Offaly vs Down SFC Qualifier Rnd 3 - 17/07/2010

[Square Cab]

The losing of that game was the missed chances in the first half and Cribbins reluctance to change Scott Brady from full back. In all fairness the man got cleaned out, why the hell wasnt he at least changed to another position? Fair play to the lads though, at least there was heart and determination about their play, def a step in the right direction. As stated already, a special mention should be given to Mcmanus, not the classiest of footballers but he always gives a 110%

Finally, the charges into the game were outrageous, couldnt believe it when I saw the signs above the turnstiles. What the hell are the county board playing at? €25 is madness. Do they not realise that half the country is out of work!Dont care what anyone says, those prices were robbery and it's def having a negative effect on attendances......rant over

[biffo_king]

Just home,

Lads what can i say, ive never being as proud for you, you showed some pride for the offaly jersey tonight.
we should and could of won the match,but thats the championship for you,its a young team and hopefully we can build for next Year,

Was hart braking watching mc Crying at the end,some Legend that man.

Hopefully it was not his last day in a offaly jersey he gives so much to that team

[first_touch]

Hard luck to Offaly tonight. They could and should have won it. They showed great heart and played some good attacking football. Alas their finishing let them down badly. 1 goal and 10 points is never enough to win a game at this level. They young lads were brilliant especially Anton Sullivan and Brian Connor. These 2 lads are probably as good as anybody their age in the country. Unfortunately very little went right for Niall McNamee, the injury he is carrying curtailed him a lot.

I cannot understand the criticism some people on this site make against John Reynolds. He played well in the first half picking up a lot of breaking ball and bringing others into the game. He kicked a fine point in the second half. Granted he hit a bad wide but then so did 2 or 3 of the other forwards! To imply that he didnt bother is not only total nonsense but also grossly unfair.

Hopefully the decent performance in the qualifiers will provide a good foundation for next year. The aim should be to get promotion from division three and get a good run in the Leinster championship. Sligo, Louth and Limerick have shown what's possible. There is no reason why Offaly cannot at least match their achievement in the year ahead. I for one have much more hope for the future of Offaly football than I did at the start of the year.

I totally agree the admission price tonight was ridiculous. It was probably the standard price for Round 3 Qualifiers. People cannot be expected to keep forking out this sort of money. However, it doesn't excuse the very poor support for Offaly. I'd say the Down supporters actually outnumbered us, which is a crying shame. Its not as if Down have been setting the world alight. Yet their followers were prepared to travel 100 miles on a Saturday evening to support them. Maybe Offaly people could take a leaf out of their book?!

[Plain of the Herbs]

I'm not an apologist for the county board (far from it, in fact!) but I just want to point out that the admission prices were set by headquarters. I do agree with you that €25 was madness and your rant reflects what the entire GAA grassroots are thinking.

Finally, the charges into the game were outrageous, couldnt believe it when I saw the signs above the turnstiles. What the hell are the county board playing at? €25 is madness. Do they not realise that half the country is out of work!Dont care what anyone says, those prices were robbery and it's def having a negative effect on attendances......rant over

[Offaly2010]

Just another point on the game lads..
Midway through the second half Ken Casey had a shot from about 25 yards out.
I couldnt't really tell from where I was in the stand whether it was wide or a point but the referee thought it was a point and he wrote it in his book but as he turned his back the umpire waved the ball wide. This would have tied up the match at 1-8 each I think but the scoreboard in OCP stayed at 1-8 - 1-7 in Down's favour.

I wonder if our lads knew that would they have just kicked the ball over the bar to force extra-time instead of trying to get a goal?

Wonder what would have happened if Offaly got another point...would have been some confusion anyway!

[Lone Shark]

Feck but that hit hard yesterday, I won't lie. I genuinely felt going into that game that we were in good shape to upset them and honestly my biggest concern was that we'd get blown away in the first ten minutes due to not being used to the pace that Down were likely to bring to the game. Instead we got the dream start, albeit missed a couple more chances, but played some great football and set ourselves up very well.

The first six or seven minutes of the second half did for us in the sense that it was the only time that Down really had any superiority in the game. For the rest of the match we were either well matched or else on top, but we just didn't make it show on the scoreboard to the same extent as Down did at that time.


