U21 Football Management

[Deadandgone]

The only other thing i cud not understand is why hanlon and young did not start. I heard they were injured. But they looked ok when they came on. I think if ur fit to come in as a sub u r fit to start. If these 2 guys had started we would have been stronger in first half.

[kingscounty]

at the game tonight and just back. very disappointing though one couldnt fault their effort. Oy were very slow to get out of the traps and were a long way behind. It might have been the case that the players thought they were better than they were without working for it. While Offaly should have had more than a point on the board at half time with bad shot selection and poor support play from the forwards, Louth should have had more on the board too as they often breached the Offaly rearguard only to waste chances after good play.

the second half was a different story with offaly on top throughout. young hanlon made a difference and the bench was unloaded when things werent happening so fair play to the management on that one, though i felt Cullen was in hard luck to be subbed. The shackles were on Anton throughout though he tried hard and looked dangerous when he got the ball. Offaly really picked up the pace and created plenty of chances, though i felt they paniced on the ball near the end and went for goals too early when only 2 points behind. A few missed frees were also costly. Just wondering why it was left to a young lad to kick the free at the end with 2 more experienced lads on the pitch in Anton and Mark Young. Bad and unfair call in my book to ask young cunningham to take it.

Overall though a satisfactory campaign with two great wins and a solid performance in a semi. While management will reflect and think about what they could have been done differently in hindsight, i think you are very wrong to have a go at them as they have done a fine job with this bunch and having a go at them is totally out of order in my opinion. Paschal will have regrets about this one, but a fine job was done overall and i think it has given us a bit of a lift in the county and belief in the future if only brief. I really enjoyed them evenings in gracefield and i know that many more did too. well done to all concerned.

louth came out in the second half and got vital scores at the start of the second half to put them 8 or 9 points up so i wouldnt say offaly were on top in the whole second half. if young hanlon was able to come on he should have started because he might have stopped some of louths early pressure , i felt that he was sent on to late with the damage already done , i know he was injured but if they were going to put him on they might as well have started him. cullen kicked 3 or 4 balls into the keepers hands and for me he wasnt at the races at all , anton did try hard but really struggles with an end product from all his running. i thought young cunningham was excellent when he came on and i think he scored 5 points if im correct and why they didnt start this lad i dont know , he got a great goal only for the ref didnt let it play on. the management will have to take blame for this defeat i think because they played the same defensive game in the 3 games , it worked against meath and kildare but when things went different tonight they didnt really change a whole lot tactic wise. guilfoyle was my man of the match for offaly as he ran himself into the ground and never gave up. guilfoyle,anton,hanlon,rigney,cunningham given time all look like good ones for the future , its a pity we couldnt make the final but over the last month or so the lads kept the faith alive and gave football a lift in the county when we badly needed it so thanks lads for the few good nights in gracefield and your day will come if you stick with it and hopefully do us proud at senior level as jimbob said.

[first_touch]

Hard luck to the lads last night. I wasnt there but listened in on LMFM, seeing as Radio 3, for some reason, didnt cover the game. The commentary on LMFM was excellent and very fair to Offaly. It was miles ahead of anything our own local station could have served up. They were predicting an Offaly victory as soon as Offaly got it back to 9 - 6. Unfortunately, the failings of Offaly football in recent years came back to haunt us - lack of a dependable freetaker, lack of composure in front of goal and failure to win enough primary possession or breaking ball around the middle third for long periods of the game. That said, these are all things that can be worked on and there are several players on that team that can play a part in making Offaly football great again. Thanks to the team and management for the great nights in Gracefield and a tremendous effort last night. You have restored pride and given us hope for the future.

[dubbiff]

I wasn't at the games in Gracefield but I knew what style of football to expect from reading the previous posts. The point I would like to make is that there was obviously a plan B which was put into effect with about 15mins to go to full time. At that stage Anton was staying on the edge of the square and both high and long balls were being pumped in and in fairness he was only beaten cleanly once despite their having two markers on him. This tactic led to FOUR attempts on goal compared to NONE in the previous 45mins. One was scored by Cunningham only to be called back for a free in. 12mins left at that stage and I left the ground thinking Offaly would have run out handy winners if it had been allowed as we had been lording it. I just think that having a rigid system stifles a game and individual players. Wouldn't it be nice to mix it up from the start - Louth couldn't handle the direct play at all. 15mins into the first half when Offaly couldn't seem to get past halfway the management were clearly heard shouting "Play it through the hands - keep the ball." I wonder was it the players or management who decided to throw caution to the wind in the second half.

