NHL Round 3 Offaly V Dublin 06/03/2011

[bracknaghboy]

Massive massive game this on sunday. Dublin now starting to believe that they are on track to becoming a hurling force. So much so that Daly is coming out saying he has to remind his players that the win in Tullamore sunday is not a foregone conclusion!!! Now when in the last 30 years have a Dublin team being thinking like this before a meeting with Offaly? This needs to be nipped in the bud. They need to be sent back to the capital beaten just like they were last year. I have a feeling that the winner of this tie sunday will win the championship meeting between the two teams in May. Offaly already face a huge task going to Parnell Park and if they have a win under their belts against us then it'll be even harder. But something tells me that if Offaly can win on Sunday it might just knock the steam out of them a bit and I'm certain it will sow some serious seeds of doubt in them come May. The question is can Offaly raise the game Sunday and get the 2 points. The Offaly starting 15 will be of real interest. In all honesty Dooley probably expected to be on 0 ponts after the first 2 games and Dublin and Wexford would have been the real target games. Heres hoping theres a strong side out Sunday and a championship mentality as well.

[corner back]

Shane Dooley will have to mind his manners. The ref is the same guy who sent him off in the Fitzgibbon.

I can't see Offaly winning this one.

[joe123]

Dublin will be far too strong for a weakened offaly team, unlikely offaly at full strength would get withing 3-4 points of dublin at this time of year, but injuries and inferior fitness means Offaly can only hope their not too badly beaten.
Conal Keaney a HUGE asset to Dublin this year and he'll be the reason dublin progress this year, he is also a big loss to the footballers.
As is the case with the Dublin footballers at this time of year, and for the first few vital games in the league, the dublin hurlers have superior fitness and conditioning to the other teams. given them the advantage over offaly adn other teams. Come championship it will be a different story, and despite poor league form and regardless of the result on sunday this offaly team has proved extremely resilient over the last couple of years and they'll take heart from the performances last year. Dublin will be favourites sunday and also in championship but thats when offaly are at their best.

[kingscounty]

i agree that dublins fitness is far better than offalys and other teams at this time.but why is this,is it because dublin do more pre season training than offaly or is it because offaly dont do enough?surely offaly should try and match every team with fitness and power in training,and then when it comes to the games the best hurling team will win,not the team that wears the other team down physically with running and power.im not saying dublin do this,but its just that offaly seem to fade after 50mins,and this is the time we should be finishing games strongly.is this a fitness thing or a mental block.i know its early days and hopefully the dubs will be burnt out come summer time

[townman]

Dublin hurling teams were always fit this time of year, if you look back on the games in the 80's and 90's
Dublin used to give us a good few beatens down the years. just on that i remember back to 1994 and our last
league game i think in parnell park and dublin beat us bye something like 4-11 to 0-13 points.

and that was a strong team that day the dooley's Troy, the Birr lads were all hurling we won the all ireland
6 months later not saying we will this year. as for sunday's game if we pick the same team as the last day
and Joe Dooley plays certain players in places they don't belong they will give us a beating as big as the Galway one.

i know we won't have a full team for sunday but if Joe plays young Bermingham and Stephen Wynne in the half forward line
we can forget about it. i also think he should give Dylan Hayden a run at full forward its worth a go for sunday at least.
our fullback line were ran silly the last day and could be in for a long day on sunday if Conal Keaney in good form he will take
watching. bar we hurl out of our skins on sunday in which i hope we do can't see us winning this but can win the champoinship
game in may with our full team fit and ready i hope.

[Plain of the Herbs]

For what it’s worth, Dublin came to Tullamore cock-of-the-walk on the back of a big win over Tipperary in Donnycarney in the previous round.

The big difference this time is Offaly’s injury list. David Kenny, if fit, would be the right man to track Keaney. Peter Healion’s mobility is still a problem though.

I’d expect Dublin’s forwards to dominate in the air. I’m thinking Liam Rushe and Peter Kelly. The usual. There was a strong wind last year and Maguire was unable to reach his half-forwards with his puckout in the second half that day and Dublin were lost.

Having Rory Hanniffy and Conor Mahon restored to the side will be a boost. This kind of match could be made for Mahon. With the sizeable number of defenders recovering from surgery,Hanniffy will more than likely be deployed in defence.

Dylan Hayden’s improved workrate was noticeable against Galway. A midfield partnership of Hayden and Mahon would provide an interesting blend. Shane Dooley should be restored to full health too. Colin Egan will be worth watching too. He and Bergin provide two targets for James Dempsey’s puckout. Egan could be a more refined version of Derek Molloy.