I genuinely felt that we played some of the best football I've seen from any Offaly team in a few years in that game, and I really hope that's how the players feel too. This was a decent opponent, a team that got promotion out of division two, and that had already won two championship games this year as well. We were missing our captain, one of our best players, and had travelled a lot further distance in terms of development this year. What I mean by that is that if you take the starting teams from the first round of the league this year, nine Down players started in the same position yesterday as they did against Kildare in February. Alan Mulhall, Sean Pender and Brian Connor were the only players who held the same jersey from Fermanagh to yesterday for us.

This team underwent severe enough surgery and came out on the far side as an improved unit, not the finished article by any means, but definitely having done enough to suggest that the graph is on an upward curve. It's just a pity because there was a big win there to be had and but for a better run of the ball in a few instances, or possibly one or two better decisions being made on the ball at crucial times, it could easily have happened. Hence that sickening feeling today.

[biffoabroad]

I agree with most of the above sentiments, was a performance from the players that could not be faulted. Was very proud of all the players today. Just a few points.

1.One slight criticism I had would be the option taking amongst some of the forwards. Perhaps not even so much the option taking, but there were certain instances where the offaly player in attack failed to see runners in better positions. I don't know if this is a persistent problem (as I have been away a few years and the 4 games this summer have been my first real look at the footballers since 2006) or if it is just that players have been moved and chopped and changed so frequently the last few years that there is unfamiliarity with each other. Perhaps more stability in selection now, a perseverance with the current team will allow them to build and better get to know each others games.

2. Anton Sullivan was floored twice in the first half with off the ball cheap shots. It was obvious Down had targeted the youngest player on the Offaly team for rough treatment. Why, when he was twice put down, were teammates not in there squaring up to the Down players. I am not advocating they go in a throw punches, but just go in an cause a bit of a melee get the Offaly crowd up and show the Down players that they aren't going to stand for it. Also, a bit more pressure on the referee in both those instances by the Offaly lads, might have helped influence a red instead of a yellow. Perhaps with a bit more experience and time, we can master the darker arts. All the great teams push the laws to the limit to gain that extra few percent and I just thought a bit more fire from the players in those two instances, especially the second, might have helped stoke the cause.

3. A pet hate I guess, so not sure what others think. But the GAA needs to look at this business of teams delaying coming out for the second half and leaving the opposition on the field. Maybe I am looking to much into it, but Offaly must have been out waiting for Down for the guts of 5 minutes yesterday. Having played sport to a reasonable level I know this can have an affect on players (physically and mentally) in that you come out fired up and warm. Only to be left hanging and starting to cool down. Why can't the referees just enforce the break. Send in the linesman or something instead of all standing round like half asses. Galway did it to the hurlers in Portloaise a couple of weeks ago too also. I wonder how much, if it all, it contributed to Downs stirring second half start that turned the match?
Solution: Ref throws the ball in when allocated half-time up regardless if opposing team is out. 15 minutes is long enough.

But in a all,was a good day for Offaly Football and hopefully the foundations are now there for a more consistent few years.

Ok, off to Portloaise now.


3.

[Bord na Mona man]

Disappointing defeat on Saturday, but Offaly can happy with the progress made this year. The game was there for the taking for a while, but unfortunately Offaly missed a few chances that could have swung it.

I think it was a good time to exit the championship as I don't think we're experienced enough yet for going up against one of the big 3. Its better to consolidate the progress made now, than risk finishing the season on a downer.

In the first 15 minutes was some of the best football Offaly have played since the 2006 Leinster campaign. They tore the Down defence open almost at will. The use of the ball and support running play was top notch.

Offaly probably needed to build a bigger lead at this stage. Down managed to slow down the game a bit and compose themselves. They knocked over a couple of long range frees to keep them in touch. They were lucky to only be a goal behind at half time and I felt they were going to overtake us at some stage.
Offaly looked a bit mentally tired by this stage having really taken the game to Down.

What was a little disappointing from an Offaly perspective was how we didn't counteract the influence of Benny Coulter. Anyone who has seen Down play at all in recent years will know that plan A, B and C are to isolate Benny Coulter and get every ball in to him. This scenario didn't seem to be adequately covered off.

