Rating the Offaly prospects as hunt for Leinster glory begins

Offaly’s six representatives in provincial club championship action have been determined, and those teams are set to begin their campaigns to add further silverware to their trophy cabinets – or in the case of Clodiagh Gaels and Drumcullen, to win a first championship title of the year. Here, the Offaly Independent looks at each team’s prospects, starting with Ballinagar, the only one of the six out this weekend.

Ballinagar (Leinster JFC)

First round vs Ballon (Carlow), Netwatch Cullen Park, November 2, 2pm. It’s been a magical year for Benny O’Brien and his players, who have thrived under the wily guidance of the Kiltoom native. Winter football is still a more physically demanding game with less reliance on pace than championship football in August and September, but there still is a lot of value in having a side that can cover ground up and down the pitch and transition quickly, and that certainly fits the bill for the current county intermediate champions.

When it comes to the draw, both Ballon and Ballinagar will feel that they’ve been handed a manageable assignment this week. Historically the Carlow intermediate runners-up used to go into this competition but that changed in recent years and now it’s their junior winners. And while Raheen were favoured to win the intermediate final in Offaly, Leighlinbridge were also fancied by a few clever people for the Carlow junior decider.

Should Ballinagar come through, as we suspect they might, a home quarter-final against Wolfe Tones (Louth) would be a step up in class, but also winnable. However it gets very different after that, and looking further down the tracks, the winners of this weekend’s clash between Castletown-Finea/Coole/Whitehall (Westmeath) and Ellistown of Kildare should be well-poised to extend their season well into December.

Clonbullogue (Leinster IFC)

First game: quarter-final vs either Fenagh (Carlow) or Garrycastle (Westmeath), November 9. There’s still never been an Offaly winner of this championship, although both Clara and Shamrocks reached finals in recent years, with Shamrocks particularly unlucky to lose out to a very good Twomilehouse team.

Clonbullogue have made a virtue out of winning tight contests this year and their ability to create and finish goals gives them a chance in any game. Their Leinster junior title just three years ago shows that they can adjust their game to suit slower ground.

If they had a game or two to get their campaign up and running, then we’d call them a dark horse. It’s hard to see them getting that head start. Garrycastle aren’t the force they were four or five years ago when they won the 2019 Westmeath SFC and took St Loman’s to a replay two years later, but they aren’t an ordinary intermediate team either, and after bouncing back at the first attempt, they’ll feel that their experience, their strength in depth and the chance to find their range with a handy opener against Fenagh will put them in good stead. Crettyard or Dundalk Gaels might cause them problems, but Clonbullogue will do well to test them.

Drumcullen (Leinster JHC)

First round vs Windgap or St Lachtain’s (both Kilkenny), November 9. Drumcullen suddenly aren’t a bad team because they failed to build on their strong half-time position against Coolderry in the Offaly intermediate final, but going into provincial club competition on the back of a defeat is a very different mindset, and the results bear this out.

Now add in that this is the worst possible draw – away from home to a progressive, talented Kilkenny club side, with the only silver lining being that there will only be six days between the county junior final and the winners’ meeting with Drumcullen – and it’s impossible to foresee anything other than this being a ‘one and done’ situation.

Even if Drumcullen had marched through Offaly without anyone laying a glove on them, they would be underdogs against the side representing the county that won 17 of the last 21 Leinster junior hurling titles. As it is, they’re massively up against it.

Tullamore (Leinster SFC)

First game: quarter-final vs Portarlington (Laois) or Tinahely (Wicklow), November 10. Since Rhode reached the 2016 Leinster final, Offaly clubs have won a combined total of one game in this championship, which is level with Wexford as the worst record, by some distance. All logic would suggest that Tullamore should be capable of doing better, given the depth of their panel, the four-week gap from county final to their Leinster opener, and how their style should be suited to this time of year. Add in Kilmacud’s defeat in the Dublin final and no doubt the training at O’Brien Park has got that bit sharper, as the sense will have grown that this championship is there to be won.

The problem is that Portarlington will feel the same, arguably more so, and with good reason. This is a club that has taken a firm grip on the Laois championship, and they have won games in Leinster, and look ready to take the next step. Player for player, there isn’t a lot between these two sides and as away trips go, down the road to O’Moore Park is as handy as it comes. But assuming the Laois champions take care of Tinahely, as we expect they will, they will be favourites for this game too. Cuala and Naas being on the same side of the draw is not exactly a source of encouragement either, compared to what could be a handy run to a provincial decider for St Loman’s.

Clodiagh Gaels (Leinster IHC)

First game: quarter-final vs Lisdowney (Kilkenny), November 16. Take what we said above about Drumcullen, and a lot of it applies here too. No county title to give the team a boost, away from home to Kilkenny opposition, it’s really hard to find reasons why Clodiagh Gaels might come through this.

Last year Thomastown won this title en route to winning the All-Ireland, and now they’re Kilkenny senior champions. Lisdowney don’t look to be on the same level as that, but they are physically powerful, with senior experience after winning the 2020 Kilkenny IHC (they never got to enter Leinster due to Covid) and while they’re not packed with stars, there is quality there such as Aidan Tallis in goal and Niall Brennan at centre-back.

Maybe Clodiagh Gaels might at least have a surprise element? With Trevor Fletcher at the helm of Lisdowney, it’s unlikely. In that sense, Kilcormac-Killoughey’s haunting of the Killurin-based panel should continue.

Kilcormac-Killoughey (Leinster SHC)

First game: quarter-final vs St Mullin’s (Carlow), November 17. Shane Hand has done a fantastic job of keeping Kilcormac-Killoughey focused on the tasks in front of them all year, since they’ve been the most heralded Offaly club side since Birr in their heyday. That skill will be tested again in the coming weeks now that O’Loughlin Gaels have been eliminated from the Leinster race, with All-Ireland champions St Thomas’ also biting the dust last weekend. Like it or not, the door is perceived to be wide open for K-K to pick up a second Leinster crown.

They aren’t the only club that will be a little bit giddy at that thought, and St Mullin’s will quietly feel that they aren’t out of the hunt for Leinster honours either. Marty Kavanagh, Jack Kavanagh, James Doyle, Paddy Boland and Conor Kehoe are all Carlow inter-county players who will tog out from midfield up, and Kavanagh is as prolific a scorer as there is still in the All-Ireland race, alongside maybe John McGrath and Pauric Mahony.

In another sense, however, it’s a good fixture for Kilcormac-Killoughey to kick things off. Anything less than an eight out of ten performance will see K-K’s season come to an end on Sunday fortnight, as it’ll be a robust physical test in a proper away atmosphere with a good crowd likely to travel up from the Blackstairs mountains to see their club take a scalp.

Lose, and K-K weren’t ready for the challenge of Leinster hurling anyway. Win, and they’ll have a great game under their belts before travelling to Nowlan Park a week later to try and stem the rising Thomastown tide.