www.uibhfhaili.com

Probably about a week early but here goes nothing...
Enjoy...



It wasn’t always like this. Inferiority that is. Underdogs in our own backyard. Overshadowed by our neighbours at underage level throughout most of the 90’s proud biffos everywhere have had to kneel to a new, frustrating and above all annoying rival since the dawn of the 21st century. The Lake County. Wastemeath. Fellow midlanders. Disregard geography, commandment and basic morals. We will just never be friends.
For some it’s worse than others. Clara, Rhode, Ballycumber will all feel it more than most and none more so than the tiny Offaly outpost of Tubber. Losing is not an option-let alone acceptable. Ridicule for weeks is guaranteed. Hate is a great motivator. Whether it’s obsession or passion Ciaran Mcmanus will feel it more than most...

To be honest I can’t wait. The seventh of June. An old-school ambush or Westmeath’s right of passage?. Hard to tell. Hard to digest. Football followers across the country will tip Westmeath. And rightly so. 2004 Leinster champions. 3 time All-Ireland quarter finalists in the last eight years. 2008 Division 2 victors. 1999 All-Ireland U-21 winners. The stats don’t lie. Tradition toppled. New destinies forged. Best of luck and all that...
Not to mention that defence. As charitable as a Mugabe led dictatorship. Stingy. Watertight. Whatever, they don’t concede. Whatever Mcnamee gets he’ll earn. Firstly there is Keane. Rosemounts pride and enjoy. An exquisite corner back. Ably assisted by the new kids on the block; Gavin and Boyle. Unsung and unheralded, great players all the same.
In the half back line they have it good. Damian Healy and Michael Ennis. Neither grace their own senior championship. Pity for the bachelors. Their final piece in the defensive jigsaw is Derek Heavin. Tough and tenacious and as wily as they get.
In a straight fight midfield would be theirs. Tyrellspass’s resurgence has been Westmeaths gain. Martin Flanagan will bring strength, guile, experience and above all a lethal right boot. O’ Donoghue will tackle and run for the two.
After that Westmeath get light-headed and dizzy. For Smith, Harte and Wilson read middling, solid and average. Whilst Dessie will need his fitness to be improved upon if that swagger is to be seen again. Mangan performs at a level that he is uncomfortable with. Dennis Glennon will have to be watched. Blessed with pace and composure Glennon will highlight any pace deficiencies in our backline. Good for a goal he will have to be stopped at all costs.
Offaly are sneaking nicely into this match. And sneaking is the word. Labelled with the Division 4 moniker and hit with a raft of withdrawals to the outside world we have no chance. To those in the know though- we will be close. Victories over Mayo and Derry has stirred optimism. Likewise Offaly will not roll over in O’ Connor Park and competiveness is forecast with showers of ferocious hits and a deluge of unsentimental off the ball skulduggery. Just how I like it.
I’m not Pat Roe. Thank God!. I don’t pick the team but here is my perspective. Let Rafferty pick up Dolan. He is not the player of old. Allow Slattery to roam in the half backline. Richard Fox must man centre back. At six foot two inches he has the presence to cut out the dangerous ball going into Glennon and give a physical and unsettling presence to the centre. Smyth will be let roam which will be a necessary evil. This will take the pressure off Sullivan who one on one would be hopelessly out matched by Glennon. My two half backs would be Keane and Slattery. James K adds that bit of class that McConway and Grennan do not have. Don’t shoot the messenger. Brian Darby should play the other corner. Smart and tigerish he plays a high octane game and is capable of swallowing up Mangan or Buddha as they call him!. Do not worship false Gods.
Midfield is an easy choice. McManus is a certainty. His workrate is essential. He should be partnered by Smith. Watching him develop has been exciting. Jimmy Grennans ghost hopefully put to rest.
Now I will get controversial. Paschal is a magnet for vitriol. For me though he is a given. A gifted distributor his job will be to win the breaks and supply the two man full forward line. He will also bring experience and a level head. Just kidding. Stay out of the black book son. We need you. He must be flanked by David Egan and James Coughlan. Egan like all true blues will be unafraid of the physicality and will not be frightened by hard work. Coughlan is used to grappling for ball for his club and on his day is a frighteningly talented player. I would start him. Our full forward line picks itself Deehan and McNamee can do the damage if given the right ball. I do not need any superlatives to describe the duo.
Here is the wild card. The full forward jersey should be given to Jason Kelly of Shannonbridge. I judge ability on my two eyes. He broke my heart in 2006 running riot in Mucklagh and has the engine, confidence and craft to succeed at this level. I don’t hold a grudge. His job would be to help our ailing midfield and crucially track Damien Healy and Michael Ennis’s runs forward. He will probably only be a used sub though. Sorry for the hot hair.
I can’t predict a winner but I expect dour defensive football. Frightening hits and ferocious intensity. Unrecognisable midfield traffic. A large crowd especially from our northern enemies. A one or two point victory would then be all the sweeter...

