OFFALY VERSUS TIPP

[fatlad]

A few of us are heading to Thurles for the weekend taking in the game on Sunday.The only hotel we keep coming up with is Hayes Hotel but the reviews are not tempting to say the least.Can any suggest another spot or has anyone stayed in Hayes hotel and can confirm that is ok.

[Bord na Mona man]

You could try the Anner hotel either.
http://www.annerhotel.ie/

[black and red exile]

Fatlad, if I were you I would wait until later in the week to book a hotel. I have a sneaky feeling this game will end up transferred to Ardfinnan before the weekend.

[bracknaghboy]

Careful with booking anything yet lads, cos I cant see the game being played in Thurles.

[Lone Shark]

I'd echo the thoughts of the two lads above. I wouldn't go booking until the game is confirmed on Friday - I can't see there being a huge run on accomodation at any rate.

Having said that, I've stayed in the Horse and Jockey hotel on two occasions and that does the job grand for me. Twas very reasonable at the time and the rooms were quite decent, breakfast is hearty enough, so if you don't mind staying a wee bit out of town, it could be the job. Having said that, I wouldn't be one for the imbibing so i'd always be able to drive - that might colour ye're plans.

[fatlad]

I rang the Tipp Pro and he could see no reason why the game would be switched.

[black and red exile]

With Tipp on a roll at the moment and their confidence sky high after their Cavan and Limerick victories it would be very surprising if they didn't try to make things as awkward as hell for us by dragging us down to their football heartland in Ardfinnan. As LS stated on another post semple stadium would see as many offaly supporters as home supporters there whereas down in Ardfinnan there would be quite a large home support in a smaller ground and far less of the faithful with the longer more awkward journey. It could very well be in Thurles but don't be surprised if we all get word Friday night/Saturday morning that there is a change of venue.

[Georgio1]

Hayes Hotel would be ok, but think there is a night club so for any older lads, might keep ye awake!
The Anner hotel is a nice spot, should be quiet enough but only a 5 minute walk from the town centre. With the new motorway just outside Durrow , Thurles is only a short hop now if you are heading through Portlaoise.
Would be great if twas kept in Thurles, big pitch should suit our forward line, but would be wary of the full back line!

[offalycork]

is the game still scheduled for semple stadium or has it been changed to ard finnian?

[black and red exile]

Game on at Semple, thank god. Makes it easier for everybody. 2.30 throw in.

[bracknaghboy]

Another big defeat to a team that will be crushed in Munster in the summer. Was watching the kildare game on TV and we havn't a hope in the 1st round......not a hope. After the initial energy shown last week with a new manager on board it appears we are back to square one Cribben must be wondering what he got himself in for. I await posts from any of the lads that made it down to Thurles.

[Lone Shark]

I'm just in the door and I think it's safe to say that it was a deeply disappointing day on pretty much every level. I'd love to say that the scoreline flattered Tipp, but other than the referee falling for Barry Grogan's diving swan act time and again, eight points was pretty much an accurate summation of how much better they were. Offaly were utterly rudderless for long spells with no obvious or apparent game plan. There was a lot of joy to be had in the early stages looking for Niall and Shaper with early ball, but we reverted to endless flat passing, poor support play and side to side messing fairly quickly. At the other end of the field, Tipp looked to play a one man full forward line and for reasons I cannot fathom, we chose to play into their hands by moving all bar one man of our full back line out. Now Barry Grogan is a good player and there isn't a defender in the country who could play him one on one with twenty yards of space every side of him.

The really frustrating part was that they dropped an extra man back pretty quickly at the other end, while also moving one of their corner forwards in under the dropping ball for kickouts at midfield. Yet despite those extra man playing a big part, it was impossible to figure out where Offaly's extra men were - to the best I could figure out, they were hanging around half back and watching the ball sailing over their heads, or alternatively was standing at the other end of the field, hands on hips, having failed completely to track.

It should not be forgotten in all this that this is a very good Tipperary team, much better than what we played last year. I was quite impressed with how they played and I'll be betting on them later in the year as value will surely present.

In terms of players....

Mulhall - could have directed one or two of his kickouts better, by times he appeared to be aiming left or right for no reason or than variety rather than because there was a set formation in place, but he still looked quite solid. The goal was a well placed shot in a one on one situation so no fault there, but largely he was solid enough. Jersey seems to be his to keep for now anyway.

Slattery - One of the fouls he conceded seemed particularly harsh as it was just Grogan grabbing his arm and going to ground, but he had little chance normally - he was simply not able for him one on one. I'd like to see him get back to form soon enough because he's badly needed at his best.

Evans - He ended up being dragged from the goals and I presume that was the logic behind taking him off - that said to me it cried out for putting Evans on Grogan and letting Slattery sweep up. After he was on top form last week I hope this doesn't rock him back too much.

Sullivan - This illustrated perfectly why the new rule is absolute rubbish. He got harshly called for one free when he and Grogan got tangled, and again when Grogan pulled off a dive - black card and then he had to stand off. Next ball, Grogan was out in front and banged it over in one move. I still think he can be our best man marker but these new rules have to go and Shane won't want to see that ref as well.

