Offaly vs Tipperary

[Offalys Future]

The Tipperary Senior Hurling panel to play Offaly on Sunday at 2:30pm in Semple Stadium has been announced. Killenaule duo Joe Ceaser and Pat Kerwick will make their National League debuts on a team which shows 3 changes from the side which won the recent Waterford Crystal Cup Final. Conor O’Mahony and Pat Kerwick who missed that final through illness return while Shane Maher lines out at midfield in place of the injured Shane McGrath. Conor O’Brien and Seamus Butler drop to the bench.

TIPPERARY (SH vs. Offaly) - Brendan Cummins (Ballybacon-Grange); Eamonn Buckley (Drom & Inch), Declan Fanning (Killenaule), Paul Curran (Mullinahone); Eamon Corcoran (JK Brackens), Conor O’Mahony (Newport), Benny Dunne (Toomevara); Joe Ceaser (Killenaule), Shane Maher (Burgess); Pat Kerwick (Killenaule), Ryan O’Dwyer (Cashel King Cormacs), John O’Brien (Toomevara), Eoin Kelly (Mullinahone), Lar Corbett (Thurles Sarsfields), Pa Bourke (Thurles Sarsfields)

I certainly wouldnt be afraid of that team. Full back line lacks pace. Good half back line. Average Midfield. Poor half forward line.

Full Forward line has Kelly which franks has got the better of him on more than one occasion and i expect him to handle kelly again on Sunday. Pa Bourke is poor and so is John O Brien. The problem Offaly face is that kelly and corbett will interchange. so franks follows kelly into full and then corbett is left with Kevin Brady on the wing which he will clean off.
I fear for Brady at Full. He hasnt done bad the last few years at Wing back so why change him. If brady stays full and corbett goes to corner on franks then brady will give away free after free on Kelly.
I hope though the management hurl franks on kelly and not wait for 15 minutes like last years management did in thurles.
This i feel is where the game will be won or lost. Tipp have relied on Kelly so often for scores and apart from Corbett on the team announced they will struggle to get scores. If Franks can hold him it will give Offaly a great opportunity and hopefully the rest of the team can then produce the goods.

This is a great opportunity for Offaly to get the league campaign off to a win. Offaly defenders in the past struggled against tipps big agressive forwards i.e John Carroll, Michael Webster etc. Apart from Kelly and Corbett very few of those 6 will be on the tipp championship team.

I hope joe picks more or less the same team that played against Antrim. I hope he has some sort of game plan that will exploit their slowness in their full back line and with the open spaces of semple stadium i expect our forwards to do well.

Its vital that whoever is picked midfield that they hurl well and stop tipp from getting good ball into their full forward line. I would hurl mahon because he has a serious engine on him and if he can get onto the ball semple stadium would suit him with loads of space. Its up to our forwards then to support him and create chances. Teehan could play more defensively then and support the backs.

Will be alot closer than people think Offaly could win this game if the players respond positively to last weekends defeat and dooley has his homework done. Free taking will be very important on Sunday so i hope shane dooley does well as we all know Eoin Kelly wont miss much!

Odds 9/2 Offaly win
10/11 Offaly + 7

Definetely worth a bet.

[Hyper]

Boyles are going 13/2 Offaly and 6/5 +7

[Lone Shark]

Hard to know what to make of that. We seemed competitive enough the whole way through, hanging in there, and then we went from losing by two (0-16 to 2-8) to losing by seventeen very fast - what the hell?

I wasn't there due to work, so any reports would be welcome....

[signinlate]

Wasn't able to go to Thurles but it sounded like a repeat of the pattern of last years leinster SF against Kilkenny ie competitive for fifty minutes concede a goal and finish up losing by a big margin.
Did David Kenny and Conor Hernon play well? Gerry Russell credited them with having great games, it would be great if they were about to step up a level.

[Efan]

Went to Thurles. My thoughts:

We started well and were competitive through most of the first 2/3’s of the game. 20 min into the second half we were 3 points behind, Tipp scored a point and a goal then it was floodgates time. We were outscored 2-9 to 0-0 in the last ¼ of the game.

