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Changing the no 3 worked and they have their best team now..Great win , delighted for all involved

Well done to team and management. There was a great underage quality to the game, in that each side had their bursts of momentum and young lads made mistakes as you would expect them to. Thought it was lost when their big fella kicked the 2 pointer. Great composure to work the 4th goal. We were possibly a little fortunate with the first 2 goals, but we'll take it.

Getting to the last 4 in Leinster was probably the initial goal for this team and they have now achieved that. I'm sure Kildare will be favourites on Wednesday but this group shouldn't fear anybody now. It's been challenging at times at underage football since 2021 so it would be great to reach a provincial final.

Unbelievable character shown to come back and win that!!!

What a win

Simply we need to get behind these lads like we have the Offaly U20s of the last few years.

A first Leinster final in God knows how long (excluding the COVID 19 Final in 2020)

Let’s bring a huge crowd in a few weeks.

2020 last final pip at the post by meath that evening .

There is something very special about this team. They have shown great resilience and composure over the last two games. It looked like they were gone at half time having conceded 1-7 without reply and with Kildare totally dominant for most of the second quarter.
But they reset brilliantly at the break. It was really engaging to see how they turned the game around, winning the midfield battle and playing some great football in the second half.

Well done to Roger and his team this evening. More twists and turns than a boat in a storm but they got over the line in the end. Special mention to the two Doon lads Jack and Cian.

Louth on Monday week, 7:30 kick off live on TG4 - venue to be confirmed but it’ll have to have lights

Great to be in a Leinster final regardless of what happens and all ireland quarter final as a minimum.

hope to god they don't play it in that graveyard that is navan.

Great win for Offaly. Started really well and then it looked like Kildare were destined to win for most of the rest of the game. But we found answers to their dominance in the last few minutes despite looking like we lost it twice. It was an epic second half including loads of goal chances and great blocks, particularly by Kildare backs in last few minutes, and a fantastic goal line clearance by Offaly in what was going to be a certain goal at the death to win it for Kildare.

Offaly had lots of players that did really really well. Dylan Dunne was a constant threat and looks like a cut above many of them. McNamee had a great start and was brilliant in the last 10 minutes, despite missing a free that could have won it for Offaly. His run jinking Michael Donnellan esque run at the end through the middle of the Kildare defence was worth the fee alone before his pass was just missed for a certain Offaly winner. When Kildare came down and got the two pointer with a kick from about 55m, I thought it was all done, but in fairness to the Offaly GK, you'd have to admire Jack Ryan to step up and kick that 50m free into the wind at the end after missing a couple before that. It was as exciting a finish as you could have asked for and kudos to the Kildare and Offaly players for a fantastic game.

We will have a real shout in the final but we could do with working on beating a packed defence a bit more. Our forward movement was a bit stagnant at times in 2nd half when Kildare had lots of lads back and if we had more movement from inside forwards, then I think we could have hurt them a lot more than we did at times. We were going over and back and sideways too often when at times there was lots of space inside with no movement into the spaces that were very much on - but maybe that is nit picking with a good young team on what was a great win.

Another Leinster final awaits. Well done to all involved....

The usual doom and gloom from Oneshit. In actual fact, Offaly have won on four of their last six visits to Navan at Minor football grade. And all were against Meath.

oneshot wrote: ↑Wed May 07, 2025 10:32 pm hope to god they don't play it in that graveyard that is navan.

Brilliant win. Massive congratulations - again - to Roger and his team. Not for the first time this year they were faced with a real test of character and they came out the right side of it.

Perhaps a few busses might hit the road for the Leinster final. This team deserves a few Ooo-fawl-yahs for themselves.

Well done lads, mcnamee and Dunne for me was our best attacking options, woods was a handful to. Fury was quite but still a threat Maher was excellent in midfield, Duffy caught some great ball down the middle and set up the first goal very well. A v poor night for our center back but he was marking a good player. Kildares 7 and 3 were also good.Our keeper saved he's best till last, it's not he's first pressure kick for offaly this year. Great win for the lads. Well done to Roger and all the lads.

That was some rollercoaster of a game. The last 5 minutes could not recommended for anyone with a heart condition. The ball seemingly bound for the Offaly net before a telescopic Offaly arm diverted it out again.

Offaly found a way though, and the win was deserved. Maybe I'm nuts, but the Kildare salvo of 1-7 unanswered before half time didn't alarm me. Offaly were going to be good enough to respond and Kildare not strong enough to lock down the game.

It's really commendable the way the group has picked up momentum. There are some teams that limp through championships, waiting to be put out of their misery. There are others that you know will build and improve. This was one group that always had plenty of potential.

In the Dublin game, they weren't bad but were caught out for some goals with errors in how they were set up. It wasn't a skill or ability issue, it just meant a bit of homework and practice was needed. The Wicklow game helped form character. Let's see where the next game takes this group.

Well done to all involved!

A final thought for tonight. Today was Offaly's sixth match this year. They are now guaranteed at least two more. Eight matches is absolutely brilliant for development. Like, how many other counties will have that many this year?

2020: minor footballers lost Leinster final by a point against Meath.
2021: U20 footballers won Leinster final by 3 points against Dublin. Won all Ireland against Roscommon.
2022: Minor hurlers won Leinster final by 8 points. No record exists of an All Ireland being played this year.
2023: U20 hurlers won Leinster final by 2 points against Wexford. Lost All Ireland to Cork.
2024: U20 hurlers beat Dublin by 3 points in the Leinster final. Beat Tipp in the All Ireland.
2025: Minor footballers into Leinster final against Louth. Guaranteed an all ireland quarter final.

The other 3 underage competitions were very disappointing for Offaly this year, but the minor footballers have given us a fair reason to be happy after last night.
A Leinster final in either code for every year since 2020 is fair going.