Offaly had the first attacks of both halves but failed to score and both times Louth whipped back up the field and scored. This was crucial if only because it gave the wee men a huge lift. The first half was a disaster with 2 handy frees missed (Anton), 3 balls kicked in to the goalies hands (Cullen) and hitting the post twice. Louth though were also guilty of misses and I felt a scoreline of 12 - 4 would have been a fair reflection. When they scored the first 3 points of the second half in quick succession it looked like a hiding was on the cards but fair play we had an awesome display after that and I dont think Louth scored again until injury time.

Best for Offaly were Rigney, Anton and Guilfoyle (who had an unbelievable second half). Cunningham got on the ball as soon as he came on and had a great game too apart from the missed free which would have levelled the game with 2mins left. I wouldnt fault him for that as it was a real pressure kick and he is still very young. His goal was a rocket and should have stood.

The referee was kind enough to us in the closing stages I thought. We overcarried the ball on a couple of occasions and got away with it. It was only a matter of time before one of them was sent off as they were doing a lot of fouling on our runners - particularly Anton who came in for some heavy punishment. I lost count of the number of yellow cards they had and eventually (too late) their No. 10 got the line.

In defence of the management they were not slow to make changes. There was a double substitution of forwards after 20 odd minutes of the first half and the bench was emptied as legs grew weary. Just one last point on these defensive systems - when teams play like this the scoreline is kept low and chances on goal are few. Good teams however are always more likely to create a half chance and Dublin are a bloody good team who score goals so I feel Louth will be doing well to stay in touch.

[Bord na Mona man]

It was one of those nights for Offaly. The first half started fairly evenly, before Louth gradually starting to get on top. The big difference was that they stuck over much more of their chances. Offaly hit wides, some of them bad and dropped 4 or 5 into the keeper's hands.

It was 0-6 to 0-1 at half time, but Offaly really should have had 3 or 4 on the board.

If you were to fault Offaly, it was that Louth ran through them a bit to easily. Perhaps this is where Navan being slightly bigger than Gracefield told on Offaly's defence. Louth committed men forward very quickly when on the attack. The had several strong ball carriers, who Offaly didn't manage to close down or slow down. Their inside forward were able to win the balls played in and lay it off to an incoming runner.

At the other end, Offaly's tactics were withdraw the half forward line, kick it in to the inside forwards and let them battle it out with the Louth full back line. It worked to a point, in that the likes of Allen, Sullivan, Cullen were beating their men to the ball consistantly, however a lot of their shots were taken under pressure, hence the drop shorts, wides and post hits.

2nd half, Offaly missed another point attempt from the throw in and Louth broke down the field to make it 7-1. They tacked on 2 quick points and it was starting to look like Offaly's heads were going to drop and it would turn into a cake walk. Thankfulyl this is when Offaly showed huge character. Once they finally got a couple of points on the board, they really pinned back their ears and gave it a real rattle.

Soon Louth were commiting loads of panic fouls when Offaly looked like breaking upfield. A lot of Louth players also looked wrecked after their first half exertions. The high ball in to the full forward line worked better as Offaly won a lot of possession directly, or from the breaks.
The Louth keeper made one great full stretch save and was also quick off his line to make a brave block. When Offaly did rattle the net, the ref pulled the play back as he had hastily blown the whistle for a foul as the ball was being struck, instead of giving advantage.

Offaly got it back to 9-8 but just never got the vital equaliser. Louth made it 10-8 with the last kick of the game. They hadn't scored for about 25 minutes. In some ways this score was relief as it meant there would be less need for soul searching from any Offaly player over any particular incident in the game.

[Lone Shark]

On the one hand, the game defied analysis to a certain extent, and it just was a case of too many big name players just had a bad night at the wrong time and the bounce of the ball generally didn't run kindly. The Louth keeper made one brilliant save and a couple of other good stops, however a few little things could have made things work out very differently.

Just to summarise my own view on the key aspects of the game:

Management

I'm inclined to say that they actually did okay here. I would however say that if there were concerns over the fitness of players and it's a close call, it's NEVER the right thing to put them on the bench. They should always start. The reasoning is simple. If they turn out to be okay, then you get a full game out of them. If they turn out to be unfit or partially fit, you run the risk of two substitutions instead of one, and you still risk further injury. If a guy only has 20 minutes in him, I'm a believer that the first twenty minutes is the best time to use him.

