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A different challenge for Offaly’s new look hurling team on Sunday. In the previous two matches (against Kilkenny and Cork) the plan would been one of containment. On Sunday, Offaly need to be creative.

This will, as ever, be a tricky tie. Down will target the Offaly match as their one and only chance of a win in the group stages which is vital to any survival hopes they have. Down know they have a good record against the Faithful and will not take the field in any awe of an inexperienced Offaly side.

Offaly matches against teams such as Down often take a familiar trend with four distinct quarters to the match. Offaly will settle with some early scores and build up a decent lead by the end of the first quarter. Maybe lead something like 6 – 2. They will then take the foot off the gas and the opposition grow in stature with a few scores. Half time will come with Offaly leading something like 9 – 6 or 9 – 7. Offaly, stung into action, will dominate the third quarter and extend their lead again. Offaly again relax, but the opposition will strike in the last quarter with a run of a few scores to get back to within touching distance. Sometimes they have enough momentum to press on for the win. Some times Offaly hold out. I feel Offaly mustn’t take the foot off the gas at any stage on Sunday. The key is a dominant halfback line who will need to claim the Down puckout, sending it back down-field, spreading it out wide to enable their forwards make space for themselves.

Obviously, a defeat on Sunday dooms Offaly to competing in division 2 in 2008.


HEAD TO HEAD.

Previous league meetings: 8. Each has won 4 of the 8.
Previous league meetings at Offaly venues: 3. Down have won 2 and Offaly 1.

Offaly:
Biggest score:- 3-13 (31/3/91, playoff match in Drogheda)
Biggest winning margin:- 9 points, winning the above match 3-13 to 2-7.

Down:
Biggest score:- 2-17 (19/10/91, in Birr)
Biggest winning margin:- 6 points, 4-7 to 2-7 at Ballycran 25/10/92.

Last Year: Offaly 1-18 Down 1-14 at Ballycran 26/2/06.

Last meeting at Offaly venue: Down 2-17 Offaly 2-12 at Birr on 19/10/91.

Brilliant work sir,
Any word on a team?

Plain of the Herbs wrote:Last meeting at Offaly venue: Down 2-17 Offaly 2-12 at Birr on 19/10/91.

Don't forgot the Walsh Cup 2 years ago when Offaly beat Down at "home" on Carrig and Riverstown's pitch.

According to today's Indo the two injured players ruled out of the Cork match will be back i.e. Kevin Brady and David Franks.

No excuses lads, we've got to put Down to the sword and hockey them out of site on Sunday. Scoring difference will play a big part at the end of this league, and with the Ulster county very brittle after their hammering from Clare, we surely will go for the jugular and do the business with quite a bit to spare, especially when the other counties in our division will have no mercy in putting the northern county out of their misery.
I was in Cork on Sunday week last and our young team put on a very spirited performance against a very strong rebel side, but that performance must be followed up with a thumping win against a very limited Down team on Sunday.

Need to come out fast and keep scoring like you can put it in the bank (which we'll be glad we did if scoring differentials come into play at the end).

If we are lucky enough to settle early and get the upper hand I hope our boys are encouraged to pour it on relentlessly. God knows there will be no mercy for us from any of our opponents.

I heard Micheál O'Muircheartaigh on the radio this morning. He described this weekend's Hurling fixtures (and I'm paraphrasing here) as the best schedule of games possible, how it was great to have the top 8 teams playing each other and what a pity that they are not all in a single Division 1, and one of the games should have been played under the Croke Park floodlights.

Gee Micheál, I'm sorry that you have to put up with "upstarts" like Down, Antrim, Dublin and ourselves spoiling your weekends action. Better to concentrate on those fine traditional powerbases, let them play among themselves and keep the riff-raff in the background. Sure we dont really play proper hurling at all.

Very disappointed to hear him think like this.

