NFL Div 3 predictions 2023

[Behindthegoal]

Panda messed around substituted twice he only got to play 25 minutes after scoring 0-5 off the bench last week and winning us the game where’s the logic in that?

Same old story unfortunately 7 points from 18 shots in open play less than 40% won’t win you anything same last week 9 points from over 25 shots. 2 forwards scored from play today 3 last week. Cian Farrell on the bench for the whole game and Cian Johnson let go from the panel to cut expenses for the county board which I think is an absolute disgrace! his first year back in inter county after bad injury and let go after not even 3 months to save a few pound if he’s not at the level to play right now the least they should’ve done was kept him on the panel to keep going in the right direction, what’s sending him back to his club going to do? That wouldn’t happen in any county who had some ambition. If he’s not worth a place on a 35 man panel then we must be world beaters lads!

The two Cian’s are at least a 7/10 in front of goal I don’t care how fit they are it’s easier to get fit than good at shooting we are looking at the same marathon runners who can’t kick the ball over the bar.

Cavan will beat us by 6+ next week they are comfortably the best team in the division with Dara Mcveety back now too.

[Fairplayalways]

not sure where my more detailed reply earlier disapeared to, but other counties have marquee players at 19 and 20 and certainly 21 or 22 and playing in Division 1 and also at the latter end of the AI championships, why are Offaly always "protecting" their potential marquee up and comming players, whom for some strange reason a few of them seem to disapear then at 23 or 24. Clifford Oisim Mullen, young Conroy for Mayo (played senior the year he was doing his leaving cert from memory) Yet Offaly hurlers have young Screeney and a few other very young players lining out with the senior hurlers, Adam English is on Limerick starting team in Divison 1 of hurling league and he is very young. Offaly are playing Division 3 football and "developing" players at 20 and 21...hope this post makes it this time...

[greenairfield]

Sure if the players are good enough to play they will play..clearly some of the fellas you mentioned aren't up to inter County football just yet.

[SearingDrive]

Sure if the players are good enough to play they will play..clearly some of the fellas you mentioned aren't up to inter County football just yet.

Cavan will test us on Sunday. Offaly need to get something from the game, before a trip to old foes Longford, who are winless in the current league.

[pigeon house biffo]

[quote="pigeon house biffo" post_id=66504 time=<a href="tel:1676992211">1676992211</a> user_id=11849]
The point im making is that cian was a prodigious talent. It hasn’t quite worked out for him so far due to injuries etc. he was a huge clutch player the year ferbane won their championship. I think it would be best that be goes again and establishs himself as ferbanes main man over the course of a season or two before turning his attention to the county team. Feel personally he may be rushing himself back into it when time is clearly on his side.

Shane O’Toole Greene, Cormac Delaney, Aaron Brazil, Luke Egan, Ed Cullen, Jamie Evans and Jack O’Brien ; some of those lads are u20 all ireland winners, one was a starter for his university team in this years siggerson final, another is a big player for tullamore and o toole greene won a championship with his uni in the past week. Evans is a rare example of a physical player we have produced. No record breakers there but they’re inclusion has merit and most if not all are worth their place in this and future offaly panels.

I’m not really disagreeing with what you’re saying about Cian tbh, he’s been dealing with injuries for the past 2 years plus and I’ve no doubt if he plays solely for Ferbane this year with no county commitments, he’ll absolutely prove himself to be their main man but even last year while it was clear he wasn’t fully fit, I’d still have had him down as one of the 6, 8, 10 best forwards in the club championship which is why it baffles me that some of the names above are deemed good enough to be on the bench but not him.

As for the list of players there, having an u20 all Ireland medal is great but unless it translates into senior level then I’m not sure what the relevance of that is to this discussion, plus I might add that one of those was an unused sub on that u20 team.

You’re saying one of those was a starter for his university team in the Sigerson final but we didn’t have any players start or get subbed on in the Sigerson final?

You say another is a big player for Tullamore but there’s a fair argument to be made that Cormac Egan, Diarmuid Egan, Harry and Luke Plunkett are all ahead of him in the pecking order.