Lonergan - I love his energy and in fairness he did try and move the ball early. Hit a few bad wides from tricky positions but generally did quite well.

Quinn - seemed to pull out of getting a ball which led to the Tipp goal, but otherwise did quite okay - he's strong, uses the ball well and tackles well. Not the problem by any stretch of the imagination.

Mitchell - I was surprised he lasted the full match to be honest - he was a big part of the problem in terms of taking too much out of the ball, while he simply doesn't offer enough by way of core defensive skill to play in the half back line for me. I'll be surprised if he gets another game.

Smith - Star of the show by a mile. Great to see him back on form, he dominated the fielding contest at the middle and used the ball very well every time too. The day's only bright spot certainly.

Carroll - game appeared to pass him by a little bit. I always got the feeling that he was making runs, trying to track, trying to cover ground, but he just never quite found himself in the right position. Love his attitude, but you couldn't say he had much of an impact on the game.

Darby - This lad is beginning to annoy me now. When he plays for Rhode, he's purposeful, willing to take lads on, tracks back, while in an Offaly jersey he goes from side to side and never seems to be looking to take the initiative. I know he's better than we're seeing now and the left footed frees are great to have, but right now he's not playing like he can.

Alan McNamee - I can only guess that he was picked in this role to try and offer support to the midfield and to offer a good first line of defence. He did neither - and his man was the primary source of most of the Tipperary attacks. To say he was shockingly poor both in effort and execution is as kind as I can be.

Ryan - another lad who appeared to be working very hard opnly to find himself pretty much everywhere the ball wasn't, I still thought he was harshly treated to have been benched. He did use the few balls he got well enough and at least looked to try and add some direction to the play when he got on the ball. I still think that he has a huge role to play, but I wonder if he'll get the chance when he was the best we had in the half forward line and still was the first to go. He also tracked his man consistently, which others didn't do.

Reynolds - second only to Smith in terms of praise for the day. He used good ball well, occasionally managed to make something out of bad ball and never stopped making runs and showing for the lads down the field. The problem was that they all too often held up the delivery, sometimes only by a few steps, but enough to mean that when he did get the ball, he was fifty yards from goal and had to look to pass rather than turn and attack.

McManus - Not one of his better days. Low enough percentage with shooting and appeared to be getting frustrated with the pedestrian antics around the middle. some good passes, some bad ones.

Niall McNamee - Still not himself, but showed signs. However Tipp's extra man back meant that he usually got crowded out and he got none of the handy frees that Grogan was given. Good finish for the goal. He has a lot of work to do all the same.

Brian Darby and Tommo both showed reasonable well off the bench, while Kavanagh didn't really feature in my recollection - though he wasn't on for very long.

[bracknaghboy]

We seem to be lacking around the middle of the field sice the O'Byrne cup. Richie tried McManus at full back and it didn't work. We now have Cribben trying him at full forward. Bottom line is that he is a midfielder....if they think he isn't up to midfield scrapping anymore then I feel he should be dropped........he doesn't like enclosed areas and he is easily frustrated so roles close to the goal are out of the question. If the on the other hand they think he still has something to offer then for goodness sake play the guy at mid field. And so after the bit of light last week we are facing into a relegation battle once again. The next outing against Cavan will go a long to deciding where we end up.
I can only hope that Kildare are peaking a little early because they looked very good today and varied their play very well (which is a complete contrast to what we normally expect from them). If we played them tomorrow they beat us by 7 or 8pts. Cribben needs to take note of this now. Theres no point in realising that theres a huge gap between the 2 sides a week before the championship.

[black and red exile]

LS has covered everything really, apart from Niall Smith's magnificent fielding there was nothing else for the few faithful supporters to get excited about. The bottom line is that no matter how much Tipp have improved since last year we should not be losing matches like this. After the battling victory last week we can hardly be blamed for thinking we had turned a small corner and today was a huge kick in the teeth. Next Sunday is a must win because it would be a miracle if we picked up anything in Newry on the 28th. We must escape heading back to the dreaded division 4 at all costs.

[Georgio1]

Couple of points, Shane Sullivan will never have the pace or concentration to be a man marker. I saw plenty of praise last year for him against Weatmeath, until his sending off. Thats because we had so many men behind the ball. As for Raff, absolutely brutal when he came on. His attempt at picking the ball during the second half when he eventually swiped it clean off the ground summed him up. So far off the pace its scary.
Nialler got some good scores, his first point was savage, and then proceeded to kick some attrocious wides and fumbled and turned over possesion to easy. Will get better in time but needs to stop running into trouble. Tipp swarmed him and while we were baying for frees, in reality we wont get them come championship.
Niall Smyth was unbelievable in Midfield, its a shame that the best midfield exhibition from an Offaly man during my time watching came as part of such a poor performance.
Lovely setting yesterday, great pitch, empty venue (360 was official attendance called out!!!!), ideal for the away team but we are in serious trouble. As has been said, if we dont win next week we are back in Div 4 make no mistake.
Would we deserve that? So far, yes.