U21 football

[kingscounty]

Great effort, score line was harsh enough , yes we didn't deserve to win but Dubs didn't look as good as I was expecting. I thought the defence held strong for as long as they could we just hadn't the fire power up front. Young Teirney took some nice scores but we never threaten their goal much bar the chance in the first half . Overall I know it's no consolation but fair play lads you did the county proud , stay going and the rewards will follow

[ryot]

The lads fought hard and cannot be faulted for effort...

Dubs were bigger and stronger and were able to bring on more big lads near the end.

I was impressed by Dempsey, McNamee and Tierney.....

[Exiled in Connacht]

Saw the game on TG4 website.

Very brave and honest performance by the lads. Final score was a bit harsh. Dublin no where near the outstanding team we were lead to believe.

It's a shame for this group of lads that an incompetent county board couldn't appoint a manager in good time to prepare them as they deserved. Will we ever learn ?

[bracknaghboy]

Lads I'm genuinely sick to the back teeth of O'Moore Park Portlaoise. Are we ever going to win a feckin championship match of any description there?
Seriously would POTH or LS have any figures for the last 10 years at all grades for us there? It must make depressing reading. I can count about 5 wins for Offaly teams in league and championship there and can think of 2 dozen defeats recently. I officially hate the place!

On the game tonight I was disappointed it took 20min before the lads began pushing up on the Dublin kickouts. Dublin themselves pushed up on the Offaly kickouts from the start and it put the lads under awful pressure which resulted in frees and scores for the Dubs.
Our forwards didn't play as a unit and too many lads looked like they wanted to get a score for themselves at all costs particularly in the first half, whilst Dublin were happy to work it in towards goal and let the best placed man take the shot. If that Dublin defense was ran at there were goals to be had I believe. That said I think everyone agrees the lads ran themselves into the ground and at no time did the towel get thrown in.
I'd imagine the Dubs will come under real pressure in the All Ireland semis and final if they get there, certainly they don't strike me as All Ireland champions.

[Bord na Mona man]

Commendable effort, Offaly stuck with it and never let Dublin coast away.
The difference in physique between the sides was a big factor.
Offaly played into Dublin's hands too often by carrying the ball into contact and getting stripped of it.
I thought we were too reluctant to spread it around and kick it and that made the attacks easy to defend against.

You could see that Dublin have had a much more coaching as a unit than Offaly did. The little things, like how Dublin always instantly move the ball away after winning a possession or turnover, or the way they spin Tasmanian Devil style out of a tackle. Unfortunately 12 weeks simply isn't enough preparation and this has to be sorted out for next year.

[Bord na Mona man]

Dublin cruise past Offaly to claim the first ever Leinster U21 four-in-a-row

Dessie Farrell’s men ran out 2-14 to 0-8 winners.

Dublin 2-14
Offaly 0-8

Kevin O’Brien reports from O’Moore Park, Portlaoise

IT ISN’T QUITE as pronounced as their dominance at senior level, but Dublin maintained their stranglehold on the EirGrid Leinster U21 football championship in O’Moore Park tonight.

Dessie Farrell’s men completed the first ever Leinster four-in-a-row in at this grade, but it wasn’t a performance that will last long in the memory.
This was never a game Dublin looked like losing, although the quality of their play will have to improve significantly if they’re to bring a first U21 All-Ireland back to the capital in three years.
It wasn’t as straightforward as the scoreline suggested – Offaly battle gamely for long spells, but didn’t have the potency in front of goal to make this a close contest.
Trailing by five at half-time, the Faithful added just three frees after the break. Dublin, meanwhile, were happy to sit deep and pick off scores on the break.

Dublin hit an unanswered 1-4 the five minutes either side of half-time, with Tom Fox finding the net. Substitute Stephen Smith bagged a late goal to put the icing on the cake.
Con O’Callaghan was well marshalled by David Dempsey for the majority of the game and scored just twice from play, while he also tapped over a couple of frees.
Offaly arrived in O’Moore Park chasing their first Leinster crown since 1995 in hope rather than expectation, but Dublin’s class eventually shone through in a scrappy affair.
Offaly started brightly and early scores from inside duo Tierney and Dunican left them trailing the Dubs by 0-3 to 0-2 after the opening ten minutes.
Aaron Byrne took 11 minutes to open his account, but by the 25th minute he had four points on the board.