O’Toole Greene was part of the TUS Trench cup team but would anybody have ever picked him as a standout player for Shamrocks who merits inclusion in an Offaly panel. Nigel Dunne, Jack Bryant and Kieran Dolan have at different points but I can’t say OTG ever has.

Evans is about 27 or 28 I believe and has had a few goes on Offaly panels, has he ever been a marquee player for us?

To put a bow on all of this, if some of these players are as good as you say then why did we not turn to them on Sunday when we needed impact from the bench with 10-15 minutes to go. Three games into the league and we’ve only used 19 players, doesn’t say much for the confidence Kearns has in his bench.
[/quote]

Think we can broadly agree on cian j.

Well i would say its of utmost importance we try and milk as much out of that u20 team as is possible. Theres enough examples of lads who didnt get much of a look in at underage going on to have Sterling intercounty careers so anyone that was within that squad is certainly worth a look at in my opinion.

Jack O Brien from durrow was the UL Nr 6. I know I’m putting a lot of emphasis on lads who are playing 3rd level football. One of the comments maughan made early in his stint was that there weren’t enough lads in the county playing 3rd level football. As far as im concerned if you’re good enough to play sigerson, you’re good enough to be at least part of a div 3 panel.

Luke egan was a starter for tullamore last year, including starting in the county final; one of the top clubs in the county with the largest pick of players. I don’t think his inclusion is wildly controversial. He’s young and maybe management think theres something to be gleaned from having him involved.

Take your point about the lack of players being used to date. Would like to think all this is in the spirit of debate. Certainly no issue with any point you’ve made, just putting my own perspective on it.

[Anonymous1]

[quote="pigeon house biffo" post_id=66504 time=<a href="tel:1676992211">1676992211</a> user_id=11849]
The point im making is that cian was a prodigious talent. It hasn’t quite worked out for him so far due to injuries etc. he was a huge clutch player the year ferbane won their championship. I think it would be best that be goes again and establishs himself as ferbanes main man over the course of a season or two before turning his attention to the county team. Feel personally he may be rushing himself back into it when time is clearly on his side.

Shane O’Toole Greene, Cormac Delaney, Aaron Brazil, Luke Egan, Ed Cullen, Jamie Evans and Jack O’Brien ; some of those lads are u20 all ireland winners, one was a starter for his university team in this years siggerson final, another is a big player for tullamore and o toole greene won a championship with his uni in the past week. Evans is a rare example of a physical player we have produced. No record breakers there but they’re inclusion has merit and most if not all are worth their place in this and future offaly panels.

I’m not really disagreeing with what you’re saying about Cian tbh, he’s been dealing with injuries for the past 2 years plus and I’ve no doubt if he plays solely for Ferbane this year with no county commitments, he’ll absolutely prove himself to be their main man but even last year while it was clear he wasn’t fully fit, I’d still have had him down as one of the 6, 8, 10 best forwards in the club championship which is why it baffles me that some of the names above are deemed good enough to be on the bench but not him.

As for the list of players there, having an u20 all Ireland medal is great but unless it translates into senior level then I’m not sure what the relevance of that is to this discussion, plus I might add that one of those was an unused sub on that u20 team.

You’re saying one of those was a starter for his university team in the Sigerson final but we didn’t have any players start or get subbed on in the Sigerson final?

You say another is a big player for Tullamore but there’s a fair argument to be made that Cormac Egan, Diarmuid Egan, Harry and Luke Plunkett are all ahead of him in the pecking order.

O’Toole Greene was part of the TUS Trench cup team but would anybody have ever picked him as a standout player for Shamrocks who merits inclusion in an Offaly panel. Nigel Dunne, Jack Bryant and Kieran Dolan have at different points but I can’t say OTG ever has.

Evans is about 27 or 28 I believe and has had a few goes on Offaly panels, has he ever been a marquee player for us?

To put a bow on all of this, if some of these players are as good as you say then why did we not turn to them on Sunday when we needed impact from the bench with 10-15 minutes to go. Three games into the league and we’ve only used 19 players, doesn’t say much for the confidence Kearns has in his bench.

