NFL Division 4 Title

[Bord na Mona man]

Baldrick-ian cunning plan by Longford 

A cunning plan which involves re-hiring the ref ye had for league game ;-)

Offaly will be well aware that Longford dropped off the intensity during the second half. However it was a good way to win. Longford might be worried all the same about the wides, the missed frees and a keeper that doesn't stop much.

Offaly might need to look at pressing Longford harder on their short kickouts and not conceding the first few passes as easily. The forwards are going better this year. Far less dependance on McNamee and not everything needs to aimed through him. That said, he was wasted outfield and his move closer to goals facilitated the first goal and a lot of decent play after that.

[AZOffaly]

He also struggled wth Masterson going forward himself. I think you might need a more mobile lad on him come the 16th.

[Thewildcat]

Baldrick-ian cunning plan by Longford 

I Think offaly were in a different class to Longford and with 3 more weeks to work on you will find they will be in a different class to Longford in tullamore also. offaly are way better this year under Flanagan  than last year, when its 15 again 15 Longford  will have no answer to offalys running game or forward power as was the case yesterday.

[Catch and Kick]

Offaly played the most attractive football of all eight teams in the 4 League finals. A joy to watch.

All four finals were blighted by shocking refereeing decisions. How can refs get so many decisions wrong.....

As for black and yell cards...... ruining the game

[Bord na Mona man]

He also struggled wth Masterson going forward himself. I think you might need a more mobile lad on him come the 16th.

Yes, it was a concern early doors the way Masterson was able to push forward (under instruction presumably). Niall would probably have blown a gasket trying to chase him and it would have impacted on his attacking play. Better off to excuse him for tracking back and let him keep the spring coiled for attacks.
The pass he hung in front of Allen to send him through a gap between two backs made the first goal. Nearly every other player on the field would have passed it square to the chest and kept the play static. You need to use that creativity closer to the posts imo.

[AZOffaly]

One of the pleasing things for me is the fact that in Mulhall, Allen and even Dunne you have finishers who can profit off a good pass, and so we're not relying on Niall to win ball, break ball, pass ball, shoot and score. He can become an integral part of the attack, rather than the entire attack himself. I also like that he is off frees.

As regards the Masterson question, I can see the benefit of Niall sparing himself by not tracking him, but in a close Championship game he will need to be tracked by someone. If they want Niall to be the orchestrator at #11, fair enough, but someone like Carroll will have to go with Masterson when he bombs on. You can't let him get an inspirational score when the game is tight and Longford get a huge lift off him.

[Jinxy]

The goals were all taken very well, I have to say.

[Bord na Mona man]

A scoring centre back is a good weapon to have, because he'll invariably get a shot from straight in front of posts and won't be closed down as quickly.
I was discussing this during the game and had also nominated Carroll as the chaser, but the valid counter point was that Carroll would have to cover extra yards coming in off his wing, leaving the wing back free. So then it needs to be a zonal effort involving several players. Your midfielders, wing forwards and even a corner forward falling back 30 or 40 yards too. Or else give Maloney a licence to shoot out from centre back and fill in behind him. Then once you signal you are putting serious efforts into thwarting one player, he'll become a decoy to create space for others.
Anton Sullivan would be the quickest to make up ground going backwards, but would a bigger black card risk.

[AZOffaly]

It's almost as if keeping 2 or 3 more defenders back, in something approaching a zonal marking defence, almost like a sheet, rug, or maybe a blanket would be the best way to stop him!

[macdanger2]

It's almost as if keeping 2 or 3 more defenders back, in something approaching a zonal marking defence, almost like a sheet, rug, or maybe a blanket would be the best way to stop him!

Can't see that working

[panc56]

The championship game will be different, Offaly will win by more! Longford are in free fall and the manager is trying to put a brave face on an unhappy camp.

[LaurelEye]

The championship game will be different, Offaly will win by more! Longford are in free fall and the manager is trying to put a brave face on an unhappy camp.

Tell me about it.

Nevertheless, I've no doubt that his enablers on the County Executive will try to keep him for another year because "he got us promoted". (Of course, by that logic, "he got us relegated" to Division 4 in the first place.)

People probably think that the Mullinalaghta players didn't go in this year because we tried and failed to get rid of him last year.

No. Opposite way round. We tried and failed to get rid of him last year because we knew that our players wouldn't go in while he was there.

[fearglasmor]

Offaly played the most attractive football of all eight teams in the 4 League finals. A joy to watch.

All four finals were blighted by shocking refereeing decisions. How can refs get so many decisions wrong.....

I just watched a recording of the game. I cant understand what decision making process was going on in that ref head. Th eone that annoys me most, and he did it several times was to penalise the player in posession when they were surrounded by opponents and tied up with arms around the chest and upper arms.
Is this not a foul on the man with the ball ? I thought the only tackle on the man was a shoulder, everything else has to be directed at the ball.

If thats the case why dont referees implement the rules.

Do they not know the rules ? Do they know them and just make up their own as they go ?  Are they unable to make proper decisions in the heat of a match ?

I have never been a ref so I dont know the answer to any of these.

Also both sendings off would have been avoided if the ref had spotted that the Longford number 2 hopped the ball twice immediately before the schemozzle with Anton Sullivan.

[muppet]

Offaly played the most attractive football of all eight teams in the 4 League finals. A joy to watch.

All four finals were blighted by shocking refereeing decisions. How can refs get so many decisions wrong.....

I just watched a recording of the game. I cant understand what decision making process was going on in that ref head. Th eone that annoys me most, and he did it several times was to penalise the player in posession when they were surrounded by opponents and tied up with arms around the chest and upper arms.
Is this not a foul on the man with the ball ? I thought the only tackle on the man was a shoulder, everything else has to be directed at the ball.

If thats the case why dont referees implement the rules.

Do they not know the rules ? Do they know them and just make up their own as they go ?  Are they unable to make proper decisions in the heat of a match ?

I have never been a ref so I dont know the answer to any of these.

Also both sendings off would have been avoided if the ref had spotted that the Longford number 2 hopped the ball twice immediately before the schemozzle with Anton Sullivan.

The dreaded choke tackle?

That is 'foul' is permitted when the ref can't see anything, when a team is either >10 points up or down, or when he has just given two frees in a row to that team.

Please keep up.