All Ireland MFC - Galway v Kerry

[lostinmayo]

it was great to see to see fellas going out playing football the way it was meant to be played, no bs.. credit to both teams, great game of football, 2 goals killed 'em, they were much better than they were at the Munster Final

[bob567]

i agree great football played. i think that barry john walsh will make an excellent footballer, great display by him.

[austinstacksabu]

John left Clare with a specifc set of goals in mind - minor for two years, then U21.....I think he deserves the chance.

[ciarrai33]

First things first,
They played some great stuff. I especially liked the way the Kerry backs were out ahead of their men in the first half. there were some great catches in midfield but i think Galway just about shaded it in that area. BJ walsh was outstanding in the 1st half.

I was a bit dissapointed in the passing out of defense in the 2nd half. There was some crazy kamikaze stuff going on at times. Short passes going astray as well as long foot passes going into Galway hands.
The back door in minor football has really suited Kerry, as they were unrecognisable from the team that lost to Cork

[traleeboy]

some of the posts about the management i find it hard to understand. i agree 100% with other members that kerry were naive and changes should have been made earlier. in my opinion the sideline was slow to react not just yesterday but all season. i, for one, dont rate kennedy at all.

it was clear for all to see yesterday that barry john walsh is one of the finest young footballers in the country-yet the management started him as wing forward in the opening games-not his natural postion-then dropped him for the replay against limerick when he didnt perform there-only to bring him on in the full forward line-where he belongs-and turn the game around for us.

anyone who has watched underage football in recent years knows that jamie doolan is another great prospect-but his position is corner forward.hes not the first cousin of a wing forward-especially the hard running,tough tackling wing forward of the modern game-for example paul galvin-i know the management have a difficult task trying to fit in all the best players available to them-and its common at senior level-but at this age i feel its counter productive-trying to fit square pegs into round holes and all that. the untracked runs of their wing back showed doolan was not suited to this role.

i also had problems with the decision to put barry shanahan in full back from day 1. shanahan, as he showed throughout the year with the green, is a supreme midfielder and we sure could have used him in his natural position yesterday. dont get me wrong. i think he was outstanding at full back in nearly every game but he could have been alot more use to us further out the field. joe scully is a fine full back from castle and he could easily have done a job for kerry there. he was good enough to make the panel last year and yet he cant get a look in this year?

yesterday, as they did in the cork game, the management were slow to make changes. i thought something should have been done about reddington alot earlier. bryan russell had a great game in the corner and he should have been tried on him. just look at the difference it made when galway switched walsh's marker.i disagree with madmac999s view on timmy o sullivan-he showed for alot of ball. yes, eoin kennedy was good in the first half but he was anonymous in the second. i thought he should have been called ashore before o sullivan. but like all year he seems to be unsubstitutable. bring barry shan out to midfield.?barry shan out to half forward? these are only suggestions. im sure other people have other ideas but it just shows the options the management had open to them-none of which they used.

in their defence i will say that the loss of the 'killarney three' was a huge blow. we could certainly have done with kevin flynn out there yesterday. curtin was also badly missed.

i just find it odd that people are singing the praises of kennedy and co when the minors only played well for 15 mins against limerick, the 2nd half against tyrone, and the 1st half yesterday. am i just being cranky?

[watchdehop]

Agree with a lot of Tralee boys comments there.

On the first point: Jamie Doolan is a great corner forward and anyone watching underage football will know that. I can't understand why he was not played in the corner yesterday.
He was put in for two or three minutes and no ball came in and then taken off.
O'Sullivan who was in the right corner forward position looked like he should be playing on the wing.

Other people have said that John Kennedy will be U21 coach now. I think there will strong resistance to it.
Theres a view that it is not appropriate to have a manager involved when their family member could be potentially playing on the same team. It leads to situations that are tough on the manager and the player involved.
Look at the situation that developed in Tyrone a couple of years ago with Mickey Harte when his son was on the panel. It ended up that the son walked away from the county set up for the sake of peace....
Its also one of the reasons that Joe Kernan walked away from Armagh he has four sons who could potentially play.

Would it not be more appropriate for John Kennedy to go for the minor job next year to see if he can win it.

We need to get going at U21 level immediately and it would not be # nice if there were distractions or side shows.

I appreciate that great work has gone into the minor teams of the last few years....

[sullyschoice]

Buck02

Agree fully about Reddington. He was a class act alright. Galways no. 8 Conway also did very well bar a couple of missed frees (I hate seeing fellas kicking from the hand).

A veryt disappointing second half display from Kerry

[Mickmack]

I am loath to be critical........ but tactical awareness is important and Galway appeared to edge it in this department......

[JOAN]

I hope john Kennedy stays on at county level. Be it minor or u21. I think he would be a huge asset to the u 21s though

[Piggy]

take off eoin kennedy ahead of timmy o sullivan???anybody watching the game the last day or watching eoin kennedy play for kerry for the last two years knows that when he get the ball in hand he is one of kerrys most dangerous forwards.only for his goal against limerick in the gaelic grounds at the start of the year kerry would have been beaten for example.
timmy o sullivan never got going in the entire game so the substitution was justified.agree that kennedy might have got afew decisions wrong during the year and that there are alot of people angry with him over players around the county that didnt get a fair chance to make the team but compared to the people over our u21's the last few years he's alot better .and could do a good job

[lessbull]

I just want to say hard luck to the Kerry minors. They played some great football - some of the best I've seen from a minor team for a while. It was one of the best matches of the year. To score 17 points and lose is very unlucky. Keep up the good work lads.

[Mickmack]

who do ye think will be playing senior for kerry in 2010........

[kerryeye]

Maybe not by 2010,but players i expect to wear the green and gold at senior level would be Shanahan,BJ Walsh,Kennedy,Johnny buckley.But sure who knows what a minor will turn out like,look at Donaghy for example or players who've gone the opposite direction.

Cant believe anybody was suggesting Eoin Kennedy should have been taken off,he kicked 3 or 4 excellent points and won some great ball aswell,great talent who has to play with double the pressure of normal players,i think jonhn made a mistake in taking the job while his son was a minor because it was always going to be said that he was only there because of his father if something went wrong,ive no doubt that he would have been on the panel for the last 2 years regardless of who was in charge.

[A.N. Other]

I could see Barry John in Full Foward in about 4 years with other like Barry Shan,John Buckley,Eoin Kennedy and of course Mac Tsaoir!!

[Piggy]

he'll have to get his place back on the An Gaelthacht team first!

[hugh20]

I have been on holiday the last 2weeks but i watched the galway game on t.v and I have to say that the first half was an awesome exhibition of point taking! 2goals killed the lads in my opinion and i think it was clearly visible that doherty was running riot half back indicating that doolan was not up to it as a half forward!

However i have attended many matches at underage level,minor and colleges and it is the first time i have seen doolan lining out at half forward,the majority of football fans know he is an outstanding corner forward!

We dont need to talk about barry john we all know his capabilities! Eoin Kennedy - ill be the first to agree that he had an excellent first half the last day but overall is not a good player in my opinion.

Alan O'Donoghue and cian tobin got a raw deal in my opinion,Croke park would have suited them alot more than timmy o'sullivan! Johnny buckley was poor but he is an outstanding footballer and one i think we will be hearing alot more of!


Players to make it at senior grade- Barry John,Johnny Buckley,Barry Shanahan! Jamie Doolan has the talent but not the strength needed at senior level! Pa Curtin has a good future ahead of him if he keeps his head!