Kilcormac/Killoughey V. Oulart The Ballagh
Posted: Thu Nov 14, 2013 4:00 pm
This coming Sunday represents a huge day for this Kilcormac/Killoughey team. Since the end of this years club championships, I have said that if KK win Leinster again,
I will be mightily impressed. The ball is still in their court, and they are well equipped to do so. Having won last years Leinster final where they had built up some head of steam after their maiden county final took some doing. They were the surprise package, and they grew and matured every step of the way. They answered any questions of them in retaining their county title, and they know enter the business end of this Leinster campaign a different animal.
I firmly believe that they only team that stop them between now and making an All-Ireland final reappearance are Oulart. Oulart for all their failings, still remain one of the best club hurling teams in Leinster, and year on year they will fell that they 'deserve' one. You got very little for what you deserve and I'm sure KK will have no sympathy for them. For Oulart to win on Sunday they will have to do what no team has done the last two years, break KK's resolve, belief and sheer confidence in their own ability that the team will triumph on the day and they wont wilt. People will say Kilcormac/Killoughey haven't improved any great deal since last year. Looking at their results closely, they havent had to, and any hurling man worth his salt will know that they have got through all their games in the end with relative ease, and looking like a horse that hacked up on the bridle with so much more left in the tank if needed. They tend to win the majority of their games in the 15 minutes immediately after half-time where alot of their goals usually come from that lifts the team, take the 1-6 scored immediately after half-time where Camross failed to score in that period as an example.
For Oulart, they need Eoin Moore and particulary Darren Stamp to line out on Sunday, I am unaware what chance they have. But a Moore-Stamp-Prendergast looks a lot more solid on paper than what lined out against Clara, against arguably KK's stronest line in Gerathy-Mahon-Slevin. Also, allowing for Michael Jacob, who didnt line out in this game last year, to partner David Redmond in midfield and all of a sudden you have a relatively strong axis to try and match Kilcormac/Killougheys diamond. If Stam returns however injury free or not he is, Conor Mahon can match him physically under all puckouts. Where Mahon can gain the upper hand is running directly at a wounded Stamp and making him ineffective, which is exactly what Mahon is capable of doing. Ciaran Slevin showed Moore the whole of Nowlan Park last year, and even if Moore does line out and pick up Slevin I would hold no weight in that. Many of the 'critics' this year have said Slevin hasn't reached the dizzying heights of last year. As captain Slevin remains nearly the most vital player on KK's pitch. On the back of lat years run, every club team has earmarked Slevin to be man marked, and that suits him, he is a very hard worker, unselfish on the ball, and he plays a much deeper working role which allows space in front of either Gerathy or Gorman's corner, and a direct line to play in Dan Currams into space. It is a role he has thrived in, and sacrificing some of his individual scores for the greater good of the team epitomises what a captains role working within a team is.
Alan McConville was very economical in what ball he allowed Rory Jacob to see last year. McConville having suffered a bad injury this year hasnt yet broken back onto the team so I would expect Con Mahon to marshall him Sunday. Mahon is a good ball player, exceptionally quick and should rise to the challenge. How his full back deals with Garret Sinnot will play a big part on the match result. Sinnot is well able to hurl, he's rangey, can strike well of both sides and is a powerful man running with the ball. Where Ger Healion has struggled at times this year in parts, take Padraig Guinan form Drumcullen, Paddy Mullins from Birr who seemed to have good games on Healion, they are small, low centre of gravity players who drop the shoulder and run at you and normally win frees, sometimes easily. Sinnot is a big man, and Healion has always been able to handle the bigger man, but this is a huge test on sunday. Midfield is a huge battle, both Damien Kilmartin and Killian Leonard easily came on top versus Camross and both scored two points from play, but Redmond and Jacob form an extremely well balanced and experienced midfield unit, and with both players well able to take a score from range, and Redmond in particular, a very strong direct runner through the middle, one or both of the KK midfielders will have to sacrifice their own forward playing game here and marshall the middle of the park here, win the dirty ball and generally not allow Redmond to pop up in places unnoticed and chip in with 3 or 4 points, which he is well capable of doing. Kilmartin came of age in this game last year and has been the talisman of this KK team since, he'll need his finest hour again Sunday, and he'll need Killian Leonard working his socks off for the hour.
