Offaly Senior Hurlers 2024

[Hasselhoff]

Great to see oisin Kelly back.
did kiely go off injured. hope it is not too bad.

three very good saves from the goal keeper

[FaithfulFuture]

Heart warming performance and will give the lads great confidence that they can mix it with Kilkenny in their own back yard.

Our workrate and cohesiveness is really impressive, whatever they're doing in training seems to be working.
Of course it's not all perfect but just a couple of years ago we were playing Sligo so credit where credit is due.

Hopefully Kielys knock isn't too serious as he has been fantastic and hopefully we can get Burke back quickly enough too.
The two Sampson's are performing very well this year.

We suddenly have lots of options in the forwards that need minding - screeney & Ravenhill who are adapting really well, Charlie Mitchell who has really taken his performances to another level this year, Cahill & Nally who are ever dependable, duignan who seems to have really added more power to his already strong physique and the industrious eimhin Kelly.. add to that dan bourke who is putting in commendable performance and Oisin Kelly and there's a lot to be excited about.

With Cork & Clare to come to OCP in the coming weeks, hopefully we can keep injuries at bay as our main focus should now be on Joe McDonagh with a tasty opener in Portlaoise

[Doon Exile]

We’d have taken both the result and the performance before the game. Lots of pointers in the game; the amount of consecutive wides KK had early on, the amount of excellent saves Mark Troy made in the last ten minutes, Kiely going off was a huge blow to us albeit we settled well enough again afterwards; we missed and messed up plenty of chance’s ourselves in the last quarter; very happy with Screeney’s performance- beat Mikey butler to nearly every ball in the second half; great to see Oisin back and he looked sharp; we battled for every ball from the first to the last minute. And Wexford drew with Clare!!!!

The wind was a big factor and KK came out of the traps like lightning at start of second half and only ever going to be one winner then. But we still battled and created plenty of chances.

All in all, we can be happy enough. KK have Huh Lawlor, Paddy Deegan and TJ to come onto that team whilst only 3 players, they’re 3 that’ll make a big difference.

Thought Conneelly, Charlie, Adam and Dan ravenhill were all very good. Adrian Mullen was very good for them and walter gave them a big lift when he came on.

[Fairplayalways]

Kk really turned it on. 1 10 to 2 points in 2nd half

it was actually 1-18 to 1-05 over full second half...Kiely was a mammoth loss..knew the minute he went off..he "got a belt from a loose swing" from John Donnelly...indeed..how lucky for Kilkenny it was described as such..Kiely was on fire..

[The big hill]

Do we think staying up is a strong likelihood? Id say yes.

[faithfulfanatic]

Do we think staying up is a strong likelihood? Id say yes.

No not at all.

League revamp next year means we will be playing in 1B

[private joker]

Kk really turned it on. 1 10 to 2 points in 2nd half

it was actually 1-18 to 1-05 over full second half...Kiely was a mammoth loss..knew the minute he went off..he "got a belt from a loose swing" from John Donnelly...indeed..how lucky for Kilkenny it was described as such..Kiely was on fire..

I was referring to the score at that particular time. Kk really turned it on. Offaly doing very well as are westmeath. Think it will be an Offaly/westmeath final.

[frankthetank]

As has already been discussed here, we won't stay up and next year we will be in a revamped Division 2. (Called 1B).

It will be the perfect competitive environment for a developing Offaly team.

As things stand it would consist of:

Dublin
Westmeath
Antrim
Cork
Offaly
Carlow
Laois

Be some kick in the nads for Cork to be in that division!!

[Bord na Mona man]

Interesting view from Kilkenny about the early 2nd half yesterday:

"Comfortable enough win in the end. We dominated Offaly in the first 20 minutes of the second half and that was enough. We were helped by Offaly not playing a sweeper until after the scoring burst but the damage was done and Offaly panicked when their puckouts didnt go as far against the wind. Probably should have had another goal or two as the Offaly keeper made some good saves including an excellent one after a shot by Mullen."

