Offaly vs Tipperary - SFC Qualifier Rnd 1 30/06/2012

[Plain of the Herbs]

From the Tipperary GAA site:-

Ardán Ó Riain (New Stand) and the Town Terrace will be open. Admission prices are: Stand - adults €15, students / OAPs €10 and under 16 free; Terrace - adults €10, students/OAPS €10 (same as adult) and under 16 free.

[My Left Foot]

I thought Niall Mac would be starting ? Tougher prospect now but still doable

Best of luck on saturday

[townman]

Kildare are the All Blacks of Gaelic football, fcuk me Coffey was blowing some smoke up kildares arse during the week

[My Left Foot]

Did that make us the Ireland of International rugby so.... !

[Kevin]

I thought Niall Mac would be starting ? Tougher prospect now but still doable

Best of luck on saturday

That's the spirit! Would be a nice lift to beat them and doable, no doubt.

UP OFFALY!!!!

[Offaly Proud]

Expecting a good performance and a win tonight. Heard things are going well in training and with a good attitude it makes all the difference. Going back to the league match in April I think Casey, Shane, Dan Currams and Sean Pender were injured and Niall Smith, Richie and Ross Brady had withdrawn from the panel. The players have to show some fight and with Nialler close to getting back to fitness he might even start. Keep the faith. 13/8 is good odds . Maybe double up with Longford at 5/6.

[Ahlethimoutwithit]

should tear into them down ther. Lot of effort gone in over the last 2 months, and a strong peformance but with proper use of the bench should see us through.
I am worried that they will exploit the lack of mobility of Smith Brady Dalton and Mcnamee, 3 from 4 here would be enough, and I also think Guilfoyle needs to start delivering, in terms of 1) Distribution & 2) Taking on his man on the right occasion. Casey and Anton should do quite well. Hopefully we can dictate the play more and not be near as defensive as we were.
If the game is tight with 20 to go, Panda, Coughlan and Nialler earlier would be able to exploit the space in Thurles.

Cant see Shane Sullivan lasting beyond 20 mins if the right ball is going in. He did ok against kildare, but he was on a static player and had loads of players rushing in to double up on Connor.I hope I am wrong , but I have rarely seen Sullivan deliver in championship.

Overall we were a little unlucky to lose to them in the league, however, they were already relegated and had nothing to play for, whilst we could have stayed up with a win. SO the work between now and then plus the extra players we have back plus an improvement in mental side of things should see us over the line!

[Lean Times]

Best of luck to Offaly tonight. I'm travelling down to Thurles hopefully. Had a flutter at 13/8 as well. Really hope the lads can put in a performance.

Heard on the grapevine that Cunningham is starting!

[townman]

tipp 1- 12 offaly 0- 10

[jimbob17]

never got it to make it down. First championship game ive missed in a few years but maybe i was better off. Was anyone there, who played well. Is there anything positive at all to look forward to??

[Bord na Mona man]

Nothing much that can be said. Offaly were once again off the pace once the game revved up. Tipp that bit sharper, better organised and used the ball better.

Offaly started ok with some bright early attacks. They got men forward and moved it through the hands well but registered wides instead of scores.
Then Tipp nosed in front and there was already that foreboding sense that Offaly were unlikely to last if the game went the distance. Offaly were already doing stupid things to make the ref move the ball forward for dissent. Something he probably did 3 or 4 times against Offaly during the game.

Mid way through the first half, Tipperary scored the goal that was the score that Offaly could never cancel out. A punt - towards the side of the Offaly square that two Tipperary forwards combined to break it down and then palm it to the net.

The problem was already emerging in that Offaly were allowing a private 2 vs 2 private game take place in their own '45 with very little cover being provided by other Offaly players. At the other end, once Offaly lost the energy to carry it and started kicking it, there was always a spare Tipp defender back to mop up and Offaly won virtually nothing from these 3 vs 2 mismatches.

