have to agree with del, killmurray will need to be pushed.
and someone with inter county experience is a must.
surry!!!
allez les faithful
New manager
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naasmanxrhode
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KK has had his chance, he has served 2 years and should now step down before his review, we now need a big name manager to bring us that final step. The big problem is our fitness levels. As Colm O'Rourke said Offaly seem to last for 60 minutes and the their lack of fitness sets in. Also have we any 6 foot six basketball players who can play football???????????. We need a big big midfielder badly.
I suppose one issue that hasn't been raised is what the players think. I have heard that some want him to stay and others don't but then this is speculation. At the end of the day if he does stay, success next year will depend on his ability to relate to the players and motivate the team.
I personally think he should stay another year. Not based on the merits of what he has or hasn't achieved but simply based on the fact that so much chopping and changing of management has happened over the last few years, it is now time for stability. It takes a year for a manager to get to know players and build up a relationship with them. The only person in the country currently in this position is Kevin Kilmurray. He should be allowed the 2006 / 2007 season to build on the experience of the last two years to try and find the missing pieces of the jigsaw (of which there are a quiet a few with a big full forward having being added to the agenda in the last few weeks).
After that it should be easier to coax a big name to come to Offaly. If we change manager again now, most potential candidates for the position will think OK one bad season and I'm gone and won't be anxious to take the job. One thing is clear - the next manager should come from outside and have an established track record if we are to be serious about going all the way.
One final point. I don't think we are at the same stage as Laois were when Mick O'Dwyer took over. Laois had won at least two minor All Irelands in the preceeding 10 years and had been there or thereabouts in many of the other years. Offaly haven't won a minor title in the last 10 years. Whoever manages the team next year will have a squad of somewhat above average talent which if combined with Offaly's traditional will to win and some luck in the draw can make us contenders for an all Ireland semi final spot. The big one is still a few years off.
I personally think he should stay another year. Not based on the merits of what he has or hasn't achieved but simply based on the fact that so much chopping and changing of management has happened over the last few years, it is now time for stability. It takes a year for a manager to get to know players and build up a relationship with them. The only person in the country currently in this position is Kevin Kilmurray. He should be allowed the 2006 / 2007 season to build on the experience of the last two years to try and find the missing pieces of the jigsaw (of which there are a quiet a few with a big full forward having being added to the agenda in the last few weeks).
After that it should be easier to coax a big name to come to Offaly. If we change manager again now, most potential candidates for the position will think OK one bad season and I'm gone and won't be anxious to take the job. One thing is clear - the next manager should come from outside and have an established track record if we are to be serious about going all the way.
One final point. I don't think we are at the same stage as Laois were when Mick O'Dwyer took over. Laois had won at least two minor All Irelands in the preceeding 10 years and had been there or thereabouts in many of the other years. Offaly haven't won a minor title in the last 10 years. Whoever manages the team next year will have a squad of somewhat above average talent which if combined with Offaly's traditional will to win and some luck in the draw can make us contenders for an all Ireland semi final spot. The big one is still a few years off.
Kevin Kilmurray should stay
I am also of the opinion that Kevin should stay for the remainder of his "contract". There can be no question that we made progress this year and it is difficult to insist that this was "despite Kilmurray rather than because of him".
We still need to shake off the tag of being a county that ditches its manager for flimsy reasons. We need to show a long term view prevails, because no Leinster or All-Ireland titles will ever be won by a short term approach. Whether KK manages to win us either of those crowns is a different point, but if we want to attract good candidates (and I don't feel this necessarily means looking outside out own county) and to instill a good focused approach to all team matters, then we should start by showing stability and loyalty and recognition of progress.
The fact that he's a Daingean man is just a bonus.
We still need to shake off the tag of being a county that ditches its manager for flimsy reasons. We need to show a long term view prevails, because no Leinster or All-Ireland titles will ever be won by a short term approach. Whether KK manages to win us either of those crowns is a different point, but if we want to attract good candidates (and I don't feel this necessarily means looking outside out own county) and to instill a good focused approach to all team matters, then we should start by showing stability and loyalty and recognition of progress.
The fact that he's a Daingean man is just a bonus.
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the Untouchable
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Firstly Rover every single player on the panel wants KK gone...they look on him as been a clueless manager whose no good to motivate them, his motivational speeches apparently go along the lines of chanting "we are Offaly" over & over again!!!
