Rhode V Kilmacud

[Bord na Mona man]

I watched the match on TG4 but with Gerry Russell for commentary on the radio - for some reason!

Early in the first half Gerry announced that the sun had been shining earlier but that it had now gone in.

Thing was - the sun WAS still shining !!

The same Gerry who describes a shot at goal as being "accurate, but wide".

[red exile]

i would have to say that rhode were not beaten by the better team on sunday. a bit confusing as to why darby was taking the frees (3 of which dropped short and 2 wides) and also the wing back at such a crucial stage in the game with such a prolific and accurate free taker ,niall mcnamee on the team. the use of the extra man was not utilised at all. and the dodgy decision to allow the first goal when the keeper was clearly taken out of it was the turning point, cant see crokes advancing because apart from 3 or 4 strong lads up the middle they look very average

[sIR bIFFSALOT]

The radio 3 commentary was very entertaining especially Paddy McCormack who came out with a few gems! It was painful to watch Rhode lose this one, especially as they were by far the better team in the first half and just needed to put a few scores on the board in the second half to keep Crokes at bay.

[Bord na Mona man]

From yesterday's Tribune:

Faithfully carrying the banner on the road less travelled
Ewan MacKenna
Midfielder Alan McNamee looks to Rhode to find winning touch in the absence of intercounty success with Offaly

It's a ghost town. The shutters have long been pulled down and the doors bolted up behind a veil of cobwebs as the tumbleweed rolls casually down the street. The only signs of life in this barren wasteland are to be found in Rhode but then again, that's been somewhat of an Offaly footballing trend these past few years. And what's worse again, some believe the two are related.

Alan McNamee begs to differ but he does agree there's a link between his own dip in form and the eerie silence these past few summers. Most will point to 2006 as the last time he showed that head-down ruthlessness around the middle as Offaly bundled their way to a Leinster final. Then he forgot how to play, Rhode failed to make the local final for the first time since 2002, while the county's only championship win came against Carlow and even that was hard work as they shipped 3-7. Only this Autumn have people looked away from his brother Niall's brilliance and found a more earthly comfort in his tireless grafting and with those stares of approval comes today's provincial final.

"It's been well publicised around Rhode and Offaly, the fact I've been playing better the last couple of months This year and last year were tough. But [Rhode manager] Tom Coffey gave me some time off, tried a couple of different things, tried to play me at centre-forward because he thought I needed to improve going forward. That freshened things up and I've rediscovered a bit of form thankfully. I suppose playing with Offaly, it wasn't enjoyable this year and to have Rhode to come back to, it's great to come back to a winning team.

"Up to that I was aware I wasn't playing well and things haven't been great with Offaly the last couple of years, the set-up hasn't been the greatest. The players had the ambition but whether it's there in the county board and in people higher up, well that's hard to know. But it was good to get away from that set-up and you could nearly say that Rhode have a more professional set-up than what's been going on with Offaly this past while to be honest."

McNamee mentions that buses left Tubber, Ballycumber and Daingean for their two Leinster outings against Portlaoise and Éire Óg and believes people are latching on to the little success the county has to offer, even if it's down to their rivals. But back in spring as Offaly were whittling their way through Division Four of the league, they were losing players at a worrying rate. Conor Evans, Ken Casey and Neville Coughlan had all walked away for reasons linked to the management and PJ Ward was on the brink. The former Westmeath player was far from happy with the treatment handed out by some of the Rhode contingent and during the warm up to a game against Kilkenny, he was punched by McNamee.

He coughs uncomfortably and inquires. "How did you find out about that by the way?"

That's really irrelevant. What was behind all that?

"Do you mind if I don't comment on it?"

Well I'd prefer if you did.

"In a camp that big not everyone gets on that well."

It's a bit extreme though?

"I won't say anything on that."

Well there's a new manager, if both you and PJ Ward are on the panel next year, will ye row in the same direction?

