Offaly V Down Round 3 Qualifier

[5 Sams]

I doubt if it will be as easy as the last time we went to Tullamore...but you'd have to fancy Down for this one.

[BallyhaiseMan]

Down scored 5-19 the last time they were in Tullamore wasnt it?
Offaly were drawn against Waterford and Clare at home,two division 4 outfits.
Now a game against a good Division 1 team like Down,it will be a massive step up in class for the Faithful i feel,and i cant see them troubling the Mournemen too much.

[AZOffaly]

No matter who we drew it was going to be tough, and we'll be overwhelming underdogs, however it is at home, and it is against a team that only beat Longford (whom we'd consider peers at least) by 4 points at home themselves.

It's the draw I wanted, and I'm sure it's the draw Down wanted as well, albeit they'd have preferred Newry.

We owe Down a good game at least, after a depressing couple of results in league and championship recently.

Welcome to Tullamore again lads.

Where is the Tipp game on in the hurling? Might be before the Munster Final replay in Thurles next Saturday as well I bet, thus requiring us to use our powers of bi-location again, just like the last time ye were in Tullamore.

[Bord na Mona man]

Both teams will be happy will be this draw.
Offaly will better than two years ago, when the unhappy Pat Roe era was thankfully drawing to an end.
There are a few less messers on the panel at least.

Down will rightly expect to win, but Offaly should at least be capable of giving them a game. Down are a hot and cold team and with a bit of luck might leave the door slightly ajar for the Faithful. We live in hope anyway.

[5 Sams]

See yiz in the Bridge House lads.

[Bord na Mona man]

See yiz in the Bridge House lads.

Is it women with land ye are looking for?

[southdown]

A couple of heifers to go with the land would be powerful

[Denn Forever]

Ye are going to depress us when you (Offaly) give it a good rattle unlike Cavan on Saturday.

I still think Down will win though.

[snoopdog]

we couldnt get out of Aughrim with a win last july so i wont be counting any chickens.

[Dubh driocht]

Can't see it being as one-sided as 2 years ago. Down's first half performance blew Offaly away and the game was over at the interval. This was the best Down played under Ross ( IMO) and Benny and John Clarke destroyed their full back line in the first 15 minutes. Afterwards, the great Matt Connor said Benny was as good as he had seen. I would like to see John start on Saturday- am actually glad the game is away as if we are going to progress this year we need more wins on the road to build confidence- we saw in the league the importance of away wind for morale.

[snoopdog]

this is obviously not a game that has people talking, very little interest on the board for it. Will there be anyone at it.
Sums p the qualifiers to be honest
Good idea in theory but no one really cares enough about them to travel the country, the crowds last week were terrible cant see them being any better this week.
The GAA really need to promote these better.

[5 Sams]

I'd love to know the thinking behind putting this game on at 7pm and charging people £20 quid a head in. Put it on at 2 or 3 in the afternoon charge a tenner and you'll get a much bigger crowd. We wont be home until 11pm tomorrow night

[Mourne Rover]

Supporters based in the northern part of our county will be lucky to be home by midnight, although Longford also had a long trip back from Newry in the last round. Unless relatively short journeys ( ie an hour or less) are involved, the qualifiers should not start at later than 5pm.

Offaly will have plenty of motivation after their poor showing at the same venue two years ago, and are entitled to believe that as a mid-table D3 side, especially at home, they are a stronger outfit than Longford, who only had London and Kilkenny below them in D4.

If a four-point final margin, which included a dodgy penalty, was a fair reflection of the play in Newry last week, Down could be in some trouble in Tullamore. However, if we can avoid the second half wobbles we displayed against Tyrone and Longford, a place in the final round of the qualifiers would be a huge prize for us.

[western exile]

OFFALY (SF v Down): A Mulhall; B Darby, S Brady, S Pender; N Darby, R Brady, P McConway; R Dalton, B Connor; G Guilfoyle, N McNamee, C McManus; K Casey, J Coughlan, A Sullivan.

DOWN (SF v Offaly): B McVeigh; D Rooney; D Gordon, D Rafferty; D O'Hagan, J Colgan, C Garvey; A Rogers, K King; D Hughes, M Poland, B Coulter; C Maginn, J Clarke, M Clarke.

[western exile]

There really is a lack of interest in this game from board posters.  2 years ago, when these two last met at Tullamore in a qualifier game, where was about 20 pages of discussion on here!

Down should win this. It is hard to judge the performance v. Longford as the conditions were bad for football.  On a nice evening in Tullamore, Down should be able to show what they are capable of.

For Offaly, I think that they have relied too much on 3 players over the years, Niall McNamee, Ciarán McManus and Karol Stattery.  And only 2 of these are fit to play tonight. 

A worry for Down in this years Championship is their inability to close out games that they should be winning, or wining easily.  i.e. Donegal, Tyrone and Longford.  So this is an opportunity to put that to rest.  It will not be as easy as 2008 as Offaly are better organised now, but  I would like to see Down win this by 5+.