Now I'm sure there's a fair bit of people who think Stephen Darby should be given the job, but lets be honest here...Rhode could be trained by KK & they'd walk the Offaly Club Championship...like there's no question that Darby has brought a huge amount of professionalism to the Rhode set up but County football management is an entirely different set up...I'd rather see him given the Under 21's & see if he could do something with them.
Now in fairness to KK he's done pretty ok with the panel of players that we have...for people who want to compare KK's record with the likes of Tommy Lyons or Padraigh Nolan then ye should look at the bigger picture, both those managers had way better panel....especially in Tommy Lyon's rein...like we'd better subs in 97 than KK had starting!! Thats not Kilmurrays fault...surely??
The problems facing Offaly football as I see it is:
1)The club football scene is woeful...I recall in my early days playing club championship & any one of 6 or 7 teams were capable of winning the Dowling cup, now every player at the beginning of the year knows Rhode are going to walk the championship...its a bit like Birr in the hurling a few years ago!!! Now if you play Rhode & keep them to beating you by 3 points or less then thats a massive achievement for most clubs!!!
2)Lack of success at underage...In 1997 when Offaly won Leinster we had about 8 lads on the panel who 2 years previously had won an Under 21 Leinster, however since 95 Offaly didn't win an Under 21 Championship for over 10 years...now in that time it saw us lose to such Kingpins as Wexford & Wicklow...now it was in that time that this county lost some of its best up & coming footballers(I'll deal with this topic though in a few mins), at the end of the day senior success doesn't just happen because you appoint a brilliant manager, most counties build a successful team around a group of lads who'd have won either a minor or U21 leinster or All Ireland. Offaly haven't been anywhere near winning an U21 for years & whle our minors have done well in the last 2 years time will tell how many of them will make it to senior.
3)Now the fact that Offaly has lost some of the best young players down through the years only adds to our problems...players like Brian Smith, Slyvester Nutterfield, Shane Cunningham, Keith Fitzpatrick, Cormac Ryan, Karol Kelly, the list folks is endless...I know people will say that every county has lads like that, who look great at underage but never make it through to Senior for what ever reason but I don't buy in to that, I think it comes down to success...Like I would have played under age with all those lads & the reality was that when we played U21 the county board put absolutely nothing into the team...they nearly treated us as been an inconvience, we were taking senior county players away from senior training sessions!!! At the end of the day if lads like them & 100's of other young lads like them were looked after properly back then, then I've no doubt it would be an awful easier to get these lads to go in training with the seniors!!! But this unfortunately is a bit like closing the shed door when the horse is below in the far field...my only hope is that in the future players are treated a bit better otherwise we'll deminish an already small pick of players!!!
On a final note, this Offaly team probably won't win a Leinster next year regardless of whose over them but at least the future looks a small bit brighter than it did leaving Carlow last year!!!
Slan!!!
Now I'm sure there's a fair bit of people who think Stephen Darby should be given the job, but lets be honest here...Rhode could be trained by KK & they'd walk the Offaly Club Championship...like there's no question that Darby has brought a huge amount of professionalism to the Rhode set up but County football management is an entirely different set up...I'd rather see him given the Under 21's & see if he could do something with them.
Now in fairness to KK he's done pretty ok with the panel of players that we have...for people who want to compare KK's record with the likes of Tommy Lyons or Padraigh Nolan then ye should look at the bigger picture, both those managers had way better panel....especially in Tommy Lyon's rein...like we'd better subs in 97 than KK had starting!! Thats not Kilmurrays fault...surely??
The problems facing Offaly football as I see it is:
1)The club football scene is woeful...I recall in my early days playing club championship & any one of 6 or 7 teams were capable of winning the Dowling cup, now every player at the beginning of the year knows Rhode are going to walk the championship...its a bit like Birr in the hurling a few years ago!!! Now if you play Rhode & keep them to beating you by 3 points or less then thats a massive achievement for most clubs!!!
2)Lack of success at underage...In 1997 when Offaly won Leinster we had about 8 lads on the panel who 2 years previously had won an Under 21 Leinster, however since 95 Offaly didn't win an Under 21 Championship for over 10 years...now in that time it saw us lose to such Kingpins as Wexford & Wicklow...now it was in that time that this county lost some of its best up & coming footballers(I'll deal with this topic though in a few mins), at the end of the day senior success doesn't just happen because you appoint a brilliant manager, most counties build a successful team around a group of lads who'd have won either a minor or U21 leinster or All Ireland. Offaly haven't been anywhere near winning an U21 for years & whle our minors have done well in the last 2 years time will tell how many of them will make it to senior.
