!!! The Dubs Destroy Offaly in Hurling !!

Yavvy

Dublin 4-21 Offaly 2-6

Dublin produced the shock of the weekend by pulling off an over-whelming victory over Offaly in the second phase of the Allianz NHL. In doing so, the Dubs have salvaged Division One status for another year, while the relegation concerns now rest of the shoulders of their midland opponents.

Offaly, who were without the services of Rory Hanniffy, Brian Whelahan and Ger Oakley (all injured) found it impossible to match the pace and hunger of the Metropolitans, who were desperate to save themselves from the drop.

From the outset, Dublin played with intent and goals from Liam Ryan and Conal Keaney (a free) helped them into a 2-8 to 0-5 lead at half time. Offaly had started promisingly though, going 0-4 to 0-2 in front by the ninth minute, but they managed only to add one more point after being rocked by those two goals.

Keaney and Michael Carton tagged on points at the start of the second half to extend Dublin's lead, but still Offaly were struggling. Damian Murray did pull a goal back, but by then the margin had grown to 12 points, 2-15 to 1-6.

The final nails in Offaly's coffin came with a double strike from David Donnelly in the final quarter, to help Dublin to a 4-20 to 2-6 advantage. Offaly's second goal came through Conor Gath, while Fallon's 75-yard free was the icing on Dublin's cake.

gerire

Originally posted by Alany
Dublin 4-21 Offaly 2-6

The final nails in Offaly's coffin came with a double strike from David Donnelly in the final quarter, to help Dublin to a 4-20 to 2-6 advantage. Offaly's second goal came through Conor Gath, while Fallon's 75-yard free was the icing on Dublin's cake.

Ah yes a good Crumlin man scoring in his first game back for the Dubs for a while now, good lad Davey.

Now where is that usual queue of Dublin begrudgers now?

Mighty_Mouse

Yes all the way to the top now for the Dubs!!! They'll surely be capable of beatin Offaly if they meet in a championship match!!:D
Seriously though congrats.

Yavvy

Well it does give them a boost for the championship and will raise their confidence any team that is capable of scoring 4-21 will look dangerous to the "second tier" teams in hurling. I know wexford and kilkenny wont exactly be shaking in their boots but it will make laois, offaly and Meath pay attention

kaimera

Dublin hurlers == jeckle && hyde.

Ye went out one week and only lost by a few points to kilkenny wasn't it?

Get destroyed then the next week.

repeat

repeat

A good win over Offaly I'll admit but it's not good if ye dont follow up on it good.

Yavvy

your right Kaimera, its been up and down for some time, but it is a great boost. Dublin have secured their leauge status and it has to be treated as a building block . ..

thirdmantackle

How are Meath considered second tier?? Roscommon beat them two weeks ago. We should enter the Leinster Championship seeing as the Connacht council refuses to run one out west

Yavvy

I never said Meath were second tier... Personally I would love to see the rossies playing in leinster ,,,just another team for the dubs to beat !

thirdmantackle

Well it does give them a boost for the championship and will raise their confidence any team that is capable of scoring 4-21 will look dangerous to the "second tier" teams in hurling. I know wexford and kilkenny wont exactly be shaking in their boots but it will make laois, offaly and Meath pay attention

Ah, yes you did. I wonder could Roscommon enter in the Leinster Championship? I'd say Mayo and Sligo would be interested too seeing as there is no Connacht Championship. There's another two teams Dublin could beat.

Yavvy

well the new system should address that problem anyway
...

Does anyone understand the new system ? I feckin dont

Alan.

klong

shock! horror! dublin hurlers win a match

thirdmantackle

Yeah, and it wasn't their footballers (propably the most over rated team in Ireland):p

laoisfan

Well it does give them a boost for the championship and will raise their confidence any team that is capable of scoring 4-21 will look dangerous to the "second tier" teams in hurling. I know wexford and kilkenny wont exactly be shaking in their boots but it will make laois, offaly and Meath pay attention

I seem to recall Laois beating Dublin in hurling recently?

BTW - I think if Offaly do meet Dublin in the championship it would AND will be a different story.

On the day Dublin deserved to win but as people keep pointing out priorities differ when it comes to the league and the championship.

Anyway, well done Dublin.

