The Great Escape is On

[DAF]

Will we do it.Tipp and Sligo the 2 other teams near the bottom to play still.

Fair play to the footballers some result playing with only 14 men in the second half.Anyone at the match today how did they play overall? What was the style of football like?

[ryot]

Footballers & Hurlers both winning.

We need more Mothers' Day's !!!!!!!

[Offaly Proud]

Not long home from Cavan. Have to say fair play to the players for showing some bottle at last. 4 points down and then a sending off didn't look good as Cavan were the better team at that stage.But somehow they found something and had a bit of luck along the way. Niall Smith, Brian Darby, Brian Connor and John Maloney stood out. Nialler scored 2 vital points too after coming on in the first half.Everyone worked hard in the second half and there is finally something to build on now.

[Lean Times]

Great result yesterday! To battle back from 4 points down at half time and with 14 men for the 2nd half and come out on the right side by 2 points is a brilliant result! I Heard John Maloney had a stormer at centre back with 2 points and that the general work ethic of the team was a joy to behold. Training seemingly leading up to the match during the week was top notch.

What will the punishment be for Sullivan for his 2nd red card in such quick succession?

What odds would there be offered on Offaly staying up? Are we relying on other results?

[Hyper]

Lean Times, John had a great game, though he moved back onto the full back line when sullivan got sent off, at the same time alan mcnamee dropped back into the centre back role and played a blinder as well. credit where credit is due all those guys on sunday played with fire in their belly, it was great to have been there,hopefully they can keep it goin. as an aside Brian Conner worked like a trojan and smithy gave an exibtion of fielding in the 2nd half.....................

[High School Musical]

What exactly did Shane Sullivan do this time?
i dont know the fella personally but he seems to have serious discipline issues. 2nd sending off in 3 games plus a few other incidents of note in the last couple of years. He's been playing intercounty long enough now, he's the kind of guy that should be setting an example for the younger players.

[townman]

What exactly did Shane Sullivan do this time?
i dont know the fella personally but he seems to have serious discipline issues. 2nd sending off in 3 games plus a few other incidents of note in the last couple of years. He's been playing intercounty long enough now, he's the kind of guy that should be setting an example for the younger players.

maybe the stamp on the head Matty Forde gave him in 2006 might have something to do with it.

[jimbob17]

sullivan nearly cost us dear the last day though the lads did very well to pull in a 4 point deficit with 14 men. This is 2 games in a row for him now and this type of petulence is something we can do without. if the ball was there id say something...

going forward, i think its sligo next and then tipp. if we can manage to beat sligo the tipp game becomes a big one and a draw might even do here if sligo lose both remaining games. I am a little fearful however of sligo and they are probably better than what they have shown to date but so are Offaly. If we lose we are down, and if we win we have a chance while i dont necessarily think it would be the worst thing in the world to be relegated as that is more our level imo at the moment.

Is it true that Pender from edenderry has left the panel or is he just injured. it is a shame if nobody from the co senior champions is on the panel, though i think that pender is the only one that they have that is up to co senior football at the moment. While Dalton has left the squad, i dont think hed have made the team anyway at midfield. While he was player of the year, i still feel that he is overated at county level, and has shown himself to be uncommitted to the present set up. My gut feeling is that he still needs a year to develop physically as he appears to be lacking the strength and pace and decision making skills for senior inter-county in the modern game. They have a few guys who might have some leadership qualities in the present 21s that might offer something in a year or too. young Cullen and Hanlon when they fill out a little more have potential to play at a high level.

On a different note, i hear there are a few new recruits to the training squad too, some decent forwards that could offer something if fully fit and up to the pace of it. Is it sligo this weekend or is there a break for a week??

[ironmike]

Went to the match and it was a battling performance, espically in the 2nd half. When Offaly went down to 14men and they way thing went in previous games i thought Cavan would take us to the cleaners. Instead Offaly up'ed there game and suddenly they began to believe they could get something from the game. As mentioned before Alan moving to center back and John to full back worked wonders. Offaly in the first half were again Laboured with there attacking, with this handpassing back an forth. The plenaty Offaly got was soft, but we deserved a bit of luck as the Ref handed out yellow cards to Offaly players and very little to Cavan players. I cant comment on the sending off, not sure what happend, the umpire told the Ref and he sent off Shane. Ginger Steward was going mad he was up at the goals pointing at something and giving out to the umpire. Anyone know what happended? In the second half it contuined with this slow handpassing but Offaly played a bit of of the long ball.This worked as Cavan player didnt get the time to filter back. Offaly need to do more of this, kick the ball in. With Niall there the option is on. I know Casey and Mullhall are not big Target men, but loosing the ball in Cavan end of the field is better than given it away in midfield. As Val Andrews said Cavan were a joke and i feel that the Sligo game is going to be even harder to get a 2 points. All will be told on Sunday.

[Bord na Mona man]

Yep, escape is very possible.
However I would be concerned that Sunday was a bounce back performance after the big Wexford defeat.
You can't play every week on emotion, there has to be a consistant level of intensity in the play all the time.

The Monaghan match last year was also a bounce back performance after losing badly to Wexford.
Maybe we need to play them every other week in a challenge match.

[Ahlethimoutwithit]

This was a great result for the lads, and while it may be as a result of a "bounce" performance, I for one dont care how we get a couple of wins.
In fairness we were short a fair few players, plus had the obligatory sending off, so lets give the lads full credit. This was a win against the odds, and the coinfidence this should give to the team & management is immense.

What was great to see was the use of Alan Mc to plug the gap at centre back, and by all accounts he did really well there. I wont say he would be the solution to that position, but fair play to the management for trying this out after the sending off.
The fact that we have Niall back in the forwards will obviously be a huge help. Niall Smith & Brian Connor did well around the midfield, and I think the presence of Mulhall will have a positive bearing on the back line. Ken Casey seems to be getting more maturity into his game and the other forwards will need to step, (Nigel Dunne appears to be going well on the frees at the minute).

Tonight will be a crucial game in many respects for Offaly football.
If we win, there is a Leinster final to look forward to, allied to GAllen , Edenderry, in all ireland semis, plus the minors performing well, all is not lost on the football front. However it could mean facing the last 2 crucial games of the league without 2 or 3 key men, especially the game at the week end v Sligo.
But I would gladly take a place in the U21 final as would be a great expereince for this group of players.

The plus side is that we have 35 plus u21s plus Senior getting top level football and this will be a help to pull together a squad who will have to look at the longer term in order to drag Offaly football back to a competitive level over the next few years.
Looking forward to the ames this weekend in both hurling and football as they will be clearer indicators of the progress or otherwise that we are making.