3)Now the fact that Offaly has lost some of the best young players down through the years only adds to our problems...players like Brian Smith, Slyvester Nutterfield, Shane Cunningham, Keith Fitzpatrick, Cormac Ryan, Karol Kelly, the list folks is endless...I know people will say that every county has lads like that, who look great at underage but never make it through to Senior for what ever reason but I don't buy in to that, I think it comes down to success...Like I would have played under age with all those lads & the reality was that when we played U21 the county board put absolutely nothing into the team...they nearly treated us as been an inconvience, we were taking senior county players away from senior training sessions!!! At the end of the day if lads like them & 100's of other young lads like them were looked after properly back then, then I've no doubt it would be an awful easier to get these lads to go in training with the seniors!!! But this unfortunately is a bit like closing the shed door when the horse is below in the far field...my only hope is that in the future players are treated a bit better otherwise we'll deminish an already small pick of players!!!
On a final note, this Offaly team probably won't win a Leinster next year regardless of whose over them but at least the future looks a small bit brighter than it did leaving Carlow last year!!!
Slan!!!
The Untouchable
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Lone Shark
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This is debatable, to say the least. The 1997 team had some great players on it, but it had several weaknesses too. Anyway, the point is not that Kilmurray is a bad manager because he didn't match the 1997 team, it's that the nature of the defeats we have suffered were not good, it's that the games we lost in many cases were there to be won. KK is not a bad manager because he lost to Dublin in a Leinster Final, he's a bad manager because in that game we had our only fielding midfielder sent off and we didn't send on a replacement for ten minutes - for example.the Untouchable wrote:
Now in fairness to KK he's done pretty ok with the panel of players that we have...for people who want to compare KK's record with the likes of Tommy Lyons or Padraig Nolan then ye should look at the bigger picture, both those managers had way better panel....especially in Tommy Lyon's rein...like we'd better subs in 97 than KK had starting!! Thats not Kilmurrays fault...surely??
There's two ways of looking at this. A competitive championship is not necessarily a good championship. I think it's fair to say that this Rhode team is as good a club side as Offaly have produced for a long time - possibly since Ferbane of the late eighties. Rhode getting better is not bad for Offaly football. Ferbane, Tullamore and Edenderry all failing abysmally to compete with them is, seeing as these are the main football population bases in the town and traditionally all powerhouse clubs.the Untouchable wrote: The problems facing Offaly football as I see it is:
1)The club football scene is woeful...I recall in my early days playing club championship & any one of 6 or 7 teams were capable of winning the Dowling cup, now every player at the beginning of the year knows Rhode are going to walk the championship...its a bit like Birr in the hurling a few years ago!!! Now if you play Rhode & keep them to beating you by 3 points or less then thats a massive achievement for most clubs!!!
Put it another way - 6 or seven years ago, you're talking about clubs like Edenderry, Shannonbridge, and Tullamore in ascendancy - would you really say that any of those teams are significantly better than the Shamrocks or Clara teams of today? I certainly wouldn't.
I'm not sure I agree with this either. Underage teams tend to be as successful as their weakest five players allow them to be. The best players go on to senior intercounty play, but the strength in depth determines the team's success. Witness last year - Tullamore won the county minor title, despite not having a single minor player on the field during the championship on an Offaly team that reached an AI semi. St. Vincent's were runners up, with one sub on the team. Offaly need to be getting 2-3 players out of each minor team, so in terms of senior progression, that's what matters. Of course a successful Under 21 side would be a help, but it's not vital. However the way we've had bad losses to sides we should be beating does not bode well.the Untouchable wrote:
2)Lack of success at underage...In 1997 when Offaly won Leinster we had about 8 lads on the panel who 2 years previously had won an Under 21 Leinster, however since 95 Offaly didn't win an Under 21 Championship for over 10 years...now in that time it saw us lose to such Kingpins as Wexford & Wicklow...now it was in that time that this county lost some of its best up & coming footballers(I'll deal with this topic though in a few mins), at the end of the day senior success doesn't just happen because you appoint a brilliant manager, most counties build a successful team around a group of lads who'd have won either a minor or U21 leinster or All Ireland. Offaly haven't been anywhere near winning an U21 for years & whle our minors have done well in the last 2 years time will tell how many of them will make it to senior.
