Club football 2025

[jimbob17]

With ref to Gracefield, they are probably paying price now of not really pushing underage for long time. There should be decent population around it - just wonder if they are losing any kids to Portarlington?

Edenderry have probably got their stuff together a bit and have decent forwards but lets be honest, they have underperformed massively over last 5 years or so and are probably now back to level par for their capability. A full strength Edenderry team scraped over half a Tullamore team in league final. That doesnt make them title contenders just yet but if they continue to push hard, they have the talent to get lot closer to Tullamore than they have been. They really should be ambitious enough to contend this years championship and they have lads with plenty of experience who know the scene around and over them.

Ferbane are genuine contenders as we saw last year and beating Ballycommon so well is good for them.

Rhodes time has finally come I am afraid.

I really think Tullamore have slipped a bit, albeit we have not really seen them yet with all their county players. The new rules will not suit Tullamore who were brilliant at that old negative style of locking down a game that is now outdated with the 3 up rule. There is probably 4 or 5 teams with better inside forwards than Tullamore and in this i'd include Edenderry, Shamrocks, Ferbane, and maybe Ballycommon, but none of those teams compare to Tullamore from 2-12, and therein lies the conundrum of who will win this year. That said, I heard Luke Plunkett is back from abroad and Harry will be back also so they will be big additions to their scoring potential. I think Tullamore bringing in Rochford also suggests that maybe things were not going as well as before - albeit without the county players - though might be planned to boost group pre championship.

Time will tell.... but id expect Tullamore to shade it again this year. Would love to be wrong and see a bolter from the pack come and shake it up a bit.

[FJB]

There's definitely a few Portarlington players who should be playing with Gracefield. Living in Offaly with Laois parents sending them back to Portarlington.

Then again Killeigh have a few young fellas should be playing with Kilcavan!

[G91]

Rhode come back to beat Ferbane
Ferbane were 5 up at half time

Ferbane lost most of thier own kickouts on the second half

Big setback for a team looking to win the championship

[SearingDrive]

There's definitely a few Portarlington players who should be playing with Gracefield. Living in Offaly with Laois parents sending them back to Portarlington.

Then again Killeigh have a few young fellas should be playing with Kilcavan!

Borders are a victim of people settling in adjacent areas, near their home places .
Any names of players affected?

[SearingDrive]

Rhode come back to beat Ferbane
Ferbane were 5 up at half time

Ferbane lost most of thier own kickouts on the second half

Big setback for a team looking to win the championship

Rhode scored in added time, to go 2 ahead. Ferbane’s attempt to score a 2 point effort, to draw the match, was touched over the crossbar y Kenny Garry.

[Anonymous1]

Rhode come back to beat Ferbane
Ferbane were 5 up at half time

Ferbane lost most of thier own kickouts on the second half

Big setback for a team looking to win the championship

With the loss of 4 or 5 key players Ferbane were always going to find it difficult to get over Tullamore. Edenderry have shown themselves to be the biggest contender to Tullamore so far this year.

Rhode got the win this evening largely because of their hunger, work-rate and better tactical set up but you could argue the real reason they won was the lack of those three things from Ferbane.

It’s hard to see past a Tullamore vs Edenderry final at this vantage point.

On a side note - there can hardly be a better dual player in the county than David Nally. MOTM in the first round for Ferbane, MOTM in the first round for Belmont with a 13 point haul and another MOTM worthy performance for Ferbane this evening with 1-4 from play.

Given his lack of minutes with the hurlers this year, would he be tempted to swap to county football?

[G91]

It’s a changed Ferbane team one o thought was rejuvenated young blood but the threats of Niall mc is something that could possibly happen to any team

Have to say Fergil smith gave a free for over carrying when David nally actually hopped the ball was ridiculous

I’ve said it over the year for Offaly David nally got a harsh deal put himself on the line for the sake of the team and then left for a few minutes here and there , I’ll place my opinion on the proper topic

[Anonymous1]

Entertaining game between Edenderry and Durrow.

