Tipp 2-21 Offaly 3-14

[Lone Shark]

With everything going on I haven't had time to do up a proper report on this, but no doubt by now you've all read the various paper reports anyway.

For what it's worth, I came out with very mixed feelings. The good feelings were that we clearly are back at the top tier of hurling in the country, because this game was played at a good pace, not far off championship, and we certainly were more than competitive. Our backs were once again very strong - Franks did well, Cleary gave as good as he got against a very hard man to stop, O'Meara was excellent seeing off Redser, and the half back line as a whole competed very well. Alan Egan struggled trying to win a lot of high ball but still ended up with 1-1 off very little, while Carroll once again proved he is now one of the country's elite forwards. He's not a free taker, but he's still one of the best options we have and I'd have faith in him to work at it and make the best of it.

On the negative side, we can't ask our hurlers to grow bigger - so you have to ask ourselves how we're going to stop being physically dominated like we were on Sunday. Mick O'Hara is fiery and competitive, but he's also fairly slow and isn't really a scoring threat. He struggled against Fanning, while the midfield was completely over run.

From the back, looking forward ....

O'Connor deservedly held his place based on the Waterford game, but I think some of his puckouts weren't as on the money as they needed to be. All too often he tried to find players around the middle and over hit or under hit. This area needs work, because on shot stopping I think he's behind Breeder in terms of selection.

The half backs won ball well but I think some of the delivery out was less than good - Brady in particular to me hit a lot of high clearances across the field to Hayden and Egan, balls we were always unlikely to win. He's really started to grow into the role of wing back on in winning the ball he looks like a county player, but he's got to be more intelligent with his deliveries.

Gary Hanniffy did well at times, and certainly was a good outlet for high ball in the second half - he still loses a few by over carrying straight after a good catch, but other than a few poor strikes when the game was going away from us in the second half I wouldn't blame him. Hanrahan never got into the game at all, and Diggy at least offered a scoring threat when he came on.

I really don't know what to make of Hayden - he knows where the posts are, but outside of converting chances well, he really doesn't contribute enough from free play for me. He'd be a player who could possibly be sacrificed when we're struggling to win ball.

Also I continue to be convinced that Damien Murray is not the answer. I don't know if it's nerves or what, but he just doesn't seem to have the sharp touch needed at this level.



Overall we've come on a long way, but I think a little bit more power is needed to take the next step - possibly time for the return of the Wolverine to a more centrefield role?

[Bord na Mona man]

Overall I'd have to be positive.
We got a good test, in that Tipp played the game at an intensity close to championship levels (unlike Waterford vs. Limerick).
Granted they could have beaten us by more with all the bad wides they hits.

We did wilt towards the end and made more unforced errors under pressure.
I think bigger physical teams like Tipp will have an advantage on us. They won most of the primary possession from puck outs and clearances, had the strength to break the tackle and lay the ball off.
When Offaly did win the ball from these situations, a lot of the time we gave it away under pressure.
I suppose you can't grow players in height, or bulk them up quickly, but maybe a few more training sessions with the man in possession getting attacked by a couple of players with tackle pads might improve the strength in possession.
Having great wristwork and a good first touch is no longer enough in hurling these days. You need to be able to perform these skills while under intense physical pressure.

I think we need Gary Hanniffy to stand back on the half way line to contest opposition puck outs. Maybe put Ger Oakley on the half forward to bust up the play. We'll get away with our lack of power against Wexford, but a match up with Kilkenny would see a similar pattern of play to Sunday's...and the shaven down gorillas in Kilkenny's forward line would be more accurate than Tipp's.

[As Such Ger]

I have to say that it was a very enjoyable game of hurling...lots of first class scores from both sides, with Brian Carroll's goals and Rory Hanniffy's point being the pick of them from an Offaly point of view.

Agree with a lot of the comments posted above. I thought that the main problem from an Offaly point of view was that they simply couldnt win enough ball in the first half to put real pressure on Tipp. The left half back (number 24) cleaned up throughout, while O hara and Alan Egan scarcely got on the ball in the opening half. tipp midfield were on top throughout but i was glad to see that the management team went about reshuffling things early enough - taking off hanrahan, when it clearly wasnt working for him personally. I was also glad to see that they left Egan on and gave him a good opportunity to get more experience - and bag a goal against Cummins.

Tanner worked hard on the half back line, but i still cant see him making a championship 15... saw Brian Whelehan nearly like a 4th selector on the sideline and got the impression that he is mad for action - he was on the field enough dispensing water and advice at every opportunity.

I liked the full back too... contested every ball and gave nothing easy away, which is what is needed from the full back.

Agree with the point about Murray... he did have a particularly bad day on sunday (everything he touched was a disaster), but even allowing for this as a once off, I dont think he can contriute enough from play to merit a starting 15 spot.

I feel its the perfect way to end the league... enough games to sharpen them and a loss which will show them not to get carried away and make them keen for putting the head down in the coming weeks.

