Offaly v Antrim

[Aweflee]

So how will we do Sat night? Its never an easy place to go and get a win in hurling or football - for us at any rate. Hopefully we'll come through as I wouldn't fancy having to go to Aughrim looking for a win to stay in contention.

[Lone Shark]

It's a huge game, and not to put too fine a point on it, I ain't confident. Antrim are flying at the moment, and somehow the national media seems to think that this division is ours to lose. Everyone talks about our big win in Carlow, but if you ask me the way Antrim went to both Clare and Wicklow and picked up comprehensive wins was much more impressive.

There's no way we're going to win this one without a serious dogfight, and I'm not sure how ready our lads are for that. My gut feeling is not positive - we have no primary ball winner and no forwards that are supporting Niall in the scoring stakes sufficiently. I'll be at the game and praying for a win, but we are definitely second favourites in this one to my mind.

[Aweflee]

As a matter of interest does anyone know when the team are travelling up? If it was a 2.30 throw in I'm sure they'd travel the night before but with it being a 7.00 start are they travelling up early on Saturday?

[black and red exile]

This is going to be a big test for the lads. Antrim have always given the big guns in Ulster major headaches over the years in Casement and talking to a football mad Antrim work colleague of mine the saffrons are looking forward to this game big time. The 2 big midfielders Quinn and McCann are suppose to be excellent fielders and apparently they are a big robust very fit outfit. There will be a highly vocal local crowd there on Saturday night so no doubt to win this game we are going to have to be at our very best and cut out the silly mistakes but I would worry about our short passing running game against a side like this.
One last thing to mention, I see there is a Fermanagh referee taking this game on Saturday night which surprises me. I would have thought that a connaught or Munster ref would surely be more appropiate for this kind of game.

[ballymanabroad]

When you are a small county of are languishing in the lower reaches of the league you tend to get the cast off decisions.

Look at Leitrim in Division 3. Last year they flew to London only to be told 10 monutes before the start ofthe game that the game was cancelled. On another occasion the travelled to an away game in a tournament in Donegal. Not only did the referee fail to turn up but the club didn't even know there was supposed to be a game on the pitch so it wasn't marked out. They had to play in a bog without lines or an appointed referee. Now this year they have to travel more than any team in the four divisions in the league and have only three games at home. To top it all off they have to travel to New York to play in the first round of the Championship in May.

I can't see it happening to Dublin or Kerry.

[BUFFALO]

Theres no doubting that this is going to be a very stern test for the lads.I have every confidence in Ooooofaalllllyaaaa ability wise,I think in that respect we are a superior team,not by far though.But a major concern that I would have,is the presence of any dogged determination in the camp,because that is what we will need this Saturday night.
Is there any spine in this Offaly team at all?Or is flaky an apt adjective to describe our present side?
As an aside,the local press up here are of the opinion that the Saffrons are red-hot favourites,so it would be most pleasurable to beat 'em in their own back yard.
Allez Les Faithful!

[turk]

Antrim are poor - we should beat them with 4 or 5 points to spare, no fuss

[Hyper]

The team is as went out against Tipp with one change in personel, Dave Egan is replaced by Gary Comerford.

[Kevin]

This thread is a horrifying read and a sign of the times.

I know everyone is earnest in their concerns.

This is Division 4 for God's sake.

COME ON LADS, LET'S PUSH THROUGH!!!!!!

[Kevin]

RTE has this posted at Antrim 11 Offaly 1-8 was Antrim 6 Offaly 1-6 just a few minutes ago. I'm assuming we about halfway through the second half.

[Lone Shark]

It's hard to know what to make of this - on the one hand we played what was ostensibly the toughest fixture of the campaign and didn't lose, but against that we didn't really deserve it, and we came out of the night with a lot more questions than answers. To me it was marked as the night where Freetaking overtook fielding as our number one problem, though that's not to say that the midfield was great either. McManus was playing well as usual, but his red card left us very short. The other two lads were a bit of a mixed bag, which I'll cover below.

The refereeing was a joke. He gave frees for every little touch throughout, which cost us when McManus got sent off for nothing, but saved our skin at the end when we got a rake of frees that were not deserved (barring the last one). Refereed it absolutely non-contact, and I was very disappointed in how we didn't adapt. I sometimes wonder if anyone is telling players what's going on at all.

I genuinely believe we struggled under lights as well, which is not something that I think is a big complaint since we're not going to have to play under lights in the championship. Several high balls were misjudged, and it cost us a couple of crucial scores. As a result the draw was a very little use, since we'll still have to get a result in Aughrim, while Antrim are now more or less home and hosed. Against that, if they were good enough to win in Aughrim by six, while we were good enough to draw up there, we should be good enough to win there as well. Equally a game like this is at least some form of championship preparation, unlike anything we've done so far this year.

In terms of players.....

Kelly Didn't have anything to do in terms of shotstopping. His kickouts were fine and he came out for a couple of high balls and claimed them, so his good season continues.

Rafferty Possibly our man of the match, and was solid the whole way through. Saw off one direct opponent, and to my mind should have been moved to full back when Brady was struggling with injury.

Brady Was clearly injured early on and was unable to get out in front of any ball. We got away with it because Antrim didn't spot it and switch Michael Magill with a nippier lad or with McGourty when he came in, but even so it was a bizarre decision to leave him on.