Dublin’s runners from deep were causing Offaly problems, while at the other end eight first-half wides didn’t help matters. Dublin reeled off three of the last four scores of the half to go in at the interval leading by double scores, 0-10 to 0-5.
The champions had 1-1 on the board before Offaly could draw breath after the restart. O’Callaghan slipped through the well-timed run of Fox for the three-pointer, which left Offaly trailing by nine.
Tierney and Hayes put over three frees between them for Offaly but it was all they would manage as Dublin cantered home. O’Callaghan picked off a couple of scores and then Stephen Smith burst through for a goal to round off the victory.

Scorers for Dublin: Aaron Byrne 0-4, (0-1 45), Con O’Callaghan 0-4 (0-2f), Stephen Smith 1-0, Tom Fox 1-2, Chris Sallier 0-1, Glenn O’Reilly 0-2, Eoin Murchan 0-1.
Scorers for Offaly: Shane Tierney 0-4 (0-1f), Jordan Hayes 0-3 (0-2f), Patrick Dunican 0-1.
Dublin

1. Evan Comerford (Ballymun Kickhams)
5. Declan Monaghan (Clontarf)
6. Sean McMahon (Raheny)
2. Darren Byrne (Raheny)
23. Eoin Murchan (Na Fianna)
3. Cillian O’Shea (Kilamcud Crokes)
10. Cian Murphy (Thomas Davis)
8. Andy Foley (Clontarf)
7. Brian Howard (Raheny)
11. Tom Fox (Kilamcud Crokes)
19. Dan O’Brien (Kilmacud Crokes)
12. Aaron Byrne (Na Fianna)
13. Chris Sallier (Thomas Davis)
14. Con O’Callaghan (Cuala)
17. Glenn O’Reilly (Na Fianna)
Subs
15. Stephen Smith for Sallier (40)
18. Sean Bugler for O’Brien (42)
9. Darren Gavin for Fox (42)
21. Aaron Elliot for O’Reilly (51)
20. Andrew McGowan for Monaghan (56)
Offaly

1. Barry Rohan (Shannonbridge)
2. Clint Horan (Clodiagh Gaels)
3. David Dempsey (Ballycommon)
4. Colm Doyle (Clara)
5. Adam Mahon (Edenderry)
17. Jack Egan (Ferbane)
7. PJ Daly (Cappincur)
8. James Lalor (Raheen)
9. Jordan Hayes (Edenderry)
10. Ciarán Farrell (Edenderry)
11. Paddy Dunican (Shamrocks)
12. Jack Walsh (Gracefield)
13. Ronan McEvoy (Shannonbridge)
14. Ruairi McNamee (Rhode)
15. Shane Tierney (Daingean)
Subs
18. Kyle Higgins for Daly (41)
23. Jake Clancy for Dunican (49)
6. Carl Stewart for Egan (58)
Referee: David Hickey (Carlow)

http://www.the42.ie/dublin-offaly-u21-r ... 7-Mar2017/

[Exiled in Connacht]

Since 2000 we have lost 13 Leinster finals between both codes.

Credit for this stat to Pat Nolan on twitter

[substandard]

