Offaly Under 21 Hurling Championship

[tacmot]

I have to agree with backofthe net. the diffrence between the 2 teams was the coolderry forwards, while the St Mals keeper gifted a cuple goals, coolderry were through n goal at least twice but failed to convert. tink the coolderry keeper had only 111 save to make and probably shud have saved their goal. Its goin to be a good final between Coolderry nd the Seir kieran amalgamation. NOTE: both these teams were only in the "B" champ at minor level 3 years ago so cud sumone explain how the teams dat were minor A cant reach the U21 final 3 years later.

[corner back]

coolderry keeper had only 111 save to make and probably shud have saved their goal.

jesus you're harsh. He let in one out of 111!

[backofthenet]

Well Coolderry would normally be a hurling A Club, they were minor B three years ago, won the competition, the following year they won the minor A, Who was in the minor A final 3 years ago?

There is an awful lot of developement goes on between minor and under 21, you inevitably lose a lot of players, and the winner of the under 21 is often the club that kept most of their minor team hurling!!

I know Coolderry were only missing one player from their minor team 3 years ago, and whilst there are a lot of young players in the team (about 10 minors) the gap between an 18 and 21 year old is a lot less than a 15 and an 18 year old in terms of size, speed etc.

I think that is the big reason for Coolderry / Clareen being in the final, A lot of the players have also got runs with their respective senior / inter teams which would give them an edge.

[tacmot]

Sorry cornerback for my slip up i meant to say just d 1shot at goal, twud be poor forwards dat missed 110 . it was rynaghs who beat birr in the minor final 3 years ago in shinrone , tink d only won by 1 pt in a tight game. I reckon its more of the top minor A TEAMS of 3 years ago hav gone back in their hurling nd lads intrested in hurling dan other teams catching up. Seir kierans could not get to dat B final in minor, which was only 13 a side nd now they are appearing in 3rd final in a row at u21 level. Have St rynaghs appeared in the last 4 minor finals winning 3? If so how come dat the were so poor this year in d U21.

[True Red]

poxy text-speak alert

[tacmot]

true red, have i got u on a bad day!!!

[ballinamereman1]

I think its a step backwards for teams like brosna gaels, ballinamere durrow and clara to be joining up with each other at under 21 level. Instead of having 15 hurlers playing at under 21 every year, they probably have 4 or 5. This means that there are maybe 10 lads out of minor who may play no hurling whatsoever for the year!! Far from helping the weaker clubs this system will destroy them imo.

Ballinamere lad, did they join up through lack of numbers or just to compete for a semi final / final??

yes.. its a shame to see all these clubs joining up.. although my club are invovled i am strongly against it.. its the same with st. davids joining up for the "A" championship..

well ballinamere dont have the young lads coming through and to give a championship a good lash we need and rely brosna and clara to give us a hand and i could say vice versa for them aswell especially at underage ..,

aswell as that we wouldnt have strong enough numbers to enter a team independently,,

[backofthenet]

Its a shame ye dont have numbers coming through, i remember winning a minor final against ballinamere a few years ago, discipline seriously cost ye that day!

It would appear Ballinamere has taken a big step back since then, they really seemed to be coming on well back then some nice hurlers and were always fairly competitive.

[Plain of the Herbs]

All set for an interesting final. Will be plenty of drying out today so the ground should be in good order. Whoever has the wind in the first half better use it.

Coolderry didn’t convince in their semi-final at all. Clareen had to come from behind to win their semi with a late goal, though 11 second half wides tells me they dominated territory and possession.

That said, a local derby such as this can take a trend of its own. Coolderry advanced by beating Killeigh, ’Rynagh’s & ’Malachy’s. Clareen beat Lusmagh/Belmont and Birr. Much of a much really.

Looking at the Clareen lineout, they’ve about 7 who were on their senior team last year even while the juniors were still in the hunt. Coolderry have 2 seniors, Brian Kelly & Michael Ryan. Clareen too have more physical strength in defence to counteract the Coolderry attack. That might swing if for the Clareenmen.

[leinsterman]

All set for an interesting final. Will be plenty of drying out today so the ground should be in good order. Whoever has the wind in the first half better use it.

Coolderry didn’t convince in their semi-final at all. Clareen had to come from behind to win their semi with a late goal, though 11 second half wides tells me they dominated territory and possession.

That said, a local derby such as this can take a trend of its own. Coolderry advanced by beating Killeigh, ’Rynagh’s & ’Malachy’s. Clareen beat Lusmagh/Belmont and Birr. Much of a much really.

Looking at the Clareen lineout, they’ve about 7 who were on their senior team last year even while the juniors were still in the hunt. Coolderry have 2 seniors, Brian Kelly & Michael Ryan. Clareen too have more physical strength in defence to counteract the Coolderry attack. That might swing if for the Clareenmen.

Yes its a great day for hurling going to it myself, Agree seir kierans will nick it. coolderry's forward line is not bad.

[Plain of the Herbs]

A decent final with a cracking finish. Briefly, Stephen O’Connor’s goal gave Coolderry an early lead, Drumcullen’s Alan Maher’s goal briefly restored the Clareen lead but 3 minutes later Eoin Ryan’s goal gave Coolderry back the initiative again. Coolderry led by a goal, 2-4 to 1-4 at half time.

