Kildare V Meath...A/I Q/Final...

An all Leinster pairing go head to head on Sunday at Headquarters in what could be a cracker of a game.
Both sets of forwards would appear, on most recent form, to have the measure of their opposing backlines.

Meath have had a longer break from competitive action which should be more beneficial, but Kildare have been building momentum of late, albeit against some mentally exhausted/fragile competitors and racking up big scores against demoralised defences. Doyle had a poor outing last weekend,by his own standards and Boxty wonders is he suffering from the long haul and the inevitable pressure. Callaghan has found a bit of a scoring burst of late, but I fear against a more resolute rearguard like Meath's, they will struggle for scores on Sunday.

Meath are a more potent attacking force and given the accuracy of Ward aligned to the skills of Bray, Reilly and Sheridan, I fear the "flourbags" will come out of this one on the wrong side of a 3-5 point defeat.....

Kildare by 4-7 points...

Not sure you could describe the Meath defence as resolute Boxty! I think they are ordinary enough and they still haven't solved the problem of where to play Anthony Moyles.

Jayo Cluxton wrote:Not sure you could describe the Meath defence as resolute Boxty! I think they are ordinary enough and they still haven't solved the problem of where to play Anthony Moyles.

Hes finished..he only plays for his pocket..

Jayo Cluxton wrote:Not sure you could describe the Meath defence as resolute Boxty! I think they are ordinary enough and they still haven't solved the problem of where to play Anthony Moyles.

I didn't. I said more resolute (than Leitrim's, Derry's or Monaghan's) Jaysus, if the Meath backline are worse than the afore-mentioned, I'll eat my own hat as Colm O'Rourke once said about some small lad....

i'd be inclined to agree with you Boxty i think Kildare are going to implode on Saturday - granted they have built some momentum but against what???

Meath by 4 for me

[quote="Boxtyeater"]

Jayo Cluxton wrote:Not sure you could describe the Meath defence as resolute Boxty! I think they are ordinary enough and they still haven't solved the problem of where to play Anthony Moyles.

I didn't. I said more resolute (than Leitrim's, Derry's or Monaghan's) Jaysus, if the Meath backline are worse than the afore-mentioned, I'll eat my own hat as Colm O'Rourke once said about some small lad.... [/quote

sorry that was a bout Wexford beating dublin a few years ago we had him sweating too, dubs only beat us by 4/5 points in Carlow that same evening]

In my opinion, this game is a watershed for this Meath side, and arguably their biggest game since the 2001 all-ireland final.

After a period in the doldrums, Meath surprisingly emerged in the 2007 all-ireland semi and, equally surprisingly, the 2009 semi. They followed that up by hammering Dublin on the way to their 1st Leinster in almost a decade. All that indicates a team on the up, but it isn't that simple with Meath.

Meath were hammered in the 2007 by Cork, and the fall-out from that seemed to continue into 2008, when they were humiliated by Limerick. They rebounded by making the 2009 semi and hammering the Dubs a couple of months ago but, just when the corner appeared to have been turned, they put in a shocking performance against Louth with the Leinster title at stake.

In the 80s and 90s, Meath were the mentally toughest side in Ireland, but the suspicion has always been that the current crop are flakey. Personally, I think that a defeat to Kildare, another Leinster side, would be a huge set-back for them, particularly after the dubious way in which they won the Leinster title. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that it might spell the end of this Meath team, almost before they have properly arrived.

An up-and-coming side can only suffer so many setbacks, before they inevitably fall away. This is a massive, massive game for Meath, moreso than Kildare, who I don't really believe have the quality to win an all-ireland with that side. Meath probably could win one over the next 2-3 years (possibly even this year), but only if they win on Sunday. A loss, and I fear that the likes of Moyles, Kenny, King, Sheridan, Ward, Bray and a few others may never be able to make the step up to all-ireland level.

