OFFALY Hurling 2014

[Toxicity234]

I was in Moneygall for the second half. Offaly had the wind in the second half. The score at half time was 2-9 to 0-6.
The Offaly lads look like they have had being going a lot of hard training and were a long was off the pace Tipp were at.
The Offaly Sub half time training was unbelievable. I was knacker just look at them.
Tipp were much bigger men as well.
Good to See Damien Egan, Shortt and the The Two Geraghty get a look at. all played well.
I wouldn't read too much into the game for both sides.

[fifitrixiebelle]

Tipp had a strong enough side out.

hardly so relatively, both sides had 6 lads who started in championship last yr.

[townman]

well what i mean was tipp had there underage players from the last few years playing
who will be there or there abouts this year to replace the players who have floped again kilkenny the last 3 years.

[fifitrixiebelle]

well what i mean was tipp had there underage players from the last few years playing
who will be there or there abouts this year to replace the players who have floped again kilkenny the last 3 years.

maybe tipps underage players are way better than these offaly lads but dats only your opinion, I don't know. are ther no good offaly underage players to try out in a jan challenge?
tipp did have at least 3 of the players who beat kk in 2013 & 2014 in the intermediate ai & 4 who killed the 5-inarow, whatever that has to do with it...

[townman]

i suppose we have to listen to this shite about tipp untill they are gone again later on in the year fif........ i look forward to you post about the footballers in division 4

[fifitrixiebelle]

i suppose we have to listen to this shite about tipp untill they are gone again later on in the year fif........ i look forward to you post about the footballers in division 4

you raised the question - and you got yer answer townman so ya change the subject...

everyone will be gone later this year sometime. even the tipp intermediates were gone eventually. your old dominatrix pals in kk only got out of leinster last year in one competition so shite happens to everybody.

however ill deal with it in your terms- who will be there or there abouts this year in biffoland to replace the players who have flopped again cork Waterford wexford Dublin KK Tipp & galway in the last 5 years (twice in the cases of cork & galway)? have ye only won 2 hurling matches altogether in dat time? ....good job ye did win de wan in 2010.

obviously ya don't think theyre among the players sid has out at the moment!!

[OffalySorry]

Offaly were very bad today! Forwards were very poor! Backs hurled ok! Rigney was best hurler on the field! Kilmartin played well when brought on also and Brian Carroll looked lively but unfit! Cathal Parlon was brutal an all scores came from frees in the first half! They werent helped by alot of aimless ball in which tipp backs ate up! Younger players mixed with the like of Dooley Currams and Kenny and the likes could help Offaly have a very fortuitous league campaign if all goes well!

[Toxicity234]

http://hoganstand.com/Offaly/ArticleForm.aspx?ID=207116


Tipperary 3-18
Offaly 1-10

Conor Kenny, David Collins and John 'Bubbles' O'Dywer netted goals as Tipperary secured a 14-point victory over Offaly in a SH challenge at Moneygall.

Former Kildare player Kenny and Collins struck in the first half for Eamon O'Shea's charges who went in at the break with a 2-9 to 0-6 lead having played with the advantage of a strong wind in the first half.

Joe Bergin hit all of the Faithful County's first half scores from placed balls while Tomas Geraghty struck for the Faithful County's goal in the 48th minute.

O'Dwyer cancelled that strike out, however, with six minutes left on the clock and the Premier County will enter Sunday's Waterford Crystal Cup opener against Limerick IT in a confident frame of mind.

Tipperary - J Logue; P Stapleton, C O'Mahony, J Peters; S McGrath, J Barry, T Treacy; N McGrath (0-1), S Kennedy (0-1); D Collins (1-1), J O'Dwyer (1-5, 0-2f), S O'Brien; L McGrath, C Kenny (1-5), S Bourke (0-2). Subs: P Murphy (0-1) for L McGrath, D Maher for S O'Brien, T Hamill for O'Mahony, C O'Brien (0-2) for Treacy.

