Offaly Hurling Championships 2014

[jimbob17]

Agree with Lone shark here......KK were excellent...and will take stopping in Leinster.....fierce strong up the middle and Mahon was excellent today along with Kilmartin, as was currams and Gorman who has showed some real bite he previously lacked up front .....On the wings, Con Mahon, Brian Leonard and McConville were very good too and KK never looked troubled from start to finish........

one thing i did feel was that Rynaghs needed to use breeze better in 1st half......while they were playing a short game all year and doing so successfully, i felt they over did it and i would think that their management would have thought the same......at times the delivery was on and it wasnt given.....at the the end of the 1st half a few long deliveries went in and they got a couple of scores and nearly a goal or 2 aswell...... I thought Kelly or someone who could win clean possession should have been put in at 14 and let Stephen Quirke (who looked dangerous throughout) feed off that.....rafferty was ok to win it but probably doesnt have the hurling to threaten any more than that and might have been better served at centre forward in stopping Healions dominance...... Kilmartin had a field day today too and this middle third for the KKs dominated...... Rynaghs tried to run through them and play a football oriented game instead of getting them to turn and run back with quick ball played in behind...... as such it even looked like rugby at times and all the space was covered off once rynaghs got near the half forward line when playing into the wind in 2nd half...... With Healion sitting on his own in front of goal protecting the lead and concession of the goals needed by Rynaghs....

[sam88885a]

well done to kk
to me they best of there 3 titles .

i thought st rynagh were crazy to put shortt on young kiely .he should have stayed at centre back .
to me they made the same mistake as coolderry more their " hard man" onto an 18 year old .
young kiely didnt blow a fuse either when o connor gave him the handle of the hurl into the groin at the start .

c mahon destroyed connelly in the first half and was my man of the match .
kk let the balll do the work and everyone fights like dogs for each other . grogan and b leonard are really talent hurlers both can split defences with a pass from 80 yards
d currams is special . it time people give him and kk the credit the deserve . there are no ego on this team , no one pointing that others to chase down there man unlike offaly where 3 of the star forwards do little else .


22 games unbeaten in offaly and i cant see that changing soon .
kk skill workrate and team work are far far better than any other team in offaly .
i heard a rynagh guy coming out from the match saying winter hurling suits kk , never heard such bullshite . the havent been beaten in 22 games most of them were played in the summer .
finally i love to see offaly copy kk style of hurling rather than this short passing like rynagh and offaly played last year .
well do to danny and the boys won in style today ,join only a few great clubs to win 3 in a row .
it will take a good team to beat them if the hurl like that again .

[Offalys Future]

Brilliant achievement by kk. Congrats to all the players.

[sam88885a]

county final over kk retain there title as i predicted here back in may . i thought it would be a rynagh kk final looking at the groups and that there would be only one winner .
honestly it didnt matter which offaly club were there this year kk would still win . they were in second gear all year, like most good teams did enough .i knew rynagh wouldnt get to play the nice hurling that clareen allowed them to play in the semi final .

it was amazing to hear birr clareen coolderry guys talk last week about this rynagh team and what a job f foard had done ,how super fit he had them and how fast they pass they ball and how they would run kk around o connor park .
kk people knew rynagh would not get a second on the ball never mind time to place a pass and run for the return .
this kk teams work twice as hard as any other team in offaly . j dunne has there in great shape and d owens has them playing great hurling
its time for the hurling people in offaly to accept that kk are at the top table of offaly hurling and kk are there to stay .
d owens has show again how good a manager he is . kk had a simple game plan and kk first touch and striking was much better than rynagh .
b whelahan show look for help of owens

i think kk wont be happy with a county title and will give leinster a right crack .i think the are good enough to win leinster at least.

[shannonbanks14]

After a hard night drowning me sorrows, and eating humble pie, well done to KK way the better team. Can't give out to much about Fran Forde as he operated very professionally all year, but yesterday with weather conditions having changed in the last few weeks we needed a plan b to the running passing game and there wasnt one. I dont think we are as bad as the result suggests and are probably 5pts a lesser team. But we will have our day hopfully, in the meantime all the best to KK in leinster they are a good side and a good set of fellas.

[Toxicity234]

Well lads I didn't see that coming.
Kilcormac Killoughey were outstanding.
Before the match today I though Work Rate, Physically and hurling wise Rynaghs would be a match for Kilcormac Killoughey. I though that experience would be the difference between the team.
After the match I am still of the opinion that Rynaghs had the hurlers and Physical to match Kilcormac Killoughey and they work just as hard as Kilcormac Killoughey but they didn't have the game plan.
Some on here some think that Kilcormac Killoughey hurling style is out of date. Hard work and Smart use of the ball is never out of date.
Rynaghs were using the hand pass to try to find their man and keep the ball.
Kilcormac Killoughey were using the hand pass to get the ball to the man in the best position to use the ball.
If this was modern hurling vs traditional Hurling they was only one winner but it wasn't it was smart hurling vs "the System"

Offaly intercounty have been playing "the System"for almost a 8 years now and what have we to show for it??

