Laois v Offaly, NHL, Saturday 18 February, 7pm

[Bord na Mona man]

A 15 vs 13 game is very hard to gauge. It looked like Leix were gaining the upper hand with the first sending off anyway.
1-20 was still a decent score. At least the lads stuck at it, which is a good sign. If there was a bunch of lads not committed, they would have thrown in the towel.

Kevin Ryan will need to learn fast. Up until last week, he'd have had virtually nothing to judge players on. You can spend months training under car head lamp light - you'll only learn what sort of players you have in competitive games.
The defence is probably causing him most headaches. I have a feeling we'll see a couple of outfield players converted into backs by the time championship comes around.

Can they put it up to Kerry and get a win? Kerry will be looking up the table eyeing greater things.

[shamlads]

Another loss but to be fair the fought to the end ,Dooley miss 3 free late on ,we had 2 goal chances .despite been down to 13 for most of the second half .
S ryan D shortt C kiely S cleary and P delaney seemed to grab the bull by the horns when it looked like we were going to get a hiding like last week .
Bad result but 1-20 is a decent score for 13 men but great team spirit shown in the second half and thats a big positive .
hopefully we will have D King S Kinsella and J Bergin back if we play laois in a playoff .

Disappointing to lose sure, but thank you Sam for highlighting the positive. I (almost) feel better.

Still 3 games to go. Nothing would surprise me. Hopefully we can still lift above the relegation dogfight.

Is there any chance of a bit of perspective please?
first of all we should'nt be in a position of been down to 13 for almost an entire half.we should'nt be depending on a guy to dig us out of trouble with frees.and 1-20 is ok probably,but 10 of those scores from placed balls.and the same guy nothing from open play.and I'm not having a go at him but thats where we are.and on top of that the only reason we got to within 6 was that laois completely took foot off the gas.but could pick off points at will when they needed to.and its going to be a job to get over kerry.those guys will be raring to go.especially when they know they can run at our defense and get frees galore and more than likely a sending off(or 2).offaly are a team not too unlike aston villa,teethering just above relegation for quite awhile until they finally go down.and its going to be a fair job to get back.

[Plain of the Herbs]

Shamlads got the internet on the Fisher Price computer he got for Christmas, happened upon the Offaly discussion forum and got alarmed when he found a discussion on, er, Offaly hurling.

Like, what did he expect to find here?

LOL,my two time's tables are just fine POTH.unlike your knowledge of hurling.I don't have to come on here and write a column on any particular article,to try and prove anything.whereas you go to the rounds of writing an essay of lets face it,after tonights match,pure tripe.unfortunately for you,you dont know enough to know that you know nothing.

[Plain of the Herbs]

While ye’re at it, someone might explain the relegation possibilities to Steven Miller who wrote the match report for RTE.ie. Tonight’s result does not leave relegation battle solely between Kerry and Offaly.

[shamlads]

Shamlads got the internet on the Fisher Price computer he got for Christmas, happened upon the Offaly discussion forum and got alarmed when he found a discussion on, er, Offaly hurling.

Like, what did he expect to find here?

LOL,my two time's tables are just fine POTH.unlike your knowledge of hurling.I don't have to come on here and write a column on any particular article,to try and prove anything.whereas you go to the rounds of writing an essay of lets face it,after tonights match,pure tripe.unfortunately for you,you dont know enough to know that you know nothing.

ah poth's just back from the pub.full to the gill's.and talking crap as usual.

[greenairfield]

Shamlads great post. Exactly how the game went!!

[Plain of the Herbs]

A dichotomy between goalkeeper and receiver on Offaly’s puckouts. At least three that went long were nowhere near an Offaly player. Why? Did no-one make the run? Did someone switch off? Did Leix read the delivery and fill the gap? An abominable retention rate on said puckouts. That was one of the night’s biggest disappointments for me.

Beaten up in the rucks and scrums. The ball winning rate in rucks and scrums is directly proportional to hunger. And like the puckouts, Offaly were denied a valuable possession source. Rucks and scrums are a fact of hurling and they are not going away. Time contesting a ruck was coached.

