Allianz NFL 2014

Thomas Clarke wrote:

champers wrote:

Thomas Clarke wrote:

champers wrote:as for alan  unless he breaks down i think he will be at 11 this year come championship hard to judge a player on 1 game gavin will give him every chance

True on the not judging a player on one game, but Alan is what, 32/33?  So much of his game was always based around speed, and that must be dulling a bit due to age and injuries.  If Alan is at No.11 for Dublin this year, the Dubs should be a bit concerned.

He captained Dublin v Tyrone in 03 at U21 32/33 is adding years on.

This summer he will be at least 32.  The CHBs he will face are the likes of Peter Harte, Karl Lacey, Fionn Fitzgerald and James Loughrey.  If he has lost his pace, he'll struggle.

IMO opinion unless he falls flat on his face with injury,he will play a big part this year 33 or 31 he is still dublin best option at 11 after that Dublin would fill his void with youth fullness.as for the CHB above fully fit brogan would play with them

champers wrote:
IMO opinion unless he falls flat on his face with injury,he will play a big part this year 33 or 31 he is still dublin best option at 11 after that Dublin would fill his void with youth fullness.as for the CHB above fully fit brogan would play with them

Look, I agree, if Alan Brogan is anywhere close to his 2011 form, he will definitely start and contribute. However, 3 injury-packed years are a long time when you are over 30. He's a fine footballer, and I hope he makes it all the way back, but I wouldn't be confident.

Thomas Clarke wrote:

champers wrote:
IMO opinion unless he falls flat on his face with injury,he will play a big part this year 33 or 31 he is still dublin best option at 11 after that Dublin would fill his void with youth fullness.as for the CHB above fully fit brogan would play with them

Look, I agree, if Alan Brogan is anywhere close to his 2011 form, he will definitely start and contribute.  However, 3 injury-packed years are a long time when you are over 30.  He's a fine footballer, and I hope he makes it all the way back, but I wouldn't be confident.

Time will tell i suppose

Cork up next have not got a clue what team will start,but the langers have being big mouthed about Dublin in recent weeks should add a bit of spice to this one.

Am I the only person who hated the first half of Dublin/Cork? An insipid scoreline of 0-12 to 1-11 at H/T, with barely a hand put on anyone. If that is what the new rules are going to give us, it will be a very bland summer.

The second half was thankfully more competitive, although it did become very scrappy as the rain fell and the teams tired. As I've said for a year, the way to beat Dublin is not to pull everyone back and hope to squeeze a low-scoring win, but rather to push up, win midfield, have a strong bench and, most importantly, kick lots of scores when you get the chances.

For Dublin, Cormac Costello was again impressive, particularly early on. He is very fast and direct and will push hard for a starting role throughout the year. MDMA was virtually anonymous, and Dublin will need to find other options in midfield to protect against his odd off-days (or an injury).

Cork looked good when moving the ball quickly. They caused the Dublin fullback line lots of trouble when they gave the ball in quickly but, when the build up was slower, they reverted to type and started going sideways/backwards.

Two good sides, and both should be in the semi finals.

Thomas Clarke wrote:
Meath are what Meath have been for a decade: capable of a good game, and capable of being blitzed by almost anyone.  They should be worried as they are closer to full strength than almost any other side in the top 2 divisions.  They should also worry as in the last 12 months they have played Monaghan 3 times, and the results were:

Clones, Feb 2013: Monaghan 1-18  Meath 2-3
Croke Pk, Apr 2013: Monaghan 2-16  Meath 3-8
Clones, Feb 2013:  Monaghan 0-20  Meath 0-8

The last time we saw one side impose such dominance on another was when Cork routinely handed out 15 point pastings to Down a couple of years ago.

Meath are not going at all well. I watched last night's game against Armagh, and they were very poor. At half-time, Graham Geraghty thought that Meath were well on top, but I don't know what game he was watching. They got 2 very lucky goals and, a couple of nice moments from Wallace and particularly Newman aside, they never looked dangerous.

Armagh were faster, slicker in possession and, more damningly for Mick O'Dowd, better organised and with a more clearly defined gameplan. If the 2 fullback lines had been swapped, Armagh would have won by much more.

Meath aren't too far off being at full-strength just now, yet their results and performances have been very poor. The Brays and Graham Reilly were all awful, while Shane O'Rourke looks like all the injuries have really stunted his development. They also have a lot of lads who just aren't very good on the ball, particularly in defence. In addition to the excellent Michael Newman, Bryan McMahon in attack was one of their few highlights, as he seemed full of enthusiasm and showed good awareness.

