Cooney vows to stay on

Despite his side's relegation to Division 4 of the Allianz FL, Gerry Cooney has no intention of stepping down as Offaly manager. An 0-11 to 0-8 defeat to already-relegated Tipperary at Clonmel last Sunday saw Offaly consigned to the bottom tier. Offaly's hugely disappointing league campaign has seen Cooney come under pressure but, in the aftermath of the defeat to Tipperary, the former Meath player vowed to attempt to turn things around for the Leinster SFC clash against Kildare on June 17. "I made a commitment at the start of the year. There have been a lot of problems during the year. We set the bar maybe a little too high. We made our own decisions about players and went with a young crew," said Cooney. "The U21 championship probably didn't help. Although we wanted to support them and were delighted to see them getting on as far as they did, it meant we probably couldn't prepare for games as well as we might have. It takes time to gel a team. But if you're asking me have I any announcement to make, the answer is 'no'," he added. Meanwhile, the Offaly minor football team to face Kilkenny in the first round of the Leinster championship in Ballyragget tonight (Friday) has been named, and it features five players who started last year's Leinster quarter-final against Kildare. Those five players include Peter Cunningham and Ciarán Cahill, who have been nominated as captain and vice captain respectively. Cunningham will be playing his third year of minor football for Offaly and last month he also made the step up to U21 level, scoring five points after he came off the bench against Louth in the Leinster semi-final. In all, twelve different clubs are represented in the starting fifteen, while there are four players from reigning minor football champions Ferbane/Belmont, three from the Ferbane club and Gallen captain Darragh Corbett who will line out with Shannonbridge later this summer at adult level. Conor McNamee, who captained St Mary's to Hogan Cup success last Saturday, lines out at midfield alongside Cahill, renewing the partnership that was forged in last year's minor championship. Four of his St Mary's colleagues, Cormac Hurley, Seán Moriarty, Peter O'Neill and his brother Ruairí will start on the bench, while Aaron O'Connell is the sole Edenderry clubman to make the starting line-up, filling the right corner-back berth.