Dublin v Laois

Fancied Laois to do something this season but have changed my mind. Eventual Sam winners to give a **** about Leinster and thus hammer whinging county of Laois by the all too familiar 10 -15 points.

Laois are awful. If the Dubs can't bate 'em by 15 points they may forget about it...

Steady now old man - this ain't Sligo here ...

Rory O’Carroll returns to the Dublin team after missing the entire National League for Sunday’s Leinster SFC quarter-final against Laois in Croke Park (4.0).
The Kilmacud Crokes man spent the spring teaching in Orleans but has regained his place at full-back after returning to Dublin at the start of May.
Sunday’s team shows three changes from the team which started the Allianz NFL Division 1 final loss to Cork. Paul Brogan, Denis Bastick and Tomás Quinn are the players to lose out with O’Carroll, James McCarthy and Alan Brogan all handed starting roles.

DUBLIN (SFC v Laois)
1. Stephen Cluxton
2. Philly McMahon 3. Rory O’Carroll 4. Mick Fitzsimons

5. James McCarthy 6. Ger Brennan 7. Kevin Nolan

8. Michael Darragh Macauley 9. Barry Cahill

10. Paul Flynn 11. Kevin McManamon 12. Bryan Cullen [capt]

13. Alan Brogan 14. Diarmuid Connolly 15. Bernard Brogan

No thread on the Kildare Meath game - shows its unimportance in the wider scheme of things I spose! Similarly Tyrone v Monaghan ....

Jayo Cluxton wrote:No thread on the Kildare Meath game - shows its unimportance in the wider scheme of things I spose! Similarly Tyrone v Monaghan ....

They've all thrown in the towel.. Dubs have Sam as good as won.

Jonsmith wrote:

Jayo Cluxton wrote:No thread on the Kildare Meath game - shows its unimportance in the wider scheme of things I spose! Similarly Tyrone v Monaghan ....

They've all thrown in the towel.. Dubs have Sam as good as won.

Imagine what a lift a Dubs double would give the whole country!

No thread on Kerry-Limerick or Cork--Waterford either. Obviously concentrating on the weaker counties at this early stage.

Ooh na na, what’s his name
Ooh na na, what’s his name
Ooh na na, what’s his name
whats his name, whats his nameOoh na na, what’s his name
Ooh na na, what’s his name
Ooh na na, what’s his name
whats his name, whats his nameOoh na na, what’s his name
Ooh na na, what’s his name
Ooh na na, what’s his name
whats his name, whats his nameOoh na na, what’s his name
Ooh na na, what’s his name
Ooh na na, what’s his name
whats his name, whats his name

Ooh na na, what’s his name
Ooh na na, what’s his name
Ooh na na, what’s his name
whats his name, whats his name

Bernard is the best we've seen in a long long time
In a long long time

Oooooh oooooh oooh oh oh
Oooooh oooooh oooh oh oh

This thread has taken a dubious twist, balladeers out in force......
Meanwhile, given that there's no soccerball to distract patrons, will Tesco's €1 per can adversely affect the attendance?
Should I set the alarm for 4.15?

Boxtyeater wrote:This thread has taken a dubious twist, balladeers out in force......
Meanwhile, given that there's no soccerball to distract patrons, will Tesco's €1 per can adversely affect the attendance?
Should I set the alarm for 4.15?

Ooh na na, what’s the name
Ooh na na, what’s the name
Ooh na na, what’s the name
whats the name, whats the name

Tesco is the best we've seen in a long long time
In a long long time..In a long time

Patton that quickly

mullins wrote:[Tesco is the best we've seen in a long long timeIn a long long time..In a long time

I'm normally opposed to Tesco and generally avoid their outlets but just for this one time......Cheers Tesco....

Laois to burst the blues latest bubble here Im afraid

Deluded......Dubs have only to turn up.

Sam is their's to lose.

Boxtyeater wrote:Deluded......Dubs have only to turn up.

Sam is their's to lose.

Liam too by the sounds of things

I'm looking forward to seeing Bernard Brogan tomorrow. Hopefully, he produces the goods.

Like Loyal, I too am looking forward to seeing Bernard- what a babe. Dublin should beat Laois by around 73 points I'd say.

Dublin are in a no win situation tomorrow, if they hammer Laois it will be a facile victory and they were showboating etc; etc; If they only win by a point or two, they should have beat them by more. If they lose then they peaked too early.

