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Ah, posted on this game because I thought this was this wkend, disregard it!

Sure you might as well leave the topic up here.
We've always had very close battles with Dublin.

Remarkably we haven't played them in Parnell Park since Finbar Cullen had his palate re-arranged.
We lost to them in '98 in Tullamore, beat them in 2001 in Tullamore.
Drew in 2002 in Tullamore and lost last year in Tullamore.

Hopefully they'll have picked up a few suspensions in the meantime, because their bench doesn't look that strong.
If we could win this, we'd be almost safe from relegation.

How did their suspensions turn out? or have they got them yet?

Not yet - a heap of them have been charged all right, including Cullen and Brogan, but as for what the outcome is, well we'll have to wait till the solicitors get involved I'm sure!!

What are our thoughts on this one?
The pressure is on. Hopefully Cork don't turn their season around sufficiently to overtake us.
Who else would be the relegation candidates?
I think Monaghan, Cork, ourselves and Dublin will be looking nervously at the drop.
Tyrone are starting to turn things around and won't let themselves go down.
Dublin will be less able to cope with the suspensions.

I think the tighter confines of Parnell Park might suit us more than Dublin.
Dublin's forward line is not very inventive and they often get better results on the bigger pitches away from home. We are most vulnerable when teams steamroll through us like Mayo and Meath have done recently.
If we can squeeze the opposition for space, we do well.

I think we need to win this one, and it is a winnable game.
It will be interesting to see if we deliver.

I'll be very interested to see our attitude and mentality taking the field. Between the Mayo match and the under 21s, the football panel took a few psychological blows a couple of weeks ago, and manageent will need to have sorted that out and got them back in a positive mindset. Without that, I think we'd be sunk, because Dublin will be nothing if not bloody minded.

On the other hand, I think Cullen is a huge loss for them. Shane Ryan covers great ground, but Cullen is a real natural all round footballer, and he gives them a real cut of class up front - something they don't have otherwise. A good hard working performance with judicious and early use of fresh legs from the bench would go a long way. I'll believe it when I see it.

Also, our forwards need to work hard without the ball and be a real threat with it. Dublin's backs do nearly as much attacking work as their forwards - keeping them busy will be key. I don't know if this will happen though.

My guess is 1/2 Dublin, 9/4 Offaly and 13/2 Draw.

Game is all ticket...


VENUE: O'Connor Park, Tullamore.
DATES: Wed. 1st and Thurs. 2nd March
TIME: 6.30 pm to 7.30 pm
PRICE: Stand 12 Euro, Terrace 10 Euro

Head for the terrace lads!
There'll be a roof over your head if it snows.
You'd freeze in the stand.

lone shark mentioned a vital thing there that this offaly team is lacking, none of our forwards are prepared to work off the ball...having said that who the six forwrds will be on saturday night is a lottery, recent matches including the under 21s will have shown that some players just dont have it

I must say, I am really looking forward to this game, we are now into the business end of the league and with the top teams all having dropped points I think that this game will set the tone for the remaining games in that they will be very competitive matches.

The last time I watched Offaly beat Dublin in Parnell Park, Mickey Whelan was booed off the pitch, Finbar Cullen was taken away by ambulance and it was the Offaly team who showed their true grit and determination in what was a very physical game.

I agree with some of the comments made, a tight pitch will suit (what has become) our stlye of defending but it means that our forwards will have to step up to the mark. Will J. Coughlan be named? He sounds like a guy on form having read some of the AIT match reports?

Bring it on!

Coughlan will surely be listed as will pascal if he's ready to return.my six sharpshooters would be
n.coughlan pascal quinn
niall mac shaper coughlan

not sure how many of these are fit to start......

DUBLIN (SF v Offaly) - S Cluxton; P Griffin, B Cahill, D Henry; P Casey, C Goggins, P Andrews; D Bastick, D Magee; C Keaney, J Sherlock, D Lally; D O'Callaghan, S Ryan, T Quinn.

Subs: J Leonard, AN Other, M Fitzpatrick, D Reilly, G O'Meara, C Prenderville, D Murray, D Marshall, M Vaughan.

There's actually not a lot to be afraid of there, on paper at least. You'd expect Dublin to hoover up a lot of ball - I assume Ryan won't actually play at full forward - and with the likes of Casey and Lally eating up breaks they should get a lot of ball - but on the other hand neither Quinn nor O'Callaghan are lads I'd be terrified of from free play. Cahill and Griffin wouldn't be the quickest either - there's be hope back there too.

Sure we'll have a crack at them and see what happens I suppose ....

Lads
I think we are in with a great chance to win this game. Dublin have not being good this year with very poor performances against Monaghan and Meath in the O'Byrne cup.
Our foward line are capable of scoring goals in this game ane yes with the tight pitch it will suit our backs.

Did someone say it was all ticket and if it is will you get the tickets up there.

Offaly (SF v Dublin): P Kelly; K Lynam, S Casey, N Grennan; B Mooney, S Brady, K Slattery; A McNamee, N Coughlan; J Reynolds, C McManus, L Mooney; J Coughlan, P Kelleghan, N McNamee.

Good to have Karl Slattery back for this one. With Dublins suspensions this has become a game Offaly need to win.