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bracknaghboy wrote: ↑Wed Jun 10, 2026 6:30 pm

faithfulfanatic wrote: ↑Wed Jun 10, 2026 3:04 pm
James Mahon, Ruairi Kelly and Ciaran Cleary started in their place.

Did the big man do any damage?

No, not at all.

To be honest didnt see why Offaly played the game based on what i say.

We had our lads off soon after the first 25, not sure where you got the story of the crowd from lohan issue he seemed happy when birr chairman was chatting him.

One thing i noticed is cleary isnt up to that level.

greenairfield wrote: ↑Wed Jun 10, 2026 10:36 pm To be honest didnt see why Offaly played the game based on what i say.

We had our lads off soon after the first 25, not sure where you got the story of the crowd from lohan issue he seemed happy when birr chairman was chatting him.

One thing i noticed is cleary isnt up to that level.

Offaly hurled Clare down in Caherlohan earlier in the year. Some parents traveled down and were denied entry at Lohan’s behest.
Word before this match was that Clare had requested it be behind closed doors again.

I can’t see how Oisin Kelly isn’t being tried as an option at 14, a far better hurler.

Oisin Kelly came in against Wexford and looked bit off the pace I thought. No doubting ability when fully fit but you can't be any way off at this level to not look out of place. Cleary has lots to work with but is he quick enough on ground at this level? I don't know.

As for Lohan, you could see why he would be annoyed if that was the agreement. While this is new to Offaly in recent times, lots of teams are all behind closed doors once they get to this stage of season - training and challenges. It's why nothing gets out of Limerick or other top teams - Donegal and Kerry footballers for example. Clare wouldn't want Dublin or Limerick to know what they are doing and you know well that they will have had spies in Birr if at all possible. Offaly, in their interest should maybe also be thinking like this if serious about taking on Cork.

On the other side of this becoming normal, it may also mean that there develops a growing disconnect between supporters and Co teams which we don't want to lose in GAA. That said, I'm sure every Offaly and Clare fan would have no issue with not being let into Birr challenge game if it meant it helped them beat Cork and Dublin respectively in quarter final.

I thought it was obvious that Johnny Kelly was trying to turn Cleary into a John Hetherton type player for us throughout the league. We just don’t have enough huge lads like that, maybe the game-time and training will help him but there is a lot of work to be done there yet and he’s a decent bit off this level. I would be very surprised if he was considered an option against Cork, considering majority of our forward play is built around speed and movement.

A mountain of seats still available in the Offaly club allocation. About 3 sections worth. They're set to be released back to public sale tomorrow. More likely to be purchased by Cork fans there.

faithfulfanatic wrote: ↑Thu Jun 11, 2026 8:33 am

greenairfield wrote: ↑Wed Jun 10, 2026 10:36 pm To be honest didnt see why Offaly played the game based on what i say.

We had our lads off soon after the first 25, not sure where you got the story of the crowd from lohan issue he seemed happy when birr chairman was chatting him.

One thing i noticed is cleary isnt up to that level.

Offaly hurled Clare down in Caherlohan earlier in the year. Some parents traveled down and were denied entry at Lohan’s behest.
Word before this match was that Clare had requested it be behind closed doors again.

I can’t see how Oisin Kelly isn’t being tried as an option at 14, a far better hurler.

well all this behind closed doors didn't do clare or lohan any good but cork and limerick hurl them out the gate in the munster championship.

For anyone who might be interested there was an interview on Off The Ball on Newstalk tonight with Leo O’Connor and Brian Carroll

No thanks.

What are people’s thoughts/expectations for the game on Sunday? Based on past experience with Ben O’Connor on the sideline, we can expect a bit of early “softening up” of some of our players, with Adam Screeney and Eoghan Cahill surely among the high-profile targets.
I’m sure they will also go for goals early.
The one thing Offaly supporters love about this emerging team is for all the hurling ability on show (and there’s plenty of that) these lads bring savage work ethic, attitude and fight, and I hope that continues right to the final whistle on Sunday.
We’re in bonus territory now, for sure, but I’m hopeful given our form for most matches this year we will give a good account of ourselves.
Not particularly looking forward to being swamped in a sea of blood and bandages, and it’s never too long before some of their supporters start reminding us of their natural born superiority, but I suppose fair play to them, they do bring a massive crowd with them wherever they go.

keep it tight early try not to concede goals . stay competitive for as long as possible. a defeat of under 10 pts id be reasonably happy. and as far as the cork fans go some of the best experiences ive had with opposing fans were the cork crowd in 1999 and 2000? they took the 2000 defeat in good spirits and offered congratulations? unlike some of our leinster rivals during our golden years?

I can’t say the same, unfortunately. We had a particularly annoying band of Rebels behind us in 2000 who spent most of the match asking us “Where is Offaly?” and Who the f*** is Johnny Dooley?” (Johnny was a front runner for hurler of the year going into the semi final that year).
Imagine how happy I was to turn around to them after Johnny hit over a beauty from under the new Cusack Stand to seal the win and ask them “Who the f*** was that, lads? Johnny Dooley?”

i suppose i was lucky who was near me and you were not..!!

To be honest, I plan at being my obnoxious best to these Cork “supporters” on Sunday.

Cork will definitely go for early blood.
Their problem may also our problem. They're well able to run up a massive score - if they have the edge on a team.
So we want to avoid an avalanche of goals anyway.

Are we going to see a repeat on the timber fest from the early exchanges in the 2023 U20 final?
I believe it would do Cork no good.
Back then, the match was essentially an U20 team vs an U18 team. As All Irelands go, it was a tap in for Cork, given the quality they had.
Had they picked up a red card (and they should have, by rights), it could have derailed them,

However, there is a well established notion in Cork that they've been badly served by playing fair and their lack of success is partially down to them being too pure at hurling and being bullied.
That game in 2023 helped boost Ben O'Connor's candidacy in some quarters down there. They won, but also won with a bit of hatchetery thrown in as well.