Offaly - C Slevin; C McDonald, S Coughlan, J Rigney; D Egan, D Short, D Morkham; T Carroll, K Brady; S Cleary (0-1), J Bergin (0-6f), P Geraghty (0-2); T Geraghty (1-0), C Parlon, M Egan. Subs: B Carroll (0-1) for Bergin, D Kilmartin for T Carroll, N Wynne for Coughlan, S Gardiner for D Egan.

[townman]

its early in the year, but why are they playing Kevin Brady midfield, sure to god there is
a few who hurl under 21 the last two years that should be look at , it doesn't work so why keep going back to the same old same old.

[allstar2010]

I know it's off the point of this thread a bit, but I just wanted to add it in here. I was reading Seán Óg Ó hAilpín autobiography over the Christmas period and it was with a great sense of pride that I read him speak about playing Offaly for the first time in the '99 All-Ireland semi, he spoke of "these guys were on a different level", he admired their cuteness in their style of play and they had to be at their maximum to beat Offaly. Also, he spoke of the sit down protest against Clare in '98 and said "you'd have to have good time for people like that".

Just reading all that brought back some great memories of that time, how we were up in Croke park nearly every other week during the summer following this great side and the craic we had going to the big tree, quinns, the hideout and onto the hill to make our voices heard always expecting a victory.

God, wouldn't it be great to see those days again. I think all of us here are crying out for those days again, to be part of the euphoria and ecstasy of winning big games in Croker.

Here's hoping those days are not just a memory that we will be telling the grand kids about...
All the best for 2014 lads.... Uibh Fhaili Abú

[Ahlethimoutwithit]

Read it as well too Allstar. Had a lump in me throat just thinking back to those days and "The Faithful Army" on the hill on those great days, and the epic takeover of the town terrace in Thurles in 98!
Again would like to wish Sid and the lads all the best for the coming season, especially the younger players, give it time and put in the work lads.
And to the punters, get off yer arses and get out and support the team, and show a bit of patience, the turnout in Tullamore was shocking last Sunday.

[The Outsider]

Well Folks, having seen that Offaly made wholesale changes to the team for challenge against Waterford. It left me wondering if anyone has an idea of the full Offaly panel at the moment perhaps club by club. It's encouraging to see so many young players getting a chance to prove themselves eg Damien Egan, Damien Kilmartin, Dermot Shortt, the Geraghtys, and others. Thanks in advance.

[Slieve Bloom Man]

Showing the Offaly - Waterford game from championship 2013 on TG4 today (Saturday) at 12.10 p.m.

[Plain of the Herbs]

I saw it when they showed it shortly after Christmas. A terrible disappointment, to put it mildly.

Now, like revisionist history ignoring the feelings of the time, the highlights shown ignore the influence of what was a significant breeze that evening.

The Offaly forwards were a terrible mess. They got crowded out while hurling INTO the wind in the first half, which just shouldn't happen. Hardly any movement, hardly any passes completed, no imaginative play. Offaly's half-line seemed completely at sea for the duration. I know it was only highlights but Michael 'Brick' Walsh wasn't as influential as was thought at the time. Kevin Moran was much more dominant. Too many Offaly players would have had big duck eggs beside their names on the statistician's sheet.

The highlights may be the cause if misleading, but, did Kevin Brady process more ball than any other Offaly player? And, by extension, should he have been taken off? Granted, his marker was arguably Waterford's best player too.

Problems at centre half-back and in both corner-back positions left big holes and caused big problems.

I fear Offaly might not have beaten Westmeath that evening, had the qualifier draw turned out differently. And I wonder, have recent qualifier draws and the moral victories / gallant defeats (take your pick) protected Offaly from slippage on a banana skin? Some year, Offaly are going to be drawn against Laois, Carlow, Antrim or Westmeath and the many warts of Offaly hurling could be laid bare. Time, as always, will tell.

[townman]

thats History now POTH, we are on way up now, better squad and people over the team now.