Bad day for offaly hurling

[townman]

just back from mullingar won't say much not much to talk about for the first time every westmeath club beat offaly in the
leinster club. have to say Coolderry were a disgrace today and a big let down to offaly hurling today they were out hurled and
don't have the belly when it matter's .

Joe Dooley looked a worried man leaving mullingar today he also looked pig sick after watching that as a offalyman it was a sad
day as a Birrman i have a few friends from coolderry to catch up on as they were rubbing it in to me over the last two weeks
when they beat tullamore in the county final, saying we were gone to let that tullamore team beat us for the last two year's
my answer to them will be when we did come out of offaly we wouldn't let the westmeath champions beat us sad day all the same.

[backofthenet]

im just back from mullingar myself townman, not a great day, Raharney were possibly the better team today, certainly the team with the greater hunger, their fight and commitment was very good, also some of the scores they took were brilliant. Having said that the ref definately didnt have a good game some calls were extraordinary, even the raharney fans behind us were in agreement, at one point alan corcoran ran across the field dived in front of a player and blocked him down, somehow the ref gave a free in which was at a vital stage of the game. Not going to give out too much as there was very little between the teams today.

You are being extremely unfair to both teams by suggesting Coolderry were a disgrace, your comment seems to be more to try and get a dig at coolderry than actually talk about the match.

Your answer would be that you wouldnt let the westmeath champions beat ye?? What a crock of sh#te, if that was the case ye would have won the county but ye didnt, stop being bitter

Oh yeah and for your info tullamore have beaten ye 3 times in the last 3 years.

[townman]

Tullamore also beat Clonkill last year, what i am saying is Coolderry should hang there heads this evening as for blaming the ref
coolderry shouldn't need the ref to beat Raharney. i have nothing again Coolderry as i said i will have a bit of crack with the Coolderry boys
during the week, but Coolderry weren't as fit as Raharney there was a few coolderry people beside me at the game and they couldn't understand
how Ken Hogan looked at Cathal Parlon for the whole game and Joe Brady getting the run around at centre back.

To cap it off we had the Raharney and westmeath supporter's laughing and running down offaly hurling thats what hurt me the most
not coolderry winning.

[black and red exile]

I have to say I spoke to Westmeath people afterwards and found them very pleasant and certainly while enjoying their great victory didn't in any way crow about it. Townman is right, Coolderry did not have the stomach to win this game against a very motivated and well drilled outfit who with the help of a very large local support fought like tigers for every ball and took some classy scores too, too many Coolderry players hid in the last 15 mins when the game was in the melting pot and didn't want to know, nine times out of ten the dirty ball was won by a blue and white shirt and quite often when a Coolderry player was in possession he was surrounded by 3 Raharney players which resulted in losing possession or giving away a free for overcarrying. I have had my doubts about this Coolderry team in a tight finish when the pressure was on and as I expected they blew it, Raharney deserved this win and let nobody say otherwise, it is very worrying though that this is the best that Offaly has to offer

[Long John]

Im inclined to agree with Townman here, it is a bit disturbing that Coolderry lost this game. Going to it, I felt myself that it would be a tough game for Coolderry which would require a good deal of hunger to win and I expected they would come out with a 4 or 5 point win. No question about it, Coolderry have better stick hurlers than Raharney but the Westmeath side had abundance of energy and hunger. They are not a bad team and really love their hurling. However Coolderry showed up still hungover from their celebrations I feel, they didnt compete for the dirty ball.

At this time of year when your hurling in damp, dirty conditions against a physical team, the skills and flair will count for nothing unless you can compete for every ball and not give up on what might appear to be a lost hope. Raharney looked totally outhurled for the first half but hung in there against a wasteful Coolderry who failed to put them away. Then in the second half Raharney concentrated on keeping Brian Carroll out of the game and it was a good tactic as he was one of very few that looked like winning the game for Coolderry. The two Bradys were being roasted by their markers, All in all the Raharney half forward line scored quiet a bit from play. I agree a few very dodgy frees went against coolderry at a crucial stage in the game but Raharney deserve credit for being still in position to benefit from it.

All in all a terrible result for Coolderry and Offaly. I think it shows a lack of real ambition in some of our county players, the bradys and parlon in particular were woeful yesterday, I think if they were hurling a league game against Kinnitty or Clareen you would have seen more fight. Disappointing.

