Roe names strong side

[True Red]

from Hoganstand.com


Keen to get a good start to what they hope will be a promotion winning Division 4 campaign, Offaly manager Pat Roe has named a near full strength side to face London in Tullamore.

With the embarrassment of their relegation and Tommy Murphy Cup participation still hanging over the county from last year, nobody in the Faithful County is taking any chances this year.

Ciaran McManus partners Alan McNamee in midfield while top scorer Niall McNamee is at corner forward.

There are three new faces in the side with Brian Darby at corner back, Richard Fox will hold down the centre back position and Niall Kelly is in the half forward line.

Offaly (NFL v London): P. Kelly; G. Rafferty, S. Brady, B. Darby; P. McConway, R. Fox, J. Keane; A. McNamee, C. McManus; N. Kelly, P. Kellaghan, N. Smith; T. Behan, J. Reynolds, N. McNamee.

Who is that Niall Kelly?fella from shannonbridge?I presume T.Behan is Tommo Deehan?

[kinnittyman]

Thought John O Hara would have deserved a start. To be quite honest i ma getting sick of lookiing at Pascal Keelaghan on that team and O Hara might have freshened things up.

[Muck Savage]

Niall Kelly is from Doon, Jason Kelly is the lad from Shannonbridge. Very suprised to see Niall Kelly starting.

As for the team itself, O'Hara deserved a start. I'm tired of looking at Deehan and Reynolds in there, Jimmy coughlan should have been given a shot there I think. Last year they tried to put him in Wing forward to keep Deehan and Reynolds in there.
Backs look good.

[Silken Thomas]

On the positives first...

Delighted that Richard Fox has been given a shot to stake his claim. Backs look good and it will be interesting to see how Brady gets on in the number three shirt.

However hopefully there is someone to inform me why David Egan, Ken Casey, John O'Hara and others are on the bench whilst Niall Kelly is starting for Offaly

For a start that man is only there because his relative/cousin Kieran Rigney is a selector
Before other posters lambast this comment anyone who saw any Intermediate matches last year would know what I am talking about.
If Doon entered a seven-a-side tournament tomorrow this man would be holding the water... NO EXAGGERATION

It's completly understandible that a lot of posters on this forum haven't a clue who that chap is.
Likewise I would be confident in naming 25 other options from the county for that wing forward position alone.


Passion can sometimes cloud a persons judgement. Most people on this site will argue that Offaly could and should be doing better at football. However if this man can start for Offaly we truly are a division 4 team...

[the rat]

Niall Kelly shouldnt be on the panel, to be honest he wouldnt make the rhode, tullamore, or shmrocks team.

Has a sub keeper been found?

Does anyone know the current panel?

[Lone Shark]

Niall Kelly baffled me when he got on the panel of 109, it baffled me when he made the cut to 35 and I am beyond shocked that he got this far. He would barely be the fourth best forward on the Doon team, so why he's there while Damien Hunt, James Coughlan and Trevor Phelan are twiddling their thumbs is a mystery to me. I don't recall him ever scoring more than a couple of points in a Doon championship match (though I am open to correction on that) and I fear for the county when he even gets considered. Silken Thomas is not exaggerating at all when he says there would be 25 better options for that county shirt. Still, I've no doubt we'll find out soon enough.

All in all that is a very moderate forward line. Smith will probably operate as a third midfielder and that's fair enough, but I don't know what management think they're going to find out about Paschal Kelleghan that we don't already know at this stage. I've always argued that Reynolds is either an inside forward or nothing, so I've no problem with picking him here. If this were a championship team I'd have an issue with it, but it isn't so by all means lets try it out.

Quite happy to see Brady tried at full back and Darby in the corner. Again, I wouldn't expect either of them to make a summer team but this isn't summer and there's no point having lads on a panel and not giving them a go. Likewise Richie Fox at 6 is a real positive step. Let's see what the man has to offer, my gut feeling is that he will give the selectors something to think about.

In that vein, and at the risk of harping on, the continued lack of experimentation in the middle is depressing. Seriously - what is playing this game going to tell us about McManus or McNamee that we don't already know? I strongly hope this farce is not going to continue.

Having said all that, it's still London. It's really difficult to take anything meaningful from this game, so in one sense it'll be more a test of who's not up to it than who is. Have to start from somewhere though, and after 2007 this is all we deserve.

[Hyper]

I heard that Niall Mc is starting centre forward thus making it "the 3 Nialls" half forward line, with PK in corner forward. I stand to be corrected though. It means he has gone full cycle with Niallers at CF.

