Offaly U21 hurlers 2017

[private joker]

Under 21s well bet tonight. 4-21 to 2-9. No soft run. Bigvdefeat.

[jimbob17]

That is a real sign of where we are. The issue is not being beaten. The issue is that this game was a non event! This is not against Kilkenny or Dublin but Wexford!There are 7 or 8 seniors playing tonight - more than Wexford. It should NOT be happening. Okay, they might be decent but the score suggests we were not even competitive. 5 of them hurled championship against Westmeath. Conneely, Kiely, Podge Guinan, Oisin Kelly & Liam Langton all saw action while Delaney could have started and might well do the next day. Reckon some of the starting 15 are also on senior panel but not certain. Certainly Cahill in goals, O Toole, Molloy and Ronan Hughes would be on it if they wanted to be.

This says more about us. Where are we. Our seniors got out of jail against Westmeath. We are on similar level now to Westmeath and Carlow and Kildare in hurling in my opinion. Laois have overtaken us. Every year we are slipping further away. The performance of minors this year also suggests this. A good crop at 16 / 17 have been let down and our demise continues. What can be done about it? What do we need to do?

[manfromdelmonte]

lets hope the shiny new training fields covers up the fact that a lot of clubs are not doing enough coaching or developing of all players
go to any under 12 or U10 game and 1/2 players dominate with pitches being very narrow and full solo allowed at U12

[Bord na Mona man]

Bórd gais Leinster U-21 HC Q/Fs: Wexford 4-21 Offaly 2-9

Stephen O'Gorman bagged a brace as Wexford hit Offaly with a blitz of late goals at Innovate Wexford Park to ease their way into the last four.
The Model were just two points ahead 10 minutes after the break but then took control and pulled away with goals from O'Gorman (his second), Cathal Dunbar and Darragh Pepper.
Offaly had started brightly, taking the lead with a goal from Oisin Kelly before Wexford hit back with five unanswered points, from Joe Coleman (2), Rory O'Connor, Dunbar and O'Gorman.

O'Gorman added a goal, cancelled out by Liam Langton's green flag at the other end, and Wexford finished the half strongly with points from O'Gorman, Coleman, Dunbar and Harry O'Connor to lead 1-10 to 2-4 at the break.
The opening ten minutes of the second half were tightly contested, but thereafter the Offaly challenge faded as the home side flexed their muscles.

Scorers - Wexford: C Dunbar 1-8 (1 sl), S O'Gorman 2-2, D Pepper 1-2, R White, J Coleman (2fs) 0-3 each, R O'Connor 0-2, H O'Connor 0-1. Offaly: L Langton 1-2, O Kelly 1-1, C Freeman 0-4fs, C Kiely, C Cleary 0-1 each.
Wexford - D Hughes; C Firman, D Byrne, M O'Brien; B Quigley, A Maddock, G Molloy; D Barden, R White; H O'Connor, R O'Connor, J Coleman; C Dunbar, S O'Gorman, D Codd. Subs: J O'Connor for Barden (ht), C Moore for O'Brien (38), D Pepper for Codd (50), J Doyle for Coleman (55), O Foley for R O'Connor (58).

Offaly - E Cahill; D Watkins, D O'Toole, P Delaney; B Conneely, E Parlon, C Molloy; C Kiely, P Guinan; C Freeman, O Kelly, C Cleary; L Langton, E Callaghan, R Hughes. Subs: K Nugent for Callaghan (38), J Murray for Langton (55), E Carroll for Molloy (55), B Loughnane for Hughes (57).

http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic- ... 76919.html

[Plain of the Herbs]

Thing is, if ever a final scoreline did NOT reflect the trend of a game, this was it. It certainly was not a non event.

Offaly had a goal scored before I got into the ground, but though Wexford dominated much of the first half, Offaly stuck in and competed well. Oisín Kelly was a handful, Ciarán Cleary was too while Pádraic Guinan and Conor Freeman got stuck in. Offaly must have effected ten or a dozen hooks/blocks during that first half and while that was a measure of Wexford’s dominance of possession, it also frustrated the home side and didn’t let them build a head of steam. Other hand, Offaly needed to create, and convert, more chances, or needed to score more goals.

The second half began with Offaly doing all the hurling. They created plenty of chances but unfortunately too many chances fell to the wrong man in the wrong position and the wides tally mounted. Still, with twenty minutes to go, Offaly momentarily got to within a point of Wexford, and with Cillian Kiely coming into the game, an away win was not impossible. The an Offaly forward, short of confidence, tried to ‘tap’ the ball over the head of a Wexford defender, the defender read it and intercepted. This put Wexford on the front foot and changed the trend of the game. And the missed Offaly chances meant that when Wexford’s second goal came, it increased a four point lead to seven points (or thereabouts) and they were out of sight.

Hard to know what happened during the last 10 minutes, but Wexford created the spaces, (they always kept their half-forward line well outfield anyway) and made hay. What it does tell me is that Offaly went there to win, as if they went there merely to keep the score respectable they would have done so, but once the result was inevitable the heads dropped and Wexford opened up.

One thing that bothered me about the Offaly performance was their touch and the way they contested possession. Several times, an Offaly player raced flat out for 20 metres to contest a loose ball, only to slow down when two yards away from the ball and being forced to battle for possession. Had they kept going at full pace, they would have got to the ball first. Looked like they didn’t have trust in their first touch.

Finally, at U21 level, it’s not ideal to have a big number of Seniors on the U21 panel. The Offaly Seniors would have generally have had first call on the ‘dual mandated’ hurlers and it would have been difficult for U21 management to build a team. And while Eoghan Cahill is a fine goalkeeper and had a fine game between the sticks, his being on the Senior panel meant limited time to bond with the rest of the U21 defence, plan puckouts etc.

Finally, the Irish Independent does it again. They got the score wrong – Offaly scored 2-8, not 2-9, which came from the Wexford Park scoreboard awarding Offaly a ‘phantom’ point late on. And I think DAvid Buckley made a late appearance too.

[Slieve Bloom Man]

Thanks for that Plain. Badly needed your report as was feeling very depressed about the score line this morning. Some hope in that we were competitive for most of the game. I would have had reasonably high expectations for this group especially as I felt Wexford shouldn't be as strong as they have been in recent years at 21 level. Be interesting to see how they fare.

[Plain of the Herbs]

And so, with the U21 championship in its final season, ended Offaly's relationship with U21 hurling.

105 matches played over 53 years (Offaly didn't enter in 1983), with 202 goals and 1,102 points scored while 201 goals and 1,170 points were conceded. john Troy and Brian Whelahan played in 17 U21 championship matches (1989 to 1992 inclusive). Adrian Cahill was on target to do likewise having been a regular in 1989 to 1991 inclusive until his leg break in early 1992.

Everyone will have their own highlights - mine are the three Leinster final wins over Kilkenny in 1989, '91 and '92. One as hard fought, as thrilling and as rewarding as the other. (I missed the 2000 one due to holidays.) The 2007 win over Kilkenny is up there too, Offaly's last ever great achievement.

[sam88885a]

Poth those were great days and the pain of loosing to Tipp in a fantastic game in 89 ,massive score of 3 -11 to 4 - 10 i think.We may have lost but that was the best u21 team we ever had in my opinion.

[Plain of the Herbs]

It has been pointed out to me by a lurker here that U21 hurling stays as it is next year.
Minor hurling and football go to U17 and U21 football switches to U20 but the older hurling age bracket stays at U21.

Turns out my pining for U21 hurling was unnecessary. With which I am pleased.