There?s life in Offaly hurling yet ...

The last few years have seen bar stool analysts and hurlers on the ditch all over the county declare Offaly hurling clinically dead time and again, with the only argument often being that of time of death. The strong contenders for that accolade include the Kilkenny horror show in Croke Park 2004, the demolition at the hands of Limerick in 2006 in O?Connor Park after going into a big early lead, the division 2 league defeat to Carlow, or perhaps the minors matching that nadir some weeks ago.

Don?t roll out the body bag just yet – there is a pulse.

Whether the sick man that is Offaly hurling can recover the rude health of a decade ago remains to be seen, but as long as there is young blood flowing through the veins, enough oxygen may yet be carried to the ailing organs to revive the once vibrant sport within the county.

Last Sunday?s game was a wonderful display that would have been right at home in the halcyon days of the late eighties when Birr and Rynagh?s went toe to toe for the PJ Teehan cup on several occasions, with teams packed to the brim with players who were to go on to wonderful inter-county careers. The low scoring in this renewal may have betrayed a mediocre shooting display where marksmen on both sides often needed to reload once or twice before hitting the target, but in every other aspect of the game these two sides were on top form and treated supporters and observers alike to a wonderful contest and a fairytale ending to top it all off.

If saying that a Seir Kieran win was the fairytale ending appears harsh towards K/K Gaels, then it is merely a reflection of the general feeling within the county in the lead up to this game. KKG were picking from two large parishes, and having won this competition eleven times counting wins from both composite clubs, another success would have been little more than a re-affirmation of what we already know about the range of young talent that Kilcormac/Killoughey have become used to in recent years. Drumcullen may be in greater need of a boost right now, but it remains uncertain how much satisfaction they could have taken from a success where only six of their players were in the squad and only three of those started the final.

Seir Kieran on the other hand are the embodiment of the spirit and bloody mindedness that Offaly hurling will need if it is to rise from the ashes. A 19-man panel with all hands in the parish on deck, they undertook a huge challenge this year when they decided to go out on their own as opposed to continuing to compete as part of Kinnitty Óg.

With the final approaching and their squad looking a bit light in comparison to a KKG side that contained six full county panellists, it was difficult not to think of players like Odhran Kealey or Colm Coughlan and wonder if their absence could have been the difference between winning and losing.

As it happened no help was needed as Seir Kieran produced a wonderful all-round performance that was just about enough to edge the club over the line.

The early stages were tense and competitive and also saw the bulk of the wides being hit as both teams struggled to find their range. KKG in particular were particularly erratic and seven of their first ten attempts were off target. Even so Seir Kieran failed to pull away and by half time their marginal lead of 0-5 to 0-4 looked to be an inadequate return as one presumed that KKG would never repeat their first half tally of nine wides.

They didn?t, instead hitting nine scores in the second period, but a wonderful spell of blocking, tackling and chasing by the Seir Kieran backs kept opposition scoring attempts to a minimum. Time and again KKG were chasing that elusive goal and a different defender would step up to make a decisive play. A Daniel Currams run was followed by a handpass to John Flynn, who in turn played it across goal towards the waiting and unmarked Joe Troy. Just when it looked like the goal was coming, Brian Mulrooney swooped in to deflect the ball away. Troy turned provider for the next chance, dropping in a high ball towards James Gorman. Gorman put in a very hard working performance and he emerged from this game with his reputation enhanced, but on this occasion full back Chris Connors defied his height disadvantage to get up highest and clear the high ball.

Within five minutes it was the turn of Conor Mahon to run in on goal, but Eanna Murphy made a wonderful block on him just when it looked like the goal was on.

With the backs in this kind of form every score Seir Kieran put away looked like a winner, but KKG soon returned to a more patient game and with Conor Mahon, John Cashin and James Gorman all hurling a lot of ball around the middle they began to chip away at Seir Kieran?s lead point by point.

When they were awarded a dubious free late on it looked as if they were going to level the game, but after an immaculate display from placed balls all day long, Joe Troy attempted to take the free quickly rather than settle himself and he pushed the chance wide and to the left. It was harsh on the Drumcullen player who had been a dependable source of scores all day, but this will be nothing more than a footnote to what will go down in Offaly hurling history as a great day for Seir Kieran GAA club and hopefully the first of many big days at club and county level for some very talented hurlers on both sides.