--laoisfan

Yavvy

Klong... Dublin hurlers are punching well above their weight. the have spent the entire season playing agains the top hurling counties in Ireland (bar Laois) and have done themselves proud.

Thirdman tackle... Im my opinion the most overrated team in foorball is roscommon and the most over rated sport is handball :eek: ..apples

Laois, I dont suggust for one secong that the victory against Offaly means we will beat them or anyone else in the championship, however it does give a much needed boost to the confidence. As you pointed out Laois did hammer us ( directy after a great game against Clare I think) so scoring 4-21 in any competitice game is a boost... scoring it against Offaly is a great boost.

thirdmantackle

I think the words "straws" and "clutching" are very apt here

Yavvy

yeah im also fond of "pot" and "kettle" :ninja:

Waylander

Did the dubs not give Offaly a bit of a fright in last years championship. If I recall correctly Offaly only pulled a couple of points clear with minutes to go?

Yavvy

i think your right... I dont think offaly are the powerful hurling county they used to be... but if i was a betting man the odd would still be on them to beat us ...if ever so slightly shorter than before

Waylander

I'm not putting us up there as favourites, don't worry about that. I am just pointing out that it is not as outlandish a possibility as some of the above posts imply.

klong

happened to meath v offaly 2(?) years ago, lost by 4 points methinks it was. we were in it until the last 10mins afair

thirdmantackle

we'll see how far Dublin get this year in the hurling and football

Yavvy

thirdmantackle..we will see how far everyone gets in hurling and football this year...thats the nature of a compitition.....

Waylander

In football they will win Leinster but not get much further. Winning Leinster at the minute is not much of an achievement, I think the standard here is at its lowest ebb in some time. In Hurling anything they achieve is an unexpected bonus, can't lose. Where do your loyalties lie third man?

Yavvy

I am of the impression Thirdman is a Rossie... that is to say hes from Roscommon

thirdmantackle

did u figure that out on your own?? Well done!! There is not a chance of Dublin winning the Leinster football title.

Offaly, Laois and Meath are well ahead of them if you ask me. And Kildare, Wexford, Wicklow and Longford aren't too far off them.

Looks like the Dubs will be experiencing traffic outside of the Pale once again this year...

Yavvy

:rolleyes:

Your certainly entertaining....

Alan.

Imposter

Originally posted by Waylander
In football they will win Leinster but not get much further. Winning Leinster at the minute is not much of an achievement, I think the standard here is at its lowest ebb in some time. In Hurling anything they achieve is an unexpected bonus, can't lose. Where do your loyalties lie third man?

That's funny too. I reckon almost any team in Leinster could beat any other. It's unlikely a team such as Longford, Westmeath, Carlow or Wexford could put a good enough run together but it is possible. I also reckon Wicklow, Louth and Offaly are the weakest teams at the moment but still capable of beating anyone. So that leaves Dublin, Meath, Kildare and Laois to be the favourites.

To say the standard in Leinster is crap is to ignore the effort it takes to win Leinster in comparison most of the other provences. To win connaught you need to win 2 competitive games. To win Munster, it's possible to play just one competitive match, although 2 matches would be the norm. To win Ulster is also tough and it probably is the best provence at the moment. So I'd put Leinster as being the 2nd best provence standards wise.

Waylander

To say the standard in Leinster is crap is to ignore the effort it takes to win Leinster in comparison most of the other provences.

No actually it is not to say that at all. It is to say that I do not think that any team in Leinster is as good as Galway, Kerry, Tyrone, Armagh or Cork. I have been a dubs fan for over 20 years so I know just how diificult it is to win Leinster you can rest assured on that. I just think that there are no very strong teams at the moment. Meath and Dublin are both very average. Laois are riding high under Micko, but again I think that is partly down to the traditional Leinster powers being poor as opposed to Laois being an excellent outfit. My only consolation is that Meath are almost certainly at an even lower ebb then the Dubs. As for you third man, I can believe you are a Rossie as it has become apparent you do not have a clue what you are talking about. It is only two years since Dublin were Leinster champions after demolishing Meath en route. They only went out of the championship by a width of a post to the eventual All Ireland champions that year. I do not think they are that good this year, neither Cosgrove or Goggins are playing that well. In fact last year Jason Sherlock was one of our better players and it really pains me to say that. Last year we lost to Laois, I am not sure I have seen Dublin play that badly very often. However, faair dues to Laois, I was happy to see them win a Leinster title but I cannot see them going any further then that, if they even do that weel this year.

thirdmantackle

I never said Leinster was crap!!