When an Offaly player slipped when contesting possession, he was too eager to ‘swipe’ the ball away to somewhere he couldn’t see. Led to at least three Leix scores. Lads shouldn’t hit the ball to where they can’t see it. Better to manoeuvre the body position to create a ‘ruck’ situation and contest it from there.

Defending – Offaly hurling just isn’t geared to teams running at them. And is something they won’t get used to at training either – Offaly forwards just don’t move. This is something that is going to have to be addressed at underage development squads, if and when they get around to appointing managements before the year is out.

(Not related to Saturday’s match but the Offaly Minor management seeking, and getting, a challenge match from Tipperary last week made no sense. Hit for something like 6-23. Confidence down the drain.)

Conor Doughan endured a torrid time at full-back. He should have dragged down Neil Foyle in the leadup to the Leix goal. Seán Gardiner’s challenge looked bad, worse than it was. He was put in that position by yet another Leix line-break that Offaly didn’t anticipate. Aidan Treacy should note the location of the referee before he goes ‘sorting out’ fellas like that.

The tide had turned in Leix’ favour about ten minutes before the first sending off, aided by about three two-point swings. Kiely’s long shot taken by the goalkeeper, Leix scored on the counter attack; no-one covering the wing-back position when Seán Ryan made a run. Basic errors. And Leix missed far more scoring opportunities than Offaly.

It was still there for Offaly when it was 14 v 15, but was almost impossible with 13 v 15. I wouldn’t necessarily agree Leix took their foot off the pedal. Naturally, Offaly couldn’t cope with the pair of spare opposition defenders. But Offaly did much better under the opposition puckout than they did their own. And Offaly possession was sourced from the workrate of Seán Ryan and Dermot Shortt in particular. And Offaly made inroads once Seán Cleary began running at them. Which shows the value of running at defences – a tactic which is anathema to too many Offaly hurling people. Offaly needed the boost of a goal at some stage, though.


Different grade, but I recall a Banagher College v Rathdowney Leinster VS Final in 2010 when Banagher, in arrears, had two sent off. Banagher, under Francis Forde’s management, played without a centre-forward and full-forward and attacked repeatedly down the wings, ran at them and drew frees. Banagher came from behind to win despite the shortage of numbers.

Sean Ryan’s brave performance was worth the admission fee. An example to all.

Paddy Rigney has potential. And his lobbing the ball over an opponent’s head in the lead up to Offaly’s last point showed a certain gung-ho. Probably the man to mark Graeme Mulcahy in Limerick.

Last Saturday might have been a game for Paudge Guinan’s midfield workrate too. The turnover of defenders is a big problem and there isn’t going to be a change in Offaly’s short-term fortunes until a settled defence is reached. Gardiner and Treacy will be suspended at least for the Limerick and Wexford matches which will restrict options. In no particular order, the back six for Limerick will probably be Shortt, Doughan, Delaney, Cleary, Ryan and Conneely.

Offaly can still stay up. They can’t afford too much more damage to their scoring difference, and will hope Leix and Kerry get a few trouncings from the group’s big three.

Having a round of club league matches next weekend will come as a welcome distraction.

I wasn’t surprised Wexford beat Galway. Wexford had momentum and a right good test from Limerick last Sunday – Galway hadn’t. Much made of David Fitzgerald’s influence, and it has been positive, but he has an underage conveyor belt to draw from down there, and his Senior players have had the benefit of a sustained S&C programme; Offaly don’t. An example to note is Mick O’Dwyer’s high profile tenure with the Wicklow footballers which hasn’t been sustained, and their underage structure remains as bad as ever.

[greenairfield]

The sending offs were totally idiotic...even to try justify what Sean did is madness. He had several other options rather than pull head hight on a man running through.

[Plain of the Herbs]

Gardiner's pull wasn't head height though. He pulled across his chest. I do agree however that he did have other options as regards pulling yer man down.

The sending offs were totally idiotic...even to try justify what Sean did is madness. He had several other options rather than pull head hight on a man running through.

[Bord na Mona man]

So long as there is no black card in hurling, the option haul the man to the ground to prevent a goal is worthwhile.