U21 LHS Offaly v Wexford, O'Connor Park, 7.30pm

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Toxicity234
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U21 LHS Offaly v Wexford, O'Connor Park, 7.30pm

Post by Toxicity234 »

Best of luck to the lads tomorrow night.
If they can physical impose themselves they have a good chance.
Lets get stuck in for the start.
“Common sense is not so common.”

Buttons
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Re: U21 LHS Offaly v Wexford, O'Connor Park, 7.30pm

Post by Buttons »

Team announced and is as follows
1. Kevin O'Connor, Kinnitty
2. Darragh Corbett, Shannonbridge
3. Daniel Doughan, Shinrone
4. Paddy Rigney, Kinnitty
5. Ger Crowe, Tullamore
6. Conor Doughan (Capt), Shinrone
7. Cillian Kiely, Kilcormac/Killoughey
8. Cathal Mahon, Kilcormac/Killoughey
9. Padraig Guinan, Drumcullen
10. Matthew Maloney, St Rynaghs
11. Johnny O'Toole Greene, Shamrocks
12. Joe Maher, Belmont
13. Adrian Cleary, Shinrone
14. Emmet Nolan, Birr
15. Dylan Murray, Kilcormac/Killoughey

Plain of the Herbs
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Re: U21 LHS Offaly v Wexford, O'Connor Park, 7.30pm

Post by Plain of the Herbs »

I see that both Offaly U21 semi-finals are fixed for this Friday evening.

KIlcormac-Killoughey v St Brendan's is fixed for Banagher; Shinrone v Cúchulainn Gaels is in Coolderry, both at 8pm.
Pat Donegan. Signed out of respect for players and all involved with Offaly.

first_touch
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Re: U21 LHS Offaly v Wexford, O'Connor Park, 7.30pm

Post by first_touch »

Why is Kevin Dunne not starting? I thought he was very good the last day at midfield.

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Re: U21 LHS Offaly v Wexford, O'Connor Park, 7.30pm

Post by Plain of the Herbs »

KD has gone Stateside on a US Sanction since the Westmeath match.
first_touch wrote:Why is Kevin Dunne not starting? I thought he was very good the last day at midfield.
Pat Donegan. Signed out of respect for players and all involved with Offaly.

Toxicity234
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Re: U21 LHS Offaly v Wexford, O'Connor Park, 7.30pm

Post by Toxicity234 »

Wexford Team:
Oliver O'Leary;
Simon Donohoe, Liam Ryan, Eoin Conroy;
Jim White, Padraig Foley, Jack O'Connor;
Conor Devitt, Gavin Bailey;
Andrew Kenny, Kevin Foley, James Cash;
Peter Sutton, Conor McDonald, Shane Murphy.
“Common sense is not so common.”

Superted
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Re: U21 LHS Offaly v Wexford, O'Connor Park, 7.30pm

Post by Superted »

Best of luck this evening!! Up The Faithful!

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Bord na Mona man
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Re: U21 LHS Offaly v Wexford, O'Connor Park, 7.30pm

Post by Bord na Mona man »

Gallant effort by Offaly yesterday evening, but Wexford were too classy for them. Offaly started well and did what Offaly team should do, disrupt the opposition and prevent them from imposing their playing patterns.
We even snuck ahead by 3 points in the first half before Wexford got it back to a point at the break. Even then there was a slight inevitability to it. The Offaly backs had worked extra hard stopping & mopping and there was a nagging feeling that as the energy levels dropped and the game opened up, Wexford would prevail.

As Wexford got on top, they started being able to direct good ball to forwards who were moving into space. Offaly's forwards were working off clearances rather than precise ball and the Wexford backs were able to put enough pressure on them to restrict scoring chances.

The much talked about Wexford goal came was an case study of smart ball into the forwards, good link play and an Offaly backline that was gone ragged by this point. The lay off and the timing of the run shows a team that have gelled together and built up an understanding over time. Currently Offaly teams of most shades and grades will all play as individuals thrown together without great coherence. Until we put more long term planning and resources into group training and developing a more intelligent collective style of play, performances like last night are inevitable. Brave but disjointed. That's no reflection on the management or the players.

Good performance by Carlow btw. It might surprise some of the 'nothing to worry about' crew who were chuckling about how Carlow's underage surge was tailing off.

