All-Ireland Hurling Qualifiers Round 1 Antrim v Offaly

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Toxicity234
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Re: All-Ireland Hurling Qualifiers Round 1 Antrim v Offaly

Post by Toxicity234 »

A long drive but well worth it.
Not the greatest game of hurling you ever see but a win is a win.

Offaly must have had 12 goals chance and their was a 2 more that they scored point out of when running at the last man.
At the other end of the field. Ger Healion was under huge pressure because their was him a fast Antrim forward and 25 yards of space in all directions. He did great to keep Antrim bay. (think Joe Deane vs Kevin Kinahan 1st half 2000 semi final).
The Half forward line worked their sock off to stop good ball going into the Antrim Full forward But this should have never happened. Antrim were playing with a sweeper so one of the Offaly back was free. The free man should have be sweeping the space in front of Healion.
For the Antrim Goal Hanniffy should have taking O'Connell out of it. he was the last man and a free and a yellow card at that stage would have been nothing.

Fight and pride are not a problem with these players. they work their socks off. The Sweeper system that was a big problem this year has been got rid off. thank god.
we still have problem with the sweeper system been played against us. mainly we don't know how to use the spare man it leaves us with.
We spend a lot of the match yesterday dropping balls in front of our full forward line only of the Antrim Sweeper to pick and clear. When we landed the Ball untop of the full forward we cause mayhem.
The Ball going in need to be better,longer or both. We need to get that sweeper run back at his own goal.

The last free. Looking at the time i though it was a stone wall free. the forward use his leg to trip Morkan. Looking at it on tv it looked soft.
Brady, Parlon, Morkan. Bergin, Egan and Mahon were good yesterday.
“Common sense is not so common.”

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Re: All-Ireland Hurling Qualifiers Round 1 Antrim v Offaly

Post by Anfearban »

Thanks Tox. How did Kenny look on his return?

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Re: All-Ireland Hurling Qualifiers Round 1 Antrim v Offaly

Post by Plain of the Herbs »

Thanks for that, Tox. Hats off for making the trip.
Toxicity234 wrote:A long drive but well worth it.
Not the greatest game of hurling you ever see but a win is a win.

Offaly must have had 12 goals chance and their was a 2 more that they scored point out of when running at the last man.
At the other end of the field. Ger Healion was under huge pressure because their was him a fast Antrim forward and 25 yards of space in all directions. He did great to keep Antrim bay. (think Joe Deane vs Kevin Kinahan 1st half 2000 semi final).
The Half forward line worked their sock off to stop good ball going into the Antrim Full forward But this should have never happened. Antrim were playing with a sweeper so one of the Offaly back was free. The free man should have be sweeping the space in front of Healion.
For the Antrim Goal Hanniffy should have taking O'Connell out of it. he was the last man and a free and a yellow card at that stage would have been nothing.

Fight and pride are not a problem with these players. they work their socks off. The Sweeper system that was a big problem this year has been got rid off. thank god.
we still have problem with the sweeper system been played against us. mainly we don't know how to use the spare man it leaves us with.
We spend a lot of the match yesterday dropping balls in front of our full forward line only of the Antrim Sweeper to pick and clear. When we landed the Ball untop of the full forward we cause mayhem.
The Ball going in need to be better,longer or both. We need to get that sweeper run back at his own goal.

The last free. Looking at the time i though it was a stone wall free. the forward use his leg to trip Morkan. Looking at it on tv it looked soft.
Brady, Parlon, Morkan. Bergin, Egan and Mahon were good yesterday.
Pat Donegan. Signed out of respect for players and all involved with Offaly.

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Re: All-Ireland Hurling Qualifiers Round 1 Antrim v Offaly

Post by sam88885a »

lads croke park looks much bigger than any other ground around midfield .
watch when the ref throws in the ball how far away both half back line are compared to any other ground .
croke park may exceed the max length of a pitch ???
you see point been scored from a teams own half back line in other grounds does not happen in croke park as often
i guess there a few extra meters either side of the half way line but i could be wrong .

