O'Byrne Cup 2012

[DAF]

Offalys style of play at time was shocking despite playing a very direct style early in the first half and being successful with it they switched to Donegal style tactics in the second half and played only 2 men inside the 45 for most of the second half,Ken Casey played most of the game in the half back line or further back despite being a corner forward.Alan Mulhall was excellent, he won almost everyball that was kicked into him and laid of some great passes and scored a goal and a couple of points also, he looks like being big bonus for Offaly this year if the right ball is played in to him , he is as strong as a bull and impossible to get the ball off of he's a good freetaker aswell.Willie Mulhall played well at corner forward as well.Westmeath were terrible and most of their players seemd afraid to kick the ball.

Offaly need to cut out the fluting around and use Mulhall more often the direct route worked so why they decided to go all defensive from about 25 minutes on I have no idea

[kingscounty]

a good start i suppose with a win but have to agree at one stage they had 12 players in the back line. the whole half forward line moved back. offaly got off to a flying start with the goals and then decided not to kick the ball into mulhall who was doing damage. mulhall played very well but i thought the full back for westmeath was no where near county standard and i would like to see mulhall play against the lillys, dubs, or meath and then it would tell us if he can be of use at full forward. the westmeath centre forward did damage when he moved in on pender in the first half and was by far westmeaths best forward. meehan in goals played well and pulled off some good saves in both halfs and the backs did ok for most of the game. i thought we were totally out of the game at midfield granted it was crowed out with so many players back but when smith came on he caught a few great balls that set up scores. it would be great to see mulhall and niall mc in the full forward line and see if they would click. its kildare next weekend in newbridge a big ask, best of luck.

[jimbob17]

good win for the lads today, thought that they played very well in patches especially in the first 20 mins. Would have taken an 8 point win before the throw in especially given the experience of the fellas on display. In fact i think it was one of OYs best O beirne cup display in a few years. there were some horrendous performances in this competition in the last few years.

Westmeath were well short too missing the garrycastle lads and a few playing with Athlone IT and other colleges and had a lot of younger players though Ml Ennis, dennis Glennon and McCormack are quite experienced at this stage. OY had very little experience really on the field with very few having played more than 3/4 years at co senior level. Was very encouraged by Gallagher at corner back considering it was his 1st game. McConway and Darby held the centre well while Hiney did well on his debut. Midfield were well on top in stages though were well beaten for a large part of the middle of the game. Thought Keenaghan worked very hard, caused problems and linked the play quite well. He should be happy considering he has probably never played at this level before. Mulhall did very well and made it happen when the ball was delivered with some great catches and clever off loads that created scores. Bigger test the next day though v Kildare. Thought Ken casey was good while in the forwards and looked dangerous but he was the wrong guy to have in a withdrawn role as he just doesnt work hard enough. Willie mulhall looked to start delivering on the talent everyone knows he has with his few scores from play. He needs to build on this though...

That said Westmeath were woeful and the way they played football was pathetic with their ponderous handpassing and slow build up play allowing the OY players to crowd out the shooting zone. However, they did create plenty of goal chances that Meehan did well on. If theyd scored half of them it could have been a different result. However, given the fellas on display and the dearth of experienced players available, it was more encouraging than i anticipated going in to the game. Hopefully a good performance v the lillies, even without a result, will bring fellas on and stand to them going in to the league. However i think kildare if at full strength will open some of the newer players eyes with the speed and power of their play. Good lessons to be learned in a developing side.

[Bord na Mona man]

For the record:

Goals prove crucial for Offaly

Offaly 3-6 Westmeath 0-7: THE ABILITY to convert goal chances proved to be the difference as Offaly got Gerry Cooney’s reign as manager off to a winning start in Tullamore yesterday.

Offaly took their three goals with clinical efficiency while Westmeath will be wondering how they didn’t breach Kevin Meehan’s line as they enjoyed the lion’s share of possession for long periods.

Goals from Alan Mulhall and Ken Casey helped Offaly to a 2-2 to no score lead after eight minutes.

Westmeath impressed after this but they didn’t make it count on the scoreboard as they trailed by 2-4 to 0-5 at the break.

