Minors hurlers 2022

[JimBwobb]

Drove in Birr today and down the main street, not an Offaly flag to be seen ahead of the big game. Only flag i could see in the town was across from county arms hotel.

Is this because Birr isn't a hurling stronghold anymore or what's happening that side of the county?

Disappointing to say the least.

[greenairfield]

I think there is 6 or 7 52 seater buses going from the town that's without mentioning people who will go down and supports the lads themselves.


Anyway moving on this should be a positive forum take them lemons out of your mouth

[JimBwobb]

I think there is 6 or 7 52 seater buses going from the town that's without mentioning people who will go down and supports the lads themselves.


Anyway moving on this should be a positive forum take them lemons out of your mouth

No lemons here, I would only love every town and village to be decorated with the Offaly colours.

Anyways, preview night in Dooleys Hotel on Friday should be a good night. Guests include Cyril Farrell, Duignan, Ciaran Carey and a few more. Should be a great night.

[Bord na Mona man]

Speaking of houses ands towns decked in flags, for Offaly's All Irelands in the 1980s it was a lot more common and in the 90s it dwindled away.
Even people bringing flags to matches is far less now.

[ah lethimoutwithit]

Any aul reports on how the preparations are going apart from the;

1) "We'll need more sandwiches than the time we went to Cushendall following Birr in the 90's as the road to Kandahar (aka Kilkenny)is fraught with danger (Aka delays)"
2) We'll need to get a "Belmac " tanker in the gate to pump the piss out and keep the toilets flowing

Perhaps a couple of interesting calls to be made for the final by the management, and only my opinion as a football man;

*Tipp will man mark Ravenhill and stop him getting long range shots away
*Our midfield area will need to be more productive than the last day to get a flow of ball to the inside line
*We will need to have the option of the inside line given the press that Tipp are likely to have on our shooters out the field, and this will be a new dimension to our play that Tipp will have to deal with
*It will take a fair team to beat our guys as they have a great determination and generally looked relatively comfortable in the last 2 big games, and there is much to admire whilst there is also a nice bit to improve on (particularly up front re link up with inside line
*Daniel Hand will offer up something different and one of the calls that has to be made.
*I know nothing about Tipp but that they think that we cavemen, and they invented the hurl....but Lord wouldn't victory be sweet indeed!

In general, get back to hurling the match and not the occasion/maintain the game plan and the focus on doing the right thing/fuck listening to the crowd and the "Ahh Jaysus brigade", we wouldn't be able to hit a tennis ball with a hurl in most of the county/Enjoy the lead up, don't let it bother ye, ye are gossons and we are all behind ye in relation to this being a step in your development...and regardless of win lose or draw the pressure on ye will only start when ye are 19 & 20 for performing/ take sanctuary with you r own family...if the mother asks you for the 14th time have you all your gear ready, are ya hungry..don't ate the head off her..give her a polite answer ..she's only asking cause she's 40 times more nervous than you!!...smile and nod at your aul lad when he sits you down for advice, he'll be thrilled to think your evening listening to him!..seek out a mentor or a role model to have a catch up with early in the week/take plenty of deep breadths whenever ye feel a bit of pressure. AND THATS JUST FOR THE SUPPORTERS!!!!!!!

[biffinbanner]

i was at the last time(i think) offaly played tipp in an underage national final. we unluckily lost to a declan ryan inspired tipp by a few points.think it was at a packed portlaoise. john troy was given a dirty dig,meant or not the same day. 1989. under 21.

[Plain of the Herbs]

Offaly were eight points better than Dublin and won by roughly eight points (I haven’t checked). And won the tactical battle too.
Offaly were eight points better than Leix and won by roughly eight points (I haven’t checked this either). And won the tactical battle too.
Offaly were eight points better than Clare and won by four points (this I know). And won the tactical battle too.

Obviously Tipperary will bring their own challenges and Leo and Hughie on the sideline will have to react to that.

I too thought Offaly didn’t bring Hand and Screeney into the game anywhere near enough in the semi-final’s second half. But looking at the recording since, I could see Clare kept their defensive shape with three in their full-back line. So it wasn’t really feasible to get a supply if ball inside, and going for scores from range was probably the thing to do. Which you can kind of afford to do when you are four points ahead, but would drain the energy if you were chasing the game.

You’d imagine Tipperary will mark Ravenhill. But then, if Offaly go with a three man midfield, Tipperary will have to react. Either they go man to man (space for Screeney), keep their own shape (unmarked Offaly player (Martin or Furlong) between the 65s) or bring a full-forward out (Kelly or Larkin are free). I didn’t see Tipperary’s semi-final, but from TG4’s highlights they appeared to play with three inside. So we’ll have to see.

Perhaps a couple of interesting calls to be made for the final by the management, and only my opinion as a football man;

*Tipp will man mark Ravenhill and stop him getting long range shots away
*Our midfield area will need to be more productive than the last day to get a flow of ball to the inside line
*We will need to have the option of the inside line given the press that Tipp are likely to have on our shooters out the field, and this will be a new dimension to our play that Tipp will have to deal with
*It will take a fair team to beat our guys as they have a great determination and generally looked relatively comfortable in the last 2 big games, and there is much to admire whilst there is also a nice bit to improve on (particularly up front re link up with inside line
*Daniel Hand will offer up something different and one of the calls that has to be made.
*I know nothing about Tipp but that they think that we cavemen, and they invented the hurl....but Lord wouldn't victory be sweet indeed!

