Leix vs Offaly report

[Lone Shark]

Offaly vs Leix Report

On New Year’s Eve this year, amidst the chaotic alcohol fuelled daze, Lone Shark sent a few text messages at the turn of the calendar relating to Offaly GAA, as you can imagine, there were very few tears in the eye to bemoan the passing of 2004. On Sunday we got the first glance of what Offaly 2005 will have to offer, albeit in a footballing sense only, and while the clouds were not without silver lining, at the same time it would be very difficult to fight the urge to steel the soul for another long and arduous year to come.

The trip to Portlaoise was undertaken not without optimism, as it seemed reasonable that based on the Offaly side put out against the Underdogs, and with Rhode players available for selection since then, we were likely to see a relatively strong Offaly team on display. With respect to the opposition, the absence of Portlaoise players, and factoring in their manager’s legendary disregard for all football played before May, one could have expected a Laois team understrength and not hugely interested. With the Offaly boys playing for a new manager and surely keen to impress you would have hoped that the extra endeavour might be enough to at least scrape us home. As it turned out while Laois were down several key men, if anything Offaly were the team with the most big guns left locked in the armoury, and both teams ended up putting in a considerable effort in this local derby, particularly when the proximity of the game to turkeys, trees, cribs, countdowns and all other things festive is factored in.

Offaly did start brightly, with a Neville Coughlan goal, and points from Kenny, Kelleghan and Mulhall keeping the scoreboard ticking over at a lively pace. At the other end, Laois were penetrating occasionally, usually through Clancy finding himself unmarked and able to make forays forward, although good marking displays from Slattery on Ross Munnelly and both Sean Casey and Ger Rafferty in the full back line were keeping the ship steady. James Keane was playing very well at centre back, and even if this level may prove a bit much for a player who was plaing minor football in 2004, he will certainly prove a useful bench option as well as a fine player at under 21 in the coming months. Following the goal the lead oscillated between two and three points in front, although Offaly can point to several bad first half wides and blockdowns as where eventually the game was lost, in particular during the first sin bin of the match, that of Clancy midway through the half. (As it transpires this was the first sin binning of the weekend, and thereby the first ever, for the quiz buffs among you) Most of these wides/blocked shots would be down to poor shot selection from the usual suspects, Mac and Paschal in particular.

Yellow Cards continued to be a huge feature of the game, as from then on at no time were there fifteen on fifteen at any time. Most of the yellows were very harsh, as in this writers eyes only Clancy’s dangerous tackle warranted anything more than a free. Rafferty got yellow carded for being second to a loose ball and running into a Laois player. Both players were committed to winning the ball, and somebody had to get there first surely? Garvan was carded first for a harmless foul and again subsequently, though the second time must have been for some form of dissent as no foul play was apparent. Slattery and Munnelly squared up in the second half, but didn’t exchange any form of real contact, which led to the Gracefield player taking a ten minute break, and Kelleghan also got a rest for nothing more than a lazy forwards tackle on an emerging defender, the sort we’ve seen him make constantly for years now. Overall there were 8 cards issued, with four shared between Kelleghan and Garvan. Chris Conway was the other not mentioned, binned for an offence notified to the referee by his linesman. Obviously enough I can’t comment on this not having seen any offence.

By the half Laois were well in touch, a lot more than they should have been, at only two points adrift – 1-6 to 0-7. By the time Offaly scored next, Laois had 2-9 on the board, one goal coming after midfield opened up once again and Garvan came through to put away a fantastic shot, and some scrappy defending led to a loose ball being volleyed to the net by Padraig McMahon for the second.

A few McManus frees kept us in touch, but Laois looked to have control until a clever bit of improvisation from David Egan led to our second goal and a chink of light at the end of the tunnel. However it was not to happen, and despite several attempts to spill forward and create goal chances, we never looked like equalising. There was some bafflement when two minutes into three of injury time McManus put a twenty metre free over the bar when we trailed by a goal, but in mitigation there was more time for a goal to be sneaked. Surely all the same the goal attempt was the way to go at that stage. It wasn’t as if we were entitled to expect another goal from open play – safe to say two goals was more than a fair return for the chances created.

Overall the defence was quite reasonable, midfield lacked fielding and was both ponderous and porous, and the forwards lacked movement and cohesion. Individually there were some fine displays, but both the tactics and sharpness of the team left a lot to be desired. The latter is largely excusable on account of the time of year, but the former is particularly worrying. Yesterday’s display was reminiscent of Kildare’s style in their heyday in the late 90’s, but without the power and drive of a fully fit Niall Buckley/Glenn Ryan/Dermot Earley providing the 70% possession that makes that style of game work. A full forward line with Jimmy Coughlan and Niall Mac would have been hugely under utilised with the style of slow delivery that was a feature of yesterday’s performance. We will go on in hope however that that was merely a reflection of the players available rather than a policy for going forward. Still, there was a slight shiver down the spine, and having been underneath a jumper, a fleece jacket, and hat, it’s hard to blame it entirely on the cold …..


