Offaly Senior Football Club Championship 2011

[townman]

Would it be fair to say the current championship is as poor as we have seen since the 90's. Rhode are no where near the team they were. Clara even minus players still comfortably made the semi final stage. And then you have Edenderry and gracefield who have been relegation battlers in recent years and I am not convinced either have improved that much and maybe its more to do with how bad the championship is that they are in the shake up.

Equally I think the hurling championship has been very poor. The standard in both codes has dropped alot.

i actually think its good for offaly football that Edenderry and Gracefield are playing a semil final and with Walsh Island back senior and doing well
these were the hotbeds of offaly football when we were winning going back to the 60's 70's 80's.

as for Rhode what did offaly win when they were winnning it ever year or Clara, offaly football needs Gracefield, Walsh Island, Edenderry even Ferbane back winning.

as for the hurling i think the championship over the last 3 years has been good and open with tullamore bring a fresh change to the game winning 1 and getting to two county finals
Coolderry last year and it would be good to see K/K win one as well,

not like a few years ago when my club Birr were walking away with the club championship ever year almost so a change is good and it would be good for offaly hurling if Rynaghs
came back as well .

wouldn't it be nice if Gracefield or Edenderry won the senior this year with young new players we know what Rhode and Clara have, same the hurling maybe Rynaghs or K/K
winningthe hurling would bring a change, you don't want the same clubs winning the club championship every year which has been the case in offaly over the last 10 years.

look at kilkenny, Galway, tipp, club scene most years theirs a different club most years winning it, like offaly hurling was in the 80's 90's with Birr, Seir Kierans, Rynaghs, Kinnitty, Lusmagh winning it like wise the football the Walsh Island, Gracefield,Edenderry,Ferbane winning in the 70's and 80's we need them clubs back.

[RexHamilton]

i actually think its good for offaly football that Edenderry and Gracefield are playing a semil final and with Walsh Island back senior and doing well
these were the hotbeds of offaly football when we were winning going back to the 60's 70's 80's.

as for Rhode what did offaly win when they were winnning it ever year or Clara, offaly football needs Gracefield, Walsh Island, Edenderry even Ferbane back winning.

You're insinuating here that it's because Rhode and Clara are the two strongest teams in the county that we are struggling at county level and that if Edenderry, Gracefield an likes were to win a championship all would be right in Offaly football. You say as for Rhode and Clara, what have we won when they were winning in the county, and that's an insult to these clubs. Over the years both these clubs have produced outstanding footballers who have served the county teams very well and they provide the majority of the players on the county panel of late. Now as you point out, we haven't been doing too well of late, but thats more a reflection on the poor standard of the other clubs in the county as opposed to a reflection on Rhode and Clara.

Yes, it would be great to have a competitive championship with Edenderry, Gracefield, Walsh Island and Ferbane back as serious contenders for the dowling and it would be great for the county team. But not because they provided the majority of the players for the teams in the 60's, 70's and 80's but because a strong competitive championship is always going to be better for the county team. It's just as important for Offaly football that Tullamore, Erin Rovers, Ballycumber, Tubber and Shamrocks compete for the Dowling as Gracefield, Edenderry, Walsh Island and Ferbane.

[Lone Shark]

I think the problem is not that Rhode and Clara are good - after all, we have two clubs that have acquitted themselves well in Leinster the last time they each played there - the problem is the gulf. From a neutral point of view, it's not that you want one team on top as opposed to another, it's that you don't want a dozen points between the good and the bad teams. That's the problem.

Look at the eight All Ireland quarter finalists this year:

Dublin - Wide open championship, way too many teams in 32, but at least 12 teams theoretically good enough to win
Kerry - Wide open championship, seven or eight teams good enough to win
Donegal - Open championship again, six or seven realistic winners at the very least
Mayo - Very open championship, all eight quarter finalists felt they were in with a shout and rightly so.
Kildare - very open championship, Carbury now in the final and would have been ranked seventh or eighth by most pundits at the start of the year.
Cork - A bit skewed on a ccount of Nemo, but Carbery Rangers and UCC would have been top ten at best at the start of the year - now in the final.
Tyrone - Very open championship, seven teams were priced shorter than 10/1 and several other contenders, not including Derrylaughan who are now in a semi final.
Limerick - bit of an anomaly here, but still a competitive championship. five or six possible winners.