"Definitely. Lads on that panel, we've been there a good few years. It'll be my ninth year with Offaly and a few more have been there in that time and they haven't won anything of consequence. If we get back with Offaly, everyone will be striving to put things right under the new management. We are desperate to win."

At the time of that incident in Nowlan Park a number of senior players on the panel asked Pat Roe to take action. One threatened to walk away after the response from management was that it was better to lose one player than the whole of Rhode. You ask McNamee if he felt the management gave him and his club colleagues preferential treatment and if it led to Offaly's most humiliating championship on record.

"I didn't notice it anyway. I don't think that was a factor. You'd imagine all that stuff shouldn't have happened. Let me think... look, it's well known there were a lot of problems and when you are in Division Four, lads feel they should be higher. On top of that it's frustrating and if lads are not getting games, it's very easy to opt out because they feel there is no glory in playing that low. Another thing would have been that lads felt they weren't going anywhere. And in a county like Offaly we need everyone. Unfortunately lads pulled out but hopefully we can all get our act together over the next few years.

"Now I have to say that's not down to Pat [Roe]. We won challenge games, and I know they are no reflection on the real thing, but we beat Derry and Mayo in the weeks leading up to the Westmeath game and it seemed like we were in good form for it. It's just we didn't perform on the day. After that, leading up to the Down game, things went pear-shaped again. Training wasn't going well, I suppose interest waned, we didn't care like we should have and we got exactly what we deserved. They gave us a good hiding, it was disappointing. No. It was an embarrassing joke and that was what we deserved. Lads started pointing fingers. A lot of new faces had been brought in, lads were given their chance, weren't up to the standard and got found out. We were a mess."

He left the dressing room quickly after that game, and on returning home looked next door to the house of Stephen Darby, his childhood hero. Others at the time in Rhode would have looked up to Martin Heavey and Johnny Mooney. "All Ireland-medal winners," he says. "They all started out as winners here. Maybe we can do something similar."

A Leinster title would be a good place to start.

emackenna@tribune.ie

[bracknaghboy]

Radio 3 should get rid of that Russsell lad.... he's a clown and an embarressment. All local radio stations have idiots commentating but its safe to say this fella has been the worst in Ireland for 15 years now.
I suggest they continue to send him to the games and unplug his mic and let him roar away in a box on his own thinking he's on air In another box they could have a proper commentator (complete with working mic) actually on air Everyones a winner

[Coolestown1562]

Can and each and every member/reader and contributor take five minutes out to read the post in full just supplied by bord na Mona man- re the interview from the Sunday Tribune. To me it says it all.....

[Square Cab]

Can and each and every member/reader and contributor take five minutes out to read the post in full just supplied by bord na Mona man- re the interview from the Sunday Tribune. To me it says it all.....

In what way 1562?

[Coolestown1562]

Can and each and every member/reader and contributor take five minutes out to read the post in full just supplied by bord na Mona man- re the interview from the Sunday Tribune. To me it says it all.....

In what way 1562?

On a number of issues.

1st- the Media: that wanst the time and place to be asking Alan McNamee those questions
2nd- if those incidences are true, it highlights the shambles of management over the past few years
3rd- if those incidences are true, it highlights the lack of cohesion and unity amongst our county panel
4th- this is the second interview in the last week (see Roy Malone in the Offaly Independent) where county players have blasted management and the county board. if players have grievances why not air them mid season, when there is a championship to play for, not in the dead of winter.

[Bord na Mona man]

I think there is a certain amount of opportunism from the journalist (Ewan McKenna) here.
Reporting verbatim what McNamee's reaction was and exact words is bad form.
Most player interviews will have certain content that's off the record, or unprintable.
There is usually a certain understanding that if the player is giving the journalist the courtesy of the interview, then there will be certain amount of airbrushing of the rougher edges of it.