I agree about the amount of games that have to be played - but believe me, Offaly will be challenging this year. They are a good bit ahead of Kildare and Meath if you ask me.

It'll be Offaly or Laois to win Leinster. the Dubs are just missing that bit of quality.

Connacht titles aren't easily won either. Galway, Mayo, Ros and Sligo are all about the same with each capable of beating each other on the day. Leitrim can always cause an upset.

The Rooster

I do not think they are that good this year, neither Cosgrove or Goggins are playing that well. In fact last year Jason Sherlock was one of our better players and it really pains me to say that.

Waylander, Goggins has started in about 20% (probably less) of Dublin's games over the last 18 months, so its nearly impossible to say what his intercounty form is like, and his form is certainly not significant to how Dublin will perform this year, as Lyons seems likely to start with Henry, Chrisite, Griffin, Andrews, Ryan and Moran in defence.

Likewise Cosgrove's form is of little relevance. He was useless in the league in 2003, his form for the championship improved marginally. He's been useless again in the league this year. He's finally been dropped by Lyons and will be no more than a subsititute come the summer.

Why the hell on earth does it pain you that Jason is one of our better players??? Since he gave up the soccer to concetrate on football his form has improved dramatically, back to and then better than his 1995 form. Injury held him back a couple of years, but without question he's been one of the best two (second only to Senan Connell) Dublin forwards in Dublin club football for the last two years. Without a doubt he's one of our best forwards, and his recent form is absolute top drawer. He's been running rings around corner backs throughout the league. He got a great goal v Longford in the league, another v Wexford in a recent challenge and another 3 for Na Fianna in a club game last week. So why, as a so-called Dublin supporter, does that pain you???

I think Dublin and Laois are pretty much equal in terms of strength, and the best two teams in Leinster. Dublin, this year, should have the better forwards, but Laois are immense at midfield. They've 3 of the best 5 midfielders in the province. The rest of Leinster is only marginally behind and very capable of beating Dublin and Laois.

Imposter

Originally posted by thirdmantackle
I never said Leinster was crap!!

I agree about the amount of games that have to be played - but believe me, Offaly will be challenging this year. They are a good bit ahead of Kildare and Meath if you ask me.

It'll be Offaly or Laois to win Leinster. the Dubs are just missing that bit of quality.

Connacht titles aren't easily won either. Galway, Mayo, Ros and Sligo are all about the same with each capable of beating each other on the day. Leitrim can always cause an upset.

That was me who misinterpreted something Waylander said in thinking he meant Leinster was crap.

I don't think Offaly will beat Westmeath in the first round. It's always hard to know with the dubs. They'll be generally overhyped but you never know exactly how good or bad they actually are. Again Laois look good on paper and probably have the easiest looking draw to the semis but nobody knows if they can actually match last years performances.

[edit]And of course Meath are quiet which is always dangerous.

Yavvy

" BOOM BOOM BOOM let here you say JAYO"

as embarrassing as that is .. I will happily sing it again if he can reproduce 1995 for us again !

Rooster, I dont think you can question Waylanders loyalties to Dublin. He is a Dub.

Some of us don’t like certain players, since 1995 Jayo really hasn’t performed for Dublin...but things are looking up, I think your right about his form improving dramatically. having said that he has produced several seasons of poo for us ( as have a lot of players) and I understand waylanders position. IMO this could be his year... but he has a lot to prove.

Alan

Waylander

Rooster my point was actually that they were playing well in 2002 when we progressed reasonably well, but last year when they were not playing well we did not, so actually their form is of great relevance. You have merely backed up my point. As regards Sherlock I have to disagree with you. I think he lived off an All Ireland final goal for far too long, but last season, and so far this season he has actually impressed me. It pained me to say it because I had been a massive critic and cursed him every time he was on the pitch in the interim. I felt he was too small to be effective, and he had lost alot of his speed which was really the only reason he broke into the team in first place. In fact early last season I started a thread saying I could not understand how he was still involved and got agreement form several other Dublin and non Dublin fans alike. However as I said in my last post he has actually begun to impress me since last season. So yet again you are agreeing with me. So I would suggest you read the posts poperly before you start shooting your mouth of again Rooster, and I certainly do not need the likes of you to question my loyalty as a Dubs fan.