They cut the deficit to three points after four minutes of the second half but Ken Casey got Offaly’s third goal to end it as a contest with 17 minutes left.

OFFALY: K Meehan; J Gallagher, P McConway, S Pender; J Keane, B Darby, L Hiney; R Dalton (0-1), R Brady; G Guilfoyle, N Dunne (0-1), A Keenaghan; W Mulhall (0-3), A Mulhall (1-1, 0-1 free), K Casey (2-0). Subs: F Daly for Guilfoyle (27 mins), N Smith for Dunne (47 mins), D Currams for Keane (47 mins), B Hanamy for A Mulhall (68 mins), D Kelly for Casey (68 mins).

WESTMEATH: D Quinn; M Dalton, K Sheridan, T Warburton; M Curley, M Ennis, K Maguire; T English (0-1), A Finnan; K Martin (0-1, free), C McCormack (0-4), P Sheridan (0-1); J Egan, D Mullen, M Gorman. Subs: D Glennon for Mullen (47 mins), D McNicholas for Egan (51 mins), W Coyne for Gorman (64 mins), D Gavin for Sheridan (68 mins).

Referee: J Hickey (Carlow).

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/spo ... 04401.html

[Bord na Mona man]

Casey brace gets Cooney off to flying start with Faithful
OFFALY 3-6 WESTMEATH 0-7

Monday January 09 2012

REMOTE control management worked well for new Offaly boss Gerry Cooney, who was en route to Namibia while the Faithful County opened 2012 with an O'Byrne Cup win over Westmeath.

Cooney had set up the trip some months ago before he got the Offaly job. It's part-holiday, partly an ongoing charity commitment he has with a school in Namibia, and the Offaly County Board were aware of his arrangements before finalising his appointment.

In his absence, Clara's James Stewart was in charge, ironically making it two men from the same town in charge of the respective teams, as Westmeath manager Pat Flanagan also hails from the Offaly village.

Victory gives Offaly an away fixture with Kildare next Sunday. Cooney will still be in Africa, but he will be in regular contact with his selectors.

"He was like a child going away and leaving the sweets behind him, so he will be happy when I give him a ring to tell him," said Stewart. "We are only a week back training and we needed to see the lads put in a decent effort and commitment and that's what we got, regardless of the result, but it is nice to get the result as well."

Westmeath fielded a team that contained only three of the side which faced Louth in the opening league match of 2011 and with Denis Glennon and Darragh Daly pulling up in the warm-up, the young side had hardly broken sweat before they were 2-2 down with just nine minutes played.

Big Alan Mulhall, the Offaly goalie for the last couple of seasons, got a run at full-forward and gave his marker, debutant Kieran Sheridan, a torrid opening to his senior career.

Willie Mulhall, cousin of Alan, opened the scoring with a point after five minutes and within 60 seconds Alan grabbed possession, held off defender Sheridan and planted the ball in the net.

Three minutes later, a long ball forward by Brian Darby exposed the Westmeath defence, and corner-forward Ken Casey slammed in goal No 2.

Westmeath's first point came in the 14th minute when Callum McCormack finished off a a four-man passing move. Nigel Dunne got their second after 18 minutes.

Between those two scores came the first of Westmeath's squandered goal chances. Corner-forward John Egan had the Offaly goal at his mercy, but sent the ball wide.

Three more similar errors by forwards from excellent goal-scoring situations negated much of the hard work and effort by Westmeath. They went in at half-time 2-4 to 0-5 behind, but started the second half with determina- tion and reduced the deficit to only three points thanks to Trevor English and Callum McCormack.

McCormack, wearing the No 11 jersey, grafted hard in Offaly territory throughout that second half and was his side's leading scorer with four points.

Offaly's generally solid defensive screen prevented further damage, despite the threat posed by Westmeath's Glennon who was sprung from standby, midway through the half.

The big man did all he could, but another mini-scoring blitz by Mulhall and Casey just 15 minutes from the end killed off Westmeath hopes of a revival.

Mulhall fired over a point from a free 40 metres out and Casey notched up his second, and Offaly's third goal.

Richie Dalton finished the scoring with a point four minutes from the finish. It's early days for both sides, but the effort on a heavy pitch by both teams was commendable.

