Offaly u20 Footballers 2025

[ah lethimoutwithit]

I wont lump in on players or management as it is an amateur sport.

However, criticism is warranted based on last weeks outing. Keeping in mind that Westmeath wont win the Leinster i felt that the Offaly team as prepared and selected were poorly served.

There are things that you can do tactically that will prevent a team being as defensively exposed as this Offaly team was last week. I didn't see any evidence of that. The level of tight defensive tackling from Offaly was just not present. Indeed there was a level of passiveness that is always concerning particularly in a championship match. These are all basic fundamentals that can be worked on and implemented quite easily.

Particularly unfathomable considering this outfit were holding 'trials' in November and started training in December.

Beggars the question what they were working on.

What part of won't lump in areyou talking about?
My only to add is that this group of players should be better than this, and I would add that the management may not have been overly keen to take on the role in the first instance. But there is a challenge in enticing people into these roles in general. Not lucrative and highly demanding. Yes can be an important stepping stone for young upcoming managers, but not a queue of them in Offaly.
Not helped by the fact that they are facing the main contenders in the province over next 2 weeks now.

As I said, players need to note that they can only offer their honest committment over the next 2 games and see where that can take them.

[Anonymous1]

There are four changes to the starting team and eight or more positional changes, a sign that this management team has no clue about their team. Wednesday might be a long night. I hope I'm wrong.

That sounds like a last resort. Rip up the script and hope for the best.

[jimbob17]

Between 2 and 5 from any u20 team will play some senior county. An exceptional crop might see 5 become established, long-term senior players. In any given year, if you get one or two good enough to be an effective senior, the group will have done its job. There are a few lads I know there, that if they can commit and stick the path, they'll be OK.
Ye can't be winning All-Irelands every year, leave the odd one for us poor folk!!

7 from the 2021 U20’s have consistently started this year.

Pearson, Egan x2, Furlong, Flynn, O’Neill and Bryant

Yea but Egan, Furlong and O'Neil were brought into that u20 set up very late before 1st rnd after their u18 minor team lost Leinster Final. They would not have been let go in if they'd beaten Meath in minor and in all likelihood, wouldn't have won u20s without them 3 lads.

It's often said about these 7 but they are pulled from 3 yrs of age gap - ie minor groups of 2018, 2019 and 2020.

You could argue the minors of 2014, 2015 and 2016 minor teams have given just as much to current senior team in Paddy Dunican, Ruairi McNamee, David Dempsey, Jack McEvoy, Kyle Higgins, Jordan Hayes, Dylan Hyland, Shane Tierney, Aaron Leavy and possibly SOT Greene and Jack O'Brien there on panel also and might be missing one or more - this is not including Cian Farrell or Cian Johnson, Colm Doyle, Cathal Mangan, Chillie Donnelly and few more who all came off those years and went on to play senior afterwards.

[Anonymous1]

Between 2 and 5 from any u20 team will play some senior county. An exceptional crop might see 5 become established, long-term senior players. In any given year, if you get one or two good enough to be an effective senior, the group will have done its job. There are a few lads I know there, that if they can commit and stick the path, they'll be OK.
Ye can't be winning All-Irelands every year, leave the odd one for us poor folk!!

7 from the 2021 U20’s have consistently started this year.

Pearson, Egan x2, Furlong, Flynn, O’Neill and Bryant

Yea but Egan, Furlong and O'Neil were brought into that u20 set up very late before 1st rnd after their u18 minor team lost Leinster Final. They would not have been let go in if they'd beaten Meath in minor and in all likelihood, wouldn't have won u20s without them 3 lads.

It's often said about these 7 but they are pulled from 3 yrs of age gap - ie minor groups of 2018, 2019 and 2020.

You could argue the minors of 2014, 2015 and 2016 minor teams have given just as much to current senior team in Paddy Dunican, Ruairi McNamee, David Dempsey, Jack McEvoy, Kyle Higgins, Jordan Hayes, Dylan Hyland, Shane Tierney, Aaron Leavy and possibly SOT Greene and Jack O'Brien there on panel also and might be missing one or more - this is not including Cian Farrell or Cian Johnson, Colm Doyle, Cathal Mangan, Chillie Donnelly and few more who all came off those years and went on to play senior afterwards.

Yeah but not all of those you’ve listed have been consistent starters.

If we’re including subs then there are 5 more of the 2021 U20’s who were on yesterday’s bench and I’m sure Kieran Dolan would’ve been there too only for that horrific injury a couple of years back.

The reality is Offaly have managed to get an unusually high % of those players through to the senior ranks.

I read in the programme that of the 40+ Kildare players that played in their 2018 and 2023 All Ireland wins - only 7 are on the senior panel.

[Anonymous1]

Team named.

Only 4 players retain the same shirt number as last week.

[jimbob17]

7 from the 2021 U20’s have consistently started this year.