Harsh reality stings for Down as Offaly use

Offaly 4-18
Down 1-11

NHL Division 1A

A FERRY crossing of Strangford Lough at dawn, a long coach journey to Birr, a 16-point defeat that could have been much more severe, followed by a tiring return back home - welcome to the harsh realities of life for Down hurlers.

Gerard Coulter's squad ooze pride and determination but they're out of their depth in Division One and are almost certainly on their way to the less pressurised surrounds of Division Two in next season's re-structured Allianz Hurling League.

Down grafted just as hard as Offaly in St Brendan's Park yesterday but had a whole lot less to show for their efforts due to the skill differential.

Special

It wasn't that Offaly delivered anything particularly special but they had so many natural advantages that a win by a point a man was the very least they might have expected. They surpassed that target by a single point but it really should have been a whole lot more as they shot 18 wides, 12 of which were recorded as they powered forward with the aid of a strong wind in the second half.

Down goalkeeper Graham Clarke and full-backs, Liam Clarke and Stephen Murray, defended doggedly but couldn't contend with the sheer weight and volume of numbers as Offaly outscored the visitors by 1-12 to 0-4 in the second half.

Offaly won the first half by 3-6 to 1-7, having set the agenda in the fifth minute when Joe Bergin whipped in a fine goal. He added another from a free in the second half while full-forward Derek Molloy hit the net twice in a 90-second burst in the second quarter.

Double strike

In fairness to Down, they battled bravely and responded to Offaly's early burst with a goal from Emmett Trainor and some well-taken points to square it at 1-4 each after 18 minutes.

Molloy's double strike shortly afterwards settled Offaly into a comfortable rhythm which they maintained all the way to the finish. However, they were let down by their shooting, some of which was extremely poor, even allowing for the difficult conditions.

Down midfielders, Brendan McGourty and Andy Savage, who scored 0-6 from play between them, and Gareth Johnson did their best to disrupt Offaly but it was a lost cause against Offaly's mixture of young guns and experienced officers like Brian Carroll and Gary Hanniffy.

Offaly's full-forward trio of Carroll, Molloy and Bergin scored 4-10 between them while wing-forwards, Gary Hanniffy and Eddie Bevans each scored 0-3, leaving captain, Rory Hanniffy, who was replaced at the three-quarter mark, as the only attacker not to find the target.

Further back, the right side of the defence, Conor Hernon and Cathal Horan, majored in stability while full-back Paul Cleary also hurled well.

Still, as Offaly manager John McIntyre acknowledged afterwards, this was simply a small step forward for a new-look team.

Wexford await them next Sunday week and will offer a totally different challenge than a Down team that has already conceded 7-43 in two games.

Engagements

And it's unlikely to get any better for Down who host Cork on Sunday week prior to finishing their campaign with two long-distance engagements in Waterford and Wexford.

It would be easy for them to become disheartened but such is their sense of spirit and passion for hurling that, however mountainous the odds against them, they never blink.

However, thy have such a small club base that they really can't hope to match the top sides, although they deserved great credit for having forced their way into the top 12.

And Offaly? They're very much in transition stage and it will be quite some time before it becomes clear if they are headed in a direction which will take them back into the orbit occupied by the super elite.

For now though, they will settle for having picked up their first League points of the new season.

SCORERS - Offaly: J Bergin 2-5 (1-4f); D Molloy 2-0; B Carroll 0-5; G Hanniffy, E Bevans 0-3 each; B Teehan, B Murphy 0-1 each. Down: G Johnson 0-5 (4f); B McGourty 0-4; E Trainor 1-0; A Savage 0-2.

OFFALY - S O'Connor; C Hernon, P Cleary, M Verney; C Horan, K Brady, D Kenny; B Teehan, D Hoctor; E Bevans, R Hanniffy, G Hanniffy; B Carroll, D Molloy, J Bergin. Subs: B Murphy for Hoctor (49), A Egan for R Hanniffy (53), C Parlon for Egan (69).

