County senior football championship

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[Frank Mcguigan]

It was a bad mistake by Dunne ,but he is still a young player playing his first year senior and apart from the mistake i thought he had a pretty good game ! People in this county are far to eager in this county to jump on peoples backs and point the finger , no wonder so many young players dont want too play .

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Clara 1-13 Tubber 0-12. Tubber left to wonder what might have been. McManus saw his penalty brilliantly saved by Kevin Meehan, Brian Kelly also had a shot saved by Meehan when he was 1 on 1, and Keith Rafferty had his top corner bound shot blocked by Ledwith(I think). You could tell Tubber were really up for it, their midfield held the upper hand over the Bradys but, still, Clara should learn from this and come back stronger in the semis.

[black and red exile]

This was my fourth time to watch Tubber this year and I have to say it was by far their most impressive performance by a distance, the bottom line is that they should have won this, Kevin Meehan had the game of his life and Clara can thank him for keeping them in the championship but Tubber just didn't take their chances where as the one goal chance that Clara got John Reynolds buried with 8 mins to go.
I must say I was impressed with Tubber's Bernard Allen tonight who kicked 5 points [3 from play] always eager to show for the ball and very accurate, he would certainly be worth a go on the senior panel next year, he always performed well at underage for Offaly and he can certainly take a score, a very similar player to Tommo Deehan in my opinion.
One final thing, this was by far the best of the 3 quarter finals this weekend, I drove down to Tullamore with the same excitement as going to a bad funeral but came back home after enjoying a good oul tussle with the two neighbours, the quality wasn't always great but their was no quarter given or taken by either side, the best game I've seen in quite a while at club level.

[Long John]

Have to say I agree with black and red exile. The standard of football at the weekend was the worst I have seen since the 90's. Not one team stood out in any way.

WI were totally at sea against Tullamore. They have some terrible clumsy looking footballers who had not got an ounce of football in them. Tullamore were miles ahead of them and its not saying much. This is the worst Tullamore team in years. Quiet a young team that play mostly as individuals. Williamson was dreadful. Running around like a headless chicken, and losing possession. Dooley kicked a couple of good points with a strong breeze to his back but I wouldnt say he was superb by any means. The super blues are missing some leaders like they always had.
Ballycumber, well, where do you start. They had the breeze in first half but couldnt get away from Shamrocks. Quinn was running the show but Guinan was struggling badly against Mooney. Ballycumbers midfield was terrible, time and time again Monaghan broke through without anyone near him. Ballycumber couldnt handle Ward who was the best player I saw all weekend. Mistakes cost Ballycumber but Shamrocks were poor too. I cant understand how Ward is not starting for Offaly. He is 100 times the footballer Reynolds or even the likes of Casey, Guilfoyle or Connor are.
Tubber gave Clara alot to think about. Clara went in expecting a walk in the park and didnt like the pressure Tubber put on them. It proved what Ive always known, this Clara team are very beatable, Reynolds, Deehan and co cant handle physical football. Tubber were a bit unlucky in this one as Meehan saved Clara's blushes a few times.
Its still a toss up now between Clara and Rhode to win the Dowling. If Rhode get it together they are the better team but this is a very poor championship and I would not be suprised if Clara went on and won it after the bit of luck they had yesterday.

[Georgio1]

Ward shows up well at club level, and has way more ability than some of the forwards we have. However he is never available for the winter slog, could have landed us in Div 4 football, (crazy sending off v Limerick 2 yrs ago), is injury prone, and does not have the work ethic required. At club level he gets the space, unfortunately more to it at county level. And thats why.

[black and red exile]

A fully fit a focused PJ Ward is a must for the starting 15 for Offaly but as Georgio 1 pointed out he doesn't have the heart for the winter slog, from the months of January to May there always seems to be an arse or an elbow wrong with him, he has a pain here or a sickness there which suggests he is not willing to go the extra mile to make the cut, he looked in great shape on Saturday and was on fire as he was when I saw him against Gracefield and although the standard of opposition was poor to say the least he looks to be the fittest he has been in a long time. It will be interesting come the months after Christmas to see if his little aches and pains will be a thing of the past.

[concrete]

long john, tullamore had the game practically over at half time because of dooley and williamson, dooley kicked some brilliant points from long range and williamson kicked a few too and made most of dooleys, both were blew for over carrying the ball on some occasions but looked like they were being fouled in the process. the overall team will have to improve to take on clara or rhode

[bracknaghboy]

Every effort should be made by Cribbin to accomodate Shane Dooley and get him on the Offaly football team. He is a top talent. PJ Ward is worth his place on the the Offaly starting 15 as well. If Ward has issues then part of managements job is to council the player and bring the best out him. Dooley, Ward and McNamee would be a serious full forward line. I'd also call Colm Quinn into the panel, I think he'd still have something to offer with a bit of training under him. Good consistant wing forwards are a rare find these days and lord knows we've had none since Quinn. Also in Quinn and Dooley we'd have 2 good free takers which would hopefully correct the dire problem we had last year from placed balls. Of course I'm wasting my breath here because there isn't a hope Cribbin will do any of this because the chap hasn't a clue (as illustrated by the 27 positional switches he made in the 1st half versus Clare this year).

[black and red exile]

Bracknaghboy, there is more chance of Vinny Claffey coming back into football panel than Shane Dooley being brought on board if his dad gets another year with the hurlers, hell will freeze over if Joe Dooley lets Shane anywhere near the football panel.

[Plain of the Herbs]

Shane Dooley is a big lad and is well able to make up his own mind on these matters. I'm sure he's well aware how difficult it would be to combine hurling and football at inter-county level. Hands off, footballers. I expect ye'll want Joseph Bergin next . . . then James Rigney . . . then someone else. Are there no footballers in the county any more?

Bracknaghboy, there is more chance of Vinny Claffey coming back into football panel than Shane Dooley being brought on board if his dad gets another year with the hurlers, hell will freeze over if Joe Dooley lets Shane anywhere near the football panel.

[SearingDrive]

Tubber must be kicking themselves after losing a game to Clara, that they dominated for most of the game, but failed to convert that advantage into scores.
Tubber had a Ciaran McManus penalty saved by an excellent Kevin Meehan, in the second half. Clara added a late goal from John Reynolds after Tubber lost possession. In the first half Tubber saw 3 goal chances saved by Kevin Meehan who had an excellent game, (could he get the call from Tom Cribbin?) Tubber missed a few points in this half, and Clara's half time lead 0-8 to 0-5, was unfair on Tubber. Tubber's players took too long to shoot when on the attack, allowing a more economical Clara to pick off their points.
This close call might get Clara's mind focused on the closing stages of the championship.
Finally, I wouldn't rule out Tullamore from causing an upset in this years quest for the Dowling Cup.

[bracknaghboy]

Are there no footballers in the county any more?

Theres plenty good footballers about and one of them is Shane Dooley

[concrete]

searing drive, i wouldn't rule them out either, just think they might come up short against rhode or clara, but they seem to have this nack of winning knock out championship games......on another note i don't think shane dooley himself would join the football panel, he is a fine hurler and is better to concentrate solely on one code 100% then play both...but time will tell