league final this saturday

[Flatcap]

its an awful pity they didnt put this on with the louth game, but not to worry.

hard to know what to make of this. realistically if carlow arent good enough to win in derry we should be beating them handy, but then the same could have been said in carlow the first day.

does anyone else think agreeing to play it on the saturday sends out all the wrong signals? if this was a close game, youd think we be fighting to play it on sunday and thus have o hara back and playing. if i was eoin garvey id be using this to let on how much offaly are taking it for granted.

[Bord na Mona man]

7 o'clock in Portleix
We'll beat them by a few points to get revenge, but won't learn much.

Any word what the team will be?

[Lone Shark]

No idea - I'd say it won't stray too far from the team from two weeks ago though. Oakley should be back and available though. You're probably talking along the lines of

Breeder
Franks
Teehan
Claffey
Hoctor
Kevin Brady
Cassidy
Diggy
Oakley
Gary
Rory
Brendy
Cathal
Joe Brady
Murray

If I was handicapping this game I'd say 13.5.

[doobane man]

Brian Mullins
Kevin Brady
Barry Teehan (Capt)
David Franks
Daniel Hoctor
Niall Claffey
Colm Cassidy
Brian Carroll
Michael Cordial
Gary Hanniffy
Rory Hanniffy
Brendan Murphy
Cathal Parlon
Joe Brady
Damien Murray

16 Damien McDermott, 17 Paudie Mulhare 18 Ger Oakley , 19 Peter Healion 20 Andrew McRedmond , 21 Stephen Brown , 22 Aidan Hanrahan , 23 Martin Corcoran , 24 Dylan Hayden
[/quote]

[Lone Shark]

Good enough for Carlow, but Niall Claffey at centre back????

And Ger on the bench!!!!! No, that won't do at all......

[Flatcap]

at least they have cassidy back in the half back line. that was awful foolish putting him in the corner before.

what chance young bergin will be on the senior team before the year is out? i know hes suspended now, but it could be worth giving him a go. hes going to be there next year anyway. the only danger would be that the drunk summer crowd would get on his back like they did with brady.

[Loughers]

IMHO, it should be:

Brian Mullins
Kevin Brady
Barry Teehan (Capt)
David Franks
Daniel Hoctor
Stephen Brown
Colm Cassidy
Ger Oakley
Michael Cordial
Rory Hanniffy
Gary Hanniffy
Brendan Murphy
Brian Carroll
Joe Brady
Damien Murray

I'm happy with 1-12. Brown has the potential to be a class act but needs games. Oakley has to start as he's had a fine season so far. That full forward line is very weak. I still rate Carroll over Parlon, who was brutal against Meath. I know Murray is scoring a lot but it's against poor opposition. As for Joe at full, I just don't know.

[Lone Shark]

I rate Parlon as a threat in the corner. Not to the same extent Setanta was, but he's big for a corner forward, and as such can be very difficult to stop. Again in a better county he wouldn't get a game, but for us who have had problems with ball being caught and sent straight back down our defenders' throats, he's a good temporary solution, and should come on for the experience as well - he is just out of minor after all.

Brian Carroll hasn't really played well in a long time - I just can't bring myself to think that he's anything other than trading off his name. None of the lads who hurled with him in Kieran's reckon he was anything out of the ordinary down there, he certainly hasn't stood out for UL in the Fitzgibbon, and he wasn't someone who stood out hurling for Coolderry either the same way the Bradys and Parlon did last year.

Murray to me seems to be there for frees only. In the absence of a better alternative, it's hard to argue with that logic.

I agree with you wholeheartedly about Oakley, although Brown I'm less sure about. He's like the type of player that has hurling, but never seems to fit anywhere. I remember being in awe of the goal he got against Tipp in Portlaoise in 2001, but ever since then he has struggled to really make any kind of impact. He also seems a little diminutive for centre back, but that's just my opinion.