[Fit For Junior]

It was good to see us back in there competing at this level. The players need more games like this. There were some good passages of play, we got some nice scores, and defended reasonably well.
Having said that, we fumbled a lot of ball and Tipp got a few scores when we really should have cleared. I reckon some of these mistakes were down to inexperience and with more big games the players should learn to keep the head a bit better. Areas we need to improve are center field and the half forward line. Tipp were winning everything in the middle, with paul kelly hurling well. On the goal keeping side of things, I though O'Connor could possibly have stopped the first goal. Did'nt think there was a huge amount of power in Kellys shot and maybe he could have got a stick to it.
Fitness wise, Tipp were definitely that bit stronger than us in the last quarter.
There were times when we played some nice hurling. Brian Carroll's goals were fantastic, but it was a pity we conceded a score straight away after each.
Overall though, its games like this that will make the team. They played reasonably well, but learned a few things that should prepare them that bit more for the summer ahead.

[Plain of the Herbs]

O'Connor deservedly held his place based on the Waterford game, but I think some of his puckouts weren't as on the money as they needed to be. All too often he tried to find players around the middle and over hit or under hit. This area needs work, because on shot stopping I think he's behind Breeder in terms of selection.

When John McIntyre was Bainisteoir in 1997, his choice of goalkeeper was based on a long puck out rather than shot-stopping or control of a high ball, when he opted for David Hughes over Liam Coughlan. This proved fatal. Is history to repeat itself?

An area where Offaly 2006 are particularly weak is the lack of game-breakers in reserve. Instance Damien Murray is the recognised 'first sub for the forwards'. Cathal Parlon seems to be second choice, while Stephen Brown seems to have dropped down the rankings. Its great to have a settled team at this stage (5 backs and 5 forwards started every league match), though the flip-side is the lack of game-time afforded to the panellists. Eamonn Lee, for example, hasn't seen any action since impressing when introduced against Wexford in the Walsh Cup.

[Bogman]

I agree that the Offaly team doesn't have good enough back-ups. There's some good talent coming up through the underage ranks but it hasn't been tested out yet.

One question - is Brian Whelahan suitable for the half-back line in the 2006 championship? The trend seems to be to have ball-winners at half-back and Brian plays more as a sweeper. He's not going to add much to our physical presence.

And if not at half-back where would we play Brian Whelahan. Midfield?, Corner Forward?

[Lone Shark]

I think that we have to resort to the old Offaly techniques when it comes to replacements - make them fit, and juggle players around, rather than putting lads in that we know aren't good enough.

Aside from the fifteen players that started on Sunday, not including our goalkeeper dilemma, we have Oakley, Joe Brady, Diggy, Barry Teehan and possibly Sid or even Paul Molloy or Stephen Brown as options. These are the players that we know are at or around county standard. As far as I'm concerned, if it's match day situation and we desperately need a game breaking forward, then rather than going for Murray I'd prefer to see a midfielder come in and Hanrahan go forward, or Joe Brady as the breaking FF, or as the nuclear option, Rory moved back to the forwards.

I'm not saying there aren't question marks about the players mentioned above, but they can fit into a few different roles, and certainly Brown in the right mentality can be a game breaker.

I've nothing against Damien Murray, but he's not a game breaker, and is invariably too similar to the guy he replaces.

I have great time for Eamonn Lee myself, but to be fair to McIntyre, winning games was much more important than blooding youngsters this year - it was our main guys that needed the games as much as the potentials. Eamonn's time will come I suspect.

[Bogman]

I totally agree that blooding young players was not the priority this year but I'm looking forward to the Minor and Under 21 matches if only to see the likes of Diarmuid Horan, Eamonn Lee, Daniel Currams, Ciaran Slevin, Brian Nolan, Colm Coughlan, Aaron Whelahan, Colin Egan, Mark Egan, James Mulrooney, Brian Leonard, Derek Morkan, Ger Scales, the Bevans Bros. I've probably missed a few names even after that long list.

Some of those could be challenging for places in a few years to join Joe Bergin, Alan Egan and Paul Cleary. It's encouraging that many of the better young players are forwards and there's a good mix of physical types. We've been losing to Dublin and Dublin Colleges but I suppose that the players from the Metropolis tend to have precocious strength & fitness advantage at Schools, Minor and Under-21 from their huge pick.

[Plain of the Herbs]

I totally agree that blooding young players was not the priority this year but I'm looking forward to the Minor and Under 21 matches if only to see the likes of Diarmuid Horan, Eamonn Lee, Daniel Currams, Ciaran Slevin, Brian Nolan, Colm Coughlan, Aaron Whelahan, Colin Egan, Mark Egan, James Mulrooney, Brian Leonard, Derek Morkan, Ger Scales, the Bevans Bros. I've probably missed a few names even after that long list.

Actually, trying new players was a priority this year. What happened was that O'Meara, Cleary, Bergin and Egan were all given their chance in the Walsh Cup and took that chance with both hands. Those 4 all grew in stature as the league progressed.