Thought our full back line played well in the circumstances as they were having to hurl a lot of ball. Half back line were ok midfield were competitive for 2/3’s of the game but up front we struggles (especially under the dropping ball) for a lot of the game. The main reason the floodgates opened was that the intensity dropped, we were unable to hold the ball up at all in the final third of the field and eventually it all became inevitable given the possession Tipp had. When the intensity was up and we were going blow to blow we were able to rattle them. For us to make progress we need to be able to produce 70 mins of that type of furling.

Things I took from the game:
1) I don’t think Joe Bergin is a 6. I thought his positional sense was not good when Tipp attacked up the middle. We also missed his free taking in the forwards. I still think he has the ability to make it as a top class full forward if he can be given the development time (I’m talking seasons) to grow into the role. We do not have a player of his raw ability in the wings. I am yet to be convinced that there is a better 6 in Offaly than Rory Hanniffy.
2) Shane Dooley did not show the percentages from his free taking to suggest he is the right person to take that on in the pressure cooker of Championship.
3) Kenny at midfield looks like he has good potential. He got a belt in the second half (from Ger Oakley ironically enough) and it certainly slowed him down.
3) Kevin Brady played well at full back in close when Lar Corbett drifted he was not as assured.
4) Hernon was excellent and was my Offaly MOTM.
5) Derek Molloy started great got beaten to a few balls slowly got frustrated and faded out (although he was not getting as much quality possession). He was the most game forward when he was not in possession to tackle and harry. Over time teams will realize that he can be wound up and this will continue to be an issue for him if he responds. Refs will also start to watch him.
6) We need some more strong ball winning half forwards.

I stand by my thoughts that 2 wins in the league will represent a good return without the Birr contingent as we do not have dept in our panel to loose that many starting players.

[Over The Black Spot]

It’s early days but I thought it was an awful bad performance. We got two early goals against the run of play and they kept us in the game when we weren’t really getting a puck. While I hate to criticise players considering the enormous effort they put in, here’s my opinions on the performances.

Shane O’Connor – could do nothing about the goals. Needs to look for others bar his club mates with his puck outs though!!
Conor Hernon, Kevin Brady, David Franks – lumped all three together as they shared the burden of the extreme pressure coming their way. The ball seemed to come back almost before they had it cleared. They succumbed to the pressure late on but it had to happen, couldn’t blame any of them for the manner of the score line.
David Kenny – hurled very well. Competed physically on the ground and in the air and tried to drive on with the ball when he got a chance. He was possibly MOTM from an Offaly point of view along with Hernon.
Joe Bergin – couldn’t have had a worse day. He was cleaned out physically by Ryan O’Dwyer. The ball rolled between his legs a couple of times aswell and he could just do nothing right on the day. Needs to impose himself in the air or he’ll get left behind.
Diarmuid Horan – had a difficult outing but never dropped the head and will know an awful lot more about inter-county this morning than he did yesterday morning.
James Rigney, Conor Mahon – battled hard and possibly broke even over the hour. The striking and decision making of the two needs improving but promising signs at least. Rigney struck a very good point early in the second half.
Brian Carroll – the enigma rolls on. As accurate as Robin Hood but about as reliable as Geordan Murphy. He can do it all when he wants but those occasions can be counted on one hand.
Ger Oakley – never gives up but ???? His sole contribution was to run into David Kenny. He tries and tries and tries but surely we need more class. Will never be faulted for effort though.
Shane Dooley – my mother always says “say nothing at all if you can’t say something good”. Well, sorry ma but I’m failing to see the good in Shane. Joe needs to bite the bullet.
Daniel Currams – similar to Horan, had a tough day at the office but gets the benefit of doubt due to inexperience. He will benefit enormously from the outing.
Derek Molloy – tried hard and took his goal well when the opportunity arose. A bit hot headed still but battled hard and was unlucky to be withdrawn considering some of what was going on around him.
Damien Murray – need to be taking the frees if he is included. Great pace and accuracy but why he takes a roundabout route to goal is a mystery.

Subs:
Joe Brady – surely the experiment is over, please oh please!!! A fine club no.6 but doesn’t have the step up in him. I know Joe pretty well and he’s a decent modest fella and he’ll give his all but it’s just not the answer.
Francie Kerrigan – unproven at club or underage level and his inclusion is a little bizarre to say the least.

There’s quite a large panel of young players who have seen no action at all yet. Surely, it would be better to introduce the likes of Slevin, Grogan, Wynne, Egan or whoever and see what they're like rather than going back to the same dry well every time.