Toxicity234
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Re: U21 LHS Offaly v Wexford, O'Connor Park, 7.30pm

Post by Toxicity234 »

K O'Connor;
D Corbett, C Kiely; P Rigney;
G Crowe, C Doughan 0-1, D Doughan,
C Mahon 0-1, P Guinan;
E Nolan 0-4, M Maloney 1-0, D Murray 0-5
A Cleary, J O'Toole Greene, J Maher;

Jesus lads.
anticipation, anticipation, anticipation, A lost art in Offaly hurling.
Last year. Martin Forghty talked training drill to improve striking and anticipation.
Our Minor, U21 and Senior coaches have completely forgotten this drill.
The reason why is drill is important for our forwards is simple. Its give them a better chance of winning the ball but on the other side is that it put them into a better position of Stopping the defender clearing the ball on the front foot.
A defender heading for his own goal is a different animal that one steam out of defence on the front foot. Wexford forwards were excellent at this. 18 times in the the 15 mins after half time was a Offaly forwards were side stepped or were beating to the ball by a wexford man.
A real life example of really bad coaching. This problem was worst then in the match vs Westmeath.

The Offaly Half forward line was cleaned out the full forward wasn't any better and it was odd to watch the game back on TV and see the that the Offaly forwards were always looking to be chasing there men instead of there men chase them.
The Offaly midfield was bully but wexford but they stuck at the tack and did ok overall.
The Offaly Defence was Outstanding. They fought like rats to keep Offaly in the game for so long. Any of the 6 could have been Offaly man of the match but our forwards were been so outplayed that it was always a matter of time before they would give up enough scored to be beating.

Its easy to put smart ball into a forward line when you steaming forward under no pressure. if we get our forwards into a better position to defend there be a lot less smart ball come out of Offaly forward line.
That a basic game plan, Don't let Wexford (or anyone) have time and space to pick a pass.
Cut the supply at the source and you won't have a flood at the other end of the field.
“Common sense is not so common.”

hopper82
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Re: U21 LHS Offaly v Wexford, O'Connor Park, 7.30pm

Post by hopper82 »

Excellent summary of the game BNM ,it was enjoyable but after half time it felt like we were never going to hang on .

Its a pity we didn't manage a goal before the break it would of definitely gave us more to hang onto, the real sucker punch was the second goal , we were just about hanging in and should have got a goal of our own but for a Wexford save and for them to counter and get a spectacular goal of there own finished it as a contest.

Wexford will be disappointed I feel with there performance, they need to improve dramatically on there shooting or Kilkenny will punish them , that coupled with the fact they fouled and gave us soft frees in the first half when we didn't look like scoring suggests the result could have been a lot different.

There was some savage performances last night , Cillian Kielly showed how versatile he was, he man marked McDonald and did a fantastic on the Wexford danger man, the other 5 defenders battled very hard as well other than the Wexford centre forward and the number 21 who came on I was confident our backs were going to win the majority of 50/50s that went in .

Our Mid fielders worked all night long and Guinan in particular stood out.

As Tox and MNM suggested our problems lied in our ability to win any primary possession inside our attacking 65 , The amount of ball caught and delivered cleanly by the Wexford half balk line was criminal , I felt sorry for Goalie from the puck out he had little option in the second half but to go long but the ball was coming straight back in on top of us , he went short on one occasion and it didn't work, so he went back to route 1 and we had no joy , Kevin Dunne might of made a difference if available for his ability to win dirty ball.

Overall the better team won but it was a battling performance , there is at least three or four of these guys who will be well have to be in the mix for a starting place against Clare which is a big positive , it would be great to see Emmett Nolan get a place and for him to continue his run of good form.

Thats it for another year and its a pit as I feel that group had the potential to improve if they had more time together , Does anyone know for sure how many of the players /panel are available next year, heard a few different numbers as you usually do when the questions put out ?

jimbob17
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Re: U21 LHS Offaly v Wexford, O'Connor Park, 7.30pm

Post by jimbob17 »

watched on tv last night and Offaly really put it up to them for 40 mins. The quick turnaround for the second goal was essentially a six point swing and they followed with a quick point after that to finish it...... From there on it was target practice and to be honest, it could have been a cricket score with Wexford really notching a big number of wides! The consolation goal at the end brought Offaly closer than they possibly were...... that said it was a fighting performance and management nor players could be faulted this year and it was a good solid effort last night.

The problem with the team being so far behind Wexford started and continued from 14 through to minor and into U21 grade. What has been done to help these lads compete from a physical perspective. What were our structures to facilitate the players improvement from strength and conditioning perspective. Wexford looked bigger to me and had the power and legs on us in the last 20 minutes and won at a canter for a finish. This advantage is built up over a longer period of time than the last 4/5 months. Until issues like these are addressed on a continual basis, Offaly will not compete on a regular basis with the top 8 hurling counties. Other counties have moved with the times with proper structures in place. Offaly need to follow suit or they will be left behind!
jimbob

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Re: U21 LHS Offaly v Wexford, O'Connor Park, 7.30pm

Post by Plain of the Herbs »

The Offaly U21 team as it lined out last night

Kevin O'Connor;
Darragh Corbett, Cillian Kiely; Paddy Rigney;
Ger Crowe, Conor Doughan, Dan Doughan:
Cathal Mahon, Pádraic Guinan;
Mattie Maloney, Johnny O'Toole, Emmet Nolan;
Adrian Cleary, Joe Maher. Dylan Murray.


