heman wrote:long time since rhode were underdogs in a county final.two teams coming in with alot of hunger and both will feel they have something to prove.should be be great battle. Alot of great points made frm everyone on this site.ya cant beat a gud aul debate.
Some great posts there guys with a tip of the hat to Magpie in particular. A very exciting game in store with the winner not only claiming bragging rights for 2012 but for the last 4 years. I’m already in a ball of nerves with almost 24 hours to go. Just a few points from my Rhode perspective or my reading of how the game will pan out if you will.
NIALL Mac
Its great to see Niall Mc back on form the last day. Definitely worth an extra 5 scores when on form but a bit of a double edged sword if Rhode decide to kick every ball into him and ignore the other forwards. This was the reason that Clara won so heavily last year. They smothered the space in front (and behind) of him and Rhode rather stupidly continued to kick every ball high in on top of him for the entire game. This year Niall has struggled up until 2 weeks ago. Anton was actually the go to man. Ably assisted by Paul McP and Stephen Hannon. I expect Anton will play a full part tomorrow unless his shoulder pops out again in the meantime. So how will Clara lineout? Will Joe Quinn move to the corner to pick up Niall leaving Gary Collins to defend the square against Anton? Will they drop an extra player in front of Niall and if so who will that be? Ledwidth? Mitchell? Will Rhode pick out Anton and McPadden if Nialls space is limited?
I believe this is the no.1 most important sideshow for tomorrows game. Paschal will no doubt play a deeper role round the middle so Ledwidth could be sacrificed for the role but would you really want to leave Paschal unmarked in the middle third? Suicide in my opinion, so I think Clara may actually go man to man at the back and count on slowing down the Rhode attacks. Scott will probably sit deeper and try cover the space when the break is on allowing the half forward line to funnel back . Rhode will most likely operate an identical tactic.
Shane and Alan
The other sideshow, and I would expect that If Alan is in anyway able to play, he will start. He simply has to. If he is brought on and then breaks down thats 2 substitutions wasted. I think Shane will start if and only if Alan is unfit. Remember, he didn’t start against either Edenderry (group game) or Tullamore (semifinal) and his injury hasn’t improved since. In fact if Anton starts then Rhode will have a stronger unit than that which started v Tullamore. Stephen Hannon will probably lose out but he could move to the back line where he is more natural and has the pace to pick up Guilfoyle/O Hara. If Alan is unfit, Dunne will move to midfield with Shane/Hannon playing at no.12
Clara Forwards
The burning question, will Reynolds or Guilfoyle start? Clara have been operating with 3 scorers and 3 workers in the forward line. Thommo, O Hara and Cushen the scorers with S Deehan, Mitchell and usually Cronin as the workhorses. There are many different permutations as to how the Rhode backs will lineout so I wont try to predict but it will be horses for courses. In this regard I expect if Reynolds does start it will be in place of Cushen. Straight swap with similar type man marker needed. If guilfoyle starts then who makes way? If he replaces Cronin then the Rhode defensive makeup must adapt. His pace will cause problems but Clara will lose out a bit on breaking ball and tackling that Cronin brings to the table. I wont discuss midfield as this has already been visited in other posts and i’ve nothing new to add
Plenty to chew on there and the game will most definitely be decided by how some if not all those scenarios pan out. Heres hoping for a great game, played in a sporting manor and most importantly, for a Rhode win!! Up the village!!!
il go for a clara win lads clara 3-09 rhode 1 -14 , it should be a very good game the best teams in the county for the past number of years, we might see a red card or two with some hard hitting from these fierce rivals.
I must say i dont think i have ever came across a club game with such high stakes as this one in a long time, for once i dont think its all about the dowling such is the rivalry with clara and rhode... kerry were undoubtably won the most over the last 10 or 12 years but for some reason people dont see it like that, its seen as Tyrone's decade if you know what i mean...its as even as it could be coming upto this game when you look at head to heads! Winner takes all today and will be seen as the best over the last 10 years, one thing is for sure there will be no holding back and could get very rough i reckon...no harm either you need it for a good game!
rhode are champions, well done to rhode they took over in the second half and clara had no answer only scoring one point in the second half is brutal.niall mc with 8 points , fair play to rhode they should celebrate over the next few days but i would like to see them really give leinster a good go, with so many wins over the years in offaly they deserve a leinster crown .
A dire match, Clara were terrible in the second half.~They were dominated all over the field and lacked any physical prescence, only for Scott Brady it would have been a lot worse for Clara he was the one player who played well throughout for them
First of all I felt that this game would go to the wire before i went in. How wrong was I. Clara were totally dominant in the first half and should have been further ahead at half time if they had converted their possession into scores more efficiently. They were lording it at midfield mainly due to Scott Brady who was excellent throughout and Steven Deehan who was having an excellent game in the forwards tormenting Shane Sullivan. They hit hard in the midfield diamond area and upset rhode with a stunning strike from Thomas Deehan after a defensive error. Despite Clara's dominance, Rhode were well in touch at half time as they were way more efficient going forward, scoring on almost every attack.
