Re: Offaly Senior Footballers 2025
Posted: Mon Mar 17, 2025 1:10 am
A huge change from last year. The influence of Mickey Harte, and the squad revision by Declan Kelly have delivered a team playing with purpose and skill.jimbob17 wrote: ↑Sun Mar 16, 2025 8:33 pm As good a showing from Offaly as we have had in a long time in the league. Only thing that tops that over last 10 years is the Meath championship win 2 years ago.
Massive turnaround from last year and it appears to have been a masterstroke to pull in Harte at this stage. The team has evolved massively from last year and through the league in that we have Dunican back in goals. Bracken and McDaid have come into full back line. Hayes has really stepped up in MF. Kyle Higgins and Shane Tierney have made an impact also after being left out last year, while others have also come into fold in Bourke, Leavy Diarmuid Egan and probably a couple more. That is a good few and obviously Harte's experience has obviously added to how we are moving.
The mood in the camp was questioned earlier and legitimately so after some poor results in challenge games on back of last years annus horribilis and question marks over who would be in starting team or left off at start of year. I am more than delighted things have worked out and the mood seems to have turned around massively on back of 5 wins and almost certain promotion next weekend.
As for today, It was absolutely brilliant and credit to players and management against a fancied Kildare who were both bigger, stronger and even looked more athletic than our lads today. But we totally outplayed them and won on merit with much better footballers than them. For our size disadvantages we more than made up for it with footballing nous.
Kildare had mountains of ball in 2nd half and went sideways and backwards when there was clear shooting opportunities. If I was from Kildare i'd be disgusted with their inability to just have a go for a longer range score with the wind. But we stayed with them and when chips were down our superior football ability and no shortage of pace and skill shone through.
Dunican was excellent under high ball. Jimmy Hyland threatened to come alive in second half but our backs shut him and others down and they must have made at least 3 forward subs before game ended. Bracken was solid and McDaid and Pearson were excellent going forward setting up and getting involved in attacks. No substitute for speed. McDaid did brilliantly for the penalty and is a great bit of stuff for his size.
The Egans at 5 and 7 were huge also going forward and they had massive influence on result but Cormac Egans attemts at blocking Kildares point shots in second half was inspiring and he left everything on pitch - so much so, I was surprised he played out to the end when he looked absolutely boll***d. It was as good a wing back display as I've seen in a while. Ruairis finish for goal was class but the build up from the back in right corner back spot was outstanding.
Furlong was solid without being spectacular and it is great to have him back. We broke even in midfield against bigger men and I'd say Jordan Hayes won his battle and was very clever in controlling the game in the last 10 minutes.
Jordan Hayes was brilliant today in 2nd half and was one of our best, and led by example. McEvoy had a right good game too and came up with some really big plays in last 20 minutes when game was in melting pot.
Keith O Neill wasnt as influential as he was in earlier games but was still a solid 7.5/10 and I was surprised he was taken off as soon as he was. He scored a great point in second half that was most certainly over as I was directly behind it but somehow the umpire waved it wide. Cathal Flynn was excellent and this was his best game yet for seniors i'd say. Must be a nightmare to mark for opposition 6 as he can go left or right and turn on a sixpence. Kyle Higgins was very solid again and really dug out midfield when they needed it at times in second half.
Inside, Hyland was really alive throughout and you could see a good chemistry developing there with Tierney and Bryant and they never got in each others way despite often starting runs in around the same area. Hyland is such a scoring threat from close in and from distance and has grown into one of the best forwards in Leinster over the last two years. His two pointer capability are a large part of why we are top of the league. Bryant didnt do much scoring but he was busy and showed very well to link the play in a way he wasnt doing much of in other games. Thought Tierney was a real thorn in Kildares side today and without scoring hugely, I felt he was really central to our scoring and must have created at least 1-3 or 1-4 for us doing brilliantly for Egan's goal. He showed constantly for the ball and is a nightmare to mark. In second half the referee should have given him at least one free as he was constantly being held inside by full back when we were looking to feed in the ball.
Our bench is getting stronger with Aaron Leavy back in fold now, he will be pushing for a championship start. Diarmuid Egan, C Bourke, R McNamee and D Dempsey will also have a major job getting back in the team now which is great for squad competition. Gallagher and Sawyer appear to have slipped down pecking order and with lads returning from injury in next few weeks, there is now real competition to get into the match day 26.
I was delighted to see us playing so well and getting a well deserved result against a very well rated Kildare outfit. So many of our players played so well when it mattered and the prize and result is massive. A good showing next week will see us getting up which is what I felt we should be aiming for at the start of the year. Brilliant day for Offaly football fans. Well done lads.
