffin is not bad, I'm not saying that, but he has played much better, so his current form is a bit off. We're only two games in though so there is a lot of time still to get it right.

[southward]

Feb 27, 2015 16:54:15 GMT fg said:

Personally I think Griffin is playing well enough, my problem is with Kilkenny and fitzgerald, I can't fathom how you can say Fitzgerald is in form, the opposite is evident. I feel the half back line is his best position but then again they interchange so often now or are dragged all over the backline when man marking, I also think lyne has to get more involved in the game, he has potential and as for o' brien you're right the half forward position would I think be his best position.

Dunno, I'm just not terribly confident in Fitzgerald as an inter-county defender. A fine ball player and looks good when we're on the front foot, but his tackling seems very suspect at times; a bit like Darren. Maybe lacking a bit of presence in the back line too.

[Seoirse Ui Duic]

Fionn is 2 stone lighter than Marc Ó Sé and Aidan but roughly the same height.
He is not as good a tackler as Marc or Aidan as they can use their weight but Fionn is deceptively strong for his bulk.
I wonder how much he presses in the gym.
His style of defending is much better suited to how Crokes play than for Kerry's style.
He is very good at going forward though and good at riding the tackles.
So maybe he is better suited at marking today's roaming forwards as he has the speed and agility of a forward.
If a big bulky player charges at Fionn you'd expect him to be flattened, but this is often not the case so maybe he is better than we give him credit for.
If he could bulk up a bit he could be made into a very good fullback, but that would mean sacrificing his natural style of going forward.
I'm sure that Eamon has a plan for him and he has the right skills in my opinion.
You can't teach the core skills anymore at this age and you can't make him taller, but he can bulk up and learn a few new tricks so I'm interested in seeing his progression as a Kerry footballer.

[fitz]

Feb 25, 2015 15:03:58 GMT Seoirse Ui Duic said:

Last year we started one of the most inexperienced teams ever versus Dublin in the league.
Game played in Croke Park and we lost by a point.
Dublin 2-08 Kerry 1-10

Like most Kerry supporters I walked out thinking we should have won the game, but still walked out of Croke Park smiling.
Like before McManamon was used the right way and got a goal. Again it was silly of Kerry to give away that goal as up until that point Kerry looked like winning. Dublin's subs also made a huge impact whereas Kerry seemed to find it hard to cope with the idea of winning versus Dublin without the Gooch.
Even that early in the year JOD and Paul Murphy showed their class.
Dublin ran through the Kerry defence at will and with the black card being fairly new it was unclear what would be allowed to stop them.
It was something Kerry managed to deal with later in the year and in my opinion that first game was an eye-opener to many of the team and might have been the first match on the road to Sam.


By Eoin Ryan
Dublin made a successful start to the defence of their Allianz Football League Division 1 crown as the 14-man champions edged Kerry 2-8 to 1-10 at Croke Park.
Kerry led by a point at the break, with All Star James O’Donoghue in sparkling form, and looked well-placed to push on when Dublin debutant Sean George was shown a straight red card 10 minutes into the second-half.
That seemed to galvanise the Dubs however, and Kerry managed just a single point with the extra player as the 14 men upped the intensity to grind out victory, only taking the lead through substitute Jack McCaffrey with five minutes left to play.
These sides produced a classic when they met in the All-Ireland semi-final last year but only 12 of the 30 that started last September’s thriller began the game as Dublin handed league debuts to Sean George, Eric Lowdnes, Shane Carthy and Cormac Costello.
Former footballer of the year Alan Brogan also made a welcome return, in his first appearance since the 2012 All-Ireland semi-final, as Stephen O'Brien and Paul Murphy made their first NFL starts for the Kingdom.
Kerry started the brighter and took an early lead through points from O'Donoghue and Barry John Keane (free) before Dublin managed a goal against the run of play.
Costello, showing the talent that made him an underage star, drove at the Kerry defence, sucking in Murphy and Shane Enright before laying the ball off for an easy palmed finish from Kevin McManamon.
The rampaging McManamon almost added a second a minute later after claiming a high ball from Brogan but Brendan Kealy saved well.
Kerry recovered from that blow, putting pressure on Stephen Cluxton’s kick-outs, and hitting three unanswered points before O’Donoghue scored a memorable goal.
Picking the ball up wide on the left, he swerved past Mick Fitzsimons and cracked an angled shot into the roof of Cluxton’s net.
Kerry were five up just 16 minutes in but Dublin struck back, landing points from McManamon, Eoghan O’Gara (free) and Shane Carthy to narrow the gap to two.
O’Gara then put the Dubs in front, gathering Ciaran Reddin’s pass to slip a low shot past the advancing Kealy and into the net.
Kerry looked shell-shocked and almost conceded another goal straight away as Kealy got a slight touch to divert McManamon’s piledriver on to the post.
Keane and O’Donoghue settled their side with points to regain the lead but O’Gara flashed another effort across the face of the goal following more good work from Costello. Kerry 1-7 to 2-3 up at the break.
The Kingdom stretched their lead after the interval, O’Donoghue adding another and O’Brien marking his debut with a fine score as Kerry moved three clear.
The ever-dangerous Costello drew and converted a free but Dublin looked in real trouble when George was dismissed, apparently for an off-the-ball incident.
That was the signal for Jim Gavin’s side to up the work-rate, however, and, aided by the arrival of big guns like Michael Darragh Macauley, Paul Mannion and McCaffrey from the bench, they forced a succession of frees to draw level.
Kerry were flagging in the face of Dublin’s characteristic second-half onslaught and went behind for the first time in the 65th minute when Ciaran Kilkenny swung a wonderful crossfield pass into the path of substitute McCaffrey.
A goal looked on but he sensibly fisted a point, putting the Dubs into a lead which was rarely threatened in the closing stages.
Dublin: S Cluxton; J Cooper, S George, M Fitzsimons; E Lowdnes, C O'Sullivan, P McMahon; D O'Mahony, S Carthy (0-02, 1f); C Kilkenny, A Brogan, C Reddin; K McManamon (1-01), E O'Gara (1-01, 0-01f), C Costello (0-01f).
Substitutes: MD McAuley for O’Mahony (45), J McCaffrey (0-01) for Reddin (49), P Mannion (0-02f) for McManamon (53), D Byrne for O’Gara (56), K Nolan for Carthy (64), D Nelson for Cooper (68)
Kerry: B Kealy; P Murphy, M Griffin, S Enright; P Crowley, B McGuire, J Sherwood; A Maher, D Moran (0-01 ‘45’); J Lyne, M Geaney, D Walsh; BJ Keane (0-04, 0-03f), J O'Donoghue (1-03), S O'Brien (0-02).
Substitutes: A O’Mahony for Geaney (47), P Geaney for D Walsh (61), P Kilkenny for Murphy (67).
Referee: D Coldrick (Meath)

An instance where an umpire made something good happen. Right from the start of the second half George was throwing sneaky punches into Stephen O, lower back/kidney stuff, ball wasn't even thrown for the first volley. Anyway he was nailed by the umpire, disgraced himself on his county debut. I'd say Gavin flayed him afterwards,I think he has played again since but very minor roles. Kerry ran out of ideas in the second half walking ball to half forward line and thus dead ends. Inexperience flourished when we most needed a score, but the 14 men did deserve the spoils. Losing a winning position was a negative, exposing our weaknesses and highlight the work for the season long growth graph was invaluable, even at such an early juncture.