That’s just my tuppence worth. These lads are training hard and making sacrifices for Offaly hurling and I, like thousands of more, appreciate their efforts in order to represent the county but it was very frustrating sitting in Thurles yesterday, very frustrating.

[Bord na Mona man]

Having hurled so well for a 3/4 of the game, my overall feeling is one of dismay at yet another Offaly surrender once the opposition got the run on us.

The 17 point margin may look harsh on the balance of play, but really in the last quarter several players were either banjaxed or threw in the towel and got severely punished. There's no better county than Tipp to showboat and sow it into you when this happens.

Certainly this was an Offaly side shorn of the Birr players and with so many young players, there is propensity to allow heads drop, but I just feel it is a really bad habit from Offaly's that really bugs me.

The first 3/4 of the game. Tipp moderately the better of two sides still looking to shake of the winter cobwebs. Offaly troubles starting from the puckouts. Offaly's lack of a Gary or Rory Hanniffy, or Joe Bergin in the half forwards stuck out badly.

Shane O'Connor wasn't driving them beyond the opposition '45, but trying to find an Offaly shirt around midfield and half forward. Unfortunately Offaly got very little change here as Tipp had the superior size and fielding here. Credit Offaly lads like Ger Oakley who contested hard for the breaks and weren't afraid to use timber. Tipp used the possession better most of the time, though some of their touches were poor.

Tipp won most of the primary possession, Offaly on many occasions did battle well to win it back, or else a Tipp player made a basic error and gave it away, but too often Tipp created scoring chances. Offaly gave away a lot of frees and Eoin Kelly rarely missed. For a good stretch of the first half Tipp were held scoreless from play, but I don't remember Kelly missing a single free.

Shane Dooley put over most of the early frees, but started to miss as the game went on. Given that Damien Murray was very consistent last year, there might be call for a change here. While Murray wasn't faring any better than anyone else in winning possession, he did use the ball well and set up a couple of scores. I think Dooley might find himself squeezed out of the side as we need a more robust wing forward.

When in possession, too often Offaly players tried to tap a short ball to a colleague who wasn't in much space, where an old fashioned drive down the field would have been the better option. I fear that not enough Offaly players have to accuracy to deliver the pinpoint pass to a colleague and the recipient hasn't got the required hands and wristwork to control it first time. And barring that, the physical brutishness to compensate for the lack of the above. Too many Offaly players were static when receiving a 20-30 yard delivery. I think Joe Dooley might want to go back to basics here.

David Kenny had a super performance, of fielding covering and clearing. In the modern game, high fielding is such a prized skill and his ability to pluck balls from the sky was a pleasure to watch. His clearances were quality too. However, therein lies our problem. We simply don't have enough players greater than 6 feet, with the ability to win the high ball.

The Offaly full-forward line didn't get much in terms of quality ball. When it did come in too often, the were flat-footed and behind their men. What did help was some of the terrible mistakes made by the Tipp full back line when trying to rise, or clear the ball.

It was always inevitable Tipp would pull away at some stage. They had options on the bench and made the positional switches tell. Moving a subdued Lar Corbett to half forward made a huge difference to their attack for example.

[Muck Savage]

We all say that they were missing the Birr lads but in fairness how much will the Birr lads add to the team? My feeling is that overall there won't be much of an improvement in the overall team. Take the backs, possibly Claffey, Verney and Cleary will push here but will they make a difference considering the FB line played so well yesterday? Maybe you'd get them into the Half back line but I don't think we'll get the improvement that's needed. A fit Sean Ryan and the Hanniffy's will probably add something to the forwards but I'm begining to fear that we're a good bit off the mark.

[johntherobber]

as a spectator in thurles yesterday i thought that from 1 to 7 was fine and Rigney tried ferociously hard at midfield and was happy to see him rewarded with 2 points,the second one a mammoth score when the game was still in the melting pot. unfortunately our other midfielder cant hit the ball but i wont slate him,i just pray that rory hanniffy or brendan murphy returns to midfield soon.Our forwards were virtually non existent in second half although 1st half wasnt much better either,de goals just made it seem abit better.whatever about performances in the last few years i think we always had a reasonable free taker and last year damien murray kept us in the game against kilkenny and as for penalties,he`s just lethal. so why change the free taker then this year?? well we all know the reason but i hardly have to spell it out...

