www.uibhfhaili.com

I see in today's Indo that the draws for the O'Byrne and Walsh cups were made with our footballers taking on the might of Kilkenny and our hurlers have a home draw with Antrim in the new year.

Hadn't seen that - handy though. A trip up to Casement for the Walsh Cup would be a bridge too far for me I suspect.

As far as i know LS, I think we are at home to Antrim.We are listed first in the newspapers so im pretty sure we have home advantage, but i can't be absolutely certain.

Kilkenny on Sunday in the O'Byrne.
Is this still on? Is it in Nowlan Park ? What sort of team will Offaly line out ?

The game is still on, we're at home, I think its O'Connor park, although I heard a rumour it could very well be in Gracefield. The venue will definitly be confirmed tonight [Tuesday 3rd Jan]. I dont think the team is selected yet, it will probably be the end of the week or on Sunday before its known. More than likely it will probably be a very experimental team considering the time of year and opposition we are up against.

From http://www.leinstergaa.ie:

UPCOMING FIXTURES

O'Byrne Cup 2006

Sunday 8th January 2006
Kilkenny (2.00p.m.) Kilkenny v Offaly

I heard the game is on in Nolan Park!

Yes Hyper, Offaly were down to play at home but Kilkenny asked for the game to be played at a Kilkenny venue. Offaly agreed to this request providing it is played at Nowlan park only, and not off out at the back of nowhere.

Kevin Meehan
Kevin Lynam
James Rafferty
Nigel Grennan
Tom O’Connor
Scott Brady
Karl Slattery
Ciaran McManus
Neville Coughlan
Colm Quinn
Damien Hunt
Leonard Mooney
Gary Mahon
Ross Connor
Thomas Deehan


Subs
Padraic Kelly
Diarmuid Donoghue
Tomás Coughlan
Sean Casey
Alan McNamee
Shane Sullivan
Sean Ryan
Paul McConway

Offaly 0-25
Kilkenny 0-2

Kevin Meehan

Kevin Lynam (0-1)
James Rafferty (Sean Casey)
Nigel Grennan (Diarmuid O'Donoghue)

Tom O'Connor (0-1)
Scott Brady
Karl Slattery (Paul McConway)

Alan McNamee (0-1) Yellow Card (Shane Sullivan)
Neville Coughlan

Sean Ryan (0-3)
Ciaran McManus (0-2) (Paraic Bracken)
Leonard Mooney (0-3) Yellow Card

Gary Mahon (0-2)
Ross Connor (0-6 - 0-3 frees)
Thomas Deehan (0-5)

I'm missing a scorer of one point so apologies to the player concerned.
Offaly Wides 11 (5 in first half, 6 in second half)

Tomas Coughlan seemed to fail a fitness test beforehand, Karol Slattery picked up a knock and Thomas Deehan pulled up with some sort of muscle pull near the end.

Suffice it to say that everybody looked good. The full back line was solid, the half back line swept up well, midfield picked up a lot of breaks, Sean Ryan was pacey and accurate, Mac made a lot of good runs behind the backs, Leonard Mooney linked up well and finished, Gary Mahon caught the eye at times winning ball and scored a nice angled point, Ross Connor was a good target man & point scorer and Thomas Deehan seemed to be back to his impish best.

The manager has to get marks for trying out the young players and some of his player placements worked out well.

Louth will be a far bigger test!!

A very informative and accurate report Bogman. I too was at the match and I would certainly concur with the fact that everyone did well but to be quite honest my auntie Margaret would have played well yesterday, the standard of opposition was to say the least [non existant]. Thankfully Louth will be a far stiffer test in Drogheda next week where we can probably judge the newcomers better in a more competitive environment. As for yesterday it was good for target practice and at the end of the day a win is a win, we can only beat what is in front of us. Next Sunday evening we will know a little bit more.

HEAR HEAR!!!

One thing for sure we need the target practice!!!

On a different note, Can someone that was at the game give us a reading on how interested Kilkenny looked. I read last week that they'd have 27-28 lads mad to go Sunday (this was about the football team) and I wondered if this was true. Looking at the Offaly team it seems to be very young, which is great, but if that team was put out against Rhode for example and the game would be a lot closer. I'd love to see Kilkenny giving it a shot at the football for a few years and I'm sure there are a few lads on the team that would love that also but I hate the way they seem to go at it with little or no interest, must be very hard for some of the players to get hammered each week.

Good confidence builder for the team, obivously had a structure to their game which was great to see, as the days of hoofing a high ball up the field and hoping for the best are long over. Very interesting to see the way management are bringing along a whole new breed of player and allowing them develop as a unit, rather than trying to play the ball to one 'STAR' player which is so easy defend against in todays game !!

This is 'TOTAL FOOTBALL' which is enjoyable to watch and presents Offaly a genuine opportunity to be real contenders in Leinster and beyond this year . Fair dues to Kevin, Gerry and Jimmey for having the 'bottle' to give youth a chance,the vision to try a new game plan, and the wisdom to look further than the traditional names of players to discover a bunch of raw, commited,never say die,type of player, who deserve our support as they grow in confidence!

Don't want to be too negative about yer post there overview, just think that next weeks game against Louth will give a more realistic picture of where the management and young lads are at this stage.
Sure a win is always welcome, but Kilkenny are not like any other county you could play against.