Score-for-score for much of the second half, Kevin Connolly scored 2 most sublime points from the left sideline in the final quarter and it looked like Coolderry would prevail. Tom Carroll reduced the margin to the minimum late on and deep in stoppage time James Mulrooney equalised for Clareenmen.

Coolderry’s nippy forwards made much hay in the face of the Clareen defence as Michael & Eoin Ryan, Stephen O'Connor & Kevin Connolly hurled well. Colm Coughan was the pick of the Clareen defence, Tom Carroll & James Mulrooney did best of the forwards though not at the same time and both only hurled in spurts. Stephen Corcoran had a fine game in the Coolderry goals.

I’m sure anyone who was present can’t wait for the replay, whenever it will be. Don’t miss it.

Scorers: Coolderry: Stephen O’Connor 1-3, 0-1 f, 0-1 ‘65’, Kevin Connolly 0-4, Eoin Ryan 1-1,David King 0-1, '65'. Clareen: James Mulrooney 0-7, 1 free, 1 ‘65’, Alan Maher 1-0, Eanna Murphy 0-2 frees, Tom Carroll 0-2, Dermot Gath 0-1.

[leinsterman]

The replay is next saturday at crinkle again, Was a good enough game great points were got bye Kevin Connolly of coolderry
and Thomas Carroll for Seir Kieran og. Young Keith Mullaly Who is from gracefield did well when he came on he won the free
that that the score came off to draw it he is only 16 year's old. Best for Seir Kieran's were Colum Coughlan and Sean Coughlan in the backs

Dermot Gath in midfield James Mulrooney and Thomas Carroll , Alan Maher were the pick of the forward's.
foe coolderry Stephen Burke David king did well while Stephen o'Connor at full forward and the best player on the field was Kevin Connolly
The replay will go to the wire as well.

[backofthenet]

good game on a great saturday evening, pitch was in good nick aswell.

Coolderry seemed to be the better team right up to about 50 minutes where clareen really started to come into the game, tom carroll scored some great points.

Some bad wides from free's by both sides in the second half. Kevin Connolly was sensational even with 2 - 3 clareen defenders around him.

I think the Coolderry management really missed a trick in the second half. The Clareen midfield stepped back into their back line (which left less space for the coolderry forwards who nearly all had the beating of their men up to this point) which created a heap of space for the clareen forwards. Brian Kelly was caught out a couple of times but I felt sorry for him as their was no midfielder protecting the half back line whatsoever.

Its going to be a cracking replay. To Clareen the first game will feel like a victory, For Coolderry they need to pick themselves up.

I fancy Coolderry, they are the better team (they have 6 players that played senior hurling last year POTH, Brian Kelly & Liam Brady in defense, David King at midfield, whilst Michael Ryan, Eoin Ryan and Kevin Connoly in attack), their attack is very strong all over really, whilst the defense was pretty solid all game.

However id fear that if Clareen pull back their midfields and crowd their defense again, The Coolderry selectors better have a plan to counteract this or Clareen will get their third title in a row. It was also noticeable how strong the clarren bench was, three subs brought in that all played their part, Coolderry brought one sub on with time up on the clock.

Just Wondering on the Clareen / Drumcullen / Gracefield team, how many are from each club i wonder??

[leinsterman]

good game on a great saturday evening, pitch was in good nick aswell.

Coolderry seemed to be the better team right up to about 50 minutes where clareen really started to come into the game, tom carroll scored some great points.

Some bad wides from free's by both sides in the second half. Kevin Connolly was sensational even with 2 - 3 clareen defenders around him.

I think the Coolderry management really missed a trick in the second half. The Clareen midfield stepped back into their back line (which left less space for the coolderry forwards who nearly all had the beating of their men up to this point) which created a heap of space for the clareen forwards. Brian Kelly was caught out a couple of times but I felt sorry for him as their was no midfielder protecting the half back line whatsoever.

Its going to be a cracking replay. To Clareen the first game will feel like a victory, For Coolderry they need to pick themselves up.

I fancy Coolderry, they are the better team (they have 6 players that played senior hurling last year POTH, Brian Kelly & Liam Brady in defense, David King at midfield, whilst Michael Ryan, Eoin Ryan and Kevin Connoly in attack), their attack is very strong all over really, whilst the defense was pretty solid all game.

However id fear that if Clareen pull back their midfields and crowd their defense again, The Coolderry selectors better have a plan to counteract this or Clareen will get their third title in a row. It was also noticeable how strong the clarren bench was, three subs brought in that all played their part, Coolderry brought one sub on with time up on the clock.

Just Wondering on the Clareen / Drumcullen / Gracefield team, how many are from each club i wonder??

Keith Mullaly is the only one from Gracefield, Alan Maher, Dermot Gath, and Molloy are from Drumcullen i think.

[tacmot]

Was at the game sat evening, while it was a very enjoyable spectacle the hurling only really picked up in the second half, sum brillant pts by young kevin connolly for coolderry. surely he is a cert for offaly seniors in the future if he has d desire. replay is fixed for shinrone at 6.15 sat evening . brian gavin been the ref.