Some sides build off underage teams. However you'd be searching long and hard to find a succesful Armagh underage team. Laois and Westmeath had their great vintages a few years ago, but generally smaller counties don't pull off any miracles at underage.
You are right in that there is no point bemoaning the poor treatment of underage teams gone by. However I will say this - an "economical" attitude to underage teams was not a problem unique to Offaly. Some of the players you mention above never had the personal discipline to be intercounty players, and no amount of looking after would have changed that. I don't blame people for looking at the sacrifices needed and saying that it wasn't for them, but as you say, every county has these players and always will. I will say this though. We have a bad habit in Offaly of assuming that the new additions to any county panel must come from the young players, the under 21's. A late bloomer in Offaly football tends to go un-noticed. A player who only really starts to shine at 25 or later often gets ignored in favour of the next-in-line 20 year old - this is a philosophy I'd prefer to see abandoned.the Untouchable wrote:
3)Now the fact that Offaly has lost some of the best young players down through the years only adds to our problems...players like Brian Smith, Slyvester Nutterfield, Shane Cunningham, Keith Fitzpatrick, Cormac Ryan, Karol Kelly, the list folks is endless...I know people will say that every county has lads like that, who look great at underage but never make it through to Senior for what ever reason but I don't buy in to that, I think it comes down to success...Like I would have played under age with all those lads & the reality was that when we played U21 the county board put absolutely nothing into the team...they nearly treated us as been an inconvience, we were taking senior county players away from senior training sessions!!! At the end of the day if lads like them & 100's of other young lads like them were looked after properly back then, then I've no doubt it would be an awful easier to get these lads to go in training with the seniors!!! But this unfortunately is a bit like closing the shed door when the horse is below in the far field...my only hope is that in the future players are treated a bit better otherwise we'll deminish an already small pick of players!!!
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the Untouchable
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Lets face it...Kilmurray could have sent on 5 lads when Alan McNamee got sent off all to play at midfield & we still would have been bet out the gate!!! The simple fact of the matter is that we didn't have a midfielder worth bringing on straight away!!!
Anytime we got a lad sent off we didn't make substitutions because that just disrupts things even more & in fairness Offaly actually played pretty well for the next 10-15 minutes in the Leinster final after Alan McNamee got the line!!! Like the fact is the 5 or 6 big men that we need just aren't there...& if you need any proof of this then just look at Shamrocks flying home Ronan Mooney from Mexico the nite before a championship match...Doon probably would have ran them pretty close only for him, because he won midfield on his own & anytime a doon player needed to be hit Ronan floored him, he's the player that we needed against Dublin to go up against Whelan & Ryan!!!
Ok you say Offaly under Kilmurray have lost too many matches that were there to be won...well that might be true but lets face it these are the same panel of players more or less that loss to Laois back in 03 when leading well at half time in Portlaoise & the same players who lost to a 14 man Westmeath team in 04...in fairness this year in the Championship it was the 1st time I actually saw Offaly digging really deep & pulling a win out of the bag against the odds!!!
You probably though are going to make reference to the league...well fine, but we did beat Cork & Fermanagh & but for a crazy decision by the ref we'd have beaten Monaghan too, losing to Mayo, Dublin, Kerry (all away from home) & Tyrone when they played very well for 60 mins hardly is Kilmurray's fault.
I'm far from a Kilmurray fan, but I don't see the point of slating the man just because ye seem to think that the players are all gods!!!
Now lets call a spade a spade...Offaly club football is in rapid decline & every year the standard of football gets worse & worse!!! You make the point about Rhode been an exceptional team & I wouldn't question that for a second...the problem I have is that they aren't even been tested when they play championship now!!
Like I know because having played championship football since 98, I had 1st hand experience in watching this decline!!! I don't know how you work out that a competitive championship isn't a good championship...but I will say this...anyone who was watching any of the championship matches last weekend would have been very disappointed with the standard...Clara & Shamrocks both won pretty handy in the end but their still both way off the pace to get near Rhode!!! As for your reference that this Rhode team is the best that Offaly has seen since the Ferbane team of the 80's...you must be joking, the Edenderry team of the mid to late 90's was by far & away the best club team that this county has seen.
I'll put it to you this way....If you took that current Rhode team & dropped them in to the Offaly championship in 97 or 98 would they be walking it like they are this year?? NO!!!
