Harte and Kelly savour big win as Offaly management set target on fast start

YOU would not have to stretch imagination too hard to picture the message that the Offaly football management drilled home to their charges ahead of Sunday's crunch Division 3 showdown with Kildare in Tullamore.

Irrespective of the controversial late refereeing decisions that went against them, a slow start and a particularly poor second quarter were chiefly responsible for their defeat in Fermanagh while they also struggled early on in their next game against Leitrim – going behind early on and forced to work very hard for a win against the division's whipping boys and a county that showed how troubled things are there by conceding a walkover to Fermanagh this weekend.

They certainly hit the ground running against Kildare and while they were marginally second best in the first few minutes, they were playing with sufficient intent and desire to deliver two very powerful messages to supporters: that they were going to deliver a performance and that a win was very possible.

They succeeded spectacularly on both fronts and it was a sign of how well they were playing that Kildare were actually relieved to go in only a point down at half time, 0-11 to 0-10, after converting two injury time kicks. They rallied brilliantly then in the second half to win by 2-17 to 0-17 and it puts them on the brink of promotion. Two points ahead of Clare and Kildare, anything less than an eleven point defeat in Ennis on Sunday will put them up into Division 2.

Joint manager Declan Kelly spoke about the importance of a fast start after their win.

“The one thing we asked today, we've been slow to start the last two days, we tried to get our foot in the door early and get into the game and we done that. We probably left a bit behind in the first half. We would have been a bit disappointed on that front. But in fairness to the lads, when Kildare rolled back into it in the second half, the lads upped the ante and got the couple of goals in the end to help us out.”

Kelly admitted that they were disappointed to be only a point up at half time.”We let them in for a couple of soft points. We would have liked to have been two or three more up at half time.”

Apart from the win, supporters were excited about the quality and pace of football that Offaly played. Kelly's joint manager, Mickey Harte agreed:

“The fast ground is going to help these players but I suppose it will help every team as well so it's going to be a different game. There's going to be more open football, a necessity to have quality kick passing and the way the game is going now, there'll be a lot of big finishes, big scorelines.

We have people that can kick points and today was the first day that we got some value out of the two-pointers and they came at a very important time because if we hadn't got those two pointers, despite all the good play we were doing, we'd have still been in a poor enough place. We were one down and we felt we could have been four or five up.

“The big thing came in the second half when Kildare pushed on and got a two-point lead with whatever `breeze there was at their back, it looked like they were on the road to victory but our boys knuckled down and they put their back and heart and soul into the quality of that second half.

It was just the work-rate was a dream to watch and see players hungry for the ball and quality when they had the ball breaking up. We couldn't but be happy about it. Unfortunately, it doesn't guarantee us anything but it guarantees that the outcome of our league is in our own hands.”

Harte spoke about the lightening breaks from defence that led to Rory Egan's goal and other scores.

“It's absolutely brilliant, it's brilliant for the team that's doing it and it's horrible for the team that lets it happen. That is the final shot of a quality turnover, a quality turnover that ends up in any kind of a score is brilliant but one that ends up in a goal is something even more superlative than that. It's just great to see that ambition. When they thought they had us pinned in in the corner, we decided 'No we're getting out of here and we played with real control and pace up the field and obviously able to finish.”

It was a great occasion with a big crowd of around 6,000 supporters and hundreds of children kicking around at half time.

Kelly smiled: “It is great for them to be here with a good Offaly following. Someone told me today, it was 2006 since we last beat Kildare in competitive football at adult level so it was a big scalp. It will help them but it's a quick turnaround to next week and it's in our own hands but we need to get a result down in Ennis next Sunday, that's the big one too.”

He agreed that the week rest after the Leitrim win was a big help. “It's needed. Three games in a row is tough going. That block is very tough. We are still a couple of lads shy who may not be available next weekend again and that is the one side of the league, how compact things are. If you pick up a knock, you are in trouble and will miss games. We will see this week but we could be a bit tight next week to even get one or two of them back.”

When it was suggested that the referee felt the pace of the game was comparable to some division 1 games, Harte hesitated before replying: “We will take that compliment and that is encouraging. That is the type of pace players want to get up to, the higher level. If you are in a lower division, the ambition is to get up the ladder a bit. If that is the feedback is coming from a referee, that the pace of the game today is towards that standard, that can only be encouraging for our boys.”

He was asked about how hard it will be to maintain that for the next few weeks. “It is always hard to come down from a high and keep your feet on the ground but it is worse if you never get onto any highs. I like these highs and then we have to manage them. These players are sensible enough and wise enough to know that we haven't scaled any height today that says the world is going to be different next year but it has put ourselves in with a chance to be able to do that. We have to be really disciplined this week, get our feet back on the ground and know that there is a hell of a battle coming against Clare in Ennis because they have their eye on the prize too.

“It is good experience. As we said to the players before the game today, it is good to be playing in a big game where there is a big crowd and a great atmosphere. It is good to go into some other people's back yard and meet that as well. If you want to get up the ranks, you will have to live with a partisan crowd and that is experience for the players that you wouldn't get if you were playing games that didn't matter.”

Harte spoke with great passion about the win and what it meant for him. “When you have days like this, the road up is easy and getting up tomorrow morning is sweet. There is just that glowing feeling within you. The thing about it is you remember all the good things that happened today. There is mistakes there but you leave them aside for now because you have to savour the good moments and that is what we do. We learn from those things that we could have done a bit different and might have given us a different outcome on certain aspects of our play. There is much to be grateful for today, much to be thankful for.”

He talked about the new rules. “I enjoy this game. I wouldn't be at it as long as I have been if I didn't. It is a privilege to be able to work with the top players in any county and I have been blessed to be able to do that over 35 years. I just love it. The new rules were a challenge to everybody and maybe the feeling was it was too many when they came in all in the one go. There has been a bit of tweaking done to them now but when we adjust and get over all those little differences and intricacies in the new rules and they bed in, I'm sure it will be more exciting for the general public and there seems to be bigger scorelines.”

There was great excitement among Offaly supporters after the win and Kelly enjoyed the scenes. “It is very important. I go back to the last couple of years with the underage and the hurling last year, the younger generation are beginning to see those type of things that we would have seen but at senior level, it is great that you are now getting to compete. It is great for family members and you would hope a crowd will travel to Ennis next Sunday on the back of it.”

With St Patrick's Day on Monday and a big trip to Ennis next Sunday, the celebrations for the players had to be very curtailed.”That is it,” said Kelly. “You are back into recovery tomorrow and back on the ground on Wednesday. It is only around the corner again and away you go, see where it takes you.”