The shock of the day was London hammering Roscommon in Hyde Park Roscommon 4-24 to 1-09
The result of the day was Wicklow accounting for Kildare in St. Conleths , Newbridge. 3-18 to 2-19
Mayo only lost by 0-01 to Kildare last time out, 0-17 to 0-16, London lost by 0-01 to Wicklow last time out, 0-17 to 0-16 as well.
My believe is it's no longer a foregone conclusion that the CR finalist will be Antrim and Carlow, whatever about Antrim reaching the final,I think either Kildare, Wicklow or London must be fancied along with Carlow for the other final spot.
We could very well see one or two more upset's and/or disappointments next week
I heard no commentary on any game yesterday, just going on score results and post match comments.
There's rumblings that on yesterdays performance London would have accounted for any team in the CR competition.

supersub15 (Carlow) - Posts: 2910 - 30/04/2017 11:05:36    1983574

Kildare present a huge test on Saturday and in Newbridge makes the task all the more difficult. Without so many players through injury is also not helping. So - is there hope? Yes!
can we judge from the Mayo match? Mayo were very poor all through even when they had the wind in the second half they did not raise a gallop. Indeed it is hard to judge our lads a lot as Mayo were really poor. Mayo offered no challenge to Carlow at all. In saying that a few things were fairly clear. The backs were excellent and played tightly and cleared the sliotar very well . Their short passing got the player who could strike it long on the all regularly and that was very heartening to see. The fact that Jack Kavanagh was back at midfield added extra power and pace plus an energy that was badly needed in the area. The forwards looked as if they could goal with every possession. So - a lot of positives can be taken from the performance. I ma concerned at the fact that we did not gain as much possession cleanly from puck outs especially in the Antrim match at half forward and I think that who plays in that sector will be very important to the end score. The selectors got the players playing very well as a team last Saturday but this week presents a much stronger challenge.

carlowman (Carlow) - Posts: 1821 - 03/05/2017 16:45:59    1984268

Going to be a good test on Saturday but i think we will win it.

Jack Kavanagh and Eddie Byrne add a bit of power to the team and
the forwards look very dangerous.

Hope we get a bit of support up there as well.

carlovia (None) - Posts: 1517 - 04/05/2017 09:31:04    1984373

A small bit worried about Saturday. Kildare are a big physical team, some of our forwards are light enough and Newbridge is a tight pitch. Missing forwards like Paul Coady, Seamus Murphy, Denis Murphy and Craig Wall is a big blow. You'd imagine all 4 would be playing either from the start of off the bench.

We need a massive game out of our two men on the wings, Eddie Byrne and JM Nolan regarding puck outs and winning ball in the half forward line as mentioned already.

Be interesting what Kildare's outside hurlers do on Saturday. John Mulhall as a club game with St. Martin's at 2pm and the Reidy brothers have a game in Limerick at 7pm. I'd imagine all will be playing in Newbridge especially the Reidy's.

hurlingguru (Carlow) - Posts: 1834 - 04/05/2017 09:32:35    1984374

A small bit worried about Saturday. Kildare are a big physical team, some of our forwards are light enough and Newbridge is a tight pitch. Missing forwards like Paul Coady, Seamus Murphy, Denis Murphy and Craig Wall is a big blow. You'd imagine all 4 would be playing either from the start of off the bench.

We need a massive game out of our two men on the wings, Eddie Byrne and JM Nolan regarding puck outs and winning ball in the half forward line as mentioned already.

Be interesting what Kildare's outside hurlers do on Saturday. John Mulhall as a club game with St. Martin's at 2pm and the Reidy brothers have a game in Limerick at 7pm. I'd imagine all will be playing in Newbridge especially the Reidy's.

hurlingguru (Carlow) - Posts: 1834 - 04/05/2017 09:38:20    1984375

The last day in Newbridge the Reidy 's cleaned us out at midfield.If we let that happen again we're gone.

dead_as_dodos (Carlow) - Posts: 459 - 05/05/2017 08:07:00    1984613

It's unfortunate for Carlow that they are going into the final phase of the CR cup with up to a third of their starting 15 out through injury, playing Kildare in St. Conleths Newbridge was never going to be easy even with a full squad to pick from, but that's the luck of the draw I suppose as there are other counties who face the same problem.
The CR cup is a great competition, but some work needed to make it more user friendly, it's my belief that the CR fixture list, dates, time etc. are too compressed, in other words the CR cup has been put out there and structured something like the O'Byrne cup, as in, play it off as quickly as you can between those said dates irrespective of the circumstances.
The teams that take part in the CR cup are not likely to win the Liam McCarthy cup in the near future, most if not all of the counties play from a small base, a limited number of lads to pick from and from 5 or 6 clubs, so every player matters, of course it can be said that those things happen, but some could be avoided if it wasn't played off on a week by week bases for example, teams would be given a chance to regroup instead of having to do in in 5 day's (inclusive)
To go out and perform without the likes of Paul Coady, Seamus Murphy, Denis Murphy, and Craig Wall is a big ask, but hopefully who ever steps into their boots will rise to the occasion and good luck to them.
The Christy Ring Cup is as important to the counties that take part in it, as the Liam Mc Carthy cup is to the counties who take part in that cup, but we don't see the Liam Mc Carthy championship being played off on a week by week basis.

supersub15 (Carlow) - Posts: 2910 - 05/05/2017 10:08:11    1984641

Probably start the same team as against Mayo.