Pearson, Egan x2, Furlong, Flynn, O’Neill and Bryant

Yea but Egan, Furlong and O'Neil were brought into that u20 set up very late before 1st rnd after their u18 minor team lost Leinster Final. They would not have been let go in if they'd beaten Meath in minor and in all likelihood, wouldn't have won u20s without them 3 lads.

It's often said about these 7 but they are pulled from 3 yrs of age gap - ie minor groups of 2018, 2019 and 2020.

You could argue the minors of 2014, 2015 and 2016 minor teams have given just as much to current senior team in Paddy Dunican, Ruairi McNamee, David Dempsey, Jack McEvoy, Kyle Higgins, Jordan Hayes, Dylan Hyland, Shane Tierney, Aaron Leavy and possibly SOT Greene and Jack O'Brien there on panel also and might be missing one or more - this is not including Cian Farrell or Cian Johnson, Colm Doyle, Cathal Mangan, Chillie Donnelly and few more who all came off those years and went on to play senior afterwards. One of the best underage players then was Micheal Mooney from Durrow who I wouldve thought wouldve gone on to play senior but never made it through.

Yeah but not all of those you’ve listed have been consistent starters.

If we’re including subs then there are 5 more of the 2021 U20’s who were on yesterday’s bench and I’m sure Kieran Dolan would’ve been there too only for that horrific injury a couple of years back.

The reality is Offaly have managed to get an unusually high % of those players through to the senior ranks.

I read in the programme that of the 40+ Kildare players that played in their 2018 and 2023 All Ireland wins - only 7 are on the senior panel.

Fair enough but off that list I gave, 8 of them have been consistent starters either this year or last year. McNamee and Dempsey were consistent starters last number of years. This is not a competition between these groups but credit where it is due i'd feel. Without Hayes, Hyland and Dunican leading as they did in earlier games, we wouldnt have got promotion in my opinion. Other lads not named above that wouldve been part of those 2014-16 groups would include likes of Jamie Evans, Jason Dempsey, Clint Horan, PJ Daly and Jack Walsh who all also played senior in NFL in addition to those 17 players I listed above. That is a fair chunk of a return with 21 in total and I may be missing some too....

I still think Jamie Evans should be on the current senior squad and I think he has lot more to offer than a couple of the subs. Liam Kearns thought enough of him to start him in championship in his first year back after he was 19 or 20 and went travelling and Kearns knew a thing or two about football to be fair. They were a strong group that did well at underage and minor and many of whom got to an U21 Leinster final only to lose out to a stacked Dublin team that contributed to one of the best senior teams of all time and at U21 included Brian Howard, Eoin Murchan, Con O Callaghan, Sean Bugler, Evan Comerford, Cian Murphy and Collie Basquel among others I am sure - all of whom have won All Irelands at senior level on the field of play. Aaron Byrne among others were also there and went on to win All Irelands as subs on those All Ireland senior winning teams.

They'd all be 25-28 now and some would've got more chances at senior but for that exceptional younger crop coming through. There is a train of thought and opinion out there that it is all of those u20 lads coming through that is the reason for the recent success. Yes, they played huge part and are currently doing the business which is great but I think some of the older lads deserve a bit of credit too to be fair.


As for this years team, that is a fair amount of turnover from last week. Any idea on what the team is?

[Anonymous1]

Yea but Egan, Furlong and O'Neil were brought into that u20 set up very late before 1st rnd after their u18 minor team lost Leinster Final. They would not have been let go in if they'd beaten Meath in minor and in all likelihood, wouldn't have won u20s without them 3 lads.

It's often said about these 7 but they are pulled from 3 yrs of age gap - ie minor groups of 2018, 2019 and 2020.

You could argue the minors of 2014, 2015 and 2016 minor teams have given just as much to current senior team in Paddy Dunican, Ruairi McNamee, David Dempsey, Jack McEvoy, Kyle Higgins, Jordan Hayes, Dylan Hyland, Shane Tierney, Aaron Leavy and possibly SOT Greene and Jack O'Brien there on panel also and might be missing one or more - this is not including Cian Farrell or Cian Johnson, Colm Doyle, Cathal Mangan, Chillie Donnelly and few more who all came off those years and went on to play senior afterwards. One of the best underage players then was Micheal Mooney from Durrow who I wouldve thought wouldve gone on to play senior but never made it through.

Yeah but not all of those you’ve listed have been consistent starters.

If we’re including subs then there are 5 more of the 2021 U20’s who were on yesterday’s bench and I’m sure Kieran Dolan would’ve been there too only for that horrific injury a couple of years back.

The reality is Offaly have managed to get an unusually high % of those players through to the senior ranks.

I read in the programme that of the 40+ Kildare players that played in their 2018 and 2023 All Ireland wins - only 7 are on the senior panel.