If it was Alan Brogan or Kieran Donaghy, the interviewer sure as hell wouldn't be setting them up like that.
However with a player in a smaller county, who you'll probably never need to lean on again for an interview, you can take the hatchet to them more easily.

McNamee didn't handle it well. He should have been prepared for the possibility of such a question.
He obviously hadn't set the parameters of the interview correctly to allow himself to be asked questions like that.

If he had replied "I won't be commenting on any rumours like that. Lets talk about Sunday", then there is very little the journalist could have done to try and put the incident in print.

[Coolestown1562]

I think there is a certain amount of opportunism from the journalist (Ewan McKenna) here.
Reporting verbatim what McNamee's reaction was and exact words is bad form.
Most player interviews will have certain content that's off the record, or unprintable.
There is usually a certain understanding that the player is giving the journalist the courtesy of the interview, then there will be certain amount of airbrushing of the rougher edges of it.

If it was Alan Brogan or Kieran Donaghy, the interviewer sure as hell wouldn't be setting them up like that.
However with a player in a smaller county, who you'll probably never need to lean on again for an interview, you can take the hatchet to them more easily.

McNamee didn't handle it well. He should have been prepared for the possibility of such a question.
He obviously hadn't set the parameters of the interview correctly to allow himself to be asked questions like that.

If he had replied "I won't be commenting on any rumours like that. Lets talk about Sunday", then there is very little the journalist could have done to try and put the incident in print.

Well said.

[swiftpost]

That journalist has did the same with vaughan



Frankly Vaughan
Ewan MacKenna
Dublin's star forward has learned from arrogant youth and now wants to regain his place in Dublin XV

Turning a corner: Mark Vaughan seems to have put the off-field antics behind him, instead concentrating on doing what he does best, playing attractive and effective football inpho/ donall farmerLadies and gentleman, it's show time. He's been hidden away on the Dublin bench all summer long but Mark Vaughan still has the strut. His hair still lights up against a concrete November sky like a stray flash of lightning, his bag is still a few shades the far side of tropical. Throw in the runners and he's like a mobile disco meandering down Dublin's Camden Street. And before you waste your breath, he still doesn't care what you think about his appearance.




Crucially though, some things have changed when it comes to perception. He's made it all the way to a masters in DIT, he'll be heading out to be a stockbroker next year – providing such an occupation still exists – and most importantly he's grown up on the pitch as much as he has off it. During this year's county final, playing for Kilmacud against St Oliver Plunkett's, he was lining up a free when a bottle flew from the crowd and missed him narrowly. Think back to the same stage in 2004 when he finally got the better of Ballyboden's Enda McNulty and spent portions of the game pointing at the scoreboard and the Armagh man before mocking tears. Think back to the same stage in 2005 when he became fed up with Na Fianna supporters chanting at him, kicked a point, ran to the wire and raised a couple of fingers on each hand. This year though, he just carried on and kicked the dead ball. "Ah, I was young, arrogant," he muses, "I've matured I hope."




It had to be like that because despite the limited duration of his name in the national consciousness, he'd pockmarked papers with too many unsavoury stories. And it was needless because the talent was endless. In his final year in Blackrock College, he was part of a group of unlikely lads that reached a Leinster soccer final. He won and converted a penalty in the last minute of normal time to square the game, went in goals for a subsequent shootout, stopped the first two, and scored the winner. Blackrock would later win their only All Ireland, a remarkable achievement for the premier rugby school in Ireland, but with that came the attitude.




"I guess there was a lot alright. Like when I was 18, I remember Pillar [Caffrey] asked me to warm up for half an hour during a game and it was 10 minutes, 10 minutes, 10 minutes again. I came on for the last minute and probably should have had a better head but when we lost I got annoyed. I just went in and got changed and went to the bus, didn't wait around for the talk. I got dropped for the next two games but you learn from that and he knew I was young and all I wanted to do was play. But while some things happen, other things are blown way out of proportion.