The pressure is certainly all on Meath TC - not sure if a defeat would signal the end of this current team but for sure it would be a major set back and one for which they would get little sympathy given the manner in which the Leinster title was secured, you almost get the sense that there are people hoping they fall flat on their face on Sunday as it would be deemed some sort of revenge for what happened against Louth.

As i said before i am not totally convinced by Kildare - fair enough they put Monaghan (a side i would have rated above them) without their top scorer more or less but Monaghan were a beaten team before that game started after the events of the week before. If Kildare were behind with say 10 minutes to go i am not sure they would the artillery to pull the game out of the fire but then the same could be said for Meath.

All in all a tight game should be the order of the day with plenty of cards being dished out and Meath coming through by the skin of their teeth.

Surprised at your read of Meath TC. IMO Meath totally overachieved in getting to the 2007 semi and ended up tanked. Ditto last year. I thought they had turned a corner this year with some good performances - but there is huge inconsistency there. As for winning Sam? Meath have no midfield and haven't had for a number of years - and they don't have anything in the half lines (especially the half back lines) to compensate this. Their backline is no better than average. They have some lovely footballers up front but are nowhere near an All Ireland. I actually like Meath and EOB has made some progress but they are still as far away from Kerry and Tyrone as ever - as we are too.

I honestly haven't a clue how Sunday is going to go, how we will perform. I think the match will depend a lot more on our form than it will on Kildare's as well. The front 6 I am confident with, they'll have their shooting boots with them this time. Our mid field is not good and no one can say otherwise really except for when Cindy is having an exceptionally good day. Our half back line is weak. Our full back line is good, not great, but good. The return of Kevin Reilly has really helped them. We're not All Ireland prospects for this year but we do have potential.

I don't think I'm over-rating Meath Jayo. I said that I thought that they have the potential to push on and win an all-ireland over the next 2-3 years, which is fair enough, given that Kerry & Tyrone are about to go through a period of transition. Actually, after 7 years of dominance by 2 sides, it is very possible that the next 5-6 years will see several different winners of Sam, not unlike the 1992-1998 period, when there were 7 different winners in as many years.

Meath have forwards, and forwards win all-irelands. They do need a midfield, and a couple of backs, but those can be unearthed more easily than scoring forwards. If you have forwards, you can build a team that can challenge.

I agree 100% about their inconsistency, and said as much in my post. In fact, it is because of this inconsistency that I think Saturday's game is crucial for the development of the side, as defeat could lead to mental demons that take a long time to banish.

Midfield isn't a problem. Crawford returned for the Leinster Final and steadied the ship, the stats had us winning 53-47 I believe. And we all know how highly this forum rates Keenan/White. Of course, I'll concede that if anything happens to Captain Crawford, we might find ourselves in some difficulty having to turn to Conor Gillespie or Mark Ward, who have struggled in a lot of their outings so far. Earley won't get his hands on any ball direct from kickouts as Crawford will fist and fist it away all day.

The half-back line of O'Brien-Moyles-King is a worry and when you think about it, we've been hit with injuries to Mickey Burke (long-term) and Cormac McGuinness (on/off all season) in this part of the pitch big time. Moyles and King are too slow in retreating and don't offer enough cover to the full-back line often leaving them quite exposed. Gary O'Brien has been very impressive, and has come a long way from 2008 when he was only a sub with O'Mahonys. I'd have no concerns regarding our FB line provided they recieve adequate assistance from the lads in front of them.

As for the forwards, well all of them are household names at this stage, recognised as profilic scorers. But are they really all that? I'm not sure. My greatest fear is that if anything happens to Stephen Bray, the whole thing will go to pieces. He is the creator/provider/orchestrator of everything. Sheridan/O'Rourke have such viscous styles, more of a presence than anything else, the likes of them are easily marked. The languid Cian Ward is doing okay but suspect we are still carrying him for frees. Its such a pity David Bray got injured at the start of this year. Brian Farrell could be a match-winner on Sunday if he gets his chance.