... Though led out by Rafferty, McManus will be the spiritual leader of this side. Our national claim to fame. Our talisman. In essence he owes Offaly nothing. A Leinster under 21 medal in 1995, Leinster senior in 1997, two intermediate medals in the cupboard. This is the obvious. Almost single handedly training a collection of mediocre young lads to take on the key positions on a now competitive senior team. Travelling from Germany for National League games. Legendary stories of inspirational personal training regimes. He bleeds green white and gold and adores his football. Now in the winter of his career he can’t last forever. 60,000 of us will be cheering you on. 7,000 will be there. Praying. Begging. Hoping. You deserve this win.
For the 300 senior club players waiting for the county to be taken care of!.
For their Intermediate, Junior A, B and C counterparts.
For fallen natives and For past heroes.
For emigrated comrades. For your village.
Above all though man For yourself...







Offaly Team for Westmeath match as picked by Silken T...

Padraig Kelly

Brian Darby Shane Sullivan Ger Rafferty

James Keane Richard Fox Karol Slattery

Ciarán McManus Niall Smith
Jason Kelly

James Coughlan Paschal Kelleghan David Egan

Thomas Deehan Niall McNamee

Outstanding piece here ST!

Thanks for sharing.

Good stuff there ST.

You can add Doon to the collection of areas where this fixture brings local rivalry to boiling point.

A number of years back, the Offaly Jersey was set on fire in the village of Ballinahown after one of these fixtures.

Nice work there Silken. Would be happy with that team myself and think it will not be too far off the mark. Would like to add Tullamore to the places you mentioned with having a special 'relationship' with our neighbours. This has mostly to do with the bitterness showed by the kilbeggan crowd when, travelling uo to croker during our glory days you were sure to see our opposition's colours covering many homes and businesses . This would happen no matter what the opposition and is deep rooted in my mind along with many others. In a way I am glad to see them doing well and coming to Tullamore all cocky and sure of a win as it will make it all the sweeter to see their faces come the end and heading off to their cars to slither back over the border. Here is hoping for a big faithful crowd as I for do not want to be out-numbered by them in our own backyard and a fully tuned in and fully fit Offaly side turning up on the day to give us plenty to shout about.

Great stuff ST.
I think we should start up a separate topic soon on the rivalry Offaly and and Wastemeath!

[quote="Silken Thomas"]Probably about a week early but here goes nothing...
Enjoy...

Richard Fox must man centre back. At six foot two inches he has the presence to cut out the dangerous ball going into Glennon and give a physical and unsettling presence to the centre.


He won't be even playing.....

I can't see Fox,Kelly or Coughlan starting whilst Egan seems to be carrying an injury.
The team might go something like this,
PK,GR,SS,JK,PMC.SB,NG,AMC,CMC,BD,KS,NS,TD,PK,NMC.
.

Silken Thomas wrote:

It wasn’t always like this. Inferiority that is. Underdogs in our own backyard. Overshadowed by our neighbours at underage level throughout most of the 90’s proud biffos everywhere have had to kneel to a new, frustrating and above all annoying rival since the dawn of the 21st century. The Lake County. Wastemeath. Fellow midlanders. Disregard geography, commandment and basic morals. We will just never be friends.

