Offaly Senior Hurlers 2023

[Kevin]

The standing in which the GAA hold the Joe McDonagh cup has been laid bare this week. To fix a game in a ground with a capped capacity of 900 is absolutely disgraceful in my opinion.

Kildare should be ashamed of themselves. First their nonsense with Newbridge or Nowhere and now this. It’s actually an insult to all the hurlers taking part.

But particularly our guys. At least Kildare GAA can say to their players, “look it’s not ideal but we’ve given you a great chance here by getting this game fixed for our training centre. You’re hugely familiar with the pitch etc so let’s get the show back on the road”.

But to Offaly it’s Kildare GAA saying a big “Fcuk You”.

Hope we beat the sh1t out of them.

+1

[old yellar]

An outsiders view - it happens! Unfortunately or not counties will take any advantage they can take especially in a must win game. This isn't about spectators (Kildare most likely loosing revenue/would bring a big crowd etc if elsewhere) but about the familiar surroundings of a pitch for the players - hawkfield obviously being a much used one. It goes on at varying levels - small ones like in the past counties bringing their own preferred sliothars and using them in game etc to venues. A personal example of this was when I was involved with the seniors here in covid times and we had to play down in the league. Big game. Away. Rem there was limited tickets (was it 300 I think max at games?) So any venue could have held it in down really. But they insisted on ballycran which meant an overnight for us/covid risk in the hotel/expense,/extra time away for our lads as newry was drivable etc. Wouldn't budge and we couldn't get it changed. Down beat us and it left us in a bad place points wise. So it worked for them! So like us, I d imagine johnny Kelly is keeping this who ha away from the players, get the emotion out of the game and look at how to beat them on the pitch. Carlow gave them a good beating last week - a 30+ turnaround on league game, so it's just about doing that. And the players, while they ll like to have the whole county there, only really care about that result too. From their perspective it's probably as big a game as they ever played. Huge investment over last few years financially. Had 7/8 pre kehoe cup/league games - unbeaten. Go through the k cup/league unbeaten. Then possibly in 14 days, loose a league final and if they loose this, most likely exit the Joe mc (possibly relying on other results). So it's a massive game for them and they ll try use any edge possible to turn it in their favour. As the mafia say, it's just business, nothing personal! Best of luck.

[SearingDrive]

An outsiders view - it happens! Unfortunately or not counties will take any advantage they can take especially in a must win game. This isn't about spectators (Kildare most likely loosing revenue/would bring a big crowd etc if elsewhere) but about the familiar surroundings of a pitch for the players - hawkfield obviously being a much used one. It goes on at varying levels - small ones like in the past counties bringing their own preferred sliothars and using them in game etc to venues. A personal example of this was when I was involved with the seniors here in covid times and we had to play down in the league. Big game. Away. Rem there was limited tickets (was it 300 I think max at games?) So any venue could have held it in down really. But they insisted on ballycran which meant an overnight for us/covid risk in the hotel/expense,/extra time away for our lads as newry was drivable etc. Wouldn't budge and we couldn't get it changed. Down beat us and it left us in a bad place points wise. So it worked for them! So like us, I d imagine johnny Kelly is keeping this who ha away from the players, get the emotion out of the game and look at how to beat them on the pitch. Carlow gave them a good beating last week - a 30+ turnaround on league game, so it's just about doing that. And the players, while they ll like to have the whole county there, only really care about that result too. From their perspective it's probably as big a game as they ever played. Huge investment over last few years financially. Had 7/8 pre kehoe cup/league games - unbeaten. Go through the k cup/league unbeaten. Then possibly in 14 days, loose a league final and if they loose this, most likely exit the Joe mc (possibly relying on other results). So it's a massive game for them and they ll try use any edge possible to turn it in their favour. As the mafia say, it's just business, nothing personal! Best of luck.

A big game for Offaly hurlers. Kildare using a small ground for their benefit. The best answer to this is to beat Kildare. Good luck to Offaly.

[Superhans75]

Is it my imagination or is the Gaa turning into a couple of
5 year olds fighting over whoso ball it is !

[Faithful Future]

Not a lot to say about the fixture venue other than it's a mixture of desperation from Kildare to eek out a result, and also a reflection of where hurling really stands in the county. They want to make this as scrappy as possible and obviously had fears that any other half decent venues wouldn't sell out following their poor results over the last few weeks.

The league defeat probably hit them hard and this is really an opportunity for the Lily's to exact revenge particularly after their humiliation at Carlow's hands last week.

This weekend is a great chance for our lads to drive home their progress. From what I saw in the second half last week, we really seemed to click and look like they were enjoying their hurling. Some of our key players came to the fore - I particularly liked what I saw from Kiely. Great work rate and support play. He really is the type of player who can mix it every way from skill, ball-winning, physicality, good in the air and he seems to be bringing a good controlled aggression.

Kildare will surely look to play their running game so we should know what to expect.
Cool heads are required from our side. We could also do with another one or two of our forwards chipping in with a few more scores. Kildare will know to try and keep free count low and keep Cahill a marked man. Mitchell will hardly be playing will he?

Id love to see more out of Sampson at wing back he's a real talent but I think as the ground hardens up he's going to come into his own.

The Joe Mcdonagh cup games tend to be high scoring and tight affairs and I can't see this one being any different. I see us holding out to for something like the following score: Offaly 1.23 to Kildare 2.16

[Hasselhoff]

Good points made here.
I wonder would it happen if Kildare footballers were playing.

They are looking for every advantage.

St conleths is also a very tight pitch as well.

[Fairplayalways]

not sure what if anything Kildare might be upto as is suggested by a few posters, not fully upto speed with Kildare venues other than Newbridge which is unavailable for obvious reasons, I would take more aim a GAA higher archy on this, Waterfords Walsh park is out of bounds due to works, so Waterford concede home advantage in hurling intercounty games, same rules should apply by GAA higher archy to Kildare here, or at least play the game in nearest available county ground. I wouldnt be rushing to dampen down Kildares progress, they have a Kilkenny man over them and have lost 2 games in a row, one to Offaly whom we would have sort of expected even if we were not going too well in the league be it we were winnning...and secondly lost to Carlow a week out from losing a game that was their (Kildares) biggest game in a long time (if ever) trying to get to Division 1. Offaly will need to kick on now and bring their second half performances against Kildare and Laois respectively into games from the off as the opposition improves somewhat..Kildare I think will give Offaly another tough game this weekend regardless of where its played, if they arent stung by the league final defeat they should be (with a Kilkenny man at the helm they will be out for revenge no doubt)..Kiely is flying now again, midfield for me is his best postion, he can cover up and back, he adds that bit of grit we lacked...Offaly to win i think, but expect a battle and dont be surprised if Kildare put up a performance to ge them some sort of result too..they havent become a bad team by losing to Carlow, whom we seem to battle against also...

[JimBwobb]

After all the debacle over venue and the lack of availability of tickets - their still available:

https://am.ticketmaster.com/gaa/23HD1604

[Superhans75]

Awful game hard to know what to make of it
But I'd fancy scoring a goal against us .
Improvement needed badly .

[old yellar]

Went up after - no one wanted the tickets, so I grabbed a few and away we went! Lots of tickets available apparently (I know of 3 left at the gate alone..). No issue with venue etc. A thing of nothing in the end.. the game itself was a strange one. I d love to see the wide tallies - I d say Kildare hit 10+ easily in first half and poor from frees (ended with goalie on them - free taking has cost them before). Offaly v sharp in that 1st half. Hit some excellebt long range scores from various players. Kiely looked sharp and cahil was dangerous throughout. The sending off was a key moment but I still think the better team won - it took a body out of Kildare attach and allowed a luxury sweeper for ye. I liked offalys attitude in trying to go over the crowded middle with long ball (good ball) from Sampson and the busy Nally in the middle. 2nd half was sloppy but maybe harder focus when having a big lead. I didn't think allowing ben c move further out the field was effective (he was chasing down the Kildare goalie at one stage!) And I thought he might have been better deployed in a marking role on boran. Just my thought. There was a decent spread of scores and offalys touch/skill set was sharp. You can have all the systems you want but if you can't do the basics (no matter what the level!) You are in trouble - this was highlighted by 3/4 missed easy Kildare pick up attempts, Kiely picks first time and paves the way for cahils goal. Game over Ger.. I saw ye in the flesh v ourselves (Carlow) in the league and I think both teams have progressed a lot. I was impressed by the 1st half in particular and with laois hitting form/big score today and ourselves and Kerry drawing, it puts ye in a nice position.

[kingscounty]

As long as they keep winning I’d forgive the performance, win by any means necessary to get us out of the JMD.
No easy games left either, Carlow and Kerry will be huge tests again

[Faithful Future]

A decent showing today. A win is a win as they say
Disappointing to only shoot 1.4 in the second half against 14 men when the game opened up but in saying that, fatigue must be starting to set in after so many games in a row. Disappointing nonetheless.

Positives
- Burke is really growing in confidence at full back. Sampson is coming into his own in the centre back role and Killian S is starting to push on with a couple of points today. King showed good composure as well. Would prefer Conneely wasn't utilized as far forward as he is such a reliable defender.
- Kiely again stood out. Super talent and delighted to see him come to the fore.
- We almost take Cahill's sharp shooting for granted at this stage but he really is outstanding. It's invaluable to have a free taker with 95% accuracy and also the ability to chip in with a few excellent scores. Kildare suffered from the lack of a marquee forward.. not a great look for them with their goalie top scoring.
- Work-rate of our forward line has to be commended. It has been notable that the team have improved on this area this season, granted Kildare's predictable short passing style plays right into this.

Concerns
- Seems to be an Offaly trait at this stage, but we became very passive and lacked any cutting edge once we went ahead. Lads just seemed to be going through the motions. Laois showed what it looks like to drive home a victory an hour later. This should be an area of focus I feel for this team - I think this has to be player driven with lads on the field driving standards.
- Bench options are limited, particularly at the back. Have we anyone injured to come back in over the next few weeks?
- We lost the aerial battle today, apart from in our full back line... Definitely a worry given the standard of opposition and something tangible to work on over the coming weeks.
- I'd like to see more tenacity from our team overall.


Side notes.
- interesting to see as we move into summer/championship hurling, Kildare's short passing running style comes up short. Great to see them progressing but they will have to mix it a little bit more as their next phase of progression.
- such a pity Oisin Kelly is out with a bad injury again. He is one of few inside forwards with that bit of x factor that we are lacking.
- isn't it great to have a bit of optimism? We're in a good position to push on for a final now. If we do manage to get that far, winning a final won't be easy. The optimism is further heightened by some good results by our minors and u20s. There will be lots of setbacks along the way but we're slowly but surely moving in the right direction.

Uibh Fhailí abú

[private joker]

The recent success for minors and u20s is low hanging fruit. U20s haven't play anyone yet of any quality. Minors bet kerry and westmeath. Offaly minors journey will probably come to and end this weekend vs kk. Be interested to see how u20s fare after the kildare game.

[bracknaghboy]

It was never about the capacity of the venue. Offaly supporters generally only come when something big is up for grabs and most have no interest in games like this and it was proven out today.
Kildare were in panic mode after their mini collapse in Portlaoise 2 weeks ago and their total capitulation last week in Carlow so rather than face up to it they put their hope in a small venue and the possibility of upsetting Offaly there. Problem is that their problems are now far greater than a slightly tighter pitch can fix. They looked clueless today at times and it's a warning to any team (Offaly included) how quickly the wheels can come off. They are lucky that Down in a bad state at the moment or relegation would be a possibility.
Offaly were excellent today and put the game to bed by half time, I've no problem with how the 2nd half played out as they were always in control and the legs must surely be starting to feel the weeks of action at this stage so you can't expect them to keep going for the 70 mins at the rate they were.
David King was my man of the match, did so much right today.

I saw ye in the flesh v ourselves (Carlow) in the league and I think both teams have progressed a lot. I was impressed by the 1st half in particular and with laois hitting form/big score today and ourselves and Kerry drawing, it puts ye in a nice position.

I've a feeling there will be a lot on the table Yellar come the final round in Carlow. Ye have really got the act together after a poor league and are now in with a realistic shout of going all the way. The Laois game next week will be a good measure of where Carlow are at.

[Superhans75]

I'm at work sobering thought on a Monday morning
Lol
We were lucky referee wise yesterday we definitely could have had a couple of red cards yesterday.
Definitely a game to forget but we won that's what is important.
Skill wise we are awful at times but it's our level
Have a good week