Scorers -- Offaly: K Casey 2-0, A Mulhall 1-1 (0-1f), W Mulhall 0-3, N Dunne, R Dalton 0-1 each. Westmeath: C McCormack 0-4, K Martin (1f), P Sheridan, T English 0-1 each.

Offaly -- K Meehan; J Gallagher, P McConway, S Pender; J Keane, B Darby, L Hiney; R Dalton, R Brady; G Guilfoyle, N Dunne, A Keenaghan; W Mulhall, A Mulhall, K Casey. Subs: F Daly for N Guilfoyle (28), N Smith for J Keane (48), D Currams for N Dunne (48), B Hanamy for A Mulhall (68), D Kelly for K Casey (69).

Westmeath -- D Quinn; M Dalton, K Sheridan, T Warburton; M Curley, M Ennis, K Maguire; T English, A Finnan; K Martin, C McCormack, P Sheridan; J Egan, D Mullen, M Gorman. Subs: D McDermott for T Warburton (h-t), D Glennon for D Mullen (48), D McNicholas for J Egan (53), W Coyne for M Gorman (65), D Gavin for P Sheridan (68).

Ref -- J Hickey (Carlow)

http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic- ... 82810.html

[Doon Massive]

In his absence, Clara's James Stewart was in charge, ironically making it two men from the same town in charge of the respective teams, as Westmeath manager Pat Flanagan also hails from the Offaly village.

[Lone Shark]

Overall I'd have to say that while the result flattered Offaly - to me it looked like two relatively even teams with the only difference being our greater finishing ability with goal chances on the day - it was still relatively encouraging for a first outing of the year. The wing forwards got through a lot of work and did a lot of covering for the defence, while individually I thought some of the backs did a very solid job - Gallagher, McConway, Pender and Darby all had particularly impressive outings for me.

We were badly beaten in the battle for breaking ball and the absence of any plan B when Westmeath successfully smothered the long ball approach in the second half was a concern, and there still were moments where we lapsed into the tendency to play side to side football a lot - a tactic that would see us getting killed in the summer as all it does is draw our half backs and midfielders up and leave us vulnerable to breakaways. Nonetheless there was a clear pattern to the play, and even allowing for some of the stray passes which are par for the course for this time of year, there seemed to be a genuine willingness to work hard and support each other on the ball and off it.

Kildare will obviously be a much tougher test but that was a good way of getting off the ground at least, even if Westmeath did have a very poor team out.

[summerindublin]

Offaly have given a vote of confidence to the side that beat Westmeath last weekend for Sunday's O'Byrne Cup quarter-final against Kildare in Newbridge.

Last year's goalkeeper Alan Mulhall has once again be named at full forward after impressing on his outfield debut against the Lake County. He will be joined in the full forward line by his cousin Willie Mulhall and Ken Casey, who bagged two goals last Sunday in O'Connor.

Offaly (SF v Kildare): K Meehan; J Gallagher, P McConway, S Pender; J Keane, B Darby, L Hiney; R Dalton, R Brady; G Guilfoyle, N Dunne, A Keenaghan; W Mulhall, A Mulhall, K Casey. Subs: I Duffy, B Hanamy, N Smith, K Lynam, G Treacy, D Currams, F Daly, D Kelly, S Sullivan.


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Kieran McGeeney expects Offaly to "get stuck in" against his Kildare side this weekend.

Victory over DIT in Newbridge on Sunday set up an O'Byrne Cup quarter-final clash with the Faithfuls at the same venue this Sunday and McGeeney believes the visitors will give it a good rattle.

Speaking in the Nationalist, he says: "That'll be good. I'm sure they'll be up for it.

"It's hard to know what team they'll put out but they'll like to get stuck into Kildare. They always do, Offaly men."



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[townman]

Kildare 0-17 offaly 0-4 final score.

[townman]

half time score was kildare 0-10 offaly 0-0 when was the last time we didn't score in the first half
i know kildare are years ahead of offaly but this is poor not to score again them.

Alan Mulhall got 2 pts and willie 2 i know its early but kildare wouldn't have been flying it either