Armagh will be very pleased. They started the year so poorly, but have put in two good back-to-back performances against Down and Meath, last night's being achieved without defenders Ciaran McKeever, Brendan Donaghy and Aaron Kernan. Stephen Harold was very good in midfield, while Oisin McKeever looked like a good addition in the FF line. They aren't going to be winning anything this year and a few of their lads will be out of their depth as the year goes on, but they don't look as bad as they did a few weeks ago.

I haven't seen the Tyrone game yet, though SKY+ will ensure that I do over the next couple of days.  I listened to it on Kildare radio, and to say those lads were gutted at the final whistle is an understatement.

Kildare led 7-0 and 9-2 early on, yet we went in just training by a point at half time.  They opened up a 4 point lead early in the 2nd half but we pegged that back to 1 as well.  Then they finally seemed to have broken us by stretching out to five points again, but 2 injury time goals enabled us to achieve the most incredible of wins.  Nobody even seems to have confirmed who got the goals, with Hoganstand saying it was Emmet McKenna & McAliskey, while RTE goes for Ronan O'Neill & Mark Donnelly.

Dominated for most of the game, rarely in possession, and several points down on multiple occasions, this was a real character-building win for a young side.

Good comeback win for Tyrone however Jason Ryan shot himself in the foot when he took off both kildare midfielders centre back and full forward in last 10 mins. Westmeath as good as gone to div 2 already and Kerry will probably join them. Donegal finding their 2011,2012 form which is bad news for the rest.

Gaa_lover wrote:Good comeback win for Tyrone however Jason Ryan shot himself in the foot when he took off both kildare midfielders centre back and full forward in last 10 mins. Westmeath as good as gone to div 2 already and Kerry will probably join them. Donegal finding their 2011,2012 form which is bad news for the rest.

Kerry aren't as far off the pace as they were this time last year but, unlike then, they probably don't have the same scope for improvement over the last few weeks.  There is no Gooch/Galvin/Tomas/Brosnan to come back, and their fitness levels don't seem to be that much below everyone else's.  

The one thing on Kerry's side is that they can sneak ahead of Kildare by beating them on 16th March.  Kildare are playing well but not getting the results and, in addition to the Kerry match in Newbridge, have away games against Dublin and Derry over the next 3 weeks.  Aside from what may happen at home to Tyrone next week, if Kerry can win in Newbridge on 16th, they will then finish away to Westmeath and home to an already qualified Cork side, so they could yet save themselves.

Donegal are playing as well as expected, but we are a long way from knowing just how good they really are.

Thomas Clarke wrote:I haven't seen the Tyrone game yet, though SKY+ will ensure that I do over the next couple of days.  I listened to it on Kildare radio, and to say those lads were gutted at the final whistle is an understatement.

Kildare led 7-0 and 9-2 early on, yet we went in just training by a point at half time.  They opened up a 4 point lead early in the 2nd half but we pegged that back to 1 as well.  Then they finally seemed to have broken us by stretching out to five points again, but 2 injury time goals enabled us to achieve the most incredible of wins.  Nobody even seems to have confirmed who got the goals, with Hoganstand saying it was Emmet McKenna & McAliskey, while RTE goes for Ronan O'Neill & Mark Donnelly.

Dominated for most of the game, rarely in possession, and several points down on multiple occasions, this was a real character-building win for a young side.

Ronan O'Neill go the first one TC and Mark Donnelly the second.

Gaa_lover wrote:Good comeback win for Tyrone however Jason Ryan shot himself in the foot when he took off both kildare midfielders centre back and full forward in last 10 mins. Westmeath as good as gone to div 2 already and Kerry will probably join them. Donegal finding their 2011,2012 form which is bad news for the rest.

totally agree about Ryan, he went too early with the wholesale changes and sent the wrong message out to the team that the game was over, they duly responded and stopped playing.

I bet he wished he had another sub to make after O'Neill goaled..................

Thomas Clarke wrote:Am I the only person who hated the first half of Dublin/Cork?  An insipid scoreline of 0-12 to 1-11 at H/T, with barely a hand put on anyone.  If that is what the new rules are going to give us, it will be a very bland summer.  

would you rather watch a game where players are pulling each other to the ground and non stop fouling!!!

Personally i find it rather refreshing to watch games where that schite (by and large) isnt allowed to happen. The Mayo game had a fair bit of pulling and hauling and even mauling on a few occassions it didnt make for much at times in terms of viewing.

