Ballinamere Durrow Offaly minor and the next generation

[manfromdelmonte]

It had been coming for a few years

[AZOffaly]

It had been coming for a few years

It has to be fair. As has Westmeath and Carlows rise.

[johnnycool]

It had been coming for a few years

It has to be fair. As has Westmeath and Carlows rise.

Carlow have a talented group there ATM. It will be interesting if they can keep adding quality hurlers to the mix to sustain that effort.

Sad to see Offaly where they are, but they've been loitering around the bottom of 1B for quite a while now and are where they are.
Westmeath dine at the top table as well next year. Just reward for a lot of hard graft over the years.

Hard to believe we in Down would have been disappointed in not beating both Carlow and Westmeath just over a decade ago and we're in Div2B with no signs of getting out of it.

[Farrandeelin]

What's harder to believe is that Mayo will be playing Offaly next year in hurling.

[redsetanta]

After winning the corresponding game last week and with an 11 point lead at half time it was hard to believe that Carlow got the victory (with 14 men). Fantastic achievement for them but Offaly must have thought they just needed to play out the second half. I know momentum changes games but to give up that sort of lead at home in such an important game musn't give much hope to Offaly hurling supporters.
Offaly will have more than enough for Div 2 hurling and will be back up straight away however when the likes of Bergin and Dooley go there isn't much to replace them. Anyhow if the GAA really wants more teams up to standard then they need to invest in the likes of Offaly, Laois, Westmeath, Antrim etc. It should be targeted investment directly to underage coaches and school liason coaches. Clubs also needto be brought on board so kids are getting the right coaching all of the time,

[laoislad]

Some comeback from Duignan on Twitter to Donal Ogs comments about Offaly last night.

[laoislad]

What's harder to believe is that Mayo will be playing Offaly next year in hurling.

Christ when you think about it that way it is some fall from grace alright....

[AZOffaly]

Some comeback from Duignanon Twitter to Donal Ogs comments about Offaly last night.

Donal Óg made a strawman argument which annoyed me. He was debunking Offaly as a 'traditional' hurling county, but I know of nobody who would make that claim, in Offaly certainly. Sure part of the beauty of Offaly's arrival in the 1980s and 1990s was that they were not a traditional county. It was as if Donal Óg was blowing up Offaly as a traditional county so he could make his point with that daft table. It's almost as if he had an allergic reaction in his own mind to anyone but Cork, Tipp and Kilkenny being 'traditional'.

The point is how far Offaly have fallen from the top table as opposed to the 80s and 90s, and even early 00's. And his rationale for that wasn't a million miles away. Offaly have certainly taken too long to adapt, and given the relative strength of their club game (Birr, KK, Coolderry etc all being relatively competitive) they should be operating at a higher level than they are. That's the topic.

The Humphries stuff from Duignan and Regan was out of order I thought.

[manfromdelmonte]

What's harder to believe is that Mayo will be playing Offaly next year in hurling.

Mayo have 5/6 new clubs in the last 10 years.
Offaly have spent the last 10 years bemoaning everything

I know which county is on the way up

[Farrandeelin]

What's harder to believe is that Mayo will be playing Offaly next year in hurling.

Mayo have 5/6 new clubs in the last 10 years.
Offaly have spent the last 10 years bemoaning everything

I know which county is on the way up

Coming and going though. Only 4 adult clubs. Caiseal Gaels are on the rise to minor this year, Ballyvary, Ballina and Claremorris only play underage to u-16. As of this year.

[From the Bunker]

What's harder to believe is that Mayo will be playing Offaly next year in hurling.

Mayo have 5/6 new clubs in the last 10 years.
Offaly have spent the last 10 years bemoaning everything

I know which county is on the way up

Coming and going though. Only 4 adult clubs. Caiseal Gaels are on the rise to minor this year, Ballyvary, Ballina and Claremorris only play underage to u-16. As of this year.

Hurling is a real struggle in Mayo! Ballyvary get their act together every couple of years and then have a decline! The hardest thing they are finding is getting lads to stay to their late teens and a hope at some stage for a Senior team (no matter how shite they are in the beginning).

[macdanger2]

What's harder to believe is that Mayo will be playing Offaly next year in hurling.

Mayo have 5/6 new clubs in the last 10 years.
Offaly have spent the last 10 years bemoaning everything

I know which county is on the way up

Coming and going though. Only 4 adult clubs. Caiseal Gaels are on the rise to minor this year, Ballyvary, Ballina and Claremorris only play underage to u-16. As of this year.

Do Ballyvary and Ballina have separate teams all the way to U16? I thought that they were combining at some ages with Ballyvary providing majority of the players

[manfromdelmonte]

Practically no hurling in north offaly now
Clara the only club left.

[AZOffaly]

Practically no hurling in north offaly now
Clara the only club left.

Tullamore?

what qualifies as North Offaly anyway.?I certainly wouldn't have said Clara. If Clara is North Offaly, Ferbane can't be far off North Offaly, and they have a senior hurling team (Belmont). North Offaly to me is actually East Offaly on a map. Rhode, Edenderry, Walsh Island, Daingean etc.

[Owenmoresider]

Practically no hurling in north offaly now
Clara the only club left.

Brosna Gaels no?