www.uibhfhaili.com

I see the Kildare crowd are honoured with Townman's presence over there too.

incidentally, what colours did the sides wear last night? Specifically, did Offaly wear tricolour or white?

lostinjuniora wrote:Just lookin at the Kildare forum. Some are cocky, some are wary of us.

http://kildaregaa.boardonly.com/t826p10 ... e-u21-2012

Well done to the lads

It would be brilliant if we go all the way with this bunch. Bring a bit of pride back into the county


'Mon the faithful

Offaly wore white last night

Football has changed a lot in the last few years. It is all about gettin ur hands on the ball and keepin it. Offaly gave it away a few times and meath got scores. It is easier said than done to play this style of football u need to be very fit. Offalys defence was brill in second half and they must have practiced this in previous matches. Credit to paschal.

Football has changed a lot in the last few years. It is all about gettin ur hands on the ball and keepin it. Offaly gave it away a few times and meath got scores. It is easier said than done to play this style of football u need to be very fit. Offalys defence was brill in second half and they must have practiced this in previous matches. Credit to paschal.

Is young carroll not on u 21 or is he too young. I see he is goin to london for aussie trials.

Plain of the Herbs wrote:I see the Kildare crowd are honoured with Townman's presence over there too.

incidentally, what colours did the sides wear last night? Specifically, did Offaly wear tricolour or white?

lostinjuniora wrote:Just lookin at the Kildare forum. Some are cocky, some are wary of us.

http://kildaregaa.boardonly.com/t826p10 ... e-u21-2012

Well done to the lads

It would be brilliant if we go all the way with this bunch. Bring a bit of pride back into the county


'Mon the faithful

i am surprise you didn't predict a Meath win like you did laois hurlers last sunday

Paschal Keelaghan seems to think the Offaly border finishes at West Clara. Ferbane are the current minor champions and they have four better forwards than Stephen Hannon or Declan Hogan. St Rynaghs defeated Edenderry last year to reach the co under 21 semi-final. Where was Niall Wynne (St Rynaghs) the most consistant freetaker at this age group. The fielding skills of Pat Camon (St Rynaghs) were badly missed last night as we struggled at midfield for the full game. Changes are required for the Kildare game, we cannot continue playing defenders in the forward line and a reliable freetaker is a must.

I notice Clara has become such a metropolis that it has been divided into districts. West Clara being the Offaly border according to Sharp Eye and apparently Pascal. Lol

Sharp Eye wrote:Paschal Keelaghan seems to think the Offaly border finishes at West Clara. Ferbane are the current minor champions and they have four better forwards than Stephen Hannon or Declan Hogan. St Rynaghs defeated Edenderry last year to reach the co under 21 semi-final. Where was Niall Wynne (St Rynaghs) the most consistant freetaker at this age group. The fielding skills of Pat Camon (St Rynaghs) were badly missed last night as we struggled at midfield for the full game. Changes are required for the Kildare game, we cannot continue playing defenders in the forward line and a reliable freetaker is a must.

Not that I'd be criticising my own, but Stephen Hannon is a wing back and he had a good outing marking the Meath captain, while Declan Hogan did a very, very good job as a deep lying wing forward, getting on a lot of ball and using it quite well. Equally I didn't think we struggled at midfield either.

Ferbane have a lot of good young forwards, but with the exception of Aaron McDonagh, they're all still minor. Unless you're truly exceptional, it's only right to be playing at your own grade first and foremost.

You could go picking Niall Wynne, but we didn't actually get a free last night that I can remember, so that wouldn't have worked out well either.

I would have said that Tom Spain was hard done by not to get a longer run, I felt he was the fall guy for the lack of height elsewhere in the forward line, and personally I think Aaron can do a great job of killing a game late on and his pace could have been well used - he also has a great work rate off the ball. That said, and I'd be the first to have raised an eyebrow at the selection, it was justified by the result.

Deadandgone wrote:Is young carroll not on u 21 or is he too young. I see he is goin to london for aussie trials.

Not too young necessarily, but still minor as well, so even though I think he's an exceptional footballer, he'd still struggle at county under-21.

Abercrombie Fitch wrote:I notice Clara has become such a metropolis that it has been divided into districts. West Clara being the Offaly border according to Sharp Eye and apparently Pascal. Lol

Clara has its own postcode system.
Paschal's mistake is not in putting the Offaly border just West of Clara, the problem is that it goes way too far to the East of Clara.

LS, I think Anton might have pointed a free to make it 5 a piece just before half time, after he got the yellow card for presumably questioning the sending off. Did anyone else think that the referee was very hesitant on Wednesday night? It was a great feeling coming out of Gracefield after witnessing an Offaly adult football Leinster Championship win, God knows its been a while. Hopefully the momentum can be carried up to Belfast and beyond.

Just heard from one of our water carriers against Meath that Kildare are looking for Wednesdays game to be switched to Portlaoise.

fatlad wrote:Just heard from one of our water carriers against Meath that Kildare are looking for Wednesdays game to be switched to Portlaoise.

well kildare should be told to feck off, offaly dont normally get to many home games, gracefield is where it should be . i know kildare will bring a big crowd but to me it sounds like they dont fancy playing in gracefield where the pitch is tighter than portlaoise and the crowd is closer to the action.

Gerry Cooney said on Radio 3 that Anton Sullivan will be the only one of the U21s playing in the league this weekend. Obviously it would be great to give them all a rest and a break, but I suppose that the Seniors need every help they can get too. Here's hoping he is use sensibly, if it is a necessity to play him at all.

Well despite all the rumblings about switching venue its back to Gracefield again. Kind of ironic to have 2 big games in Gracefield either side of the passing of Sean Ryan at the weekend, and he based in Port for most of his days?
Hard to know how the lads will fare tonight, different weather ahead, different challenge. Kildare will bring a lot of intensity and physicality especially around the midfield area. The advantage of having a game under the belt should help Offaly to hit the ground running. also a gameplan will have to involve moving the Kildare midfield around from our kickout and moving the ball quickly throughout the pitch, and avoid being drawn into contact where possible.

Best of luck to the lads and hope that we can grind out a win to bring these lads on another step!