A few random thoughts to conclude:

Clare wouldn’t have planned for Daniel Hand’s arrival. Whereas Tipperary will. Still great to have the option.

Offaly’s seventh match in the campaign, which is phenomenal from a developmental perspective. (Kilkenny, Dublin, Wexford, Galway, Cork and Limerick all got three.)

And no harm to have an outside manager who will be immune from the buildup locally and will keep the team properly focussed.

[Bord na Mona man]

Offaly may have won the tactical battle the last day but not by a wide margin. As mentioned the usual wide ball out to Screeney and whoever else is inside forward wasn't as effective.
The knock on effect was a reduction of crossfield 2nd balls to incoming players. Killian Martin was MotM in the Leinster final when he was able to burst up the middle onto a regular supply of ball.
Tipp are going to copy Clare and put more direct heat on our inside men. It looked like they had no qualms about horsing in, not fearing yellow cards.
Unlike Laoighis who wasted defenders guarding empty space in the middle.

Let's also hope that Ravenhill keeps his averages up on the percentage pot shots. 3 from 6, or 4 from 7 puts us in great shape. But imagine he misses 3 or 4 in a row. It can happen to the best of them, and Offaly need to be mentally ready. Other players need to take on the pressure and not be staring at their boots. Conor Doyle's goal in the semi is a fine example. As soon as he took a clean catch on the 45 he was immediately thinking of a goal.
We need everyone ready and willing to seize the day. All Irelands often throw up unexpected heroes. Let's hope we have some heroes to toast on Sunday!

[private joker]

Important to remember that the players are u17. Very young. Best of luck to all 30 that take to the field and those on the sideline.

[Onionbag]

Play with confidence is the key and these boys have it in abundance

[SearingDrive]

i was at the last time(i think) offaly played tipp in an underage national final. we unluckily lost to a declan ryan inspired tipp by a few points.think it was at a packed portlaoise. john troy was given a dirty dig,meant or not the same day. 1989. under 21.

That game was the 1989 U 21 hurling final, played in Portlaoise. Tipperary had a guy called Dan Quirke playing at full forward, on Offaly’s number 3, Damian Geoghegan.
I can’t recall Quirke starring for Tipperary in later years. Offaly beat Tipperary in a minor All Ireland Final in 1986/1987.

[Bord na Mona man]

i was at the last time(i think) offaly played tipp in an underage national final. we unluckily lost to a declan ryan inspired tipp by a few points.think it was at a packed portlaoise. john troy was given a dirty dig,meant or not the same day. 1989. under 21.

That game was the 1989 U 21 hurling final, played in Portlaoise. Tipperary had a guy called Dan Quirke playing at full forward, on Offaly’s number 3, Damian Geoghegan.
I can’t recall Quirke starring for Tipperary in later years. Offaly beat Tipperary in a minor All Ireland Final in 1986/1987.

1989 some of the highlights (they missed Offaly's early goals)- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASUO2egT4Ck

Johnny Pilkington's recollection of 1987 when Offaly beat Tipp at minor level: https://youtu.be/uqGiwearkfQ?t=318

[frankthetank]

Looks like the New Stand and Old Stand are sold out as they are greyed out now on ticketmaster and tickets are only available for the stand behind the goals.

My question is this....if those 2 stands are sold out and adults rock up with their kids these stands are going to be off limits to adults that actually have tickets for the stands as kids without tickets and the adults with them that have their tickets will have all the seats gone.

The only way this can be avoided at this stage is if they only released say 75% of the stands capacity for ticket purchases and have left the other 25% free in the expectation these seats will be occupied by U16's. If this hasn't happened this is going to be an absolute sh1tshow and we'll have a repeat of Portlaoise. A delay of game is a strong possibility.

[allstar2010]

i was at the last time(i think) offaly played tipp in an underage national final. we unluckily lost to a declan ryan inspired tipp by a few points.think it was at a packed portlaoise. john troy was given a dirty dig,meant or not the same day. 1989. under 21.

That game was the 1989 U 21 hurling final, played in Portlaoise. Tipperary had a guy called Dan Quirke playing at full forward, on Offaly’s number 3, Damian Geoghegan.
I can’t recall Quirke starring for Tipperary in later years. Offaly beat Tipperary in a minor All Ireland Final in 1986/1987.

1989 some of the highlights (they missed Offaly's early goals)- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASUO2egT4Ck

Johnny Pilkington's recollection of 1987 when Offaly beat Tipp at minor level: https://youtu.be/uqGiwearkfQ?t=318

Declan Ryan was some tramp

[Bord na Mona man]

That game was the 1989 U 21 hurling final, played in Portlaoise. Tipperary had a guy called Dan Quirke playing at full forward, on Offaly’s number 3, Damian Geoghegan.
I can’t recall Quirke starring for Tipperary in later years. Offaly beat Tipperary in a minor All Ireland Final in 1986/1987.

1989 some of the highlights (they missed Offaly's early goals)- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASUO2egT4Ck

Johnny Pilkington's recollection of 1987 when Offaly beat Tipp at minor level: https://youtu.be/uqGiwearkfQ?t=318

Declan Ryan was some tramp

He wasn't afraid let fly all right. Here he is 2 years later with a wild one on Jim Cashman's hand.
https://youtu.be/i0dfToZNnIk?t=1412