Offaly Minor Hurling/Football 2010

[averagejoe]

Well lads are our minors any good this year atall? Minor hurlers went out early last year to Westmeath but i beleive that was a fairly young team.
As for the footballers they had a great year just falling to the dubs in extra-time but i'm not sure if many are underage again. What are the views??

[leinsterman]

Was at a few minor games this year, the minor final last week that rynaghs won. the talent is not in offaly at the moment
kilkenny are way ahead of us. when westmeath bet us last year will tell you where we are, you need st. brendans of birr
back winning again to have good minors again . even at the final last weekend there was no one that would stand out for you
st. rynaghs won well and a good little team alot of them are there next year aswell. it will be awhile before we are back in lenister
minor finals again hope i am wrong but i don't think so. didn't see much football this year so i don't know about them.

[Lone Shark]

Offaly's 2009 minor hurlers were a very young bunch with many of the players eligible to come back on board this year, however losing to Westmeath suggests that there will be more needed than an extra year of strength and training to make this team competitive.

I think the footballers was the real missed opportunity, since they do lose a lot of last year's players, including most of the key players. Guys like Anton Sullivan and Bernard Allen had good experience of playing competitive schools football as well as senior club championship - it's hard to replace guys of that calibre. I don't recall this being a particularly special group in terms of results at U-15 and U-16 either, so I'd say that the footballers could be up against it this year.

[True Red]

from Edenderrygaa.com

New Offaly Minor Management
20 November 2009

Edenderry's Tony Kenny has been appointed as a selector to the Offaly minor footballers.

Tony joins Rhode's Ken Kelleghan (manager) and Ferbane's Paul Mollen to form a strong management team for 2010. Tony was part of the Edenderry management team which won the 2007 Intermediate Championship, while he was also involved with several underage sides within the club.

Edenderry GAA would like to wish TK and the lads the very best of luck in all competitions for the coming year.

[averagejoe]

Very true, the footballers were fierce unlucky that day in the scorching hot o'connor park. Are there many of that team still underage does anybody know?

The hurlers have a good panel this year from what i hear around the county but i wonder will this affect the football panel aswel with the likes of St. Rygnahs doing well in both football and hurling this year at minor?

Any views? And can somebody tell me who the minor footballers drew in the first round of leinster??

[Plain of the Herbs]

Minor draws were made ages ago. Here they are again:-

LEINSTER MINOR FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
First Round (17/04/2010)
(1) Wicklow v Wexford
(2) Carlow v Westmeath
(3) Louth v Laois
(4) Kildare v Dublin
(5) Offaly v Longford
(6) Meath v Kilkenny
Losers Section (24/04/2010 & 08/05/2101)
(7) Losers 5 v Loser 1
(8) Winner 7 v Loser 2 = (A)
(9) Loser 4 v Loser 3
(10) Winner 9 v Loser 6 = (B)
Quarter-finals (22/05/2010)
Winner 5 v Winner 6
Winner 3 v Winner 1
Winner A v Winner 2
Winner 4 v Winner B

LEINSTER MINOR HURLING CHAMPIONSHIP
Round 1 (10/04/2010)
(1) Kildare v Wicklow
(2) Westmeath v Meath
Round 2 (01/05/2010)
(3) Carlow v Winners 1
(4) Laois v Winners 2
(5) Kilkenny v Dublin
(6) Offaly v Wexford
Round 3 (15/05/2010)
(7) Winner 4 v Loser 6
(8) Winner 3 v Loser 5
Semi-finals (26/06/2010)
Winner 8 v Winner 5
Winner 7 v Winner 6

[averagejoe]

A nice draw for the minor footballers and i would expect them to come through that fixture but then again i dont know a lot about this years team. Not sure about the hulers though, Wexford are a quality outfit this year at minor and will be expecting to win a leinster at least. I just find it hard to see offaly hurlers really competing against teams like wexford and kilkenny and from what i hear galway are entering the leinster hurling championship at minor level this year aswel.

I've been hearing aswel that they are training away at this time of the year which i personally think is crazy. Theres a big difference between hurling this time of the year than next may when they are in birr or tullamore on a massive dry pitch. Personally i tyhink offaly minor hurlers have under-achieved and i just hope the new bunch can prove me wrong this year.

Any ideas of any teams for football or hurling??

[Lone Shark]

A nice draw for the minor footballers and i would expect them to come through that fixture but then again i dont know a lot about this years team. Not sure about the hulers though, Wexford are a quality outfit this year at minor and will be expecting to win a leinster at least. I just find it hard to see offaly hurlers really competing against teams like wexford and kilkenny and from what i hear galway are entering the leinster hurling championship at minor level this year aswel.

I've been hearing aswel that they are training away at this time of the year which i personally think is crazy. Theres a big difference between hurling this time of the year than next may when they are in birr or tullamore on a massive dry pitch. Personally i tyhink offaly minor hurlers have under-achieved and i just hope the new bunch can prove me wrong this year.

Any ideas of any teams for football or hurling??

Wexford were as bad if not worse than Offaly for a long time, but they finally got their act together in recent years and they're a force to be reckoned with at minor level now - albeit they benefitted massively from some fantastic work and a great helping of common sense from George O'Connor, a man who impressed me hugely when I met him two years ago. This in itself should be an encouraging sign for our county, showing as it does that things can be turned around with the right will and strategy.

Galway aren't allowed to enter at underage level. I've a notion in my head that Offaly and Wexford were at the vanguard of opposing that idea, but I wouldn't like to say for certain, that may or may not be the case.

Regarding the minor footballers, well the backdoor has served them very well in recent seasons so in one sense I'd nearly prefer another tough first round draw, nonetheless it's still not a bad fixture. A first round tie against Longford should show up a few cracks, and even if we do get through, we should have learned a lot more about our team than Meath will have. There will be a lot of new faces on the team this year, but that's no reason to be too pessimistic, many of them could easily surprise us, while guys like Noel Andrew Graham have a fair bit of experience now and could have a big impact.

[averagejoe]

True, the backdoor suited the Minor footballers perfectly last year, losing to meath and got their act together after that. Having said that, they were fierce unlucky in that game having young sullivan sent off rather dubiously. I know sullivan is not minor again this year but surely there must be some more talent from the likes of rhode and clara who contested the county minor final this year?

From what i have heard, this group of hurlers did well in the u-16 all ireland two years ago. (theres a name for the competition cant think of it now) They played wexford in a thriller seemingly just losing out in the end, so they will be well used to them by now.

These lads are the way forward and the way i see it, if theres no success at minor/u-21 level in offaly i just cannot imagine where the county will be situated in the next few years.

[In the long grass]

Minor football semifinals this weekend.

St. Vincents v Rhode
St. Rhynaghs v Ferbane/Belmont

Would love to see st. vincents get a chance in the minor final and try win their first since 1936 I think it is! Will be hard to get over championship favourites rhode though.