Offaly v Longford

[Overview]

Now that we have a management team that has the pedigree, tactical ability, organisational skills, knowledge of what players can step up to the heat of inter-county matches and the bottle to pick them, my faith in the "Faithful" producing a performance to be proud of, has been awoken
Bearing in mind that they are picking from the list of players inherited from the previous management, heres my stab at the starting line up for sunday !

Alan Mulhall
Conor Evans
Joe Quinn
Brian Darby
Stephen Lonergan
Mattew Mitchell
Karl Slattery
Kieran Mc Manus
Niall Smith
Niall Darby
Rory Guinan
Sean Ryan
James Coughlan
Neville Coughlan
Ken Casey
If Neville is not fit, I would play Rafferty full back move Quinn to the middle of the field and place Mac at full forward, I would ask the Mc Namees to travel and be available to play if required.
ToTom, Phil, and Vinnie you deserve great credit for stepping in at such short notice, thank you. To the players, you showed tremendous courage in taking the stand you took for the betterment of Offaly football, i hope you are justly rewarded for your commitment, the very best of luck.

[offalycork]

hi all

i'm new to this but being a loyal offaly supporter and travelling to all the matches i feel i'd like
to say something of note. i was at the roscommon match and there supporters were both loud and loyal to there cause. i was asked by a roscommon supporter where is the pride and passion associated with offaly football gone? i travel from cork to all the matches so every game is an away game for me. i do hope that now tom,phil and vinny are on board with the team that the supporters will come out in force on sunday to supporter them. its the first time in ages that i feel pride back again and i do believe we will win on sunday... does anyone share the same view?

[Archangel]

Not so positive as the lads above. I'm happy with the 3 lads who are in charge but a lot more has to come from the players, as they were the ones who walked away or wanted the manager out. Now fame costs, and here's where they start paying. Glen Ryan's Longford, although short a couple of better players will be a well organised and determined bunch, and will look to keep winning.
It will be close, but it's up to the players on how close it will be. Let's see if there's any pride left in the players,.. the fans will follow.

[Mighty Pair O' Hands]

Any word on the team yet ?

[king of kings]

Should be team for longford
1 alan mulhaul-kelly still not fit enough mul is doin fine
2 ger rafferty-has to be brought back here he still one of our best defenders
3 connor evans-huge improvements in last 2 weeks goin really well in trainin
4 brian darby-tightest marker we have
5 kieran flannery-goin really well at training deserves his place
6 shane Sullivan-its good hes back and will do the job at centre back
7 karol slattery-nearly back to full fitness again should go well sunday
8 alan macnamee-the player of the year is back lets hope hes at his best
9 niall smith-needs to up his performance but obvious choice
10 paul mcconway-playin well at wing forward
11 ciaran macmanus-time he got back to his more familiar role
12 niall darby-we need to see more from this kid no he has it in him
13 ken casey-gradually getting there his pace inside will cause trouble
14 niall macnamee-thank god hes back
15 john Reynolds- fittest player in offaly needs to start using it

I think this is the best team at the moment sean ryan and Neville coughlan are not back to full fitness yet so should not be started. Kevin Meehan, Rory guinan, james coughlan, joe Quinn, matt Mitchell, pauric Sullivan, thomas deehan are my subs...

anyone agree

[Bord na Mona man]

6 shane Sullivan-its good hes back and will do the job at centre back
8 alan macnamee-the player of the year is back lets hope hes at his best
14 niall macnamee-thank god hes back

Are these lads all back and training?

[Plain of the Herbs]

Are they still training in the dark or did they find a field with lights?

Are these lads all back and training?

[king of kings]

yup the 3 rhode boys are back and should make a big difference.
3 point win for offaly on sunday

[OffalyDub]

"To the players, you showed tremendous courage in taking the stand you took for the betterment of Offaly football, i hope you are justly rewarded for your commitment, the very best of luck."

Was Richie Connor in charge for the Westmeath and Down games last year? Didn't think so....

[Bord na Mona man]

Well earned draw for Offaly yesterday. McManus nailed the '45 brilliantly to snatch the point.
The players would have been sick to lose it.
Much better balance about the team. They played more direct football for a lot of it - though gave away scores when they started the short passing in a couple of spells.
A lot more passion about proceedings. On occasions there were two or three Offaly players pressuring the Longford player in possession.

Good contributions from newly added players like Lonergan, Reynolds, Carroll and McManus when he was restored to the middle.
Remember that McManus was stripped of the long range free taking duties by Pat Roe.
He had missed a penalty early on (great finger tip save by the keeper) so he might have felt extra pressure with the last kick.

I'll post up the player analysis this evening.

[Bord na Mona man]

Better late than never...

Alan Mulhall. No saves to make. Had one high catch to make to make and did well to collect it under pressure. Managed to vary the kick outs a lot as there weren't many viable options to aim at.

Full back line. Defended well overall. Longford played it in direct and early all day. At times Offaly looked troubled by the high ball. Ger Rafferty was much more at home at corner back. Conor Evans had a solid game. Always managed to get something on the ball when you think he is going to be beaten to it.
Brian Darby - Good tenacious display. Lacks height, but battles hard.