Player by Player Evaluations

Colin McNamara: Couldn’t do anything about the goals, very little else to do. Kickouts were reasonable if not spectacular. Won’t nail down or lose his place on the strength of this display.

Nigel Grennan: A highly unorthodox choice for this position, seeing as last year for Ballycumber he featured in the forwards almost entirely. Had a relatively easy marking job on Mark Dunne, and did nothing hugely wrong, but didn’t stand out either.

Ger Rafferty: Good to see him back. Looked steady and powerful yesterday, and would certainly offer a lot more mobility than Conor Evans. Did his cause no harm at all.

Sean Casey: Would have to confess to not knowing a lot about the Brigid’s man before yesterday, but left O’Moore Park quietly impressed. Tenacious, thoughtful, and above all, utterly defensive. In a county with an irritating penchant for playing attacking corner backs, this display was highly encouraging. His speed was untested marking Lawlor though, and could be an issue going forward.

Barry Mooney: A good choice to play in this kind of game, because he remains what he always was – a jack of all trades, useful in several positions, with a great ability to read the game and use the ball well. He was very valuable in a back line very short on experience, but defensively struggled yesterday. On paper Chris Bergin’s high scoring reflects very poorly on the Rahan man, but in truth a lot of those scores were long range efforts which as a defender you would often let your man take as they would be low percentage shots, particularly in January. Should have been switched a lot quicker – for this management has to take responsibility.

James Keane: Stepped up very well. Didn’t look out of place at all in the senior game, and while marking Chris Conway at that. (Conway didn’t look that interested it must be said). The fear that he will be over used this year between club & county, football and hurling, senior and U-21 is very prevalent. Should have been taken off after 55-60 mins as was clearly struggling by then. A fine prospect for both U-21 and senior this year though.

Karol Slattery: Outstanding again. Probably our best player now – unjustly sin binned, and that ten minutes coincided with the teams collapse, and probably was the losing of the game. Enough said.

Ciarán McManus: The man has played so many great games at the highest level that it seems harsh to blame him for being so clearly off the boil yesterday – but he was, and since he is known for being hugely committed and driven in every game he plays irrespective of it’s importance, yesterday’s performance was worrying. His wind up to kick the ball seems to give lads time to scratch their unmentionables and still get in the block, and his delivery and shooting was as erratic as always. Still vital for the summer, but it’s getting too long since he’s had a good game in the county shirt.

Alan McNamee: Not remotely involved or interested. Was outgunned hugely by Clancy at midfield, moved to the half forward line, was equally peripheral there, and then went off. It was the O’Byrne Cup, but to play like that against Westmeath in a month would be unforgivable.

Neville Coughlan: Normally personifies perpetual motion and commitment to the team, yesterday struggled to get involved and was taken off at the half. Still a nailed on starter for the summer though. Just one bad day.

John Kenny: Contributed, but still doesn’t look the answer. Tom Kelly is a big ask for any number eleven to contain, and to be honest John Kenny didn’t manage it. He makes a half decent fist at being the scoring CF, the passing CF, and the all-over-the-pitch CF. Ends up not really being any of them and fading out of the match. As the ground hardens his influence will diminish further, and one would assume the number on his shirt would also creep upwards as the year progresses, settling in the high twenties.

Joe Quinn: Very poor yesterday – never made any impact on the game, and looks a shadow of the player who was key to Clara’s championship success in 2003.

David Egan: The pick of the forwards yesterday, albeit from slim pickings. Mobile, with a decent shot and always capable of beating a player. Theoretically should also improve as the year goes on. For the moment anyway the starting slot is his to lose.

Alan Mulhall: Exactly like he was for the county juniors - stood on the edge of the square for a lot of the game, and let the game pass him by. Yet occasionally he’d take the time out to remind us that he’s still probably one of if not the best kicker of points in the county, but depends on getting silver platter service. His tendency to wait for the ball to come to him could lead to cluttering up of the inside line when Jimmy and Niall return, but his power and accuracy could be enough to make him a very useful impact sub as the year goes on. We watch his development with interest.

Paschal Kelleghan: His talent is not in question – he has it all. His attitude and contribution to the team is not either – it’s woeful. He has the physique and power to get in front and win his own ball – he chooses to lazily try to leverage defenders out of the way. He’s capable of shooting from range – that doesn’t mean it’s always the right thing. He got two yellows yesterday, and is too long wearing the county jersey now to be unaware that that’s not on. His persistent petulant fouling has to stop, because both Offaly and Rhode have reason to feel let down by him now. He’s still too good not to persist with though, for all that. At least that’s how I remember it, but it’s been a while….

Basil Malone: Gaelic Football would be nothing without tradition. Like the tradition that every Offaly manager on taking up the job has to give Basil Malone a run before it dawns on them that he’s a good hardworking club player with very little to offer at this level. Does his best, but clearly not going to feature for the county in any meaningful game with the alternatives available.

Sean Ryan: Well this certainly caught me on the hop – you see a corner forward jauntily striding on to the pitch with a fine head of highlighted hair and the question is usually what part of Clara is he from. Instead emerged from Birr in the heart of hurling country. Not having ever seen him play before, I’m loathe to judge to early. However he was on the pitch for twenty minutes yesterday and I still feel I haven’t seen him play. There’s clearly more to him, or else this is some sort of Ali Diah stunt. (Fot those of you who don’t know/remember, look it up under Southampton/Souness)

Gearóid O’Grady: Didn’t get enough time to make an impression.

[laoisgaa]

good report Mr Shark!

[Doon Massive]

Excellent report!

Here's my two cents, albeit a little more general.

First off, the sin bin doesn't look like a runner, it was tough to keep account of the numbers on each side. (god knows some officials have it hard enough to spot if there's an extra player on the pitch in the good old days, how will they fair with this?!).
That said, it looks like we had a ref who had received a new rule book for crimbo and was only dying to try a few out.........so with a ref with more common sense.........perhaps...........but it could be a farce.

The other rule changes seem ok so far..........even the pick-up, but perhaps the rules on players handling on the ground need to be tightened.

As for the Offaly tactics, playing the possession/short passing game, which has questionable results in croker on a dry June day, never mind a cold January day in Portlaoise with most players hardly up to full fitness........not sure how it was ever going to work, but I'm sure George Hook would have been pleased with the ball retention, but we just didn't cross the gain line enough.

Anyhew, it'll be interesting to see how things pan out in the league once other players are involved.

[Bord na Mona man]

The sin-bin won't be around for long in its current form, that's for sure.

I think we should be targeting persistent fouling rather than single slightly robust indiscretions.
The sin bin should operate independently of yellow cards.
It should be on a personal foul count. Something like basketball.
That would directly punish the cynical and tactical fouling employed by Ulster teams mostly.

[Lone Shark]

Tis a good idea, but I'd fear for the administration of it. You'd end up with the fourth official having to do an awful lot of counting fouls for different people, and a whole load of mistaken identity issues.

I actually think that the game will clean up as a result of this. Mr Farrell was a little bit strict at the weekend, but I could see it being employed as the necessary policy in order to eliminate cynical fouling from the game.

He did get a few wrong by being too over the top, but the whole thing should force a whole new style of defending, where teams are allowed the chance to break at pace, because forwards will be wary of the standard drag of the player to slow things down. Granted that leaves the mind-numbing possession stuff we were at on Sunday even more pointless, but for the game's sake it could be good.

[biffo5]

as one of the few offalymen to sit in that freezing stand, i was very dissappointed with the offaly team. 5, well really 6 ineffective forwards +the subs. slattery had a great game along with mcmanus, keane and casey. the rest you must have serious question marks over. your analysis of mcmanus seems a little over the top. he was on his own at midfield and the source of most scores for offaly in both halfs with many strongs run. i agree shooting was very wild, however i cant remember too many games this man has let us down in, westmeath game was poor but i believe he was too involved and lost focus on the game. few weeks prior he won us the division 2 title (along with great games against roscommon, monaghan kildare etc in the league!!!)
back to this year, if offaly are too have any chance we need J.Grennan, M.Daly, B.Malone, C.Quinn back at a minimum. also need two or three new finds, hopefully J.Keane will be one!!
very though league ahead and would be happy with keeping our status.
what does everyone else think?

[Lone Shark]

I'm as big a fan of McManus as there is outside of his blood relations, but I'm sure even he himself would acknowledge that he had an off day - and as I said, it was only the O'Byrne Cup, so in and of itself that's not a problem. It was more the fact that it has been a good feew games now since we've seen a good day. I'd just be very concerned that the responsibility which he feels for the debacle against NorthOffaly last year has taken it's toll.

As for the lads mentioned, Barry Malone and Colm Quinn would be huge additions if and only if they return as they were. To me Malone still looks short of what he was, and Quinn looks disinterested and slow. Quinn in particular could be absolutely key as a playmaker with the inside forwards we'd have to work with, but I live in hope rather than expectation.

Mark Daly is gone for good, and Grennan is the usual - if he's fit and healthy he's the main man, and one of the best fielders in the country. That's a huge if.

I still think it's too soon for Keane - he should be given another year @ u-21 and club, if nothingelse to at least sort out between big and small ball.