Darby Was one of those who struggled with the lights a little bit, and he had a very decent opponent in Paddy Cunningham who kept his hands very full. A good learning experience for him.

McConway Not quite back to himself, but showed signs for the first time in ages. He was in control defensively, and crossed the 65s on a couple of occasions, though he still lacks the aggression that made him worth his place when he burst on to the scene.

Fox Another who found the lights difficult, which is surprising seeing as Erin Rovers would have some of the better floodlights in the county. I though his substitution was a little harsh, but he didn't really get into the game that much. Negated his opponent though, which should count for something. The experiment goes on.

Grennan The more I see of him, the more I think that he'll be back in the corner by the start of the championship. Didn't do a lot going forward, but he was the canniest defender out there - the ref was pure non-contact, and Grennan was the only backsman who visibly copped on to this and stopped giving the ref chances to award frees against him. Good clever play.

A McNamee The first half was a mixed bag, which was a huge improvement on anything we've seen in a long time. He caught a few balls and generally delivered reasonably well, though he did still make a few real howlers of passes. He faded out in the second half, and then had one cameo which made me think he shouldn't be let near a county jersey again - for Antrim's lead score, with a couple of minutes to go, he gave away the ball with a badly misdirected handpass - not good, but forgiveable. He promptly dropped the head and refused to chase the lost ball, leaving McConway (who was farther away from the Antrim player in possession) to do it instead. Shocking stuff.

McManus The sending off was extremely harsh, but if you will get a yellow card for mouthing it does reduce the sympathy somewhat. He's the most experienced and spiritual leader of this team, to be giving out to a strict ref is boneheaded. Having said that his second yellow was barely a foul, never mind a card, and his loss was a huge one. He had been playing a very good game up to that. After the game Roe said that the plan was to give some of the frees back to him in the second half, which if true is a big relief.

Comerford A little bit too relaxed - he clearly has ability, and used the ball very well when in possession, but on more than one occasion he let an Antrim back win a ball that should have been his. I'm not convinced.

Niall McNamee This performance may force a serious rethink on how we deploy Niall. He had a nightmare from start to finish, and while it's excusable in that he is human and it can happen to anyone occasionally, his confidence is being shattered by both taking the frees and from not getting to do enough of what he's good at. First and foremost - the two he got at the end should have been tapovers, and some of the ones he missed were downright unforgiveable. We cannot afford this to go on - even if we gave them to someone else who missed just as many, our best player wouldn't be having his confidence battered every time he steps up to a dead ball. The real loser from this may be Deehan - at this rate James Coughlan will end up taking his place so he can take the frees. In terms of general play, Niall was not at the races, and made a few awful passes as well. Just not his night.

Smith No real change here - he's growing into the role, and right now looks like he's there for the foreseeable. In terms of the good - he caught a few balls, showed for the defenders well and played a few nice passes into the forwards. Against that, He lost his man out of defence several times, and he got one great chance to have a go for a score in the second half and bottled it, giving it to marked forwards instead. Shooting and missing would have been forgiveable, but the time will come when he'll have to take responsibility, and he needs to start doing it now.

Deehan Did well with the first two balls into him, beating his man both times and but for a foot over the line he would have had two points rather than one. The same criticism as always then came into play - he faded out of the game, ostensibly due to not really receiving the ball rather than not winning it or using it badly. I'd love to see a player cam on him to see is he just making the wrong runs, or why is this happening.

Reynolds Game as ever, but he's overthinking a bit. Missed a couple of glorious chances for points in the first half, and nailed an absolute beauty in the second. Took his goal well, and for that we have to be grateful. He chases back every time, but still just bounces off lads rather than making a real impact. He's giving everything, just not sure if it's quite enough.

Paschal Scored three very nice points from play, but more importantly he picked up two big breaking balls at the end of the match when we needed them. Didn't get any stupid yellows on a night when they were easily found, and all in all was certainly our best forward. Still had a very quiet spell, but he's on form right now and is back to being one of our key forwards.

Egan Came on for Deehan, didn't do anything wrong, chased well and was taken off again. The only fault was that he failed to win an awful pass from Niall when he was being marked by two men. I hope he stays on the panel because I think he has a real role to play, but if he walked now it would be utterly understandable. Much like Leonard Mooney of a few years ago, he's getting a raw deal and I can't figure out why.

Keane There's a lot more in him than this. He's a good player who is likely to feature in the summer, but he just doesn't seem to be using his physique enough. He was playing a lot better under Kilmurray two years ago - for whatever reason.

Casey Was lively certainly, and his free was the most forgiveable missed free of the night. The clamour for him to take over from Niall in that role will be gathering over the next few weeks. Not sure if it's fair to ask that of him yet.

[BUFFALO]

On the balance of play,a draw was just about right.
Antrim seemed to get their scores a little handier than Offaly's laboured efforts.
I'm somwehat of the opinion that it isn't a bad result,ideally a win was desired,but I reckon that it's ours to throw away now.
T'won't be handy down in Aughrim,but its a game that you'd be expecting to win.
In sayin' that I ain't expecting a whole pile from the Footballers this year,but I hope I'm proved wrong.
Allez!

P.S. the inherent ambiguity of my comments are reflective of the present [mis]understandings as to the true state of affairs in Offaly football at large.