Thirdman it was me who said the standard in Leinster is poor at the minute. I honestly think it is. I do not think Offaly will be up there. As I said in my last post I think Dublin and Laois are the two teams who should do well in the province, with Dublin winning, but I do not expect either team to do very well outside the province.

Yavvy

Thirdman, TBH I don’t think you have the first clue about football in Leinster

as imposter and waylander say It will be Dublin and Laois again this year
The teams that follow close behind are Meath, Westmeath and Wexford IMO
while all the others are another step away from them.

Lets have a look at Offaly for a second
they have been playing in division 2A this year, their only real opisition was Donegal
who beat them ( I don’t know what the hell happened to Monaghan ? )
compared to Westmeath who played in the top division and were very close to beating Cork, Longford and Fermanagh. infact the only teams that hammered them were Dublin, Tyrone and Kerry. Then towards the end of the season they had a great win vs Mayo. Westmeath have been playing the harder games and will be better prepared to face Offaly. All the training in the world ( which is what Offaly leauge games were) cant compare to good hard competitive games against Irelands best teams.

Offaly will be beaten by Westmeath, they in turn will loose to Dublin. Dublin and Laois have the best shot at leinster this year !

PS the rossies wont beat Sligo this year, it will be a Mayo V Sligo final IMO.

Imposter

Originally posted by Alany
Offaly will be beaten by Westmeath, they in turn will loose to Dublin. Dublin and Laois have the best shot at leinster this year !

/me bookmarks this thread - may resurface on 7th June.

I think you are talking Westmeath up too much. They were lucky to escape relegation and should have won some of the games they just lost. Considering some teams don't put much effort into the league and Westmeath definitely did put the effort in, they should have done better.
Then again you are talking Dublin up a bit too!:)

thirdmantackle

I agree. Offaly beat Kildare last week. And they were ticking along nicely in the division 2. Westmeath are another overrated team like the Dubs. The media give them too much print space.
Offaly will be up there - mark my words!!

As for Sligo beating the Rossies, I'll reserve my judgement on that. All I'll say is that Sligo are a county of born losers. They never play well in Connacht

Waylander

As opposed to Roscommon?

The Rooster

I think he lived off an All Ireland final goal for far too long

Jason did not score in the All Ireland final of 1995. He did have a great game and a great season. The difference between nearly winning the All Ireland the previous few years to finally crossing the line. An absolute disgrace that he missed out on an All Star.

Jason did disappoint in the championship in the few years after 1995. He retained his place because there was nobody any better. Every year we tried countless different corner forwards in the league, none of whom were up to it, so we had no choice but to revert to Jason come championship.

I havent read the Jason Sherlock thread yet, it didnt appear on my screen till now. I'll read it shortly. But its no surprise that non-Dubs are mainly negative about him. Most dislike him because of all the publicity he got in 1995. That doesnt annoy me because its down to jealously and rivalry.

Apologies for questioning your level of support waylander, but it does greatly annoy me when Dubs have a go at Sherlock. Most of this, in my experience, is again to do with the publicity he gets, as he's very rarely been in the team when he didnt deserve to be, and he tries his absolute heart out any time he wears the blue jersey. So it galls me when Dubs begrudge one of their own for making a name for himself. When it said it pained you, it seemed you had a pure dislike for Sherlock, and no matter how well he played you didnt like him. Apologies for the misunderstanding.

I wouldnt say Goggins is in bad form. He has done reasonably well each time he's turned out for the Dubs this year, but Lyons only rates him as our 4th or 5th best half back. He'll do well if/when he gets his chance, but the guys who are ahead of him are all good players.