As experienced a defender as Rossiter is, he has his weaknesses, he dosent like space in front of him, and can be known to foul quite a lot, he could have easily got the line the last day. If Currams gets an early supply of ball and heads for goal as he does, Oulart could easily have their full-back walking on eggshells for the rest of them game, the key here is to allow Currams get that space. Gorman had a field day in the first half last year, and is another man who could easily run riot again. For all the negativity about Gorman, he still is exceptionally strong in the air, can take a score and could be the man to take Rossiter out of the game again if needs be, allowing Currams more space in the corner. Probably wont happen, but the option is still there.
Outside of Sinnot, Des Mythen and Darren Nolan are both talented score getters who have flirted with the Wexford senior team for many a year, there relevance on Sunday could prove vital. While Jacob and Sinnot are the first two to be nailed down to man-mark, isolating Mythen on Chris Guinan, who is a good corner back but tends to give away 3-4 frees per game could be vital if Oulart are to twart KK. The more hurling Brian Leonard and Kevin Grogan do across the half back-line the better, thus allowing Peter Healion to drop back and sit behind his own 45m line will work in KK's favour, it will force Oulart to try bombard aerial ball over KK's half-back line and with Peter closer in front of his twin Ger, they will be very hard to break down. Peter won a site of ball all through the second half last year and steadied the ship from half-time to the end of the game. Kilcormac/Killoughey's inside full forward line hold the aces up their sleeve to win this. Man for man, I fell KK have better hurlers than the three in the full backline, and working hard from there back sets the tone for the afternoon, and Thomas Gerathy has been exemplary in that role this year, him and his brother Peter turn over possesion time and time again creating scoring opportunities for themselves and the rest of the team. A resurgent and hungry Gorman too and I feel given the right supply of ball they could make serious inroads here. If KK can shade the battle in midfield and break down Oulart's half backline I feel the half the hurlers and the workers to see them through. Make no mistake though, this will be their bigget battle to date, Oulart were shocked last year, they'l come in as underdogs this year. They will like that too, and they can express themselves without any fear of being wary of not upholding the favorite tag. They are a wounded animal hellbent on revenge, expect a mighty battle in O'Connor Park Sunday.
If i was to put my head on the line, Ill use the head and call a KK win, by up to 3 or 4 points, but at that stage I will have expected them to have raised two green flags.
If Kilcormac/Killoughey do get over this one, we could be about to see the beginning of dominance on the club scene not only in Offaly...
I will be mightily impressed. The ball is still in their court, and they are well equipped to do so. Having won last years Leinster final where they had built up some head of steam after their maiden county final took some doing. They were the surprise package, and they grew and matured every step of the way. They answered any questions of them in retaining their county title, and they know enter the business end of this Leinster campaign a different animal.
I firmly believe that they only team that stop them between now and making an All-Ireland final reappearance are Oulart. Oulart for all their failings, still remain one of the best club hurling teams in Leinster, and year on year they will fell that they 'deserve' one. You got very little for what you deserve and I'm sure KK will have no sympathy for them. For Oulart to win on Sunday they will have to do what no team has done the last two years, break KK's resolve, belief and sheer confidence in their own ability that the team will triumph on the day and they wont wilt. People will say Kilcormac/Killoughey haven't improved any great deal since last year. Looking at their results closely, they havent had to, and any hurling man worth his salt will know that they have got through all their games in the end with relative ease, and looking like a horse that hacked up on the bridle with so much more left in the tank if needed. They tend to win the majority of their games in the 15 minutes immediately after half-time where alot of their goals usually come from that lifts the team, take the 1-6 scored immediately after half-time where Camross failed to score in that period as an example.
For Oulart, they need Eoin Moore and particulary Darren Stamp to line out on Sunday, I am unaware what chance they have. But a Moore-Stamp-Prendergast looks a lot more solid on paper than what lined out against Clara, against arguably KK's stronest line in Gerathy-Mahon-Slevin. Also, allowing for Michael Jacob, who didnt line out in this game last year, to partner David Redmond in midfield and all of a sudden you have a relatively strong axis to try and match Kilcormac/Killougheys diamond. If Stam returns however injury free or not he is, Conor Mahon can match him physically under all puckouts. Where Mahon can gain the upper hand is running directly at a wounded Stamp and making him ineffective, which is exactly what Mahon is capable of doing. Ciaran Slevin showed Moore the whole of Nowlan Park last year, and even if Moore does line out and pick up Slevin I would hold no weight in that. Many of the 'critics' this year have said Slevin hasn't reached the dizzying heights of last year. As captain Slevin remains nearly the most vital player on KK's pitch. On the back of lat years run, every club team has earmarked Slevin to be man marked, and that suits him, he is a very hard worker, unselfish on the ball, and he plays a much deeper working role which allows space in front of either Gerathy or Gorman's corner, and a direct line to play in Dan Currams into space. It is a role he has thrived in, and sacrificing some of his individual scores for the greater good of the team epitomises what a captains role working within a team is.
