Offaly Senior Football Team - Championship 2022

A forum to air your views on Offaly GAA matters and beyond.
kingscounty
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Re: Offaly Senior Football Team - Championship 2022

Post by kingscounty »

Westmeath far more comfortable playing in Croke and this showed on the score board, 3-19 from play. Offaly never pressed Westmeath players when they had the ball, never pushed up on kick are were happy to let them have possession.
Westmeath won 27 from 27 on their own kick outs, we lacked urgency going forward and it was the substitutes that gave us a lift in the second half. Great experience for the under 21’s who will only improve over the coming years. Westmeath 3-22 Offaly 2-16

offalyman
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Re: Offaly Senior Football Team - Championship 2022

Post by offalyman »

The less said about today the better...looks to be the end of the road for Maughan and the current management team. Hopefully the next manager will be given the time to build and develop a squad of the next number of years. I think Declan Kelly deserves a shot at the main gig now if he wants it. Good footballers coming through in the county but were definitely still way behind in S & C and tactically we need to improve dramatically

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Re: Offaly Senior Football Team - Championship 2022

Post by biffinbanner »

sad to say but westmeath could have been 14 up at half time with average shooting. a new management team is going to be appointed im sure. who tho ?.our own seem to be less respected than outsiders.( flanagan,rouse, kelly) we have the emerging talent. declan kelly if hes going to take it would want to pick his time.

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Bord na Mona man
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Re: Offaly Senior Football Team - Championship 2022

Post by Bord na Mona man »

Hard to know how deeply to read into this one.
Offaly were very poor in preventing Westmeath from running through them.
Conceding kick outs is one thing, you need to set up a defensive wall somewhere down the field once you opt to drop off. There never was one though.
The covering and tracking back was very poor. Either the players weren't up for the game, or there are serious defensive frailties.

Once again Offaly used the wind advantage badly with several low quality long balls in. When they ran with it in the second half they at least created some decent moves.

Some of the younger players showed good moments and will have enjoyed a run out in Croke Park.

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Re: Offaly Senior Football Team - Championship 2022

Post by jimbob17 »

Very poor performance. Shocking in fact. Over at HT. It was brutal. We should not be losing to Westmeath in this manner. If that is the best Maughan and his team can come up with after 4 yrs in charge, we are better off without him. Put this in context, WH couldn't get out of Div 3 this year and absolutely annihilated us. There is no other way to describe it.

We won no WH kickout from 27. That is scandalous. They waltzed through us like we weren't there. Some of our 20s clearly have long way to go to get up to senior standard. Lot made about some of these lads and while they are young, some have yet to do it on club scene, let alone inter county senior level. How Bernard Allen can't make that forward line is beyond me - probably the best inside forward we have currently. We seemed to be over run in middle third and too many runs were not tracked. Fitness wise, we were way off it in first 20 mins and took ages to get to pitch of it. I'd suggest that only happened because WH were coasting and comfortable throughout and dropped their level. Cunningham and Eoin Carroll are huge losses in the middle third.

There were some plusses though. Jordan Hayes showed real promise, and Anton tried hard and was clearly frustrated with all that was or was not going on, even if he took too much out of ball at times. Thought Dempsey had very good second half, and Hyland improved things when he came in.

Beyond that, the next management have a bit of work on their hands. There is talent there but it needs to be harnessed and much higher standards in terms of application need to be set than what was on display in Croke Park.
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offalyman
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Re: Offaly Senior Football Team - Championship 2022

Post by offalyman »

An alternative 15 who weren’t on the panel yesterday for one reason or another, plenty of footballers in the county. Would actually be a cracker of a game 😀

1:O’Toole ( Shamrocks)
2:Colm Doyle ( Clara)
3:Eoin Rigney ( Rhode)
4:Niall Darby (Rhode)
5:Chilly Donnelly ( Bracknagh)
6:John Furlong (Tullamore)
7:Joey o Connor (st.ryanaghs)
8:Eoin Carroll (Cappincur)
9:Cathal Mangan (kilclonfert)
10:Cormac Egan (Tullamore)
11:Peter Cunningham ( Bracknagh)
12:Cathal donaghue (KK)
13:Panda Allen (Tubber)
14:Cian Farrell (Edenderry)
15:Cian Johnson (Ferbane)