Think we can broadly agree on cian j.

Well i would say its of utmost importance we try and milk as much out of that u20 team as is possible. Theres enough examples of lads who didnt get much of a look in at underage going on to have Sterling intercounty careers so anyone that was within that squad is certainly worth a look at in my opinion.

Jack O Brien from durrow was the UL Nr 6. I know I’m putting a lot of emphasis on lads who are playing 3rd level football. One of the comments maughan made early in his stint was that there weren’t enough lads in the county playing 3rd level football. As far as im concerned if you’re good enough to play sigerson, you’re good enough to be at least part of a div 3 panel.

Luke egan was a starter for tullamore last year, including starting in the county final; one of the top clubs in the county with the largest pick of players. I don’t think his inclusion is wildly controversial. He’s young and maybe management think theres something to be gleaned from having him involved.

Take your point about the lack of players being used to date. Would like to think all this is in the spirit of debate. Certainly no issue with any point you’ve made, just putting my own perspective on it.
[/quote]

Absolutely, at the end of the day all of us here want the same thing which is the best for Offaly.

I’m just worried that a couple of games in, it’s clear for everyone to see that outside of Anton and Hyland, we have no other attacking threat and it’s impossible to see how we can beat the likes of Cavan and potentially Meath in the Leinster championship with our lack of firepower. It’s frustrating to see Cian Farrell stood on the sideline until the 69th minute and hear that Cian Johnson has been cut from the panel while inferior players are playing.

[Fairplayalways]

Rd 4 NFL - Sat 25/Sun 26th Feb
Allianz FL Division 3 round 4
Saturdays games:
Antrim v Fermanagh, Corrigan Park, 2pm - interesting game this with both teams winning last day out, Antrim picking up their first. Fermanagh will have shocked a few with their impressive win over Down in a high scoring game. Fermanagh probably had the tougher game against Down and were impressive in most games upto last day, as were Antrim, but Antrim just didnt win those games.In Antrim, a draw could be the result here - Antrim 1-15 Fermanagh 2-12

Down v Westmeath, Páirc Esler, 6pm - another interesting game with Westmeath having 2 wins now out of 3, Down lost to Fermanagh the last day to lose their unbeaten start. This will be a tough away game for Westmeath, who will want to build on their Offaly win. Scoring wise, it will be a close, another draw?? I will go with Down by a point or two as i expect them to bounce back from last day - Down 2-11 Westmeath 0-15

Sundays games:
Offaly v Cavan, Glenisk O'Connor Park, 2pm - last thing Offaly needed after Westmeath game but apart from Longford and Tipp to play yet, this and the Down game have to be faced, crucial games for Offaly and indeed Down and Cavan. Cavan are unbeaten in this Division and look like promotion candidates already, Offaly need response to Sundays loss, will they get it - hard to see here - Cavan by 5 or 6 possibly. Cavan 1-16 Offaly 0-13

Longford v Tipperary, Glennon Brothers Pearse Park, 2pm - A game both teams will be out to win and feel they can win - Longford one shold think to have that little bit more in this league but results are not showing that, another heay beating by Cavan last weekend - Tipp play well often but not reflected on scoreboard (was driving last Saturday night and was listening to the commentary of their game V Antrim on Tipp FM) Tipp appear to be playing that bit better - a draw possible but I think Tipp could win this game - Tipperary 0-14 Longford 0-11.

[Buttons]

My take on the Westmeath game

Not sure what happened and how we were opened up so easy for the Westmeath goal but at that stage of the game and playing with the wind it killed us for the next 10-15 mins. I actually thought Duffy was off longer than 10 minutes (12 min but may be wrong) from the time the card was shown.

The lack of height in the team really shows, we cant seem to produce the tall player and really struggle with kick outs especially in the second half when we were put under serious pressure for a 5-10 min spell. From throw ins we never seem to win them which puts us on the back front from the word go. Not sure if this can be worked on but i would say our percentage is low.