Refs havent got the hang of the rules at all, Petey Harte gets black card for a foul on O'Connor and yet Kildare were getting away with more cynical fouls at times, same happened agaisnt Cavan in McKenna cup - but it will take time to bed in and everyone is learning and the players seem less willing to throw themselves into tackles.

bocerty wrote:
Ronan O'Neill go the first one TC and Mark Donnelly the second.

It looked like O'Neill and McAliskey to me Boc, even though there looked an element of an overcarry by Mattie Donnelly in the lead-up to the winner.  
TC will have the final adjudication after closer scrutiny of Sky+. Hopefully it's not like the Armagh TV coverage of a few weeks ago.

Boxtyeater wrote:

bocerty wrote:
Ronan O'Neill go the first one TC and Mark Donnelly the second.

It looked like O'Neill and McAliskey to me Boc, even though there looked an element of an overcarry by Mattie Donnelly in the lead-up to the winner.  
TC will have the final adjudication after closer scrutiny of Sky+. Hopefully it's not like the Armagh TV coverage of a few weeks ago.

Boxty it was definitely Mark Donnelly end of, no disputing it regardless of what Sky+ comes back with

Very good win last night for Armagh. Playing against the wind, Laois took control for the first 10 minutes but, after that, it was largely one way traffic, with Armagh looking fitter, stronger and most determined.

I thought that Laois were pretty poor, and their big win over Galway must say more about the Tribesmen than anything else. They are a reasonable sized team, but they lack footballers and forwards of any description. They also are setting up quite defensively, just as you'd expect from a Tomas O'Flatharta side.

Armagh are getting there, and the McKenna Cup debacle in Omagh seems to be well behind them now. For the first time in a long time, they seem to be establishing a style of play and nailing down some first team regulars: Young Ethan Rafferty and Stephen Harold look like being the midfield, while Caolan Rafftery, Tony Kernan, Jamie Clarke and the last night's MOTM Stephan Campbell are nailed on in attack. The defence has Andy Mallon and Mark Shields playing well, and will have Aaron Kernan, Brendan Donaghy and Ciaran McKeever back for the summer. A provincial title will prove beyond them, but they will give Cavan their fill of it in the Ulster quarter final.

Dublin looked impressive last night although, to be fair, they always do when playing Kildare in Croke Park.

Kildare were able to compete in terms of speed and size, but they were woeful in attack. A bit like last weekend against Tyrone, they missed a string of chances, and last night could have had several goals. Kildare are a good side when fresh. They play at a great tempo, and any side would struggle to contain them. Their trouble is that, when they tire, their lack of basic skills let them down, and the ball is either moved too slowly or sloppily turned over. Still, they have added a couple more good young players to the half dozen who emerged last year (Tommy Moolick, Mick O'Grady), and they are easily the second best side in Leinster.

The Dubs were much more clinical in attack, despite it being spearheaded by McMenamin and O'Gara. To be fair to those two, they were both excellent and caused the Kildare backs all sorts of problems with their power and pace. Playing at LHB, Johnny Cooper was also excellent and MDMA and O'Sullivan had the upper hand at midfield. Dublin's fullback line is still the main area of concern. Dublin give you chances, but Kildare didn't take enough of them to threaten.

I'm sure word will soon start to filter out over about Ciaran Kilkenny's injury - it looked very innocuous but some serious ones often do. I hope he is back in action soon.

Watching this game last night i just thought who in gods name can live with this Dublim team as the year goes on,the pace they play the game at is unreal for this time of year,they work so hard when they don't have the ball and once they turn over ball there gone creating overlaps and scores.If anyone is going to stop this Dublin side this year with will be by shutting up shop and being patient

Alan looked miles of the pace last night hard to see him getting back up to championship level hope he does but can't see it,sean george looked very poor last night but you would have to ask your self why did he not play in front of his man o connor ran him ragged,Great result for the B team with about 5 of the A team giving them a hand out

Important win and performance for Tyrone today.  The first half was open and fairly evenly balanced, but Tyrone always looked the more dangerous side.  We had so many changes, including a full-forward line that has only about 3 starts all year between them, that the final pass often went astray early on.  However, this changed after half time, and Tyrone just took over, scoring 2-13 in the second period.

The fullback line was under pressure from the excellent Denis Glennon, but we dominated the middle 8, with both Cavanaghs playing well in front of a much improved half back line.  Shay McGuigan got on a mountain of ball and, although he got turned over a lot, he still had a very good game.  McGinley doesn't have the neat skills of a forward, but his athleticism meant he constantly popped up in dangerous positions.  Grugan was on the periphery, and was replaced by Ronan O'Neill at HT, in a switch that saw Mark Donnelly move from FF to LHF (where he is much more suited).