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Re: Offaly Senior Football Team - Championship 2022

Post by Behindthegoal »

It was men against boys yesterday Westmeath are a more seasoned team they’ve played in Leinster finals against Dublin and ran Kildare close in two semi-finals Offaly just haven’t been doing that. Offaly played for pride in the second half but that rally counts for nothing in my opinion it’s a lot easier to pick off a few scores when the game was essentially over at half time and it looked like Westmeath took their foot off the gas when you see how easy they cut through us in the first half. Westmeath were a far more physical team they were breaking tackles at ease where as anytime an Offaly player took the ball into contact they were stripped of it now some u20s have time to develop their s&c but there’s no excuse for some players who have been on the panel a few years now to still be behind in that facet of the game.

While Offaly were poor and the players are the ones who take to the field I don’t think they were helped by the sideline. Offaly conceded Westmeaths kickout for the whole game Westmeath won 27/27 100% success rate I’m not sure if that’s every happened in an inter county match? That is an absolutely crazy tactic to keep up for 70 minutes we were 10 points down and still offering up Westmeath free possession why??? We had nothing to lose the least we could’ve tried was to put a squeeze on the goalkeeper make him kick it out long where it’s a more 50/50 and we have a chance to win more primary possession, how can you build any type of momentum in a game when you are doing this? Whenever Offaly got a score and the crowd tried to get involved Westmeath would just chip the ball out to a corner back unopposed to saunter up the pitch greeted with groans from the Offaly supporters that’s draining for the players too. If you are going to drop off kickouts that means you have 15 men set behind the ball so at least you have to be reasonably solid at the back then? No Westmeath would transition the ball with 2/3 passes then all of a sudden they are inside our 45 without a glove being laid on them it was like a training match at times.


Westmeaths Ronan O’Toole caused us untold amount of problems he was linking the play getting on the end of moves and orchestrating everything for Westmeath, why was there not a detailed man marker assigned for him? O’toole wasn’t plucked from a junior club during the week to play on Sunday he’s been known for years as westmeaths playmaker Offaly would’ve watched all their clips yet he was given the freedom of croke park and being passed from Billy to Jack by the Offaly defence , you flip that on it’s head to our No.11 Ruairi McNamee our playmaker who we rely on to make us tick was followed everywhere by Westmeaths no.12 David lynch he wasn’t interested in the ball he had a job to do for the team and he completely nullified our main transition player I’ve rarely seen Ruairi as quiet and he was substituted. Westmeath May have been the better team but they won the battle on the sideline by a country Mile too.

Offaly have two coaches coming from Dublin tomas O’Se coming from cork and Maughan from Castlebar along with several Offaly selectors , what are they all doing? what are they looking at? What were they doing in training? What was the game play going out? I’d say offalys bill for their management is double Westmeaths yet they are streets ahead of our management. Surely there’s a better way to be using the amount of money it costs for them 4 coaches especially when you see what they are producing? We aren’t even getting value for money.

We beat Wexford who finished third bottom of Division 4 by 1 point and if the game had 30 more seconds we looked like we were about to bottle it. Wicklow who are Division 4 and New York who were essentially a pub team there’s nothing impressive about that run. Our only other win this year was against down by 1 point who were also relegated with us and are in absolute turmoil themselves. When you crunch the numbers at the end of 4 years it’s not pretty for Maughan. We were blessed with the split leagues to get promotion to division 2 that’s his only tangible achievement we are arguably further away from Kildare Westmeath and Meath than when he took over. He seems to be all about himself he loves the sound of his own voice and managing a county team gives him a platform to be relevant there’s a probably a reason he was 20 years out of inter county management and why he’s not liked in his own county. He seems to have pissed more players than he has a good relationship with.
Can we get this man a one way ticket to Castlebar please?


