OK lads, so the eagerly awaited match against Galway has come and gone and the contestants for the Leinster Hurling Final are now known so how do people think this will go?

The majority of posters on the Dublin v Galway thread went with Galway to win and while some talk of it being just a poor game by galway, I on the other hand simply put that down to Dublins performance that didnt allow them to play and that we won through superior class all over the field.

This Dublin team finally 'arrived' in Championship hurling on Saturday night and therein lies the basis for a push forward to lift Bob O'Keffee in two weeks time!

What of Kilkenny? A whole new animal to the league final with players back to fittness and dying to give Dublin a dose of 'payback' at the stage where it counts and restore the natural order of things!
Two blatant things pop out at me, Dublins lack of ability to score goals (didnt really get a sniff against Galway in fairness and that will certainly be the case against better opposition) and the fact that Henry will exploit our already double weakened centre/full back position!!....Trouble!!

That said, for strength, tackling, under the high ball, and hunger, there is no difference between the teams and even when it comes to confidence I think dublin even shade it, so its all to play for!

My thoughts: Well we didnt 'peak to early' or anything of the sort against Galway but I think that this is where Dublin have been eyeing to be all along and we will throw the kitchen sink at Kilkenny. For Dublin, Bob O'Keffee is going to be our Liam McCarthy equivalent and we will have the game of our lives to win it!
Dublin are confident, we are ABSOLUTELY good enough to beat Kilkenny, people thought we would beat Galway but I full well knew we would. Dublin fear NOBODY, and respect no traditions or how the script should go in hurling! The script written for the final is for Kilkenny to re-establish the status quo, but Dublin wont be reading it! If anyone thinks that KK were not out to win that league final by the way they are deluding themselves and even Michael Fennelly was saying it on the Saturday Game.
The league is done however, the championship is here. Its KK who have all the pressure to deliver now, but I feel ye all need to tune into this game, as I believe Dublin will win by 2 points taking their 3rd piece of silverware off KK in a final this year and once and for all open hurling up in this country and allow counties who are now in the position that Dublin were in 8 years ago the belief that they too can rise to the top table!

Dubs by 2 points!.....Bob O'Keffee, yer coming home lad!!......"NO FEAR!!!"

Regards,

Snufalufagus...Laochra Gael

Snufalufagus (Dublin) - Posts: 8100 - 20/06/2011 16:07:16    961139

Snuffy,

I think Daly has built his foundations on hard working back men, sometimes playing with that extra man. It worked in the league final where they conceded 1-7 and then against Galway they only conceded 2-7. That's terrific defending but will the extra man in defence work against Kilkenny in Championship? One caveat is that Kilkenny would have no problem taking long range scores - something Galway failed to do Saturday. After getting back to 0-18 to 2-7, Galway hit 5 wides in a row & did things like get Canning to take frees on his own 40. Shefflin is a different beast altogether and his scoring rate is phenomenal, not least from long distance.

Right now I cannot call it. I'd like to see the teams named before making a prediction.

slayer (Limerick) - Posts: 6480 - 20/06/2011 16:32:36    961187

Kilkenny by 10.

jonny1951 (Mayo) - Posts: 1431 - 20/06/2011 16:44:43    961202

Kilkenny will be eager to exact revenge for the league final defeat to tight to call but i'll go with my heart and say Dublin by 1

b.mullins (Dublin) - Posts: 1413 - 20/06/2011 16:47:34    961207

Kilkenny to win, Dublin improving rapidly but did not do enough against a poor Galway team to suggest they can beat Kilkenny in a Leinster Final.

Richieq (Meath) - Posts: 3749 - 20/06/2011 16:48:33    961210

Well I'm going to bomb ahead with my prediction. the heart says Dublin but the head says Kilkenny

I say that because I want Dublin to win Leinster for the good of the Leinster championship (not withstanding those players deserve a Leinster title for the effort they've put in) - KK going for 7 provincial titles in a row has made the once-competitive Leinster championship a laughing stock, little more then a training ground for KK's AI run, it would be great for hurling if it finally went to someone else

Having said that though, KK's inexplicable ability to score goals is what'll make the difference while Dublin tend to score a stack of points, they score little in the way of goals that cost them against KK a year or 2 ago on a 2-16 to 0-16 scoreline as I recall

I think KK will go straight for goals in the first 10-15 minutes, will probably score 2 or 3 and a gallant performance by Dublin will fail to catch them.

KK in the Walsh cup & League Finals are a very different story to championship. I hope I am wrong, but I think KK will win by 4-6 points

gigoer (Wexford) - Posts: 1998 - 20/06/2011 16:53:43    961221

slayer,

Kilkenny got 1-1 from play in that league final.
Galway got 1-1 to open their account and then scored only 1 point for the rest of the 25mins of that first half.

