!!! The Dubs Destroy Offaly in Hurling !!

Yavvy

Dublin 4-21 Offaly 2-6

Dublin produced the shock of the weekend by pulling off an over-whelming victory over Offaly in the second phase of the Allianz NHL. In doing so, the Dubs have salvaged Division One status for another year, while the relegation concerns now rest of the shoulders of their midland opponents.

Offaly, who were without the services of Rory Hanniffy, Brian Whelahan and Ger Oakley (all injured) found it impossible to match the pace and hunger of the Metropolitans, who were desperate to save themselves from the drop.

From the outset, Dublin played with intent and goals from Liam Ryan and Conal Keaney (a free) helped them into a 2-8 to 0-5 lead at half time. Offaly had started promisingly though, going 0-4 to 0-2 in front by the ninth minute, but they managed only to add one more point after being rocked by those two goals.

Keaney and Michael Carton tagged on points at the start of the second half to extend Dublin's lead, but still Offaly were struggling. Damian Murray did pull a goal back, but by then the margin had grown to 12 points, 2-15 to 1-6.

The final nails in Offaly's coffin came with a double strike from David Donnelly in the final quarter, to help Dublin to a 4-20 to 2-6 advantage. Offaly's second goal came through Conor Gath, while Fallon's 75-yard free was the icing on Dublin's cake.

gerire

Originally posted by Alany
Dublin 4-21 Offaly 2-6

The final nails in Offaly's coffin came with a double strike from David Donnelly in the final quarter, to help Dublin to a 4-20 to 2-6 advantage. Offaly's second goal came through Conor Gath, while Fallon's 75-yard free was the icing on Dublin's cake.

Ah yes a good Crumlin man scoring in his first game back for the Dubs for a while now, good lad Davey.

Now where is that usual queue of Dublin begrudgers now?

Mighty_Mouse

Yes all the way to the top now for the Dubs!!! They'll surely be capable of beatin Offaly if they meet in a championship match!!:D
Seriously though congrats.

Yavvy

Well it does give them a boost for the championship and will raise their confidence any team that is capable of scoring 4-21 will look dangerous to the "second tier" teams in hurling. I know wexford and kilkenny wont exactly be shaking in their boots but it will make laois, offaly and Meath pay attention

kaimera

Dublin hurlers == jeckle && hyde.

Ye went out one week and only lost by a few points to kilkenny wasn't it?

Get destroyed then the next week.

repeat

repeat

A good win over Offaly I'll admit but it's not good if ye dont follow up on it good.

Yavvy

your right Kaimera, its been up and down for some time, but it is a great boost. Dublin have secured their leauge status and it has to be treated as a building block . ..

thirdmantackle

How are Meath considered second tier?? Roscommon beat them two weeks ago. We should enter the Leinster Championship seeing as the Connacht council refuses to run one out west

Yavvy

I never said Meath were second tier... Personally I would love to see the rossies playing in leinster ,,,just another team for the dubs to beat !

thirdmantackle

Well it does give them a boost for the championship and will raise their confidence any team that is capable of scoring 4-21 will look dangerous to the "second tier" teams in hurling. I know wexford and kilkenny wont exactly be shaking in their boots but it will make laois, offaly and Meath pay attention

Ah, yes you did. I wonder could Roscommon enter in the Leinster Championship? I'd say Mayo and Sligo would be interested too seeing as there is no Connacht Championship. There's another two teams Dublin could beat.

Yavvy

well the new system should address that problem anyway
...

Does anyone understand the new system ? I feckin dont

Alan.

klong

shock! horror! dublin hurlers win a match

thirdmantackle

Yeah, and it wasn't their footballers (propably the most over rated team in Ireland):p

laoisfan

Well it does give them a boost for the championship and will raise their confidence any team that is capable of scoring 4-21 will look dangerous to the "second tier" teams in hurling. I know wexford and kilkenny wont exactly be shaking in their boots but it will make laois, offaly and Meath pay attention

I seem to recall Laois beating Dublin in hurling recently?

BTW - I think if Offaly do meet Dublin in the championship it would AND will be a different story.

On the day Dublin deserved to win but as people keep pointing out priorities differ when it comes to the league and the championship.

Anyway, well done Dublin.

--laoisfan

Yavvy

Klong... Dublin hurlers are punching well above their weight. the have spent the entire season playing agains the top hurling counties in Ireland (bar Laois) and have done themselves proud.

Thirdman tackle... Im my opinion the most overrated team in foorball is roscommon and the most over rated sport is handball :eek: ..apples

Laois, I dont suggust for one secong that the victory against Offaly means we will beat them or anyone else in the championship, however it does give a much needed boost to the confidence. As you pointed out Laois did hammer us ( directy after a great game against Clare I think) so scoring 4-21 in any competitice game is a boost... scoring it against Offaly is a great boost.

thirdmantackle

I think the words "straws" and "clutching" are very apt here

Yavvy

yeah im also fond of "pot" and "kettle" :ninja:

Waylander

Did the dubs not give Offaly a bit of a fright in last years championship. If I recall correctly Offaly only pulled a couple of points clear with minutes to go?

Yavvy

i think your right... I dont think offaly are the powerful hurling county they used to be... but if i was a betting man the odd would still be on them to beat us ...if ever so slightly shorter than before

Waylander

I'm not putting us up there as favourites, don't worry about that. I am just pointing out that it is not as outlandish a possibility as some of the above posts imply.

klong

happened to meath v offaly 2(?) years ago, lost by 4 points methinks it was. we were in it until the last 10mins afair

thirdmantackle

we'll see how far Dublin get this year in the hurling and football

Yavvy

thirdmantackle..we will see how far everyone gets in hurling and football this year...thats the nature of a compitition.....