That was a good post by Offalyman above. I actually think that team would beat our team that took to the field yesterday. There’s good talent in the county and we can definitely get a lot more out of ourselves then we are currently. Let’s hope a decision can be made quickly so the management can watch the full club championship starting soon. Eoin Rigney Is the best man marker in the county hopefully he can player for Rhode this year. Eoin Carroll will be back from Australia soon. Peter Cunningham will have a full campaign with bracknagh under his belt. Hopefully cian Farrell can feature at some stage. Cian Johnson is flying for Ferbane by all accounts. Them 5 players could all start next season if they were available it’s not all doom and gloom.

On a side note the way panda Allen has been treated is very poor in my opinion. Not 1 minute in three tailteann cup games Offaly were winning and then he left the panel himself before yesterday, how has he fallen out of favour so quickly? It’s not as if we have crazy depth? He’s been some servant to Offaly consistently scored for us in league games with horrible conditions up and down the country for almost 10 years. 91 League and Championship appearances if that’s the end of his career it’s a very sad ending but I’d like to commend panda on his commitment and class over the years.

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Bord na Mona man
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Re: Offaly Senior Football Team - Championship 2022

Post by Bord na Mona man »

For the duration of Maughan's term things have gone reasonably well.
The players have been engaged with the set up and for the most part the best players in the county have stayed involved.
I say this in the context of the preceding years where we became accustomed to several players not getting involved and the continual stream of huffs and walk outs.
There was no significant championship win against a Meath or a Kildare to give a sense of significant progress. By that measure it won't be seen as a tenure where major improvements were made.

This year there are several signs of building dissatisfaction within the set up.
I also believe the perception grew that Maughan's term was coming to an end and this didn't help. He became a bit of a Ralf Rangnick, punching in time.
The Tomás Ó Sé appointment may have undermined his authority. And I'm still not sure what Ó Sé's role was.
I heard that Ó Sé recently said in an interview that he wasn't entirely sure himself - he came along to training and the existing coaches were running the session, business as usual.

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Re: Offaly Senior Football Team - Championship 2022

Post by jimbob17 »

There is a notion out there we have lots of talent coming. That is true. But that is case for a while now. We have had good minor and u21 teams for nearly 10 years now. We shouldn't be relying on 20 year old if we are doing it right. The guys starting should be ready NOW. Where are all the 25-29 year old that should be in their prime now. All of them teams were beating likes of Westmeath consistently at minor level. Just because we won an u20, doesn't mean we churn them all out for a bunch of young lads that aren't ready!

Look at WH. Heslin, Egan, james and lorcan Dolan, Maguire, the centre back from Multi, Kieran Martin, Ronan O Toole, Sam Duncan, David Lynch, all between 25 and 31. Maughan has got it arseways big time. We should be beating WH and competing with Kildare and Meath for top 3 in Leinster if right is right.

Panda is our best forward for last 3 or 4 years and got churned out for Bryant O Neill and McEvoy. O Neill did well yesterday and is just a chap at maybe 18 or 19yrs of age. Bryant was a good u20 but has yet to do it at adult level in his club, and was shoved around like a rag doll, losing possession a couple of times yesterday before being hauled off. He is very good on ball, has loads of potential but needs to get a lot stronger for to be effective at senior level. There are other examples of that too and I'm not trying to be hard on young lads. It's not their fault they are selected and are only glad to be there. But they shouldn't be the lads you are relying on. In time they will be really good but are they ready NOW? And if they are not, what the hell have this management been doing?

There was a significant lack of leadership there. Besides maybe Moloney, Dempsey and maybe Sullivan and Hayes, we were sadly lacking on that front yesterday. Is Ruairi Mc going to hurt a team with running at centre forward like O Toole does? Is Ruairi Mc good enough? absolutely is, but is that his best spot on an inter county senior team where you are dealing with supreme athleticism running at you? Id suggest not. Play him at 13 or 15 maybe or maybe withdrawn, as extra half forward where he can play to his strengths, but the WH centre back went to town running down middle yesterday, simply because he could. You have to pick horses for courses and Ruairi Mc might work at 11 in orthodox role for Rhode, but Croke Park in championship is different level of gravy. He is an excellent footballer but I felt sorry for him yesterday in that role. He is one of our better forwards but that 11 role is not his best role at inter county level. That is managements fault, not his and the team struggled as a result.

