Offaly hurlers reached a new level in dramatic draw against Dublin

By Kevin Egan

A column that starts with bemoaning the ubiquity of punditry at the expense of factual reporting of events might initially tell you that this writer is completely lacking in self-awareness, but that’s not actually the case. The hypocrisy of my laying out my thoughts on a page bemoaning the wider groupthink of the national GAA commentariat is not lost on me, I’m just brazen enough to go ahead and do it anyway.

So in that spirit, the reaction to Offaly’s draw with Dublin in Tullamore has been fascinating, particularly in terms of how it has unfolded, and while that reaction seems determined to suck the oxygen out of the county and delegitimise the feelgood factor, I’m not having it.

On the night itself, the home team was lauded as the salvation of the Leinster championship; a swashbuckling young group of mercurial freewheelers who had announced their graduation from underage prodigies into the ranks of bona fide senior stars.

The Charlie Mitchell story captivated the nation, and on a day when Kildare’s inaccuracy cost them a real shot at a giant-killing story against Wexford and Kilkenny meekly folded up their tent in Galway, Offaly and Dublin produced a game that even the most one-eyed Munster supremacists had to recognise as a fantastic game.

Since then however, the forensic accountants have been poring over each individual number in the matrix, and they have concerns. Deep concerns, adds the overpaid consultant from PwC or Deloitte.

What was a story of Offaly’s flamboyance has instead become a cautionary tale of Dublin’s defensive fragility, and the need for change in the Dubs’ full-back line. The concession of that late equaliser from Donal Burke has seen the result biopsied and diagnosed as a missed opportunity and a point lost, rather than a precious point gained.

Then there has been the ochóning over the size of the crowd, with less than 5,000 there according to the official attendance. To the untrained eye, it looked like there were more than that there due to a less-than-rigorous but entirely correct approach by stewards to younger supporters looking to get in without paying. John Prenty of the Connacht Council last week highlighted how many fresh-faced pensioners there are in the western province who are keen to argue their eligibility for discounts. Well here in the midlands there appear to be more than a few elusive youngsters who find their way into big games without tickets, and without getting added to the official attendance.

Somebody somewhere should probably set up a commission of inquiry about that, just in case Offaly GAA is ever asked to account for the excessive number of children that are allowed into our fixtures for free, where they might – heaven forfend – deepen their love of Gaelic games by being there for magical experiences like the game last weekend.

So here, some days later but still close enough to be relevant, we’re going to do some affirmations. Offaly didn’t draw with Dublin because Dublin underperformed. The game was drawn because Offaly took their game to a new level.

Dublin had a solid short puckout game that saw them score 1-18 and miss just five chances in the first half, since they were working the ball through the lines and creating shots in space, with time to measure the strike. Cian O’Sullivan and John Hetherton may have more in them, but Conor Burke, Conor Donohoe and Donal Burke all had excellent games.

Dublin are miles ahead in their strength and conditioning journey as a team with an average age of around five years per man older than Offaly’s. Dublin were not that far off the level they were at in 2025, when they reached an All-Ireland semi-final, and Offaly matched them.

Offaly could have won the game, but they could have lost it too, and the evidence from Parnell Park and Wexford Park a year ago would say they might have in the past. It’s not like Offaly had a plethora of chances to put the game to bed, and missed them. Sure, one could argue that a little bit earlier use of the bench might have helped as legs started to tire, or that they gave Dublin a chance to generate a shot after Burke’s equaliser, only to be saved by a good turnover win from Ciarán Burke.

However sometimes good players just make big plays, and if the sliotar had ricocheted in any different direction when Pat Taaffe blocked down Chris Crummey before Burke’s score, that block would have been heralded as a ‘clutch’ moment that proved Offaly were a completely different team. It could have gone either way, and it should be obvious that from an Offaly perspective, that’s as much of a positive thing as a negative one.

The Leinster SHC is five games in six weeks, with plenty of other activity ongoing. The crowds will be there when it matters. Right now, between GAA teams alone, there are two or three Leinster championship games involving Offaly teams every week. There is also no end of club activity at adult and underage level, and if you’re in a GAA family, you’re not short of training sessions, games and events that you need to attend.

And if there is only so much time available, Offaly GAA will always be better served by 40 youngsters going out and pucking or kicking a ball around in a competitive game for their clubs than going to watch the county seniors live. If their family has the time to bring them to both, well that’s fantastic, but the idea that support is something that’s owed rather than earned needs to be put to bed.

It’s still April and on Sunday, Offaly will play their eighth top level hurling match of 2026 when they face Galway at Pearse Stadium (3.30pm). Comparing the situation to that of Munster, where every SHC match is both a carnival and consequential, is not comparing like with like.

Whether Galway’s talented panel goes on to back up their impressive league results with similar showings in the championship remains to be seen. Can they prove that they are comfortably the best team in ‘Leinster’ and put it up to Cork and Limerick? What we can say is that there is incredible depth in Galway hurling, and they are ideally suited to a gruelling, five-game campaign in a short space of time.

Offaly’s season will be defined by the last three games. A win in Newbridge will confirm Leinster SHC status for 2027, a win over Wexford in Tullamore will give the team an outside chance of scraping into the top three, and a positive result against Kilkenny on top of that – still not probable, but far more possible than anyone would have thought possible a few months ago – could even see Offaly reach a Leinster decider.

A result in Salthill would be wonderful, but Offaly don’t match up well with Galway, and injuries to Cathal King and Dan Ravenhill stretch an already thin panel.

Staying competitive and avoiding a heavy defeat that would have a large impact on scoring difference would be more than enough to keep positive momentum going into what will be season-defining home ties against Kilkenny and Wexford next month, and even if the margin does creep out to a bit more than we’d like to see, well that doesn’t negate any of the positive energy that was felt in Glenisk O’Connor Park last Saturday. Don’t forget that.