Huge night coming for Offaly U20 hurlers in Leinster decider

By Kevin Egan

Neither the senior footballers nor hurlers will mind ceding top billing to the U20 hurlers this week, as no game will be more widely anticipated across the county than next Wednesday night's final clash with Wexford at Netwatch Cullen Park in Carlow.

This week's win over Dublin in Tullamore was a heartwarming victory, both because of the manner in which it was achieved, and because it was far more comprehensive than the final margin of four points suggested.

A last-puck goal from Conn Rock made it look like Dublin were a lot closer than they were in reality, and across the 60 minutes, Offaly brought more intensity, more vigour and more thought to proceedings than Dublin – which is a wonderful thing to say, after generations where this county tended to depend on hurling craft to overcome shortcomings in those areas.

That's not to say that there is a lack of craft in this Offaly group. Far from it, as Charlie Mitchell’s spectacular sideline points in each half would attest. However there is a much deeper understanding of the modern game mixed in with that, and the combination of those traits leaves this group in a very strong position, with either one or two games remaining in this championship.

Wexford come into this game on the back of an up and down campaign, but one that featured two wins over Kilkenny, including a victory at Nowlan Park on Wednesday where a 55th minute goal pushed them over the line by a couple of points.

There is excellent balance and depth to the side, particularly from midfield up, and there will be no shortage of passion and pride from any team managed by Keith Rossiter.

Offaly supporters are getting used to big days again, and there is certainly one coming next Wednesday night in Carlow.

Tailteann Cup kicks off with a whimper

Nobody in the Offaly football camp will take it to heart too much if we say that it’s hard to get excited about Sunday’s opening tie in the competition, with London set to visit O’Connor Park. Under native manager Michael Maher, London aren’t the walkover that they were when Offaly played them in the 2016 and 2019 qualifier series, but neither is their 2023 form quite on a par with 2022, when they put themselves in the promotion mix in Division Four of the Allianz League for long stretches.

While on paper, everything about this game screams “banana skin”, Martin Murphy’s men should still be able to cruise though this game and set up what should be a much more eagerly anticipated contest in Portlaoise tomorrow night week.

The absence of Rory Egan, Jack Bryant and Bill Carroll from the squad is a blow, but for Offaly to thrive in 2024, players like Keith O’Neill and Jordan Hayes are likely to play a big role, and their return is likely to be rewarded with decent playing time, either this weekend or next.

It's hard to tell quite how much merit there is in this competition just yet, and the suspicion is that it’s not unlike the FA Cup. Once teams get to the latter stages of the competition, it suddenly becomes important to them, but up to that point, it’s impossible to predict how they will treat it.

Hurlers have earned their right to look after number one

Tomorrow evening, Offaly will conclude the round robin stages of their Joe McDonagh campaign with a trip to Carlow, and a contest that will mean absolutely nothing to Johnny Kelly and his players, but will nonetheless have a huge bearing on who joins them in Croke Park on May 27 for the championship decider.

The idea that the players have the chance to “pick their opponents” for the McDonagh Cup final is currently circulating, and it would a huge surprise, and a genuine dereliction of duty, were that line of thought to permeate the camp.

Firstly, on current form, there is absolutely no reason to be afraid of Laois, who themselves, might not even pick up the win they need in Tralee. Mostly, however, the last three months or so has seen this Offaly group play seven league games and four championship games.

Add in the bumps and bruises that were sustained by players like Eoghan Cahill and Cillian Kiely against Kerry, the need to rest Charlie Mitchell with one eye on Wednesday, and already the likely starting 15 is looking very different to what played last week. There will be plenty more too nursing minor knocks and bruises, and playing these players in Carlow out of some misplaced sense of loyalty to the spirit of the game would be little short of foolish, not to mention a slap in the face to anyone struggling to get playing time.

On form, Carlow are every bit as dangerous as Laois, and a rematch in Croke Park would be a very tough contest, but the only thing that is genuinely in Offaly’s control right now is how fit and ready they are for May 27, so that needs to be the priority tomorrow.

Minor footballers back in action

In everything else that’s going on, the minor footballers’ Leinster quarter-final clash with Louth has got slightly lost in the mix, but that will throw in on Tuesday evening at Glenisk O’Connor Park, with a semi-final against Dublin on the table if Roger Ryan’s men are able to come through.

After a busy round robin stage that featured a high-quality contest against Kildare, an excellent home win over Laois and then a narrow, scrappy win over Longford, that was enough to earn a bye through the preliminary quarter-final round, where Louth edged out Wicklow and Laois were crushed by Wexford.

Given the unique circumstances surround this group, with so many players that were also involved with Enda Mulhare’s minor hurling panel, getting a month of unimpeded prepapration time will be invaluable to Offaly, and even a couple of points of improvement could be enough to take them past a Louth side with a couple of very talented forwards, but a very moderate group outside of that.

A likely clash with Dublin would be a very different matter, which hopefully will be a concern for a week down the road.