Can Offaly girls reach first senior camogie decider?

In recent years, when you think of Offaly GAA and broken sporting records, in the vast majority of cases, the records that were broken were all the wrong ones. Large margin defeats, losses to counties that had never beaten Offaly before and a seemingly interminable run without meaningful success of any kind have all been written into the history books in recent times and it can be tough for people to keep their heads held high in the face of constant disappointment. Recent successes at schools and Féile level have offered some respite, but no group have consistently kept the flag flying as well as the camogie ladies, who break more new ground tomorrow (Saturday) in Nowlan Park (throw-in: 4.15pm). This will be the first time for any Offaly team to play in an All-Ireland senior camogie semi-final and while Wexford will present some very formidable opposition, it's incredible to think that only a few short years ago Offaly were hurling at junior level and Wexford had an Intermediate and a Senior team both playing at a higher grade. As reigning All-Ireland champions, Wexford go into this game as overwhelming favourites. The mood in the seaside county is probably best reflected by the headline that appeared in the Wexford People newspaper once the draw was made. "Dream draw for camogie title holders" was how that publication heralded the news. That Offaly represented the best draw possible for Wexford is not in doubt of course - the other two counties in the last four are Cork and Galway, both of which have beaten Wexford in competitive games this year. Nonetheless in an era when talking up the opposition is almost obligatory, such candour is highly unusual. If Offaly are to turn Wexford's dream into a nightmare, the first thing they'll have to do is try to replicate what they achieved in the Leinster final this year and stay in contention for as long as possible. The key to this is to suffocate the Wexford forward line, which is as talented as there is in the country, even if they haven't been firing on all cylinders this summer. Kate Kelly, Una Leacy, Katrina Parrock and captain Ursula Jacob all picked up All Star awards last year and while most of the attention usually centres around Jacob, the Oulart-the-Ballagh hurler only scored a single point from play in the Leinster final, while five other players got on the scoresheet as well. As is the case in the men's game, scoring from range has become a much bigger feature of camogie in recent years and the ability to pop over points from right out on the wings, or through players like UL student Lisa Bolger driving from midfield, has changed the game and has forced teams to defend in a different fashion. Offaly need to stay in contention throughout the early stages of this tie and they can't afford to let the Wexford attack start hitting points from all angles. Tríona McDonald and Lorraine Keena have been simply outstanding in the central positions of the Offaly defence this year and they should be capable of holding their own, but they'll need plenty of support from the flanks and indeed from the midfield sector. Perhaps the best way to win midfield would be to put Wexford on the back foot and Siobhán Flannery's recent form could be vital in that regard. She hurled an outstanding game against Kilkenny in the play-off fixture and she followed that up with another great outing against Dublin in Parnell Park. If Fiona Stephens can take responsibility for the bulk of the defensive covering, that should free up Flannery to go at the Wexford half-back line and either take her own scores or else create overlaps and hopefully goal chances. As a unit, the Offaly forward line have been effective this year, but it's notable that if the All Stars were to be picked now, you could make a case for several players from 1-9, but really only Elaine Dermody would be on the shortlist up front. Granted Michaela Morkan missed a lot of time and she'll come into contention in her new role in the half-forward line, but otherwise the Offaly forwards have worked hard without necessarily producing high scoring returns. In this season's championship, Offaly have played six games and the players starting at 10, 12, 13 and 15 have scored 11 times between them. That's a return of less than half a score per player per hour - simply not good enough at this level. Wexford will be acutely aware that Morkan and Dermody are the anchors around which the attack is built and this trend allows them to block up that sector of the field. If Offaly are to pull off an upset tomorrow afternoon, here is where they have the most scope for improvement. It's certainly not that the potential isn't there. Arlene Watkins scored well when lining out at centre-forward in Morkan's absence, while Tina Hannon, Aoife Kelly, Jean Brady and Orlagh Kirwan are all capable of taking scores. However, now is the time when the need is greatest and against a fiercely tough Wexford backline, they'll have to step up hugely. A lot of the Wexford team missed their last outing against Galway and consequently they shipped a heavy beating. The game was of no consequence to the Model County since they were already guaranteed to top the group, but it proved that if Wexford don't get big performances from players like Mary and Una Leacy and Lisa Bolger - all of whom missed their heavy defeat to Galway due to injury - then they are vulnerable. Ring rust, complacency, a lack of match practice and poor form in the forward line are all factors that could play into Offaly's hands tomorrow - however they'll still need to work incredibly hard, produce moments of inspiration and take every chance. But then, it wouldn't be a record-breaking achievement if it came easily and this group of athletes have proven that they're happy to go after every record and shatter them, one by one. Hopefully tomorrow will see another milestone passed and Offaly will be destined for Croke Park in September, with more records in their sights.