I suspect we should have enough for Kildare but only because its Kildare. They were shocking against Louth and getting taken to a replay by Antrim before falling across the line against Leitrim and beating soul-less Ulster teams is dubious enough form. Then again, you can find holes in most team's form, including Meath. Still, I'd expect Meath to show up a lot of deficiencies in Kildare, that weaker teams could not.

So can Kildare cause the upset of the weekend?

Meath/Kildare are always memorable encounters.

With the help of one or two Corkmen, Kildare almost won All-Irelands in '87 and '88 and eventually did the trick two years later by beating Meath in the Final.

The the Micko led Lilywhites of '97 and '98 and only for some Devine Inspiration, who knows? And in 1998, a hit and hope from Martin Lynch put Brian Murphy through one on one with Conor Martin. Game over. Great games.

meath are a very average team and kildare will prove this yet again tomorrow , i would be more worried that they are over the leinster final , they had one freak result against dublin and they wont get that luck again i expect kildare to win by 4

hipster wrote:meath are a very average team and kildare will prove this yet again tomorrow , i would be more worried that they are over the leinster final , they had one freak result against dublin and they wont get that luck again i expect kildare to win by 4

Thinly veiled "This load of ***** looked great at the time* ) post from some no-mark here...

Good bye!

Delighted to see this game happen today!

Where's Loyals " we have the cup la la la la" now.

Karma anyone?

Omar and TC - NSG apologised for his comments and I have removed the previous comments relating to the posts so that there is no a big fall out over it.

Meath looked like they could have done with an extra game in preparation for this quarter-final, quite ironic..

Well done to Kildare, despite another poor start they were excellent from there on. Kavanagh and Doyle were both exceptional and all-stars are probably theirs to lose now. I think they'll go close to winning Sam(didn't think I'd be saying that even earlier in the week), although I'd love to see Down in the final. Whoever wins it this year will have some party, that's for sure.

yes i am proved right again

Loyal2TheRoyal wrote:Midfield isn't a problem. Crawford returned for the Leinster Final and steadied the ship, the stats had us winning 53-47 I believe. And we all know how highly this forum rates Keenan/White. Of course, I'll concede that if anything happens to Captain Crawford, we might find ourselves in some difficulty having to turn to Conor Gillespie or Mark Ward, who have struggled in a lot of their outings so far. Earley won't get his hands on any ball direct from kickouts as Crawford will fist and fist it away all day.

The half-back line of O'Brien-Moyles-King is a worry and when you think about it, we've been hit with injuries to Mickey Burke (long-term) and Cormac McGuinness (on/off all season) in this part of the pitch big time. Moyles and King are too slow in retreating and don't offer enough cover to the full-back line often leaving them quite exposed. Gary O'Brien has been very impressive, and has come a long way from 2008 when he was only a sub with O'Mahonys. I'd have no concerns regarding our FB line provided they recieve adequate assistance from the lads in front of them.

As for the forwards, well all of them are household names at this stage, recognised as profilic scorers. But are they really all that? I'm not sure. My greatest fear is that if anything happens to Stephen Bray, the whole thing will go to pieces. He is the creator/provider/orchestrator of everything. Sheridan/O'Rourke have such viscous styles, more of a presence than anything else, the likes of them are easily marked. The languid Cian Ward is doing okay but suspect we are still carrying him for frees. Its such a pity David Bray got injured at the start of this year. Brian Farrell could be a match-winner on Sunday if he gets his chance.

I suspect we should have enough for Kildare but only because its Kildare. They were shocking against Louth and getting taken to a replay by Antrim before falling across the line against Leitrim and beating soul-less Ulster teams is dubious enough form. Then again, you can find holes in most team's form, including Meath. Still, I'd expect Meath to show up a lot of deficiencies in Kildare, that weaker teams could not.

Someone pick me up of the ground

mullins wrote:Kildare by 4-7 points...

cant believe i got it wrong 8

Egg on face for Boxty here I believe. Also my assessment of Meath is spot on I think ...and Kildare lost their talisman midfielder with just over 2 mins on the clock!

ps Meade played really well in fairness to him but Cian Ward had a shocker.