It will be very difficult for Offaly to win what with so many fellas still out injured, and Dublin being on their guard after last year’s match – a setback they never really recovered from. Still, I’d expect a big improvement on Offaly’s last match a fortnight ago. Remember Offaly did quite an amount of hurlijg in the second half that day, though the match was gone from them.

Most of the Dublin team are used to beating Offaly at underage. Dublin should edge it here too.

[Bord na Mona man]

The slightly more open pitch should suit Offaly a little as it was factor in Offaly turning over Dublin last year.
Last year Dublin disintegrated because they couldn’t keep the ball in hand.
They lost their composure and starting dropping catches and not being accurate in finding their men. Offaly successfully managed to get the ball on the deck and turned lots of the play into scrappy pulling fests.

If you want to beat the Dubs, you ideally want to play them in Croke Park or Thurles where they aren’t as intelligent at using open space. As Limerick and Antrim proved in knocking them out of the last two championships.

The bad news for championship is Parnell Park‘s tight pitch and the 6 foot walls practically on the sidelines making it claustrophobic. Hence the ball hits the grass a lot less there and its suits your average Dublin hurler who is good at catching and well bulked up for collision hurling.

Dublin are probably in better shape this year and Offaly still haven’t got going. Anthony Daly should have them wound up this time too “Jesus leds, are we going to let Offaly bate us again? Are we leds? Jesus, we’re no longer the whipping boys of Leinster!”. Pat Teehan should start sourcing a repair man to fix the dressing room table.

If Offaly don’t let Dublin pull away early, then Offaly might edge them out in tight finish. If I were Daly I’d be priming Dublin to win this one early.

[Offaly2010]

Dooley has faith


04 March 2011


Offaly manager Joe Dooley knows that his side face a tough task against Dublin on Sunday, but the former All-Ireland winner believes that an upset could be on the cards.

The Faithful manager is pinning his hopes on home advantage to play its part on Sunday against a Dublin side that are unbeaten in all competitions so far this year.

Offaly have a number of injury concerns ahead of the match, but Dooley feels that they have strong enough panel to trouble the Dubs at O'Connor Park.



"It's going to be a tough game. They are going very well this year and are unbeaten. They have beaten Tipperary, Galway and Kilkenny and drew with Waterford so they are obviously on a high at the moment," said Dooley.

"They are pretty much at full strength, but having said that it's in Tullamore and we need a win so we will be going all out to try and take the two points."

http://www.hoganstand.com/Offaly/Articl ... ?ID=143668

[old yellar]

Dublin also beat Tipp in croke park the last day too plain.. Dublin are big and strong alright and have plenty of ball winners. They are also excellent strikers of the ball too and possess players that are well capable of turning and running at a defence.

[JimBwobb]

Once Again Another Heavy Defeat Dished Out To The Faithful...Is Relagation Looming Closer...?...
Joe Dooley After The Match Speaks Of The Injury To Shane Dooley..."Shane's gone to hospital, his ear is hanging off at the moment."

[Offaly2010]

Wouldn't worry too much about today, will be a totally different story come Championship time. Offaly are missing a lorry load of players, most of whom should be in the starting 15 against Dublin in May.

Having said that, Offaly do have an awful lot of work to do. They don't look fit enough or sharp enough to worry teams at the moment.

So its on to Thurles now next Sunday where Offaly will of course be looking for a win, but a massive improvement being their priority.

[old yellar]

Who exactly, starting 15 wise is there to comeback? As in the longer term injuries?

[Offaly2010]

I'm not sure how long each player is out for and I'm not even sure some of the players I'm about to name are injured but definitely to come back will be James Rigney, David Kenny, Paul Cleary, Joe Brady, Derek Molloy and Brendan Murphy.

With Rigney, Kenny and Cleary back the Offaly defence will definitely tighten up and certainly Offaly won't be conceding 2-23 like today or 1-24 two weeks ago against Galway.

[old yellar]

Would you think? Murphys influence is surely on the wain. Pity kenny is away too as it has to affect his sharpness, but fairplay to him for his dedication in travelling back. Rigney and cleary will tighten it up alright. Rigney in the corner probably? As previous posters discussed, would Joe Brady in the forwards maybe get the lads outside to hit in high hopeful ball instead of quality? He is a handful infairness. Capable of goals but on other days he isn't as effective..Dublin looked a bit sharper today alright. Jayus how many frees/ 65s were missed?!

[Offaly2010]

As reguards Brendan Murphy, maybe not the starting 15 but definitely he should come back on to the panel.

The answer to your question about the frees and 65's is simply..too many!