Offaly 0-15 Laois 0-10
Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2006 2:48 pm
Most people, when told that there is both good and bad news to be heard, like to hear the bad news first, usually so as to end on a high note. People are funny like that. With that it mind, when summarising this local clash from last Sunday in O’Moore Park, we’ll start with all the aspects that will concern Offaly management and supporters, and progress from there onto the highlights and positive signs for the year ahead. Firstly though, the negative – it is still the O’Byrne Cup, and not a match that would have had either side laying their bodies on the line for. A lot of Offaly’s good play in this match emanated from their sharpness in snapping up breaking ball, a sharpness which is probably as much a reflection of what stage both teams are at in their respective training schedules as much as anything else. The ploy of playing a target man at full forward ran aground here, as Cathal Ryan dominated the square with a fine display of full back play, the kind of display one would also expect from David O’Donoghue next May when the Championship rolls around. Finally, the Offaly full back line looked far from certain when isolated with their direct markers, and only began to look in control when Laois ran the ball in on top of them in the second half, a ploy that no well prepared championship team would engage in. The Laois inside line was also quite short on pace, and for example the introduction of a player like Donie Brennan could really have caused problems in that regard – though in mitigation Paul McConway was clearly carrying an injury throughout this match.
All that said - and those are all matters that will play on the minds of management over the next few weeks – this was a fine display from the Offaly footballers, and hugely encouraging on several levels. Laois settled into the game straight away with three early points, but instead of panicking our players calmly went about their business, and ten minutes later had drawn level playing some great football into a stiff breeze. Around the middle of the park our players were aggressive and competitive both in fielding high ball and scavenging for breaks, and dominated Laois in this regard. Over the past few summers Offaly teams have been hitting a lot of wides, but on Sunday a mere four wides were recorded while the fifteen points were being accumulated. The players and management can both take great satisfaction from this, because it was largely down to good shot selection and patience, no attempting to hit the target from difficult angles or huge distances. Granted most players were in good shooting form, nine different players raising flags, but even so tactically it was a triumph. Finally it was a victory that was achieved over seventy minutes of consistently doing the right things – defending tirelessly but within the rules, thus keeping frees conceded – Laois’s main source of scores – to a minimum, always looking to find a man, and closing out the game assuredly as the final whistle drew closer rather than engaging in panic defending. A couple of extra tactical substitutions during the second half would not have gone amiss – of the three substitutions made, two were forced by injury, while Niall McNamee was brought in right on the end of normal time – but the players on the field all kept their heads and did the right things to close out the game – another skill that has been lacking in Offaly football in recent years.
All these positives looked a long way off at the start, as the Laois football machine hit the high gears straight away, Munnelly converting two easy frees and Beano McDonald scoring from close range within five minutes. A local derby against one of Leinster’s top teams was always likely to present a tougher challenge than anything this new look Offaly team had met, and both corner backs seemed to be struggling to find their feet. In contrast, the Laois full back line was in complete control, and when Offaly did begin to get back into the game, it was largely due to the good play at midfield and half forward. Ciarán McManus had his first chance of the day and hit a great score on the run from 40 metres out, the highlight of another excellent display from the Tubber man in his new centre forward role. A 45 from the same player on 13 minutes split the posts, and when the Clara combination of Thomas Deehan and John Reynolds linked up well on the quarter hour, the sides were level, a fine achievement for the visitors after the rocky opening.
From then on it was nip and tuck up to half time, with Laois failing to establish the kind of lead they were going to need once the wind would blow into them. McManus and then Leonard Mooney both put Offaly in front only to be cancelled out by Munnelly scores, before Padraig Clancy put the home team back in front with a somewhat fortunate score – his kick from half way flew over the heads of both Colm Kelly and Shane Sullivan before bouncing over the bar. A similar long kick from Alan McNamee created Offaly’s only real goal chance of the game soon after, the ball flying over a mass of bodies into Thomas Deehan, but his shot was saved by Michael Nolan. Laois were to go 0-7 to 0-5 up within minutes, but Offaly continued to press forward and by half time they were sitting pretty at 0-8 apiece, Quinn, Coughlan and Deehan all having got their first scores.
