Allianz Hurling League Roinn 1B 2016

A forum to air your views on Offaly GAA matters and beyond.
User avatar
Bord na Mona man
All Star
Posts: 4021
Joined: Fri Nov 05, 2004 11:34 am
Club: Clara

Re: Allianz Hurling League Roinn 1B 2016

Post by Bord na Mona man »

Last thing Offaly need this weekend is a hiding - Kelly
Michael Verney

The dust has barely settled after their shock reversal at the hands of Kerry and now Offaly stare down the barrel of a Kilkenny gun with manager Eamonn Kelly acknowledging that a "hiding" is the last thing they need from their trip to Nowlan Park.

Hopes were high that the Faithful could power to the League quarter-finals after upsetting Wexford the previous week but the former Kingdom boss was left stung by his old charges as Offaly limped into the last eight on scoring difference.
It was a case of one step forward and two steps back but progress has clearly been made under Kelly's regime and Offaly will be forewarned before they renew acquaintances with Kerry in the Leinster SHC round-robin series on May 22.

Before that, however, is the daunting trip to face the Cats, unbeaten since their opening-day defeat to Waterford. And with their last trip to Noreside, a 26-point annihilation in 2014, fresh on their minds, Kelly (above) is eager to keep things "respectable".

"We targeted a quarter-final spot at the start of the league, but not the way we got it. Kerry fought harder than us and we'll be destroyed if we give a similar display at the weekend against Kilkenny," Kelly said candidly.
"Kerry probably would have felt that I shouldn't have gone and they performed like men on a mission. We thought we were bang on building up to it and we've been left searching for answers ever since. Hopefully, we'll get them Sunday.
"It's great to have a game against the reigning All-Ireland champions but they're not going to back off us. We're still learning about guys and we're hoping many of them will step up to this level. We don't have huge expectations but we're definitely hoping to keep it respectable."

Their task could be made more difficult with key attacker Joe Bergin only "50-50" to play after jarring his knee against Kerry while Paddy Rigney and Sean Gardiner are both unlikely to feature.
Kelly feels his panel is getting stronger every week, however, and is pleased with their application, with particular credit paid to former Tipperary skipper Conor Gleeson, who is excelling as hurling coach.
After Sunday, a week of club action means preparation time for a "tight" round-robin series with Westmeath, Carlow and Kerry is slim and the Tipp native is hoping players leave him on a positive note.

Kelly said: "It wasn't easy to come back training after the Kerry game but we're looking for a performance before sending them back to their clubs. We've only three weeks when they return so we want them jumping out of their skin."
Teams have tried, and generally failed, to outfox Brian Cody's Cats but with the pressure off, Kelly hopes his side can express themselves.
If they hit their targets and up their work rate, he feels they can avoid the fate of many other Faithful sides.

"We have our own numbers that we try to hit with regards to tackles, hooks, blocks, turnovers etc and we didn't hit them in the Kerry game. Now it's up to us to deliver a performance," he said.
"Many teams have tried tactics against Kilkenny but they've been blown out of the water. We're going down to hurl with as much freedom as we can, if we do that we should perform. The last thing we need is a hiding."

http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic- ... 89491.html

Toxicity234
All Star
Posts: 872
Joined: Mon Feb 18, 2008 1:26 pm

Re: Allianz Hurling League Roinn 1B 2016

Post by Toxicity234 »

The team has been named.

James Demspey
Niall Wynne
Dermot Shortt
Chris McDonnald
Dermot Mooney
Conor Doughan
Pat Camon
Kevin Connelly
Sean Ryan
P Guinan
Colin Egan
Shane Kinsella
Shane Dooley
Joseph Bergin
James Mulrooney.

Physically very very light against a strong Kilkenny team.
We have our work cut out. if our forward bunch were in big trouble. Kilkenny defence are a pack of dogs. If there in a pack you get nothing but get one on one and you have a chance and maybe the advantage (cause they want to be in a pack).
Disappointed that Paddy Rigney, Paddy Murphy and Sean Gardiner didn't recover in time for the game.
let hope we have a right crack at this. most people think were going to lose by around 15 to 20 points.
I think if we can get a(full 80 mins) Wexford performance out of the team we win.
We're not as far away from been a good team. If we lose on Sunday by one point or by a lot that doesn't change.
“Common sense is not so common.”

allstar2010
All Star
Posts: 491
Joined: Wed Apr 21, 2010 6:42 pm

Re: Allianz Hurling League Roinn 1B 2016

Post by allstar2010 »

.... And Loughnane has just come out and called Kilkenny a bunch of average hurlers, could he not have left it until next week to say that!!

