After all the talk of "black weekends" and all that, let's not forget that it did at least start fairly well, albeit in probably the lowest profile game of the whole lot.
Being realistic I don't expect that these lads will make a Leinster Final, but all the same they did bounce back fairly well from a fairly traumatic first day out in the Leinster championship, and they played some nice football while they were about it. 1-14 is a very respectable tally, and if they got a nice draw, maybe getting Louth or Westmeath, they have every chance of getting another few games out of it at least. Having said that I expected more from Kildare. Of their starting six forwards, I'm pretty sure they got one point from play, and all four wing/corner players didn't offer much by way of a threat. Everything went though Gareth Duffy at full forward, and though their centre forward was fantastic with the frees (barring one miss at the end when there was a lot of pressure, he pretty much hit everything, and that was taking them off the ground - very impressive) they never looked that creative.
The Offaly team that lined out was:
1 Ian Duffy (Broughan's) Was aiming for Colin Egan with every kickout and put them on target, made a couple of good saves and couldn't have done anything about the Kildare goal - all in all a solid day.
2 Declan Murphy (Rhode) Wasn't called on very much, his direct marker wasn't looked for much, but part of that is obviously down to Murphy marking well.
3 Daniel Hayles (Gracefield) He definitely had the toughest job out there, marking Gareth Duffy. Duffy got out in front of him a lot, but generally he didn't let him inside, and he managed to intercept a few. You couldn't say he was on top, but you couldn't say he was destroyed either.
4 Sean Pender (Edenderry) Again he'll have bigger assignments than he was offered here, but his covering was good, he swept up a lot of broken ball and generally looked on top. Played a good game.
5 David Brady (Edenderry) Had a fairly quiet match. Didn't really offer anything going forward, but was always on hand to help out his full back line. Didn't stand out too much either way.
6 Brian Geraghty (Ballinamere/Durrow) Much more comfortable at centre back than full back. Gave away a couple of sloppy frees, but largely speaking he was quite imposing and held the defence well.
7 Liam Brennan (St. Vincent's) Very quiet game, his man got on the ball a bit but again never got inside him. A more attacking player, it was a bit disappointing that he didn't get more breaks.
8 Colin Egan (Ferbane/Belmont) Played a very good game. He was the target for every kickout, and held his own despite the fact that Kildare often doubled up on him. Was the best fielder out there, scored a fine point to settle things in the first half after the team made a ropey start, and generally distributed the ball well.
9 Ger Dunne (Edenderry) The Ballyfore lad surprised me. I really didn't expect this selection to work out, but he worked hard and got on the ball a lot. He tackled like a corner forward (i.e. not very well) but his distribution was good, he chased breaking ball down hard, and he scored a cracking goal. Whether or not that's an argument for leaving him in midfield is another matter but it was a great finish.
10 Mark Mangan (St. Vincent's) My man of the match. Showed out in front well, took on his man with real pace, was aggressive, and generally took the game to Kildare. Scored a couple of good points as well. Seeing as he has another year at minor, he'd be the pick of the crop regarding future prospects. Just out of curiosity, anyone knpow which of the St. Vincent's clubs he is? Whichever club it is has a handy young lad coming up the line.
11 Daniel Currams (Kilcormac/Killoughey) Now is not the time to get into the politics of him being brought back in, or his tendency to maybe let teams down. What is clear is that he is a serious threat. He tends to run at backs whether or not it's the right thing to do, but he's hard to mark and his finishing is classy. Adds a lot to the team.
12 Brian Kelly (Tubber) When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. You couldn't say the man has huge range to his game, but once again he offers a good pace threat from the half forward line. It's arguable whether or not he has moved on as a player from two years ago, but he's worth his place. Scored two points, from I'd say about a cumulative total of ten yards out. Did the right thing with both though, in fairness.
13 Rory Allen (Gracefield) He got an early yellow card, and this curtailed him in a big way. Didn't really get settled into the game at all, and got taken off in the first half when he was lucky enough not to get a red.
14 Noel Browne (Ballycumber) He's a big physical threat, and with an entire half forward line of runners around him, that does offer a good balance. Didn't really win much in around the full forward slot, offered a bit more when he was withdrawn to midfield.
15 Nigel Dunne (Shamrocks) Didn't live up to his billing as the star act of the team, but he's well able to kick a score all the same.
20 James Coffey (Rhode) Played a significant role since he came on early, and by God he is tigerish. In fact the watching Fullback, a former member of this panel before the cull in February, remarked to watch out for the trailing elbow, and sure enough he laid out a few lads and got away with it. Might need to curtail that side of his game, but he was just what the doctor ordered for this team - took a good point as well.
The numbers were all over the shop, so I don't know who a lot of the other subs were that were used. I know that Jamie Hayes (Vincent's) and John Maloney (Tullamore) were also used, but they didn't really get much of a chance to make a mark.
Good win for the minors over Kildare
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Lone Shark
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