Offaly vs Tipperary - 2014 All-Ireland SHC qualifier Round 2

[Buttons]

Tipp 5-25 Offaly 1-20 , another year with nothing .

Now back to our clubs, surely a round to be played soon, no reason for any delays now

[Bord na Mona man]

Let's analyse the first 50 minutes and forget about the last 20!

[babsandbond]

Tox we have alot of bigger problems than whelahan..players are not committed to the level they need to be for county level.he shouldn't been put in place at the start of the season anyway..county board will give us a school of excellence in kk to keep people sweet for a couple years but really our problems across everyting are unfixable at this stage

[Bord na Mona man]

A bizarre game in lots of ways, but almost what we've come to expect in Offaly.
Tipp absolutely walked through us for the first 2 goals. Gaping holes in the backs and Tipp players overlapping. This seems to be happen to Offaly more than any other county. Remember Galway rattling in 3 goals in 2012 in the first few minutes. Go back to 2005 against Kilkenny when there was a similar opening. A feature of this half was the almost inevitablity that once Tipp gained possession inside the 45 there was a clear run at goal ahead of them.

In some ways this start did Offaly some favours. Tipp had their belief confirmed that Offaly were Christy Ring standard cannon fodder and this game would be a procession. The crowd went dead and the atmosphere was a dull as the sky.

Offaly did battle back and kept the scoreboard ticking. Brian Carroll knocked over a few points. Currams and Dooley both pointed from out near the sideline.
At this point in the game Offaly were the ones who had probably done most of the decent hurling in terms of finding the passess, winning breaks and taking good scores. Tipp were in 2nd gear and punishing Offaly mistakes. With nearly half an hour gone, Offaly had it back to 2 points before Tipp finished the half with another pair of goals with Offaly again carved open. 10 points down at half time.

Early in the 2nd half Colin Egan turns a low Brian Carroll free into the net. 15 minutes later and Offaly have the gap down to 4. Crucially Tipp get the next score from a free out the free around half way. Watching the fist pumping from Noel McGrath when he won the free and the cheer to greet the point from the Tipp crowd (louder than for any of the goals) you go the feeling that it was a key moment.

After that Tipp turned up the heat and Offaly just hadn't any response. They hit over some decent points. Eoin Kelly came on for a testimonial type appearance and the crowd went wild when he tapped over a point. TIpp stretched the gap from 4 to 14 without scoring any goals, so while their first half lead had an element of freak to it, this margin was better earned. When Callanan banged in the last goal Tipp were already in showboating mode and he got a slap on the hand for his troubles.

[sam88885a]

this year has been a huge step backward after a few years of reasonable stability under j dooley and o baker .

there is no surprise here b whelahan was always the wrong man for the job the only plus is he didnt get the minor job .
there are 15 to 20 lads outside the panel who would hurl for offaly but not under b whelahan and there at least 6 other lads who almost walked but didnt want to be disloyal to the offaly jersey.
i hear the senior players were unhappy with j quinn as fitness trainer because j dooley had dropped him during his time as he was not up to the job.
offaly are at a new low with only a win over kerry and antrim this year
it too easy to say lads are not committed to they level that is needed at county level.
the real question that need to be asked is why did d king d shortt s coughlan s gardner d kelliher p camon g conneelly d kilmartain c doughan t carroll c slevin walk away .
surely that the managers fault he has to nurse lads along and manage there needs offaly need to have everyone on board .
i always belived that d owen would bring everyone with him and with f foard along side we have a happy camp .
players have to be happy and enjoying hurling firstly which was not the case this year and that was reflected in our results

[Toxicity234]

Tox we have alot of bigger problems than whelahan..players are not committed to the level they need to be for county level.he shouldn't been put in place at the start of the season anyway..county board will give us a school of excellence in kk to keep people sweet for a couple years but really our problems across everyting are unfixable at this stage

I agree, we need to improve our set up at under age and a levels.

The 1st thing you do is to get manager that have manager a club team and has some experience of management.
What we have got at the moment is former county hurler that haven't management at any level been throwing in at the deep end and then we wondering why their making mistake. Manager mistakes are destroying players.
Jesus yesterday Cleary and Connelly were taking off. that was just rubbish.
The Carroll vs Dooley for the 21 yard free was not nice too see as well.

Your hurlers coming through the clubs, your manager should have to do the same or for club or county outside Offaly that suit Offaly hurling.
But let not miss the main problem within the county is getting club player at all level and getting up to inter-county standard.

