Minors had a great win over Mayo yesterday, 1-9 to 1-7.. Johnny Byrne dominated at centre back, Brown and O Shea also useful either side of him.. Half Forward line of Fitzpatrick, McAndrew and McGovern did well. Mulhall was top scorer with 1-2, but came off with a shoulder injury at half time. Doherty twisted his ankle but should be ok. Overall great performance by a team already deflated by injuries.

minorglory09 (Kildare) - Posts: 39 - 02/03/2009 12:22:07    221925

21s hammered a hopeless carlow team..next up is laois on paddys day who look very strong and i feel kildare need white,kavanagh and delahunt all back to win..confrey is suspended

joeyboy (Kildare) - Posts: 412 - 02/03/2009 14:14:56    222042

Well done to the Minors Yesterday, great win against last Years All-Ireland Finalists.
I know its only a challenge at the beginning of March, but its a good start.
There were Very good performances from Dowling (Na Fianna), O Shea (Na Fianna), Brown (Suncroft) and Byrne (Na Fianna) in the Backs, Doherty (Castledermot) at Mid-Field, and Fitzpatrick (Monasterevin) and Mulhall (Athy) in the Forwards were excellent.
Heard they have a home Match v Armagh on Saturday. Best of luck.

yermon (Kildare) - Posts: 93 - 02/03/2009 17:53:15    222303

agree with you there joeyboy. they will need everybody back although from what I hear Kavanagh is looking at 6 weeks out with cartilage damage and requires surgery. I think the other two are in with a shout of making it. White will be badly needed as I feel we will struggle against a strong midfield.

rudolf (Kildare) - Posts: 64 - 03/03/2009 08:08:34    222622

do the minors have a solid keeper yet?

sexyface (Kildare) - Posts: 175 - 03/03/2009 20:49:02    223358

i heard some lad dey call rocky???

joeyboy (Kildare) - Posts: 412 - 03/03/2009 22:27:56    223448

Shane McCormack from Celbridge looks lik number 1, but some danny lad from Clane has joined also recently.
personally i was impressed with micheal crowley. he was in goals for kildare VEC team this year and also i seen him in action for Athy last friday against Celbridge. as a random spectator, his kickouts were excellent, well varied and he is also not afraid to get down on the ball. worth Murphy having a look.

(Kildare minors lost 5-8 to 1-12 last night against maynooth freshers team)

minorglory09 (Kildare) - Posts: 39 - 05/03/2009 12:10:13    224585

Shane Mac is the Senior Goalie for Kildare..
Goalie from Naas will be the No. 1 for Minors, cant think of his name.
Minor Team last Night was very different than the Team that beat Mayo last weekend.

yermon (Kildare) - Posts: 93 - 05/03/2009 17:46:36    224942

it depends on the quality of the senior team..its a massive step-up..some people dont realise that..

joeyboy (Kildare) - Posts: 412 - 05/03/2009 22:29:22    225219

minors were beaten by 6 points i tink yesterday by maynooth freshers..wasnt the strongest team they put ou wit injuries and that with murphy looking at different players..popped ou during the rag week in maynooth for a look and i was impressed... BACKS: fullback from clane gartland was ok but john barron at corner back was excellent..he went in for a few balls and i dunno how he came ou alive..what he lacks in pace he makes up for in bottle..jim nolan from towers was good too..from what i hear of j.byrne against mayo the two of them wil have a battle for the number 6 jersey.. MID dunne from moorefield and comerford from maynooth were impressive..they were up against it but didnt let themselves down...dunne ran outa steam a bit tho perhaps why he aint startin more often.. Forwards..a few lads here i had ta ask around who they were i was really impressed with barrett at corner forward...he operated as a third midfielder and covered huge ground..he kicked 3 or 4 frees and one or 2 from play....seems to get a bit of stick on this trend but he looked the part yesterday...b.deay was another to stand out and bolton at full forwrd done well..the centre forward was poor...dont no a thing bout him but looked lost at times.. worrying for the 21's i tink conor brophy went off injured for maynooth..he was head and shoulders above them all at centre back..andrew behan was pure class for them too..great t see the minors gettin frequent games at a strong level...better than any trainin session..

supersub98 (Kildare) - Posts: 42 - 05/03/2009 23:30:11    225311

forgot ta mention keeper was poor..at fault for one or two goals and kickouts werent spaeciall...i've sed it before murphy needs ta find a keeper FAST

supersub98 (Kildare) - Posts: 42 - 06/03/2009 01:11:21    225362

team against armagh
d byrne
corrigan
s.dowling
o shea
jbyrne
mark brown
doherty and burke
mcgovern
mcandrew
cribben
deay
hurley
reynolds

bolton,fitzpatrick and barrett came on up front and a sub keeper brought on...
missed a bit of the first half but not a great performance..this team seems ta be the one murphy is favouring..more or less the same i reckon against wickow obviosly wit mulhall included.

