Are offaly better off losing narrowly today, and using the qualifiers to build up a head of steam, or are Longford better off winning today and facing the Dubs (and getting demolished) and going into the same qualifier system as Offaly, except with a humiliating defeat under their belts?

joncarter (Galway) - Posts: 2692 - 16/05/2015 21:00:27    1724313

Longford have to be happy with the win really, I mean you never want to lose and Offaly certainly shouldn't be happy with losing at home to a team they comfortably beat last month. Longford should just try and enjoy their game against Dublin, everybody knows that barring a miracle they'll be tanked. I asked a mate of mine from Longford yesterday what he thought of Longford's chances should they beat Offaly (not a terribly serious question in fairness) and he said "we'll have the absolute livin sh*** hammered out of us", so expections are relatively low!

Htaem (Meath) - Posts: 8657 - 16/05/2015 21:23:15    1724325

That's a poor comment. Great result for Longford this evening and some turnaround from the League final against Offaly.

Ailteoir (Galway) - Posts: 864 - 16/05/2015 21:24:42    1724327

Very defeatist attitude.
Sure at that rate why bother entering for 31 teams as only one will win anyway.
Come on they recorded a brilliant win tonight isn't that enjoyable for Longford and a match in Croke park against Dublin to look forward to.

hill16no1man (Dublin) - Posts: 12665 - 16/05/2015 21:30:59    1724333

On reflection joncarter may have a point, Dublin would have destroyed Offaly the next day. We were 7 points up after 15 minutes of the second half, and were out scored 11 points to 1 from there to the end. Need to look at tonight's display and learn from it, must close out games.

thelongridge (Offaly) - Posts: 1756 - 16/05/2015 21:41:19    1724337

Offaly really wanted the win , they havent won a championship game in 8 years and this was to be their moment. In no way can this be a good thing for Offaly. Their morale will be low now whereas even if Longford are hammered by Dublin its no humiliation as Dublin are hammering the likes of Cork anyway.

Jack_Sparrow (Westmeath) - Posts: 1019 - 16/05/2015 21:51:16    1724344

I see what you are saying but championship wins have been few and far between for us. We will worry about the next day tomo

MartinGerard (Longford) - Posts: 275 - 16/05/2015 21:52:30    1724345

Offaly'swait for a championship win goes on for another year.

thelongridge (Offaly) - Posts: 1756 - 16/05/2015 21:59:17    1724349

get wrenching for offaly 12/5 up and cruising.last 12 ponts scored in game longford scored 11 of them .fair dues to them .offaly have never been a good qualifier team and id fear for them . i was looking forward to a trip to croker for the dublin game..alas itl be at least 206 now by the looks of it!! jack sheedy the longford manager when asked about playing dub etc said dublin are second favourites or"near enough" for the all ireland.our jack obviously not a betting man!!

kavvie (Clare) - Posts: 505 - 17/05/2015 10:14:08    1724359

The curse of the championship returns for Pat Flanagan. It was the same with Westmeath - great leagues followed by dreadful championship.
I am at a loss to explain how could Ofally could throw away a 7 pt lead midway through the 2nd half.

Redslayer (Westmeath) - Posts: 100 - 17/05/2015 10:22:24    1724363

Fair play to Longford they,great come back.
Flanagan needn't have worried about having to take on Dublin in Croker after all.

Dubh_linn (Dublin) - Posts: 2312 - 17/05/2015 10:38:44    1724371

A harsh black card for midfielder And some shocking poor decisions by the ref didn't help Offalys cause. Anton Sullivan was targeted all day by Longford , hit twice by the same player in front of the ref and all he gets is a yellow . With Offaly 7 points up , the ref gives two soft frees to Longford who gain momentum and start to play . Offaly now sit back and invite Longford on who with the help of a very strong wind tag off scores and see the game out. Longford won't get away with the off the ball crap and fouling they did yesterday against Dublin, they will struggle to score more than 7 or 8 points .

ke40 (Kildare) - Posts: 209 - 17/05/2015 10:39:00    1724372

Maybe so Ke40, but it appears they will still put up a better performance against Dublin than Offaly would. When you are playing at home and lose, you deserve to lose and all the excuses in the world change negate that hard fact.

PoolSturgeon (Galway) - Posts: 1908 - 17/05/2015 11:03:38    1724380

This isn't a case of sour grapes or anything, but I genuinely feel Longford will be destroyed by Dublin, just as Offaly would have been.
Credit to Longford for engineering a great comeback last night, but they were second best for the greater part of that game.
Offaly just completely collapsed and no one was able to stand up and show any leadership on the field for us when Longford started on their comeback trail.
Overall, a very disappointing defeat for us after the expectations had been lifted recently. I'm still of the opinion that Longford are no better than Offaly from what I saw.

OffalyBigBall (Offaly) - Posts: 625 - 17/05/2015 11:37:37    1724400

True enough , you have to win at home .

ke40 (Kildare) - Posts: 209 - 17/05/2015 11:38:56    1724402

Surely it's a good thing to get a crack at the dubs?? How can you improve without playing the best?

Brolly (Monaghan) - Posts: 4472 - 17/05/2015 11:59:12    1724413

Brolly
County: Monaghan
Posts: 3928

1724413
Surely it's a good thing to get a crack at the dubs?? How can you improve without playing the best?

Could be very bad for morale getting a complete hiding and realizing how far away from competing you are and how pointless competing seems like.

I desperately wanted to win last night just to get a win in Leinster as we haven't won a match in Leinster since 2007 but I would have been absolutely dreading the thoughts of playing Dublin in the next round.

uibhfhaili1986 (Offaly) - Posts: 1296 - 17/05/2015 12:17:33    1724418

@ke40 - Sour grapes? Offaly did plenty of 'hard' hitting themselves, with Mickey Quinn and Brian Kavanagh getting plenty of attention.

Ailteoir (Galway) - Posts: 864 - 17/05/2015 12:49:38    1724425

Very defeatist

waynoI (Dublin) - Posts: 13650 - 17/05/2015 12:57:01    1724428

Typical Longford comeback in the Leinster championship. I remember Westmeath went up to Longford back Luke Dempsey's first championship game managing Longford and Westmeath totally dominated the 1st half. Longford still came back and won the game.

If I was Longford I would give it a lash against the Dubs. Yes the Dubs will win by a lot but they can comfort themlselves with the fact that no-one bar three teams (Kerry, Mayo, Donegal) can beat that Dublin side.

iarmhiman (Westmeath) - Posts: 140 - 17/05/2015 13:12:33    1724434