User avatar
townman
All Star
Posts: 1710
Joined: Sun Oct 03, 2010 12:41 pm

Re: Allianz Hurling League Roinn 1B 2016

Post by townman »

i'd say they will keep their powder dry till they meet his beloved clare.

kingscounty
All Star
Posts: 1082
Joined: Fri Jan 21, 2011 4:42 pm

Re: Allianz Hurling League Roinn 1B 2016

Post by kingscounty »

Best of luck to the lads big task ahead , heading down tonight .

User avatar
townman
All Star
Posts: 1710
Joined: Sun Oct 03, 2010 12:41 pm

Re: Allianz Hurling League Roinn 1B 2016

Post by townman »

[quote="Toxicity234"]The team has been named.

James Demspey
Niall Wynne
Dermot Shortt
Chris McDonnald
Dermot Mooney
Conor Doughan
Pat Camon
Kevin Connelly
Sean Ryan
P Guinan
Colin Egan
Shane Kinsella
Shane Dooley
Joseph Bergin
James Mulrooney.

Physically very very light against a strong Kilkenny team.
We have our work cut out. if our forward bunch were in big trouble. Kilkenny defence are a pack of dogs. If there in a pack you get nothing but get one on one and you have a chance and maybe the advantage (cause they want to be in a pack).
Disappointed that Paddy Rigney, Paddy Murphy and Sean Gardiner didn't recover in time for the game.
let hope we have a right crack at this. most people think were going to lose by around 15 to 20 points.
I think if we can get a(full 80 mins) Wexford performance out of the team we win.
We're not as far away from been a good team. If we lose on Sunday by one point or by a lot that doesn't change.[/quote



this is the best 15 we have in traning with offaly, still can't understand how Cillian Kiely can't get in the team, he might have hit 4 wides again kerry when he came on but he did more in the time he was in than some who got 70 plus minutes. our midfield Sean Ryan and Kevin Connolly i'd say would have to be the smallest midland duo in the game at the moment again Mick Fennelly and lester Ryan :roll: . but we have nothing to lose on sunday lets be fair no one gives a chance in hell on sunday and if its by 22 points or 2 kilkenny will win. Toxicity234 i wouldn't read to much into the wexford game even doe its hard to win down there i think wexford are in turnmoil at the moment beating a poor leix side with a last minute point the last day says as much.

the only thing that was dissapointing about offalys game the last day again Kerry was the lack of heart and fight when it came down to winning the game, and this team has alot to prove after the displays of the last two years in the championship and forget about taking Kerry for granted we are at Kerrys level for the last 3 years at least and yet couldn't beat them. Cody will have his team to put us away after 15 minutes and give his bench a run there are players out to make a point to Cody so they will be well up for it i only hope we hurl with more heart and pride than the last day thats all you can asked form this squad.

sam88885a
All Star
Posts: 679
Joined: Sun Oct 13, 2013 11:12 pm
Club: kk

Re: Allianz Hurling League Roinn 1B 2016

Post by sam88885a »

i guess p guinan and k connolly will switch . i think with such wet weather and heavy ball , {winter hurling}.
our midfield are to light .but that the panel e kelly has gone with , a lot of dry ball players .
the defence looks ok , all 6 are in there best position, as i said midfield is a concern , the half forward line are honest but c egan was terrible against kerry , he neither broke ball or caught it ,k connolly has only been back a few week so he cant be match fit . s kinsella is our only real go forward half forward in my view .

the full forward line with s dooley and j bergin in their best position has real potental . bergin looks to have found his best form in years and dooley has carried during this league even if he seemed to lack a bit of fight in the kerry game . then there is j mulrooney has any player got as many chances under different managers and consistently failed to do anything .
where has s quirke gone ?
i think we have notting to lose today ,it would be much worse if waterford dublin or tip met us and we got hammered that kilkenny because even e kelly expects kilkenny to win win easily .

looking out a the weather i wonder should e kelly go around with the bus and collect j brady p cleary g healion d kenny j gorman d kilmartain b leonard and k grogan for today because its hardly going to be a open running game .

just hope that the lads dont go out to lose today or to try and keep down the score just give it a lash for the 70 minutes .

private joker
All Star
Posts: 1080
Joined: Fri Jun 24, 2011 4:09 pm

Re: Allianz Hurling League Roinn 1B 2016

Post by private joker »

If E Kelly is very short sighted he should be looking for those types of players. I m aware your only joking. Championship will be played hopefully in good fast weather. Offaly have achieved what they set out to do which was make top 4 in league. Championship will be very interesting after Kerrys huge win yesterday. They would have to be favourites to come out of the round robin at this stage. I expect though that Offaly will come good in the summer and give a good showing of themselves.

private joker
All Star
Posts: 1080
Joined: Fri Jun 24, 2011 4:09 pm

Re: Allianz Hurling League Roinn 1B 2016

Post by private joker »

6 -18 to 14 point defeat. Not unexpected I suppose. look forward to the round robin is all that can be done.