supersub98 (Kildare) - Posts: 42 - 07/03/2009 21:36:31    226722

cian reynoldes named as minor captain 2009..

joeyboy (Kildare) - Posts: 412 - 09/03/2009 08:27:44    227614

I hope not supersub.
Full back line was in trouble troughout, and lacked pace.
Half back line did well enough.
Mid Field was very poor, and were out of it completely, Doherty tried hard, while very obviously carrying a knock. Burke is not up to this, both Mid fielders are holding players and lack pace. BM needs to try Cribben , Dunne or Fitzpatrick here for a change.
Half forward line was ok, Mc Govern bit small and struggled to win possession.
Full Forward line was poor, with the exception of Deay who did well enough.

Management was poor on the Day. No positional changes, and the subs (who did well) were only brought on with 6-7 mins left.
Bear in mind Kildare played with the wind for 45 mins versus Armaghs 25 mins.

I also think its a strange decision picking the Captain at this stage, as going on his performance on Sat, will hardly be guaranteed to start. I think Mulhall should have got that.

One other point, the Minors started with trials last Sept. but only last Week a number of Players joined the panel, and some seem to have walked onto the Team, with no training or participation in the panel until now, whats the point in the other lads bothering for 6 Months, is this fair???

yermon (Kildare) - Posts: 93 - 09/03/2009 18:43:22    228277

sure murphy is trying more lads like..like if the lads are there for a long time are dropped its tough luck..there obviously not up to it..and he is giving more lads a chance..well he seems a cert to start now and looks a very intelligent footballer

joeyboy (Kildare) - Posts: 412 - 09/03/2009 19:15:10    228325

joeyboy doubt ur gona criticise ur own clubman but i thot mulhal would have gotten the captaincy or one of the lads involved last year like corrigan,oshea,fahy and mulhall falls into this category too. didnt think he wud start but is a dead cert now it seems and best of luck to him.he cant be faulted for his effort on the field and hope it all goes well for him.dont no him but i'll take ur word that he's a serious talent. i tink murphy picked it so early as in the game's i've seen they've lacked leadership.armagh at the weekend were as vocal as i've seen any underage team in a while, while our lads were fairly silent.

i hope they decided ta bring on the subs so late as they no what they can do and have already made the final cut because as u said yermon all did well. cud be wrong but i thot the three lads who came on up front got on the scoresheet.

i personally wud like to see major changes for one of even two of their remaining challenges in particular down the middle. a different full back centre back etc wud give a bit more competition..the last thing we need is lads goin into the wicklow game in the comfort zone that they are certs to start.i hope i got that point across.

wish the lads the best against cork on saturday. no doubt BM has points ta prove in his homeland hahaha

supersub98 (Kildare) - Posts: 42 - 09/03/2009 22:13:03    228530

i think murphy chose wisely because i have my doubts whether mullhall would have the temperment for it...with the match only a month away its time for there to be leaders which was badly missed last year..murphy obviously knows how reynoldes is a big game player and he wont let you down..sets a great example..might not always stand out as an amazing talent but never will u seeing him making a mistake on the ball or off it..murphy obviously chose him because of this..if there is a vice captain would have to be o'shea..brilliant player and attitude..i feel they hav to play cribbin midfield..was de stand out midfielder in last years minor championship and league..pulled balyna through several matches..attacking midfielder with great engine..

joeyboy (Kildare) - Posts: 412 - 10/03/2009 09:55:18    228754

good choice in captain i think, Armagh were very strong in all positions. bit of leadership needed on the line also as it seemed that the management left it too late to make changes, for the 5 minutes that Fitzpatrick was midfield he cleaned up. Doherty and Burke struggled.. both defensive minded players on a day the forwards needed support. also i went to watch Wicklow the weekend, very strong down the middle and the forwards are well able to score. Kildare will have it difficult

minorglory09 (Kildare) - Posts: 39 - 10/03/2009 09:55:48    228755

What about Shane Kavanagh from Ballymore Eustace??

Big_N_Bald (Kildare) - Posts: 2 - 10/03/2009 15:13:39    229116

Of course we all wish Cian well, and the Team, but I dont think he is vocal enough for Captain. Yes Mulhall is temperamental, but is also a leader.
Tom Barron has to get a chance @ centre back, have seen him a lot with Kevins, very strong, class act. I agree that either Paul Cribben or Kevin Fitzpatrick have to get a start @ midfield, and the other a wing forward,both are big lads, strong, both have great engines, and can score.
Dara Dunne is also worth a serious look on the 40.
In fairness to the full back line on Sat last, they were under lots of pressure with the supply of ball coming in as the midfield was completely swamped throughout. as was said here previously, why no changes made, especially in this Dept. ?

yermon (Kildare) - Posts: 93 - 10/03/2009 18:39:22    229318