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What a year these young hurlers have giving us already,
They play the game without fear, we can show tipperary respect but have absolutely no fear of them, I feel goals will be crucial, we have only conceded 2 so far this year,
Tear into them lads, the whole county is behind ye,
Uíbh Fhailí abú

Buzzing for tomorrow

Yeah, great to have a big match with Offaly people travelling in force.

We'd love to win, but if it's not to be, it's still fantastic group of players coming through.

Absolutely, credit to themselves, their clubs and families.

This is the thing. Whatever tomorrow's outcome, the development of this team and of all Offaly teams must continue.
That development should continue with the introduction of an U18 development squad next year. Some players will graduate to their clubs' Senior teams quicker than others; some won't have access to Senior teams at all. That gap needs to be bridged and there is no time to waste.

Bord na Mona man wrote: ↑Sat Jul 02, 2022 12:36 pm We'd love to win, but if it's not to be, it's still fantastic group of players coming through.

Bord na Mona man wrote: ↑Sat Jul 02, 2022 12:36 pm Yeah, great to have a big match with Offaly people travelling in force.

We'd love to win, but if it's not to be, it's still fantastic group of players coming through.

So true. More important to keep being competitive at this level over the next few years

Best of luck to all the players and everyone involved, enjoy the occasion lads , they don’t come around often enough, let’s bring it home

Plain of the Herbs wrote: ↑Sat Jul 02, 2022 4:47 pm This is the thing. Whatever tomorrow's outcome, the development of this team and of all Offaly teams must continue.
That development should continue with the introduction of an U18 development squad next year. Some players will graduate to their clubs' Senior teams quicker than others; some won't have access to Senior teams at all. That gap needs to be bridged and there is no time to waste.

Bord na Mona man wrote: ↑Sat Jul 02, 2022 12:36 pm We'd love to win, but if it's not to be, it's still fantastic group of players coming through.

Fully agree and would like to echo this sentiment. These lads are only 15,16 and some 17yrs old. I'd urge that no matter what, these lads are not put up on a pedestal as lads at that age are often unable to handle adulation in the right way. Most if not all have a long way to go in their hurling journey just yet. They have potential but the way in which they carry themselves and apply themselves over the next 4 to 5 years will be the thing that determines whether they come through at higher levels, not whether they win or lose tomorrow. Yes its great to be in the final and to see a bit of success but we have lost lots of talent before for these sort of reasons. It is important that lads feet are kept on the ground and that this type of scenario (reaching finals etc) becomes a more regular occurrence due to well run and organised development squad systems. Still, fingers crossed for the win and best of luck to all involved.

Heartbreaking

Hard luck to the minors. I'm gutted for them.
Everyone on that team gave their all for the county today.

A great bunch of lads, you have done us all very proud and couldn’t have given anymore! The skill the heart the passion they showed for the county was just amazing to see, these lads need our support even more now than ever before.

Heartbreaking way to lose but we were by far the best team on the field today. Our defence was absolutely outstanding but for some reason, leading by 6 points and having an extra man with 54 minutes on the clock, we sat back and invited pressure which was a huge mistake but having said that, the ref made two horrendous decisions in the last 2 minutes...

He gave them a free in the 63rd minute for absolutely nothing and then didn’t give us a clear free out in the 64 minute ( both can be seen on this thread here https://twitter.com/paulfly17451667/sta ... k7En45xZgQ )

It also seems like Offaly should’ve been awarded a penalty in the 52nd minute because Tipperary’s No.15 deliberately threw his hurl to prevent a goal-scoring opportunity and it seems clear there was two Tipperary players in the square for their goal.

Alas, those are the swings and roundabouts but one thing is very clear from today, these Offaly players are here to stay and the future is very bright. It’ll be fun seeing them in action for the U20’s in the next few years hopefully under the guidance of Leo O’Connor.

Feel sick. So so close and then get the heart ripped at the end. We were out on our feet after the sending off. Our young men gave everything and emptied the tank. I'm not going down the route of match analysis, too raw for that now. Thanks to all players and management for a monumental year. Ye gave the county a huge lift, and have shown the younger kids of Offaly we can match anyone in the country when we apply ourselves correctly. That takes years of dedication and please please please push on for under 20 grade over next few years and hopefully this team can be the backbone of senior panel down the road. Well done young men of Offaly, ye certainly owe us supporters nothing. And congrats to Tipp, lesser teams would have wilted.

I wasn't there today and I didn't see it on TV so I'm only catching up.

There are worse things in hurling than losing All-Ireland Minor finals. In the short term, things will be raw but life goes on. The Minor football championship begins next weekend, the Minor hurling championship the weekend after.

Medium term, it's absolutely vital an U18 development squad is commenced. And as I understand it, four Offaly schools will compete in Leinster B Post Primary Schools competition next year. Absolutely vital all four take thus seriously and are properly prepared. Be great to see all four reach the semi-finals.

Offaly will be competitive at U20 over the next three years.

Leo O'Connor has been brilliant for Offaly. Long may he continue.

As far as I recall, Limerick never won a Minor All-Ireland in recent years. Clare didn't win one, but won three All-Ireland U21s. And Galway win it most year's yet have one Senior All-Ireland in 30 years.

The darkest hour is before the dawn.

Heartbreaking but god it was like the old days there getting down to Kilkenny, buses pulled over and lads hopping on and off.

This is a special team and hopefully in 3 years time we go again with Leinster and AI finals. The memories of this year will live long for us all.

Not mentioned yet but homecoming is in Tullamore o Connor park between 6-7.30 tomorrow and birr after.

Ye have done the county proud for lads of such a young age. Keep the heads high, ye deserve it.