Allianz-Hurling-league 1B

[Ahlethimoutwithit]

15 v 14 for the full game, and we are 4 points down with 12 mins to go? WHat the heck???

Carlow have made strides, but this is poor. Will take a massive improvement to beat Limerick next week.

[ryot]

Close run by the sounds of it but a win is a win is a win...............

That form will hardly trouble Limerick but hopefully the players can lift it ...........

[townman]

15 v 14 for the full game, and we are 4 points down with 12 mins to go? WHat the heck???

Carlow have made strides, but this is poor. Will take a massive improvement to beat Limerick next week.

by all alcounts Carlow should have beaten limerick, only beaten by 3 points just a point more
than we did and limerick were at home, at least we had the belly to come back from 4 points
down and get the win.

[kingscounty]

15 v 14 for the full game, and we are 4 points down with 12 mins to go? WHat the heck???

Carlow have made strides, but this is poor. Will take a massive improvement to beat Limerick next week.

by all alcounts Carlow should have beaten limerick, only beaten by 3 points just a point more
than we did and limerick were at home, at least we had the belly to come back from 4 points
down and get the win.

Just back from this game , an absolute brutal display from Offaly. Carlow were by far the better team, moved the ball quicker and were way ahead of a very poor Offaly outfit. The ref destroyed the game from the start by sending off a Carlow player for what looked like nothing. We were very poor in the forward line and didnt look interested at all. The whole game long Carlow played with 14 men and looked fitter and the better hurlers.We were totally outclassed in midfield , Joe Bergin is a centre forward or full forward not a midfielder .Molloy didnt look fit or interested, as did the whole forward line.Kenny, Morkan, Hanniffy kept the thing going and but for these we were gone.Huge credit to a very good Carlow team Nolan full back, Coady center back were outstanding as was their midfielders.When Kavanagh started to hit the frees in the second half Carlow got on top and if he had hit the 5 or 6 they missed in the first half Carlow would have been out of sight. Plain and simple Offaly robbed this game at the end and it took alot of belly to sit and watch 15 men get out played. Baker for me hasnt got a clue and we will make no progress under him at all. John Meyler has done great work with Carlow and if they keep it together Carlow wont be far off the top tier in a few years time.

[Abercrombie Fitch]

We were blessed to get a win here. Carlow had a few chances to go 5 points clear and missed them. It seems Carlow dont have the experience and belief to close these games out. The longer it went on it was as if Offaly knew the goal we needed was going to come.

Mulrooney was ineffective and behind his man every time. Very little to offer.

Molloy was again behind his man and dosent look fit.

Parlon never felt the weight of it in the 2nd half. Sean Ryan got a good point but was poor otherwise.

The backs did ok but had an extra man which made Kenny, Rory and Brian Carroll look more comfortable than they should have. Bergin in midfield didn't work. At full forward he's a great target man and took his goal brilliantly.

I cant remember Offaly picking one high ball out of the sky whilst Carlow did it regularly. This means your relying on dirty ball for possession and we won feck all breaks either.

Dooley was good but starved of the ball.

A lucky escape today but against 14 men for 67 mins it's just not good enough.

[townman]

15 v 14 for the full game, and we are 4 points down with 12 mins to go? WHat the heck???

Carlow have made strides, but this is poor. Will take a massive improvement to beat Limerick next week.

by all alcounts Carlow should have beaten limerick, only beaten by 3 points just a point more
than we did and limerick were at home, at least we had the belly to come back from 4 points
down and get the win.

Just back from this game , an absolute brutal display from Offaly. Carlow were by far the better team, moved the ball quicker and were way ahead of a very poor Offaly outfit. The ref destroyed the game from the start by sending off a Carlow player for what looked like nothing. We were very poor in the forward line and didnt look interested at all. The whole game long Carlow played with 14 men and looked fitter and the better hurlers.We were totally outclassed in midfield , Joe Bergin is a centre forward or full forward not a midfielder .Molloy didnt look fit or interested, as did the whole forward line.Kenny, Morkan, Hanniffy kept the thing going and but for these we were gone.Huge credit to a very good Carlow team Nolan full back, Coady center back were outstanding as was their midfielders.When Kavanagh started to hit the frees in the second half Carlow got on top and if he had hit the 5 or 6 they missed in the first half Carlow would have been out of sight. Plain and simple Offaly robbed this game at the end and it took alot of belly to sit and watch 15 men get out played. Baker for me hasnt got a clue and we will make no progress under him at all. John Meyler has done great work with Carlow and if they keep it together Carlow wont be far off the top tier in a few years time.

i agree with your point we are going nowhere under Baker, its becoming a joke, how many more times is James Mulrooney and Kealey going to be kept getting game time nothing again the lads
they are not inter county hurlers.