Secondly, I though Cullen had missed a few chances and while he is a sharp forward with a bright future, taking him off was reasonable enough on the night, it just wasn't his day. That said, I can't figure out why they keep taking Tom Spain off straight away. He was getting around the place and I thought he was putting in his tackles and linking up the play, as he does. If you want more out of him, you have to play him in a central role. If you don't really rate him, don't pick him, but I can't understand why he gets taken off every time.

Overall though they made switches early to get guys into the game, they didn't waste Anton by leaving him inside to be starved of possession, and they brought on potential game changers in Peter Cunningham and Aaron McDonagh. Can't really ask much more.

Tactics

When a certain way of playing brings you success, it's understandable you want to stick with it, but Bord na Mona man's assertion that the game plan floundered on a bigger pitch looks spot on to me. The lads didn't get back quick enough and Louth's fast transferring of the ball with good use of foot passing to the 45m line was impressive. Possibly there's something in that for guys trying to break down the blanket defence - rather than handpassing to midfield and looking to hit the 20m line from there, maybe handpass to your own 45, hit the other 45 (the edge of the blanket) and lay off to a runner going at a blanket still not properly formed? In fairness, Louth were well coached and deserve credit.

That said, when we brought on Mark Young, that created an onus on the team to use his strengths. If we were going to play low ball into the corner, then we should have brought on Aaron McDonagh earlier. Mark is an excellent target man who breaks the ball intelligently and can take his own score - and high ball into him largely bore fruit. But bringing him on and waiting 20 mins before giving him a ball makes no sense.

Equally, I'm not really sure how it happened, but I was waiting for Bernard Allen to get into the game and that never really came about. He wasn't doing anything wrong but he spent a lot of the match very far away from goals, running at bigger defenders. Possibly this was easy for Louth to do when he is so predominantly one sided?

1st half vs 2nd half

Honestly I got the feeling it was simply that Louth emptied the tank early, and that's why they were so good at the start and so out on their feet at the end. Our guys were consistently doing the same things, but we got turnovers a lot easier towards the end as Louth were unable to play the same high octane support game.



On the year as a whole, the lads can be very proud, even if they missed out on the Leinster final in the end. The issue now is how they push on from here. Make sure they get onto Sigerson panels next year, measure themselves by intercounty players from successful counties, and look to match and better those guys. The raw material is there, and clearly they have the attitude to prosper as well. Best of luck to them.

[ryot]

As has been said, dropping 4/5 into the keeper's hands and hitting the posts twice in the first half was vital. It left Louth a bit further ahead at the break than I felt they deserved. Now why when a ball hits th posts do forwards have turned their backs is a killer !!! One was a goal chance if forwards followd the flight.

Louth were lucky in that they twice stopped runns on the 21, took the Yellow Card, as Offaly missed the free. The one in the first half was especially expnsive as 4 was last man and Graham G looked to be on for a goal when taken out.

The early whistle when Peter C got the goal was another killer blow but missing that late free that would have levelled was just not good enough.

Now having said that I agre that at lasr 4 or 5 of these lads have the ability to so well with the Seniors, sure Anton & Graham are doing that already.

So well done to Pascal and the lads for a good run.

Looking forward to Sligo on Sunday now.

[The Magpie]

While I'd agree with a lot of what has been said, I saw some things a little differently. My take on it.

First-Half

We missed some chances in the first-half, but so too did Louth. We can argue all day about which side had easier/better chances, but it seemed pretty even to me. From an attacking perspective, Louth looked far more dangerous, with midfielders that could carry the ball through numerous tackles and their full-forward who was very tricky. Offaly were given a hard time down the left and were second to too many balls. On top of all that, we barely won a ball in the middle of the field.

Regarding our single point return, a couple of comments.

1) When Anton Sullivan* missed quite an easy free at the start of the game, I think he should've been encouraged to kick the next one off the ground. That would've got him up and running with his scoring. Missing those types of frees is hard on the individual (who, in fairness to him, remained game) and hard on the collective - it's dispiriting.

2) Stuart Cullen won good ball, but his decision making let him down. He'll bounce back.

3) With fair momentum, on more than one occasion, the referee killed Offaly's spirit by calling back the play, booking a player (needlessly) and wasting time. By the time the game restarted (each time), Louth had their shape and it felt like a different game.