Durrow played well for most of the game and were well in it with ten minutes left but Edenderry pulled away.

Cian Farrell the standout with 0-14. One of the highest point totals I can remember in recent times. Surely he’s worth another chance with the county?

[Behindthegoal]

Lads Cian Farrell won’t be playing for Offaly while this management is still in place. He left the panel after not being selected for the first league game. They have been trying to weed out players with a me before we attitude and regardless of how much he scores in this club championship he won’t be in an Offaly jersey in 2026 so it’s an absolute waste of time talking about it

[Offaly Hero]

Cian has the raw talent to be play for Offaly but I’ve lost count of how many times he’s walked off the panel.
It’s a waste of time talking about it at this stage. It’s up to him.

[Anonymous1]

Cian has the raw talent to be play for Offaly but I’ve lost count of how many times he’s walked off the panel.
It’s a waste of time talking about it at this stage. It’s up to him.

Up to him is right but listening to his interview afterwards he seems to be in a good place attitude wise and physically.

[Lone Shark]

Every year has to be a new start. Of course you factor in past behaviour, but what I saw there tonight was undeniable. If Cian Farrell goes into the Offaly panel in 2026 and puts the same focus into it as he is doing with Edenderry right now, clearly taking the captaincy seriously, then he's probably not just an automatic starter, he's arguably our best player.

Points off left and right, winning his own ball, winning frees, very positive around his colleagues, and all while being effectively marked by decent players. Honestly, I can count on one hand the amount of Offaly footballers I've seen produce scoring displays like it in the last 25 years.

Now if January and February rolls around and he steps out of line, then so be it, straight red card from the panel is perfectly reasonable. But I genuinely believe that Cian Farrell makes Offaly a two or three point better team instantly.

[Anonymous1]

If my maths are correct Ferbane will need to beat Edenderry by 6 points to finish top of the group.

Failing that the final standings are likely to be 1. Edenderry 2. Rhode 3. Ferbane 4. Durrow

This also assumes Rhode and Ferbane both beat Durrow which is far from a certainty.

If that were to happen you’d likely have QF’s of Shamrocks vs Ferbane and Rhode vs Clonbullogue/Bracknagh.

We can begin tentatively working these permutations out because Group 1 has played 2 rounds before Group 2 have kicked a ball. Given group 1 only has one extra round, surely there only needed to be a 2 week gap between the two groups starting instead of 4?

[Offaly Hero]

Every year has to be a new start. Of course you factor in past behaviour, but what I saw there tonight was undeniable. If Cian Farrell goes into the Offaly panel in 2026 and puts the same focus into it as he is doing with Edenderry right now, clearly taking the captaincy seriously, then he's probably not just an automatic starter, he's arguably our best player.

Points off left and right, winning his own ball, winning frees, very positive around his colleagues, and all while being effectively marked by decent players. Honestly, I can count on one hand the amount of Offaly footballers I've seen produce scoring displays like it in the last 25 years.

Now if January and February rolls around and he steps out of line, then so be it, straight red card from the panel is perfectly reasonable. But I genuinely believe that Cian Farrell makes Offaly a two or three point better team instantly.

We all think this and have thought this for years. On his day for his club, he’s irrepressible. But until he does it consistently for Offaly (which, let’s be honest, he never actually has) then it’s just speculation. I’d love to see him do it for Offaly but I’m just conscious that we’ve had this conversation umpteen times before over the last number of years after some club game. The proof will be next January/February/March for Offaly. A much, much higher standard. Until then he can score whatever he wants in club match, it doesn’t matter a damn to Offaly.

[Behindthegoal]

It’s a bit skewed by the amount of frees and 45s he’s taking too it was 6 from play against Durrow which let’s be honest about it aren’t in the top 6 teams in Offaly. Cian Johnson scored 1-6 from play against Ballycommon and there wasn’t anyone saying Offaly need him. Club football is different to county.