Not long to go now. Have heard the laois/kildare fans opinions and wanted a broader sense of what everyone else thinks about this match? Fairly sickening that a leinster semi aint on telly. So lads, what do ye think!

Markymark (Laois) - Posts: 644 - 22/06/2009 12:34:41    319246

Thankfully not on the box. Couldnt stomach watching another big ball game. Think the littlewhites should have enough to win.

SuperCats (Kilkenny) - Posts: 101 - 22/06/2009 13:26:07    319333

Kildare should win handy, laois will find it difficult to field a team.

dhorse (Laois) - Posts: 11374 - 22/06/2009 13:39:47    319365

dhorse
County: Laois
Posts: 2361

319365 Kildare should win handy, laois will find it difficult to field a team. ....................This is definitely the strongest side of the draw Dublin not playing well either i would guess Kildare v Westmeath final

tomaoo7 (Dublin) - Posts: 5896 - 22/06/2009 13:57:34    319402

kildare should win this easily,
really they need to be looking ahead to the bigger challenge of dublin in the leinster final.
its important for the kildare team that they dont waste too much energy or pick up any injuries against the midlands minnows on saturday night.
they need to be focussed on the bigger challenge of playing dublin in front of 80,000 screaming fans.
a lot of people are rightly putting kildare up as all ireland contenders this year - laois will be a stepping stone on their way to at minimum a semi final appearance in august.

i wouldnt imagine the kildare boys are too worried about this one. i hear the mood in the camp is relaxed and confident - as you would expect ahead of what will be little more than a training session for them.
if laois can stay within 7 or 8 of this great kildare team it will be reasonable enough for us.

Horse (Laois) - Posts: 1146 - 22/06/2009 14:04:02    319417

superCats......you do realise that just because a 'big ball' game is on telly doesn mean you have to watch it!! Watch a different channel or go outside. Dont be scared. That orange thing is the sun, and those fluffy things are clouds!

Markymark (Laois) - Posts: 644 - 22/06/2009 14:30:06    319457

Honestly as it is a local derby I don't know what to expect. I'd like to think our bit of momentum will be enougfh to bring us through. Lads for the record too all the talk about Kildare is coming from outside the county. The fans and players can't help what is said about them in the national media. In the local papers there is no-one talking about Leinster finals yet alone All Irelands.
Just because we rightly called that we would beat two teams who seem to be in turmoil then we are being accused of being cocky,etc. As I said I still feel we can do it against Laois but it's based on the fact that Earley is on fire and our forwards are finally putting up teh scores. I am worried about Laois' front men though as our defence is yet to be really under pressure this year playing on the back foot. I'd say Kildare by two, hopefully!

theflamin (Kildare) - Posts: 46 - 22/06/2009 14:30:47    319459

Hardest game to date so far and one would expect that in a semi-final.....

You never know with Laois,,, all depends on which team turns up I think....

If Laois team with the attacking talent comes to town then Kildare will be in for a serious scare, if the one that fades away after falling three or four points behind turns up, we should win this easy enough like Offaly and Wexford games...

Extreme caution is needed..... Laois will be out to cause a shock.... i just want us to have a rattle at the dubs so i don't care how we play once we win by a point

yearofthelily (Kildare) - Posts: 279 - 22/06/2009 15:46:49    319545

YAAAAAYYY Post 1000...Im not going to make a big deal out of it, but I think it appropriate that my Millennial post be on this game, the epic battle of two close rivals...

We are two great but often overlooked counties divided only by the river Barrow. From Portarlington down to Killeen and from Monasterevin down to Maganey, the ancient frontier between our two great tribes has always been a source of rivalry, but never animosity. This is the all-too-often forgotten land where once the edge of the Pale met the scattered plantations of the Queens County. Many people probably just drive down polished, straight and clinical motorways to Cork, Kerry, Limerick and other far-flung lands of the South and catch glimpses of church spires, prosperous farmhouses or the flat commonage of the Curragh and the Heath and they pay no heed to the lives lived between the rolling hills. As they drive past, the men of Round Towers and O'Dempseys train until they can no longer run. Downriver, the villages of the borderlands; Barrowhouse, Killeen, Castlemitchell, Kilberry are populated by young men and women who dream of county finals in Portlaoise or Newbridge and aspire to someday wear blue or the lily white. Kerrymen come and Kerrymen go like all the Munster folk who pass through our lands on their way to seemingly more important places. But we live this land, we live our little pastoral villages and once every couple of years, we get the chance to live a unique rivalry between ourselves and our similarly flatly-accented neighbours across the Barrow. So, when the heros of Moorefield and Allenwood meet the titans of St Josephs and Portlaoise, we relish the opportunity to get one up. We crack the jokes, call the names and talk our respective teams up or down depending on the circumstances but we always show respect in our rivalry. Now the banter is Clancy v. Early. Before that it was Ryan v. Lalor and deep in our shared history names like Tommy Murphy and Matt Goff hark back to days when we had players mentioned with the phrase 'All Time Great' form Kerry to Donegal. These are the lands often overlooked by the myopic traveller but they are our parishes, our fields, our villages and our clubs. The rivalry is strong but the craic renders animosity void. To both teams - Play hard but play clean and of course...UP THE O'MOORES!!!

spudenator (Laois) - Posts: 1052 - 22/06/2009 15:46:56    319546

spudenator
County: Laois
Posts: 1000


Congrats on 1000 post and well said!!!! Bring on Saturday!

yearofthelily (Kildare) - Posts: 279 - 22/06/2009 15:57:50    319566

good post spudenator, think it will be close enough myself but think kildare's work rate will see them through, also think the laois full back line will struggle to keep doyle, smyth, and sweeney quiet.

flourman (None) - Posts: 104 - 22/06/2009 16:24:13    319593

spudenator - possibly one of the best posts ever. The clash of two counties who play football the right way.