I'm just going to skip very briefly over your point about underage success not been important by responding to your point that I'd have to go along way to find a successful underage Armagh team...surprisingly enough I didn't, 2004 to be exact...they won the Under 21 All Ireland currently 10 off that team is on the Armagh team or are fringe players, add to that, that they won an U21 Ulster title in 98, & minors in 92, 94 & 2005 & you probably get the feeling that maybe this could have something to do with them been 1 of the best teams in the country!!!
The point you make about boys been overlooked because they are 25 or 26 is very true....apparently a few years ago the system was that if a county manager wanted to call a player in to the senior panel the county board had to ok it 1st...they usually did a bit a check to see where the lad was from, was he related to any half decent former or current county footballer & had he played minor & under 21...apparently this last 1 was very important, if he hadn't more often than not the player wasn't called in!!! Like tell me 5 players that have played Championship for Offaly in the last 9 years that wouldn't have played minor or under 21 for Offaly? I can't think of 1!!!
Anytime we got a lad sent off we didn't make substitutions because that just disrupts things even more & in fairness Offaly actually played pretty well for the next 10-15 minutes in the Leinster final after Alan McNamee got the line!!! Like the fact is the 5 or 6 big men that we need just aren't there...& if you need any proof of this then just look at Shamrocks flying home Ronan Mooney from Mexico the nite before a championship match...Doon probably would have ran them pretty close only for him, because he won midfield on his own & anytime a doon player needed to be hit Ronan floored him, he's the player that we needed against Dublin to go up against Whelan & Ryan!!!
Ok you say Offaly under Kilmurray have lost too many matches that were there to be won...well that might be true but lets face it these are the same panel of players more or less that loss to Laois back in 03 when leading well at half time in Portlaoise & the same players who lost to a 14 man Westmeath team in 04...in fairness this year in the Championship it was the 1st time I actually saw Offaly digging really deep & pulling a win out of the bag against the odds!!!
You probably though are going to make reference to the league...well fine, but we did beat Cork & Fermanagh & but for a crazy decision by the ref we'd have beaten Monaghan too, losing to Mayo, Dublin, Kerry (all away from home) & Tyrone when they played very well for 60 mins hardly is Kilmurray's fault.
I'm far from a Kilmurray fan, but I don't see the point of slating the man just because ye seem to think that the players are all gods!!!
Now lets call a spade a spade...Offaly club football is in rapid decline & every year the standard of football gets worse & worse!!! You make the point about Rhode been an exceptional team & I wouldn't question that for a second...the problem I have is that they aren't even been tested when they play championship now!!
Like I know because having played championship football since 98, I had 1st hand experience in watching this decline!!! I don't know how you work out that a competitive championship isn't a good championship...but I will say this...anyone who was watching any of the championship matches last weekend would have been very disappointed with the standard...Clara & Shamrocks both won pretty handy in the end but their still both way off the pace to get near Rhode!!! As for your reference that this Rhode team is the best that Offaly has seen since the Ferbane team of the 80's...you must be joking, the Edenderry team of the mid to late 90's was by far & away the best club team that this county has seen.
I'll put it to you this way....If you took that current Rhode team & dropped them in to the Offaly championship in 97 or 98 would they be walking it like they are this year?? NO!!!
I'm just going to skip very briefly over your point about underage success not been important by responding to your point that I'd have to go along way to find a successful underage Armagh team...surprisingly enough I didn't, 2004 to be exact...they won the Under 21 All Ireland currently 10 off that team is on the Armagh team or are fringe players, add to that, that they won an U21 Ulster title in 98, & minors in 92, 94 & 2005 & you probably get the feeling that maybe this could have something to do with them been 1 of the best teams in the country!!!
The point you make about boys been overlooked because they are 25 or 26 is very true....apparently a few years ago the system was that if a county manager wanted to call a player in to the senior panel the county board had to ok it 1st...they usually did a bit a check to see where the lad was from, was he related to any half decent former or current county footballer & had he played minor & under 21...apparently this last 1 was very important, if he hadn't more often than not the player wasn't called in!!! Like tell me 5 players that have played Championship for Offaly in the last 9 years that wouldn't have played minor or under 21 for Offaly? I can't think of 1!!!
The Untouchable
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Mighty Pair O' Hands
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Lone Shark
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Just two points to pick up on ....