[bracknaghboy]

This result sums up Offaly hurling really......always vulnerable against weaker oposition. Always thought they would make hard work of this game but to actualy lose it is a real shock. Heart, determination and fighting 100% for every ball is worth far more than silky hurling skills at this time of year. Rhode beware next weekend!

[backofthenet]

I dont blame the ref, I just think he really didnt have a good game, gave some bad calls but at the end of the day there was nothing between the teams.

As for Coolderry hanging their heads...for what winning the county championship and losing to an underrated but good side from westmeath, no they will be dissapointed certainly but every team has a bad day, they gave 100% during the year, probably should have won today and I wont be running them down. They were the best that Offaly had to offer this year and their is no shame in losing in the intercounty championship, every opposition you play are county champions you should remember that.
Coolderry werent as fit as Raharney, yes I think I would have to agree 100% here, Raharney are an extremely fit team who fought for everything and it paid off. Their Physicality paid off against the smaller Coolderry players
On individual players, Cathal Parlon certainly had a poor game, but so had David King, Joe Brady, Damien Murray, Eoin Ryan, Kevin Connolly, Barry Teehan, Martin Corcoran, I could go on!!
On the Raharney supporters, where I was they were perfectly fine, I was happy to shake their hand and wish them luck in the next round.

[jobber]

To cap it off we had the Raharney and westmeath supporter's laughing and running down offaly hurling thats what hurt me the most
not coolderry winning.

Theres not a county in Ireland outside of Offaly where your hurling is more respected than in Westmeath.we have always seen you as the model to follow.For Gods sake Johhny Flaherty,Pat Delaney,Johhny Dooley and now Kevin Martin have managed the countys senior hurlers.I am a Westmeath Gael who was at the match and saw no taunting of Offaly or its hurlers.Give a little credit our hurling is improveing,Clonkill had the chances to beat Tullamore last year our minors have played two ding dong Leinster c/ship matches with Offaly over the last two years and Offaly gaels will alwayd get a respectful reception in Mullingar despite what some dinosaurs imagine

[tipptopper25]

This result just shows what I have been saying for a long time. Offaly hurling is very poor and will be a long time before yee are back a hurlings top table. I think a year in the christy ring would benifit yee. I heard coolderry supporters were abusing their own players at the game. This I very disapointing. Grass roots is the most
important part of the Gaa and when players at this level get abused by their friends and neighbours it is no surprise that that they have no fight in them or pride in the jersey they wear. The supporters are an embarassment and really let themselves down. Offaly club hurling is finished. Their is not enough talent in the county.

On the other hand well done to west Meath. A lot of work has been done for hurling in the county. They are a proud bunch. I think the likes of Westmeath and Kildare will replace Offaly and Wexford as hurling strong holds in Leinster. This is nothing more than they deserve.

[wingback]

in relation to Long Johns comment above..... What game were you at, Kevin Brady was one of the most consistent ball winners on the Coolderry halfback line, and you saying they were woeful tis a bit harsh, the pitch was bad, after been polughed up by the junior game previous. This didnt help matters, Coolderry are a small and very fast team, obviously this weather was never going to suit them..... Ye coming on here slating the backs off them, u will hardly do a better job, the ref was very bad, he gave raharney a few very handy frees one or 2 of which were nothing short of ridiculous. they got scores from these frees at crucial stages, he gave coolderry very little also. The GAA would want to look hard and fast at itself putting a wexford man in charge considering the winner was playing Oulart.

Anyway Raharney are threw and i wish them the best of luck, get off coolderrys case, infairness its not the end of the world or offaly hurling for that matter.

[Long John]

Kevin Brady won a bit of ball alright but his man got on alot aswell and chipped in with 3 or 4 points. Coolderry are more suited to dry fast conditions but they were very poor yesterday.

Interestingly I just heard Davy Fitz has been involved in some training sessions with Raharney prior to yesterdays game. Obviously they were not just happy with a county title and have some ambition to push on in Leinster.

And now what the hell is this tipptopper jackass doing coming in here sneering.

[bazza]

This result yesterday just proves to me that Tullamore handed Coolderry a county title without testing their metal in the slightest. Now i'm not begrudging Coolderry their title but why didn't Tullamore make them work for it a bit more. Shane Dooley should have started the match either on Joe Brady and ran him into the ground or on David King and tested the minor's ability and nerve on such a big day. Why were Connolly and Ryan let do as they pleased? Surely a good fair hit to welcome these youngsters to Tullamore would have been the right tonic. Why wasn't their best man marker Egan switched onto Carroll and make him work harded for his score? No instead the "blues" in white were prepared to go let Coolderry waltz to a county title and let the whole county believe this bullshit about how slick and skillfull they were without having tested their biggest weakness... Their mentality and belief.

