The annoying Offaly game

Complete waste of time but formalities have their place too I suppose. The main thing is not to pick up any serious injuries and to identify the most secure foothold possible at center forward. Donnellan needs to improve if he wants this position for the final. If Tannion could nail it this would kill two birds with one stone as it would also sort out the problem of where to play such a talented hurler but personally I just feel Iarlath lacks the commanding presence required for no 11. If Cyril is slow to get on his game on Sunday than think Kevin Hynes could be the man. He was a first choice midfielder last year don't forget, but that might have come a year too soon for him. His cameo against Wexford suggests he's hungrier than ever and playing him in an attacking role might bring out the best in him. He certainly has the physique for the CF position, wot you reckon Clash?

And 6inarow??

Same amount of titles as Galway and more successful in recent times than yourselves. A bit of respect there Mr Bags.

Jayo Cluxton wrote:Same amount of titles as Galway and more successful in recent times than yourselves. A bit of respect there Mr Bags.

If the Galway hurlers show Offaly or anyone else for that matter, including Kilkenny, one iota of 'respect' this year then thay can forget it. Galway are the best hurling team in the country.

mossbags wrote:

Jayo Cluxton wrote:Same amount of titles as Galway and more successful in recent times than yourselves. A bit of respect there Mr Bags.

If the Galway hurlers show Offaly or anyone else for that matter, including Kilkenny, one iota of 'respect' this year then thay can forget it. Galway are the best hurling team in the country.

mossbags wrote:Complete waste of time but formalities have their place too I suppose. The main thing is not to pick up any serious injuries and to identify the most secure foothold possible at center forward. Donnellan needs to improve if he wants this position for the final. If Tannion could nail it this would kill two birds with one stone as it would also sort out the problem of where to play such a talented hurler but personally I just feel Iarlath lacks the commanding presence required for no 11. If Cyril is slow to get on his game on Sunday than think Kevin Hynes could be the man. He was a first choice midfielder last year don't forget, but that might have come a year too soon for him. His cameo against Wexford suggests he's hungrier than ever and playing him in an attacking role might bring out the best in him. He certainly has the physique for the CF position, wot you reckon Clash?

Plagiarism.

I wrote this in 1981 and again in 1985.

You just changed the names.

Sunday won't be much of a test for Donnelan but I would still stick with him even though he didn't catch much ball against Stamp the last day. I'd say he just had a bit of an off day against Wexford. I think Hynes is better when he is coming off the bench and it means we have good options when things aren't going well in a particular area as he can play wing back, midfield or in the half forward line. I reckon Harte is more effective on the half forward line and Damian Hayes should be playing inside where he can use his pace and strength. Galway need to give better ball into Joe Canning than they did against Wexford. Rossiter did a good job on Canning will be interesting to see how the Offaly full back does the next day.

patrique wrote:

mossbags wrote:Complete waste of time but formalities have their place too I suppose. The main thing is not to pick up any serious injuries and to identify the most secure foothold possible at center forward. Donnellan needs to improve if he wants this position for the final. If Tannion could nail it this would kill two birds with one stone as it would also sort out the problem of where to play such a talented hurler but personally I just feel Iarlath lacks the commanding presence required for no 11. If Cyril is slow to get on his game on Sunday than think Kevin Hynes could be the man. He was a first choice midfielder last year don't forget, but that might have come a year too soon for him. His cameo against Wexford suggests he's hungrier than ever and playing him in an attacking role might bring out the best in him. He certainly has the physique for the CF position, wot you reckon Clash?

Plagiarism.

I wrote this in 1981 and again in 1985.

You just changed the names.

They had to resort to throwing the sliotar into the net in 81.

Inky is my hero.

Moss, I'd stick with the same starting line up as the Wexford game.

Saying that I'd love to see Tannion really get on his game and force his way into the starting line up, a big physical presence at the front would be more than an added bonus.

I agree we shouldn't show respect to our opponents in the sense that we're overawed by them but at the same time we shouldn't underestimate any of them either.

Offaly will be a good physical game, I'd like to see a more polished performance from us and the wide tally cut significantly.

Just as matter of interest to the Galway lads, as an outsider, what do ye think of Aengus Callanan? Used as sub recently but I have a special interest in him and would like to know from your knowledge, will he make it back on the team?

Real Kerry Fan wrote:Just as matter of interest to the Galway lads, as an outsider, what do ye think of Aengus Callanan? Used as sub recently but I have a special interest in him and would like to know from your knowledge, will he make it back on the team?

Aongus has been excelling of late and he will most likely start as a direct swap for the suspended Smith or he might go in at corner forward depending really what John Mac decides to do with Tannion. Aonghus works himself to the bone which is exactly what this management team look for in their hurlers but he's also what we'd describe as a natural hurler. Has the skill and the accuracy and was only usurped in his starting position because of Aiden Harte's unrelenting progress this year as well as Mcyntires perogative to try and establish a settled 1st team. Sunday is in fact a golden opportunity and perhaps the last opportunity for Aonghus, and anyone else for that matter, to establish themselves on the starting line-up once and for all this Summer.

