bracknaghboy wrote:Lads I'm genuinely sick to the back teeth of O'Moore Park Portlaoise. Are we ever going to win a feckin championship match of any description there?
Seriously would POTH or LS have any figures for the last 10 years at all grades for us there? It must make depressing reading. I can count about 5 wins for Offaly teams in league and championship there and can think of 2 dozen defeats recently. I officially hate the place!
substandard wrote:I know exactly how much work the lads did to get to the level they did, and believe me, it was nothing short of incredible. Having only got together in late December, to get up to match speed is a credit to them, and a testament to their application, and also a reflection on the potential within the county. However, that just masks the reality. The fact is that they were beaten by 12 points, comfortably. No doubt the lads showed potential, and proved that, given the right, or even decent, supports, they would be more than just competitive, they could realistically be thinking about winning.
The other night, they ran into a Dublin side aiming for 4 in a row Leinsters. Allowing for a certain amount of panellists to roll over year on year, and presuming they start training in mid to late November each year, and they are playing competitively out into April, that is a serious amount of time in development, especially in strength and conditioning. Nothing remotely like this happens in Offaly. Until such time as the County Board develops a coherent, linear progression from development squads through to senior, with the proper people overseeing it, monitoring and tracking progress, the reality is that for an Offaly team to actually win a Leinster is going to take an improbably bizarre, freakish set of circumstances if things continue as they are.
Last year's minors were a decent bunch, and could make good progress if they are given the proper time and resources. This year's minors likewise.
Planning and structures need to be in place for the u20 campaign next year from summer on, to give a fair chance to management and players to become the best they can be.
I salute the lads the other night for the pride, passion and effort they showed. But a 12 point defeat cannot be ignored, either. There was more in those lads if the opportunity was given to them. Given the circumstances, what they did was fantastic. But I'd hate to think that next year's team and teams thereafter would be similarly sold short in terms of structures, preventing them from being the best they could be.
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