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Bord na Mona man
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Re: All-Ireland Hurling Qualifiers Round 1 Antrim v Offaly

Post by Bord na Mona man »

sam88885a wrote:lads croke park looks much bigger than any other ground around midfield .
watch when the ref throws in the ball how far away both half back line are compared to any other ground .
croke park may exceed the max length of a pitch ???
you see point been scored from a teams own half back line in other grounds does not happen in croke park as often
i guess there a few extra meters either side of the half way line but i could be wrong .
All an optical illusion.
Croke Park seems bigger because of the way the stands sweep back from it, giving a greater sense of depth.
Somewhere like Tullamore might look smaller to Tomas Mulchay because the stand and especially the roof are closer to the playing area.

Look at Croke Park here. The distance between the 45 and 65 is definitely 20 metres. The distance between the both 65s (either side of half) is about 80% less if you study the grass stripes.
The minimum a pitch can be is 130 metres - one shared 65 metre line, the most a pitch can be in 145 metres, 15 metres between 65s.
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Re: All-Ireland Hurling Qualifiers Round 1 Antrim v Offaly

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Toxicity234
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Re: All-Ireland Hurling Qualifiers Round 1 Antrim v Offaly

Post by Toxicity234 »

Anfearban wrote:Thanks Tox. How did Kenny look on his return?
The 1st half a bit off the pace. The 2nd better. set up a few scored with smart hand passes.
looked better at centre forward than at full but himself and Mahon held the middle well.
There is potential in that pairing down the middle.
“Common sense is not so common.”

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Re: All-Ireland Hurling Qualifiers Round 1 Antrim v Offaly

Post by azoffaly »

Well done Offaly. Nice for the lads themselves to get a bit of a reprieve from the constant negativity. Obviously a load of work to be done in the background for future years, but for this team all we can ask is that they go out and do the absolute best they can. In that sense a win in a difficult away venue is a great fillip and well done to them. Keep her lit now.
Shane Gavin. Signed out of respect for players and all involved with Offaly.

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Re: All-Ireland Hurling Qualifiers Round 1 Antrim v Offaly

Post by Anfearban »

Toxicity234 wrote:
Anfearban wrote:Thanks Tox. How did Kenny look on his return?
The 1st half a bit off the pace. The 2nd better. set up a few scored with smart hand passes.
looked better at centre forward than at full but himself and Mahon held the middle well.
There is potential in that pairing down the middle.
Cheers.

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Re: All-Ireland Hurling Qualifiers Round 1 Antrim v Offaly

Post by Kevin »

jimbob17 wrote:Agree Bula bula...... as far as i am aware, Tullamore is the max width a pitch can be......similar to croker......unsure about length but wouldnt be far off and it is the width that creates the space anyway......Lazy journalism

Glad the lads won but in one way, it mightnt be a great thing for Offaly hurling as a half decent performance the next day and gallant loss will paper over all the cracks this year has shown up to date.....Though it may seem ridiculous to some, Offaly in my opinion would have been better served by losing the game.

Had it happened, the county board would be forced to do a root and branch analysis as to how far we have fallen..... Unfortunately, there is a strong likelihood that we will lose to a stronger county now as expected and acceptance that we are slightly off a galway, tipp or Clare shows us nothing or gives us no direction or shock the county board need to wake them up to their shortcomings and gross mismanagement generally (there are always exceptions) of underage hurling development squads. The mediocrity will be given a lifeline to grow and prosper, that wouldnt have happened if we lost......

