www.uibhfhaili.com

1. Mulrooney
2. Hernon
3. Cleary
4. Coughlan
5. Kenny
6. Leonard
7. Watkins
8. Ryan
9. Mahon
10.Parlon
11.Bergin
12.Horan
13.Egan
14.Molloy
15.Dooley

Looks good on paper.

What do you think yourself, Of?

On paper strongest team we have since 2000.
Went to one training session but was without the senior panel members so its really hard to know how they will play as a team together.
Would have been nice to have Michael Verney because the half back line looks dodgy, but he is still injured.

Kilkenny we know very little about.
I persume they will try hogan on cleary and try and bring him to the corners like they did at senior level. How will Offaly counteract this?

We have 5 seniors in the forward line and they should be capable of registerng a high score.

This is a really hard game to call, usually Offaly might have 4 or 5 lads involved with the seniors but with 10. This means the panel has trained very little together. Whereas Kilkenny have trained together constantly.

Mulrooney needs to target Bergin and Molloy fo puckouts and hope that they can win clean position.

I know the result is very important but i feel what is more important is that the likes of Cathal Parlon, Shane Dooley, Alan Egan etc hurl well, they have been on the county panel for two years now (not dooley) so they should be well capable of performing at this level.

For Offaly hurling we really need to win this game but i think at midfield and our half backline we could be under serious pressure.
This ultimately could be our downfall by 6 points
Hopefully not.

That really is a very decent team. I understand that unknown Kilkenny lads will still be a big threat, but it's still hard to imagine Offaly fielding a better team than this at this level for quite a while.

In terms of players, I would question whether Diarmuid Horan is ready for this yet. I know he's at that age when a real prospect would be holding down a county U-21 place, but he looks like he has a lot of filling out to do yet - I'd be worried that someone like Ronan Maher would just dominate him physically. I'd have leaned towards someone like Eamonn Lee myself in this position.

Now if anyone could help me out in terms of how I can justify a five hour round trip to Kilkenny for an under-21 fixture to the yungwan, that'd be very helpful.....

Research. It's work related . . . match not on TV . . . etc

Lone Shark wrote:Now if anyone could help me out in terms of how I can justify a five hour round trip to Kilkenny for an under-21 fixture to the yungwan, that'd be very helpful.....

Don't say a thing, then on your way down pull over and give her a call to say you got caught at work. You'll be there till midnight or something! This way she'll feel sorry for you and if your questioned just kinda get annoyed about it all!

Is that Christopher Leonard from Kinnity Centre Back? Why isnt Ray Murray in the gap?

isnt ray murray still u-21?

YYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!

1ST win over the Kats since 2000 at any grade?
Great stuff.
Badly badly needed. A crop of young Offaly hurlers without the mental scaring that KK have inflicted on so many good young hurlers in the County over the last number of years.

1-13 to 13

Well done Offaly

just back

What a fantastic result.
If i was wrong with my prediction every time and Offaly keep on winning i will be the happiest man in Offaly.
The u-21 hurlers were superb tonight.
I dont think anyone even themselves or the management knew how they would play tonught.
Throughout the game they completely dominated Kilkenny, and could have won by alot more.
Paul Cleary hurled excellent full back as did Colm Coughlan on Richie Hogan. He held him to one point from play.
I thought Sean Ryan was Offalys man of match and really gave a great display.
Diarmuid Horan and Derek Molloy also stood out in the forwards.
This really was a team effort though and everyone should be very proud of themselves.
I really hope that we can build on this now and go on and win the Leinster title, and also this should give great encouragement to the seniors heading into the qualifiers.

Super result, congrats to all associated.

Oh yes another thing, unbelieveable support, fair play to everyone for making the journey down.

Well done to Offaly - I'm a disappointed but proud Wexford man this evening but am genuiunely delighted to hear that Offaly beat the cats - can only be good for hurling and the province as a whole.

Dublin V's Offaly final - fair play.

We deserved a draw tonight but I hope which ever team wins out in Leinster can win the all Ireland!

Chat on our semi over on Wexfordsupporters.com

Scorers

Diarmuid Horan 0-5 (0-3 frees)
Alan Egan (1-1)
Cathal Parlon (0-2)
Shane Dooley (0-2)
Conor Mahon (0-1)
Brian Leonard (0-1f)
Joe Bergin (0-1)

I agree with Offalys Future on a lot of his post - Sean Ryan was awesome - two little cameos were great -
1. where he rejected the Kilkenny lad over the sideline for Offaly to get the sideline cut
2. blockdown of a Kilkenny shot in the first half

In general Offaly were very composed - we missed a lot of chances but never panicked and stayed calm even when the scoreboard wasn't ticking over.

Dublin in the Leinster Final in Tullamore - they'll be fit, strong and pacey but this is a decent Offaly side so we have a chance.

The encouraging thing is that there's a lot more hurling in some of those boys if they gain some confidence from this victory.

What date is the final fixed for?