"Stuff like that game [the 2007 Leinster final] against Laois. That sign I made, I have friends in Texas and that's the Longhorn's symbol and it was for them watching on TV and I promised them but people wouldn't believe me. Like before championship games with Crokes, I used to have three cans before a match. Before the first game, all the lads were going out, I had three, had a great game and said I'm definitely doing this next day. I ended up getting a bigger score and it went from there. I'm pretty superstitious, I was getting in trouble, I was nearly thrown off the team and I was trying to explain that it was superstition. It wasn't being the big man going out. Now I'd never do it because I'd be letting the team down. If you came in smelling of drink other guys would be distracted and I'm bad enough anyway but that got blown out of proportion too and every time someone saw me, they'd say I was hammered. Completely fabricated."




It wasn't the only reputation he was getting either. After a league game in Kerry where he got the better Seamus Moynihan, he was complimented on the bus only to ask which one was Moynihan. "I didn't follow Gaelic. The only one I knew was Colm Cooper. Even when I joined up with Dublin I didn't know most of them. They all started laughing at me and wouldn't tell me which one he was. But maybe that helped because I judged players on looks. If a guy looked like a good athlete I'd have more fear even though he might have been a lad who sat in the gym all day and had no talent. I'd think he was better than the guy with five All Stars. I'd look at Marc Ó Sé and just see him as this skinny guy who I could take in the air."




Trying to impress Ciarán Whelan ahead of a game against Wexford, it's gone down in legend that he told the midfielder he'd done his research, and from talking to people Paul Flynn was in pretty good form. "I don't know what I said, I don't think it was him. I knew it wasn't Waterford. Like, I knew Dublin play in Leinster." And speaking of geography there was the challenge match against Monaghan where he told an opposition player to go back to Britain. "Yeah, the Monaghan one is true. It was a match behind closed doors and there was a big fight and it actually ended up being abandoned. I can't remember the guys name, I think he plays for Brigid's."




His talent got him out of all that because for just a little while he was the best freetaker in the country. He burst onto the intercounty scene against Meath in the 2007 replay, kicking eight points, four from frees, one from a sideline and another from a 45. His first effort that day hit the post but he says he was never worried because he'd never struck a ball so sweetly and it just needed readjusting. By the end of this year's league that had all changed and while the odd kick was still going over the black spot, confidence and technique had gotten lost in another spell of games that were remembered for the wrong reasons.




Monaghan this year, you mention. That tackle on Damian Freeman was pretty horrendous?




"It was a picture taken at the wrong time. It wasn't as bad as it looked. Watch it on video. He went to duck and I probably shouldn't have had a closed fist but you are always going to hit as hard as you can to try and knock the ball loose. He just ducked and I ended up going across and hit him. I actually didn't think I'd be sent off."




But was that not part of Dublin. It happened there. Against Meath too. It seemed a tactic of Paul Caffrey's?




"Well, you pick games and say we have to win this at all costs. We tried to use games like Meath as stepping stones, it's a path to an All Ireland. You get there whatever way you can."




So why didn't you get there?




"You'll hear people blame Pillar but at the end of the day, you are there to win an All Ireland. It doesn't matter who's in charge, you should have that automatic drive yourself. You'll here the 'Blue Book' mentioned. Now that didn't do it for me but every county has something like that. I think we might have peaked too early. Look at Cork. Limerick should have beaten them and Cork should have ended up in an All Ireland final. We are better than these teams so why can't we make it that far? It's psychological too because we can't seem to get over a really big team. Sure we've beaten Derry but they aren't in the top four in Ireland. We can't seem to beat a team that is. Until we do that, there is that hump. Mayo was the real chance. As for Tyrone, they were just way too good for us."




Is that why the frustration was there after that Mayo loss in 2006 and you ended up having a bone broken in a row in Copper Face Jack's that night?