I HATE BEING RIGHT, WELL ALL THE TIME.

And Antrim should have beaten Offaly.

Should Gaway have stayed in Connacht where they might have beaten Mayo? The standard in Leinster, what with laois, antrim and Offaly, might be beyond them.

Still i suppose playing against better teams will eventually bring them on.

Perhaps this thread was pinned up in the Offaly dressing room. As Moss constantly points out, his threads are widely read and followed. Perhaps his disrespect spurred on the Faithful. He might be quieter next time ...

I only saw the first ten minutes of the second half and then my internet connection crashed but based on that I completely agree with Moss there is nobody to touch Galway this year and one sided games like this only hurt the reputation of hurling. They must have won by about 20 points in the end up??

Great game of hurling and full credit to Offaly who showed real heart and spirit throughout.
Shane Dooley is one of the best hurlers in the land, its all in the breeding. The pace was frantic today and the game was so topsy turvey that a draw is a great and perhaps the only fair result for both sides
Galways defense struggled today, struggled badly, can't remember ever seeing Ollie before and thinking to myself he looks out of his depth but I did that today. He is still our best ball distributor into the forwards but lacks a yard or two nowadays and got burned today more than once, I noticed the same thing happening to Noel Hickey in the first game mind you, Age is no respecter of the greats.
Kavanagh was exposed as well for Offalys 3rd goal and overall it was a case of Murphys law for the full back line today in the first half
There should be no more debate either with regards to Lee coming in as a straight swap for Tony óg, it simply must happen. He came in today for young Barry who although not going well, can feel hard done by as any one of the defenders could have been called at that point imo.
Burke and Farragher were our best unit and scored some real beauties between them.
Burke definitly improved his accuracy tenfold from Nowlan Park but sadly Aiden Harte did not and it was no surprise to see Niall Healy come on in his place for the 2nd half. Healy scored a point immediatly but also did his disappearing act for large parts of the 2nd half.
Aenghus did alright but was caught overcarrying once or twice and I felt we really missed Andy Smith out there today. Hayes and Tan scored some points at crucial times for us today and Joe was probably our best player on the day but I thought he was responsible for poor decision making a couple of times, going for goal very early instead of taking an easy point from a 21 as well as going for shots he'd have been better laying off and vice versa.
Portlaoise next Sat evening for the replay, should be another belter. 2nd year in a row Galway were involved in the game of the Championship and both in Leinster too

We were very lucky to get a draw out of the game and when we were 7 points down at one stage I would have taken a draw. Galway shouldn't feel too down after the game because at least they have a second chance next Saturday. There was some pressure on Dooley to land that point at the finish.

On a side note wasn't nice to see Offaly fans boo Ger Farragher when he was taking a free, even if they thought it wasn't a free there is no need for that.

ps, I'd have some serious questions to ask of the sideline today, Galway completely lost their shape on more than one occasion and I felt direction and calm was in short supply from John Mcyntire. Perhaps he was caught as cold by the onslought of Offaly but he of all people should have seen it coming

clash-of-da-ash wrote:We were very lucky to get a draw out of the game and when we were 7 points down at one stage I would have taken a draw. Galway shouldn't feel too down after the game because at least they have a second chance next Saturday. There was some pressure on Dooley to land that point at the finish.

On a side note wasn't nice to see Offaly fans boo Ger Farragher when he was taking a free, even if they thought it wasn't a free there is no need for that.

Agree 100%, no need for that.
A draw today will be the making of this team. Kinda reminds me of the footballers drawing with Roscommon back in 98 and we all know what happened then.

I was surprised to see them take off Donnelan, I thought he was doing well. Galway seemed to go all defensive after the sending off.

clash-of-da-ash wrote:I was surprised to see them take off Donnelan, I thought he was doing well. Galway seemed to go all defensive after the sending off.

As is so often the case the sending off worked in the diminished teams favour. We were just on the cusp of breaking Offaly's spirit with two goals in a minute and went from 5 points down or something to 5 points up but then yer man gets sent off, and it looked harsh enough, suddenly Offaly have their rallying cry back and their all go again after that.

mossbags[b] wrote:[A draw today will be the making of this team[/b]. Kinda reminds me of the footballers drawing with Roscommon back in 98 and we all know what happened then.

"Drowning man grabs straw" stuff here...Couldn't bate the Biffo's Cody et al are trembling..

If we can beat Laois, and then get an easy draw against galway..........

patrique wrote:If we can beat Laois,

Great to see Antrim aiming so highly

Both of the Galway goals were a result of 6 to 7 step carrys.