In theory the short passing game synonymous with Mick O’Dwyer teams should have been well suited to playing into the breeze, but his side were very shot-shy early on, and overplaying was largely responsible for them going the first twenty minutes of the second half without scoring – a period in which Offaly continued to convert most of their chances. They scored four in a row, the pick being a point on the run from the speedy Sean Ryan, a player whose pace and enthusiasm has been a joy to watch in this O’Byrne campaign. A good side like Laois were always likely to make a push in front of their home crowd though, and there followed a five minute spell when they really took the game to Offaly. It began when Colm Kelly hit a good point over his shoulder after his side had again played a lot of pass the parcel with the football, and almost immediately a careless foul by Leonard Mooney and some ill-judged remonstrating by Colm Quinn left Munnelly the simplest of frees. The game turned on one incident immediately after that, when Laois broke through the Offaly half back line down their left, and worked the ball across the goals to leave Colm Kelly on his own with just the goalie to beat – he sidestepped Padraig Kelly, only for Shane Sullivan to make a glorious diving block to deflect the ball out for a 45. The 45 was hit badly, cleared, and before long Colm Quinn had scored two consecutive scores to put Offaly four in front again. Even though the Laois players continued battling, the steady flow of supporters towards the exits told it’s own story. There was time for one last point from Paschal Kelleghan in injury time, a well worked and finished score involving several of the forwards linking up well. It was an appropriate finish to a game which had been won by virtue of good teamwork and cohesion throughout. The Offaly renaissance now crosses paths with the Eamonn Barry-inspired Meath revival next Sunday, a head on clash which should draw a big Offaly crowd after this thoroughly encouraging display.
Teams:
Offaly: Padraig Kelly; Kevin Lynam, Shane Sullivan, Paul McConway; Barry Mooney, Scott Brady, Nigel Grennan; Alan McNamee (0-1), Neville Coughlan (0-1); John Reynolds (0-2), Ciarán McManus (0-3, 0-1 ‘45), Leonard Mooney (0-1); Colm Quinn (0-3, 0-2 frees), Ross Connor, Thomas Deehan (0-2, frees).
Subs: Paschal Kelleghan (0-1) for Neville Coughlan, Seán Ryan (0-1) for John Reynolds, Niall McNamee for Ross Connor.
Laois: Michael Nolan; Paul McDonald, Cathal Ryan, Paul Begley; Joe Higgins, Derek Conroy, Padraig McMahon; Padraig Clancy (0-1), Noel Garvan; Colm Parkinson, Ross Munnelly (0-5, 0-4 frees), Gary Kavanagh; Brian McDonald (0-2), Colm Kelly (0-1), Chris Conway (0-1).
Subs: Paul Lawlor for Colm Parkinson, Shane Cooke for Gary Kavanagh.
Referee: P. O’Reilly (Longford)
All that said - and those are all matters that will play on the minds of management over the next few weeks – this was a fine display from the Offaly footballers, and hugely encouraging on several levels. Laois settled into the game straight away with three early points, but instead of panicking our players calmly went about their business, and ten minutes later had drawn level playing some great football into a stiff breeze. Around the middle of the park our players were aggressive and competitive both in fielding high ball and scavenging for breaks, and dominated Laois in this regard. Over the past few summers Offaly teams have been hitting a lot of wides, but on Sunday a mere four wides were recorded while the fifteen points were being accumulated. The players and management can both take great satisfaction from this, because it was largely down to good shot selection and patience, no attempting to hit the target from difficult angles or huge distances. Granted most players were in good shooting form, nine different players raising flags, but even so tactically it was a triumph. Finally it was a victory that was achieved over seventy minutes of consistently doing the right things – defending tirelessly but within the rules, thus keeping frees conceded – Laois’s main source of scores – to a minimum, always looking to find a man, and closing out the game assuredly as the final whistle drew closer rather than engaging in panic defending. A couple of extra tactical substitutions during the second half would not have gone amiss – of the three substitutions made, two were forced by injury, while Niall McNamee was brought in right on the end of normal time – but the players on the field all kept their heads and did the right things to close out the game – another skill that has been lacking in Offaly football in recent years.