Second-Half

The first couple of minutes offered a synopsis of the first-half. An Offaly attack, ball over-turned, Louth point. Two more quick-fire points left the score at 0-9 to 0-1. Now significant changes were made. Both corner-backs were taken off and Peter Cunningham was introduced in the forward line. With things strengthened at the back, Cunningham and Graham Guilfoyle brought Offaly to the brink. Missed goal chances, the hand of the referee once more and a missed free meant that we never got over the line. The Offaly dominance in the middle of the field had to break at some point. It did. Unfortunately, the last three kick-outs of the game were all won by Louth and Offaly just couldn't get back up the field to level matters. With virtually the last kick of the game, Louth tagged on their 10th point.

The performance of the referee is a hard one to capture. Though he undoubtedly killed Offaly's momentum (most notably in the second-half when Peter Cunningham rifled the ball into the net), there is no doubt that he took a shine to Offaly in the second-half. Glaring frees for over-carrying and fouls were not given against, while we were given a couple of kickable frees that were soft to say the least.

Overall

It's easy for us all to comment, but I couldn't help but feel we finished with a stronger team than we started. Nowadays, some of the top teams are making a strong argument for doing just that, but I don't think it was an Offaly tactic last night. As others have commented, if a guy is fit enough to come-on, I'd play him from the start. I understand the theory of the impact sub, but I think starting your best team is always the best medicine, particularly when there are too many unknowns - as is the case in these competitions.

Also, on a related matter, I'm not so sure I agree with the big pitch theory. It actually looked to me like the players weren't sure what the system was last night - they certainly were not as committed to the pressure-system as they were in previous games. This was even noticeable in smaller aspects of the game, such as how hard a player tried to get back or just simple body language. Even in the second-half when Offaly mounted pressure, many of the turnovers came about with a more natural shape to the game, rather than because Offaly were swamping their own half of the field.

On reflection, the tactical aspect of the game seemed to come-up a little short. That's not to totally absolve the players - some did indeed struggle. But it seems that the tactical decisions had a bigger influence on the outcome of the game. Despite this, the management team did well. Bucking the recent trends in Offaly football, they pulled together a group of guys, had them fit, committed, respectful of the jersey and with (for the most part) a game-plan. They brought them through two very tight games against fancied opposition and I think they'd beat Louth if they played them again tomorrow.

If we were losing to Kilkenny 12 months from now with the same level of honesty, I don't think I could complain.

* I don't generally single players out, but as captain Anton Sullivan gets extra attention here. I don't agree with the previous post about lots of running, but no end-product. He didn't have his best night in the jersey, but he'll know that more than any of us know it. Despite missing a couple of easy frees and some other chances, he kept his chin up. When direct-ball was kicked into him in the second-half, Louth couldn't handle him. He won a ball he had no right to win on the end-line, before setting up Guilfoyle to shoot for goals. On another night, we'd be praising that as the match-winning moment. As for the "competitive" edge, I think he plays better when it's there. It was missing a bit last night and it showed. I'll get shot-down for saying this, but I was delighted to see him giving one of the Louth selectors a shove in the second-half, hoping it would raise his game.

[Kevin]

In the Leinster Final Tonight

Dublin 1-16
Louth 0-8

Was a game for the first 15 minutes (listening to the commentators at LMFM).

At a certain point was just half listening, but they kept calling the name of Ciaran Kilkenny of Dublin who seemed to be scoring with some accuracy.
Evidently he is going to try his hand at Aussie Rules.

Dublin has yet to be challenged at this level.

[Bord na Mona man]

Biased perhaps, but my feeling is that 8 times out of 10 we would have beaten Louth, but just hit a speed bump on the night.
I'd like to think that Offaly would have given Dublin a better game, but Dublin team seems really strong.
Ciaran Kilkenny is the sort of player that 31 counties should be chipping in to pay his airfare to Oz!

[townman]

Biased perhaps, but my feeling is that 8 times out of 10 we would have beaten Louth, but just hit a speed bump on the night.
I'd like to think that Offaly would have given Dublin a better game, but Dublin team seems really strong.
Ciaran Kilkenny is the sort of player that 31 counties should be chipping in to pay his airfare to Oz!

i'd say theres a good few in Dublin who will chip in to keep him as well!

[Abercrombie Fitch]

Would agree with BNMM and wouldn't say you're biased. Offaly certainly looked to be the 2nd best team in Leinster this year. Louth were very lucky to get out of Navan and they knew it.

Still can't imagine us troubling that Dublin team.

With 2 weeks passed to absorb it I must admit it was a great year and say that I thoroughly enjoyed the 2 nights in Gracefield.