Sharp Eye
All Star
Posts: 231
Joined: Thu Dec 30, 2010 11:22 pm

Re: Allianz Hurling League Roinn 1B 2016

Post by Sharp Eye »

Sharp Eye wrote:
jimbob17 wrote:Agreed Exiled. Still reckon we are in much better place and to a large extent, Eamon Kelly is doing a very good job. There is some positivity there at least unlike last 2 years which were disaster.

Let this be the end of the Birr Tullamore debate. In fact playing Kerry in a small tight venue would fit right into Kerry hands and I'd feel to more open confines of OCP would have facilitated us better today. Birr might be better idea when hosting likes of Clare and Limerick and maybe wexford. Better hurlers like more open space. We played into their hands by playing Limerick in OCP.
Not so sure that we are in a better place than last year. Last year we defeated a stronger Laois team in Portlaoise and we defeated Limerick in Limerick. We had a reasonable secondhalf performance against Tipp in the League Quarter Final. I think we had better hurlers and more scoring forwards last year.

Kilkenny rest TJ Reid & Riche Hogan and yet win by 24 points. Looks like it is back to the drawingboard. Not good enough to "want to play for Offaly", must also be "good enough to play for Offaly". We need to get our better players back into the panel.

User avatar
townman
All Star
Posts: 1710
Joined: Sun Oct 03, 2010 12:41 pm

Re: Allianz Hurling League Roinn 1B 2016

Post by townman »

my god it was like groundhog day sitting in the stand today 2014 championship display all over again, Sid got a lot of abuse after that defeat a rightly so, and Eamon Kellys side was no better today, look its a joke of a league that offaly had to play kilkenny today after losing to kerry two weeks ago the players didn't want to know or be there today simple as. theres no point in saying we need our best players back i don't think it would have much of a different who was playing for offaly today we just don't have the talent in the county to be at the top level of hurling. we have conceded 14 goals and 104 points in this league and two games were again laois and kerry.

i don't know what they do in training or what game plan we have but my god our backline don't have a clue how to defend, just get it and hit it as far as they can all our backs were behind there men and our first touch and handing of the ball is cruel, where do offaly go from here they have the round robin now and tonight its hard to see them beat kerry and westmeath to get through, just another thing our fitness and work rate is way off the top teams, one stage in the second half Wally Walsh ran back into his own backline to take a ball off Kevin Connolly and kilkenny were 22 points up at that stage as his man stay with his hands on his hips back down the field said it all really.
we were never at the races today and were never going to be, but picking players that have fail year after year in their poistions is just plane madness, well done to Paddy Murphy who played his heart out when he came on and got on alot of ball Kevin Connolly when he went into the forwards hurl well Conor Doughan hurl alot of ball but was to loose at times on Colin Fennelly but in fairness kilkenny forwards were coming in waves at them and our fullback line like the kerry game were clean out.

old yellar
All Star
Posts: 289
Joined: Sun Jul 26, 2009 1:10 am

Re: Allianz Hurling League Roinn 1B 2016

Post by old yellar »

Happened to go down to it as was in the in laws and hadnt seen them this year. And to size ye up for the qualifier group! Big beating. Expecting a defeat but I thought it might be made a game of just after htime and that we might see a big of a comeback and see ye end up going down by 8/9 pts. Not to be. I was impressed by a few players I have to say but most were physically bossed. Was it just me or were any of the rest of ye blown away by the "warm up"?? I counted 1 drill, a basic shooting one, no stretching. And to see 2 sets of players puck a ball to each other for 8 mins (I timed it!) without moving 10 yards?? I know they would have warmed up maybe in olpughlins or something and then come across but to do this after kk being on the pitch for 20/25 mins? And then to go into a loose hoodle (no.stretching) and then into.the game?? Am I missing something?? I thought it showed a complete lack of fizz. I dont blame the players but I thought they d be like rabbits in the headlights at the start and they were.
Surprised by a few things. Midfield. Huge physical difference. No matter how good ryan/connolly are, they were giving away a huge amount to the kk midfield. Connolly got a couple of nice scores later when moved in. I thought ye were lacking a bit of pace in the back line. John power wouldnt be the quickest kk forward but looked a handful for both his men. Kk were so good in the air all day. I m not sure of all the players in the panel or available to ye but there are a few spots there for the taking you d imagine. I suppose its v hard to judge players v a dominant kk team, all ireland champs, admittedly down a few men. I thought doughan was good on the ball, intelligent when he got it. Fennelly got to grips.with him though and turned in a great display, but have ye another natural 6? Doughan looks like a good option at midfield either. I thought kinsella, egan.and murphy worked hard and bergin did ok when moved out. I was surprised ye didnt employ a sweeper with fennelly on such a good day. Ye have before this year v "lesser" teams? Mulrooney got a few nice scores also. I wasnt overly impressed by your touch/striking on the day but ye did get a good few hooks/blocks in. What was most un offaly I thought was nearly the sense of inevitability about the game. Little fire. I suppose its easy say that when you are in the stand and dont have tyrrell or buckley etc bursting you with a shoulder! Seemed to be a small travelling support? From a carlow perspective, I think it ll be a good battle between us. I hope the players etc keep their heads up and continue with the hard work. Its a fair commitment. Roll on the qualifiers!

