Allianz-Hurling-league 1B

[kinnittyman]

Team will seemingly start as follows

James Dempsey
Chris McDonald
David Kenny
David King
Sean Gardiner
Rory Hanniffy
Del Morkam
Kevin Brady
Brian Carroll
Cathal Parlon
Joe Bergin
Colin Egan
Shane Dooley
Derek Molloy
James Mulrooney

Disappointed that Stephen Egan isn't hurling/available. Think he's an excellent corner back and would be a nailed on starter come championship.

Midfield could be a disaster area tomorrow for Offaly but ON PAPER we at least have some ball winners in the half forward line. However I really feel that we should have both Dooley and Bergin in the full forward line together for as long as possible. Also if our forwards (and Brian Carroll) don't dramatically increase their work rate and tackling/pressurising the defender in possession we are staring another defeat in the face. Surely the most basic asset an inter county hurler can bring to the team is high work rate regardless of said hurler's natural ability. Unfortunately our forwards have showed time and again that they are not willing to do this and still seem to believe their only role is to try and score. The game has moved a long way from this belief. In all honesty our forwards are killing our backs with their avoidance of hard graft.

Regarding tomorrow unless there's at least a 25% increase in performance from the Dublin game Wexford will win thus game and their 2/1 odds should be very tempting for non-Offaly gamblers.

[townman]

Stephen Egan is in the panel but i hear he isn't putting in much of an effort pity.

[Plain of the Herbs]

Half-back line looks much more secure. How fit can David Kenny be a mere fortnight after sustaining a hamstring injury though?

Half-forward line is strong too. Forwards are going to be moved around as the game progresses, so I'd expect to see Parlon & Bergin close to goal for periods in the second-half. Parlon's style of turning in a tight space (as he did for that goal v Oulart last year) was very much in evidence in Parnell Park. Derek Molloy will likely be brought outfield for stages too. Probably Dooley as well.

I'd be marginally more confident of Offaly's chances after seeing that lineout. Still a 'could go either way' one though.

Team will seemingly start as follows

James Dempsey
Chris McDonald
David Kenny
David King
Sean Gardiner
Rory Hanniffy
Del Morkam
Kevin Brady
Brian Carroll
Cathal Parlon
Joe Bergin
Colin Egan
Shane Dooley
Derek Molloy
James Mulrooney

[Sharp Eye]

I must say that I am surprised that Sean Gardiner was selected at midfield. I thought he struggled at midfield for the secondhalf of last year's Co Intermediate Final. He must surely have more to offer in defence. I hope David Kenny is fully fit as his two cornerbacks seem to very out of their depth at this level. It looks like a difficult contest for Offaly.

[townman]

to be fair to Chris McDonald and David King they didn't look out of their depth the last day
in parnell park, Kings not a bad young hurler good minor and held his own in Coolderrys all ireland run last year.

they have to start somewhere or some time, mind you i think David Kenny has a lot of making up to do after his display in portlaoise again Galway last year i still think his not a full back
and would be better in the half back line he is to loose and trys to catch every ball.

Sean Gardiner is a young player first time in with the seniors so give the lad a chance might work might not work either but worth a try as for Brian Carroll midfield that was tried before
with no reward from it.

[Plain of the Herbs]

If you 'think' that's the case then perhaps you shouldn't think too much.

I must say that I am surprised that Sean Gardiner was selected at midfield. I thought he struggled at midfield for the secondhalf of last year's Co Intermediate Final. He must surely have more to offer in defence. I hope David Kenny is fully fit as his two cornerbacks seem to very out of their depth at this level. It looks like a difficult contest for Offaly.

[DAF]

Great to get a win although I'd say Wexford will be disappointed they didnt win, they missed a huge amount of chances including 2 very easy frees in the first half.Our forward line struggled at times and we don't have enough ball winners in the forward line the ball came back very quickly too many times after the ball was sent into our forwards.Wexfords number 10 was the best hurler on the field today and he adjusted to the conditions better than any other player today.

[townman]

by jasus i was in tullamore for many a cold day but that was the worse today, imagine what
it was like for the players.

good win made it hard for ourselfs with the short hand passing they are at we lost at least 4 points from not driving the ball out of defence today.

there was a fair auld wind out there today with wexford playing with it for the first half
as for the game not realy much to write home about with the ref doing his best to ruin the game by blowing for every little thing and not letting the game flow.

best for offaly in my opinion were Dave Kenny good to see him pulling on a few dropping balls today in the square, Morkan great point in the second half, Kevin Brady i thought the ref was hard on him once or twice, and Paul Cleary good to see him back brings strength and talent into the back's when he came on.

i though Sean Gardiner was unlucky to not get a while longer as Sean Ryan who came on done nothing i don't think he even hit the ball in the time he was on.

our main two big guns up front Bergin and Dooley had quiet days Dooley still scored his few frees. Colin Egan won a nice few pucks outs but needs to do more when he gets it.

Mulrooney was poor again today missed an open goal in the first few minutes. Tommy Carroll again like the Dublin Game done well and scored a great point and make another in the time he was on.

how Mulrooney and Odhran Kealey who came on are getting picked and brought on before Carroll is a mystery to me .

Derek Molloy besides his point looks way off the pace at the moment and was beaten hands down by wexford fullback Andrew Shore who along with Richie Kehoe hurl well for
wexford.

anyway great to get the win and points on the board, the last thing there was a nice piece about the late great Birr and offaly hurler Aidan Boo Rosney on todays programme
god i didn't think it was 30 years since he passed away, i think if god had to spare him he would be up there with the best that hurl for offaly. great to get the win in his memory
today to.

[Plain of the Herbs]

What is it about Offaly and Wexford that they drag each other down to a tension-filled mess? We know Offaly are better than that. I suspect Wexford are too.

