‘Cork will be a step-up again’ - Offaly boss Declan Kelly

Declan Kelly guided Offaly to a famous Leinster U-20 football final triumph last week - and now he hopes his charges can embrace the challenge of playing Cork in their All-Ireland semi-final tomorrow (Saturday) throw-in 5.15pm.

Kelly expects Munster champions Cork to represent “a step-up again” from the task they faced against Dublin in the Leinster decider.

Reflecting on the win over Dublin in last week’s Leinster final, Kelly said: “It was an important one for the county and trying to back it up this weekend is the next thing.”

The Kilclonfert man was justifiably delighted with the way his side responded to Dublin scoring three goals (with Offaly emerging victorious by 0-15 to 3-3).

“We spoke (in advance) about the possibility of Dublin getting goals but it was all about how we reacted,” said Kelly. “They got three goals and every time we went down the field and answered with a point which was important. The lads worked very hard and we’re very happy with them. We believed that if we were in the game with 15 minutes to go, we’d have a great chance.”

Offaly started their Leinster campaign with a narrow win over Wexford (1-0 to 1-9) and followed that up with a two-point victory over Westmeath in the semi-finals (1-11 to 1-9).

Looking back on the Leinster campaign, Kelly said: “Two years ago we played Wexford in the minor and we only beat them by a point. Going down there, we knew there wasn’t going to be much in it. Dublin have been the stand-out team in Leinster across the board for the last number of years, but there is very little between the rest of the teams. The semi-final (against Westmeath) was a local derby in Mullingar and we just pulled away at the end. We just finished that bit stronger.”

Cork defeated Tipperary in the Munster final (3-20 to 3-10), having overcome old rivals Kerry in their semi-final (3-12 to 3-11). Diarmuid Phelan, substitute Sean McDonnell and Colin Walsh scored Cork’s goals in the Munster final. But Conor Corbett, who scored 2-4 in the win over Kerry, will miss the clash with Offaly - he suffered a cruciate ligament injury against Tipperary and is facing a long spell on the sidelines.

Asked for his assessment of Cork, Kelly said: “Cork won the minor All-Ireland two years ago and there’s no doubt that they have been very strong from an underage perspective for the last couple of years. They’re putting up big scores and they have a couple of very good inside forwards. It’s going to be a step-up again from the Dublin match, no doubt about that.”

With MW Hire O’Moore Park hosting the semi-final, Offaly are returning to the Portlaoise venue which witnessed a huge outpouring of joy last week.

“We were saying going into last week that Offaly didn’t have a particularly good record in Portlaoise for the last number of years. At the end of the day it’s a good ground and we’re quite used to it. At this stage it’s an All-Ireland semi-final and you’d go anywhere to play it, no matter where it was,” said Kelly.

In his fourth year with the Offaly U-20s, Kelly is joined in the management team by Ger Rafferty (St Rynagh’s), David Connolly (Bracknagh), Ciaran Grennan (Ballycumber), Alan Mulhall (Walsh Island), Ciaran Daly (St Rynagh’s) and Paul Corrigan (Cappincur).

Although an increased attendance of 1,400 spectators will be allowed to attend the All-Ireland semi-final, many supporters will still miss out on being in Portlaoise for the big game.

“There has been big demand for tickets. In normal times you’d have a good crowd in Portlaoise on Saturday evening, but at least the game is being shown live on TV (TG4) for those who can’t make it. That is a plus,” said Declan, adding that the restrictions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic have been tough on supporters.

Of course, Covid-19 has affected the preparations of every sporting team over the past year and more. Kelly said: “The lads did an awful amount of work on their own. We gave them a core of work to do and they did it. The U-20 grade is about developing lads to get into a senior squad. In fairness to any senior inter-county player, realistically they are doing a lot of work on their own.

“In that sense it was good for the fellas; the responsibility was on them to do the work. We weren’t chasing them... it was entirely up to themselves. When we got back on the field, we had six weeks to the championship and we knew pretty quickly that the lads had been doing the work as they had themselves in good condition.”

“Overall we’re happy with the way the lads are applying themselves and we’re getting an impact off the bench which is key. It’s something we’ve spoken about and we’re asking the lads ‘if you come in, give us something’ and we’re going to need that again.

“We lost Kieran Dolan for the Leinster final but the lads who came in stepped up and hopefully that will continue on Saturday.”

Shamrocks defender Dolan is also out for the clash with Cork but otherwise Kelly is reporting a clean bill of health. “It’s good in a sense to be playing week in, week out, but the downside is that if a guy picks up an injury and is out for a couple of weeks, it could rule him out for two big games which is tough,” Kelly remarked.

Cormac Egan was part of the Offaly minor football and hurling teams which contested the 2020 Leinster finals (finally played in 2021), and the Tullamore player is among the younger brigade who have made a major impression in this year’s U-20 panel.

“We worked closely with Ken (Furlong) and the minor management team. We left the minor lads till their campaign was over but they have given it a big injection,” said Kelly.

“They came in at championship pace straight away and they have integrated into it very well. They have definitely strengthened our hand, no doubt about it,” he added.

Offaly U-20 football panel

Sean O’Toole, Fionn Dempsey, Tom Hyland, Lee Pearson, Rory Egan, John Furlong, Aaron Brazil, Morgan Tynan, Ed Cullen, Cathal Flynn, Oisin Keenan-Martin, Cathal Donoghue (captain), Cormac Egan, Jack Bryant, Aaron Kellaghan., Killian Kavanagh, Keith O’Neill, Cormac Delaney, Ciaran Egan, Kieran Dolan, Cathal Ryan, Harry Plunkett, Gavin Young, Darragh Flynn, Mikey Cunningham, Adam Kelly, Eoin Sawyer, Harry Balsiger, Sean Courtney , Jamie Guing, Peter Bennett, Sean McCloskey, Marcus Kenna, Oran Connolly, Eoin Hyland.