Alan McConville was very economical in what ball he allowed Rory Jacob to see last year. McConville having suffered a bad injury this year hasnt yet broken back onto the team so I would expect Con Mahon to marshall him Sunday. Mahon is a good ball player, exceptionally quick and should rise to the challenge. How his full back deals with Garret Sinnot will play a big part on the match result. Sinnot is well able to hurl, he's rangey, can strike well of both sides and is a powerful man running with the ball. Where Ger Healion has struggled at times this year in parts, take Padraig Guinan form Drumcullen, Paddy Mullins from Birr who seemed to have good games on Healion, they are small, low centre of gravity players who drop the shoulder and run at you and normally win frees, sometimes easily. Sinnot is a big man, and Healion has always been able to handle the bigger man, but this is a huge test on sunday. Midfield is a huge battle, both Damien Kilmartin and Killian Leonard easily came on top versus Camross and both scored two points from play, but Redmond and Jacob form an extremely well balanced and experienced midfield unit, and with both players well able to take a score from range, and Redmond in particular, a very strong direct runner through the middle, one or both of the KK midfielders will have to sacrifice their own forward playing game here and marshall the middle of the park here, win the dirty ball and generally not allow Redmond to pop up in places unnoticed and chip in with 3 or 4 points, which he is well capable of doing. Kilmartin came of age in this game last year and has been the talisman of this KK team since, he'll need his finest hour again Sunday, and he'll need Killian Leonard working his socks off for the hour.
As experienced a defender as Rossiter is, he has his weaknesses, he dosent like space in front of him, and can be known to foul quite a lot, he could have easily got the line the last day. If Currams gets an early supply of ball and heads for goal as he does, Oulart could easily have their full-back walking on eggshells for the rest of them game, the key here is to allow Currams get that space. Gorman had a field day in the first half last year, and is another man who could easily run riot again. For all the negativity about Gorman, he still is exceptionally strong in the air, can take a score and could be the man to take Rossiter out of the game again if needs be, allowing Currams more space in the corner. Probably wont happen, but the option is still there.
Outside of Sinnot, Des Mythen and Darren Nolan are both talented score getters who have flirted with the Wexford senior team for many a year, there relevance on Sunday could prove vital. While Jacob and Sinnot are the first two to be nailed down to man-mark, isolating Mythen on Chris Guinan, who is a good corner back but tends to give away 3-4 frees per game could be vital if Oulart are to twart KK. The more hurling Brian Leonard and Kevin Grogan do across the half back-line the better, thus allowing Peter Healion to drop back and sit behind his own 45m line will work in KK's favour, it will force Oulart to try bombard aerial ball over KK's half-back line and with Peter closer in front of his twin Ger, they will be very hard to break down. Peter won a site of ball all through the second half last year and steadied the ship from half-time to the end of the game. Kilcormac/Killoughey's inside full forward line hold the aces up their sleeve to win this. Man for man, I fell KK have better hurlers than the three in the full backline, and working hard from there back sets the tone for the afternoon, and Thomas Gerathy has been exemplary in that role this year, him and his brother Peter turn over possesion time and time again creating scoring opportunities for themselves and the rest of the team. A resurgent and hungry Gorman too and I feel given the right supply of ball they could make serious inroads here. If KK can shade the battle in midfield and break down Oulart's half backline I feel the half the hurlers and the workers to see them through. Make no mistake though, this will be their bigget battle to date, Oulart were shocked last year, they'l come in as underdogs this year. They will like that too, and they can express themselves without any fear of being wary of not upholding the favorite tag. They are a wounded animal hellbent on revenge, expect a mighty battle in O'Connor Park Sunday.
If i was to put my head on the line, Ill use the head and call a KK win, by up to 3 or 4 points, but at that stage I will have expected them to have raised two green flags.
If Kilcormac/Killoughey do get over this one, we could be about to see the beginning of dominance on the club scene not only in Offaly...