I believe Offaly showed have played a sweeper in front of him to prevent Scott Brady being left isolated and getting caught for pace. What harm would giving Down an extra man outfield really have done? Some of their playmaking was abject. They continually shortpassed to static players and took an age to work the ball upfield at times. An extra untagged Down player out around the middle wasn't going to hurt Offaly that much.

Also it was a pity it took Down hitting the front for Offaly to react and introduce John Coughlan. For a long stretch before that Offaly had stopped winning clean midfield ball and had also stopped winning breaks.

However looking at the bigger picture, things are improving. Some of the young players look like they have a great future. Brian Connor looks a real warhorse around the middle. Anton Sullivan could be our answer to Paul Galvin with his workrate! Most of the others have time on their side to keep progressing.

The team may lack experience and a bit of cuteness to influence referees as biffoabroad has mentioned in #2 above.
However this will come. For the future, the team should at least have a more consistent line up. Team selection should now be less about fire-fighting and chancing players in positions and more about growing players in their long term positions.

[naasmanxrhode]

Good game, could have won if management had reacted quicker as pointed out in other posts. I feel that another round of qualifiers would have brought this team along nicely especially as it would have been Sligo, we would'nt fear them, would we. Management needs a quicker brain on the line.

[black and red exile]

A little voice in my head tells me that Down will beat Sligo next weekend and end up been drawn with Roscommon in the quarter finals, hence a semi final place for the Mourne men, if that happens it will be a sickner for Offaly, what a fairytale end to the year that would have been for us, anyway ifs and buts won't change the way everybody feels right now. Next year get out of division 3 with no excuses and tackle the championship with confidence and lets hope to jaysus that mistakes from this year won't be repeated again

[bracknaghboy]

Next year get out of division 3 with no excuses and tackle the championship with confidence and lets hope to jaysus that mistakes from this year won't be repeated again

True. But Cribbin would need to walk the plank for this to happen.

[azoffaly]

Next year get out of division 3 with no excuses and tackle the championship with confidence and lets hope to jaysus that mistakes from this year won't be repeated again

True. But Cribbin would need to walk the plank for this to happen.

That's harsh. Think back to 2008 v Down and 2010 v Down. The difference is unreal. Surely Cribben has to take some credit for that

[GreatDayForTheParish]

Disappointing in the end but a good performance nonetheless from the lads. Well done all.

The future looks bright for Offaly football. Key to progression next year is the league and using it to firstly finalise a settled team and secondly win games. What this team badly needs is the simple confidence derived from winning games. As Sligo and Antrim have proved over the last couple of years it really doesn't matter in what division these wins occur.

What I really hope though is that Saturday's performance blunts, and hopefully eliminates, the persistent, pervasive negativity that has surrounded the county footballers for the last number of years. Everybody is/was at fault, supporters, the county board and the media in the degrading of the county team that occurred. Despite this, the players performed with a whole hearted commitment that could not be faulted. Of any player, it is all that we as supporters can ask for.

Mick Sheridan and Andy Kelly look all the more ridiculous now (viewtopic.php?f=1&t=5231). Their comments, in particular at the time they occurred, have hopefully been shown to to be as obnoxious and wrong to others as they appeared to me at the time. Mis-timed, mis-placed posturing, I'll admit their comments riled me. Let any ramblings they utter in future be considered with this episode in mind.


As a final note for inter county football 2010: Ciaran McManus you are a living Offaly GAA legend.

[Long John]

I know Im sounding like a parrott now but for feck sake lads it was so frustrating to watch Reynolds against Down. When all around him were giving their all he was at his usual shite of playing with his taped up sleeves, slowing up going into challenges, looking for the handy ball that somebody else had to scrap for. He sickened me the other night.

Fair play to most of the lads, they battled bravely and were very unlucky not to pull off a win. Good to see some honest effort on display.

[naasmanxrhode]

Down gave Sligo one hell opf a beating on Sathurday, would Offaly have done the same, they now meet a Kerry team minus Galvin and O'Shea, they must have a great chance of causing a shock as Kerry are not the same team minus Galvin.