Excitement mounts in county ahead of All-Ireland final

Excitement is reaching fever pitch throughout the county as Offaly prepare for the eagerly-awaited All-Ireland U-20 football final against Roscommon.

Offaly face the Rossies in the All-Ireland decider this Sunday at Croke Park (throw-in 1.30pm), and the county is festooned with green, white and gold bunting as belief grows among supporters that the glory days are back.

It will be the first All-Ireland final for an Offaly GAA team since the 2000 All-Ireland senior hurling decider in which they lost out to Kilkenny.

And Offaly will be bidding for their first All-Ireland GAA crown at any grade since the hurlers’ storied success of 1998, when the Faithful men overcame Kilkenny in the final.

The postponement of the All-Ireland senior football semi-final between Kerry and Tyrone until Saturday, August 21 has provided a ticket boost for Offaly and Roscommon fans.

The U-20 decider had been pencilled in to act as the curtain-raiser to the senior semi-final, but positive Covid cases in the Tyrone panel led to a postponement.

If the Kerry v Tyrone match had gone ahead as planned, Offaly and Roscommon would have received a mere 2,000 tickets between them. Under current restrictions, GAA headquarters has a capacity of 24,000 and Offaly supporters were ready to snap up the additional bounty of tickets with open arms.

However, there were serious problems with the Ticketmaster website earlier this week, which left supporters hugely frustrated as they tried to secure tickets. There were reports of fans experiencing delays of hours and the website crashing.

Offaly GAA released a statement about the issue on Tuesday afternoon. “We wish to assure you that Offaly GAA has been in contact with the GAA about this problem and they are, in turn, liaising with Ticketmaster and passing on our frustration,” said the statement.

But more tickets became available later in the week and there are hopes that demand among Offaly supporters will be satisfied.

The Offaly team is managed by Declan Kelly from Kilclonfert and is captained by Cathal Donoghue of Kilcormac/Killoughey (who stepped into the breach after original captain Kieran Dolan got injured).

Offaly defeated Wexford and Westmeath in their Leinster campaign, before a memorable victory over Dublin in the provincial decider in Portlaoise. That victory over Dublin ended a run of 15 Leinster final defeats for Offaly across different grades.

Portlaoise again proved a happy hunting ground in the All-Ireland semi-final where Offaly dispatched a fancied Cork side who had defeated Kerry and Tipperary en route to Munster success.

With Roscommon providing the opposition, Sunday’s final has a novel dimension. The counties share a border in Shannonbridge and, no doubt, there is an extra sense of excitement in that part of Offaly as Sunday’s big game draws closer.

For their part, Roscommon defeated Mayo in the Connacht final before going on to overcome Ulster champions Down in their All-Ireland semi-final last Saturday night.

The U-20 grade replaced the previously held U-21 competition for the 2018 championship. Offaly won the All-Ireland U-21 title in 1988, when they defeated Cavan in the final played in Longford. The Faithful County contested the U-21 finals of 1968 (losing out to Derry) and 1986 (when Cork emerged as winners).

Those who are not travelling to Croke Park for the Offaly v Roscommon final will be able to watch live TV coverage of the game on TG4.

The All-Ireland U-20 final will be followed by the LGFA All-Ireland senior semi-final between Meath and Cork (3.30pm). But all Offaly eyes will be focused on the U-20 decider as the team bids to bring home the Tim Clarke Cup.