Would love to see O'Carroll do well at full back. Dublin haven't had a consistently reliable full back since Paddy Christie.
Better options on the bench too than in the league final. Midfield hasn't really clicked yet this year so would prefer if that happened tomorrow than a 10+ point demolition of Laois.

Dublin by 5 points.

Well I is gonna be very critical this year when I see the need. Not a bad start to the campaign compared to opening rounds in other years. Positives - Alan B is playing his best football in a Dub shirt. He is looking up, providing assists and taking scores and I called him as MotM too - fair play to him. Bernard is Bernard - sublime. Connolly did well but is inconsistent and in and out of games. Needs to show more - has loads of talent. Mossy Quinn - not good enough end of story - couldn't even kick a 45 - why tf didn't Cluxton take it??

My biggest disappointment was that the one thing that cost us the League final was still there - carrying the ball into contact and over carrying - take a bow again Kevin McManamon and MDMcA. Did it in the final and again today - brainless. McManamon reminds me of the old Alan Brogan - head down and into cul de sacs. woeful shot selection and trying to do it on his own. He wouldn't have seen 35 mins if I was calling it. MDMcA needs to get a grip here too.

Defence quite good - Ger Brennan a lovely foot passer. But we got away with stuff today against a poor side that the likes of Kerry will crucify ya for. Its all about learning - not sure one or two of ours are ..... Must improve.

Very easy for Dublin today, against a side that lacked the power and strength to give them any trouble. Alan Brogan has returned to form, and seems to be enjoying his new role closer to goal again. Bernard is the most dangerous forward in Ireland at present, while Connelly had one of his good games.

Midfield will need to improve, as MDMA is much better in the loose than in the middle, and Bastick/Cahill/McConnell look interchangeable in their mediocrity beside him.

There will be much bigger challenges for Dublin, and Kildare will be physically competitive in the semi, but this was a good start with encouraging signs.

I don't think the MF is hugely important to be honest TC - Tyrone have shown that. The way Cluxton kicks out does not need twin towers and I think Dublins game is based on more mobile CF pairings - hence the interchanging. In the League final it was no out ball to the front that cost us. Wouldl not be worried about MF - more worried that obvious mistakes still persist elsewhere.

The full back line did very well but I thought Philly looked a bit tired/sluggish but they at least they weren't diving in and conceding silly frees.
Brennan has improved considerably and even though he was fouled quite a bit he didn't react like he used to. Casey, Nelson and Griffin will really have to play some serious stuff to try and oust Nolan or McCarthy - though we will see what their credentials are like when Dublin face a sterner test.
I said before the game that I felt the midfield needed to click and it didn't. It was all well and good in the first half when we won most of the kick outs but in the second half when Laois won a few kick outs in a row which set up their scoring burst - a team with more belief will destroy Dublin. (Is Fennell injured?)
I still think we need a better return from our forwards - the half forward line only contributed 0-1 point. Not really good enough at this level when you consider all Corks forwards scored yesterday. Flynn didn't really contribute much - except for the sublime cross field ball to Cullen. McManamon is a little bit headless but he tries his heart out. Connolly needs to settle down a little bit - evidently he was absent the day "take your points and the goals will come" was taught in school. I think he is a better option than O'Gara.
Not sure why Mossy was taking the 45' when Cluxton had scored 3 from 4 earlier in the day. I thought Mossy looked very lethargic but I'm not sure what other options are there at the moment. Alan Brogan is now playing like Sherlock did in his last year or two. Cahir Healy did quite well on Bernard but Bernard is definitely showing (so far) that he's not a one season wonder.
The big worry is that if McGrillan and McLoughlin keep the Brogans quiet, where are Dublin going to get the scores against Kildare?

This game was over as a contest after 10 mins...Very disappointed with Laois very poor team just didn't get to the pace of the game..Hard to see how they got promotion to Div1...

Midfield is a worry at the moment nobody showing any form in there..Fennell is the best high fielder in Dublin but he's miles off at the moment..But i guess we have time to get this sorted out for late July..Would like to see Kev Mc get another chance against Kildare-not sure if he has the pace for Croker but still worth another go....

The back 6 done well put they really had nothing to deal with....Can't see any selection changes for the Kildare game time to exit the Leinster Championship and go on the rd...Nothing to be gained winning Leinster everything to lose..