I know people will disagree but we are in a series of transition, check this team vs an Offaly team of 2 years ago for the league final against Derry (team below) and it is a very different team, offaly seem to play well when they go attacking rather than defending, would another year in division 3 be that bad and with possible louth/ limerick being relegated and Cavan/ Westmeath being promoted then promotion and momentum would go well.

OFFALY: Paddy Dunican; Declan Hogan, James Lalor, Niall Darby; Lee Pearson, Johnny Maloney, Colm Doyle; Jordan Hayes, Bill Carroll; Ciaran Donnelly, David Dempsey, Dylan Hyland; Anton Sullivan, Bernard Allen, Ruairi McNamee. Subs: Cormac Egan for Johnny Maloney (45), Niall McNamee for Bernard Allen (49), Jack Bryant for Anton Sullivan (56), Joseph O'Connor for Colm Doyle (58), Cathal Donoghue for Lee Pearson (64).

I do think this team is strong, celebrations after beating Fermangh which havent been spoken about here showed how important that win was, they had the mentality to close it out which unfortunately couldnt happen last sunday.

Finally when we look at OCP vs Cusack Park i think we under appreciate the excellent facilities we have. The opening of the gates to allow some of the crowd in with a man in front scanning a few barcodes here and there and 2 side gates for entrance 10-15 min before throw in really showed them up.

Do i think Offaly could beat Cavan yes, Anton is really standing up this year and if they are allowed to give it a right go i think they could do it. At the start of the year promotion and relegation were both a possibility so they have nothing to lose by going right into Cavan from the word go.

[jimbob17]

The point im making is that cian was a prodigious talent. It hasn’t quite worked out for him so far due to injuries etc. he was a huge clutch player the year ferbane won their championship. I think it would be best that be goes again and establishs himself as ferbanes main man over the course of a season or two before turning his attention to the county team. Feel personally he may be rushing himself back into it when time is clearly on his side.

Shane O’Toole Greene, Cormac Delaney, Aaron Brazil, Luke Egan, Ed Cullen, Jamie Evans and Jack O’Brien ; some of those lads are u20 all ireland winners, one was a starter for his university team in this years siggerson final, another is a big player for tullamore and o toole greene won a championship with his uni in the past week. Evans is a rare example of a physical player we have produced. No record breakers there but they’re inclusion has merit and most if not all are worth their place in this and future offaly panels.

I’m not really disagreeing with what you’re saying about Cian tbh, he’s been dealing with injuries for the past 2 years plus and I’ve no doubt if he plays solely for Ferbane this year with no county commitments, he’ll absolutely prove himself to be their main man but even last year while it was clear he wasn’t fully fit, I’d still have had him down as one of the 6, 8, 10 best forwards in the club championship which is why it baffles me that some of the names above are deemed good enough to be on the bench but not him.

As for the list of players there, having an u20 all Ireland medal is great but unless it translates into senior level then I’m not sure what the relevance of that is to this discussion, plus I might add that one of those was an unused sub on that u20 team.

You’re saying one of those was a starter for his university team in the Sigerson final but we didn’t have any players start or get subbed on in the Sigerson final?

You say another is a big player for Tullamore but there’s a fair argument to be made that Cormac Egan, Diarmuid Egan, Harry and Luke Plunkett are all ahead of him in the pecking order.

O’Toole Greene was part of the TUS Trench cup team but would anybody have ever picked him as a standout player for Shamrocks who merits inclusion in an Offaly panel. Nigel Dunne, Jack Bryant and Kieran Dolan have at different points but I can’t say OTG ever has.

Evans is about 27 or 28 I believe and has had a few goes on Offaly panels, has he ever been a marquee player for us?

To put a bow on all of this, if some of these players are as good as you say then why did we not turn to them on Sunday when we needed impact from the bench with 10-15 minutes to go. Three games into the league and we’ve only used 19 players, doesn’t say much for the confidence Kearns has in his bench.

To be fair, think some of commentary is unfair. Johnson is young. Had bad injury. Great finisher but thats probably it. Has he much else than that? Anton Hyland and Panda were all great young finishers, but have developed physically to compete at high level. Question marks there over physicality. Needs to follow suit and if he does, will be great player. We should keep him involved for s&c work even if he has been left off. No problem with letting him back to club for while. Needs to get back playing.

