www.uibhfhaili.com

answer better go and watch the games instead of writeing sh.t on here

Offaly V Dublin quarter final is fixed for Tullamore saturday 4th may at 3pm,disappointed is an understatement,Offaly would probably have as many supporters at the game if it was in Parnell Park

Lads in this particular instance I would agree that Birr is probably the better venue. The players have played there already, the squad is almost entirely drawn from that region (indeed both the football and hurling teams this year are almost comical in their geographical layout, but that's another matter) and I wouldn't rule out for a minute that the game will be moved there yet.

HOWEVER - it's still only a field of grass, and these players have earned our support, wherever the game is held. Neither is it doing Offaly hurling any good to have people feed this idea that OCP is not a home ground for our teams - it is, just as much as SBP is, just as much as St Rynaghs Park is when the Camogie girls play there, just as much as any ground in our county is a home ground for any of our teams, and that's as it should be.

For the love of Christ, can we please actually stick to supporting this team that has taken a great first step and won comfortably in a game where we were all a little bit worried, and get behind them regardless of venue? This kind of muck will get into lads heads and the last thing we want is an Offaly team taking the field in Tullamore believing that the advantage is with the opposition before they start - which is the logical conclusion of all this talk.

Was looking forward to a county game in Birr, but anyway, Tullamore it is.
Best of luck to the lads, tear into them

Ahlethimoutwithit wrote:Was looking forward to a county game in Birr

I was hoping it would be in Birr myself but anyway it wont be to tullamore for me due to it being moved, terrible decision

Best of luck to Dónal and the rest of the lads.

They've a tough task on hands against Dublin and they haven't been helped by last week's ballyhoo. The involvement of members of their management in a Twitter campaign has provided an unwanted and senseless distraction. Energy misused.

I've a few things to do on Saturday but I'm still hoping to make it over. And here's hoping Offaly wire into Dublin, hit them hard and kep the ball moving.

ill be there to support the lads after that major win over a serious team like Carlow. give em socks boys!

Fair play Fifi, we know you'll be there with us all the way. Sure tisnt dat what made Tipp such a great county, their humility and sincerity.

What time does Offaly v Dublin throw in at? 2pm or 3pm? I'm seeing both, though the Leinster Council site suggesting 2pm leads me towards the former.

I've only seen 2pm advertised, pretty confident that's the throw in time.

Disappointing outing. Played with a strong wind in the first half, "par" would probably have been at around seven or eight points up - we led by one at the break, despite starting with a goal from a Cillian Kiely penalty. It was some strike - so powerful that it would make you wonder why he wasn't called up to take a free from around 25m out that came late in the first half.

Only scoring three points from play with the breeze while conceding seven was unforgivable. We seemed to concede nearly 10kg a man to our direct opponents and while most of the lads were extremely brave and they got some lovely tackles and great blocks in, you just can't make up for not winning primary possession, and we just didn't do that enough. Dublin were smarter at positioning themselves for breaks and when there were clean catches to be made, men in blue made them.

Our handling was poor as well - simple handpasses missed the target, balls got dropped, and overall we weren't sharp in that regard. The third quarter saw Dublin open up a big lead and while things were tightened up once the game was gone, we had given ourselves no chance with bad turnovers and poor first half scoring.

I note too that Carlow went on to lose to Kildare today, which would suggest that this was a very poor Carlow team.

Laois are next up, presumably in Portlaoise after the two counties met in O'Connor Park last year.

Given the difference in physicality there was only going to be one winner.

Still, there was too much 'flicking' the ball about three yards by the Offaly lads which only led to them losing control of the ball. They looked like a team who spend way too much time practicing 'flicking'.

Emmet Nolan had a horse of a game.

The refereeing was horrendous. Peter Burke has a name in his native Kilkenny for being brutal but today he made John Sexton appear competent by comparison. I estimate he went about 30 minutes between the 10th and 40th minute without getting a single decision correct. With play frequently stopped to allow Dublin players a rest during the first half, he could justifiably have added five minutes at the end of the first half. Instead he allowed just two. Refereeing in the manner we saw today starts rows at matches and some day Peter Burke could find himself in trouble. Lets hope he never has to do a match in Wicklow.

Noticable that the Dublin sideline got water into their players during those breaks in play while their Offaly counterparts helped themselves to the liquids. And why did it take a shout from the Offaly goalkeeper 11 minutes in to seek extra balls to speed up the play? That should have been done as a matter of course.

Massive big slips of paper carried by the Offaly subs to hand to the referee. Were they writing him a letter?

Quarter-final against Laois is confirmed for 5.15pm on Saturday 18th May at Portaloos and will be curtain-raiser to the Leix v Anthrum Leinster SHC game. The latter throws in at 7pm.

It's cash at the stiles. Adults €10, students & pensioners €5, juveniles are free.

I saw on twitter Daithi Regan claiming that players on the minor team had a discussion about boycotting the fixture because it was being played in Tellamore.
It sounded a bit far fetched at the time and John Leahy has come and denied it.

http://www.hoganstand.com/Offaly/Articl ... ?ID=191724

Leahy dismisses boycott claim

Offaly did not threaten to boycott Saturday's Leinster MHC clash with Dublin.

The Faithful County management had requested to have the match switched from Tullamore to Birr but this request was turned down and the Dubs coasted to a ten-point win at O'Connor Park.

Reacting to rumours that his team considered boycotting the fixture, Offaly manager John Leahy told The Irish Daily Mirror:

"We had no problem playing in O'Connor Park. It's the county ground and there's a directive from the Leinster Council that stipulates that that's where these games have to be played.

"There were exceptional circumstances for the opening round against Carlow because there were two All-Ireland U21 football semi-finals in Tullamore on the same day.

"We requested that the Dublin game be played in Birr but when it was turned down we didn't make a big deal of it.

"A lot of the hurling people in the county would like to see these games returning to Birr but there was never any suggestion of a boycott on our part. We were focussed on the game."

"Never believe anything until it has been officially denied" - Bismarck.

As for the next day, Portaloos has a north-south aspect. Offaly seem to prefer playing on pitches like that.