Offaly footballers head for Wexford and hurlers host Cork as qualifiers kick off

KEVIN EGAN looks ahead to Offaly"s football and hurling qualifiers against Wexford and Cork tomorrow (Saturday), with Offaly supporters required to embark on a high speed cross-country dash if they wish to see both games. Where is Gay Byrne when you need him? Not alone are the above words being uttered all across an Ireland which is about to have Ryan Tubridy inflicted upon us as Late Late Show host, so too could Offaly GAA supporters ask - where is the genial Gay in our time of need? Tomorrow, Offaly GAA supporters are being asked to travel to Wexford to attend a football qualifier at 2.30pm, to pray fervently that there is no extra-time so that they might escape by perhaps 4.10, and then to dash to their cars and to negotiate the trip from Wexford to Tullamore in no more than two and half hours for the hurling qualifier against Cork at 7pm. This is despite the fact that AA Roadwatch says to allow at least that amount of time, and they of course make no allowance for Saturday afternoon shopping in Wexford, Enniscorthy or Tullamore, or the Laois versus Antrim tie in Portlaoise, or even the occasional tractor along the N80 drawing home turf - after all, it"s not like a Saturday evening in July would see any such activity, would it? Gay Byrne, as Chairman of the Road Safety Authority, was quick to come on to the national airwaves during the week to criticise our legislators for failing to get the reduced blood-alcohol limits onto our statute books during the week. But where is he now as hundreds of Offaly supporters are being given no choice but to hurtle along busy national roads in a style one would expect from Lewis Hamilton? After all, it"s not like we could expect the GAA fixture authorities to do anything so radical as to move the Offaly v Cork fixture to next week when two other hurling qualifiers are being played, thus alleviating the pressure on hard-pressed Cork supporters also who will be expected to be in Tullamore on Saturday night and back in Cork on Sunday afternoon for the Munster Football Final. The option of moving the football to 1.30pm in Wexford obviously wasn"t deemed feasible - after all, people might have to rush their lunch, and a few road accidents is a small price to pay for averting mass indigestion! God forbid that they might have moved the football game to Tullamore and guaranteed home advantage for Wexford in the next two meetings between the counties, or any such lateral thinking. That would only save petrol (and there"s loads of that stuff around, it"s dirt cheap these days!) or even boost the attendance in O"Connor Park and perhaps provide a boost to a once great county that has clearly fallen to its knees. WEXFORD V OFFALY It"s with this tragic-comic background that Offaly footballers and hurlers enter the realm of do-or-die championship action this weekend, with the bookmakers" odds and indeed the general consensus suggesting that both teams have more on their plate than they are capable of. Taking the footballers first, and whether one looks at championship form, the county"s history in the qualifiers or even the recent build-up to this game, the signs are consistently not good. While the six point defeat to Kildare looks less stark with every subsequent game that Kieran McGeeney"s men play, the fact of the matter is that Kildare had that game under control throughout and didn"t push on to win by as much as they could have. Recent challenge match results against Carlow and Leitrim also suggest that Offaly"s famously disinterested approach to the qualifiers appears set to continue. If this turns out to be the case, this will be a wonderful opportunity lost, since Wexford too are beset with difficulty. In championship football between 2004 and 2008, Matty Forde has been the source of 60% of all Wexford scores, and the Kilanerin star misses this match, as does their all action wing-back Adrian Morrissey. Factor in injuries to Eric Bradley and Graham Morris and it becomes clear that Jason Ryan has a difficult task on his hands fielding the kind of team he"d like. If Offaly were to overcome Wexford here, six of their eight possible opponents in the next round (Roscommon, Laois, Westmeath, Sligo, Clare and Cavan) represent eminently beatable opponents, with only Sligo from that sextet coming into the qualifiers with any kind of positive momentum. If Kildare"s run to the Leinster final has illustrated nothing else, it shows what can be done when teams harness the qualifiers correctly and exploit the redemptive potential that it offers. Were Offaly to approach this game as they would a Leinster championship tie, there is every possibility that the whole county could be oxygenated by a much needed win, with several of the younger players likely to take great heart from seeing first hand that playing football for Offaly isn"t all about hard training and demoralising defeats, in exchange for a track suit and a shake of the hand. OFFALY V CORK The county hurlers appear to be much further on in their development, both as individuals and as a unit, however they face a much more difficult challenge as the Cork hurlers come to Tullamore. Cork surprised many people with how well they hurled against Tipperary, having missed large chunks of the league campaign due to their strike action. Proven hurlers like John Gardiner, Ben O"Connor, Seán Óg Ó hAilpín and Tom Kenny reminded the country that experience has not dulled their sharpness and they remain one of probably three counties that are considered potential usurpers of Kilkenny"s crown. Joe Dooley"s principal conundrum will be to figure out how to retain possession from Brian Mullins" puck-outs. The Cork half-back line and midfield are second to none at securing primary ball and when this is juxtaposed with Offaly"s huge difficulty securing any traction in this regard down in Wexford, it is clear that something radical must be done. Short puck-outs run the risk of turning over the ball inside the Offaly half of the field, and with Cork"s running game likely to cause problems regardless, it would be a very risky game to concede possession when the majority of the Offaly team would be ahead of the sliotar. If Offaly can, by hook or by crook, secure even as much as 40% of the possession off their own puck out, then a world of opportunity becomes open to them. Eoin Cadogan was one of Cork"s better performers against Tipperary, however once Joe Bergin moved to full-forward against Wexford, he forced the concession of a penalty with only his third ball. Indeed the inter-provincial selectors also felt that he was best deployed on the edge of the square. Unlike Micheál Webster for Tipperary, Bergin offers a dual threat with handy stickwork and aerial ability and he might discommode Cadogan more than the one-dimensional Webster. Shane Dooley scored well off scant opportunity in the corner, while Brian Carroll"s lull in form could easily come to an end in a ground where he has performed very well in the past. The extensive injury list facing Joe Dooley means that he might struggle to field his ideal fifteen. However, this Offaly team have proven that there is plenty of hurling ability in their ranks and if they can add the aggression and competitiveness required to get the sliotar into their hands in the first place, then Cork could be in for a tricky night. It"s just a pity that none of the football supporters will be able to get there on time to see it.