Sigerson and Fitzgibbon Competitions

[Lone Shark]

The first round of the hurling started yesterday and it was even more bleak than I thought it would be from an Offaly perspective. Cathal Parlon started for WIT and was taken off after being held scoreless at corner forward, Gerry Spollen got a point from corner forward for St Pats and Brian Carroll came on as sub for UL - and that was it. Nobody from Offaly featured for UCD, as expected nobody was involved with UCC or UUJ, and probably no-one for either NUIG or Cork IT today either.

We'll probably have James Mulrooney starting for DCU, though like UUJ they are well off the pace at this level and I presume Colin Egan will start for GMIT, but other than that it looks like being one of the worst years ever. The six favourite teams according to PP's betting before the start were WIT, UL, LIT, UCC, Cork IT and NUIG. One starter between those six teams.

It's hard to be optimistic about our future when this is the situation at college level.

[jimbob17]

This is no major surprise given the state of the offaly minor hurlers the last few years. assume dempsey will be between the sticks for ul and shane dooley is down there too, but if they dont make an effort, they will not be picked as the standard is effectively county senior standard in the top 4/5 colleges borne by the fact that brian carroll was only a sub in ul. and that is the level and calibre of hurler in these places. I was personally a member of a fitz panel in a top 3 squad while i was the only lad who hadnt started championship 21level with his county at the time. the fact is that county U 21 starters struggle to make these panels. Also, offaly was reported last year as the county with the lowest attendance at university per head of capita. it is a trend that only families and schools can address.

also when lads get to university, the standard is so high compared to offaly minor and 21 club hurling. where are the offaly schools these days in leinster schools competitions. Birr are doing their best in the top competition while banagher are happy to stay winning titles at voc schools level where the A standard is anything but good. fair enough they won an all ireland but how much did they beat the teams allong the way. (hammered them) there is only ever 3/4 schools that ever are competitive in that competition, rathdowney and johnstown and banagher. Kilcormack too are happy hammering teams to get to voc schools B finals and when they win people think its great. the reality is the standard is not where they should be given the hurlers that go through the school and it costs the county at the end of the day cos lads are not playing at a level high enough. Tullamore underage hurling is shocking at present with none of their teams competitive in A club competitions and this is reflected in their schools success or lack thereof. one great idea a few years ago was the north offaly schools incentive where the best hurlers from tullamore, kk, killina ferbane and edenderry join together. there was some success a few years ago winning a leinster and beating Kilkenny cbs to reach an A quarter final but as far as i know the county board pulled the funds on this?? Brainless if they did but not surprising.

as for fitzgibbon and sigerson, some lads dont bother even trying out as the college life gets the better of them. a lot of lads go to athlone IT too who dont play in fitzgibbon but there are some lads i can think of who should be playing in these competitions in certain unis who are just not arsed to put in the effort. remember the teams train as hard as most county teams from october to january.

as for the sigerson, that is a diff story, a lot of our young players think they are above sigerson as they are playing county senior. in fact the opposite is the case i feel and half of the offaly senior panel at present would not get near a top six sigerson team. they are happy to wallow around the campuses in their offaly tracksuits thinking they are great lads rather than get the reality check some of them need by sitting on a sigerson bench or not making a panel!! this is despite a reasonably decent level of success in recent times with minor teams gettin to leinster finals and school teams winning leinsters (Edenderry, Tullamore college) or going close and generally competitive CBS tullamore, Killina and Ferbane. the notion that sigerson is a massive competition is not generally recognised in offaly as not enough GAA people have enough experience of it. this brings me back to previous points made on this board before where good footballers are left in limbo between 18 and 21 with loads of talent and no proper support structures to bring lads through bar they make a county senior panel. Its a joke of a county 21 competition. sure no wonder we are where we are.

[Plain of the Herbs]

The Offaly style of hurling is rooted in a bygone era when hurling was more akin to hockey, hurlers merrily tipping the ball on the ground, while a hurler stranded in possession is roared at to ‘drive it’ while his teammates hold their positions. When the other team is in possession, Offaly are oblivious to off-the-ball runs and opponents are much more aware of the situation around them.

This inability to play as part of a team, and to control a dropping ball, makes it very difficult for an Offaly hurler to impress at Inter-varsity level as he is competing with hurlers from other counties who are well versed in fluid movements and the awareness of how to support a teammate in trouble.

While Offaly’s results at Minor level have been dire, though results at U21 have been mixed in recent years, those results in themselves are not the reason Offaly hurlers make no headway in the Fitzgibbon Cup. What I mean is that if there was a hurler possessing the qualities needed he would be selected for his college though the individual on his own might not, on his own, be able to deliver results.

Another problem is that the typical Offaly hurler is about 5'10" who will find it extremely difficult to overcome a Clare hurler of the same age who, though awkward, will be over 6' tall.

Being a ‘grand hurler’ on its own does not deliver results in inter-county competition. Neither does it gain selection at Inter-varsity level.