Goal (Kildare) - Posts: 117 - 22/06/2009 16:39:32    319609

The most impressive team I think Laois came up against this year in the League in my opinion was Kildare and this run of form seems to have continued. Playing them last year I was not impressed with their new found "physical" approach but this year their approach changed again and they played a very impressive brand of open attacking and free flowing football while still winning whatever physical challenges needed to be won. As previously mentioned Dermott Early was outstanding.

In relation to the game itself I think a previous poster captured it well, it depends on which Laois team turns up. We are not blessed in Laois to achieve relative consistency of performances and that certainly heightens my anxiety and leads to a mixture of apprehension and hope at every game I go to. I think Laois are better equipped this year to meet the physical challenges which other teams have been bringing to the game for some time. Our half back line and with Quigley in the half forwards gives us at least a better chance of winning some breaking ball - something which we have struggled with for years. The two crucial areas for me are winning enough ball in the middle and better delivery of the ball into our full forward line. If Laois can achieve both of these then we will have a good chance - otherwise...

LaoisPsych (Laois) - Posts: 100 - 22/06/2009 16:39:38    319610

Really dissapointed this ain't on the box I might just tip down to Tullamore to watch it.

I have a foot in both camps as I did alot of coaching in Kildare and I lived in Laois for many years.

It could truely be a great match who will ever forget the 2003 leinster final and both these teams play open attacking football.Should be a great atmosphere and a bumper crowd.

I think Kildare are favourite's and rightly so but Laois are good this year i was at the Louth game and they outclassed Louth in every department yes they did ease up near the end but that was expected.

Another thing about Laois this year is they ain't small and have the power to match the nice football skills they always had.

Kildare are flying it at the moment and early in in the form and seems shape of his life.

I can see the lillys doing it but maybe after a reply.

Anyone that can get to this game go as it will be one of the most open of the year!

BigJohn.6_8 (Galway) - Posts: 704 - 22/06/2009 16:41:11    319615

Enjoyable post Spud.
Looking at the match itself, i think Kildare can easily afford to go into this in a confident mood.
While they have been flyin it in recent months and already have 2 convincing, even facile victories to their name, we have struggled in the league and only beat louth by a tight margin.
Kildare shouldnt necessarily get complacent, but certainly they should be keeping something in reserve for the bigger occasion that awaits in mid july.
Certainly if i was on the kildare pannel the last thing i would want to do is pick up a silly injury overexerting myself in the preliminary fixture against Laois, only to miss out on what will no doubt be a fabulous day for all Kildare folk, lifting Delaney in front of a full house in croker.

Thats what the kildare boys need to be foccussed on - bringing their A-game on the 12th of July and bringing home the silverware.

Horse (Laois) - Posts: 1146 - 22/06/2009 16:45:56    319620

LaoisPsych
County: Laois
Posts: 69

319610 The most impressive team I think Laois came up against this year in the League in my opinion was Kildare and this run of form seems to have continued.

were you at the Cork game

dhorse (Laois) - Posts: 11374 - 22/06/2009 16:49:17    319624

spudenator
County: Laois
Posts: 1002

319546 YAAAAAYYY Post 1000

Good man spud, looking forward to the next 1000, keep her lit

dhorse (Laois) - Posts: 11374 - 22/06/2009 20:23:50    319875

couple of the laois lads in here acting the maggot i think..trying to make kildare overwhelming favourites for this game...not a bit of it lads your fooling no one!!this is going to be a down to the wire leinster championship match between two rivals.can't see anything between the teams,laois coming in completely under the radar after the louth match.hard to call it...really is

der_bomber (Kildare) - Posts: 149 - 22/06/2009 21:33:40    319963

der_bomber
County: Kildare
Posts: 74

couple of the laois lads in here acting the maggot i think..trying to make kildare overwhelming favourites for this game...not a bit of it lads your fooling no one!!this is going to be a down to the wire leinster championship match between two rivals.can't see anything between the teams,laois coming in completely under the radar after the louth match.hard to call it...really is

Naw naw...Kildare ARE overwhelming favourites. Clancy and Meaney, great players in themselves, are really up against class in an on form Early. Our fullback line will have their hands more than full with Doyle-Sweeney-Smith and some of our new talent might find this a year too early. I hope they prove me wrong and I know that on a good day they can do it. However, although I liked what I saw v. Louth, one swallow doesnt make a summer and consistency might just bite us in the backside this year. But go ahead Laois, please prove me wrong! But bar a herculean effort by Laois, its Kildares to lose!!

spudenator (Laois) - Posts: 1052 - 22/06/2009 21:58:19    320003

spudenator
County: Laois
Posts: 1004

Come on spud your being over optomistic, we never win in tullamore

dhorse (Laois) - Posts: 11374 - 22/06/2009 23:12:22    320117