Offaly did have a decent patch before half time, where the deficit was reduced to 1 point.
Then Tipp came downfield on a counter attack, played the ball towards their inside forwards. One of them pushed his Offaly marker in the back before it landed. Meaning the 2 on 2 was now 2 on 1. Alan Mulhall had no choice but to bring the ball carrier down and give away the penalty rather than have Tipp walk it around him.

Mulhall saved the penalty and the rebound was eventually put over the bar to leave the half time deficit at 2 points.

In the second half, Tipp slowly stretched the 2 point lead to 7 as the error count increased and energy levels decreased for Offaly. Offaly spent a lot of the second half vainly chasing after waves of Tipperary forays into the Offaly.
2 late points from Offaly made the scoreboard look slightly better, but they were a beaten docket from a long way out.

A few good performances though. Alan Mulhall was again solid and saved a penalty just before half time. If the All Stars nominations were given out on merit instead of the usual sh1te of giving them to Stephen Cluxton and whoever the All Ireland finalists are, he'd be well in for consideration.

Ken Casey played well up front, kicked a few good points and generally look lively.

Anton Sullivan put in his usual hard work shift of crrying ball, chasing back, making a nuisance of himself.

John Moloney has been the find of the year. Even in some of the dreadful Offaly perforamnces during the Spring, he was one of the few Offaly players who never let the county down. Hopefully he doesn't wither on the vine like so many other former bright lights of Offaly football.

Of the Tom Coffey wildcards:

Alan McNamee was miles off the pace, wasn't able to track and was taken off at half time.

Peter Cunningham didn't really get into the game. He probably needed to drop deeper and collect more ball that he could run with. He'd learn a lot from a league campaign where he can better size up how best to take on senior intercounty defenders. Throwing him an Offaly shirt for championship this early in his career was always a long shot.

Eoin Rigney didn't have the happiest of Offaly debuts on Johnny Doyle the last day and again found it tough. Another player who could do with a league campaign to gain experience.

Niall McNamee, kicked two points from play, didn't get much supply, but still looked a shadow of himself. One thing always notable about when he returns from injury is how lacking in strength he tends to be. He had the frame of a fella who has just recovered from a month of flu.

[azoffaly]

Good synopsis BnM man, as always, but just to step away from the detail a bit, and give my overall impressions. Not to put a fine a point on it, I thought were were abysmal.

We didn't seem to have any plan or method of play at all in the attacking end of the field, never mind a plan B. Lads were playing off the cuff and as individuals. Not, I sensed, out of selfishness, but out of a lack of understanding of what they were supposed to be doing. Every time we got the ball, there was no sense of anticipation about what was going to happen. And I don't think this was a deliberate ploy to keep Tipp guessing, because Offaly looked as if they were guessing just as much.

We are, and remain, miles off the required standard. As far off it as I have seen, because while we have struggled before, the rest of the field were stagnant enough and a 'good year' could make you competitive instantly. This is different. In terms of preparation we are a mile away, and we need to sort that out now. No more excuses, no more stupid managerial culls, this is basic, hard hard work on the players behalf. They need to be given the guidance and oversight, and they do not need to live like monks, but they need to change preparation methods. Not from February for 'The Championship' either, but from September/October. We are, I would say, about 6-8 years behind, and the only way we will catch up is by outworking other teams. Not by just doing as much as them.

We also need a system of play that can be adapted depending on circumstance. Whether that be a Donegal style defensive/counter attacking system, a Crossmaglen direct style, a Kerry combination, a Cork system of power runners, whatever it is, it needs to be set out at the start of the year and worked on for at least 2 years. If they start on this from October, they will see results in the Spring and Summer, but it can be tweaked and modified and expanded as the years go by. At the moment, we are neither fish, nor fowl. And I think if you asked an Offaly player what sort of game they play, he'd struggle to tell you.

Without preparation, physical and tactical, we will continue to drift on and by standing still, we are going irrevocably backwards. Time to change the momentum. It is possible, and you do not need to unearth 24 All stars to do it. However, you do need a clear idea, commitment to the plan, and hard, hard work. You also need patience, from players and fans. Everyone has to buy in. But it is possible, let's stop talking, and just do it.