No compare that to Offaly, where realistically only Rhode, Clara, Tullamore and Edenderry were given any kind of chance at the start of the year, and both Tullamore and Edenderry were long shots. Gracefield.

[townman]

i actually think its good for offaly football that Edenderry and Gracefield are playing a semil final and with Walsh Island back senior and doing well
these were the hotbeds of offaly football when we were winning going back to the 60's 70's 80's.

as for Rhode what did offaly win when they were winnning it ever year or Clara, offaly football needs Gracefield, Walsh Island, Edenderry even Ferbane back winning.

You're insinuating here that it's because Rhode and Clara are the two strongest teams in the county that we are struggling at county level and that if Edenderry, Gracefield an likes were to win a championship all would be right in Offaly football. You say as for Rhode and Clara, what have we won when they were winning in the county, and that's an insult to these clubs. Over the years both these clubs have produced outstanding footballers who have served the county teams very well and they provide the majority of the players on the county panel of late. Now as you point out, we haven't been doing too well of late, but thats more a reflection on the poor standard of the other clubs in the county as opposed to a reflection on Rhode and Clara.

Yes, it would be great to have a competitive championship with Edenderry, Gracefield, Walsh Island and Ferbane back as serious contenders for the dowling and it would be great for the county team. But not because they provided the majority of the players for the teams in the 60's, 70's and 80's but because a strong competitive championship is always going to be better for the county team. It's just as important for Offaly football that Tullamore, Erin Rovers, Ballycumber, Tubber and Shamrocks compete for the Dowling as Gracefield, Edenderry, Walsh Island and Ferbane.

i am not running down Rhode or Clara who are find football clubs what i'am saying maybe the likes of Edenderry or Walsh Island, gracefield, winning the county title might bring
something knew to the county scene which is offen the case with new winners.

as for the county subject i'd say if Rhode or clara win out in offaly again we will have the same group from each club that will go in with offaly theres some of them don't bother
their arse for offaly as the past has showed wont name names we know who theses players are, maybe a few new lads from Edenderry,Gracefield,Walsh Island, would be better
for the county than the same faces from Rhode and clara we have had over the last 10 years. and by the way you can say the same about the hurling that panel needs a shake up to.

[High School Musical]

Oh dear, what the he'll happened to Gracefield today?!!!
Exceptionally poor. Disappointing to see.

[Thereorthereabouts]

what was th result ??

[offalyman08]

Edenderry 0-10 0-3 Gracefield
Clara 0-14 1-5 Rhode

[Abercrombie Fitch]

A lot of people asked had Clara got the ability to pull out a performance. Well that was well and truly answered. Played Rhode off the field and but for a very fortunate goal the gap would have been wider. An interesting final in store now.

[Bord na Mona man]

Good win for Clara. Rhode went off the boil after they got ahead from a fortunate goal early in the game.
Clara looked to be in trouble early on when Tommo Deehan went off injured and Rhode were a goal to the good.

However Clara really got stuck in and were impressive from then on. The collective work rate was huge, the tackling and hunger for the breaks was greater than Rhode's.
Niall McNamee was really off form and the rest of the Rhode passengers didn't pay their fares. A few of Rhode's early scores owed to Clara indiscipline - pointless fouls and punishment for dissent, rather than anything particularly creative from the East Offaly men.

This wasn't a good endorsement for Tom Coffey's case for being the next Offaly manager. From late in the 1st half, Rhode were starting to hit trouble (managing one point in about the last 40 minutes). I saw no evidence of any change in game plan and there was few meaningful substitutions or switches.