old yellar
All Star
Posts: 289
Joined: Sun Jul 26, 2009 1:10 am

Re: Allianz Hurling League Roinn 1B 2016

Post by old yellar »

Ps I ask question re doughan/other natural 6 in a rhetorical way. I thought cf is a huge handful for any player even in a stronger team, so I think doughan is your man. Cant see shortt working there. I think he might be lacking a bit of pace. Kelleher, I havent seen much off. Kiely is a huge man! Jayus last time I saw him, he was 16 and cback v us in a minor game.
Ye look to be like us at the min. Shorn of players due to a variety of reasons, right or wrong, and its hard to be competitive v the likes of kk etc who probably have every player they d like in with them. Its like giving usain bolt a 10 yard headstart in a 60 m dash!

sam88885a
All Star
Posts: 679
Joined: Sun Oct 13, 2013 11:12 pm
Club: kk

Re: Allianz Hurling League Roinn 1B 2016

Post by sam88885a »

private joker wrote:If E Kelly is very short sighted he should be looking for those types of players. I m aware your only joking. Championship will be played hopefully in good fast weather. Offaly have achieved what they set out to do which was make top 4 in league. Championship will be very interesting after Kerrys huge win yesterday. They would have to be favourites to come out of the round robin at this stage. I expect though that Offaly will come good in the summer and give a good showing of themselves.
Ur correct i was only joking but i also think e kelly hasnt got a clue . none of the problem from the kerry game were fixed in my opinion . i heard players saying they were unlucky to come out the wrong side of the kerry result . NO SHAME
.

we have the round robin to look forward with around of the club firstly , can we get some big guys back ,lkie c mahon d currams s coughlan b leonard d kilmartain c slevin , would g healion be worth a look at at full forward .
e kelly need to get down off there high horse now and look at any player that can improve thing because if he stays with this team as it is we are in huge trouble in my opinion .
there has been a lot of bull talked about how good kelly and his team are but i havent seen it , what worries me is how much kerry seem to have improved since e kelly left .

6 -20 conceded to a second string kilkenny team in third gear is not good enough and only scoring 8 points from play .
the county board should make him sit down and explain himself this week .
They team selection today was unforgivable 2 guys in midfield who were hardly up to the kilkenny mens elbows . mind the child come to mind .
we were always going to lose today but e kelly has to take the blame for us getting hammered with how he picked the team and the lack of quality he had on the subs .
u can train donkeys all day ever day but they will never win a horse race .
listening to b carroll talking rubbish saying its a huge step up from 1 b to 1 a , when limerick clare both beat 1 a teams and wexford lost to waterford by a point , a team that won the league from 1 b last year .
none of those team were playind against a second string 1 a team either ,
today offaly and e kelly let themselves down there is no point in suger coating it ,it has notting to do with under age systems or where games are played , it about a group of players and management who allowed themselves to be the joke of the day.
e kelly needs to climb down off his horse go to the club and start again

User avatar
townman
All Star
Posts: 1710
Joined: Sun Oct 03, 2010 12:41 pm

Re: Allianz Hurling League Roinn 1B 2016

Post by townman »

sam88885a i agree with Kelly not having a clue and yes maybe theres a few players not in the squad that should be, but lets be fair Currams, Conor Mahon, Slevin, Parlon, were there the last two years and we were shocking again laois and kilkenny in 2014, as for Ger Healion great bit of stuff but i think his gone on abit mind you he would be better than most who hurl today. the problem i have with Eamon Kelly is there are players who are getting the run around every game but still get picked the next day, Paddy Murphy had an off day again kerry and was dropped for today, but he was great when he came on and should have started the game.

if we continue with the same backline that have hurl again kerry and kilkenny today we can forget about topping the round robin group, and yes i said yesterday about our midfield today they were like mascotts standing for the throw in. as a kilkennyman said in the stand a traning match between the kilkenny squad would have been better for them, and another said offaly were like a junior B team put together the morning of the game and the sorry thing is i would have to agree, :(

Post Reply