Inside, Coney and McAliskey were rusty early on, before putting on a clinic of ball-winning and extravagant point scoring.  Both were very impressive.

The biggest cheer of the day was reserved for Niall Morgan's Derek-Duggan-esque second half free kick.  He was at fully 60m and midway between the goals and the sideline, but fired it over the blackspot.  The applause lasted until he was back in his own goal.

Tyrone were a bit rusty and anxious early on, but played very well once they got going, despite the frailties in the FB line persisting.  Westmeath were missing Heslin, and they just didn't have enough good players to compete.  Te pre-game changes were numerous and radical, but this will now form the basis of the Tyrone side for the rest of the season.

Thomas Clarke wrote:Important win and performance for Tyrone today.  The first half was open and fairly evenly balanced, but Tyrone always looked the more dangerous side.  We had so many changes, including a full-forward line that has only about 3 starts all year between them, that the final pass often went astray early on.  However, this changed after half time, and Tyrone just took over, scoring 2-13 in the second period.

The fullback line was under pressure from the excellent Denis Glennon, but we dominated the middle 8, with both Cavanaghs playing well in front of a much improved half back line.  Shay McGuigan got on a mountain of ball and, although he got turned over a lot, he still had a very good game.  McGinley doesn't have the neat skills of a forward, but his athleticism meant he constantly popped up in dangerous positions.  Grugan was on the periphery, and was replaced by Ronan O'Neill at HT, in a switch that saw Mark Donnelly move from FF to LHF (where he is much more suited).

Inside, Coney and McAliskey were rusty early on, before putting on a clinic of ball-winning and extravagant point scoring.  Both were very impressive.

The biggest cheer of the day was reserved for Niall Morgan's Derek-Duggan-esque second half free kick.  He was at fully 60m and midway between the goals and the sideline, but fired it over the blackspot.  The applause lasted until he was back in his own goal.

Tyrone were a bit rusty and anxious early on, but played very well once they got going, despite the frailties in the FB line persisting.  Westmeath were missing Heslin, and they just didn't have enough good players to compete.  Te pre-game changes were numerous and radical, but this will now form the basis of the Tyrone side for the rest of the season.

You at the game TC???

Looking at div one after 5 games and 2 to play it looks like Kildare will be joining Westmeath in div 2 next year. Derry,Tyrone,Cork will play in the semi finals and the winner of Dublin v Mayo will join those three.

I was Boc. That was an official TC report - guessing you don't agree?!

Gaa_lover wrote:Looking at div one after 5 games and 2 to play it looks like Kildare will be joining Westmeath in div 2 next year. Derry,Tyrone,Cork will play in the semi finals and the winner of Dublin v Mayo will join those three.

Tyrone will probably lose in Cork. That means that, even if Dublin lose to Mayo, it will be the final weekend clash between Tyrone & Dubs that should be decisive between those 2.

Thomas Clarke wrote:I was Boc. That was an official TC report - guessing you don't agree?!

not at all TC - wasnt at it so i cant comment at all, just from the report i was guessing you were at the game given the in depth analysis, i was thinking you didnt get that info from listening to it on the radio

Dublin are in massive trouble as predicted would be the case. Two defeats against Derry and Cork badly exposed the hangover left behind after last year's All-Ireland.

I knew this would be the case after the O'Byrne Cup. The problems were still there in narrow wins of Kerry and Westmeath. No co-incidence that the teams they've beaten are all at the bottom of the table.

The suggestion that they have a wealth of talent has proven not to be the case so now they are left taking a gamble on the form of Rory O'Carroll, Bernard Brogan and Dean Rock after injuries. The Vinnies duo of Ger Brennan and Diarmuid Connolly - never has their importance to the team been so obvious.

Another long term injury to one of the key players from the All-Ireland winning 20 would seriously hamper their hopes. Already without Kevin O'Brien and Ciaran Kilkenny.

The promotion race for Division 2 has heated up in recent weeks. Down have given themselves a chance with victory over Donegal who, by all accounts, showed once again that they struggle when Murphy and McFadden misfire. Or maybe I am doing a disservice to their markers on Sunday? Benny McArdle and Dan McCartan respectively. Down now face two tricky away ties to Meath and Laois, whilst Monaghan have Laois and Galway at home and you would fancy Donegal to beat Louth at home and to sneak victory in Armagh. Donegal and Monaghan are both ahead of Down on scoring difference but with head-to-heads the deciding factor when two teams finish on level points, it's all still to play for.