All logic favours Cork, but Offaly hurlers will relish big occasion

By Kevin Egan

Sadly, there is no logical, coherent path that could bring anyone to a conclusion that Offaly can win this Sunday’s All-Ireland SHC quarter-final against Cork (Semple Stadium, 3.30pm).

It would be wonderful to put down on paper a handful of collective and individual goals that, if achieved, could guide Johnny Kelly’s team to a historic win over the Rebel County, but any such design, however improbable, stretches credibility past breaking point.

Right now, it’s hard to make a case for saying that there is any county team in Ireland capable of beating Limerick or Cork in a one-off championship game, other than each other.

Clare might have the muscle memory from their All-Ireland win two years ago, but the Banner haven’t hit the same heights this year, and we’re long past the point where a spring campaign in Division 1B can be cited as an excuse.

Galway look like the pick of the crop in ‘Leinster’ and they have the age profile and the hurling to scale new heights, but it’s impossible to envisage Limerick or Cork allowing teams like Kildare and Wexford to build up a double-digit lead against them, even if Galway showed their quality in coming back to win those two games quite well.

And realistically, Offaly are a step or two further back again, in the middle of a chasing pack alongside Kilkenny, Dublin and Waterford.

Cork may have injuries to key players like Tim O’Mahony and Darragh Fitzgibbon, just as Offaly have to plan without Donal Shirley and Charlie Mitchell, but there’s a lot more depth in the Cork panel, as you might imagine in a county setup that picks from as many as 150 clubs that field adult hurling teams in any given year.

If Cork were a team that was perhaps bordering on going over the hill and thus vulnerable to a fast game on a warm summer afternoon then that would be one thing, but that description doesn’t suit them either, as there is plenty of running power and pace in Ben O’Connor’s panel.

All of this feeds into an unusual atmosphere for Sunday’s game, where there is huge excitement around the county about a fixture where it would take an incredible sequence of events for Offaly to be competitive going into the closing stages.

Dublin’s win over Limerick last year will have been referenced early and often by O’Connor since the Munster final, and it’s in games like these that the physical gulf between talented hurlers aged around 22 and talented hurlers aged 27 or 28 really becomes apparent.

Despite all this, securing passage to this fixture will be of huge benefit to this group of Offaly players in the years to come. The recent training camp in Waterford and the extra time together at this time of year is of immense value, the prospect of playing in front of a packed and partisan house will be a fantastic experience, and for every player that finds it hard to keep up in this lofty company, there will be another who finds that the extra pressure inspires them to raise their game to new heights.

The sharper pace of the game will suit a team with Offaly’s profile, and while this is a step on the road to redemption for last year’s All-Ireland finalists, for Offaly it is the culmination of an incredible year, and there is absolutely no logic to leaving a single ounce of energy behind them.

By the time Sunday rolls around, this columnist’s imagination, like that of most supporters headed for Thurles, will start to imagine all the different fairytale ways that the game might play out, and the belief that a win could actually happen will start to take root. That’s all part of the supporter experience, but for now, realism continues to hold sway.

It’s a testament to how far this Offaly team has come that even through that prism, it’s a special feeling to have a game like this to look forward to at the end of it.