Offaly wasted no time reducing the half-time gap to the minimum, but never kicked on and Wexford threatened to open the Offaly defence up, but didn’t. Then, once Offaly levelled with 10 (?) minutes to go, all belief drained from Wexford.

David Kenny did well, as did Chris McDonald. Great to see Paul Cleary back, though I thought Seán Gardiner was harshly taken off. That substitution saw Kevin Brady wrongly moved off David Redmond (Brady hurled well there) and over to wing-back.

Offaly’s touch looked sharp. Derek Morkan in particular controlled a few dropping balls impressively with the hurl. On the other hand I was disappointed to see Rory Hanniffy hit the ball blindly on the ground a few times in the early stages. A centre half-back shouldn’t do that.

Again, Wexford left the shooting sticks at home when facing Offaly. The usual.

Bergin won quite a bit of ball at centre half-forward. Colin Egan did well too. Overall, with Paul Cleary included, the Offaly team is relatively big. And most, individually, are good in the air. So that ceases to be an excuse.

I thought the referee handled the game well. The Offaly crowd reacted to a free awarded just before half-time but the Offaly player tripped his opponent’s hurl and the free was correctly awarded in my view. I’m not sure about the Wexford free at the end though- did yer man dive? I suspect so. David Kenny could have been put off for striking with the hurl midway through the second half. And Kevin Brady needs to stop using the handle of the hurl in that manner for which the handle of the hurl was not intended to be used.

Fanning had a late chance to snatch the win for Wexford, but the free was actually quite a bit away from the goal, and he was facing a stiff headwind.

Carlow seem to have given Limerick loads of it today. Limerick have sacked managers for less. Carlow will relish playing Offaly at this stage and will look on Monday 18th as a great chance of a win. That remains a banana skin for Offaly.

[ryot]

Wasn't there but got some of the action om Midland.

Will take any win over teams like Wx any time.

Well done all & hoping its the start of a good run.

[jimbob17]

Went in to see game this afternoon and 1st time seeing hurlers all year. Very disappointing crowd in for it though the cold might explain some of it, it was absolutely freezing....

That aside it was a very encouraging win and Offaly were well worth it even if it was scrappy at times. We hurled fierce well in patches 10 mins in 1st half, 10 mins at start of 2nd half and last ten minutes good too. A lot of it was scrappy however as is often the case between oy and Wx. Thought Kevin Brady had a right good game throughout and Colin Egan at half forward was good too. Good spread of scores in the forwards too with Mulrooney, Molloy, Parlon, Egan, Bergin all getting scores from play which augurs well. Shane Dooley only got a point from play i think but looked dangerous when in possession.

If we were a little more clinical we could have had two goals in 2nd half and Mulrooney should have buried one in first half. That said Wexford missed some handy enough frees in first half that could have made a difference. They'll be very disappointed heading back to Wexford especially after the beating they gave us in Walshe cup and could be out now if they dont beat dublin or limerick......We can make the final now if we can win the rest of the games but nothing easy with carlow, antrim away and limerick at home....

Thought ref was shocking today and made some awful calls on both sides....

Think its carlow next who will be right tough in carlow as they have shown so far v Limerick and Wexford, two games they could have and should have won by all accounts.....

[Lone Shark]

I wouldn't have said the ref got a whole lot wrong in this one. There were a couple of slightly iffy ones but I'd challenge anyone to find a 70 minute hurling match where there aren't a few contentious shouts. I could be saying something very different if James Dempsey hadn't saved that shot at the end and I've no doubt Jacob's "experience" played a part in the winning of the free, but if the Offaly lads learn a little something from that, so best.

I'd agree that Gardiner was harshly taken off, and I'm delighted to be able to write for the first time in as long as I can remember that I thought Kevin Brady had an excellent outing in an Offaly shirt. He won a mountain of dirty ball, he got good tackles in and I was actually writing for one national paper who asked me for a man of the match award - it was his until he put himself in a position where he could have got sent off late in the second half and then followed that up with the overcarrying that allowed Morris to cut the gap from three to two at the end.

Defensively we were very good - Dempsey did everything he had to quite well, Kenny, McDonald and Morkan were all excellent and it was great to see Paul Cleary coming on too. Up front there's a lot of work needed in order to be a bit more cohesive. Shane Dooley is clearly not fit yet and we're long past the time of year where that's acceptable, while I'd agree that we got very little out of Mulrooney, Molloy or Kealey. I have to say Kealey was hugely disappointing, three times he want in with "tackles" that were nothing more than wild chops and when so many other forwards were doing their best to tackle legally, that was both stupid and frustrating.

.....Sean Ryan who came on done nothing i don't think he even hit the ball in the time he was on.....

Lazy, bad analysis there. No Seán didn't hit any long range haymaker points from midfield - he actually did what a midfielder had to do out there, he got in tackles, won possession and he used it. His blockdown and pass to set up Joe Bergin's score in the second half was outstanding, better than any eighty yard bang over the bar, and some of his hits on Wexford backs coming out with the ball were immense. I wasn't keeping stats but I'd say he probably won more turnovers than any other player. Neither did he lose a ball in my memory.

[Ahlethimoutwithit]

Certainly Gerry Russell felt that the ref ruined the game and did not let it flow? Is it a case that the ref did little wrong in that he blew for everything that resembled a free, instead of allowing advantage.

[townman]

the ref was brutal LS to both sides, there was a wexfordman behind me in the stand yesterday who also is a ref and he said he ruin the game with his none stop blowing
and never let the game flow.

[DAF]

People around me were fairly frustrated with the referee pulling up players for too many steps however the ref was correct on the calls regarding steps, its just that the steps rule has been ignored by most referees for so long.