Regarding Armagh, the underage 2004 team wouldn't have had much of a bearing on the two All Ireland finals they reached in 2002 and 2003, and likewise while they did pick up a couple of minor titles in Ulster, they did so at a time when Ulster underage teams were going through a very barren spell, and Ulster minor teams tended to be out of their depth in a national context. Tyrone's minor win in 1998 was out of nowhere in that sense.
As for that Edenderry team of the mid to late 1990's being the best ever, they still only had one Leinster semi final appearance to show for it, when they lost to Rathnew. In fact I can only ever remember them winning one game in Leinster, against St. Anne's in 2001 - hardly the stuff of the best club side ever to come out of Offaly. (I know they got a few harsh draws against good teams, but even so, at least Rhode brought Kilmacud to a replay if nothing else)
Regarding Armagh, the underage 2004 team wouldn't have had much of a bearing on the two All Ireland finals they reached in 2002 and 2003, and likewise while they did pick up a couple of minor titles in Ulster, they did so at a time when Ulster underage teams were going through a very barren spell, and Ulster minor teams tended to be out of their depth in a national context. Tyrone's minor win in 1998 was out of nowhere in that sense.
As for that Edenderry team of the mid to late 1990's being the best ever, they still only had one Leinster semi final appearance to show for it, when they lost to Rathnew. In fact I can only ever remember them winning one game in Leinster, against St. Anne's in 2001 - hardly the stuff of the best club side ever to come out of Offaly. (I know they got a few harsh draws against good teams, but even so, at least Rhode brought Kilmacud to a replay if nothing else)
Have to pull you up on this one.As for that Edenderry team of the mid to late 1990's being the best ever, they still only had one Leinster semi final appearance to show for it, when they lost to Rathnew. In fact I can only ever remember them winning one game in Leinster, against St. Anne's in 2001 - hardly the stuff of the best club side ever to come out of Offaly. (I know they got a few harsh draws against good teams, but even so, at least Rhode brought Kilmacud to a replay if nothing else)
1985 Lost to Baltinglass in Leinster semi.
1995 Edenderry Beat Kilanerin (Wexford)and lost to Ballyboden st Enda's in the Leinster semi.
1997 Beat Kilanerin (Wexford) and lost to Erin's Isle in Leinster Semi.
1999 Lost to Kilanerin
2001 Hockeyed St Anne's in Wexford and lost to Rathnew in Leinster Semi by 3 points.
Not a bad record in Leinster.Rathnew and Erin's Isle went onto win the Leinster.
Seems a world away at the moment though.......
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DD
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True Red wrote:Have to pull you up on this one.As for that Edenderry team of the mid to late 1990's being the best ever, they still only had one Leinster semi final appearance to show for it, when they lost to Rathnew. In fact I can only ever remember them winning one game in Leinster, against St. Anne's in 2001 - hardly the stuff of the best club side ever to come out of Offaly. (I know they got a few harsh draws against good teams, but even so, at least Rhode brought Kilmacud to a replay if nothing else)
1985 Lost to Baltinglass in Leinster semi.
1995 Edenderry Beat Kilanerin (Wexford)and lost to Ballyboden st Enda's in the Leinster semi.
1997 Beat Kilanerin (Wexford) and lost to Erin's Isle in Leinster Semi.
1999 Lost to Kilanerin
2001 Hockeyed St Anne's in Wexford and lost to Rathnew in Leinster Semi by 3 points.
Not a bad record in Leinster.Rathnew and Erin's Isle went onto win the Leinster.
Seems a world away at the moment though.......
I love seeing someone being put in their place!
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Bord na Mona man
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By my reckoning Edenderry have only ever beaten the Wexford champions in Leinster?
It was a quality Edenderry (90s) side, but at no stage were they head and shoulders above the rest in Offaly.
All their county titles were hard fought wins. There probaby was a couple of more genuine contenders back then.
However I don't accept that there has been a huge drop in standards in Offaly club football. The league format has probably taken the do or die intensity out of the competition. A couple of big name clubs have gone into decline, people are slower to give credit to smaller clubs (St Brigid's) and assume that they are only doing well because of an overall drop in stndards.
It was a quality Edenderry (90s) side, but at no stage were they head and shoulders above the rest in Offaly.
All their county titles were hard fought wins. There probaby was a couple of more genuine contenders back then.
However I don't accept that there has been a huge drop in standards in Offaly club football. The league format has probably taken the do or die intensity out of the competition. A couple of big name clubs have gone into decline, people are slower to give credit to smaller clubs (St Brigid's) and assume that they are only doing well because of an overall drop in stndards.