Changes for Laois game

[doobane man]

Confirmed:
1-9 unchanged
10 C Quinn
11 M Daly
12 N Coughlan
13 J Coughlan
14 P Keelaghan
15 N McNamee

[HairyHole]

So I presume Mark Daly is going to pick up Kelly ? Will he have the pace and stamina to do for the 70 minutes ?

[doobane man]

Would be concerned about that. Thought that Hunt was being primed for that task by playing him there against Louth. Full forward line looks lethal, if we get enough ball into them and if Pascal can curb his petty tendencies. In fairness to Mark Daly he dominated club football in Offaly 2 years ago and, the Dublin league game apart, hasnt let the county down with his performances. Wouldnt be surprised if Neville did the tracking back. Strong team on paper. The anticipation is building

[Lone Shark]

I know I'm getting repetitive now, but that is rubbish of the highest order. Hunt came in for his first match, which is a nerve wracking experience at the best of times, did fine and gets dropped. This is the kind of thing that has kept Galway hurling under achieving for almost twenty years now.

Even if Neville tries to track Tom Kelly, it's not as if marking McMahon will be a walk in the park.

This is one of those where we'll end up making the change in the second half after the damage has been done.

[Bord na Mona man]

I presume the thinking is that Daly's tactical kicking will open up the Leix full back line.
Against Louth we tended to carry to ball a bit too much.
Louth were able to get defenders back as our build up play was too slow.

Now, about Tom Kelly.
How much damage can/will he do?
How many scores would typically be attributed to his eye-catching upfield runs?
How many players do you expect him to beat when he gets forward?
Might there be a situation where he goes upfield, loses the ball and leaves a gap for Offaly to exploit?
What is more important to Offaly? Arming our inside line with early ball, or marking a Leix back?
Call me old fashioned, but shouldn't backs be marking forwards and not vice versa?

[Lone Shark]

Now, about Tom Kelly.

How many scores would typically be attributed to his eye-catching upfield runs?

It's not that they'd be directly attributed, but the whole Laois game is based around short passing for which pace and having a free man to lay off to is key. It's not that the score will be directly his, but if he's let get forward he'll handle the ball somewhere on the way to making the chance.

How many players do you expect him to beat when he gets forward?

None - that's not his or the Laois game. But if Laois have an extra man with regularity, they won't have to beat anyone, just work the ball in close enough and find the free player.

Might there be a situation where he goes upfield, loses the ball and leaves a gap for Offaly to exploit?

Occasionally. But the space would be there to exploit anyway, whether or not Kelly has been tracked back. And if he has not been tracked, Laois will more often than not end up getting a shot of some form away, and the ball will be dead.

What is more important to Offaly? Arming our inside line with early ball, or marking a Leix back?

That's Quinn's job, and he does it a lot better than Daly. Daly got three balls in Navan, played one good pass and was blocked down for the other two because his playing of the ball was ponderous. A good passer he is - an early passer he is not.

Call me old fashioned, but shouldn't backs be marking forwards and not vice versa?

Mattie Forde could have done all that he did last year and more and it still would have been for nowt if the ball was not being delivered regularly - and most of the Wexford ball forward came from Leigh O'Brien down the left, who Niall McNamee was trying and failing to track back. If anything both half backs and forwards these days are running towards midfield for breaks or supporting runners. By this logic it's the half backs that are running in the right direction if they come on to a ball.

That logic is old fashioned I suspect.

[Bord na Mona man]

I don't doubt that Tom Kelly is a good player, but I'd be sceptical about whether he's going to destroy us from centre back. It's high risk to have this as a pivotal attacking platfrom.
Attacking wing backs are a slightly different matter as it's easier to cover for them when they go forward. At gap left on the flank is never as immediately dangerous.
I'm not saying he definitely won't cause us problems, but to allow this x-factor to dictate our gameplan...?

A huge Offaly weakness in this decade, has been bad decision making and poor use of possession.
Going into any big game you always feel that Offaly can only win it, if we can keep the ball for over 60% of the game - purely because it means the opposition don't have it, not because of what we can do with the ball ourselves.

Daly might not pass as early you'd like, but the ball would still be getting in quicker than the alternative solo run. For all Daly's weaknesses, you have to admit that he is more likely to give a meaningful pass than the other challengers.

[Ron]

Will we still see a two man full forward line? Maybe with Daly or Quinn roaming in the middle? PK slotting into the half line? I think that could allow space and good ball into the full forwards who could be lethal if given the right ball. This would also allow McManus to play a more defensive role. It will be good to see 6 forwards who are capable of scoring.
There's a lot of talk about Kelly and what he might do but for me the danger man is Munnelly, if he can be contained then we can win it, it will be a key battle between himself and Slatts.
Reynolds is probably a little unlucky not to start he tried very hard against Louth but the way they packed their defence didn't suit him.

[Lone Shark]

Daly might not pass as early you'd like, but the ball would still be getting in quicker than the alternative solo run. For all Daly's weaknesses, you have to admit that he is more likely to give a meaningful pass than the other challengers.

Being honest, I actually wouldn't admit that at all. Damien Hunt is still a pass first and run second kind of player. The entire Doon team at the moment is built around this - and there'd be no point him carrying the ball in on top of Jimmy Paw or Trevor Phelan. He hasn't proven at county level that he can play the same sort of game yet, but he hasn't been given the chance. Mark Daly on the other hand has proven it in the past, but certainly not in 2005.

Where Daly gives the advantage is physically, and as fielding support for the midfielders - but I think this is of more value late in the game when his lack of pace is less apparent. Equally, he is marginally more likely to be spot on accurate with his pace, but his slow delivery means that defenders have more time to read it - again this is less of an issue later in the game.

I'm not sure about the two man full forward line now - Kelleghan and Coughlan are both a threat from distance, but even still you'd prefer to see them close in. Paschal's got to be willing to fight for his own possession now too - no more of that lazy trying to unbalance the defender - get out in front, win it, use it. Can't always be looking for the easy ball. On the other hand it does crowd things a bit. I wouldn't want to see him pulling too deep and bringing Rooney into the game as a ball player either though. I'd say he'll stick with the three men inside.

As I mentioned in the preview article, Munnelly on Slattery is huge. Laois depend on him in a big way, and Slattery has the ability to keep him very quiet - and he has done. If Munnelly ain't scoring, Laois will need someone else to step up, and I don't know if they'll get it.