There are far too many lads not there that should be and could add to the squad and offer impact off bench. Where are the likes of Kyle Higgins and Ronan McEvoy who dominated underage football when Ferbane were lording underage? There was another few out there too I can think of. Oisin Kelly obviously injured but he is a very strong footballer. Nathan Poland, Shane Tierney, among others that were at least as good if not better than half these u20s now on the senior panel. Paddy Christie was selecting Tierney over Bryant for DCU and Tierney not even on Offaly panel. But sure what would Paddy Christie know about football! Surely a few more of them very strong St Vincent's u21 teams should be involved too. They walked a couple of u21 championships (3 in row I think) and are all in mid 20s now. I am not seeing them coming through and that begs the question. Have these selectors or so called coaches any clue about the talent that is in the county?

Some of these lads that are there as panelists, are they going to turn things around coming off the bench? Again, not being unfair here, but I just don't see it. They certainly don't do it for their clubs too often. Hyland was only lad that had any impact yesterday and he should probably be starting anyway. Some would struggle to make the Tullamore or Rhode senior teams I'd suggest.

I'm just trying to be objective here. Yesterday was a catastrophe and really shone a light on the inadequacies of the current management regime. Losing to Wexford in championship, one of worst teams in country - albeit with lots of injuries. Couple of easy wins over New York and Wicklow is nothing to shout about for a supposed Div 2 team. Not even competing yesterday with a Div 3 wH team says a lot. If any other coach was producing such results, supporters would be calling for blood. Look it is likely the end of Maughan's reign now but in four years, are we any way better off than when Pat Flanagan was hounded out a few years ago. I would think not.
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Re: Offaly Senior Football Team - Championship 2022

Post by ah lethimoutwithit »

In response to BNM mans point re Tomas O'Se..."He was insure what his role was"...

This is really concerning, in that if I was driving from Offaly to Cork to assist with a team, I'd be bloody sure of what I was going to be doing there or I wouldn't do it.
But of course sometimes "twine" compensates for confusion!! It's a great little "voluntary " organisation we have isn't it?

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Re: Offaly Senior Football Team - Championship 2022

Post by ah lethimoutwithit »

Ah Jim Bob

Kyle Higgins, Nathan Poland, Ronan McEvoy, are you for real?

Have you seen these guys play club football lately and what level they are operating at?

Fair point with Tierney alright. But many lads don't want to commit, Conor/Karl Dunne play rugby and happy to play club, Cathal Mangan and Eoin Carroll gone travelling, Dempsey playing yesterday, PJ Daly was on the panel but not really making it, but thats the pick of them St Vins teams.

Look, any debate about who should be playing for Offaly needs to be realistic about how committed they are and it's not for everyone.
There is a real underlying problem in Offaly with many of the clubs and the level that they are at and that is a political question in relation to parish teams.

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Re: Offaly Senior Football Team - Championship 2022

Post by jimbob17 »

Had a conversation with an experienced Co senior player only 2 weeks ago who suggested Higgins is one of the hardest guys to mark at senior level in club and one of most difficult guys to play in the county. He is still very young - maybe 23 or 24 I'd say. I saw Higgins myself against Edenderry last year in OCP in championship marking a 'Co Player' where he scored 3 or 4 from play from midfield as Ferbane wiped them.

Other lads mentioned are at lower levels in club and that is an issue. I'll use David Dempsey as an example. Not too many on here would've seen him as a Co senior 3 or 4 years ago, but he has grown into one of our strongest performers. He has immersed himself in the environment if Co senior set up. Now if you lift the likes of them players mentioned out of their junior inter senior B environments and put them in a Co senior set up, you will see them grow to fulfill their potential like Dempsey has - a potential that has a much higher ceiling than some of the lads who are in there currently from so called 'senior clubs'. Other Examples include likes of Bernard Allen, Peter Cunningham, and more recently Dylan Hyland, all of whom have grown as footballers for stretching themselves beyond the levels of their clubs.

