2018 NHL

[private joker]

Bit of a landing today.Thats a big defeat.

[LooseCannon]

Anyone know what Shortt was second-yellowed for?

I’m a bit annoyed.
I might convey my emotional outpouring later.

[DoingUntold]

Back to reality, played well in first half just couldn't find the scores our hard work deserved.

Limerick found the scores far easier and won about 14/15 battles all over the field, i thought Ben Conneely did very well.

Lack of scorers concerning. Could of been a different outcome if we scored the peno and had 15 men.

Dooley not at the races.

[kingscounty]

The ground was extremely heavy and Limerick managed a lot better on the sod. All we can do is try and move on ASAP, all remaining games will be hard , Heads up and move on.

[italia90]

Unlike some i didnt get carried away with the result last weekend and headed into tullamore hoping to stay within 6/7 points of limerick. Few things struck me at the game. Although limerick are young they are all physically well developed. Number 17 who started was a massive young fella and to be able afford a player of that size to play in the corner well we just couldnt do that. Cian lynch ran the show. Id say 7/8 times durin game where we shud have jab lifted the sliothar but instead we stopped to roll lift allowin time for limerick to get bodies in. Our handpassing was very poor in general. We directly conceded 1-5 from either poor lifting or handpassing errors. On the plus side these are basics of the game that should improve as year goes on. We missed 5 scorable frees and a penalty again basics of the game so would hope to tighten up there too. In general our touch was off. Theres grounds for optimism despite how poor we wer today. Im in my 30s and its the first offaly game i was at where we significantly outnumbered the visitors. Theres an appetite there. The golden years are long gone and we have to be realistic of where we are at. At 14 -7 not long after break we missed our 4th scorable free. Add the penalty in its a different game admittedly one we wer never going to win. Limerick thought us a lesson in support play and running off the shoulder and into space. We need to execute the basics and develop. Connelly was our best o toole and currams decent.

[SearingDrive]

I agree about poor hand passing, and inability to get the ball in hand today. The penalty miss, and other missed chances did not help our cause today. Maybe the win over Dublin was overhyped, and Limerick were a step up from them.

Galway next in Salthill, and two home games after that.

[bracknaghboy]

Puckout statistics must make for very grim reading. Limerick found a free man with every one of theirs. In fact they has 2 sometimes 3 options for short ones.
The Offaly puckouts were slow and telegraphed and but for one or two the rest must have gone to a Limerick man. When this happens in the current possession based game you are goosed plain and simple. Management did little to attempt to rectify this.

The attack was so laboured for Offaly all match and with the lack of ball from puckouts it's no surprise that a miserly 10 points was the return. No real goal chances to speak of but for the penalty.

Felt sorry for the backs they were under pressure all day due to Limerick being allowed to win all their own puckouts and launch attacks at will. I had warned earlier in the week about Cleere and how lads need to be careful as he likes to get involved and boss the game. Dermot Shortt found out the hard way and it really game over after the red card.

Midfield didn't really function. The Limerick puckouts rarely went anywhere near them and any Offaly ones that did were lost. Cian Lynch seemed to pop up everywhere unchallenged, again management need to ask questions of themselves here.

So we had Dooley and Egan on frees in the 2 Westmeath games. Kelly then Dooley against Kilkenny. Bergin and then Dooley against Dublin. Egan and Dooley today. Lads time to make the mind up here with this. About 1-5 left behind today because of poor free taking. Late in the first half Egan took shoulder to the head and was down and in no shape to get up and take the free but it seems there was nobody else available to have a shot. Is Eoin Cahill worth a look if they feel Dooley isn't up to 70 mins play. Consistency with frees is now a must or else winnable games will get away from them.

Crowd were great today. Turned up in big numbers and roared the lads but alas were left to go home disappointed. I for one won't abandon them and I'd love to see a big crowd for the Laois and Antrim games as well. So we knew we were probably getting carried away a bit during the week but life is short and should be allowed to dream every once in a while! Limerick had their homework done. We are so starved of any glory that we were willing to hope against all hope that things were turned. They may well turn but the size of the task is now apparent (again) and management need to far more reactive as things unfold on the pitch as they did today if progress is to happen.

[LooseCannon]

“So we had Dooley and Egan on frees in the 2 Westmeath games. Kelly then Dooley against Kilkenny. Bergin and then Dooley against Dublin. Egan and Dooley today. Lads time to make the mind up here with this. About 1-5 left behind today because of poor free taking. Late in the first half Egan took shoulder to the head and was down and in no shape to get up and take the free but it seems there was nobody else available to have a shot. Is Eoin Cahill worth a look if they feel Dooley isn't up to 70 mins play. Consistency with frees is now a must or else winnable games will get away from them.”

Quote from Bracknaghboy- I wasn’t bothered to delete the other bits.

Yeah, I’d stick Cahill in the goals.

