2014 WALSH Cup

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townman
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2014 WALSH Cup

Post by townman »

The first game of the Walsh cup has been moved back a day to saturday 11, throw
in 2 bells in O'Connor park, they had a run out again tipp last weekend, with a lot of players missing, is their many lads hurling with the colleges this year in the Walsh cup.

Antrim will be missing the loughiel Shamrocks players, but should have a few under 21's
who got to last years final again Clare. its a chance for new players to put their hand up for places in the league later on in the year, and hopefully a winning start for Sid.

Killeighman
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Re: 2014 WALSH Cup

Post by Killeighman »

Im not particularly looking forward to this hurling year as i think we are the whipping boys. I hate to say it but i think its a poor panel

puzzled
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Re: 2014 WALSH Cup

Post by puzzled »

Killeighman wrote:Im not particularly looking forward to this hurling year as i think we are the whipping boys. I hate to say it but i think its a poor panel
Great to see the new year start with huge Positivity
Any guy that's in bursting himself training to wear an Offaly jersey deserves our backing 100% not the above negativity before we have even played a competitive game!

turfcutter
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Re: 2014 WALSH Cup

Post by turfcutter »

Great to see the new year start with huge Positivity
Any guy that's in bursting himself training to wear an Offaly jersey deserves our backing 100% not the above negativity before we have even played a competitive game![/quote]

well said puzzled...

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townman
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Re: 2014 WALSH Cup

Post by townman »

agree puzzled silly talk that we will be the whipping boys of hurling, :roll: we haven't had a competion
game yet, saturdays Walsh cup game is Sids and his backroom teams first one hope to see a lot of new faces in, i'd say there will be a few missing because of the colleges, anyway looking forward to going to tullamore on saturday and see the hurlers get off to a winning start to 2014.

Killeighman
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Re: 2014 WALSH Cup

Post by Killeighman »

By all means i hope im wrong and i dont mind taking the criticism for what i said. Just i dont think this team can be changed over a year

Toxicity234
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Re: 2014 WALSH Cup

Post by Toxicity234 »

Looking forward to tomorrow game. I think this is a very good panel. With Rigney and Sean Coughlan back and Shortt and Kelleler give us much better option in the backs.
I was disappointed to hear that Dylan Hayden didn't rejoin the panel. but Kilmartin in midfield is a big plus. I hope Brendan Murphy from Birr is in the panel as well.
I think Damien Egan is a another player they will blossom at county level. He has great hands and an eye for a pass. Plus the two Gerarty and again i hoping Stephen Quirke is in the panel.

I would read anything into last weekend game in Moneygall. They Offaly lads were miles away in level of fitness that Tipp were at, but that to be expected. Sid was appointed almost 10-14 weeks later then he should have been.
Tomorrow game will be far more interesting.
“Common sense is not so common.”

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townman
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Re: 2014 WALSH Cup

Post by townman »

shame Hayden didnt come back on board as he is a skilfull hurler and can play in the backs midfield and forwards, but we must move on. Toxicity i don't think Brendan Murphy is up to inter county hurling at the moment, maybe i am wrong but going on his form with Birr this year i can't see him
getting near a championship panel. Rigney and Sean Coughlan great to have them back, and if Danny
Kelleher hurls like he did for the offaly under 21's his in with a chance for a few games.

glad to see Damien Kilmartin in has been one of the best midfilders in offaly the last few years and nows his chance to nail down a place on the offaly team. Stephen Quirke is another player that can bring us up another level, but i think we wont see the best of him till the summer on the dry sod.
with the two Geraghtys on board to plus the likes of Dooley, Kenny,Hanniffy,Colin Egan,Currams,Molloy,
to return i think we will have as good as panel that we have had in years.

we also have Sean Cleary and Sean Gardner on board who will be a year better after joining last year.
does anyone know if Pat Camon,and Diarmuid Horan are in with the panel, and where has Coolderrys Kevin Connolly and Eoin Ryan gone to i though they would be showing for the county.

Kevin
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Re: 2014 WALSH Cup

Post by Kevin »

Good luck to the hurlers and everyone involved this weekend.

Looking forward to the year ahead. There is a lot of work to do.

We have a manager that few could equal on the field of play. Hopefully he will have the desired impact on the sideline. Caution and patience would be advised.

There are many things to like about having Brian as the manager, but most of all I think we will benefit from his competitive spirit. He will size up what resources he has at his disposal and get the best available team on the field.

He won't expect the lads to 'be' him, but if he can get them to emulate his alertness and desire to ruthlessly take advantage of any mistake or miscalculation the opposition (and repeat if they don't adjust) that would be a big factor in our favor.

I'm quietly expecting some upside surprises this year that hopefully turn into the norm going forward.
Kevin Clancey. Signed out of respect for players and all involved with Offaly.

Plain of the Herbs
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The futility of hurling in January

Post by Plain of the Herbs »

Good luck to the lads who are taking the field tomorrow, but the recklessness and futility of playing hurling in January (or February for that matter) needs to be pointed out to those charges with governance of hurling. Enoch Powell's quote of "we must be mad, literally mad" springs to mind. entirely different context, of course, but you get the drift.

It’s getting earlier every year too. This year the Walsh Cup starts on January 11th, the earliest start ever, and two weeks earlier than last year. This beats the previous best of 2011 (15th January). For much of the 2000s Offaly began the Walsh Cup on the last Sunday in January, but in recent years it has been starting earlier and earlier.