All these positives looked a long way off at the start, as the Laois football machine hit the high gears straight away, Munnelly converting two easy frees and Beano McDonald scoring from close range within five minutes. A local derby against one of Leinster’s top teams was always likely to present a tougher challenge than anything this new look Offaly team had met, and both corner backs seemed to be struggling to find their feet. In contrast, the Laois full back line was in complete control, and when Offaly did begin to get back into the game, it was largely due to the good play at midfield and half forward. Ciarán McManus had his first chance of the day and hit a great score on the run from 40 metres out, the highlight of another excellent display from the Tubber man in his new centre forward role. A 45 from the same player on 13 minutes split the posts, and when the Clara combination of Thomas Deehan and John Reynolds linked up well on the quarter hour, the sides were level, a fine achievement for the visitors after the rocky opening.
From then on it was nip and tuck up to half time, with Laois failing to establish the kind of lead they were going to need once the wind would blow into them. McManus and then Leonard Mooney both put Offaly in front only to be cancelled out by Munnelly scores, before Padraig Clancy put the home team back in front with a somewhat fortunate score – his kick from half way flew over the heads of both Colm Kelly and Shane Sullivan before bouncing over the bar. A similar long kick from Alan McNamee created Offaly’s only real goal chance of the game soon after, the ball flying over a mass of bodies into Thomas Deehan, but his shot was saved by Michael Nolan. Laois were to go 0-7 to 0-5 up within minutes, but Offaly continued to press forward and by half time they were sitting pretty at 0-8 apiece, Quinn, Coughlan and Deehan all having got their first scores.
In theory the short passing game synonymous with Mick O’Dwyer teams should have been well suited to playing into the breeze, but his side were very shot-shy early on, and overplaying was largely responsible for them going the first twenty minutes of the second half without scoring – a period in which Offaly continued to convert most of their chances. They scored four in a row, the pick being a point on the run from the speedy Sean Ryan, a player whose pace and enthusiasm has been a joy to watch in this O’Byrne campaign. A good side like Laois were always likely to make a push in front of their home crowd though, and there followed a five minute spell when they really took the game to Offaly. It began when Colm Kelly hit a good point over his shoulder after his side had again played a lot of pass the parcel with the football, and almost immediately a careless foul by Leonard Mooney and some ill-judged remonstrating by Colm Quinn left Munnelly the simplest of frees. The game turned on one incident immediately after that, when Laois broke through the Offaly half back line down their left, and worked the ball across the goals to leave Colm Kelly on his own with just the goalie to beat – he sidestepped Padraig Kelly, only for Shane Sullivan to make a glorious diving block to deflect the ball out for a 45. The 45 was hit badly, cleared, and before long Colm Quinn had scored two consecutive scores to put Offaly four in front again. Even though the Laois players continued battling, the steady flow of supporters towards the exits told it’s own story. There was time for one last point from Paschal Kelleghan in injury time, a well worked and finished score involving several of the forwards linking up well. It was an appropriate finish to a game which had been won by virtue of good teamwork and cohesion throughout. The Offaly renaissance now crosses paths with the Eamonn Barry-inspired Meath revival next Sunday, a head on clash which should draw a big Offaly crowd after this thoroughly encouraging display.
Teams:
Offaly: Padraig Kelly; Kevin Lynam, Shane Sullivan, Paul McConway; Barry Mooney, Scott Brady, Nigel Grennan; Alan McNamee (0-1), Neville Coughlan (0-1); John Reynolds (0-2), Ciarán McManus (0-3, 0-1 ‘45), Leonard Mooney (0-1); Colm Quinn (0-3, 0-2 frees), Ross Connor, Thomas Deehan (0-2, frees).
Subs: Paschal Kelleghan (0-1) for Neville Coughlan, Seán Ryan (0-1) for John Reynolds, Niall McNamee for Ross Connor.
Laois: Michael Nolan; Paul McDonald, Cathal Ryan, Paul Begley; Joe Higgins, Derek Conroy, Padraig McMahon; Padraig Clancy (0-1), Noel Garvan; Colm Parkinson, Ross Munnelly (0-5, 0-4 frees), Gary Kavanagh; Brian McDonald (0-2), Colm Kelly (0-1), Chris Conway (0-1).
Subs: Paul Lawlor for Colm Parkinson, Shane Cooke for Gary Kavanagh.
Referee: P. O’Reilly (Longford)