Waylander

In football they will win Leinster but not get much further. Winning Leinster at the minute is not much of an achievement, I think the standard here is at its lowest ebb in some time. In Hurling anything they achieve is an unexpected bonus, can't lose. Where do your loyalties lie third man?

Yavvy

I am of the impression Thirdman is a Rossie... that is to say hes from Roscommon

thirdmantackle

did u figure that out on your own?? Well done!! There is not a chance of Dublin winning the Leinster football title.

Offaly, Laois and Meath are well ahead of them if you ask me. And Kildare, Wexford, Wicklow and Longford aren't too far off them.

Looks like the Dubs will be experiencing traffic outside of the Pale once again this year...

Yavvy

:rolleyes:

Your certainly entertaining....

Alan.

Imposter

Originally posted by Waylander
In football they will win Leinster but not get much further. Winning Leinster at the minute is not much of an achievement, I think the standard here is at its lowest ebb in some time. In Hurling anything they achieve is an unexpected bonus, can't lose. Where do your loyalties lie third man?

That's funny too. I reckon almost any team in Leinster could beat any other. It's unlikely a team such as Longford, Westmeath, Carlow or Wexford could put a good enough run together but it is possible. I also reckon Wicklow, Louth and Offaly are the weakest teams at the moment but still capable of beating anyone. So that leaves Dublin, Meath, Kildare and Laois to be the favourites.

To say the standard in Leinster is crap is to ignore the effort it takes to win Leinster in comparison most of the other provences. To win connaught you need to win 2 competitive games. To win Munster, it's possible to play just one competitive match, although 2 matches would be the norm. To win Ulster is also tough and it probably is the best provence at the moment. So I'd put Leinster as being the 2nd best provence standards wise.

Waylander

To say the standard in Leinster is crap is to ignore the effort it takes to win Leinster in comparison most of the other provences.

No actually it is not to say that at all. It is to say that I do not think that any team in Leinster is as good as Galway, Kerry, Tyrone, Armagh or Cork. I have been a dubs fan for over 20 years so I know just how diificult it is to win Leinster you can rest assured on that. I just think that there are no very strong teams at the moment. Meath and Dublin are both very average. Laois are riding high under Micko, but again I think that is partly down to the traditional Leinster powers being poor as opposed to Laois being an excellent outfit. My only consolation is that Meath are almost certainly at an even lower ebb then the Dubs. As for you third man, I can believe you are a Rossie as it has become apparent you do not have a clue what you are talking about. It is only two years since Dublin were Leinster champions after demolishing Meath en route. They only went out of the championship by a width of a post to the eventual All Ireland champions that year. I do not think they are that good this year, neither Cosgrove or Goggins are playing that well. In fact last year Jason Sherlock was one of our better players and it really pains me to say that. Last year we lost to Laois, I am not sure I have seen Dublin play that badly very often. However, faair dues to Laois, I was happy to see them win a Leinster title but I cannot see them going any further then that, if they even do that weel this year.

thirdmantackle

I never said Leinster was crap!!

I agree about the amount of games that have to be played - but believe me, Offaly will be challenging this year. They are a good bit ahead of Kildare and Meath if you ask me.

It'll be Offaly or Laois to win Leinster. the Dubs are just missing that bit of quality.

Connacht titles aren't easily won either. Galway, Mayo, Ros and Sligo are all about the same with each capable of beating each other on the day. Leitrim can always cause an upset.

The Rooster

I do not think they are that good this year, neither Cosgrove or Goggins are playing that well. In fact last year Jason Sherlock was one of our better players and it really pains me to say that.

Waylander, Goggins has started in about 20% (probably less) of Dublin's games over the last 18 months, so its nearly impossible to say what his intercounty form is like, and his form is certainly not significant to how Dublin will perform this year, as Lyons seems likely to start with Henry, Chrisite, Griffin, Andrews, Ryan and Moran in defence.

Likewise Cosgrove's form is of little relevance. He was useless in the league in 2003, his form for the championship improved marginally. He's been useless again in the league this year. He's finally been dropped by Lyons and will be no more than a subsititute come the summer.

Why the hell on earth does it pain you that Jason is one of our better players??? Since he gave up the soccer to concetrate on football his form has improved dramatically, back to and then better than his 1995 form. Injury held him back a couple of years, but without question he's been one of the best two (second only to Senan Connell) Dublin forwards in Dublin club football for the last two years. Without a doubt he's one of our best forwards, and his recent form is absolute top drawer. He's been running rings around corner backs throughout the league. He got a great goal v Longford in the league, another v Wexford in a recent challenge and another 3 for Na Fianna in a club game last week. So why, as a so-called Dublin supporter, does that pain you???

I think Dublin and Laois are pretty much equal in terms of strength, and the best two teams in Leinster. Dublin, this year, should have the better forwards, but Laois are immense at midfield. They've 3 of the best 5 midfielders in the province. The rest of Leinster is only marginally behind and very capable of beating Dublin and Laois.

Imposter

Originally posted by thirdmantackle
I never said Leinster was crap!!

I agree about the amount of games that have to be played - but believe me, Offaly will be challenging this year. They are a good bit ahead of Kildare and Meath if you ask me.

It'll be Offaly or Laois to win Leinster. the Dubs are just missing that bit of quality.

Connacht titles aren't easily won either. Galway, Mayo, Ros and Sligo are all about the same with each capable of beating each other on the day. Leitrim can always cause an upset.

That was me who misinterpreted something Waylander said in thinking he meant Leinster was crap.

I don't think Offaly will beat Westmeath in the first round. It's always hard to know with the dubs. They'll be generally overhyped but you never know exactly how good or bad they actually are. Again Laois look good on paper and probably have the easiest looking draw to the semis but nobody knows if they can actually match last years performances.

[edit]And of course Meath are quiet which is always dangerous.