Offaly U20s can take positives from Kildare defeat
By Kevin Egan
It’s not always easy to take consolation and positivity from defeats, but Wednesday night’s U-20 game in Hawkfield was one where supporters would have come away with a reasonable level of optimism about what’s possible for this group, and for the players in the long run.
Like so many modern football games, it was a contest of one side building up a lead with the aid of the wind and then trying to defend it, and at 0-13 to 0-2 behind approaching half-time, Kildare looked to have put enough in the bank to be confident of holding on.
Dylan Dunne’s goal changed that and while Offaly were more than a little reliant on Jack Ryan’s frees in the second half, overall Roger Ryan’s side were competitive and at times impressive with what remains a very young group, starting six of last year’s minor team with a seventh, Ruairí Woods, coming off the bench.
Ryan and Dunne looked particularly at home in this company but there were enough moments at various stages of the game to hint at a lot of potential here, albeit everything now hinges on next Wednesday’s game in Tullamore against Wicklow.
On a few levels, this looks like an ideal repechage fixture. Nobody, least of all the management team, will need to be reminded of how last year’s incredible minor campaign could all have been derailed before it got started when Wicklow came to the Faithful Fields, and were undoubtedly the unluckier team in the 60 minutes of normal time.
So forewarned is forearmed, and yet at the same time Offaly have had their range-finder game and now will have home comfort against a Wicklow side that suffered a much heavier beating at the hands of the Lilywhites.
Nothing can be taken for granted in underage football, but like their minor counterparts who also have a huge game coming against Longford on Tuesday, the team has got a tough away game under their belts and with a fine-tuned side and a few adjustments, should be well capable of turning the tables and getting a win on the board.