"It was one of those incidents. I was with a girl, there was a bit of an altercation. There were stories, people said I came out covered in blood. There was no blood. It was just a punch. I knew I had broken a bone. I stayed in there for a while, went back to someone's house and went home later. It wasn't a massive ordeal, it was just that I had to have it operated on because of where it was and for the sake of my eye socket. Maybe I was in Coppers at the wrong time and that was my fault because there was a lot of opposition fans there but I learned. Like now my girlfriend would say, 'There's a guy across the road shouting at you, abusing you,' but I don't pay attention. Before I'd have been shouting back. And she's had to take a fair bit too. If you listened to rumours I'm after sleeping with most of my teammates girlfriends. But most of the rumours are fine. Some are very funny."




He knows the guys that put his name up on Hill 16, saying that he was street fighting topless on Leeson Street one night. He laughed endlessly but the forum was closed. His Wikipedia entry was down to his sister's boyfriend who informed the world that he attended Griffith College due to a learning difficulty. And he thinks he knows the group that posted a message about him quitting his job to watch the World Cup.




"I always see Gaelic as fun, people need to relax. If I wanted to be really professional I would have played football [soccer] and probably wouldn't have drank but I want to enjoy myself. I love playing Gaelic but I'm going to live my life. The minute you start not having fun, why play? You aren't getting paid to play. I've friends that play professionally and they train less than us. So I am going to have my fun. And when I wasn't, it took away from my game.




"Like sometimes I've said it to management in Crokes, I don't motivate myself for league. I don't care if we got relegated to Division Five. The league is boring. It makes no difference to me. If I lose a championship game, don't come near me. I probably find that with Dublin too. No one cares. It doesn't matter. But games like Navan on Sunday, they matter, they've got me interested again and I'd like to think they'll get me my confidence back."




And when it does return, you can expect anything.

[Heshs Umpire]

well the question has long been asked about the pathetic useless umpires of the modern day gaa.

Umpires can't call square balls - you obviously don't know the rules.
First one looked a square ball to me but it is up to the ref to call it, not the umpires. Second one looked like a very bad goalkeeping error to me.
Umpires can only award scores, 45's and call ref's attention to off the ball incidents he may have missed. They cannot disallow scores for technical infringements such as pick ups, square balls, fouls in the build up.

[redser]

Who said anything about square balls. I was referring to infringements on the goalkeeper. Shur if thats the case why bother have umpires at all.

"The Umpire has the power to bring to the attention of the Referee, during a break in play, any instances of foul play or incursions onto the field of play which have not been noticed by the Referee. It is the duty of the Umpire to report any such instances and his obligation is to do so by providing the factual situation regarding the instance".

Now in my opinion their was "foul play" commited on the goal keeper. And their was a break in play after it where it should have been reported to refereee that had not notticed it. You see it is the umpires obligation.

Hope that clears it up for you Heshs umpire. It was a disgrace and in general umpires are a disgrace.

[TheManFromFerbane]

He was a lot harsher on McNamee, the Vaughan interview comes across as just someone telling his side of the story.

[uibhfhaili]

Who said anything about square balls. I was referring to infringements on the goalkeeper. Shur if thats the case why bother have umpires at all.

"The Umpire has the power to bring to the attention of the Referee, during a break in play, any instances of foul play or incursions onto the field of play which have not been noticed by the Referee. It is the duty of the Umpire to report any such instances and his obligation is to do so by providing the factual situation regarding the instance".

Now in my opinion their was "foul play" commited on the goal keeper. And their was a break in play after it where it should have been reported to refereee that had not notticed it. You see it is the umpires obligation.

Hope that clears it up for you Heshs umpire. It was a disgrace and in general umpires are a disgrace.

infringements " ?? What infringements exactly? The ball was in the back of the net for the second goal, after the keeper shat himself, before the Kilmacud play come in on the keeper. How the hell can anyone argue that wasnt a legit goal? The first goal did look illegal but lets be honest here if Kilmacud and Rhode met again in the morning KIlmacud would win pulling up.