I know exactly how much work the lads did to get to the level they did, and believe me, it was nothing short of incredible. Having only got together in late December, to get up to match speed is a credit to them, and a testament to their application, and also a reflection on the potential within the county. However, that just masks the reality. The fact is that they were beaten by 12 points, comfortably. No doubt the lads showed potential, and proved that, given the right, or even decent, supports, they would be more than just competitive, they could realistically be thinking about winning.
The other night, they ran into a Dublin side aiming for 4 in a row Leinsters. Allowing for a certain amount of panellists to roll over year on year, and presuming they start training in mid to late November each year, and they are playing competitively out into April, that is a serious amount of time in development, especially in strength and conditioning. Nothing remotely like this happens in Offaly. Until such time as the County Board develops a coherent, linear progression from development squads through to senior, with the proper people overseeing it, monitoring and tracking progress, the reality is that for an Offaly team to actually win a Leinster is going to take an improbably bizarre, freakish set of circumstances if things continue as they are.
Last year's minors were a decent bunch, and could make good progress if they are given the proper time and resources. This year's minors likewise.
Planning and structures need to be in place for the u20 campaign next year from summer on, to give a fair chance to management and players to become the best they can be.
I salute the lads the other night for the pride, passion and effort they showed. But a 12 point defeat cannot be ignored, either. There was more in those lads if the opportunity was given to them. Given the circumstances, what they did was fantastic. But I'd hate to think that next year's team and teams thereafter would be similarly sold short in terms of structures, preventing them from being the best they could be.

[private joker]

The reality is. Offaly might have got together in late 2016 to get ready for the 2017 season. Dublin collectively probably a month or two earlier. The real difference is that Dublin players whether on a squad or not are getting excellent coaching in the clubs and are doing S/C programmes on a par with interconty teams. The monitoring of players in Dublin is from u13 up to senior. It never seen stops. Not going at full intensity for that length of time. But always ongoing.

[Plain of the Herbs]

You’re right, Brack, and I didn’t think the record was this bad at all, but it is. Here’s the Seniors’ and Minors’ record at O’Moore Park since the OMP redevelopment of the early to mid 1980s (it took them a half a dozen years to build the terracing, during which period the ground was closed) as well as the U21 record over the last 10 years.

Incidentally, I had the pleasure of driving through Bracknagh on Wednesday as I took a crosscountry route to Portlaoise on Wednesday.

Senior football
1986 – lost to Dublin
1990 – lost to Leix by 10 (!)
1993 – lost to Kildare by 11
2003 – drew with Leix
2006 – lost qualifier to Leix
2007 – beat Carlow
2009 – lost to Kildare
2010 – lost to Meath by 10
2012 – lost to Kildare by 13


Minor football (1992 records unavailable)

1990 – lost to Leix
1993 – lost to Wicklow
1997 – lost to Leix
1999 – beat Leix
2004 – lost to KIldare
2006 - beat Dublin
2007 – lost to Leix
2016 – lost to Leix


U21 football (since 2006)

2007 – lost the Final to Leix
2013 – lost to Leix by a point when Offaly mysteriously lost ‘home’ venue
2015 – lost to Kildare by 12 points
2017 – lost to Dublin

Lads I'm genuinely sick to the back teeth of O'Moore Park Portlaoise. Are we ever going to win a feckin championship match of any description there?
Seriously would POTH or LS have any figures for the last 10 years at all grades for us there? It must make depressing reading. I can count about 5 wins for Offaly teams in league and championship there and can think of 2 dozen defeats recently. I officially hate the place!

[bracknaghboy]

Fair play POTH thank you for taking the time to pull that info together. I knew it was bad but to see it on paper WOW its awful. Played 21 Won 3 Drew 1 Lost 17. That's a 14% win rate.
The hurling stats of late in OMP would also make depressing viewing I'm sure. It's been a wasteland for all our teams at all grades. Just as well it was closed for 5 years during the redevelopment of the terrace.......lets hope they close the kip again some time soon as I don't think I have the stomach for it anymore.

[jimbob17]