Upshot is that players are being asked to perform on heavy, bumpy, sodden pitches, in bitter cold (either caused by frost or Arctic winds) and sleety showers. Heel of the hunt no-one learns anything useful – neither management or players, yet players are being judged on their performances in such conditions and in many cases will be cast aside when the established players make their return.

Maybe Ireland isn't suitable for hurling except for the period between May and October, and hurling should really be played in warmer climes like Spain and Italy.

So if ye’re going to Tellamore tomorrow, give the lads a break and don’t be too hard on them as they struggle to keep their footing in the glue-like underfoot conditions and the ball slices off the hurl owing to the cold.
Pat Donegan. Signed out of respect for players and all involved with Offaly.

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townman
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Re: 2014 WALSH Cup

Post by townman »

to true POTH, i remember years ago going to Birr in the 80's and 90's when there was a few rounds
of the league played before christmas, thats when the best players used to sit up for the winter
and we gave out about the lads who were trying to get onto the panel.

sam88885a
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Re: 2014 WALSH Cup

Post by sam88885a »

looking forward to see offaly under sid.
he seem to have every thing in place good selectors good back room team and a strong panel with most of last years u 21 along with j rigney s coughlan d kilmartain s wynne d shortt g conneely and d egan back on the panel , along with the experence core of the team for the last few years j demsey c mc donald g healion s ryan d morkam d kenny d horan p cleary k brady d currams c mahon c egan s dooley j bergin b carroll c parlon d mooney c slevin s egan d molloy and r hannify expected to come bach soon.
d hayden seem a big omision he is only 26 and is a fine hurler looks like he has a lot to offer but when sid cuts the panel how many more of the regulars will go?
who will be the new captain ?
j bergin
d morkam
d currams
c mahon
p cleary
s dooley d kenny r hannify have all done there term .my view is j bergin should be captain.
Tomorrow will give no clue to sids team that will play kilkenny , its a chance for lads to put there hand put to get a start in the league games.
sid work is only begining,
we are all hoping sid can ignite the same hope desire and class in this panel of lads which he carried so brilliantly as a player for offaly.
these guy can hurl but the seen to lack belief in each other they never seem to really die in the boots for the team.
if sid can bring back that never say die , hurl till the end attitude offaly could surprise a lot of people in 2014 .
The big question is are some of these guys too damaged from heavy defeats to become winners now.
2014 could be a great year but big calls have to be made here hoping sid gets most of them correct
i

Kevin
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Re: 2014 WALSH Cup

Post by Kevin »

sam88885a wrote: The big question is are some of these guys too damaged from heavy defeats to become winners now.
In all walks of life there are examples of those who have come back from devastating defeats to become winners. Some change the course of history in the process.

I assure you it can be done!
Kevin Clancey. Signed out of respect for players and all involved with Offaly.

Killeighman
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Re: 2014 WALSH Cup

Post by Killeighman »

I love all of the optimism from you guys and i can see now how you can be optimistic. We get to see this how good the team really is because all the best players are available to him now. I look forward myself to today and maybe not so much kilkenny in the championship but if we do fair against kilkenny a real run in the qualifiers is in order depending on the draw. Thank you lads for giving me that bit of optimism...... Bring on laois in the league!!

Toxicity234
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Re: 2014 WALSH Cup

Post by Toxicity234 »

Full Time: Offaly 1-17 Antrim 0-14
Half Time: Offaly 0-5 Antrim 0-9 or 0-10.
We winning of the game was the Antrim Full back misplace hand pass that went over the goalie head and end up in the back of the net.
Offaly Team was:
James Dempsey
Niall Wynne Dan Kelleher James Rigney
Derek Morkan Brian Watkins Dermot Mooney
Gary Conneely Kevin Brady
Sean Cleary Joe Bergin Peter Geraghty
Kevin Connolly Sean Gardner Tom Geraghty

Barry Harding for Sean Cleary. Damien Kilmartin for Gary Connelly. Can't Remember any other Subs.

The rest of the panel was: Conor Slevin, Sean Dolan, Dermott Shortt. Mark Egan. Barry Harding. Thomas Carroll, Brian Carroll. David King Chris McDonald. Cathal Parlon. Damen Kilmartin. Sean Ryan. Conor Mahon was tog out as well but not named.
Colin Egan.

A great Second Half from the Offaly team to put it around, but Antrim Could have being out of sight at half time. I think they hit 12 wides. 5 or 6 were really poor.

Offaly in the 1st half were poor. Offaly play with a two in the full forward line and most of the time It was Gardner against 3 defenders. so nothing stuck. Connolly and Gardner were dropping out the field of puck out and not moving back into the full forward line. Antrim Won every breakdown. Offaly only won one scrum. The Offaly Backs were Hurling well but they were hurling well but everytime they look up the forward were all in a big group around the half forward line. So they have no easy pass.

The second half was much better the Gardner and Connolly push up so it left more space for midfield and half forward line. Kevin Brady Started bossing the midfield and the rest of the team. Brady start giving tell Gary Connelly where he should be and getting back beside walkins at centre back. and shout out instruction to the players around him.
Harding play well when he came on. 1-17 was a good scoreline.
“Common sense is not so common.”

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