Whelahan just isn't up to the job. anyone thinks were gone from 6 point away for killkenny and Waterford to 26 point away from Killkenny and 17 point away from Tipperary. That not an improvement.
That so far away from an improvement it unbelievable that anyone could think Whelahan isn't a problem.

"players are not committed to the level they need to be for county level" Players will commit if they believe in the manager, the set up and the game plan.
it must be hell to have to go training 4 time a week to watch Whelahan destroy Offaly hurling.
maybe the smart players left the panel this year because they knew what was coming.

[Turenne]

You wouldn't see a Junior B team give up the kind of oceans of space Offaly gave Tipp. And the touch of some of the Offaly players was Junior B standard as well.

[Turenne]

As an aside, throwing hurlers is one of the most cowardly actions on the hurling pitch. Right down there with striking someone on the ground and spitting on people. Despicable.

[italia90]

I think its time we started to realise where we are and not be shocked by manner of defeat yesterday or nowlan park a few weeks ago. It was evident before game started yesterday that sky's preview was all about tipp we were barely mentioned at all only lip service. That's how far off the reckoning we are. I was quiet happy with effort shown yesterday and would not fault any player who put on a jersey. We were outhurled but didn't die down until near the end when we tired. When the two goals went in at start it could have been a reason for us to lie down but that didn't happen. We will enter most games as underdogs now and the old clichés will be thrown around, keep it tight at back, pull hard and never give up. However, although encouraged by commitment to the cause yesterday we are going to have to develop a gameplan where we can commit bodies to the tackle without leaving players free for a handy pass outside to tap over a handy point. Our tackling needs refining which is easier said than done.
We all know in Clare they deployed tactics that suited there fast and skilful players, training was adjusted to accommodate this and they flourished. Yes they were beaten yesterday but remain a competitive hurling force. My problem when analysing Offaly is what system best suits our players. We are not blessed with pace so running game wont suit. We have big strong men but it seems in other counties they have them too but they seem more mobile. We just don't seem to have the pace to make the few yards to get a shot off. Our best forward Brian Carroll relies more on a good side step and reading of game than pace for example. We are caught in a quandary and its hard to know where to go. For now all I can judge team on is effort and with that they didn't fail.
I

[townman]

went just as i knew it would, that year is over thank god, yes Sid has to go but thats just one problem their is a hell alot more wrong with offaly hurling. the players have to take blame here to, if you go back through threads on this site over the years everyone wanted Baker out last year he was doing nothing offaly are not fit this and that, we had threads about Joe Dooley has to go he has 5 or 7 lads from Clareen on the squad. it turns out Dooley in my opinion was the best we had and we were not far off the mark in 2010 agin Galway and waterford.

i wouldn't hold my breath waiting for the county board to act quick here and have someone in place the will leave it till the new year to savea few bob, then as this year we will be months behind other counties in fitness and hurling. i'd say its the last we will see of Rory Hanniffy Ger Healion is 31 or 32 and if he didn't hurl this year i don't think he will be back on board in 2015, and by the looks of our underage displays it could be alot worse if it can get any worse before it gets better.

had a few pints in my local in comer after yesterdays game talking to a few kilkennymen and they like me can't understand why offaly are so poor as our club hurling is as good as whats in leinster
with k/k coolderry.tullamore,Birr, all been in leinster finals in the last 5 years and if k/k do come out of offaly again this year i would fancy them to rattle leinster again.

but as one man said theres a big jump from club to county hurling in theses times and what seems to be offalys problem is alot are just good club hurlers but don't have it for intercounty i don't know but by our displays the last 3 or 4 years i agree. anyway just the club hurling to look forward for me now, mind you i will have a few trips to croker yet this year with my black and amber family, roll on 2015 can't be any worse than this year. and yes a new county board would make a better 2015 as well.

[allstar2010]

With all the players walking off the panel and others not playing to their potential for whatever reason I think we have to take our hats off to Brian Carroll. He's the only player that showed all year that he wanted to hurl for this team and I'd probably say it's his best year in an offaly jersey. Fair play to him, he must be in his 30's by now and hopefully he'll stay on for more. Others on that team have to take a long hard look at themselves. If your not prepared to prepare yourself for that level then why bother!

