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Offaly v Longford

Posted: Mon May 12, 2014 3:28 pm
by Lean Times
Very very quiet on here regarding the football...

I am really looking forward to this game. Injuries have cleared up on the panel with McConway, Darby and Casey back in the fold.

Looking forward to this game. Offaly put in a decent performance last year in the first round against Kildare. Really hoping for a win in Longford. Would be a great boost for the lads and the county.

Club Faithful running a bus I see.

Re: Offaly v Longford

Posted: Mon May 12, 2014 6:40 pm
by Kevin
Lean Times wrote:Very very quiet on here regarding the football...

I am really looking forward to this game. Injuries have cleared up on the panel with McConway, Darby and Casey back in the fold.

Looking forward to this game. Offaly put in a decent performance last year in the first round against Kildare. Really hoping for a win in Longford. Would be a great boost for the lads and the county.

Club Faithful running a bus I see.
Hear, hear!!!

Let's go get 'em!!!!!

Re: Offaly v Longford

Posted: Mon May 12, 2014 7:54 pm
by Ahlethimoutwithit
Best of luck to the team. Heading up to the match more in hope than confidence. We have had tough draws for the last few years and this is not a bad one. Pressure will be on Longford but with a bit of composure to go with full on intensity we have a chance.
A lot will depend on how our forwards step up to the mark.

Re: Offaly v Longford

Posted: Tue May 13, 2014 7:59 am
by DAF
Lean Times wrote: Club Faithful running a bus I see.

Where is going from?

I haven't heard anything about it yet, doesn't seem to have been circulated yet.

Re: Offaly v Longford

Posted: Tue May 13, 2014 8:26 am
by Ahlethimoutwithit
Shocking to think there is only a need for 1 bus! Is it a mini bus?

Re: Offaly v Longford

Posted: Tue May 13, 2014 8:56 am
by Lean Times
Bus departs O'Connor Park at 1.30pm. Perhaps someone from Club Faithful on here can out up who to contact? It is on their Facebook page.

Re: Offaly v Longford

Posted: Tue May 13, 2014 9:17 am
by townman
Ahlethimoutwithit wrote:Shocking to think there is only a need for 1 bus! Is it a mini bus?
why the shock Ahlethimoutwithit, it will be the same for the hurling, we are the worse support county
in the country.

Re: Offaly v Longford

Posted: Tue May 13, 2014 9:22 am
by Bord na Mona man
I can only take it that the lack of news from the football camp this year is a good thing.
In recent years, April and May had become the months for panel walk outs, disciplinary breaches and disgruntlement towards management.
It would make a pleasant change to go into the championship without this sort of shenanigans.

Re: Offaly v Longford

Posted: Tue May 13, 2014 10:04 pm
by Ahlethimoutwithit
I would hope that there will be a decent crowd, Longford is a grand spin up and we should have a decent chance to get a win.
By the way, tongue in cheek on the Club Faithful bus. Fair play to the lads for organising it, driving up meself though.

Re: Offaly v Longford

Posted: Wed May 14, 2014 5:43 pm
by ryot
The team to face Longford

1 Alan Mulhall Walsh Island
2 Daithi Brady Ballyfore
3 David Hanlon Edenderry
4 Niall Darby Rhode
5 Brian Darby Rhode
6 Johnny Moloney Tullamore
7 Michael Brazil Tullamore
8 Ruarai Allen Gracefield
9 Niall Smith Gracefield
10 Eoin Carroll Cappincur
11 Graham Guilfoyle Clara
12 Anton Sullivan Rhode
13 Joe Maher Ferbane
14 Niall McNamee Rhode
15 Peter Cunningham Bracknagh

Any thoughts: Is the forward line physical enough ?

Re: Offaly v Longford

Posted: Wed May 14, 2014 7:34 pm
by Killeighman
Probably the best possible 15 to choose from so its a positive from that aspect. Big scores need to be got but i can see a bit of bus parking from that line up. Carroll will drop back and cunningham will come out and leave 2 inside.

Re: Offaly v Longford

Posted: Wed May 14, 2014 8:36 pm
by DAF
Its a fairly lightweight half forward line I'd be worried about our ability to win much breaking ball in the game.

Re: Offaly v Longford

Posted: Wed May 14, 2014 11:52 pm
by Lean Times
McConway must still be injured. Big loss in the full back line. Good to see Darby back though.

Ken Casey would have been my choice in the corner with Guilfoyle on the bench and Cunningham on the half forward line.

Anybody read the McNamee article in the tribune?

Re: Offaly v Longford

Posted: Thu May 15, 2014 7:10 am
by kaiserchief
Think the team is fairly lacking in physical presence at both ends of the field.

Its good to see Niall Smith back in the team but his club man may not help him out. Allen is very head strong and prone to black cards.

Brian Darby will more than likely play in the corner and Niall on the wing. David Hanlon would be a worry at full at full back. Its a pity McConway is still out.

Eoin Carroll is the best ball winner in the county and Guilfoyle has pace to burn any half back but I think Sullivan is more dangerous at 14. Chunningham should be at 11 for me.

I have seen Maher a few times this year. He is a big man with good presence and can kick a score. Wish him the best of luck on his debut.

Still think Ross Brady, Richie Dalton, Thomas Deehan, Sean Pender and Nigel Dunne would strengthen this team and possibly make the best 15 we have available in the county at the moment.

Re: Offaly v Longford

Posted: Thu May 15, 2014 10:08 am
by Lone Shark
Form, Longford's good championship record (haven't lost a game by more than five points in seven years, including playing Kerry, Tyrone and Mayo) and the league game at OCP this year would make it hard to be optimistic this week and yet you look at that team and you go "feck it, them lads can play ball". Midfield has been a disaster area all year - let's be honest, it's been a disaster area since McManus retired - but outside of that, they are decent players. Above all, we seem to be doing the right thing, in the sense that Niall McNamee is likely to start in front of goals, as part of a two man line, which is exactly where he should be. His performance for Rhode against Clara was one further reminder that it's a shocking waste to have him haring around the middle third of the field trying to put in tackles, when there are people far better equipped than him to do that. If I see that again in this game I'll cry - regardless of the score at the time.

A huge factor in this game for me will be how Graham Guilfoyle goes at 11 up against either Enda Williams or Michael Quinn. Both of those players are similar in that they can have a huge influence on the game if they are allowed to push forward without fear - of course Graham is going to have to do his share of defensive work, but if he can force Quinn/Williams to play as an actual defender and keep them honest, we'll have taken a big step in the right direction. For me a big part of this is that he carries the ball in the right sector. When he burst onto the scene as a 19 year old, he carried the ball with real purpose and caused problems for the opposition. Now he seems to spend most of his time taking the ball on his own 45, carrying it to the next 45 and then playing a lateral or backwards handpass. It adds nothing to an attacking move and is the kind of play that opposition teams will be delighted to see. He needs to get back to running at the black spot from the half forward line, and if he does this here he could be in for a good day.
kaiserchief wrote: Still think Ross Brady, Richie Dalton, Thomas Deehan, Sean Pender and Nigel Dunne would strengthen this team and possibly make the best 15 we have available in the county at the moment.
I don't see how lads that either don't want to be there or else have proven that they don't take it seriously when they are there would help anything. Nothing that I saw in the first round of the SFC from any of the Clara or Edenderry lads would suggest that they are a significant upgrade on what we have either. I didn't see Nigel Dunne play so I won't comment on how he's fixed form wise.