Offaly hurlers show mental strength as Kildare await

By Kevin Egan

You couldn’t say that Offaly outhurled Laois to the point that a possible rematch in the Joe McDonagh Cup final would be anything other than another 50/50 call.

Yet there was something hugely encouraging about the way that yet again, Johnny Kelly’s troops found a way to plot their way through a game where they didn’t start well, and to engineer a tight victory.

It may sound like a criticism of the group to say that they are getting the absolute most out of their performances in terms of results, since there is a subtext there that they aren’t actually playing that well, but instead the meaning is utterly complimentary.

Last Saturday’s game in Tullamore can be added to a list that includes both games against Kildare and both games against Kerry, making up five games where there were periods of ascendancy and periods of heavy opposition pressure, but where ultimately, in each case there wasn’t a lot between the sides. Out of those five games, the team has delivered four wins and a draw, which is an incredible return, and a real testament to their mental strength.

Offaly (and Laois) will need that mental strength in the coming weeks, because in the world of hurling punditry, Joe McDonagh gets the same lazy, trite lip service from the big hitters in the national media all the time.

Clichés about how these teams are working hard, how they love their hurling in (insert county name here) and how hurling needs them to develop, will be aired on every broadcast and podcast in the few minutes allocated to it at the end of the usual programming, but there will be nothing more in-depth than that. After all, talking about second tier hurling is a box-ticking exercise to those from the more established powers in the game.

Based on history, both counties will be fancied to win their next four games and set up a rematch in Croke Park in late May, but it’s unlikely to be that simple. Carlow hurling, as is commonly the case in counties where there is a very small number of strong clubs, is highly combustible and capable of implosion at any time, but when they get a run of form going, as it looks like they might do now, they are well able to hurl at a high level.

Kildare could go either way after implosion last week, but Offaly don’t need to be told how dangerous they are as opposition, and they will be wounded animals this Sunday in Hawkfield – a venue which realistically, should not have been allowed to host this game, as in terms of capacity, it’s a long way off what’s required to host a game of this nature.

Quite frankly, it’s an insult to the Joe McDonagh Cup that the game is held here, and one can only imagine the response that Offaly would get if they asked to host a Leinster championship game against Kildare in the Faithful Fields, and thus lock out the majority of their supporters – but then, different rules for bigger and smaller counties has always been the way in the GAA.

Then there’s Kerry, a county that is going through a little bit of infighting of their own after Stephen Molumphy dropped Pádraig Boyle and Jason Diggins from the panel for their trip to Down. If anything, that seemed to galvanise them, and they certainly will feel that they can test Offaly and Laois in the coming weeks.

Nonetheless, going into that run of games with two invaluable points on the board, secured thanks to a committed, skilful, physical and intelligent display of hurling last Saturday, is a good place to be right now.