Here is hoping that after any annual review, the real shortcomings will be looked on and the year is taken at face value....ie a relegation playoff with Kerry, a loss to Antrim & Laoise in league, never mind the others and an absolute embarassment v kilkenny in senior and Wexford in U21....... Only if such a review is done and more importantly addressed with a coherent plan, will we be in any way in a better place in a few years as our underage teams suffer loss after loss against emerging hurling counties such as laoise, carlow and westmeath.......
Understand your point, but if we take our eye off the ball and not acknowledge where we stand we deserve what we get.
Kevin Clancey. Signed out of respect for players and all involved with Offaly.

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Re: All-Ireland Hurling Qualifiers Round 1 Antrim v Offaly

Post by Lone Shark »

This was an excellent win, all the more so because the Antrim keeper played so well and so Offaly were forced to produce a big finish, dripping with character. It may have been a dodgy free to be awarded, but at least Offaly put themselves in a postion where they were able to take advantage of a little bit of luck when it came. I'd say the players will take even more satisfaction out of that than if they'd gone up there and won by eight, and rightly so. You could tell watching Brian Whelahan on the Sunday game that it's just been a hard road that has taken a toll and at least now the players have put themselves in a position where they can really redeem themselves. I don't think any member of this Offaly hurling panel would consider a two point win over Antrim, regardless of venue, to be enough to make a successful championship, however at least now they'll get a shot at pulling down a perceived stronger team and so ending the year with something very tangible to show for their efforts.

I don't think it was a fluke either that our best performance coincided with the return of players who would be best known for their battling qualities. That's not meant as a slight on those that were withdrawn, but I think anyone who's watched guys like Kenny, Healion, Brady and Egan hurl would know that they're the type you'd want to go to war with, so to speak.

Neither do I think it's going to blind anyone as to what needs to be done at home. It doesn't change the underage results, and it doesn't change the fact that we deserved to be relegated either, only to be saved by a ridiculously convoluted and unfair system of playoffs.


Funny how Antrim showed up on time for yesterday's game as well. And with plenty of subs and everything.
Kevin Egan. Signed out of respect for players and all involved with Offaly.

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Re: All-Ireland Hurling Qualifiers Round 1 Antrim v Offaly

Post by biffinbanner »

while a win is a win i tend to agree with above poter who says we were better off with a narrow defeat..whats facing us now? tipp/galway,waterford or clare/wexford will show no mercy...were simply not in that class at the moment sadly

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Re: All-Ireland Hurling Qualifiers Round 1 Antrim v Offaly

Post by bula bula »

biffinbanner wrote:while a win is a win i tend to agree with above poter who says we were better off with a narrow defeat..whats facing us now? tipp/galway,waterford or clare/wexford will show no mercy...were simply not in that class at the moment sadly
I'd rather be preparing for a game in July against these teams than licking our wounds after getting beaten for the second time in a season by Antrim. The winning of that game papers over nothing. It's just a boost to the players , fans and management after a tough year
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Re: All-Ireland Hurling Qualifiers Round 1 Antrim v Offaly

Post by sam88885a »

this is a huge win of this panel of players . the problem at underage should not concern these lads at the moment . that the county boards job.
lads like r hanniffy b carroll g healion k brady d kenny d morkam j bergin d currams s dooley c mahon j demsey get a chance to hurl in high summer against one of the big teams . they have waited a long time for such a chance and for many of them time is running out .the next game will be the biggest game of these guys intrecounty careers . enjoy it lads anything can happen , everything is a bonas from here

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Re: All-Ireland Hurling Qualifiers Round 1 Antrim v Offaly

Post by Kevin »

sam88885a wrote:this is a huge win of this panel of players . the problem at underage should not concern these lads at the moment . that the county boards job.
lads like r hanniffy b carroll g healion k brady d kenny d morkam j bergin d currams s dooley c mahon j demsey get a chance to hurl in high summer against one of the big teams . they have waited a long time for such a chance and for many of them time is running out .the next game will be the biggest game of these guys intrecounty careers . enjoy it lads anything can happen , everything is a bonas from here
Well put.
Kevin Clancey. Signed out of respect for players and all involved with Offaly.

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