DOWN - G Clarke; L Clarke, S Murray, F Conway; G Clarke, P Hughes, M Ennis; A Savage, B McGourty; E McGuinness, E Trainor, D Flynn; E Clarke, G Johnson, M Coulter. Subs: S Ennis for McGuinness (27), P Coulter for M Coulter (27), A Dynes for Flynn (53), C Sloan for E Clarke (59), K Courtney for L Clarke (69).

REF - F Smith (Meath).

Martin Breheny

http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/ ... e_id=15332

A thoroughly forgettable match. I never thought hurling could be so boring.

Every team in the country has one day a year where they hit about twenty wides. Last year it was on the big day against Wexford. I suppose an NHL match against Down gets that day out of the way.

Shane O’Connor looked wobbly under the dropping ball – again. As the woman on Killinaskully says “I am not in the habit of repeating myself” but the long wind assisted puckouts don’t work. He never found Gary Hanniffy with a single puckout all day.

I thought Molloy and Bergin dovetailed well up front. Bevans didn’t look the part. Took the wrong option too often.

The pitch was in superb condition considering the rain that fell Sunday morning.

‘Magic’ Johnston must be the biggest ‘mé féiner’ in Ulster hurling. Definitely from the Gary Kirby school of centre half forward play and not the John Troy one. Still good to see a few Down hurlers from outside their 'big 3' clubs.

Player of the match; - Anyone who travelled from the Ards to support their team.

Job done. Wexford next. Nothing more needs to be said on this, I think.

Despite Aer Lingus' best attempts to feck me up by taking off 90 minutes late, I managed to pull some Marcus Gronholm style maneouvres between Shannon and Birr to make this one - and certainly there were times when it felt like it wasn't worth it.

It's hard to be too critical of things like wides in a game like this when it was always going to be won - players deserve to be judged on games where it matters, but having said all that .....

(1) Shane O'Connor didn't convince at all - I thought banging the puckouts straight to the full forward line actually made sense since Molloy and Bergin had a decent size advantage up there. Still, his dealing with didgy balls in towards him was not encouraging.

(2) Full back line was very solid - with Franks and O'Meara still available to come back in we have plenty of options here. Particularly impressed with Hernon.

(3) Half back line - Kenny can field, but sometimes needs to get the ball away quicker, while Horan probably needed more of a cut to the game to really get his teeth into it. I've had it with Kevin Brady though - not good enough for the full back line, struggled yesterday, never caught one high ball - that jersey has to be Rory's again for the summer.

(4) Midfield was dominated by the Down pairing - Andy Savage hurled a huge amount of ball, while Brendan McGourty got forward to score four points from play - not a good day at the office for our pair. Teehan chipped in with a couple of scores himself, but I think it would have made sense to drop Hanniffy back here for the first half to field some puckouts. Not sure what the best option here is, but they've got to mark better and hurl more ball.

(5) Half forward line got on the ball a lot but was also responsible for about 10 or 11 of the 18 wides - Bevans by himself had six. His running was impressive, but I'd say this line needs a revamp yet.

(6) Bergin was good, couldn't understand the Down lads not marking him tighter, while Carroll was off his game but he's entitled to more time to get back into things. Molloy took one goal really well, his other was scrappy, and as a ball winner he has a lot to contribute. Then by times he looked like a footballer trying to use a hurl. Deserves more chances against better opposition, and that'll come down in Wexford. Scoring goals against poor backs can often be deceptive - we all remember Joe Brady getting three goals a game in the league a few years ago.

O'Connor is shaky. Full back line is good. Half back line is ok but Brady is too slow. Midfield is just alright. Bevans is too selfish. Rory is off his game, but we still need him up front. Full forward line wasn't too bad. Some howler by Joe at the end. What's the story with Egan? Top scorer for UL during the week. Benny Murphy's confidence seems to be shot to sh1t. Wexford beating Clare had f*cked the group up. We need to beat both of them now (or win 2 of 3) to be sure of staying up.