[Lone Shark]

in relation to Long Johns comment above..... What game were you at, Kevin Brady was one of the most consistent ball winners on the Coolderry halfback line, and you saying they were woeful tis a bit harsh, the pitch was bad, after been polughed up by the junior game previous. This didnt help matters, Coolderry are a small and very fast team, obviously this weather was never going to suit them..... Ye coming on here slating the backs off them, u will hardly do a better job, the ref was very bad, he gave raharney a few very handy frees one or 2 of which were nothing short of ridiculous. they got scores from these frees at crucial stages, he gave coolderry very little also. The GAA would want to look hard and fast at itself putting a wexford man in charge considering the winner was playing Oulart.

Anyway Raharney are threw and i wish them the best of luck, get off coolderrys case, infairness its not the end of the world or offaly hurling for that matter.

Nobody's saying it's the end of the world, and I'm loathe to say too much here since I was in Galway for the weekend so Pearse Stadium was where I got my hurling fix, but even so, this result is a very poor reflection on where we stand as a county. Coolderry sauntered through Offaly, and while we can look at the various reasons why this is the case, the fact remains that other than the first game of the year, Coolderry were never under pressure in Offaly and yet a Westmeath club were able to step into them and put them away. It should be noted here also that while Coolderry were clearly the best team in Offaly this year, it would be a brave man who would say that Raharney were clearly the best team in Westmeath - they scraped past Clonkill, who most would agree would be favourites if the two clubs met again.

If Raharney go on to stay within five or six points of Oulart, then it would be fair to say that they were under-rated. If they don't, then it's logical enough to presume that Coolderry are nothing special and every other club in Offaly is worse again.

[backofthenet]

This result just shows what I have been saying for a long time. Offaly hurling is very poor and will be a long time before yee are back a hurlings top table. I think a year in the christy ring would benifit yee. I heard coolderry supporters were abusing their own players at the game. This I very disapointing. Grass roots is the most
important part of the Gaa and when players at this level get abused by their friends and neighbours it is no surprise that that they have no fight in them or pride in the jersey they wear. The supporters are an embarassment and really let themselves down. Offaly club hurling is finished. Their is not enough talent in the county.

On the other hand well done to west Meath. A lot of work has been done for hurling in the county. They are a proud bunch. I think the likes of Westmeath and Kildare will replace Offaly and Wexford as hurling strong holds in Leinster. This is nothing more than they deserve.

I didnt think you could possibly be more ignorant than after the tipp offaly game but I was wrong. A year in the christy ring....haha youre some tulip maybe ye should have been shafted back there in the nineties??

Coolderry supporters were not abusing the team at the end of the game, Who ever you heard that off is either hearing things or is a idiot or perhaps both.
Offaly Club hurling is finished?? What a load of crap, Tullamore were in the leinster final last year, and Birr have been in many over the last decade.
Westmeath hurling has certainly improved from other years, That can easily be seen at underage level, and some of that may be coming through to senior now, Its good for hurling but to try and say that one county is finished because their club champions got beaten is ridiculius...then again you are tipp topper25 what else could I expect

[backofthenet]

This result yesterday just proves to me that Tullamore handed Coolderry a county title without testing their metal in the slightest. Now i'm not begrudging Coolderry their title but why didn't Tullamore make them work for it a bit more. Shane Dooley should have started the match either on Joe Brady and ran him into the ground or on David King and tested the minor's ability and nerve on such a big day. Why were Connolly and Ryan let do as they pleased? Surely a good fair hit to welcome these youngsters to Tullamore would have been the right tonic. Why wasn't their best man marker Egan switched onto Carroll and make him work harded for his score? No instead the "blues" in white were prepared to go let Coolderry waltz to a county title and let the whole county believe this bullshit about how slick and skillfull they were without having tested their biggest weakness... Their mentality and belief.

Coolderry were the best team in the county this year...simple as. Trying to re write county final day is ridiculous, Coolderry are more suited to the open pitch in tullamore, and I would fancy them to beat Raharney in Tullamore as the Mullingar pitch was very small in comparrison which suited the more physical team.