Welcome win sets up date with the Dubs

By Kevin Egan

As a town, Stradbally is generally associated with leisurely summer activities like Electric Picnic and the Steam Rally, but summer felt a long way off on Wednesday night when the Offaly footballers got their 2024 season up and running with a two-point win over Laois in the O’Byrne Cup.

It wasn’t the type of game that will have Dublin quaking in their boots in advance of the All-Ireland champions’ trip to Gracefield for the quarter-final tomorrow afternoon (Saturday, 1.30pm), but it was still a welcome win - see more details here.

Declan Kelly certainly put his stamp on proceedings with a new look team that saw several players make their debut and a handful more return to action after a period away – Eoin Carroll the most notable – while a host of heavy hitters were either unavailable for selection, or held in reserve. It was a mixed performance, with Offaly struggling in the face of stout Laois defending in the first half, while the first ten minutes of the second, with John Furlong off the field due to a black card, saw Laois move four points clear.

Dylan Hyland was the star of the second half and with scoring contributions off the bench from Nigel Dunne, Nathan Poland and Declan Hogan, that was enough to see Kelly’s side through this game.

On the other side of the ledger, longstanding issues about the lack of physical power in the group continued to present themselves, and while Jordan Hayes had some good moments, Laois looked by far the stronger side at midfield, which is something that will need to be addressed in advance of the first round of the league against Westmeath, which is coming down the tracks.

Nonetheless, Dublin’s attitude to the O’Byrne Cup has been mixed in recent years and Offaly have got some good results against the boys in blue, so with this win secured, there will no doubt be plenty of optimism among the home squad and supporters in advance of tomorrow’s tie.

Strong Offaly involvement in Sigerson Cup

For the majority of the 2010s decade, Offaly players were thin on the ground in the Sigerson and Fitzgibbon Cup competitions, particularly at the business end of proceedings. However as the county’s underage fortunes have improved and county managers have come in that have much more time and appreciation for the competition than some of those that went before, that has changed.

With 35-man panels named and little or no injury news to be had for those who aren’t on the training fields with the various colleges, there’s nothing certain in these games, but on paper there are a couple of games that leap off the page as being worth watching, for those who get the chance to do so.

On Tuesday evening, Rory Egan and Cathal Donoghue remain available for selection for University of Galway, who play host to a TU Dublin (formerly DIT) side that have Bill Carroll and Diarmuid Finneran in their ranks. Donoghue has been plagued by injury in recent years and badly needs to rediscover the form he showed when playing such a key role with the U-20s in 2021, though he won’t find it easy to get playing time in a team of UG’s quality, with a significant cohort of Padraic Joyce’s Galway panel in the mix.

As mentioned above, midfield is still a problem area for Offaly and Bill Carroll could yet come into the mix there, while Finneran will benefit from any exposure he gets at this level, following on from his Offaly debut in Stradbally. The same night, Maynooth University have five Offaly men in their panel, though Keith O’Neill’s performance against MTU Cork will be of the most interest to Declan Kelly.

On Wednesday, TUS Midlands (Athlone IT, to people of an older vintage) make their return to Sigerson Cup football with an intriguing fixture away to SETU Carlow, and there should be extensive Offaly interest here too, with Cian Farrell and Cormac Delaney the leading lights. Cormac Egan (UCD), Aaron Kelleghan and Jamie Guing (both ATU Sligo) are also potentially in action on Wednesday.

It’s a stonewall certainty that over the next fortnight, a host of intercounty managers will come out and demand that the Sigerson Cup be moved to some other time, citing the huge demands on their players and their time. And while there is some logic to this argument, it only stands up if you don’t see the Sigerson Cup (and the Fitzgibbon) as competitions with huge value in their own right. Anyone who has had any involvement in them, or who takes in some of the games first-hand, will see just how valuable and significant they are over the coming month.

Offaly Schools set for Wexford trip

From an Offaly hurling perspective, there is a very meaningful fixture next Tuesday, which is the Offaly Schools team travelling to Wexford to take on St Peter’s College

Unlike last year, when this team could pull players from every school in the county, the absence of Coláiste Naomh Cormac has brought them back into the pack a little bit. Dan Ravenhill’s uncertain participation due to injury adds to this, and makes this a very tough fixture from which the group will do well to emerge.

On paper there is still plenty of experience in the group, or as much experience as anyone could ever hope for from a school team, while a significant number of younger players have also stepped up well this year, including Liam O’Riordan (Ballyskenach-Killavilla/Cistercian College), Conor Grennan (Belmont/Gallen CS) and the Coolderry/St Brendan’s duo of Mark Ryan and AJ Cleary, who alongside Grennan, have formed a strong half-back line.

As is traditionally the case in St Peter’s, there is huge crossover between their senior football and hurling sides. However the ability to focus on hurling for the past month will have been a huge boost to the group, who have plenty of firepower up front – most notably Eoghan Cassin (Faythe Harriers) and the Oulart duo of Conor Blake and Jack Dunne.

Emulating the achievements of last year’s team would be a tall order in 2024, but this will still be a fantastic test for the group, and if a narrow win and another big day out can be achieved, all the better.