Hurlers face long trip as footballers aim to maintain momentum

Kevin Egan Column

The logistics involved in getting to Ballycran aren’t simple, and that alone adds a fair element of jeopardy to Offaly’s Allianz Hurling League Division 2A opener against Down this Sunday (throw-in 1pm).

By any measure, the Walsh Cup was a successful competition from Offaly’s point of view. Some players, most notably Charlie Mitchell, Stephen Corcoran and Cathal Kiely, have played their way into the reckoning, while others have perhaps not done themselves so many favours.

Finishing on a winning note will have been a boost to the group, and realistically, the standard of competition that Offaly faced was a world away from what Down were taking on in the Kehoe Cup.

The absence of a significant cohort of players making an impression in the Fitzgibbon Cup is a concern, but even the return of players like Cillian Kiely and Oisín Kelly to the panel should be enough to push the group ahead sufficiently to negotiate a fixture like this successfully.

Things will get much tougher in upcoming contests against Kerry and Carlow, but for the moment, Offaly will be very hopeful of a relatively straightforward first round tie – on the pitch at least, whatever about the travel arrangements.

Footballers face Fermanagh

Antrim were always unlikely to be in the shake up for promotion from Division Three of the Allianz Football League, particularly when we consider the ease with which Cavan brushed them aside in last year’s Ulster championship, but an away fixture in Belfast is still a tricky one to negotiate, and Offaly did that quite well last Sunday.

There was a sense late in the game that the team was losing its way and the late goal scored by Bernard Allen gave a deceptively one-sided look to the scoreboard, but finding ways to win is an art in itself, and there have been far too many days where Offaly teams have established strong positions in games, only to be reeled in late on.

That result now sets up a fascinating clash with Fermanagh this Sunday afternoon (2pm), where the winning side will almost certainly sit in the top two spots in the division later that evening.

Fermanagh are another side that very few people expected to contest promotion, and it may yet be the case that they – and/or Offaly – slip into a relegation battle, but there was a lot to like about their win over an in-form Longford side. David McGivney had performed really well in the O’Byrne Cup as a scoring target man close to goal, Fergal Sheridan and Darren Gallagher had been exceptional at midfield, and Dessie Reynolds scored a hat-trick in the final against Louth.

On Saturday last, neither Sheridan nor Gallagher exerted any real influence on the game, McGivney was swallowed up by an outstanding defensive display from Che Cullen, and Reynolds didn’t raise a flag. Fermanagh brought a simple game plan to the game in Ederney – they ran the ball hard and direct, they used their power and size in the middle third, and they could afford to shoot seven second-half wides and still ease to victory.

Cutting off that running game will be central to Offaly’s chances this week, and the contest will also be a huge test to those footballers who haven’t been in the inter-county scene for some time. No-one would doubt the ability or the scoring power of players like Joe Maher and Nigel Dunne, but very different questions will be asked of them this week if they are named to start, and how they handle those challenges will have a big bearing on who moves on to four league points by 4pm.

Schools hurlers face a different test

It’s been a remarkable year so far for the Offaly Schools combined hurling team in the Leinster Schools 'A' championship, as the quality of their performances have led to no small amount of grumbling as to whether a side like this belongs in this competition.

Whether they do or not is a matter for another day, but what can be said with certainty is that St Kieran’s College, Kilkenny are pretty close to an inter-county side too, as there aren’t too many parts of that county where hurlers haven’t decided to go to school in the Marble City and take their chances at wearing the famous black and white hooped jersey. Sixteen different clubs were represented in the panel for their Leinster semi-final win over Coláiste Eoin of Dublin, including The Harps (Laois) and Mount Leinster Rangers (Carlow).

So, whatever advantage the Offaly Schools might have had up to now is likely to be mitigated to a considerable degree on Saturday, and that’s before home advantage in Nowlan Park (throw-in 1pm) comes into play.

That’s not to mention the significant advantage of preparing as one collective unit, as opposed to the Offaly side, where the Coláiste Choilm students will have their own big Leinster clash to think about.

For obvious reasons, this looks like the type of generation that doesn’t come along too often, and that’s one of several reasons why this is a hugely important game for the future. How Offaly hurling develops in the coming years is likely to lean heavily on the development of these players, and whatever about the rights and wrongs of their participation in this competition, now that they’re here, it would be a hugely disappointing outcome not to be able to finish the job.