Offaly v Louth NFL

[Archangel]

All been a bit quiet lately, seeing as this tester is upon us. Tricky game this I feel. The players have had a couple of weeks with little or no press/media to bother them, and they should have gotten on with the work. Lets' see what they've got.
Sunday, Tullamore 2.30pm I believe.

[black and red exile]

This will be a tough one. Louth are quite confident at the moment after winning the O'Byrne cup,hammering Limerick and running Down to just a point in Newry so Offaly will have to be up their performance from the Longford game to be victorious on Sunday. Louth seem to have hit the ground running so far and their fitness levels are probably above ours at the moment but with the correct team and the right tactics we can pick up our first win of the year on Sunday.

[Kemo Sabe]

i agree .this will be hard but the players will be alot better than the wer against longford .i expect us to win a tight game with only a point or two in it at the end .

[Mighty Pair O' Hands]

Louth are on a roll and are way fitter than us - Louth by 4 points.

[Bord na Mona man]

It was a great relief to have Offaly football off the back pages of the national papers in the last couple of weeks.
Any word on the team?

There is one advantage of having a manager who is against the clock in terms of avoiding relegation getting his team championship ready. It limits to tendency to mess around with positions and send out teams severely hampered with bizarre selections. Offaly should consider themselves on a "death ground" footing, as Eoghan Harris might put it were he managing Offaly.

A management team with(who think they have) a lot time on their hands is a dangerous thing!
We don't need lads wondering "would X be any good if we put him up in forwards", "Why don't we try Y in the backs. It didn't work the last time, but shure try it again".
"Should we play the short passing game, or maybe kick it long?".

[turk]

Eoghan Harris as an intercounty manager would be mighty crack!!

[naasmanxrhode]

any word on the team for Sunday

[Lone Shark]

I'd say it's a bridge too far to expect a win here on Sunday seeing as Cribben will still be getting to know his players, however I'd be hopeful that we'll see a lot more from them in terms of cohesion, while the levels of effort from the Longford game should be maintained and hopefully be controlled. Louth are playing very well, to the point whereby we could play well and still lose, so I wouldn't be too hung up on the result, but that said if we find a decent rhythm and do hit a good day up front, I'd say we have every chance. Underdogs, but with a chance.

[Bord na Mona man]

Offaly made hard work of that.
Late free by Rory Guinan to win it with Offaly having lead by 10.
Gerry Russell sounded gutted when he stuck it over!

[Kemo Sabe]

good win today .should have won by more but the wind picked up in the last 15 minutes.we looked fitter than the longford game .uor movement and desire to win was alot better also .im alot more confident than i was amonth ago .as for jerry russell that doesnt surprise me cause he cant hide his dislike for offaly at times .glad we ruined his sunday .

[Georgio1]

Hi All,
Have logged on here and finally got registered after a while lookin in over the fence!
Very happy with the win yesterday, good all round performance.
Deehan's performance was the highlight for me. This was a great display from him. Shaper too won a lot of ball.
What we had that made the difference, (especialy after a poor first 15 mins) was a forward unit that worked its socks off.
Sean Ryan, after playin a full game on Saturday, showed huge work rate, and his run up along the stand to set up Darby for a crucial score in the second half was savage.
Podge after a great penalty save was easily beaten to the punch for the levelling goal.
Overall a lot of work to be done, but if this is the improvement after 2 weeks, then God Bless Tom Cribben.
There was more honesty and effort yesterday than in the previous 2 years.

Hurling was a win and not much more you could say except that I thought despite us not playing well we won easily.
Carlow were very poor and for a team who are supposed to be moving in the right direction, offered no threat whatsoever.

[Lone Shark]

Welcome aboard Georgio. Always good to see people crossing the fence....

I have to say yesterday was pure heart warming. There were plenty of mistakes, there were errors of judgement and of skill, but by God they fought like dogs for every ball and for every score, and for that reason alone, they have plenty to be proud of. Perhaps a little lucky in the sense that the ref could have blown up after the goal, but on the other hand that was ninety seconds in which Louth could have scored either, so you make your own luck.

That was how a county team should play, with heart and soul on the line, and it would be impossible not to be proud of those players.

I was worried about leadership in the absence of McManus (condolences to the McManus/Parker familes too by the way), but a good few lads stepped up in that regard as well. All in all this was extremely encouraging for the future. To win a game like that with Mac unavailable, Slattery still getting back to form, Smith off the field for most of it and most of all, with Niall Mac still not back to form yet, was absolutely huge.

[Silken Thomas]

Despite testing the patience of many an observer, Offaly held on justly on a wet, wild and wintery afternoon.

Having trained extensively over the last 10 days Offaly footballers belied their almost uniformly petite stature to record a much needed victory. A victory that flirted outrageously with stalemate and almost unbelievably defeat. Aggresion was the rock on which Louth perished as across the park Offaly seemed distinctly game.

Whether intentionally or not Offaly with Conor Carroll and a rejuvenated Alan McNamee broke ball all day for the inrushing Darby's, Joe Quinn, Stephen Lonergan and Sean Ryan to devour. And it was the less hyped Birr man who impressed me greatly tackling ferociously and legitimatly while invoking images of Willie Bryan in his prime with two delightful over head catches.

Combining the short handpass in defence and two man full forward line in attack Offaly consistently showed incredible teamwork that seemed alien beforehand. The introduction of Thomas Deehan for the risible Niall Smith added distinct clout and edge to an attack enabling Offaly to build a well needed halftime lead after playing with the elements.

The expected Louth backlash didn't materialise until ten minutes from time as Ger Rafferty began to get exposed and the leadership which was been displayed prominently by Shane Sullivan, Joe Quinn, Alan McNamee and particularily Conor Evans began to wane. With Louth closing fast it was up to Séan Ryan to carry most impressively under our much maligned new stand through three would be tacklers to set up Niall Darby for the insurance score.

Cue glad slapping and good spirits. Unfortunatly the players aped the crowd and switched off almost unforgivably as Pádraig Kelly ignored his exemplary previous form and somehow managed to concede a goal from a ridiculous situation. Lynching was averted when John Reynolds won a crucial free to allow Rory Guinan to kick the winner from a distinctly awkward angle.

The importance of the kick not being lost on the contented Offaly supporters as they left to the bemusing chants of a hardore of faithful fans

[John]

Great win yesterday although they made it difficult for themselves. Thought the Birr players did well, somewhat suprising as I did not know much about their ability before the year started or indeed did not hear many talking about them. Deehan fought well but Niall Mc has a way to go yet.

As a side note will somebody please clarify the nicknames of the various football players. It's very frustrating to hear roars from the stand of 'c'mon Shaper' and 'good man Super' without having a clue to whom they are referring. I've been out of the county a while now and have lost touch evidently!

[Bord na Mona man]

as for jerry russell that doesnt surprise me cause he cant hide his dislike for offaly at times .glad we ruined his sunday .

The Guinan point was greeted with muted silence, so I thought he must have missed it.
Once Gerry started talking about how gutted Louth would be, I knew he'd put it over.