Paul Cleary and Tommy Carroll turn the game last week when they came on why weren't they picked
to start today. we know theres a lack of top class hurlers in the county at this time, but the squad
that are there at least its Bakers duty to pick the best from the 26 that are there and pick them to
start matches this in my opinion is what he is not doing not in the last 3 games anyhow.

[jimbob17]

My Lord it sounded bad on radio from little bit covered.....That said, LK and Wexford got it hard to beat them at home.....However against 14 men, it should never have got to this....The next game now is massive as our points for (+3) is not great having won 2 games and only lost to Dublin by a point. The likelihood is that if both Dublin and LK beat Wexford, we have to beat both LK and Antrim to finish with 3 teams on 8 pts and score diff deciding top 2. So effectively if we fail to beat LK we are done and are then playing Antrim to avoid getting sucked into relegation battle as bottom 2 have to play off. However if Wexford beat either Dubs or LK but not both which is also likely, then a win V Limerick and Antrim would see us in a final. Antrim away though will be a serious battle as the likelihood is that they will be playing to avoid a relegation battle....

Id love to see Cleary start also and surprised he never got a go today give how he played against Wexford.....
would love to see it like

Dempsey
McDonald
Kenny
Paul Cleary /King or Mooney
Morkham
Hannify
Cleary / King or Mooney
Brady
Carroll
Parlon
Molloy
Egan
Dooley
Bergin
Tom Carroll

We will also have the KK lads back hopefully and for me i wouldnt start them but Mahon could improve things if needed. ditto Sean Ryan as i often feel he offers more bite coming into a game with 20 minutes to go......

Other options too, maybe Healion at full back, Kenny to centre back and release Rory Hannify to midfield which to me is his best position.... Slevin too could be an option and release Dooley from frees and concentrate more on his own game. Pity about Dan Currams but hopefully he will be available for the championship and that needs to be his focus now......

LK will have a serious set of forwards with threats from all over in Hannon, Dowling, Downes, Mulcahy and Moran all in the forwards.....also have very strong lads around the pitch in Seamus Hickey, Wayne McNamara, Gavin O Mahoney, Tom Condon who is a class hurler and Richie McCarthy at full back....

We will have to be at our level best to make a game of this one given the latest performance against carlow but what better to bring the best out of our lads, we did fairly ok in two other games so id be hopeful rather than fearful....hopefully a bigger crowd than the one against Wexford will turn up to support the lads .....

[The Biff]

Most of the impressive Hurling came from Carlow, but in fairness to our lads, they didn't panic or give up right to the end. Both sides missed a lot of frees at different stages of the game. Near the end, I was thinking a draw would have been a fair reflection and result for all.

The first sending off was just bizarre. I heard others around me saying it was for a head-butt, but I didn't see that myself. It must have been the linesman that called it. Whatever contact was made, a headbutt made helmet-on-helmet is hardly dangerous and I doubt even the Offaly lads would have objected if the Carlow player only got an early booking and lecture to calm down a bit. It changed the whole atmosphere very early in the game and not for the better.

Joe Bergin didn't actually play much around midfield, so don't pay any attention to the number 8 on his back. His goal shows what he's best at, and a few frees taken too while Shane Dooley got his breath back. Carlow's second-half revival is the real concern. How is it that the wrong team can look like they have the extra man? All teams really need to prepare for how they would play with or against an extra man.

Bottom line - we got the win, the lads kept going until the end, and we know we should have some reinforcements to come from the County Champions sometime soon. And by God it was cold. Maybe that didn't help the players fielding attempts.

[Toxicity234]

I was lucky too watch 3 great hurling teams at the weekend. St.Thomas, Kilcormac Killoughey and Carlow.
Offaly were brutal. You know what, that not fair they were worse than brutal.
If it wasn't for Dermot Mooney and Tom Carroll coming on and fighting for a bit of ball and ground we would have being beating out of the park by a 14 man Carlow team.
We start with the backs. I was given out about Dempsey against 14 men not using a short puck out but it hard to blame him when I spotted that the Offaly half back line they midfield and 2 of the Offaly half forward were stand with their hand on their hips. Egan was making run and being tracked by his marker and two midfielders.

for one puck out Dempsey had the ball in hand, Brian Carroll was on his own in the Offaly half back line he was walk out the field. He never look back untill he was within about 5 feet of Egan in the half forward line. Bergin beside him look like a fish out of water out in midfield. They not the only two, Offaly were divide of any fight.