[Kevin]

went just as i knew it would, that year is over thank god, yes Sid has to go but thats just one problem their is a hell alot more wrong with offaly hurling. the players have to take blame here to, if you go back through threads on this site over the years everyone wanted Baker out last year he was doing nothing offaly are not fit this and that, we had threads about Joe Dooley has to go he has 5 or 7 lads from Clareen on the squad. it turns out Dooley in my opinion was the best we had and we were not far off the mark in 2010 agin Galway and waterford.

i wouldn't hold my breath waiting for the county board to act quick here and have someone in place the will leave it till the new year to savea few bob, then as this year we will be months behind other counties in fitness and hurling. i'd say its the last we will see of Rory Hanniffy Ger Healion is 31 or 32 and if he didn't hurl this year i don't think he will be back on board in 2015, and by the looks of our underage displays it could be alot worse if it can get any worse before it gets better.

had a few pints in my local in comer after yesterdays game talking to a few kilkennymen and they like me can't understand why offaly are so poor as our club hurling is as good as whats in leinster
with k/k coolderry.tullamore,Birr, all been in leinster finals in the last 5 years and if k/k do come out of offaly again this year i would fancy them to rattle leinster again.

but as one man said theres a big jump from club to county hurling in theses times and what seems to be offalys problem is alot are just good club hurlers but don't have it for intercounty i don't know but by our displays the last 3 or 4 years i agree. anyway just the club hurling to look forward for me now, mind you i will have a few trips to croker yet this year with my black and amber family, roll on 2015 can't be any worse than this year. and yes a new county board would make a better 2015 as well.

Townman, this post gives a good synopsis of some of the confusion/frustration I feel regarding Offaly Hurling over the past 5/6 years. You've covered numerous elements here.

I hope I am wrong, I really, really do, but the one area where I take exception with your overview is that I believe things could get worse if the effort is not put in. Laois, Antrim, Westmeath, Carlow, Kerry and (Kildare I think) are all making what sounds like a massive push to have more competitive teams. Laois is really pushing hard and showing some results. Maybe Old Yellar will weigh in with his perspective on Carlow (whatever it may be) at some point (?) If we are standing still or moving slowly then it won't take an organized outfit moving from start position to overtake us. Believing that it can't get worse may (believe it or not) give us a false sense of security.

Again, I really hope I am wrong.

Of course I believe this situation can be turned around over time. The big counties seem to have a tremendous advantage these days, but I think deep down we know we can be considerably better than what we've shown.

As an aside, throwing hurlers is one of the most cowardly actions on the hurling pitch. Right down there with striking someone on the ground and spitting on people. Despicable.

Turenne, I did not see the game yesterday and do not intend to dredge up any incidents that may or may not have occurred yesterday or any other day, but I agree with you fully on your point. The throwing of hurls is reckless and dangerous. If grabbing a facemask warrants a red card...

[townman]

[quote="Turenne"]As an aside, throwing hurlers is one of the most cowardly actions on the hurling pitch. Right down there with striking someone on the ground and spitting on people. Despicable.[/quote


agree with you here but its a thing that has happen in many games tipp have done it kilkenny have done it it has happen in alot of game so i wouldn't point out any team for it as most have done it.

[fifitrixiebelle]

As an aside, throwing hurlers is one of the most cowardly actions on the hurling pitch. Right down there with striking someone on the ground and spitting on people. Despicable.[/quote


agree with you here but its a thing that has happen in many games tipp have done it kilkenny have done it it has happen in alot of game so i wouldn't point out any team for it as most have done it.

KK have done it a lot so it's not surprisin dat de Biffos are copyin dere pals. but when hav Tipp done it ? I don't remember any instances

[townman]

As an aside, throwing hurlers is one of the most cowardly actions on the hurling pitch. Right down there with striking someone on the ground and spitting on people. Despicable.[/quote


agree with you here but its a thing that has happen in many games tipp have done it kilkenny have done it it has happen in alot of game so i wouldn't point out any team for it as most have done it.

KK have done it a lot so it's not surprisin dat de Biffos are copyin dere pals. but when hav Tipp done it ? I don't remember any instances

go back to the league final 2009 in thurles taggy shot for goal and paul curran threw his hurl, second half in the 2012 all ireland semil final when the cats were running riot Paddy Stapelton threw his hurl As Eoin Larkin races in on goal, yes kilkenny done it in the all ireland 2010, galway player also threw his hurl in the all ireland replay 2012 think Johnny Coen who done it, i rememner Frank Lohan also doing in in Limerick one year again waterford.