Minor footballers offer last chance for Leinster joy

When the various minor, Under-21 and senior Offaly teams were being assembled during the winter, many shrewd observers felt that it was the minor footballers who offered the best chance of some success for the county. Little did those pundits realise how right they were, with all five other teams exiting their respective Leinster championships without a single win between them. The minor footballers too suffered a hiccup, losing after extra time to Meath in the first round, but not for the first time at this age group in recent years, Offaly have seized the opportunity offered by the backdoor structure and wins over Longford, Louth and Wicklow have left Declan McGovern"s teenagers only an hour away from a return to Croke Park. Croke Park may be the aim, but there is no question that Dublin represent the toughest challenge faced by this Offaly team so far and if a form line is taken through Louth, a team Dublin beat easily and Offaly scraped past, then home advantage might not be enough to steer this young team over the line. Still, games aren"t played on paper or on calculators, and with the Leaving Cert now behind them, this young group of players can be totally focussed on tomorrow evening"s semi final, knowing that while they go in as outsiders, they have every chance of keeping their season going with a win. Offaly have scored well but struggled to keep opponents under wraps in this campaign so far and one wonders how they will cope with a Dublin attack which has created several chances in each of their games so far. In particular, supporters look set to be treated to an intriguing battle in the middle of the Offaly "45, where Edenderry"s Derek Kelly, by now a veteran of three minor campaigns with the county, is likely to be handed the responsibility of curbing the hugely influential Gary Sweeney of St. Sylvester"s. Sweeney is the kind of threat that defenders hate to face - an all-rounder capable of kicking with both feet, he has wonderful pace and will look to bring the players around him into the game. He has been the orchestrator of much of Dublin"s attacking game plan up to now and he will look to do the same in O"Connor Park on Sunday evening. Kelly, himself one of Offaly"s finest players and an integral part of the great run of Edenderry in the schools 'A'championship, must use all of his nous to try and keep Sweeney off the ball. Dublin look to put a lot through him and his relatively low scoring belies the level of contribution that he makes. Inside Sweeney, Darragh Stapleton is another name for followers of future stars to keep an eye on. Stapleton comes from the relatively unfashionable club St. Patrick"s Palmerstown, but he is now in his third year on the Dublin minor football panel and his experience of adult football with his club makes him a real threat. Stapleton, though he is very comfortable in the left corner, may man the edge of the square for Dublin and with Offaly having had some difficulty finding a full back that looks at home there, the stage looks set for Stapleton to play a big role. At the other end of the field, huge onus will fall on the Offaly wing forwards to track and curtail the Dublin wing backs, who have been very prominent . Gerry Seaver on the left is another veteran of minor football who has a great all round game, while Seán Swords is an abrasive, physical competitor who will also cover acres of ground up and down the right flank. For Offaly, the challenge will be to ensure that these runners are tracked and curtailed, while hopefully some use is made of turnover ball when those players are caught out of position. The role of Anton Sullivan will be interesting in this regard, since he could use space to great effect if given licence to drop deep from a full forward line position and play his game on the attacking side of midfield. This Offaly team have followed the national trend a little in that Mark Young and John Crombie have at various times filled the role of the big full forward, and there is a case for continuing with that policy tomorrow evening. Fionn Carney is an excellent marking full back and he has stifled any scoring threat that he"s been faced with so far, but if Offaly can create some broken ball in the danger area, Bernard Allen, Darren Scanlon and Sullivan have proven that they can take advantage of any opportunities that come their way. With both sides having plenty of attacking talent, plenty of attacking instinct and perhaps less than stifling defences, expect a very open game of football tomorrow evening, with as many as 17 or 18 points required for either team to prevail. For the long suffering Offaly supporters who have sat through countless defeats so far this year, it is hoped that it is the youngsters clad in the home colours who reach this tally, such has been the lack of encouragement for the county on offer elsewhere. The other talking point in Offaly GAA circles this week has been the draws for the football and hurling qualifiers. Leaving aside the extremely contentious issue of county supporters being expected to perform bi-location, both draws offer the Offaly teams a chance to salvage something from their season, while at the same time presenting difficult paths to progress. The county footballers look evenly matched with Wexford based on how the two teams performed against Kildare (i.e. very poorly) however bad and all as Wexford Park is as a venue to visit, it is considerably more appealing right now than a trip to Armagh, Clones, Navan or Ballybofey, at least in footballing terms. Neither side is on form this year and while the losers will be happy to draw a line under their season and get back to their clubs, a win for either team could kickstart their season. Offaly are in dire need of a championship win with nothing only a feeble performance against Carlow in 2007 for nourishment, while a game against Waterford or London, while on the one hand offering just such a win, is in fact only postponing the inevitable. A good performance in Wexford Park could see Tom Cribben"s remade side turn a corner, while defeat will not be as humiliating as if it were against a division four team in front of home supporters. Joe Dooley could have been forgiven for cursing his fortunes when his team were paired with Cork in the qualifiers, however limping past Antrim or Laois would have told him very little about where his team stood, while a home game with Cork offers the opportunity of a heartwarming victory. The players must know that for the year to truly be a success, notwithstanding the hurling league triumph, at least one big gun must be beaten. In the hurling world, they don"t come much bigger than Cork and expect the rebels to really come out with all guns blazing. Time will tell if Offaly can return fire and restore the county"s faith in their competitive streak after a particularly limp Leinster championship exit in Wexford Park.