With a clear head, and no bias. Do we think we could, on any given day, approach any team with confidence at the moment? Lets count them.

First our Leinster foes.
Louth - Maybe, because they are in a worse state than we are at the moment behind the scenes.
Meath - Nope.
Dublin - Nope
Wicklow - I wouldn't feel confident, but maybe.
Wexford - Nope
Carlow - I wouldn't feel confident, but maybe.
Kilkenny - Yes
Laois - Nope
Kildare - Nope
Westmeath - Nope
Longford - Nope

So out of the 11 counties in Leinster, I'd think we have a reasonable chance against 3, and confident against only 1, Kilkenny.

Now Connacht, the 'weakest' province.

Galway - Nope
Mayo - Nope
Roscommon - Nope
Sligo - Nope
Leitrim - Maybe, but wouldn't be over confident
London - Maybe, but wouldn't be over confident
New York - Yes

So over in the west, I think we'd be well beaten by 4, in with a chance in 2 and confident in one.

Munster

Cork - Nope
Kerry - Nope
Tipperary - Nope
Limerick - Nope
Clare - Very maybe, but I doubt it.
Waterford - Maybe, but wouldn't be over confident.

Down south I'd say reasonable v the Deise, and an outside chance v Clare.


Ulster

Donegal - Nope
Cavan - Maybe, but not confident
Monaghan - Nope
Fermanagh - Maybe, but not confident
Antrim - Maybe, but not confident
Tyrone - Nope
Derry - Nope
Armagh - Nope
Down - Nope

I'd give us a fighting chance against 3 teams, but wouldn't expect a win in any.

So by my highly unscientific gut feel if we were in a draw against all the other 33 counties, including Kilkenny, London and New York, I'd only be confident we could beat 2 of them. Kilkenny and New York. I'd give us a fighting chance, without any great expectations in another 10, and no chance except a miracle or an 'on the day' thing versus another 21. Maybe that says more about my mental state with regard to Offaly football at the moment, but even 5 years ago I'd have had much higher numbers in the confident and fighting chance category, including teams that have left us behind like Laois, Longford, Wexford, Meath, Kildare, Roscommon, Sligo, Tipperary, Limerick, etc etc etc. I'm in bad form today

[clubman]

went down to game not very confident but hoping for a good performance. didnt get a good performance as offaly lacked drive and leadership. offaly were a well beaten team and i think tom and selectors will have to sit down and take a hard look at there players. some of these lads wont hurt themselves for offaly.over the next few months the need to go to all jonior,inter,and senior matches in county and find players that the can mould into county players.every club should have 2 or 3 players good enough to send in ,train for the winter with a panel of 50 or 60 ,then play a few games between themselves and see who is good enough to carry forward . if we go with the same team next year i think we have to expect more of the same.tom hadnt much time this year but needs to start now in his perperations for next year.

[townman]

just watching Meath give kildare a lesson in the skills of gaelic football, tell you they don't have the names like the 80's and 90's sides
but by fcuk they die for the royal jersey as they showed today and it means something to the meath players to pull on the jersey
untill offaly players feel the same we are at nothing.

[kingscounty]

now that this year is over for the footballers, its now time that the county board cop on and get with the times. coffey did his job and fair play to him for taking over this team for a short period but we now need to get a manager in place that has a proven track record of getting the most out of players. coffey talking about kildare been like the all blacks to me was some load of bollocks, talking up a kildare team that have won fuck all over the past 5 years. we need a manager to come in and sort out the players we have, come in and look at as many games as possible from junior inter and senior. take meath today bourke,carroll,queeney,farrell all from junior or inter club teams. the offaly team now are way behind in the fitness stakes as we all know but more worrying for me is that they seem to be lacking in the football side of things. in the games we played this year we struggled to score much scores , playing in divison 4 next year isnt going to help much either. the only way i can see offaly improving is to get a high profile manager in that will command respect from players and the county board , but as usual we will get the same reply ( all these things cost money ) and the county board have none blah blah blah.