As a Dub I'm not concerned one bit with Goggins or Cosgrove's form. Cosgrove looks like he's just a 2002 flash in the pan and we have to accept that. What I am concerned about is
- Darren Magee either playing at centre back or midfield when he's patently not up to it
- Our freetaking, though Mossy Quinn has shown signs that he's improving in this department and may well be up to the task
- The complete lack of forwards of any ability on the bench
- Paul Griffin's slight dip in form, though I'm confident he'll be back to his best come championship

thirdmantackle

sligo havn't won a Connacht title since 1975. Every year they are talked about as the dark horses but fail to deliver. It was only on two occasions where they got to play away from Connacht that they showed what they can do - vs Tyrone 1n 2002 and Kildare in 2001, and I suppose Armagh in 2002 as well.

Ros last won the Nestor Cup in 2001, and are usually never far away from winning it.

Yavvy

Rooster, I think its not just Dubs fans that give their own players a hard time. Maurice fitz and Andy cole spring to mind straight away... most supporters have an opinion on who should be on the team and who shouldnt. I think my main problem with Jayo after 1995 was Tom Carr, to my mind he didnt really look at alteratives when Jayo was poducing the goods. he was the best available on the panel but not the county. Supporters in general love to be critical of players, take Cosgrove for example I have held back on slagging him cause I dont think hes a flash in the pan, I think he can reproduce his 2002 form, but some other dublin fans out there call him the biggest bag of ****e they have ever seen, same with whelan and Behlan and would you believe I once heard a dublan fan say paddy christy was a good full back once.

up until Last summer I thought Jayo was a one season wonder, it boggled my mind how he kept getting his game, I spoke to a friend of mine who was involved with the dublin seniors 3 years ago and he explained that Jayo was fantastic in training and thats why he kept getting picked...hence my old opinion of him..i think there were a lot of people like me !

But I have an open mind again (arent I kind) and Im really hopefull

PS: im not as pesamistic as Waylander about our chances outside Leinster The only teams I fear at the moment are Armagh and Kerry. I honestly think the Dubs have the beating of cork, tyrone, Galway, mayo, limerick and anyone else

The Rooster

I think that if we make the Leinster final and play Laois, we would gain revenge for last year. But its far from beyond the bounds of possibilities that we lose to Offaly or Westmeath in the Leinster quarters.

I would love to meet Armagh again this year, as I'd be very hopeful of finally turning them over. Kerry are the team I'd most like to avoid, as I just can't see us beating them. I'd give us at least a 50/50 chance of beating anyone else - all down to the performance on the day. On our day we can be great and on others we can be abysmal. I'm would not be confident of putting enough very good performances back to back to win Sam, but I live in hope.

Waylander

I think Billy Morgan will revitalise Cork. He briought them All Ireland glory before and I think he will do it again. He also brought Nemo rangers All Ireland glory. I feel that knid of management should not be underestimated. Maybe I am talking Galway up a bit, I still cannot believe the hammering WEXFORD gave them in the league. that result was a shocker. Rooster, what game did he score the goal that he lost his boot in, was that not the final? n If not I stand corrected. Thirdman noone ever really talked about Sligo till they had a good run in, I think it was the second year of the qualifiers. They have improved alot in the last couple of years. I know Roscommon won Sligo recently, but inly because Mayo, Galway and Sligo were on the same side of the draw. If my memory serves correctly they only had to beat Leitrim to get to the final. I would not really rank that as a staggering achievement!

Dunno about wanting to meet Armagh again. three times in twelve months I went to Croker, one of them was the most miserable weather I have ever sat through there, it even snowed, and they won all three games. I was heart broken.

thirdmantackle

What you on about? In 2001 we beat New York, Galway (yes, thats right- Galway!!) and Mayo to win the Connacht title. No sign or Leitrim or sligo there. We then lost to Galway in the AI quarter final after the GAA shafted us in the draw. The fact that it was played in McHale Park also had a lot to do with it.

and there is no way Dublin will compete with Galway, Armagh, Kerry or Offaly this year. The dubs are ****. Face the horrible truth lads.

Waylander

Sorry I thought they played Galway in the final and Leitrim in the semi. I knew they had played London or New York, but those games hardly count as championship standard games. If they beat Galway and Mayo they did it the hard way and fair dues to them.