Second half: Clara just did not turn up until 15 minutes in. They were bossed around midfield with Paschal and Sullivan winning loads of breaks giving them the platform to provide good ball inside. Scott was on his own here with little support and they werent helped when Ross was shoved in full forward where he didnt win a ball. Anton who was largely anonymous in the first half came storming in to it and Rhode just started doing the simple things very well. Joe Quinn struggled with Niall Mc at times as he scored and brought others in to the game. Anton and McPadden kicked a few scores and boomers from long distance from a half back and the laoise man (forget name) really lifted Rhode. They must have got a run of 6 or 7 points in a row. When Ledwith went off with injury, Clara could have gone for a more experienced figure at centre back like Matt Mitchell or Alan Cronin who were both out of sorts in the half forward line. While Reynolds wasnt really in it after a long lay off, i wouldnt have pulled him off as he is a scorer and a serious threat. Guilfoyle proved why he wasnt selected was the right call and why he isnt a senior county standard player at the moment when he came on as he just played with the ball himself before giving it back to rhode.
Steven Deehan should never have been pulled off as he was clara's most industrious forward the whole day even if he was a little out of it in the second half. Clara's reluctance to move the ball quickly constantly hopping and soloing needlessly was in stark contrast to Rhode who moved the ball simply but quickly and played as a team. In the end this know how won out though not before Clara should have been rewarded with a penalty when a forward was blatantly pulled down in the square when about to receive possession. How Noel Cooney or the umpires missed it is beyond me!!
Overall though, Rhode were streets ahead in the second half, though helped largely by how bad clara played.
Great to see a right good minor final too and a new team win, though id be reluctant to let Tullamore pick up the Bal Durrow players in future when they dont need them.
correct and right what this man means if rhode were not burned out from leinster final which was played in janaury last year edenderry and clara would not have contested last years final,rhode 10 15 pts better than either shows take rhode out of offaly what have ya?kilkenny footbal football,walsh island man
classof81 wrote:correct and right what this man means if rhode were not burned out from leinster final which was played in janaury last year edenderry and clara would not have contested last years final,rhode 10 15 pts better than either shows take rhode out of offaly what have ya?kilkenny footbal football,walsh island man
jimbob17 has it fairly well covered. Hindsight will show that Clara really needed to cash in their first half dominance. Though in reality it was game they were unlikely to win given the under-performance of so many.
Rhode stayed in touch, despite having zero midfield platform and living off scraps at times. Whenever Rhode did got possession in the Clara half they generally made it tell and that 1st half efficiency laid the foundations for their 2nd half blitz.
Over the course of the game, the difference in how the teams attacked and moved the ball was stark. Clara, slow and flat-footed. Rhode, swift and direct.
Tactically, perhaps Clara could have given their full back line more protection. Rhode were able to kick, or carry into the large space where half forward lines normally operate. At times Clara had too many players ahead of the ball waiting for it also. Meaning the ball-carrier was crowded out of it easily if he tried to go forward and had no support on his shoulder when he needed to lay it off.
Rhode's runners only bombed forward when they had clean possession around the middle. The creation and use of space was the key difference. Clara looked like they needed O'Connor Park to be widened out as far as the hospital before they could make any inroads, whereas Rhode ghosted into the Clara defence as if the pitch was as wide as the Phoenix Park.
Also, when wind assisted Rhode were on their 2nd half cycle of score-kickout-score, Clara had too many players the wrong side of the kickout drop zone. Clara still had the normal quota of forwards waiting hands-on-hip for the ball, while Rhode were still being gifted the space to attack into in the Clara half.
Draw a line through Clara's players with Offaly panel experience and really it was only Scott Brady who looked the part. The game simply bypassed too many of the others. Raw as he is, the teenager Luke Kelly stood out as one of the few players who wanted to take responsibility and take the game to Rhode in his 2nd half cameo.
Rhode will be pleased because they won this game with a huge collective performance where lots of players stepped up.
They didn't just play crude 'Niall McNamee lotto' that has become the default attacking plan for previous Rhode teams and the County team - e.g. Smash every ball in his general direction and see what happens.
One thing that Rhode didn't do was start emptying the bench at the end to give veterans testimonials and milk a carnival atmosphere from the crowd. Possibly out of respect for Clara, but also because they will have their eyes on greater prizes.
Forget Leinsters. Between 2005 and 2008 Rhode could well have annexed an All Ireland title. They were up to the standard required. I'm not sure where they stand now. The lack of a genuine midfielder might be their biggest weakness.
proper champions,doesnt it show how bad edenderry clara and tullamore are when rhode held clara to one point in second half and clara by far the second best team in the county,offaly football gone for a long time