O Brien played in Sigerson final I'm fairly sure. A strong player who featured on Kelly's u20 teams before 2021. Well worth salt on panel.

Luke Egan had great year for Tullamore. Still only 20. Huge potential. Needs to get physically stronger and will do that. Well worth panel spot. The lads you name are different types of players. I'd say Harry Plunkett probably better but not by much. Diarmuid Egan had strong year for Tullamore and also worth place on panel. Luke Egan will prove to be better than lots of that u20 team that won all Ireland. He chose to hurl with county that year and missed out as result. Otherwise lads would be raving about him.

Evans only about 26 id say. Was prodigius talent when young. Prob not near his potential fitness level given how far Gracefield have fallen. Martin Murphy would know he can be real player for Offaly. Give him 6 months to catch up on fitness and he could easily be a starter for Offaly.

Delaney still very young. Give lad a chance. In 3 years time he will be 23 for God sake.

O Toole Green also well worthy. Probably scored goal of championship last year against Tullamore. Young, strong and easily as important to Shamrocks as those mentioned. Also played on Kelly's pre 2021 u20 teams and can play in forwards and backs. Again, first year in so Give him a chance. Think he could surprise a few yet and see championship action this year.

Agree re Farrell, I'd have expected him in sooner. But don't forget, only coming back and may have been medical decision. Best he is right in Summer rather than rushing and missing out because rushed back too quick in league.

[Superhans75]

We will have play a fairly high tempo game on Sunday
Hopefully dry pitch will be able to use our pace .
But if we get dragged into physical game were in trouble
Definitely a season changing game already !
Great win last night against Tipperary last night.
Mind you I think tipp are in a lifeboat mentality.
Bringing some friends to the Longford game anything to do in that place bar bang your head against the wall ?

[private joker]

Football in tipperary has slipped dramatically in the last number of years. Hurling has completely taken over at development squad level. No comparison in how the two are ran.

[biffinbanner]

never heard anything as ridiculous as saying cian johnston was only a great finisher but no more than that?!?! a fully fit cian along with the other cian are the best 2 forwards offaly have.(obv outside of niall whos unavailable it seems)

[SearingDrive]

We will have play a fairly high tempo game on Sunday
Hopefully dry pitch will be able to use our pace .
But if we get dragged into physical game were in trouble
Definitely a season changing game already !
Great win last night against Tipperary last night.
Mind you I think tipp are in a lifeboat mentality.
Bringing some friends to the Longford game anything to do in that place bar bang your head against the wall ?

Whenever I visit Longford, I visit the Longford Arms Hotel for something to eat, before the football match. They do a carvery lunch, you can park in the adjacent Tesco site, or in a car park beside the hotel, think it is Little Water Street?
Getting a result at Pearse Park is never easy.

[TownieInOz]

never heard anything as ridiculous as saying cian johnston was only a great finisher but no more than that?!?! a fully fit cian along with the other cian are the best 2 forwards offaly have.(obv outside of niall whos unavailable it seems)

It's his great finishing that makes him one of the best forwards in the county, don't think that's a ridiculous statement at all.

[Anonymous1]

never heard anything as ridiculous as saying cian johnston was only a great finisher but no more than that?!?! a fully fit cian along with the other cian are the best 2 forwards offaly have.(obv outside of niall whos unavailable it seems)

Have to agree with this, a fully fit Johnson is as dangerous a forward as we have in the county. Absolutely a great finisher, when he goes through on goals it almost always ends up in the net but he’s a lot more than just a finisher. He rarely kicks a wide, is a good playmaker, wins an unhealthy number of frees and has also shown the steel to come up with big scores late in games when others would be afraid to shoot. He’s almost always the top scorer in the club championship from play despite often being targeted by the opposing team and/or double marked. Maybe he does need to get slightly more physical but that can be easily worked on whereas only a gifted few have the other things I mentioned. In a county the size of Offaly, we really can’t afford to let players of his quality slip through the cracks.