It should be a good county final. Edenderry are a solid hard working team who could potentially give Clara plenty of it.

[kingscounty]

the edenderry / gracefield game was shocking bad.gracefield forwards were brutal and their centre back scored 2 of the 3 points they got, any future offaly manager who was looking at this game might be re thinking his position.its easy to see why these 2 teams were in relegation battle last year,the standard of football in offaly is shocking.semi finals are not easy to win and edenderry will be delighted with the win but if they beat clara it will be the shock of all shocks.clara were super against a rhode team that walked their group.they scored some great points,when o hara came on he seemed to lift the team.eoin brady,reynolds,guilfoyle all worked very hard,stephen deehan at centre forward played great.all the backs were excellent and stopped niall mc getting much ball.rhode are very average side when niall isnt on form and the score line tells that.alan mc did ok for rhode but the rest were poor.its hard to look past clara in the final but maybe they peeked and got fired up for this game because it was rhode,edenderry will fancy their chances,it all depends on the day.credit must go to edenderry who like i said were in relegation battle last couple of years,brady will have them fired up for the final.does anyone know when it is fixed for?

[RexHamilton]

i am not running down Rhode or Clara who are find football clubs what i'am saying maybe the likes of Edenderry or Walsh Island, gracefield, winning the county title might bring
something knew to the county scene which is offen the case with new winners.

as for the county subject i'd say if Rhode or clara win out in offaly again we will have the same group from each club that will go in with offaly theres some of them don't bother
their arse for offaly as the past has showed wont name names we know who theses players are, maybe a few new lads from Edenderry,Gracefield,Walsh Island, would be better
for the county than the same faces from Rhode and clara we have had over the last 10 years. and by the way you can say the same about the hurling that panel needs a shake up to.

These lads that you're talking about are playing senior football and are in county semi finals. If they're good enough to be playing for Offaly then they should be in the team. Clara or Rhode winning the county title shouldn't affect that. I agree with Lone Shark here and I think said it in my original point, that the county needs club football to be strong and if you're looking at it from a county perspective, it doesn't matter who wins the Dowling, if there are good competitive games the whole way through, which unfortunately hasn't been the case over the last 10 years or so.

Anyway, on today's, Gracefield will be fierce disappointed with themselves that they didn't even put up a fight in the first semi final and Edenderry will have learned litle from the game. Rhode proved that when Niall has an off day they are a very ordinary team, but it must be said that Clara absolutely played them off the field for about 45-50 minutes of todays game. The opening 10 minutes or so were fairly even and the double whammy of the soft goal and Deehan going off injured looked like a huge blow for Clara, but they rallied and outplayed Rhode in every area of the field for the remainder of the game. They have to be considered favourites in the final, but Edenderry won't give up a chance at winning the Dowling after coming up from intermediate last year easily. Makes for a great final!

[True Red]

Just to clarify

but Edenderry won't give up a chance at winning the Dowling after coming up from intermediate last year easily.

Edenderry won the intermediate in 2007.

[Abercrombie Fitch]

After what I saw today Clara are hot favourites, but finals still have to be won. As far as Rhode are concerned, Kevin Corrigan said they'd win the semi final even if McNamee wasnt playing. Well he was and they still didnt so it shows what shite we are paying for in the Tullamore Tribune every week. Corrigan must have some competition lads??

[Abercrombie Fitch]

Lone Shark, I mean you

[summerindublin]

This wasn't a good endorsement for Tom Coffey's case for being the next Offaly manager. From late in the 1st half, Rhode were starting to hit trouble (managing one point in about the last 40 minutes). I saw no evidence of any change in game plan and there was few meaningful substitutions or switches.

.
Have to agree with the above, Rhode were terrible and looked stale - unfit, who's idea was it to play Heavey in the forwards, he was totally lost but was left their for the entire match. Imagine just scoring one point in 40 minutes or so , brutal stuff. Clara will be hard bet and might have a good run in Leinster