Fair enough but off that list I gave, 8 of them have been consistent starters either this year or last year. McNamee and Dempsey were consistent starters last number of years. This is not a competition between these groups but credit where it is due i'd feel. Without Hayes, Hyland and Dunican leading as they did in earlier games, we wouldnt have got promotion in my opinion. Other lads not named above that wouldve been part of those 2014-16 groups would include likes of Jamie Evans, Jason Dempsey, Clint Horan, PJ Daly and Jack Walsh who all also played senior in NFL in addition to those 17 players I listed above. That is a fair chunk of a return with 21 in total and I may be missing some too....

I still think Jamie Evans should be on the current senior squad and I think he has lot more to offer than a couple of the subs. Liam Kearns thought enough of him to start him in championship in his first year back after he was 19 or 20 and went travelling and Kearns knew a thing or two about football to be fair. They were a strong group that did well at underage and minor and many of whom got to an U21 Leinster final only to lose out to a stacked Dublin team that contributed to one of the best senior teams of all time and at U21 included Brian Howard, Eoin Murchan, Con O Callaghan, Sean Bugler, Evan Comerford, Cian Murphy and Collie Basquel among others I am sure - all of whom have won All Irelands at senior level on the field of play. Aaron Byrne among others were also there and went on to win All Irelands as subs on those All Ireland senior winning teams.

They'd all be 25-28 now and some would've got more chances at senior but for that exceptional younger crop coming through. There is a train of thought and opinion out there that it is all of those u20 lads coming through that is the reason for the recent success. Yes, they played huge part and are currently doing the business which is great but I think some of the older lads deserve a bit of credit too to be fair.


As for this years team, that is a fair amount of turnover from last week. Any idea on what the team is?

Yeah there’s no doubt there are a couple of players in Offaly who are better than what we currently have on the bench but for whatever reason be it injury, travel, work etc it hasn’t worked out.

One would presume that every able bodied player in the county will be chomping at the bit to join up with this panel come November.

Cian Farrell for example was at the game yesterday as a spectator but we all know he’s good enough to be part of the panel. It’s lads like him we’ll need next year if we’re going to stay up because although we have 3 or 4 out injured - we could just as easily have 7 or 8 injured and then we’d be fairly scraping the barrel.

Team is here.

[ruletheroost]

Team named.

Only 4 players retain the same shirt number as last week.

Tells its own story... what have they been doing since December??

[Claffey97]

That's some ruthless reshuffling. Not sure if any of them changes are injury related

Gone for a bit of brute force presence in the forward line

[Anonymous1]

More encouraging performance tonight. Battled hard throughout and can’t fault the effort but unfortunately we’re out after that result.

One wonders what might have happened last Wednesday night if tonight’s team had started.

[ruletheroost]

Brave effort tonight. Dublin never looked in trouble though and could have scored another 3 or 4 goals.
1 win in 10 games for them. It’s been a tough year thus far.

[Lone Shark]

Officially knocked out of the championship, but that's an honourable defeat, they went down swinging. Dara Bates was excellent, Jack Daly had some huge plays, David O'Rourke is a proper captain and Melia is a great prospect, while there were plenty more that held their own, even if they didn't make waves. Get two or three of those to feed through to the county senior panel, along with Cillian Bourke obviously, and we're not doing too bad.

That being said, Dublin could have scored much more. It's not just the two saves that Melia made, it was the ease with which they cut through Offaly, particularly Paddy Kelly (11) and Luke O'Boyle (13). Charlie McMorrow is obviously a class act and I liked Senan Ryan as a midfielder as well, he looked very classy.

But in contrast with what was a very poor showing last week, they'll feel a lot better about themselves and now can take a free hit at Meath with no pressure, just to round out what was definitely a campaign that I'd say was tough going for all involved.

[ruletheroost]

For me Luke O Boyle looks like an outstanding prospect. His pace and the ease at which he went by players was so impressive. Charlie McMorrow also oozed class but we’d seen that with Cuala all year anyway.

[del]

Decent showing last night . The players gave it their all to be fair to them . Felt sorry for young Colgan played out of position on Dublins best player
Dara Bates was excellent Jake Maher after a poor start kicking the ball away for there first goal played decent after. We were short in a few positions which meant haven to move lads around into positions they aren’t familiar with
David ORourke tried hard at midfield but defo not his best position but is a good prospect
Jack Maher was the first sub brought on in the last 2 games and was defo worthy of a start here had a decent second half
Conor Melia is an excellent prospect in goals too.
The seniors could get 2/3 more lads from this crop of 20s along with Cillian Bourke which isn’t bad.
Overall I don’t think anybody expected much from this group but at least the restored some proud last night and gave it a good rattle .

[Doon Exile]

Fair play to Offaly last night for a good battling performance in which they never gave up. Overall Dublin were a step above and had a very strong spine to the team. Their overall strength and conditioning was outstanding and plenty of pace and skill to match. McMorrow, paddy kelly and O’Boyle were particularly impressive. Their overall ability to attack from full back line to full forward line and score was outstanding.

Some strong Offaly performances too in Dara Bates in particular with David O’Rourke, Jake Maher and especially Cillian Foran when he came on. Melia made a few great saves too.