Forgive me, but teams like KK and Galway dont only score that little without the opposition doing something 'right'!!!

Furthermore, many people say that Dublin v Galway was played at league pace and I agree, it was a Dublin team in 3rd gear and not even near the pace of the league final.
Sure, Galway were slow, but people seem to think that this was a Dublin team operating at 100% to overcome Galway on Saturday night. It was far from it!
We will see Dublin at 100% in the Leinster final, not at 60% which we overcome galway!

There was another two gears left in Dublin on saturday, (at league pace as people here have correctly said) compare the pace to our league final performance and tell me that Dublin wont step it up to that tempo come 2 weeks from now!!!

Regards,

Snufalufagus....Laochra Gael

Snufalufagus (Dublin) - Posts: 8100 - 20/06/2011 16:56:54    961224

If Dublin approach the game in the same frame of mind as they did in the league final i firmly believe they will win it,but it will be more difficult this time simply because King Henry is around, Kk are totally different animal when this Giant is playing.

shrewdjudge (Waterford) - Posts: 290 - 20/06/2011 16:57:00    961226

"Bob O'Keffee, yer coming home lad!!"

Bob was born in Mooncoin in Kilkenny.......

As for the game........

This hopefully will be a very different KK to that we saw in the league final. Whilst obviously disappointing, of that side, we were missing Henry, Richie, Tommy, and Mick Fennelly and JJ went off injured. Whatever way you want to read the league, those players are huge additions to us. And they will make a hell of a difference when back. I'll be disappointed if we lose but in fairness to the progress Dublin have made, it wouldn't be a shock to see the Dubs win.

PROC_Hurler (Cork) - Posts: 203 - 20/06/2011 17:01:54    961235

snuf, i love your enthusiasm but likewise where i predicted us to take galway im a bit more apprehensive in regards to our chances against the cats. firstly, our own camp. one of our best attributes is the spine of our side. positions 1,3,6,8,9,11,14 are very strong for us but considering were more than likely going to be down brady, boland and odywer for the final we are significantly weakened in these key positions. not to mention the loss of treacy. secondly, we need all guns to fire to be within with any chance. thirdly, goals. as you alluded, we dont score too many, and the cats are clinical in that area. weve plenty of pace up front but the majority of ball is won out in front rather than in the air close to goal, so thats problematic. a big ball winner close to goal may the missing link to our forward line. on the flipside, although saturdays result was fantastic the sunday game highlights for anyone who wasnt there or didnt see it live flattered to decieve. galway pucked themselves out of the game with canning missing what must have been 8 easy frees. a similar sort of trend will not get us by the cats as henry, like paul ryan is lethal from 60 yards in. i think dublin with a full compliment would have a great chance. but its us this time who are down 3/4 'marquee names' unlike the last day where it was the opposite. i reckon if the cats hurl from the front they will take us, but if they seek physical revenge and it transcends into a dogfight we have a good chance but i think cody is too cute for that. final point, i dont think we can hope to hold KK to minus 10-15 points in the championship, its just a different animal and we will need to score heavy to win. but still how good does it feel to enter into a lshc final with expectation against the cats.

seany16 (Dublin) - Posts: 1663 - 20/06/2011 17:10:15    961250

I'll be disappointed if we lose but in fairness to the progress Dublin have made, it wouldn't be a shock to see the Dubs win.

_______


The above statement in itself , Especially the bit in the Bold writing , Just shows how far this Dublin team have progressed in the last 3 or 4 years. If a thread had been created here 4 years ago saying Dublin could beat Kilkenny i think everyone would have laughed out loud and rang the posters local psychiatric hospital and booked him/her in for an immediate appointment.

The final against Kilkenny (The greatest hurling team in the history of the game) will be a totally different final to that of the league final. I would fully expect Kilkenny to be somewhat of a wounded animal. The only thing that i would say is that it'll have been a long long time since Kilkennys last match , however that hasn't really had an impact in the past nor do i expect it to have an impact when the sides meet again. Its easy to get carried away but i feel Dublin are in with a shout. Will they have enough , Personally i dont think they will but the most important thing you could argue is not winning the Leinster final , but infact winning whoever we face in the Quarter final.

Neither myself nor any right-minded Dublin fan would under-estimate Kilkenny , I think even the most foolish Dublin fan will realize that we will have a serious hard game coming up. Players like henry shefflin are a special breed and kilkenny have 5 or 6 or them special players who on their day can be the difference. And more times than not they have been very much on their day. Kilkenny are that good still that they could well play in second gear and still beat Dublin , And if Dublin are to stand any chance at all they really really need to play to their maximum ability, Have they got what it takes , I think they do. They are a fantastic bunch of lads , And hopefully they do themselves justice on the day and with a bit of luck , beat Kilkenny.

waynoI (Dublin) - Posts: 13654 - 20/06/2011 17:24:26    961272

"i reckon if the cats hurl from the front they will take us, but if they seek physical revenge and it transcends into a dogfight we have a good chance but i think cody is too cute for that"

seany16 is it not up to us to make it a dog fight, thats what we did in the league final and thats what we did against Galway and on both occassions neither team could live with us?
Hopefully Joey will be back he has two weeks to prove himself and I think Lambert was great off the bench for us on Sat so he maight get the nod with Ryan set to miss through suspension. If we lose I can't see us being beaten by more than 4 points our lack of goals could probably be the deciding factor!