[green&white]

was very pleased coming into the 3/4 mark as Offaly had competed ferociously at times for the ball, winning possession in 40-60 situations, but when Tipp's superiour fitness took over, coupled with the strength in depth they had in the subs they introduced, there was only going to be one winner! Felt sorry in one way for the lads, because they battl;ed so hard, for so long, but I suppose at intercounty level, no matter who your playin, if you show a sign of weakness you will be punished! (Think back to KK and Galway last year)
As regards some of the players:
O'Connor was a lot steadier than the previous week( which wasnt hard) but didnt seem to launch his puck-outs. Maybe a tactic! Brady was solid enough, but dint command in the air like he does at half back! Franks was excellent for long periods, but was caught bad for the goal which eventually sealed the game for Tipp!
Thought Hernon was superb for twenty minutes, but could have counted himself lucky to be still on the field, as his man game him the run around in the first 15mins until he knuckled down, However to say he was Offaly's MOTM is wide of the mark as he condeded 3pts and the reception his man got coming off the field spoke for itself!
Kenny was Offaly's MOTM in my opinion, which was great to see after what I felt he got the run around the previous week in Belfast, and he porbably should have been moved to no 6 where Joe was having a mare! What really irked me about Joe was he never fought back at all, but instead dropped his head, when others were just waitin for him to lead! Is this his true form, when the chips are down he hides? I sincerely hope not, because I've great time for the chap!
Horan got a right welcome to senior hurlin, and was very naive under the droppin ball! But i've every confidence he'll learn!
Rigney and Mahon have great hearts and engines, but can hit the ball anywhere! James did brilliant at times, coming out with the ball when he shouldn't have, but twice in the first half after great battling when all on his own he just gave the ball staright bak to an unmarked Tipp man! Hope he keeps it up though!
Dooley just has to go from the frees, and reluctantly I'm beginning to question his ability to be never taken off. Ok there isnt much on the bench at the moment, but still! Oakley anoither one with great heart, but could hit it anywhere! His basic skills, like Mahon are horrendous for county hurlin! Probably still think Full-back is where he should be, with Brady on the wing, and Kenny at 6, with Joe movin back up the field!
Murray was way better than of late (which wasnt hard) but have to agree, why always the long way to goal?? Also must be on the frees!
Carroll too I though was way better than late, especially in the first half. He worked hard, and set up three points while taking one himself, and (this was a worry) was the only forward to field clean possession from a puck-out! Think he's startin to come back to form!
Molloy started well, but again nearly got himself sent off! What is with the persistent fouling? Understand needin a big man, to break up play, but chrsit stop givin away harmless frees! Honest chap tho!
Currams i wont rate, because this was a tough introduction to the league, he's young and will learn!

[Offalys Future]

Right am going to try and keep this as short and to the point as possible.
My feeling on last Sunday is mixed.
Alot of positives but also negatives.

For neary 50th minutes we were in the game and hurling pretty poor.
I said it last week that at intercounty level any free you get within scoring range has to be scored. we missed 4, 3 at a critical stage of the game. Damien Murray accuracy from frees is one of the best in Ireland so it just doesnt make sense why he wasnt taken them. If he not taken frees he shouldnt be playing as he offers nothing absolutely nothing from general play.

Shane O'Connor done well enough maybe should have taken kelly out of it for the 1st goal but other than that he was solid.
Kevin Brady and Conor Hernon were cleaned off, Between them they got 8 points from play scored off them and gave away 3 frees that Kelly scored. Time and time again they were coming out 5 yards behind their men. Franks on the other hand was out on top of kelly every time. Apart from the goal which i thought either him or o'connor might have been able to pull kelly down, i thought he hurled very well. You judge the best players by how they go when up against the best and he proved yet again that he is one of the best corner backs in ireland. That will be proven in the next month and half when we see what kelly scores from play in every other game.
Half back line did okay. Kenny was outstanding all through. Joe Bergin looked very nervous as did Horan. People should remember that these guys are only 20 and this game will be great experience for both of them. Joe got cleaned in the last ten minutes and maybe a change from the sideline was needed at that stage.
Midfield was 60/40 to tipp. our lads got 3 scores. but i think we needed teehan in their to give the half backs support because tipp were running at them from midfield.
Half forward line was very poor. Saying that oakley got onto alot of ball but his distribution was very poor. Derek molloy gave away 4 frees which is heart braking for any manager or supporter.

