Kilcormac-Killoughey in Leinster - 2014

[ryot]

Nice job KK

Scoring 1 -3 without reply to come from one down to win by 5 in Mullinger,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

[timber]

That was a bit hairy. Well done to kk on seeing it through in the end. Attack struggled again today. Alot of work to be done for the fknal but they are there and that is the main thing.

[SearingDrive]

It looked like Raharney would pull off a shock today, but a late surge saw KK through to the provincial final. KK's forward line will need to improve for the final.
Another point, I listened to RTE's results summary coming back from Mullingar, the four provincial football semi finals were mentioned, as was the Kilkenny final, but no mention of the Leinster hurling semi final. I suppose Offaly and Westmeath don't feature in the RTE Sports department! It was the same with the Rhode v O'Mahony's game last Sunday, not a mention. Anyone else notice this omission?

[townman]

another tight finish from k/k today have to say their last two games they look a tired team there isn't the same spark out of them like in the county final or they are not hurling as well as they were in 2012. they started well and should have been more in front before Rahaneys goal and they missed at least 3 points before the goal, the goal i think the sun or a mix up with Ger Healion was the cause or the plastic goalmouth that end with the bounce catching out Slevin in the goal.

they only scored 1 point in 15 minutes of the second half a long range shot from wing back Brian Leonard, besides his goal Dan Currams was again like in the wexford game very quiet and his striking at the goals was again poor. Kiely again came good with another super point from him in the second half, i think he done well as he went out around midfield for the last 10 minutes, i notice to that for most of the second half that Conor Slevin didn't sent many of his puck outs down his wing which i though was strange. Con Mahon had a great last 15 minutes and came out many a time with the ball
Kilmartin worked hard at midfield Ciaran Slevin was the best of the forwards. the two Healions Grogan and Brian Leonard held their own and all hurl well for a finish, Thomas Gearathy raise the crowd and the team when he came on he won most the ball that came his way won frees and he will have to start in the leinster final.

they will be underdogs now for the final which will suite them and i think there is a good performance to come from them yet, But Raharney are a good side and have a lovely team who are well able to hurl, and they took some nice scores, i walked out behind Sid and gift fox after todays game i wonder what was their views were, but Con Mahon put his hand up again today for a place on the the fullback line with the county.

[sam88885a]

well done to kk ,back to the final without hurling anywhere near their potental .
still a win is a win , held raharney to 5 points from play i think and gifted raharney a goal with a mix up between g healion and c slevin , which gave them a huge lift .
a lot of handling mistakes bad striking and poor shot selection today and lots of hard work but when the game needed to be won kk were able to up it in the last 10 minutes .
d kilmartain had a good day in midfield but his swop to wing forward with c kiely along with con mahon swop to midfield with k leonard brought more energy to midfield, kilmartain brought power to wing forward and leonard did well in defence but t geraghty really helped turn the tide when he came on .
well done to danny owens and j dunne . i thought the should have made changes earlier but fair play they both took their time ,discussed it at lenght and made the correct moves . good managment

there were 4100 people at the match ,great crowd for two clubs . i say 2500 thousand were kk supporters at least .
kk will be huge underdogs in the final no matter who their up against .
i think it set up lovely for kk to put up a huge preformance .
today was all about getting there on the 7 of december .
lot of work do but i think kk will be under less presure the next day , today and against shelmailers the were expected to win . i expect to see kk hurl with more freedom in the final as they did in the county final .

[llkj]

Well done KK. Was Never going to be easy, but I'd make them favourites to go on and win the final now. It will be all about how they prepare, but if they get their matchups right, they should have too much for either team.

[Lone Shark]

There were a lot of impressive aspects to KK's performance to my mind, not least the fact that they kept their discipline very well through the bulk of the second half when a lot of hard calls went against them. They got a couple of dubious big ones back at the end when they needed them most so I guess that was karma to a certain extent, and in general you could only tip your cap to the way they dug out a big rally to keep their season going for another game.

However to my mind, they need to rediscover their true form very fast because things are about to get a lot tougher very quickly and none of the praise above mitigates the fact that they are hurling a long way below par right now. The unfortunate aspect of this championship for KK is that there's only one team still out there against whom they've a bit to find, and that team will be Ballyhale. There's a great chance of an upset in Galway this year and even if there isn't, Portumna aren't as strong as they have been in recent years. Loughgiel were beaten up north and neither Munster side is a likely All Ireland winner, so the prize on offer is huge, but mistakes like we saw yesterday would cripple them against Ballyhale. Handpasses were going badly astray, clearances weren't made, easy chances were missed and it's all very well to say that Raharney put them under immense pressure, which was true, but it's not as if Ballyhale are going to roll out the red carpet for them and let them hurl with abandon either. After their win over St Rynaghs I genuinely thought that KK were in good form and poised to make a serious run at Leinster and in fairness, they've reached the final after two away games and that's not something that should ever be taken for granted. Like I said, great character - but they're going to have to start hurling again soon too.

Also, I have to say that I think the decision to take off James Gorman yesterday backfired on them a little bit too. He was struggling when on the ball and hadn't really made anything happen up in terms of scoring, but he was tackling and harrying well I was particularly impressed with one diagonal sixty yard run chasing a defender that eventually was critical to a turnover just a minute or two before he was withdrawn. To me it was no coincidence that when he was taken off, the ball started to come straight back out of the Raharney back line almost instantly.

