The non-performers shape up

When the National Hurling League first rolled out of the blocks last February, Dublin manager Michael O'Grady wrote in the match programme for their opening run against Kerry that a semi-final place out of Division One A was their realistic target.

Well they got their game this weekend - albeit a rescheduled affair with Offaly on Saturday - because in the end it was Galway and Limerick who comfortably emerged from the division with a blast of daylight behind them.

Yet you won't find any regrets in either Dublin or Offaly at not being in Thurles on Sunday, just an honest reflection on what went wrong.

For O'Grady, it is the tired scenario that has dogged his longterm reign as Dublin manager. "Consistency has always been a big problem for us," he says. "It was very frustrating to see us play so well and then so poor. A lot of our performances were mystifying and demoralising, just not knowing what's going wrong."

After the expected win against Kerry - who finished the league without a win - there was further encouragement in Ballinasloe. "We came up against Galway in the second game and that was definitely the high point. And it was probably their hardest game of the league.

"We didn't do well in the first half but probably beat them in the second. We lost by four after missing a penalty in the last minute. I really felt the team was looking good then."

Lucky to escape with the points against Antrim, it was then down to Kilmallock to face Limerick and suddenly they hit the "low point". O'Grady regards that display as "probably the worst performance in my time as manager and I've no idea why. And in some ways we never recovered after that."

The meeting with a weakened Clare team was equally memorable for all the wrong reasons. "We all read Ger Loughnane's comments, but if he'd seen the Limerick game he would have said even worse. But I just can't put my finger on it. The players have trained very hard and I've spoken to all of them about it, but there's no one explanation."

For Offaly, the tag of poor league performers looks set to stick for at least another while. They haven't made the league semi-finals since 1995 - with their sole league title coming back in 1991 - but this was always going to be an experimental year for manager Pat Fleury since taking over the reigns from Michael Bond after last year's championship.

"You have to qualify our league run by saying that we were under-strength for a lot of the games," says Fleury. "We were afforded the opportunity to experiment with players and not all the results went the way we would have liked. By and large though we have to be reasonably happy.

"But of course we would have loved to make the semi-finals. We have a lot of young players on board now and it would have been tremendous preparation for them."

Neither O'Grady nor Fleury regard Saturday's meeting at Parnell Park as a game of no importance. Dublin start their round-rob-in stage of the Leinster championship the following weekend against Carlow and O'Grady is eager to settle on a starting 15 in what is almost certain to be his final tenure as manager. And for Fleury, it's perfect timing for a competitive outing.

"It's a big bonus for us to have a game like this at this time of the year," he says. "We're in the middle of the county championship so it's good to assemble as a team again. We'd like to finish with eight points and it's a very serious game for Dublin with their championship so close."

As for Sunday's semi-finals, both managers are willing to offer an opinion. "I was impressed by Limerick," says O'Grady. But it's another big learning match for Eamonn Cregan."

Fleury said: "Limerick are young and very determined to establish themselves. Tipperary have also come through with a young team so it's difficult to say what might happen."

Not that either of them would dare write off Galway. "They have a wonderful record in this competition," says Fluery, "but Waterford are tremendous fighters. They should be two great games by all means."

Offaly (SH v Dublin): S Byrne; S Whelahan K Kinahan, C Cassidy; B Whelahan, M O'Hara, N Claffey, J Dooley, G Oakley; B Murphy, J Errity, J Pilkington; G Hanniffy, J Troy, M Duignan.