Offaly Senior Footballers 2024

[Superhans75]

2 trips up north for the football .
Looking forward to that since July

[Buttons]

Jan 28th Offaly vs Westmeath
Feb 4th Antrim vs Offaly
Feb 18th Offaly vs Clare
Feb 24th Down vs Offaly
March 3rd Offaly vs Wicklow
March 17th Sligo vs Offaly
March 24th Offaly vs Limerick

[jimbob17]

Jan 28th Offaly vs Westmeath
Feb 4th Antrim vs Offaly
Feb 18th Offaly vs Clare
Feb 24th Down vs Offaly
March 3rd Offaly vs Wicklow
March 17th Sligo vs Offaly
March 24th Offaly vs Limerick

You'd have to think that this is probably the weakest Div 3 that we have played since we joined it 6 or 7 years ago. Every team is capable of beating each other and all will fancy chances.

The first game is a derby Westmeath will be expected to win. A win here sets us up nicely but Westmeath will be seen as probable promotion candidates and they will be disappointed with last years league after Tailteann cup success. Year 2 for Dessie D also so they will have big expectations.

Antrim have improved no doubt and become more competitive but if we are to see ourselves as promotion contenders, it is a must win game.

Clare under Colm Collins would be favourites to win in Rnd 3 but they are now without their spiritual leader and they are way more vulnerable. Its a winnable game now for certain. That said, a draw is a good result here.

Down have improved immensely in last 2 years and will be favourites here. The Kilcoo contingent are back and they have had some exceptional underage teams too over last number of years that are now coming through. A strong display here will satisfy us and a loss would be expected but not be the end of the world if we can properly compete with them.

We need to beat Wicklow and an improving Sligo to have chance at promotion. Sligo I think will go well and will be contending for promotion so need to pay respects here and not take any way for granted.

Limerick at home could be huge occasion in Tullamore with promotion on the line. Limerick 2 years ago were serious outfit but they had a wobble last year after Billy Lee left as manager, despite possibly having stabilised since - we dont know.

If we are right we should be in the top half and in contention over the last 3 matches. 9 or 10 points might see a team get promotion if the teams are very close and everybody is taking points off each other so if we can get 3 or 4 points from the first 4 matches we could still be in contention for promotion where we play more winnable games in March.

Apparently we beat a depleted Longford team fairly well at the weekend which is positive but should be placed in context. They were depleted and dont have the work done that we might have. There is a lot of work done by all accounts and if we can get a win against Westmeath in first round, we will be set up nicely to have a real crack at getting into second spot.

Id expect Down to take 5 or 6 wins at least to finish in top spot.

[Anonymous1]

Jan 28th Offaly vs Westmeath
Feb 4th Antrim vs Offaly
Feb 18th Offaly vs Clare
Feb 24th Down vs Offaly
March 3rd Offaly vs Wicklow
March 17th Sligo vs Offaly
March 24th Offaly vs Limerick

A quick glance at the fixtures and you’d be expecting us to beat Antrim, Wicklow, Sligo and Limerick but lose to Westmeath, Clare and Down to finish in our usual mid table spot.

[Lone Shark]

Jan 28th Offaly vs Westmeath
Feb 4th Antrim vs Offaly
Feb 18th Offaly vs Clare
Feb 24th Down vs Offaly
March 3rd Offaly vs Wicklow
March 17th Sligo vs Offaly
March 24th Offaly vs Limerick

It's a very competitive division and absolutely, Offaly are entitled to consider themselves in the promotion mix, but that's a very lopsided schedule, and it wouldn't take a lot to go wrong for us to have no points by the end of February. I do not rate Dessie Dolan as a manager but Westmeath still have a core group of quite experienced players, and that harrowing Tailteann Cup game in HQ is not that long ago. I think we're a better side than Antrim, even allowing for their talent, but a trip to Corrigan Park isn't easy under any circumstances, and Andy McEntee, for all his issues with temperament, is getting a tune out of them.

Clare could go either way now that Colm Collins has gone, and I don't expect them to win D3, but they're a team that's used to operating in D2, and last year they lost to both Kildare and Dublin by a single point, while beating Louth.