We do not have luxury of ignoring our best talent but that's what we do and have done for years at a huge price. Cork pulled Seamus Harnedy from junior club obscurity to be one of their main men. Some of those listed had and have more talent than some of these so called superstar u20s and more besides - (just wait and see), but the junior or 2nd rate attitudes within some of their clubs don't allow them to be at their best. So we should lift them from that environment and afford them that chance if they want to grab, then it's up to them.

Imo, there is a political snobbery among some people in some senior clubs in Offaly where they totally under value lads coming from smaller junior and intermediate clubs. If Cappincur stayed Inter, Junior or Senior B, would the likes of the Carrolls have been given the same oppportunities? I am not so sure they would. As for Daly, he is better than a good few current senior panelists I'd suggest - though maybe he left himself out - I don't know.

Accept, some have not committed, but some have not had the opportunities others from the bigger clubs get on a regular basis.
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Re: Offaly Senior Football Team - Championship 2022

Post by Fairplayalways »

Watched all yesterdays game V Westmeath, I thought from Paddy D out to number 9 we were decent enough, playing the ball out and carrying it well and passing etc., unfortunately, with the exception of Anton Sullivan, whom was fouled repeatedly, amazingly by different players apparently so no second yellow and how some were not black cards at the least amazed me. I stand corrected but not one black card in both semifinals was amazing to me, it showed either extremely discipline tackling (which was not the case) or poor refereeing and infairness to Anton Sullivan, how he kept his cool with all the fouling of him he deserves great credit.
Outside him and Niall McNamee who showed for the ball, the other forwards did not do enough to keep the Westmeath defence from pressing up on us all game. It was like Offaly had trainied on what to do from 1-9 but from there on it was left up to individual talent to make inroads and unfortunately that was never going to happen.

Maughans interview before the game was all very funny and happy and what have ya compared to his counterpart in Westmeath, I know personalities differ and not all are serious but I just thought Maughan was a tad relaxesd, well able to talk up the absenteeisms in his squad before a ball was kicked and again after it, Niall Darby a huge loss, but his replacment was no slouch so while a loss, Darby is not the reason we were comprhensively beaten...I think Maughan has run his course, I dont think he is able to coach the modern game, not that the modern game is great or anything but I suppose it needs a blend of everything to be competitive now. Declan Kelly yes, a good manager at the level he is at currently, does he have what it takes for intercounty senior??..everyone has to start somewhere as they say, I probably would give him the gig, another big name I dont think will do anything (if they are that good another county would have them I think) Probably end of the road for Niall McNamee and maybe one or two others, great servants and all stars possibly if would could have reached AI semi final any one year but not to be...we like every other county, seem to be blessed with rare natural talent when we are not competitive at national level, what a pity but such is sport..

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Bord na Mona man
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Re: Offaly Senior Football Team - Championship 2022

Post by Bord na Mona man »

Fairplayalways wrote: Mon Jun 20, 2022 2:25 pm Watched all yesterdays game V Westmeath, I thought from Paddy D out to number 9 we were decent enough, playing the ball out and carrying it well and passing etc., unfortunately, with the exception of Anton Sullivan, whom was fouled repeatedly, amazingly by different players apparently so no second yellow and how some were not black cards at the least amazed me. I stand corrected but not one black card in both semifinals was amazing to me, it showed either extremely discipline tackling (which was not the case) or poor refereeing and infairness to Anton Sullivan, how he kept his cool with all the fouling of him he deserves great credit.
He reffed it like a hurling ref where the rules were applied sparingly. Offaly could have milled into tackles too and assumedly would have had leniency shown, but generally they didn't manage to.

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Re: Offaly Senior Football Team - Championship 2022

Post by Fairplayalways »

I hear what your saying but knowing our luck we would be pulled up..two wrongs dont make a right as the saying goes..Anton Sullivan was very disciplined yesterday to give the chap credit, he has been sent off before for reacting...he was not treated fairly yesterday at all..

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