I know exactly how much work the lads did to get to the level they did, and believe me, it was nothing short of incredible. Having only got together in late December, to get up to match speed is a credit to them, and a testament to their application, and also a reflection on the potential within the county. However, that just masks the reality. The fact is that they were beaten by 12 points, comfortably. No doubt the lads showed potential, and proved that, given the right, or even decent, supports, they would be more than just competitive, they could realistically be thinking about winning.
The other night, they ran into a Dublin side aiming for 4 in a row Leinsters. Allowing for a certain amount of panellists to roll over year on year, and presuming they start training in mid to late November each year, and they are playing competitively out into April, that is a serious amount of time in development, especially in strength and conditioning. Nothing remotely like this happens in Offaly. Until such time as the County Board develops a coherent, linear progression from development squads through to senior, with the proper people overseeing it, monitoring and tracking progress, the reality is that for an Offaly team to actually win a Leinster is going to take an improbably bizarre, freakish set of circumstances if things continue as they are.
Last year's minors were a decent bunch, and could make good progress if they are given the proper time and resources. This year's minors likewise.
Planning and structures need to be in place for the u20 campaign next year from summer on, to give a fair chance to management and players to become the best they can be.
I salute the lads the other night for the pride, passion and effort they showed. But a 12 point defeat cannot be ignored, either. There was more in those lads if the opportunity was given to them. Given the circumstances, what they did was fantastic. But I'd hate to think that next year's team and teams thereafter would be similarly sold short in terms of structures, preventing them from being the best they could be.

Agree with lot of this though I wouldnt blame loss of 12 points entirely on lack of S&C. Doesn't seem to be much follow through from development to senior level. The fact that U21 is played over such a short period exaggerates the need for monitored physical development. Very few U21s would be good enough for senior panel but a lot might be by age 25 with good fitness training and strength work. The move to U20 will be a bigger issue for Offaly than other counties as Offaly have no senior development team. Likes of Kildare, Dublin and progressive thinking counties use the Intermediate competition primarily to develop players under 25 to help bridge gap to senior team from U21. With us its a bit of club training with some as low as junior level or else inter county senior. There is no in between to help lads step up.

As for the match itself, we were always going to be up against it. That said, having seen some of these players play with Offaly at minor level, I'd have been disappointed with nature of the defeat. Many of these players played 2 years ago at minor level when Offaly were very close to beating Dublin in Parnell Park. They followed up with a good display to eventual Leinster champions Kildare in a game where they were good value for a win but lost by one point missing numerous goal chances - my point is that S&C was not a factor in either of those games but is always thrown out as a reason when we lose. This craic of feeling sorry for ourselves for me just does not wash! They have this, they have that etc Poor old Offaly! Rubbish! Could we have been better? I think we could.

Offaly cannot afford to be without their best players but some were not out there and without being privy to the reasons why, I'd love to know why we were missing so many. Many of these lads would be in college playing ball and mixing with other county players. Only one of last years minors was involved - a goalkeeper. That was a decent minor team last year and surely to God more than one lad was capable of stepping up? From what I saw the other night, at least 3 outfield players from last year minors would have been better than what played the other night.

They were up against a strong and fit Dublin team on Wednesday but Offaly had a few lads that are clearly not fit enough to play at this level particularly in the forwards - The movement in the inside forwards was non existent bar young Tierney who showed up very well and tried very hard! Very few outside that in forwards showed much. Whatever about losing and S&C, if a lad can't run, then he shouldn't be on a county panel, full stop - we had too many passengers who were there for wrong reasons! It was plain to see for many sitting around me that this was the case and some were very slow to be subbed because of who they were. If we continue in this vein, we are going nowhere fast!

On a more positive note, I thought the backs did well on Wednesday having only conceded 1-12 with few minutes to play. Dempsey did well at full back while Doyle in corner also did very well. Thought McEvoy looked like he could offer something to senior panel if developed while young Walshe from Gracefield showed flashes of what he can do. Midfield did their best with neither being natural midfield players and Tierney showed why he should be considered a contender to start at senior level. Came away from this one very disappointed and all the pats on the back and well dones doesn't disguise the fact that we were hammered by 12 points!

[Plain of the Herbs]

Then again, where has been a positive venue for Offaly football during the last decade? Certainly not Navan, where I'd guess the record is something similar to Portlaoise. The record in Croke Park would be middling decent, thanks to the three wins at headquarters in 2006.

There's always Aughrim, where I noticed the Minor footballers have won three times when i was researching that list earlier.

The hurlers' record at MOP wouldn't be as pathetic. Championship wins over Leix in 2006 and 2008, an U21 win in 2013 and a few league wins there too.