How Baker picked David King to come off is beyond believe. They were at least 10 players hurling worst than him.

Odhran Kealey doesn’t have a great first touch, he won't win you ball in the air but he was out in front of his man very time for the ball. Shane Dooley had a bad day. Did get any ball and really didn't look for any ball. He was still a mile and a half ahead of James Mulrooney.

Carlow swarmed, Offaly walked.

Bergin goal was the only high point in the game. a great bit of skill, on a day that Offaly show no other skill's whatsoever

We are in serious trouble here. Baker would want 13 trick up his sleeves to beat Limerick.
Were looking down the barrel of Divison 2A hurling next year.

And Kilcormac Killoughey Players coming into the panel would want to bring a game plan with them because at county level we don't have one.

My team without Kilcormac Killoughey players for Limerick
Dempesy,
Mc Donald,
Kenny,
King or Mooney
Brady,
Cleary,
Morkan
Hanniffy,
B.Carroll or Ryan
Egan,
Molloy,
Parlon
Dooley,
Bergin,
Tom Carroll.

My Team with Kilcormac Killoughey players.

One player that has to be brought into the panel in Damien Kilmartin. he has come up aginist some outstanding players this year and he has out hurlers them all. he would be a huge plus to the Offaly panel.

Dempesy / Slevin
Mc Donald / Egan,
Kenny / G. Healion,
Morkan / King
Brady / K. Grogan
Cleary / P. Healion
Leonard / Mooney
Hanniffy / B Carroll
Kilmartin / Ryan
Slevin / Tom Carroll
Mahon / Molloy
Egan / P Geraghty
Dooley / Kealey
Bergin / Parlon
Currams / T Geraghty

[llkj]

My Team with Kilcormac Killoughey players.

One player that has to be brought into the panel in Damien Kilmartin. he has come up aginist some outstanding players this year and he has out hurlers them all. he would be a huge plus to the Offaly panel.

Dempesy / Slevin
Mc Donald / Egan,
Kenny / G. Healion,
Morkan / King
Brady / K. Grogan
Cleary / P. Healion
Leonard / Mooney
Hanniffy / B Carroll
Kilmartin / Ryan
Slevin / Tom Carroll
Mahon / Molloy
Egan / P Geraghty
Dooley / Kealey
Bergin / Parlon
Currams / T Geraghty

Would you honestly have 11 KK players on the county panel?

[Toxicity234]

My Team with Kilcormac Killoughey players.

One player that has to be brought into the panel in Damien Kilmartin. he has come up aginist some outstanding players this year and he has out hurlers them all. he would be a huge plus to the Offaly panel.

Dempesy / Slevin
Mc Donald / Egan,
Kenny / G. Healion,
Morkan / King
Brady / K. Grogan
Cleary / P. Healion
Leonard / Mooney
Hanniffy / B Carroll
Kilmartin / Ryan
Slevin / Tom Carroll
Mahon / Molloy
Egan / P Geraghty
Dooley / Kealey
Bergin / Parlon
Currams / T Geraghty

Would you honestly have 11 KK players on the county panel?

I didn't even notice.. i would love to have Qurike, Kelly, Horan, Ger Scales, Sean Couglhan, Eanna Murphy, Eoin Ryan, Verney, Rigney, shortt. and Connolly
I'm very happy to see the Clearys, Camon, Kellaher,Bolger and Gardiner there all the the future of Offaly hurling.

fair enough have a think, who would you pick??

[Abercrombie Fitch]

I was sat behind the Offaly subs yesterday and I couldn't help looking at Paul Cleary. He should have been out there. I'd totally agree that Mooney and Carroll going in meant we were finally competitive around the middle of the field. So much for Baker to work on, probably too much. Why have we none of the 94 team involved right now?

[Ahlethimoutwithit]

94 team would b too old!

I think some of them were asked to come in as selectors but had the hump over Baker getting the job, hence paudge mulhaire holding down a position last year.

[ballinamereman1]

...Removed.

[jimbob17]

I too would agree re Cleary. He has obvious experience and did well v Wexford. Maybe it was in managements view to give the younger lads a chance in this league, but if Cleary is to be a factor v KK in june, he needs game time now to get up to speed even if only getting back from injury...... Just wonder would the KK trip to croker and Paddy's day weekend have had an impact on the poor performance of a lot of the players.... If this is the case, they should be ashamed and nearly threw away a "gimme" 2 points.

I hope we get our asses in gear for LK next week as it is a massive game where a win really puts us in the picture for a final spot. Limerick would be operating on a good level and slightly above us imo but i still think if we are right, we can take them in OCP......