Big challenge without the missing players but thats
the benefit of having a big squad.

Should be a good game and Iv faith in this team who
are improving every match they play.

carlovia (None) - Posts: 1517 - 05/05/2017 11:02:46    1984653

Hurling previews: Carlow and London fancied in Christy Ring
Not convinced about the previews, Carlow just can't be favourites, not sure about London.

Scallioneater (Carlow) - Posts: 293 - 05/05/2017 19:59:15    1984756

The Kildare team has been announced and the Reidy brothers have been excluded due to being club action. A massive blow to Kildare but they still have enough in their side to trouble us!

hurlingguru (Carlow) - Posts: 1834 - 05/05/2017 21:16:05    1984765

Team named with Denis Murphy and Paul Coady starting.

Looks like a strong line up and great to see Eoin Nolan back in the panel.

carlovia (None) - Posts: 1517 - 06/05/2017 09:18:35    1984785

supersub15 (Carlow) - Posts: 2910 - 06/05/2017 09:40:33    1984787

decent win. My player ratings: keeper and full back line were fine without having a whole lot to do.Gary Bennett was excellent. Half back line was poor to be honest about it. Constantly getting drawn out of position, Kildare scored several points from this area. Sledger was the best of the midfielders J.Kav was poor. P.Coady, JM.Nolan,J.Doyle and mouse were very good .Other 2 were poor. Why JM Nolan was taken off is baffling unless he was injured. Anyway we won but this was a poor Kildare team. Open draw for semi final afaik.We will have to improve but well done on the win.ger Coady got a bit of game time today. E.Nolan was listed as sub.

dead_as_dodos (Carlow) - Posts: 459 - 06/05/2017 18:33:12    1984857

We were definitely the better team today. Disappointed we let them back into it after the sending off (which was very harsh) but I suppose they were always going to have their purple patch. Last 10 minutes was very impressive and shows the ability in this team.

Kildare were very negative setting up with an extra defender and still played it after half time. They obviously had to abandon it after the red card. Gary Bennett played his role very well. Paul Coady was excellent, I thought he was our best player. He got on a mountain of ball. Jack Murphy had a great second half, James and Marty looked dangerous when they got on the ball. I was impressed with our fielding, we caught an ocean of ball in the air. Kildare were very aggrieved with the referee, he did give some soft frees to both teams but was probably more favourable to us overall.

There's more in this team and they will need to produce it to win this competition but we are in the semi final now and have a good chance to go all the way.

hurlingguru (Carlow) - Posts: 1834 - 06/05/2017 19:02:46    1984862

supersub15 (Carlow) - Posts: 2910 - 06/05/2017 21:40:37    1984881

Wicklow at home, probably the best possible draw for us. We can't take them for granted though they have beaten two division 2A sides en route to the semi final.

hurlingguru (Carlow) - Posts: 1834 - 08/05/2017 11:16:20    1985157

hurlingguru (Carlow) - Posts: 1834 - 08/05/2017 15:32:56    1985223

We played well on Saturday except for 15 minutes after their sending off.

The full back line was excellent with Gary Bennett very strong. Forwards look
very dangerous every time the ball goes in and Paul Coady set up attack after
attack.

Denis Murphy excellent on frees and punishes the fouls on James Doyle and
Marty Kavanagh.

Midfield struggled a bit in the first half but Divilly is a great player and he just
was having a great game.

We will have Craig Wall available for the Wicklow game and could add a few
scores if introduced. Panel is looking very strong.

Also great that Colm Bonnar is getting more time and matches with the group (6 league and
now our 4th championship match) and developing a style of play.

carlovia (None) - Posts: 1517 - 09/05/2017 08:43:37    1985361

"The Wicklow County Board have sent a letter of objection to Croke Park over the way that the Christy Ring Cup semi-final draw was conducted.

The draw took place behind closed doors last Monday morning and this has irked Wicklow who feel that they should have been allowed to attend the draw.

Wicklow will play Carlow at Netwatch Cullen Park, while Antrim take on Down in the two semi-finals, but Wicklow vice-chairman Martin Fitzgerald told the Wicklow People that it was wrong to hold the draw behind closed doors

"If that happened in Wicklow with Mick Hagan and Bridget Kenny the clubs would go mad. It wouldn't happen in Wicklow. It wouldn't be done," said Fitzgerald.

Wicklow coach Michael Neary added: "I think they (GAA) leave themselves open to criticism. I knew that we would be playing Carlow at some stage but not to invite officials from any of the counties leaves a lack of openness."

hurlingguru (Carlow) - Posts: 1834 - 10/05/2017 11:45:28    1985635

carlovia (None) - Posts: 1517 - 10/05/2017 13:20:24    1985662