As for management, this was joe's first big chance and i thought he failed badly.
Firstly he played murray on Eamonn Corcoran which was crazy, he should have had murray taking the frees.
They made no changes until the 53rd minute and brought on Joe brady which was a crazy decision. And then Francis Kerrigan. Neither made any impact.
The half forward line that started finished in same positions.
I thought he might have brought currams out wing or midfield.
Its very hard for Joe Dooley because he has no experience and i feel that will ultimately be his downfall.
But there was no encouragement from the sideline for the last 20 minutes which i thought was pretty poor considering we had alot of younger players on the field.


Not reall going to go on much more. we have 4 backs and a goal keeper i feel good enough for championship at the moment, need to get a full back and someone to replace hernon. maybe verney but i dont really know how good he is yet.

Roll on Galway this weekend. Hopefully a big croud to support the lads.

Its certainly not all doom and gloom. At the end of this year these players and management will be judged on championship not league, so they shouldnt worry too much about this result. Heads up lads.

[Lone Shark]

Funnily enough I wouldn't be hugely pessimistic about this either. Let's face it - we have a long stretch of underachievement to come back from, and now is an excellent time of year to get a clear and stark appraisal of where exactly we stand. This time last year we went to Cork and lost by 6 or 7 points if memory serves, and generally we were feeling quite good about things. At least here we know that we took on a Tipp team who were operating at fairly high intensity, and while the falling away was not nice, we hurled with them for long stretches. Equally, we're also beginning to find out a lot about the team. I'm not suggesting abandoning the "Joe Bergin at six" idea straight away, but it's safe to say that if he has a rough day against Galway this Sunday it will be re-thought. At the risk of sounding kind of I-told-you-so-ish, David Kenny proved last year that he can do a good job there. He may not be the best hurler we have, but we're finding it hard enough to plug the gaps we have without worrying about plugging the spots that we mightn't have a perfect fit for. Likewise I'd be surprised if Joe doesn't pull Shane aside fairly soon. Shane was entitled to a run in the senior team based on club and underage form - it doesn't look like it's working out, so he'll be left to recover his form with Tullamore next year, and as a young lad he has plenty of time. Joe wouldn't be naive enough to think that if he was left in the team too long that he wouldn't suffer for it in the long run.

Once more with the "don't fix what's not broken" routine, Ger Oakley at full back worked, to a large extent. I can understand wanting his presence up front where our competitiveness for dropping ball is appalling, but realistically he's just not crafty enough to control the play around there. He's a solid last line of defence at 3, and should be left compete with Paul Cleary for that role when the Birr man comes back.

Franks is still a very decent corner man, him with one of Verney/Hernon either side will make up a decent full back line. Rory Hanniffy and one of Horan/Claffey/Hayden/Brady either side of Kenny would do the job there, while Rigney seems to have added his name to the mix for the midfield role alongside Barry Whelahan, Brendan Murphy and Bary Teehan. Molloy, Gary Hanniffy, Bergin, Carroll and Murray in the forwards with one other and we're not that far off a decent line up yet. Lads like Currams, Horan and Kerrigan struggling in February when they are making their debuts at this level is hadly a crisis when realistically we won't be calling on them for a year or two yet.

[Bord na Mona man]

Also, as Offaly's Future mentioned, Franks put the shackles on Eoin Kelly yet again.
In all the times we have played Tipp and the scoreboard has been whirring, I don't recall Kelly ever getting more than 2 scores from play.
The point is moot, mind you. As usually the likes of Brian O'Meara, John Carroll, Lar Corbett have been shooting for fun against Offaly's creaking defence.

At the risk of sounding like a parrot, for the last 5 or 6 years we have consistently conceded 30+ shots at the posts to the likes of Kilkenny, Tipp and Cork. In most of these games there was never an obvious defender getting roasted, or opposition forward skewering us, merely an Offaly team that doesn't defend as a unit from 1-15. And a defence trying to bail a sinking oil tanker with spoons.

[Loughers]

From what I hear, Murphy could be out for a long spell. Don't bank on Gary Hanniffy coming back. We are in serious trouble up front.