This is an exceptional Rynagh's team. They have the work rate, the power and the Skill to come through and win Club All irelands. Francis Forde has individual brought them on. They forwards tackling is excellent. The only thing need to learn is that no hurler is faster than the Ball. Rynaghs need to learn to mix it up and use Rafferty as an out ball and get some good early Ball in quirke and they be a complete team. When you have a half back line of Shortt, Conneely and Camon. Any of the 3 could strike the ball 90 yards in a second and yesterday they didn't strike the ball at all.
Hugely disappointing. Rynagh's beat themselves by starving there forward line of Ball.

Kilcormac Killoughey. What can you say. Offaly Hurling Messiah. For Years they had coaches trying to teach them different style of hurling and a few had them playing like Rynagh's did yesterday and they were always second best in county. Now They are the Kingpins and it up to the Clubs like Rynagh's, Birr, and Clareen to try to get to Kilcormac Killoughey level or these clubs will have to wait for this team to fade and look at the average age of this team these clubs will be waiting a very long time for that to happen.

If the purpose of life is to live them the purpose of hurling is to use the ball effectively. Rynagh's got sucked into trying to protecting ball more than using it correctly.

As for Man of the Match. for me it was the sliotar. Kilcormac killoughey use it so well (long,short, Hand pass striking. everything Kilcormac Killoughey did with the ball and without had a purpose) it(the sliotar) did all the work and That my friend is what Offaly hurling is all about.

[sam88885a]

i was talking to a guy today who didnt think kk would handle the pace and movement of rynagh yesterday .
he said how wrong he was and said he has never saw an offaly team so furiousos in the tackle and kk had the game won after 15 minutes .
d owen got his game plan spot on ,playing the half forward line deep leaving currams to do damage inside .
yesterday underlines they question HOW DID B WHELAHAN GET THE OFFALY JOB AHEAD OF D OWENS.

[GreatDayForTheParish]

Among the worst county finals in recent memory. Two bad teams playing out a bad match.

Rynaghs are poor. As are KK. People may wonder how I can say that, especially about our deserved three in a row champions. The answer is simple. Many of those KK players have been given many chances to test themselves as hurlers on the inter-county stage only to have failed repeatedly. It's very nice for Slevin, Mahon, Healion, Leonard, Currams, etc to dominate poor teams in a poor championship in the comfort of their KK jersey. For me, however, the intercounty stage is hurlings ultimate theatre and is my main focus. Until those players show some capability at that exceptional level for Offaly, against the best players on the best pitches in the best weather etc, then they remain, to me, the best of bad bunch in Offaly. Contrast with the Birr team of 10 years ago containing players who had distinguished themselves for their county.

Likewise Rynaghs, how many of their players are of inter-county standard? Stephen Quirke? Niall Wynne? This at a time when Offaly achingly needs Rynaghs, after a 14 year absence, to start making a meaningful contribution to the county team of 2-3 quality players every year.

While the intercounty team is so low, the Offaly club championship is devalued. Bald men fighting over a comb. They can have it. We pause instead until NHL 2015 when these KK players will have the chance to lead Offaly again. We wait in hope.

[Toxicity234]

Among the worst county finals in recent memory. Two bad teams playing out a bad match.

Rynaghs are poor. As are KK. People may wonder how I can say that, especially about our deserved three in a row champions. The answer is simple. Many of those KK players have been given many chances to test themselves as hurlers on the inter-county stage only to have failed repeatedly. It's very nice for Slevin, Mahon, Healion, Leonard, Currams, etc to dominate poor teams in a poor championship in the comfort of their KK jersey. For me, however, the intercounty stage is hurlings ultimate theatre and is my main focus. Until those players show some capability at that exceptional level for Offaly, against the best players on the best pitches in the best weather etc, then they remain, to me, the best of bad bunch in Offaly. Contrast with the Birr team of 10 years ago containing players who had distinguished themselves for their county.

Likewise Rynaghs, how many of their players are of inter-county standard? Stephen Quirke? Niall Wynne? This at a time when Offaly achingly needs Rynaghs, after a 14 year absence, to start making a meaningful contribution to the county team of 2-3 quality players every year.

While the intercounty team is so low, the Offaly club championship is devalued. Bald men fighting over a comb. They can have it. We pause instead until NHL 2015 when these KK players will have the chance to lead Offaly again. We wait in hope.

