OFFALY V DOWN.

[black and red exile]

Speaking to a Down buddie of mine this evening who has attended all of his County's games this year, the pressure is on Ross Carr to get out of Div 3 this year with no excuses. Apparently the Mourne men have been mixing the good with the awful so far and are just as inconsistant as ourselves. I was told that next Saturday night if things are not going to plan after 15 mins the home crowd will turn on their heroes big time which gets to the players quite visibly.It happened against Cavan a few weeks ago and players out of pure panic were taking pot shots from ridiculous angles which resulted in kicking 18 wides over the course of the game. The mood up there especially after losing to Limerick last Sunday is very tense amongst supporters and failure against the faithful will not be tolerated. My own personal view is that after last Sunday we should go up there with nothing to fear and show this lot that what happened on July 19th last year was a fluke, take the game to a nervous home side and I have a feeling that if we are in this game with a point or two either way with 10 or 15 mins to go there is no reason why we can't take both points out of Newry.

[Kemo Sabe]

wont be easy but i think if the lads go there without fear we are more than capable of getting a result .tipp have shown that the are not a bad side so as bad as that result was if we can up our cavan and louth performances by 20 percent and dont be giving away stupid frees there is no reason why we cant get the win .

[keephercountry]

A win here would really give the Offaly footballers a boost before the championship and thats really somthing we could do with.No way is it goin to be easy Down I think are goin to be up for it big time with the way results have gone for them the past few weeks but surley our boys will go up there with real fire in their bellies to proove to themselfs and all their critics they arn,t as bad as Down made them look last summer.I wasnt at the game last Sunday but I heard that evans is way off the mark .This could be a majour problem as we know that Downs full foward line will be very strong.I dont think Evans will start on Sunday but who can we put in instead any ideas?

[Lone Shark]

A couple of points regarding the game this weekend and in general.

(1) At the risk of being the wet blanket, let's not forget that at the start of the league, this fixture stuck out like a sore thumb as the one where we really faced an uphill battle. Now Offaly football has improved from where we thought we were while Down have perhaps shown some weakness that we didn't expect, but I wouldn't lose sight of the fact that this is a tough fixture. Tyrone lost to Down last year in the Championship - that's how good these guys can be. It's highly possible that Offaly could play well and lose this Saturday night.

(2) I think the lights are a very significant factor here - we've an awful record under lights in competitive fixtures and any player will tell you that it's tricky to get the hang of. It's worth two or three points to Down in my estimation, points that we'll do well to get back.

(3) I wouldn't get hung up on blaming Conor Evans - I honestly think that if you were to visualise a "graph" of his performances, the line is solidly moving up. It's not a position wherre Offaly are well endowed with natural choices, while the yellow card rule has made life really tough for these last line of defence players. Last weekend Evans was having a really solid game until he misjudged one ball - penalty, yellow card, game over. Now I understand that it was a positional error that caused it, but if a corner forward stands in the the wrong position for one ball, the corner back wins it, clears it, and thirty seconds later it's forgotten about. I wouldn't go deciding that Evans is not our full back based on one foul - which was all he did wrong last week.

[bracknaghboy]

I wouldn't go deciding that Evans is not our full back based on one foul - which was all he did wrong last week

Neither would I but his performaces in general over the last 7-8 years is enough to make my mind up. Saying that a graph of his games would show an upward trend is optimistic to say the least. He is too limited for county football. He'll do his best no doubt and he is a decent club footballer but county standard no way. One of our problems is that we wait and wait for a guy to fill his potential hoping year after year that he'll get better but it doesn't happen and the years pass by and the same lads keep getting picked and when all is said and done they have contributed little or nothing to the cuase. Alan McNamee is in danger of falling into this category (some would consider he is there at the moment).

Fully agree about Offaly under lights, I remember games against Kerry and Dublin where we were played off the pitch. Still this is a good time to step up and change this trend.

[Bord na Mona man]

Fully agree about Offaly under lights, I remember games against Kerry and Dublin where we were played off the pitch. Still this is a good time to step up and change this trend.

I don't believe Offaly have ever won a game under lights.
I remember the Dublin game was a particularly bad example of Offaly playing like rabbits caught in the fllodlights.

The end of Barry Mooney came about that night. Offaly were in playing a fury of crab (sideways) football, working the ball meticulously from sideline to sideline in their own half. Mooney caught a flat pass from the side while standing still and was creamed by a Dublin player. He never recovered form well enough after that injury to line out for Offaly.

The Kerry games weren't as bad in fairness. Offaly lost both of them by a kick of the ball.

[offalycork]

hi lads,

i know this down team hammered us last year but i think that might work to our advantage on saturday
night. this down team is i believe highly over rated and very beatable. they will think that we are a soft touch and that they only have to turn up to win the two points. i do believe that we have to improve on sundays performance to win the match but that is achieveable only and only if they believe themselves that they can win. niall smith has to play at mid field with ciaran. if this is not the case we will be beaten. i also hope niall mcnamee brings his scoring boots.

[lovelyhurling]

i also hope niall mcnamee brings his scoring boots.

..........and alan mcnamee brings no boots at all.


sorry couldnt resist

[the rat]

Anyone know the location of the pitch in Newry?

[Johnno81]

Pitch is on the warrenpoint road out of newry.

[the rat]

many thanks Johnno 81. I hope there will be a good crowd from the faithful..

Looking foward to going up to newry now..

[Mourne Mogul]

I don't think anyone in Down considers this an easy 2 points. That night in Tullamore was a horror story for you but we are not where we thought we were at that stage or any where near it. We are hugely inconsistent and there has been a lot of experimentation with the sides fielded this year to date without any clear pattern emerging. There is some anger here in some quarters about Ross Carr & DJ Kane but I think that will not become widespread unless we miss promotion.IThink this is very much an open contest.

[Mourne Mogul]

Well a much improved Down tonight - not overplaying the ball so much, better shot selection, passing and finishing, great work-rate and support play. Didn't anticipate that at all - as I said we are very inconsistent.

Disheartening to see Offaly where they are now. A lot in common between our two Counties - both with a great footballing heritage but a real dearth of success and a lot of pain in recent years. I really felt for your footballers last July in Tullamore - the support wasn't there for them in big numbers because of a disastrous fixture clash which meant the hurlers were playing on the same night, in Thurles if I remember rightly.

Any way I wish you all the best for the rest of the year - I'd love to see the spirit of '82 back again - great days which I remember so well.

[Georgio1]

Ye are looking good for promotion now Mourne Mogul, a win over the Rossies will see ye home. As for us, will be down to the last game against Limerick to secure our status. Will be tough, but our home form is what has kept us in with a chance of stayin up.

[Mourne Mogul]

You have a tough enough side of the draw in Leinster this year - Kildare, Laois & Wexford, though no Dublin or Meath until the Final. Leinster is getting like Ulster now - very competitive.