By that point Kiely was operating around midfield and there really was nobody up front making it stick. Thomas Geraghty was probably the best of them when he came on and he won a couple of key frees to help them over the line, but they need a lot more from the front runners. I know Dan Currams got the goal at the end but that was a slightly farcical effort (albeit one that I cheered home with great joy as it gave me the most undeserved win on a handicap bet I've had since backing Offaly +3 against Dublin in the 2006 NFL) and in general he was anonymous yesterday. Slevin took his scores well but was quiet for most of the second half too, and it was as poor a game as I've seen in a long time from Conor Mahon and Damien Kilmartin. They've three weeks now to prepare for the final which is a comparatively big gap, and they'll also have the opportunity to watch the semi final between Ballyhale and Kilmacud first hand to pick up some stuff, but they've a long way to go.

[Toxicity234]

I think it was what most expected yesterday. Raharney are a good hard working team.
The Doyle 2 points in the second half were incredible. Worth the admission fee by themselves.
Kilcormac killoughey got a few call from the ref. few sideline cut that went the wrong way but it even out a few other call Mahon was rugby tackle at one stage and didn't get a free.

The good thing for Kilcormac Killoughey was they had the basic right. No one on the team was stand back everyone on the team gave 100% and even when thing were not going they way they fought as team and that got them over the line.
The in a final now with nothing to lose. Making the final is a great achievement when you think that they had the wexford champion and Carlow Champion(defending Lenister Champion) on their side of the draw.
Who ever they get in the Final is in for a huge battle.

[sam88885a]

kk have been workman like in both leinster games as the were in offaly this year up untill the county final where the hurled really well .i hope the can manage to peak on 7 december .
birr often drifted into a leinster final without showing much form and hurled well on the big day .
i hope kk can do the same because if kk hurl to thier potental and keep up their workrate . they take beating in my opinion .
winter hurling is always a battle and may not kk as much as some people think .
3 weeks to sharpen up their first touch, handling and shooting should help too

[townman]

we would have to give Raharney some credit to, they are well able to hurl lets not forget they did beat
coolderry in 2010 who later won the leinster final the year after, also k/k got it hard to beat mount leinster rangers and Rathdowney/Errill on their way to their leinster win in 2012, and hurl a great leinster final after lets hope they can do the same again. over all a great weekend for hurling in offaly with all 3 clubs winning their games.

[manfromdelmonte]

KK got at least one if not two very soft frees towards the end to draw level and go in front.
they had the bit more experience at this level to earn those.

Raharney played extra men back and kept it very tight. It nearly worked for them except they kept launching the ball straight down the field to KK's strongest players!

[Chris]

That was addifficult game against a good Raharney side who matched KK with their work rate.....but I thought the changes KK MADEfor tthelast 15 mins was ultimately the difference between tthe two teams. When switched, Con Mahon and CilianKiely made a huge difference and Tommy Geraghty made a big difference when he came on by winning ball and running at them. Truth be told, KK should have been 8-10 points up at half time. Conceded a goal and two points from silly frees and from indecision (for the goal).....missed some very bad wides in the first half also.....this allowed RRaharney to get a foothold in a game they, at time, outplayed in in the first half....had those chances been taken then we would have seen Raharney have to go chasing the game....and the outcome would have beentotally different. KK need to start converting their chances ...but at least they are creating them and surely, someday, they will. On another point....the number if posts behind both goals from the ball netting was surely off - putting. ...for a county ground to have posts supporting the ball net a couple offeet either side of the goalposts must surely have caused confusion.....i thought, for a county ground, it was of a poor standard, facilities wise. I also think that whoever wins the other semi final will actually suit KK as they will probably comeout and hurl them rather than have two men on CCurrams. ....and playing a sweeper!!!!

[sam88885a]

chris i agree mullingars pitch is very basic ,
heard b carroll say kk were lucky and that the last 2 frees were soft but c mahon was rugby tackled and t gerarathy jersey was nearly pulled off just before that and kk got no frees .
carroll needs to give kk credit they won when the game needed to be won and won by 5 points .

raherney came with a plan to keep the score as low as possible with lots of defenders .
who ever is in the final will come to hurl which will suit kk in my opinion .
kk lads have a chance to rest for a week before the prepair for the final

[townman]

the grounds might be basic but i tell you something i walked across it at fulltime and after all the rain the pitch was in good nick, as for Brian Carroll saying they were lucky sounds like sour grapes to me
the ref could have given k/k at least 4 more frees in the second have most in front of the goals, Mahon was pull down for 1 peter geraghty was pull to the ground as a hight ball came into the square and another time Thomas Geraghty was going through and conor jordan gave him a elbow as he went through, i agree with Chris k/k could have been 7 or 8 points up with the chances they missed in the first 15 minutes and the soft goal, some day they will go over like the county final lets hope its the leinster final.

i see the final is fixed for portlaoise on the 7th, k/k have won the two games they have played there so far again thurles and camross, you would think ballyhale will be there but they will get nothing handy in parnell park next sunday, i don't think theres not alot Danny Owens doesn't know about ballyhale they are knocking around this 10 years and their are 7 or 8 of them that have been in with kilkenny over the years.

[Anfearban]

[quote="Lone Shark"]There's a great chance of an upset in Galway this year and even if there isn't, Portumna aren't as strong as they have been in recent years. Loughgiel were beaten up north and neither Munster side is a likely All Ireland winner, so the prize on offer is huge, but mistakes like we saw yesterday would cripple them against Ballyhale. quote]

Lone Shark...not sure about your comment on Munster teams:

See below for Cratloe line out in Clare county final...particluarly the front six.

G Ryan; S O’Leary, M Hawes, D Ryan; S Chaplin, C Ryan, E Boyce; M Ogie Murphy, L Markham; S Gleeson, P Collins, S Collins; C McInerney, G Considine, C McGrath