Half backs.
Stephen Lonergan - Really burst into the limelight. Rampaged forward to kick two great points in the first half.

Shane Sullivan - Don't really see him as a centre back. Was a long way off his man at times. Had to go off on a yellow card, and I think this saved his Rhode manager Tom Coffey the job of having to haul him ashore. He would be much better in 5 of the other 6 defensive positions.

Karol Slattery - Still not yet back to his usual storming self, but as the game was wore on was willing to get forward and inject a bit of life into the attack.

Midfield.
Conor Carroll did well, worked hard and wasn't afraid to get the ball and go.
Niall Smith - Didn't get going at all. Wasn't having an impact at midfield and switched to left half forward. Things didn't pick up there either.

Half forwards.

Sean Ryan, made a few errors early on and wasn't having much impact. Crucially came into the game in the last 10 minutes. Won a vital free that was pointed in the last couple with a good run.

Paraic Sullivan started well, and was part of a lot of the good Offaly attacks. Went out of the game later on and the Longford centre back Williams was well on top. Did get a bang on the head, whether this was a factor.

Niall Darby. Accurate kicker of the ball. Capable of scoring points from a bit further out than other forwards. Probably needs to work on his defending.

Full forwards:

John Reynolds - Great effort as always from Reynolds. Contested every ball that came his way. Kicked 2 nice points to put Offaly in the driving seat early on. An under appreciated player in my view. Will always give you hard work, even though he is operating against the odds.

Ciaran McManus - Started at FF but wasn't getting much change. The penalty was a super finger tip save by the keeper to direct the ball off the post. Came out field and gave us some reminders of the McManus of old. Great show with the last 45. He also pointed a close in free from a bit of an angle too. The way he grabbed the crest on his jersey shows what it meant to him.

Ken Casey - Taken off twice. Doesn't threaten the scoreboard from play and hasn't found his range from frees either. Still not managing to make the step up to inter county level

Subs - Niall Mc - Was brought on twice! God tan but looked very rusty. Probably still jet lagged. May have become more accustomed to kicking beach balls...

Joe Quinn - Really tightened things up at centre back.

Alan McNamee - Got his hands on the ball a couple of times at most.

James Coughlan. Took one shot at the posts that bounced a few yards out and the keeper fumbled and almost ended up conceding a goal with.


It is worth mentioning that Richie Connor and both his selectors were in the crowd today. Very magnanimous of all concerned. I hope that the unfortunate events of recent weeks haven't left any lasting bitterness. Richie and his family have a lot to offer Offaly GAA.

[redser]

A very accurate report from bord na Mona man.

Yes the workrate was a bit better and the lads got stuck in alot more. Lets call it as it is, this squad have a huge amount of work to do, but with with good management like what they had provisionally at the weekend and a good attitude from the players theres no reason Offaly shouldnt be a reasonable force. Their more than capable of competing with the top teams in the country and proving a real handful. There is quality there and lets hope the effort and workrate will improve to match the professionalism that other counties approach the season with.

One question, ive seen a few posts calling Reynolds the fittest man on the panel and that hes undervalued. Lads thats a complete joke. He labours around the place looking for the handy ball, has no bottle when hes needed and has never fought for the dirty ball. At best hes a sub that id spring in the last ten minutes in the ful forward line only. The one attribute he has is he'll pick off a score when play opens up a bit. But he certainly isnt the fittest player in there (quick over 10 yards but after that good luck), and he should never be near the startiung line up.

[Phoenix]

I agree that the Bord na Mona report is spot on.

The distribution of the ball in the first 20 minutes was first-class. A great mixture of diagonal balls with passes up the same wing and even over the top e.g. the ball that allowed somebody to put a rusty Niall McNamee clear in the first half. It shows that we have players who can take intelligent options if they are properly organised and motivated.

No knock on Richie because the players seem to have written him off without giving him much of a chance. It was good to see Richie, Ollie and Mark all there with seemingly no hard feelings.

With Lonergan and Slattery in the half-line Offaly would have two decent overlapping options. Joe Quinn looked good at centre-half-back although personally I have to say I think Shane O'Sullivan is more suited to playing inter-county half back rather than in the full back line.

Sean Ryan in the half forwards gives us that pace that is so vital nowadays. He'll come on from his display on Sunday.

John Reynolds did well in the forwards and kicked a couple of nice points. Niall Darby, while not the finished article, looks like a keeper in the half forwards.

It is a pity that Mac always has to be hauled back to midfield to bail us out. He would give a lot of defenders fits up near the goal. Does anybody remember when we scored two goals early against Kildare in the championship a few years ago with Mac and Colm Quinn combining near the goals. If we had a decent midfield Mac would be a hit at full or pushing on from centre forward.

[lovelyhurling]

improved performance but for these players to gain respect of offaly people again is going to take alot! i still cant see them beaten kildare in the 1st round and will it descend into the now customary farce again without a strong respected manager if they lose to kildare.