Kenjg80 (Dublin) - Posts: 228 - 20/06/2011 17:31:02    961279

This is our second Leinster Final in 3 years and this time couldn't be more different than the last.

In 2009 we went to the Leinster final looking for a performance, and realisitically, the job was to keep the score down soas not to be destroyed. This time, however we are going into the final with a real chance of winning it.

Tomás is out, there's question marks over Joey's fitness too. Ryan Dwyer will be unavailable. Added to that Kilkenny will probably have Tommy Walsh back, as well Henry with 70 mins championship hurling under his belt. Also Kilkenny will not be as illdisciplined as they were in the league Final.

Kilkenny are the favourites and they probably should win but if Dublin play with the same intensity and heart as we saw in the league final and we have a chance! Its only a chance but a chance nonetheless.

MesAmis (Dublin) - Posts: 13825 - 20/06/2011 17:49:15    961293

Brady injured his good knee, how serious is it??
Will boland be back?
Will treacy be fit?

If dublin have at least one of boland or brady back then they have a great chance. Without them I'm not sure. I'll wait for the teams as well. I hope the dubs win then when they have a cup we can all get back to hating them!!!

hurlinspuds (Cork) - Posts: 1494 - 20/06/2011 17:50:34    961294

Kenjg80
County: Dublin
Posts: 71

seany16 is it not up to us to make it a dog fight, thats what we did in the league final and thats what we did against Galway and on both occassions neither team could live with us?

im not sure i catch the drift of your point there man. did you mean its up to us to make it a dogfight? if thats what you meant then i see your point. only thing id say is that its a dangerous game vs kilkenny! they're very adapt at winning the dirty ball too.

seany16 (Dublin) - Posts: 1663 - 20/06/2011 18:01:55    961308

Kilkenny to win this I'm afraid I'd like to see dublin win it but kilkenny proved that their not the spent force many thought they were against wexford. Add to this kilkenny will really want to beat dublin after the league final and they are well able to hand out a back lash ask cork and tipp people about it. Remeber a few years ago tipp being reigning league champs and kilkenny being all-ireland champs the match in the league was billed as the match of champions and kilkenny duely handed out a 20+ point hammering they did the same to cork in league and championship.

Also kilkenny should have tommy walsh back and it look like dublin will be missing brady now?? Boland also a loss but one massive positive dublin can take from the galway game is liam rushes proformance at center back one of the best i've seen from a dublin player think they might have found his best position?

Also dublin could have done with a better test against galway as a warm up granted they were impressive but galway were absolutely brutal, looking forward to a good game think the leinster championship really needs it it's been a bit of a dead rubber so far.

Hag_and_Cheese (Tipperary) - Posts: 6103 - 20/06/2011 18:08:20    961316

As Paul Flynn said on the Saturday Game: "At last we have a real Leinster Final now!"

Sorry lads, I wont be making any excuses for my team (im not a Galway man), this game is poised perfectly for Dublin to take and we will win it! Mark me on that!

Regards,

Snufalufagus...Laochra Gael

Snufalufagus (Dublin) - Posts: 8100 - 20/06/2011 19:20:46    961370

ROUND 2 DUBLIN TO DISH OUT ANOTHER A** WHIPPING
IN FAIRNESS WONT BE ANYTHING LIKE THE LAST MEETING BUT STILL THINK DUBLIN WILL WANT IT MORE THE HUNGER FOR SUCCESS AT THE MINUTE IS INCREDIBLE
DUBLIN BY 3 OR 4
UP THE DUBS .........

dubbydave. (Dublin) - Posts: 3927 - 20/06/2011 19:35:43    961387

Kilkenny will win at a canter-There is absolutely no comparison between league and championship. Kilkenny like my own Kerry take every game seriously but bottom line is that the league counts for nothing. Kilkenny will restore the natural order and win very comfortably. KK to score at least two goals and win by by 8-10 points.

kingdomfan (Kerry) - Posts: 393 - 20/06/2011 19:41:08    961391

I wonder how many turn up? They deserve a near full house the effort they've put in to improve so rapidly, but alas I doubt it.

Padraig_Dub (Dublin) - Posts: 100 - 20/06/2011 19:54:35    961403