Dublin 15 v Kildare Announced..
- Jul 22,2011
The Dubs travel to Pearse Park, Longford this coming Saturday with the intention of holding on to their All Ireland crown for a little while longer. At the start of the season Dublin fans would not have foreseen the route that the Jackie’s would have to undergo in order to retain their title our neighbours Meath certainly upset the plan!
In sport as in life sometimes a spanner is thrown your way and how you chose to deal with it defines your character. This Dublin panel has the resolution, desire and pride to overcome such obstacles and they are certainly not ready to let go of the Brendan Martin cup, just yet.
The qualifiers were introduced back in 2008 so Dublin are now sailing in unchartered waters having never played via the back door before. Dublin reached the All-Ireland quarter final versus Tyrone in 2008 and the last two All-Ireland finals versus Cork (2009) and Tyrone (2010) so they face the ultimate challenge on Saturday as there is no way back for the losing team.
Dublin’s opponents on Saturday, Kildare have put in a lot of work over the last few years under the management of ex Thomas Davis player Paul Kelly. They have amongst their ranks some exceptional players, with the likes of Aislinn Holton, Noelle Earley and Brianne Leahy household names in Ladies football. Kildare like Dublin lost their Leinster semi-final versus Laois by the narrowest of margins with Laois then marching on to take the Leinster title for the first time since 2007.
Dublin manager Tommy Brown has made three changes to the Dublin starting fifteen which lost to Meath, in defence Grainne O’Malley from Ballyboden St Endas replaces Ailish McKenna at right corner back while Siobhan McGrath replaces Colleen Barrett at wing half back. Up front Mary Nevin will line out at left half forward in replace of Amy Connolly.
The two side’s last meet in the 2009 Leinster final Dublin that day enjoyed a eleven point win over the Lilies with Sinead Aherne, Mary Nevin and Lyndsey Peat all raising the green flag however a lot of football has been played since then. Dublin will be content to leave Pearse Park on Saturday knowing that their journey to Croke Park is still on track and their championship season is not at a end.
Throw in time in Pearse Park on Saturday is 5:15pm, Eugene O’Hare from County Down is the match official. The game will be shown live on TG4 plus there will be regular updates on Twitter.
Dublin: C O’Connor, S Goldrick, J O’Sullivan, G O’Malley, G Fay, S Furlong, S McGrath, D Materson, N McEvoy, M Nevin, E Kelly, L Peat, N Healy, S Aherne, A Ring
Kildare: E Kelly, P Delahunt, A Savage, D Tierney, K Leahy, A Holton, D Barry, B Leahy, J Timmins, T Noone, M Moolick, N Earley, S Cannon, D Gately, A Gately
Dates for your Diary:
TESCO Senior Final: Ballyboden St Endas v Na Fianna Wed 20th July, 8:30pm in Parnell Park
TESCO Junior Final: St Maurs v St Sylvester’s Wed 7th Sept, 7:15pm, Venue TBC
Minor All Ireland Final: Dublin v Cork, Mon 1st Aug, 2:30pm in Birr
Images from 2009 Leinster Final - Sportsfile.com