Great post, but I'm disappointed at this paragraph. I can't imagine what would have to happen in order for me to feel any inferiority to that shower. They won a few kids games and even then, on one of the worst performances we've ever put in they still managed to beat us by only a wide ball in the one championship win they've had over us in the last lifetime. Two years later a repeat fixture was played and proper order was restored.

They have a fine team and may indeed win in a couple of weeks, but there will be no kneeling. Not to anyone, and certainly not to a miserable shower like that who needed a blind umpire and a high court judge to get them their one and only provincial title in 120 years of gaelic games.

Lone Shark wrote:

Silken Thomas wrote:

It wasn’t always like this. Inferiority that is. Underdogs in our own backyard. Overshadowed by our neighbours at underage level throughout most of the 90’s proud biffos everywhere have had to kneel to a new, frustrating and above all annoying rival since the dawn of the 21st century. The Lake County. Wastemeath. Fellow midlanders. Disregard geography, commandment and basic morals. We will just never be friends.

Great post, but I'm disappointed at this paragraph. I can't imagine what would have to happen in order for me to feel any inferiority to that shower. They won a few kids games and even then, on one of the worst performances we've ever put in they still managed to beat us by only a wide ball in the one championship win they've had over us in the last lifetime. Two years later a repeat fixture was played and proper order was restored.

They have a fine team and may indeed win in a couple of weeks, but there will be no kneeling. Not to anyone, and certainly not to a miserable shower like that who needed a blind umpire and a high court judge to get them their one and only provincial title in 120 years of gaelic games.

HERE HERE!!!!

Well said LS.

Spot on.
They won a Leinster at an all time low in the province standars wise.

The only reason we might have to kneel is to try and spot the insignificant spec that Wastemeath are.

Lone Shark wrote:

Silken Thomas wrote:

It wasn’t always like this. Inferiority that is. Underdogs in our own backyard. Overshadowed by our neighbours at underage level throughout most of the 90’s proud biffos everywhere have had to kneel to a new, frustrating and above all annoying rival since the dawn of the 21st century. The Lake County. Wastemeath. Fellow midlanders. Disregard geography, commandment and basic morals. We will just never be friends.

Great post, but I'm disappointed at this paragraph. I can't imagine what would have to happen in order for me to feel any inferiority to that shower. They won a few kids games and even then, on one of the worst performances we've ever put in they still managed to beat us by only a wide ball in the one championship win they've had over us in the last lifetime. Two years later a repeat fixture was played and proper order was restored.

They have a fine team and may indeed win in a couple of weeks, but there will be no kneeling. Not to anyone, and certainly not to a miserable shower like that who needed a blind umpire and a high court judge to get them their one and only provincial title in 120 years of gaelic games.

Ah yea fair enough there was a bit of hyperbole there now in fairness
We certainly don't kneel to them but over the last decade they have definitly achieved more than us in the big ball code lads. Sickening but true.

what time does this match start?

As far as I'm aware it is 7 bells on Sat 7 june

O’Connor Park Tullamore 07/06/2008


Offaly v Westmeath 6.30p.m.

Admission Charges : Stand €20.00
Terrace €15.00
Senior Citizens : Stand €20.00 ( with a €10.00 rebate )
Terrace €15.00 ( with €5.00 rebate )
( with appropriate I.D. through designated stiles on
day of the game prior to stadium entry )
Students : Terrace ( only ) €15.00 ( €5.00 rebate )
( with appropriate I.D. through designated stiles on
day of the game prior to stadium entry
Family : ( Terrace ) Adult €15.00 Children €3.00 (1 Adult & 2 Kids etc. )
( Stand ) Adult €20.00 Children €5.00 ( 1 Adult & 2 Kids etc.)


Wheelchair Tickets & Assistants : Wheelchair Ticket is free of charge and the assistant’s ticket is €20.00

N.B. The Stand and Terrace are unreserved .


Tickets on sale to the Public on the following dates Wed 4th June 6.00p.m. to 7.30p.m. and Thursday 5th June 6.00p.m. to 7.30p.m.in O’Connor Park on both evenings.