The Rooster

In 2001, Galway completely blew Roscommon away in the quarter finals (something like 0-14 to 0-5). Roscommon were dire, showing no bottle, no passion and little ability, and it proved the first game v Galway was a fluke, when Galway had a particularly bad day. The Connacht final v Mayo had a tremendously exciting finish, and I was delighted that Ros finally got the victory that they deserved based on the previous 70 minutes. But with Ros's subsequent failure and Mayo losing to Westmeath, it was probably fair to say it was a game between two mediocre sides.

Its very hard to judge Roscommon this year, playing in Div 2. They beat themselves v Donegal in shooting something like 15 wides to Donegal's 4, while only losing by a point (not dissimilar to Dublin v Laois last year!). But then they got hammered by Offaly in what was effecitvely a promotion playoff. I dont know whether that signalled that Ros are rubbish or Offaly are very good - or maybe there was some other reason for the result?

thirdmantackle

What planet are ye on?? Galway 0-14, Ros 1-5 was the scoreline. Roscommon were on the beer for two weeks after winning that Connacht title, and yes they were terrible that day in McHale Park. Once Galway came out in the draw it was curtains. I didn't even bother going to the game cause I knew what would happen.

And as for the victory in Tuam being a fluke? Thats bull****. Roscommon just played Galway off the park - and Galway fans have never been able to accept that since.

Waylander

What the f*ck were they doing on the beer like that when they were still in the Championship. You cant get away with that in this day and age. One night would have been fair enough but they deserved tobe bet if they partied like that. I think you are the GAA equivalent of an ABU, except your irrational hatred is aimed at Dublin and not United. There is no reasonable grounds for stating Dublin is as bad as you say they are. They narrowly lost to the Leinster champions after kicking several thousand wides with no free kick taker last year. And the previous year hit the post with the last kick of the ball in a one point loss to the All Ireland winners of that year. I think we are weak, but i think if we could find a solid free kick taker that would chage alot. Rooster, I hear your comments about Mossy Quinn, but his free kick taking impressed me once or twice during last season, but come championship he was not at the races.

The Rooster

14 scores to 6, that was a right beating thirdmantackle. But you do have your Connacht title to saviour from that year - and what do Galway have?? Oh yeah, the All Ireland winners medals! But if you believe a Connacht semi is more important than an All Ireland quarter final, and the second game rather than the first was the fluke, then I'd hate to quash your fantasy.

I think you're right about Billy Morgan waylander. Cork v Kerry should be a cracker this year. Very hard to predict. I still fancy Kerry, but an upset wouldnt surprise me.

Jason scored his goal with no boot v Laois in the Leinster semi of 1995. He got a point in the 10 point drubbing against Meath and a great goal in the All Ireland semi v Cork - which was probably his first kick of the game, but it was a crucial turing point. He didnt score in the final, but I thought it was his best game. Being so young he didnt seem to get as nervous as a lot of the others did.

Mossy had a poor league campaign in 2003. Showed glimpses of potential, but made plenty of mistakes and seemed a poor decision maker. I remember saying this time last year that I'd drop him from the panel altogether (the reactionary that I am!), tell him to work on his game at Vincents, and give him a guarantee that in 2004 he'd get at least a 3 or 4 game run in the league. Well he wasnt dropped from the panel, and he was next to useless when he did play in the 2003 championship, but he has shown vast improvements in the league this year. He's now worth his place based on his general play. And his freetaking percentages are improving all the time. He's still capable of having mares, but I'm hopeful he'll have a good championship.

Big Ears

Arent we a little off topic , this is about a Dublin Hurling match after all isnt it ?

thirdmantackle

only the start. We've wandered into much deeper territory.

Well it was our first Connacht title in 10 years. we deserved to go a little mad. I think the provincial title was the ambition that year, and once it was achieved the management and players took their eye off the bigger picture. We had a 5 week break between the connacht final and the galway game. Galway were playing a match every two weeks after we beat them the first time. They were much better prepared

The Rooster

We had a 5 week break between the connacht final and the galway game. Galway were playing a match every two weeks after we beat them the first time. They were much better prepared

Good point. In all fairness both games had flukish elements to them, in that both teams could point to mitigating factors in their defeat. Galway have, and have had for a few years, a better set of players than Roscommon, but that doesnt mean they'll beat Ros every time. Ros, of course, have the superior manager :cool: