O'Byrne Cup 2013

[Hyper]

TM, 15 lads have to line out in position for the the throw in at the beginning of each half and thereafter they can move wherever they wish around the pitch,in this instance Shane just started 2nd half as corner forward and then ran back to the position he was asked to play in the backs and thus leaving a 2 man full forward line which was (i presume) management's intentions.

[jamserdolan]

very disappointed as a doon man the lack of doon players on the offaly panal . the likes of blaine rigney should be given the chance at 21's at least

[corner back]

TM, 15 lads have to line out in position for the the throw in at the beginning of each half and thereafter they can move

Have wondered about this before. Is that an actual rule that lads must line out in position?

[ryot]

Yes there is:

1.3 COMMENCING PLAY
(i) The Referee shall toss a coin for choice of ends in the presence of the team captains.
This procedure shall be repeated for Extra Time, where played.
(ii) Two Players from each team shall stand one behind the other on their own defensive side of the halfway line, and shall face the referee, for the throw in.
The other Players, shall be in their respective positions behind the 45m line (Football) or 65m line (Hurling).

This does not specify what the positions are so how many a team has in its own half (defenders) and how many in the opposition half (forwards) seems to be up to each team.

[Bord na Mona man]

Good win against Meath-West to come back from 6-2 down to win 8-7.
Kildare next Sunday in the semi final now!

[DAF]

First half performance was shocking.Too many men in defence who were doing nothing putting no pressure on the Westmeath forwards, ponderous when we broke and the half forward line was non existant and the inside forwards were far too isolated and the players seemed terrified to kick in the ball quickly to the forwards basically the same rubbish football we played in the last couple of years .

Second half was much better defending was disciplined and there was more intensity, we started to play the ball in to the full forward line more quickly and when we broke up the field there was more pace and purpose.The introduction of Matthew Mitchell at half time was key he was very composed on the ball and played some lovely footpasses which we seemed incapable of doing in the first half.

Overall although the peformance wasnt great and we will need a massive improvement for the Kildare match the fighting spirit we showed was excellent, it ould havebeen easy to get well beaten today after the shambolic first half performance but we started the second half very well and fought to the death to get the win.I though overall David Hanlon was our best player he won a huge amount of ball in defence and used it very well and scored a nice point in the first half.Matthew Mitchell and Eoin Rigney played well in the second half as did Ross Brady.

Something needs to be done about the half forward line it is playing to deep and the players in it are too slow to get in near the goal to help the inside forwards either get them to play closer to the 45 or get more pace or preferably both.Also every match I have watched Offaly play in the last few years we tend to do better when we play more direct football and stop over using the handpass we need to be more direct from the start from now on.

One thing I have noticed from the 2 matches I have been at so far is that Emmett McDonnell isnt afraid to make substitutions early if a player isnt going well Peter Cunnigham was taken off today after about 10 minutes and Anton Sullivan was taken off after a similar time in the Laois match.If you ask me its a good sign to have a decisive manager who isnt afraid to make decisions.

There was great support for Offaly today.I would say there were more Offaly fans at the match than Westmeath fans.Club faithful seems to have amade a positive impact on the support for the team, hopefull this continues throughout the year

[townman]

another win fair play to them, the flourbags next weekend in tullamore
they have came on alot towards the last few years, offaly wouldn't have gotten results
again laois or westmeath last year.

great to see them come from 4 points down shows they have the belly for it this year.
keep it up lads well done

[Ahlethimoutwithit]

Good to hear that there was good support for Offaly today. Listening on the radio, it seemed that there were 2 completely different performances. The loss of Denis Glennon and Dessie were surely big blows to Westmeath though?
Hard to judge the performance from the radio, but one thing is that a few lads have gotten serious game time over the last week, and will have a big test next Sunday.
I agree with DAF, that half forward line is too slow for intercounty, and disappointed to see Cunningham taken off so early when according to the "commentators" we were getting very little supply into the forward line?

[DAF]

Good to hear that there was good support for Offaly today. Listening on the radio, it seemed that there were 2 completely different performances. The loss of Denis Glennon and Dessie were surely big blows to Westmeath though?
Hard to judge the performance from the radio, but one thing is that a few lads have gotten serious game time over the last week, and will have a big test next Sunday.
I agree with DAF, that half forward line is too slow for intercounty, and disappointed to see Cunningham taken off so early when according to the "commentators" we were getting very little supply into the forward line?

Dennis Glennon was running the show for Westmeath so it was a big loss for Westmeath to lose him.Today wasnt really the type of day that will suit Peter Cunnigham, it was a very soft pitch and he is suited to hard fast grounds.The management gave him a go but it wasnt really going for him early on so they made a quick decision.He'll get plenty of other chances this year so I doubt he will be too disheartened

[Hyper]

TM,Offaly actually beat Westmeath in the 1st round of the O Byrne cup last year before the debacle against Kildare.

[timber]

Massive improvement needed. It is good to be getting the wins but Westmeath were useless. Denis Glennon going off took the pace out of their attack. Dolan was'nt doing a massive amount so I dont think his loss was as big as Glennon's on the day. The worry is Glennon is not a great man for winning the dirty ball but he was getting on the ball too much.

Lad's are trying hard but still limited. The league is the priority so hopefully they can build on this bit of momentum but massive work has to be done.

[ryot]

Of course the League is a higher priority than the O'Byrne ( or the pre-Christmas Meath CUP) but isn't it bril to be winning matches.

Now the next one will be more difficult but its all great preparation for the League and all seems good in the camp, another great improvement.

Bring on Kildare & the League

[Kevin]

Of course the League is a higher priority than the O'Byrne ( or the pre-Christmas Meath CUP) but isn't it bril to be winning matches.

Now the next one will be more difficult but its all great preparation for the League and all seems good in the camp, another great improvement.

Bring on Kildare & the League

Agree...winning is good. Roll on!!!!

[Ahlethimoutwithit]

No one getting carried away here Timber, but is a lot easier for the lads to face into training this week after topping a group like that. Get over this weekend with a decent performance and all is well for the new manager and the camp heading towards February.
All lads are saying is that the players need a bit of momentum and that the supporters, to a large degree through the initial success of Club Faithful have gotten behind them.
We need to work hard on movement up front and it will pay dividends in the league with the work they have done so far. League will see plenty of tough games, but for now im delighted to see players getting a few wins. Not easy when they are constantly being knocked over the last few years.

[jimbob17]

isnt it great that there is a bit of positivity again, that we can actually compete....As a manager, your first concern is to make us competitive and hard to beat. While it might be hard to look at at times, clogging the defence is working to a degree. Its where Donegal started..... I would be very wary that we are a good few players short at the moment of getting out of div 4 but the return of a few sigerson lads, the experience they are getting will help that. It is a fierce young and inexperienced team but they are training immensely hard so we cant really ask anymore for now. We have won 3 games in a row, the first time in years and even if it doesnt continue past next sunday, we need to be patient and supportive of these lads who are really making an effort under a new manager who will hopefully have some bright ideas on how things are done.

At the start of the year, we were ranked 31st. if we can climb 11 places and make it to top 20 this year, itll have been a massive achievement even if it is very achievable given the quality of young minor players we have produced in last 6/7 years...