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any team news or how do we rate our changes this year?

The Gallen lads should be well up for it after last weekend plus we have a good record there..

Dublin look fierce strong in this grade and will be the team to look out for in the long run while Longford, Meath and Westmeath should be very decent as well, but I'd expect this Offaly group to be competitive at least. The Gallen lads have obviously proven that they are well able to mix it with good teams while there would be a good spread of talent across the county generally. There were some good results in the league and while Wicklow away is never an easy trip, it still represents a good game to get things off the ground - capable opposition but very beatable if our lads play up to their potential.

Any idea on the Offaly team for this game?? Assume a good share of the Gallen lads will be involved, though there should be a few from, rhode and vincents and one or two from banagher given club form the past few years. won't be an easy game at all. Micko's exploits the last few years has really raised the profile of football in wicklow the last few years. should be a win for offaly but the championship only really starts in the second game, be it a qualifier or a q-final...

Offaly 3-7 - Wicklow 1-9 good win well done lads

anyone there, what was the team and who played well?

Offaly could/should have had a lot more points but kept trying to walk the ball in looking for goals. Very poor Wicklow side and Offaly were better than a four point win. Peter Cunningham definitely Offaly's stand out performer

Cunningham pulls strings for Offaly
Offaly 3-7
Wicklow 1-9

Monday April 18 2011

Three first-half goals in the space of 12 minutes set Offaly up for this four-point win over Wicklow at Aughrim on Saturday.

Star corner-forward Peter Cunningham had a major hand in all of Offaly's goals from Niall Wynne, Aaron McDonagh and Brian Grehan and was only denied a goal of his own after a fine save from Wicklow 'keeper Colin Smullen. Offaly led by 3-4 to 0-4 at the break, but Wicklow dominated the third quarter and a brace from corner-forward Adam Conway and singles from Brendan McCrea and Philip Murphy cut the deficit to 3-5 to 0-9 on 54 minutes.

Brian Norris and Cunningham stretched the Offaly lead to seven before Niall Sweeney got a late consolation goal for Wicklow from the penalty spot.

Scorers -- Offaly: N Wynne 1-2 (2f), A McDonagh, B Grehan 1-0 each, P Cunningham 0-3, C Cahill, B Norris 0-1 each. Wicklow: A Conway 0-4 (4f), B McCrea 0-3 (2f), Niall Sweeney 1-0 (1pen), T Smith (1 '45'), Philip Murphy 0-1 each.

Offaly -- K Keogh; L Colgan, C Lowry, N Bracken; J O'Connor, E McCabe, P Foy; C Cahill, C MacNa- mee; J Gettings, A McDonagh, G Mann; N Wynne, B Grehan, P Cunningham. Subs: T Mooney for E McCabe, B Norris for G Mann, J Maher for B Grehan

Wicklow -- C Smullen; G Burke, P Geoghegan, J Manley; D Keane, J Kelly, J O'Brien; T Smith, A Corrigan; N Crosbie, B McCrea, C McKenna; A Conway, S Olohan P. Crowley. Subs: S Murphy for G Burke, J Snell for D Keane, M Healy for P Crowley, N Sweeney for N Crosbie, P Murphy for S Olohan.

Ref -- F Barry (Kildare).
http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic- ... 22128.html

Is that another McNamee midfield from Rhode?

yes another macnamee from rhode,cousins of niall and alan. good player..offalys midfield were very good last saturday against wicklow,cuningham had a great game ,grehan wasnt as good as he can play his desision makin was poor even tho he got a goal he wasnt as good as he can play,macdonagh was also quite ..maccabe very solid centre back big loss when he went off injured ..good win tho not every day offaly get a win in aughrim

I won't go into too much detail since I know these lads fairly well, but I think the best summary would be that it's a win in Aughrim which is no mean achievement, and the final score doesn't illustrate that while they didn't play brilliantly at all, it wasn't the type of game where Offaly were under any pressure at any stage. The full back line was generally very good and they kept things well under wraps, while up front they went for goals and got them, even though seven scores from seventeen good scoring chances in the first half is a bit of a worry.

Wicklow made a lot of changes and seemed to improve their team, while Eamonn McCabe's injury and the wind advantage could also have been a factor in Wicklow improving things from their perspective in the second half. I wouldn't like to isolate any one aspect but generally Offaly were second best, albeit with Wicklow never close enough to pose any real threat.

Draw for the quarter finals tonight I believe - Dublin look like a serious force but Offaly still gave them plenty to think about in the league semi while Kildare are probably the other team that stand out from the crowd. At this level it's hard to predict and you'd have to respect what Louth and Laois did as well, and Wexford football is generally improving, but it would certainly be nice to get a home draw. The odds are slightly against though I reckon in that we have home and away arrangements with Laois and Westmeath, both of which are due for away games.

Made the arduous journey to Aughrim and as the Shark says, any win in Wicklow is a good win. Was very impressed with the full back line, notably the full back, Conor Lowry. In the first 10 minutes when Wicklow were full of running, he made some lovely interceptions and dispossessions which steadied the ship and put Offaly on the front foot. Is this lad a son of one the All Ireland winning brothers from Ferbane?

Generally the team did well, and they have a huge penchant for going for goals, sometimes to their detriment as tapping a few balls over the bar at times would probably have been the better option. Although its hard to criticise ambition!

McDonagh and Cunningham were the dangermen in the forwards, both capable of winning their own ball and turning their men.

John Ryan has this team set up nicely and and with a concentration on the more fundamental aspects of forward play in training in the coming weeks, Offaly should fear no one.

True Red wrote: Is this lad a son of one the All Ireland winning brothers from Ferbane?

Mick Lowry, corner back in 1982 i am pretty sure