[turk]

Great points on this thread. Excellent stuff

[old yellar]

Jimbob, very blunt but true points on the Fitzgibbon. It's a huge competition and as close to professional hurling as we get. The standard has to bring lads along. Why more Lads don't it into it is a wonder. Some of the current Offaly panel I know didn't play for their colleges in it. A pity, but I m sure they has valid reasons.. As for schools hurling, well I totally agree. Birr are tipping away in colleges A but with no real chance of anything only being competitive. This is a reality. There are several tiers even in that level and the aren't in the top. This is no slight on the good work or effort that's going on in there. Banagher have this years team but what's coming through is average enough so this will be their last big year for awhile. Vocational schools is hard to win but the number and quality if team is less than colleges. Kilcprmac pulled out of A a few years ago because Banagher were strong and the haven't returned. The won a Leinster final this year by nearly 20 points so why don't the return? The rest are poor enough. This Is the breeding ground for the next generation of county men so it's an area to be looked at. The north Offaly idea is good, maybe it should be looked at more.

[Bord na Mona man]

Dooley hits top form for rampant UL
University of Limerick 4-18
Dublin City University 0-8

Thursday February 03 2011

A University of Limerick team, heavily sprinkled with some of the most recognisable names in inter-county hurling, demolished DCU in yesterday's Group D round-robin match.

The gusting wind was always going to militate against a free-flowing game and UL struggled to get into any sort of rhythm in the first half, but goals from Tipp duo Kieran Morris and Joe Gallagher still helped them into a 2-4 to 0-8 half-time lead.

After the interval the teams were greeted by a driving, icy rain but UL made light of the conditions to produce some sparkling hurling.

Offaly's Joe Dooley and Cork's Pa Cronin were prominent as they ran at the DCU defence and picked off great scores and at the other end, Waterford's Michael 'Brick' Walsh repelled any sporadic DCU attacks.

Two more goals, from impressive substitute Tom Connors and Dooley, added more gloss to the final score.

And by the finish, UL's winning margin of 22 points was a fair reflection of the gulf in class between the two teams.

Scorers -- University of Limerick: S Dooley 1-6 (3f), T Connors 1-2, K Morris 1-1 (1f), P Cronin 0-4, J Gallagher 1-0, B Beckett 0-2, D Burke, P Kelly, A Quinn 0-1 each. Dublin City University: E Kent 0-4 (3f), P McAllister, E O'Mahony, D Horan, JJ Lennon 0-1 each.

University of Limerick -- T Lowry; M Malone, M Walsh, S Hickey; P Stapleton, B Bugler, K Joyce; D Burke, J Gallagher; P Cronin, B Beckett, S Dooley; K Morris, P Kelly, A Quinn. Subs: T Connors for J Gallagher (43), M Heffernan for K Morris (46), PJ Delaney for K Joyce (48), N Murphy for D Burke (50), D Lynch for M Malone (55).

Dublin City University -- B McCormack; S Kelly, A Moran, W Eviston; A Griffith, B Flaherty, W O'Brien; P McAllister, JJ Lennon; E McCabe, A Crane, E O'Mahony; D Horan, E Kent, C Foley.

Ref -- R Matthews (Antrim).

[durra1]

Is that Diarmuid Horan being marked by Seamus Hickey at corner forward for DCU?

[kinnittyman]

Jesus thats a UL dream team!!!

Brick Walsh at full back. Interesting selection.

And no James Dempsey?? I wonder has he made himself unavailable for selection down there??

[bracknaghboy]

If we played Offaly club championship games in the summer a week or 2 before the Offaly intercounty hurlers played a Leinster hurling match there would be lads complaining that we run the risk of getting a player like Shane Dooley injured. Equally if Dooley was to commit to playing intercounty football (he never will but if he did) there would be complaints that he runs the risk of being injured for the hurlers. However there never seems to any complaints that our star player is lining out in the first week of Feb in "gusting wind" and "driving, icy rain" in some pitch at an Institute of Technology. Personally think it would be a real shame if someone like Shane picked up a major injury for nothing slopping about playing this type of match.

[corner back]

That's not Brick Walsh. It's some guy from Kilkenny. James Dempsey is sub keeper I think.

[old yellar]

Think that Walsh lad is from Gowran. It's some looking team! Stephen wynne is also in ul currently. I don't think he has ever made himself available. I agree with the comments on what we expect of players.

[Long John]

UL have done very well at holding onto players. How many years is Dooley there, I didnt realise he was still in college? He was also in Athlone IT for a couple of years?


Regarding Stephen Wynne, Id say its more he couldnt get on that team, they look very strong. Some of the top college teams train as hard as county level and draw the best players they can and facilitate them in courses to hold onto them. Its a great standard of preparation for potential county players.

Today it would be fair to say students have a serious advantage as they can train as close to professionally as you can get.

[Hyper]

Fearghus Hannon from Ballyskenach is playing some part with UCD hurlers

[keenonsport]

It's Martin Walsh from Kilkenny full back-he's a brother of Tommy!!

[wingback]

Its neither brick Walsh or Martin Walsh playing, its Michael Walsh from gowran in KK, Martin walsh is from tullaroan and as far as i know he finished in UL last year!