Slevin has started played 8 time for Offaly over 8 years . League and championship game.
Mahon has being outstanding for Offaly over the last 3 years on poor forward line. Sometime he was the only forward going the donkey work the rest were stand with their hand on there hips.
Ger Healion has never played a championship game at full back and has 5 games at centre back in the league and one at full back. He was outstanding at centre back last year in the championship.
Lenord has played 2 league game from offaly in midfield and was dropped.
Currams has been outstanding for Offaly over the last few years. he has only played full forward for Offaly when we have played with a sweeper.

As for Rynagh's Has any of the rynagh's back 6 played a league or championship game for Offaly?? Has the midfielder ever played for the county.
Stephen Wynne and Quirke have played and done well but they were dropped.
When Half fit lads like Dooley, Kenny are been picked ahead of these lads and other with in the county your on a hiding to nothing. that not a go at these lads they should be pick if their not full fit.

If failing is not been given a proper chance then both clubs have players that failed.
Kilcormac Killoughey have tested themselves against the best from Wexford, Dublin, Laois, Tipperary and Galway and never been found wanting.
They a super set of hurlers and they haven't been used at inter county level. Why because they weren't from far enough south in the county.
That Shit has to Stop. Jesus christ we as a county played Joe Brady centre forward and Ger Healion Full forward Why cause the rest of the forwards were too lazy to try to win there own ball but worst then we try to run the ball back to the forwards.

[GreatDayForTheParish]

It's all been far too fleeting thus far from the KK men at intercounty level. I struggle to think the last time a KK man had an exceptional game for Offaly (in that they were comfortably the best Offaly player on show) let alone a season in the kind that Brian Carroll had this year. And Healion? Never had the natural pace, skill and this year didn't even have the basic fitness.

I'm probably being hard on them. But as now deserved three in a row champions, this scrutiny comes with the territory and is a marker of their clubs rise. Offaly needs these players, if they have the capability, to be the backbone of a new Offaly team. The test at the next level awaits, a test they have yet to pass.

[sam88885a]

greatDayForTheParish
great to see u giving credit where it deserved .kk won 3 bad finals in a row , won a lenster title too because the standard of club hurling is at a new low since birr are not there.

birr won 8 titles from 99 to 08 i think ,offaly didnt do anything ,lost by 32 points to kilkenny . i suppose that kk fault .

b carroll had a good year after over a decade of under preforming .

kk lads like c mahon d currams d kilmartain j gorman b leonard c slevin k grogan and the healions were fuck around by offaly managment over they years . c cassidy and h kilmartain got the same treatment in the 90s
in their early twenties they all were brought in and left sitting on the bench and then dropped for lads like d molloy c parlon k brady t carroll j mulrooney d mooney c coughlan.
they view for the hurling brains in offaly was kk players only made good club minors and they hadnt got it mentaly to be senior hurlers .
so when the made the break through and have gone 22 games unbeaten there is useless . they can only beat what in front them.
give u a break please

[GreatDayForTheParish]

Multiple times I have said that KK are utterly deserving of their county titles. They are, by a country mile, far and away the best club team in Offaly. Nothing to stop them putting 5/6/7 in a row together. Can't put it any clearer than that.

I am instead making the point that for their players to further enhance their reputations and, by extension, that of their team, they need to start playing well and consistently so for Offaly.

[Plain of the Herbs]

Emphatic. Comprehensive. Complete. Insert whatever superlative you want.

I thought there was a possibility that K-K would not be at their best. Word coming from Kilcormac was that they expected to win by anything between 10 and 15 points, and while only a fool would go on like that, that kind of stuff can take the edge off a team. Item: Birr in 1992. And, all other things being equal, the hunger to win one trumps the hunger to win three. That K-K were very much on their game is a testament to their professionalism. They had a plan, they stuck with it, they closed down the space in their defence and they created the space for their attack. Look how deep their half-forward line dropped in the lead-up to their second goal. Look at the space that created for the three inside forwards.

James Gorman’s form all year has been key. Always talented anyway, this year the corner-forward has made a massive contribution, both scoring and creating. I still think playing him at full-forward with Dan Currams coming in from the right corner would improve things. And they lose Thomas Geraghty to injury and gain Cillian Kiely. Hmmh.

In defence, K-K just knew what to do. When to contest the ball, when to await the break. As a team at the peak of their powers do.

Early stages, no matter where Conor Clancy pucked the ball it seemed to find Damien Kilmartin underneath. Paul Quirke, whatever else he might be, is not a puckout target, and Rynagh’s might have been better served with Aidan Treacy contesting the puckout with the older Quirke reading the break. It wouldn’t have won the match, it wouldn’t have got them close, but some early K-K settling scores (including the goal) might have been prevented.

There has been much criticism of St Rynagh’s handpassing, and the quantity thereof. It was sheltered in the stand and it was only walking out afterwards I realised the strength of the wind. I think it was an achievement to hit a ball 40 yards into that wind, such was its strength. And I was surprised Conor Hernon was the one chosen to make way for the returning Garry Conneely.