Then you have Down, who are absolutely turning things around under Conor Laverty, and are a world apart from the team we edged out in Newry a couple of years ago. Unlike a lot of Ulster venues, I'd always give us a chance up there, but we're still big underdogs all the same.

Now I would expect us to win the last three games if they were just standalone games, but that's why the schedule is so significant. If we don't have a point by the time Wicklow come to town, the world of pressure is on, and the goalposts start to get a lot narrower very quickly, so to speak.

[Bord na Mona man]

Most years Div 3 has:
a) a Div 1/2 standard team, briefly lapsing into D3 - Kildare 2016, Armagh in 2017/18, Cork in 2020.
b) a newly promoted Div 4 team, shooting upwards that will breeze through - Leix 2019, Derry in 2021, Louth in 2022, Cavan in 2023.

In 2024, I don't see any team that are level above the standard of the division, either a big fish out of water, or a flyer from the basement.
Unusually, every game is winnable for Offaly, whereas most years, it averaged about 5 games.

Bear in mind, every other county looking at the fixtures will be targetting Offaly as a very winnable game!

[Superhans75]

It's a very open league
I just don't think we have mentality to get promoted but have a good enough squad to avoid relegation.
Down are the strongest team.
Wicklow could be the suprise package .

Looking forward to the new season.

[biffinbanner]

clare have lost about 10 starters from last year when colm collins went. id expect them to struggle.

[faithfulfanatic]

Odds to win Allianz League Division 3 2024
Down 11/10
Westmeath 11/4
Clare 8/1
Offaly 9/1
Sligo 10/1
Antrim 14/1
Limerick 20/1
Wicklow 50/1

Surprised by a few of these.
Down are a very short price, usually reserved for the relegated teams of the previous year.
Clare 8/1 having been relegated last year and with a lot of lads missing for next year.
I think 20/1 for Limerick is a staggering price, double the odds of Sligo who are just up from Division 4.
Limerick didn't do very well in Division 2 last year, but I haven't heard of a mass exodus or anything?
Sligo travel to Limerick on February 18th, I can't see Sligo going in as favs?

I think the value will lie with Limerick to be promoted/match bets or else with Westmeath to win the league at 11/4.

Offaly's value seems fair enough.
Westmeath at home first up, then away to Antrim, then home to Clare.
We will know a lot more about our credentials at this stage.

[bracknaghboy]

Our senior footballers beat Mayo in a challenge a few days ago.
Seems the games are behind closed doors (or is it gates?).
Some players wore masks and other disguises entering the ground so as not to be identified I heard.
The GAA has lost the plot!!

[jimbob17]

Wouldn't put any weight on any result we get in any challenge this time of year. You don't know who you are really up against. Possibly B / C teams we play at times. We beat a fraction of a Longford team and lost to a third of a Roscommon team too. It means nothing. Main thing is we have best players in and they are training hard. League in Feb will tell all....

[Behindthegoal]

I heard Panda has left the panel due to a toxic atmosphere. He wouldn’t be the type who would be causing trouble but this isn’t a good thing to be hearing before a competitive match has even been played you’d think if he gave the commitment for the full winter training he would at least give it another while as the league is starting in 4 weeks?
First sign of Declan Kelly cracking the whip maybe he has a reputation for it but could go either way a lot of the time. Also this means panda has probably played his last game for Offaly which is sad because he’s been a great servant regularly popping up with scores from play when they were needed, all the best to him in the future

[jimbob17]

Sorry to hear this. Panda has been a very good servant and probably one of our most prominent and reliable forwards over last 10 years.

[Kevin]

Our senior footballers beat Mayo in a challenge a few days ago.
Seems the games are behind closed doors (or is it gates?).
Some players wore masks and other disguises entering the ground so as not to be identified I heard.
The GAA has lost the plot!!

Masks? Not a joke? Good Lord!

[ah lethimoutwithit]

Eh no Kevin, yes its a joke, relax.

But they may have had the temerity to wear hats and like the trillick goalie, maybe a snood which may be seen as a disguise and used in other circumstances (both north and south), but strangely enough is seen as an acceptable item of clothing for the moden male or indeed Gael in this setting.
These items could unwittingly lead some people to be less identifable but would keep people warm at this time of year.

Happy New Year, and will chat more serious GAA matters at that time, probably end of Jan after OB cup.