[theoneandonly]

Went to Nowlan Park yesterday in the unusual feeling of belief rather than hope. I know we cant be happy with defeats but I personally think its a positive sign that Offaly were able to compete with a strong enough Kilkenny team for 50 odd minutes yesterday.

Deep down we probably knew we weren't going to win, but I was impressed by the way Offaly played at times. Maybe a bit of naivety in some of their plays, but you can only learn from playing against the top teams. You can see the difference in class when KK stepped up a gear after half time, and like the extract from the article in above post, Offaly were slow to apply a sweeper and only done so when the damage was done.

A few points I thought we could improve on. I think at times we don't use the ball smartly and have silly mistakes. I don't want to criticise anyone but I thought the puck outs were poor in both halves. Mark Troy made excellent saves, and I am sure he will go on to be a great goalie, but some of the puckout selections were poor. One example when Wally Walsh came on the field, and the first puckout we got after his introduction was hit directly on top of him when he was a free man. Offaly players were slow to look for the ball also, so not laying all blame on the goalie. I think the puckout strategy as a whole needs to be looked at.

Adam Screeney is a talent to be admired, but I think we need to use the ball into him better. Low ball in is the best way to get the ball into him. No point in giving high 50/50 balls as he will more than likely be physically lacking in that regards to his direct opponent. I thought he done well with the ball that was given into him in the second half. The first half it took him a while to find his feet and got turned over a couple of times but he started to come into to it before HT. It will take him time to get up to the physicality of senior so we need to patient as supporters.

Was impressed with Dan Ravenhill throughout the game. He's still young and learning, but he wasn't afraid to get stuck into the KK players at times and popped with 2 fine scores. Both Sampsons played well on the wings. Charlie Mitchell showed his form and what he can do in the first half. Was a bit quiet in the second half but didnt help being against the wind with the ball coming in. Eoghan Cahill done well with the frees and also from play. Kiely was a big loss, especially after that monster point.

I thought we done well in the second half against the wind to create chances, but just didn't take them. A couple of goal chances weren't acted upon, and a few wides in a row didn't help.

Sidenote - was great to see Oisin back. Thought we could have thrown in a few high balls to him near the end, but he done well to set up Charlie for the goal and hopefully he puts his injuries behind him and gets a good run at it this year.

Teams are starting to find form in time for championship so we need to be competitive in the next 2 games against Cork and Clare, as we don't want to go into Joe McDonagh after shipping 2 big defeats. As stated here already, we are going to be in Division 1B next year. Wouldnt it be great if we won JMCD this year and had that under our belt going into Division 1B next year, and then into a Leinster Championship?

Keep the faith!

[TownieInOz]

Mark Troy and Dan Ravenhill in the GAA team of the week.

[greenairfield]

I know he pulled off two nice saves but his puck outs unfortunately are not the required standard for that level.

[Bord na Mona man]

I wouldn't be too critical of a young goalkeeper and puck outs.
Think of the level Troy has been playing at till now, and compare it to what he has faced the last 2 matches.

Remember, that the better team invariably wins 50-50s. Place one, and high standard players cut off the targeted receiver quicker. Top players read the keeper's intention better. Top teams make the keeper's mind up for him, like offering him an option that they think will do least damage, or who they can strip the ball off easiest.

When you have to puck the ball out 35 or 40 times in a match - half of it with a breeze against, you need a serious repertoire to keep a team afloat.

[greenairfield]

Sorry I hope I don't come across negative in what I posted but It looks like a major concern..hopefully he can improve over time.

Overall the performance was very good I think we are on thr right track and will be a decent team in 2 or 3 years

[ah lethimoutwithit]

Great to see the hurlers competitive and starting to turn a corner.Some turnaround in the commentary here versus the start of the league. Hopefully it continues as Joe Mc will be tough enough but we are building a nice squad and learning all the time.