Writing in the Offaly Independent Kevin Egan used a quote of Mike Tyson that everyone has a plan until they get hit in the face. Those that have boxed (I haven’t, but I’ll take their word for it) describe the blinding effect of a punch between the eyes, and that’s how it turned out for Rynagh’s. Had they had a period of dominance during the game and fell short, they could reasonably be expected to be number one contenders. But the manner of the Final is a crushing blow.

Hard to see how K-K will be stopped in the foreseeable future, and within the next two years it looks like it will take a massive dip in their form, or a severely debilitating run of injuries, to curtail them. After all, who is there to match them now? They arguably have better forwards than Birr had at any time in the 1991 to 2008 era. Who can stop those forwards? I don’t know. Who can break down that defence? I don’t know.

In the shorter term, last year’s defeat to Oulart will stand to them now. They will travel to Wexford on a mission, and I expect them to be fully focussed on the job in hand. Wherever they fall, it won’t be here.

Finally, yesterday was a great occasion at OCP. There was shelter for everyone who wanted to avail of it, though the mid-morning rain probably turned quite a number from going. Still, there were several present who wouldn’t normally be regular match-goers, and hopefully they’ll be back.

Mar críoch, maith an fear Dan Ó Corrain, don óráid íontach a rinne an captaen C-C go léir trí nGaeilge. Creidim gurbh é an céad úair ríamh a rinne captaen a glach corn Seán Róibín a óráid go léir ins an teanga náisiúnta. Meas mór, Dan. Tá seans mór go mbeidh óráid eile le deanamh aige sular críochnóidh an blíain seo.


Finally finally, hats off to Clareen on winning the Junior title. For a parish of 500 souls to win a title with their second team defies belief. I know they won it about a decade ago but that was when backboned by a number of those who won Senior titles and were in semi-retirement (I recall Joe Dooley, for one, was on it). This time there were no former Seniors to provide leadership and for that, the Clareen men are to be commended.

[sam88885a]

lone shark and plain of the herbs fair play for giving credit where it is deserved .to me kk had still to prove themselves to ye both and the did that on sunday .
it dont think they will be stopped in offaly for a while ,look at their subs t geraghty e grogan d murry j kilmartain s guinan . most other clubs in offaly would be building their teams around those young lads .
outside offaly is different there will be no easy game there .i think kk have as good a chance as anyone but it wont be easy .
just have a feeling kk have unfinished buisness after 2012 but an injury to d kilmartain c mahon d currams or either of the healions could finish them. they will need luck as every team does .

[Plain of the Herbs]

GAA teams have something to prove every day they take the field. Part of the challenge that teams face is that, the more they play, the more evidence they give us of the way they like to play and how they deal with challenges. Those prominent teams are subject to more and more scrutiny by casual observers such as myself, and by future opposition. There is always the chance that weaknesses will be identified and targeted. Coolderry, for instance, have problems winning their own ball and so need to score early and often. Clareen have problems playing to a consistently during matches.

There are no such problems on the ball-winning or consistency fronts for K-K. At this stage it’s hard to find any visible chinks really. Which leaves the psychological area. Personally I’d have preferred if K-K used the edge of a somewhat narrow escape against Coolderry (if Joe Brady’s shot went under?) and carried that directly into the Final, instead of burning it all in a challenge match. History is full of teams who left good challenge match form at home on the big day. That K-K did carry that edge into the Final is impressive, really, and whoever looks after the motivational side of things for K-K is to be commended. Then here is he issue of insulating players from careless comments, and the dreaded “if they play like they did the last day, they’ll win” which serve to take the edge off the game.

Traditionally, Offaly hurling never mastered consistency, and hardly ever managed two complete performances in the same year, instead needing the edge provided by being ‘underdogs’ and/or being ‘written off’ for their motivation. So K-K have bucked that trend.

I get the impression this K-K team haven’t reached their peak yet, and so can engage in a full challenge match circuit. The time will come later in their life cycle when this causes difficulties and maintaining freshness becomes a challenge. That’s for another day. Still, looking at their two recent defeats (St Thomas’ and Oulart), the latter absolutely came from a lack of freshness. That may have been from playing football, or it may have come from 18 months non-stop going. Whichever, they have had their break last winter and that will stand to them now.

K-K have now gone 24 matches unbeaten within Offaly, while on a record run of 22 straight wins. In hardly any of those could you say they rode their luck, or got out of jail (you could say that was the case in the 2012 semi-final, but then that was the big breakthrough match anyway, the day when everything changed). To put that in context, Birr’s five in a row run was punctuated with drawn semi-finals in 2001 and 2002.

The record for an unbeaten run in Offaly is something like 26, so that barrier may well be smashed next July. Because there are always challenges, always evidence to be gathered, always new ground to break, and always those observers looking for chinks.