And the Offaly Minor team beaten by Laois in 2012

Conor Clancy;
Damien Murphy, Andrew Browne, Rían Kelly;
Emmet Nolan, Conor Doughan, Eoin Pilkington;
Alan Spain, Séamus O’Connor;
Ger Crowe, Kevin Dunne, Keith Bergin;
Seán T O’Connor, Cillian Kiely, Dylan Murray.


Now, I recall Cillian Kiely had injury problems that restricted him to line out at full-forward in 2012, and currently Andrew Browne is a long-term injury absentee and Kevin Dunne is away , but that's one hell of a turnover of manpower.
Pat Donegan. Signed out of respect for players and all involved with Offaly.

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Re: U21 LHS Offaly v Wexford, O'Connor Park, 7.30pm

Post by Plain of the Herbs »

That sums the whole thing up, jimbob17. Those lads spent their youth doing ground hurling drills, when Wexford (and everyone else) had a much more comprehensive development programme.

Wexford didn't just look bigger, they WERE bigger (in that they had the muscle base). And some of Offaly's bigger fellas were thrown aside when they tried to charge forward. Offaly's complete lack of a youth development programme was Ciarán McDonald's lament when interviewed on Radio 3 afterwards. That interview is on the Station's Soundcloud and is well worth a listen.

It was interesting to hear Joe Troy on the radio last Sunday inform us of the work being done by Stephen Byrne and Ned O'Connor with the Offaly U16s currently. But how sustained is that? Will those two leaders be reallocated to other teams, or broken up, next year? The former could be Offaly Senior manager next year, for Chrissakes!

This is the problem that not having a long term plan brings. And so we have a dead duck on our hands.
jimbob17 wrote:The problem with the team being so far behind Wexford started and continued from 14 through to minor and into U21 grade. What has been done to help these lads compete from a physical perspective. What were our structures to facilitate the players improvement from strength and conditioning perspective. Wexford looked bigger to me and had the power and legs on us in the last 20 minutes and won at a canter for a finish. This advantage is built up over a longer period of time than the last 4/5 months. Until issues like these are addressed on a continual basis, Offaly will not compete on a regular basis with the top 8 hurling counties. Other counties have moved with the times with proper structures in place. Offaly need to follow suit or they will be left behind!
Pat Donegan. Signed out of respect for players and all involved with Offaly.

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Slieve Bloom Man
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Re: U21 LHS Offaly v Wexford, O'Connor Park, 7.30pm

Post by Slieve Bloom Man »

Paddy Rigney corner back (and Kevin O Connor goalkeeper) have been fixed to play 3 championship games in 4 days. Wednesday Offaly under 21s, Friday under 21 championship semi-final for Cúchulainn Gaels and this evening (Saturday) for Kinnitty Junior A Footballers against Clara. A lot to ask of young Rigney especially as he always runs his socks off during a game. O Connor plays in goal so physically wouldn't be as demanding - altho mentally he needs full concentration for every game. I know it is difficult for County Board to keep track of this but 3 games in 4 days is not right.

Toxicity234
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Re: U21 LHS Offaly v Wexford, O'Connor Park, 7.30pm

Post by Toxicity234 »

Congratulations to Cuchulainn Gaels and Kilcormac/Killoughy.

Ciaran Mcdonald excellent interview after the match.
https://soundcloud.com/midlandssport/ci ... st-wexford

Anyhow i make the Kilcormac/Kiloughey vs St Brendan's. Its was a good game. Brendan's worked some excellent scored with the St. Brendan's center forward doing a lot of hard work.
Emmet Nolan has a good game in midfield vs Kiely.
Kilcormac/Killoughey half back line were winning a lot of ball and picking some nice passes. It look like Brendan's were going to pull away when alan spain scored a great goal for Kilcormac/ Killoughey.
Not trying to pick on the ref but he gave some very soft free to keep boths side in the game at different time. Given frees for good shoulders and never let the game develop.
But overall a good game.
A lot on niggle, on the field, On the sidelines and in the stand.
Disappointing to hear some of the verbals even carried on after the match.
Ryangh's facility were good the field was in good shape.
“Common sense is not so common.”

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