[kingscounty]

Puckout statistics must make for very grim reading. Limerick found a free man with every one of theirs. In fact they has 2 sometimes 3 options for short ones.
The Offaly puckouts were slow and telegraphed and but for one or two the rest must have gone to a Limerick man. When this happens in the current possession based game you are goosed plain and simple. Management did little to attempt to rectify this.

The attack was so laboured for Offaly all match and with the lack of ball from puckouts it's no surprise that a miserly 10 points was the return. No real goal chances to speak of but for the penalty.

Felt sorry for the backs they were under pressure all day due to Limerick being allowed to win all their own puckouts and launch attacks at will. I had warned earlier in the week about Cleere and how lads need to be careful as he likes to get involved and boss the game. Dermot Shortt found out the hard way and it really game over after the red card.

Midfield didn't really function. The Limerick puckouts rarely went anywhere near them and any Offaly ones that did were lost. Cian Lynch seemed to pop up everywhere unchallenged, again management need to ask questions of themselves here.

So we had Dooley and Egan on frees in the 2 Westmeath games. Kelly then Dooley against Kilkenny. Bergin and then Dooley against Dublin. Egan and Dooley today. Lads time to make the mind up here with this. About 1-5 left behind today because of poor free taking. Late in the first half Egan took shoulder to the head and was down and in no shape to get up and take the free but it seems there was nobody else available to have a shot. Is Eoin Cahill worth a look if they feel Dooley isn't up to 70 mins play. Consistency with frees is now a must or else winnable games will get away from them.

Crowd were great today. Turned up in big numbers and roared the lads but alas were left to go home disappointed. I for one won't abandon them and I'd love to see a big crowd for the Laois and Antrim games as well. So we knew we were probably getting carried away a bit during the week but life is short and should be allowed to dream every once in a while! Limerick had their homework done. We are so starved of any glory that we were willing to hope against all hope that things were turned. They may well turn but the size of the task is now apparent (again) and management need to far more reactive as things unfold on the pitch as they did today if progress is to happen.

I said the same at the game today if Cahill was on the frees it would have been a lot closer! At one point After missing two frees Dooley didn’t want to hit the freesafter that. We have to remember the lads put in a mighty shift last week and the 7 day turn around isn’t ideal especially coming up against a big physical side like Limerick.

[greenairfield]

Looks like my call was right....that Birr team would of done better yesterday

[kaiserchief]

[bracknaghboy]

Watched League Sunday earlier and it has to be asked what on earth Dermot Shortt was at? Shouldering a lad like that and the ball gone is beyond frustrating, yes the game was not going to be won but at least with 15 on the field the margin could have been considerably less. Also Cleere could have just giving the free and said no more but thats not how he operates, he's the new John Sexton.
Management need to be careful and not panic over last Sunday. They look like they have a plan in terms of what they believe the spine of the team will look like and they should stick with it. The main issues were around puckouts, lack of a free taker and poor discipline all of which can be resolved without turning the team upside down completely. Management were very poor last week and did not react to what was going on out on the pitch. There are experienced heads on the sideline so theres no excuse.

[LooseCannon]

Eoghan Cahill scored a penalty in Mary I’s defeat to DCU.
Oisín Kelly hit a point v IT Carlow in LIT’s 4 point loss.

[llkj]

I watched the highlights of the Limerick match tonight and was pretty disappointed (to say the least) when I saw the sending off with my own eyes. Up to then, I had relied on Midlands Radio commentary of the match to paint the picture. What I gathered from Duignan's post match comments where he described the sending off as a "big mistake by the ref" was that Offaly were unlucky to be reduced to 14. When I saw the clip myself, I could not see anything other than a completely needless act of indiscipline by our defender. He rushed in from 5-10 yards to take out a Limerick player with a shoulder charge, who was about 3 yards behind an Offaly player coming out with the ball. To blame the ref is utterly ridiculous. He was already on a yellow and had been spoken to by Kevin Martin at half time to be wary, as Kevin revealed in his post match interview.

Indeed, it was pretty interesting listening to Martin's interview where he didn't exactly hang Shortt out to dry, but he didn't excuse the sending off either. He said "He shouldn't have done it" "He'll be down about it" "It left us in a bad spot". These are the words he said to the media, I presume that the words and actions that he takes in the dressing room were a lot sterner. Changing the mindset of a team and getting them ready to compete takes many forms. Commitment is not just about staying off the drink, it is about keeping your head when it may not be the easy thing to do, it is about staying with a challenge as long as you can, even if you won't win it. When he committed his selfish act, he showed a lack of commitment to the cause. It is not the end of his season or the team's season, but it is an opportunity for Martin to ensure that it is used as an example for the rest of the season and a stern statement is sent to the squad that such mindless stupidity is not acceptable. Let's see if we learn from it or now. Time will tell.

[Killeighman]

Just going off topic a little here. Sean Kinsella is listed as a sub for UCD in the Fitzgibbon. What club is he from? Padraic Guinan lining out at wing back again this evening.