Offaly captain Dan Ravenhill comes off the pitch after being awarded the man of the match during the semi final. Photo Ger Rogers.

Ravenhill looking forward to letting his hurling to the talking

by Kevin Egan

Team captain Dan Ravenhill from Durrow certainly has youth on his side. He has just finished transition year in Coláiste Choilm in Tullamore, but he stands tall and broad, like a player who will have no problem transitioning to adult club hurling, and presumably to the Offaly U-20 panel, in 2023.

Give him a sliotar 80 yards out from the opposition goal with three opponents hanging out of him, and he has no problem whipping that ball over the bar as if he was in front of the posts, on the 20 metre line.

Talk to him about his role as captaincy though and the nerves shine through. It’s no surprise than that it’s only when the conversation turns to events on the field of play that he really lights up.

“Ah you do forget about nerves once the game starts. You have been playing hurling since you were eight years old, you just go out and do the same thing, try your best and all the work you have done pays off,” is how he sees it.

“It is normal to be nervous before a match, if you’re not, there is something wrong.”

The crowds have definitely been a key factor this year. The official guideline, stating that minor fixtures should not be played on the same bill as senior games, is ostensibly designed to prevent younger minor teams from having to play in front of huge crowds. In the case of this Offaly team, all that has happened is that huge crowds have descended on Portlaoise and Tullamore, just to see them – and now the 27,000 capacity of Nowlan Park is expected to be tested to the full on Sunday for the final.

“It’s not pressure, it’s excitement really. You just want to go and make the county proud. To bring silverware to the county. It is great when you see an Offaly flag and flags everywhere. It is brilliant to see.”

And the expectation?

“We knew the whole way up the ability that was in the group. Back training last December, Johnny Pilkington was talking about we want to win an All-Ireland. We knew we could.

“Since U-14, we knew we could beat all these counties. We beat Waterford in the Tony Forristal semi-final. We beat Limerick. We have beaten all the strong counties back then so there is no reason we can't beat them at minor”.

And with that, he goes back out to hurl, with a smile on his face at the prospect.