The Kevin Egan Column

In Irish sport, everybody’s favourite role appears to be the plucky underdog. Whether this psychological state comes from 800 years of oppression as a nation or just plain contrariness, uneasy lies the crown of favouritism on an Irish head. Indeed one could argue that this is doubly the case when it comes to Offaly hurling. Many of the victories that are remembered with most fondness are those where defeat was predicted in advance, and equally it’s fair to say that even at the height of the county’s powers, mid-ranking hurling counties always felt with some justification that Offaly teams were vulnerable to upsets.

Starting this Sunday, at Portlaoise (throw-in: 2.30pm), the challenge for Danny Owens and the Kilcormac-Killoughey team is to overcome that mindset.
No doubt club members would claim otherwise, but the reigning Offaly and Leinster champions are gradually creeping into a position where they are considered to be perhaps the strongest team still standing in the race for the All-Ireland.

Portumna’s strong reputation has ensured that they are the clear favourites, even though their 2013 form isn’t a patch on where they were four or five years ago, but it’s notable that all three teams that are ahead of KK in the betting (Portumna, Loughgiel, Ballyboden) are clubs that have many fewer hurdles to cross to get to St Patrick’s Day.

The demise of teams like Thurles Sarsfields, Ballyhale Shamrocks, St Thomas and De la Salle has opened the door for a lot of clubs to think that this might be their year, while Clara’s victory over Carrickshock last Sunday is quite likely to result in Oulart-the-Ballagh recording their third victory over Kilkenny opposition in as many seasons.

Like it or not, Kilcormac-Killoughey, along with Loughgiel, are perhaps the last clubs standing who have any kind of form outside of their own county. That brings with it a certain level of expectancy, which is something they’ll have to deal with throughout their Leinster campaign.
Nonetheless, if Kilcormac-Killoughey can deliver a strong performance matching their ability on Sunday against Laois champions Camross, there’s no reason to believe that they can’t advance comfortably.

Their power and strength is well suited to winter hurling, they continue to be blessed with a clean bill of health, while many of their younger players have stepped up to make a significant contribution this year. There is also arguably more depth in the squad than was the case last season.
Damien Kilmartin’s performances at midfield have yet again been integral to KK’s success and he’ll have a massive responsibility this Sunday when he lines out against Zane Keenan.

Keenan has been the driving force behind his club this summer if he can be curtailed, Camross are likely to struggle for scores. On paper, this match up suits Kilcormac-Killoughey perfectly since Kilmartin has broken plenty of hurlers with big reputations, but things don’t always work out as straightforward as that, so keep an eye on this sector of the field if you make the trip to O’Moore Park.

Also fascinating will be the contest under the Camross puckout, where Andrew Collier, Tomás Burke and Ciarán Collier form an interesting trio in black and amber colours. Andrew Collier, who will presumably line out at right half forward against Brian Leonard, is the most well known of the three after earning a place on the Laois senior panel. He’ll cover a lot of ground and look to get on the end of moves, while Tomás Burke will hold his position much  more but will pick off points from the centre forward position.

Teenager Ciarán Collier is the wild card as on the face of it he might struggle to hold his own on softer ground, yet he clearly has the potential to be a very significant contributor. He pitched in with 1-6 against Portlaoise earlier this year and also scored a wonderful point from distance in the county final, which makes it vital that Kilcormac-Killoughey keep him out of the game by starving him of possession. Look for plenty of puckouts to be sent towards the sidelines around half way, with a view towards giving the two Colliers a chance to attack the ball on the ground rather than fighting for it in the air. K-K need to be ready for this tactic.

Last year, Kilcormac-Killoughey overcame Rathdowney-Errill by trying to play most of the hurling down the middle. One suspects that a similar approach would suit them this weekend.

In other games this week, Ballinamere will host Sarsfields of Kildare in the Leinster Junior hurling championship, while Birr will take on St Paul’s of Westmeath in Rochfortbridge in the Leinster Junior Football competition.
After recording an excellent win in Wexford last time out, Ballinamere are entitled to be very confident in advance of this tie on their home club ground. Realistically an Intermediate championship winning club in Offaly should always have an advantage over an Intermediate championship winning club from Kildare, and when we consider that Sarsfields weren’t even good enough to beat Celbridge’s second team in the Kildare intermediate final, this should be a handy home win.

Birr’s meeting with St Pauls will be a much trickier affair as the Westmeath club have home county advantage and it’s much harder to split these two sides on ability.
As is the case with the Sarsfields hurlers, both of these clubs come into this game after losing their county final to second string sides. Birr’s poor performance against Tullamore was a huge disappointment to their supporters as they were expected to be hugely boosted by the return of some of their hurlers, and they’ll need to improve by a considerable measure if they’re to have a chance here.

Their greater physical strength should stand to them, but in a competition where Kilclonfert in 2004 were the only Offaly club to reach a Leinster final, a big effort is needed if that run of failure is to be broken.
In fact since Kilclonfert’s performances that year, Offaly clubs have won just two games out of ten played. Admittedly St Paul’s look like one of the more beatable teams in the championship, despite having a few promising younger players in their squad, but Birr will start as outsiders this Sunday afternoon.