[azoffaly]

I heard that Niall Mc is starting centre forward thus making it "the 3 Nialls" half forward line, with PK in corner forward. I stand to be corrected though. It means he has gone full cycle with Niallers at CF.

I have to say I don't like that move. Niall Mc is our most dangerous scoring forward, is well able to win his own ball when it comes into him and is very hard to handle when he collects the ball 20 metres out.

I do not think he is a playmaker, as you have to be at centre forward, and I think he'll be wasted out there.

[Lone Shark]

It seems to be the fashion in recent years, with Dessie Dolan and John Doyle both having been re-invented as centre forwards, with some degree of success. I agree completely though - not for Niall.

[black and red exile]

Glad to see Richard Fox at centre back, he holds the position well and an excellent reader of the game quite similar to Glenn Ryan playing centre back in his last couple of years with Kildare. I must say I've seen Niall Kelly twice last year playing for Doon and ordinary would be the Kindest word to use about his displays and he will probably play well tomorrow because we are playing nobody. I think everybody is puzzled how he got in ahead of John 'O Hara and David Egan.

[Hocker]

[True Red]

some of the comments above are a bit on the hairy side

[MF35]

Very dissapointed to read some of the posts above regarding Niall Kelly.

Could people get their facts right before giving opinions.

1. Niall never played/trained with Doon during last years championship as he works with the army and was serving his time abroad from March till mid September. So, how lads and ladies here are judging him on last years performances seems a bit funny to me. Get you facts right folks.

2. He transferred to Doon from Castledaly where he almost, single handedly won them a senior count final in 2003 (i think). The talent is there and anyone in Mullingar that day had him pencilled into the future WH senior squad.

3. From what i can see of the guy, hes strong, he can mix it, has 2 good feet and can deff do a job for Offaly.

In reply to 'hocker', sure they laugh at everyone down in that watering hole. I often heard Claffs name being dragged through the mud there too. Much like every watering hole of its kind throughout the country, if the lads doing the talking knew antything about football, they'd be out helping and encouraging their clubg players instead of running them down.

He was invited in as part of the 109 panel and much like any other panelist at this time, he has worked ho soks off and looks in great shape. I dont hear anyone from the offaly panel complaining about his inclusion either.

LS, Coughlan is back training with the pPanel while both Hunt and Phelan (Rugby commitments) turned down invitations to go in back in November.

Also, correct me if im wrong here but did Niall play county Minor with Westmeath - would he have played in the same era as PJ Ward?

And finally, when a management team (in this case, a Manager and 2 selectors) sit down to pick a team, in my experience, the majority rule comes into play. So what if niall is related to a selector - every team in the country can relate to this in some form or other - so what. Majority decision rules or the manager has the final say..

[Muck Savage]

I'd have to agree there with MF35, evey lad needs to be given a chance. How many on this board were at the three challange games that the team played since the O'Byrne cup exit? I wasn't, so it could be that the lad played well in these games.
Silken Thomas - I seen most of the Intermediate games last year and I've no idea what you mean by you comment

Before other posters lambast this comment anyone who saw any Intermediate matches last year would know what I am talking about.
If Doon entered a seven-a-side tournament tomorrow this man would be holding the water... NO EXAGGERATION

The lad wasn't in the country for any of the games, where did you see him play?

Now I do think that in the games I've seen Ean, Casey and O'Hara played well but I haven't seen very many of the games.

We've all had a shot at the team last year for not giving the comittment, pride etc. last year and all said that things need to change with a bit of pride being put into the Jersay. We'll here's a lad that has worked his ass off, shown a bit of heart and people turn around an knock him. What's the solution if the tallented players don't want to put in the effort and the players with heart/pride get knocked by the supporters? Get behind the new lads coming in for a change!

[Mighty Pair O' Hands]

We've all had a shot at the team last year for not giving the comittment, pride etc. last year and all said that things need to change with a bit of pride being put into the Jersay. We'll here's a lad that has worked his ass off, shown a bit of heart and people turn around an knock him. What's the solution if the tallented players don't want to put in the effort and the players with heart/pride get knocked by the supporters? Get behind the new lads coming in for a change!

Couldn't agree more. It is a Div 4 League match against London - ideal for trying out new players. If the player was making the effort in training/practice games why can't he be given his opportunity ? If he's not up to it that will be seen in the games quite quickly.