Rhode regain top prize as Ferbane-Belmont impress at underage level

Last week KEVIN EGAN looked back on the year 2010 in Offaly county GAA, and assessed the season from the point of view of the county teams of various grades. Well Christmas is coming, a time for peace and unity among all mankind, so in that spirit we're going to go against the grain and celebrate the year 2010 as it happened in that most parochial and acrimonious activity, club action. Adult Football From an overall perspective, 2010 was a great year for adult football in the county. At senior level, Rhode and Clara continued to excel, while Tullamore made an excellent effort at rising to meet them rather than waiting for the big two to dip. The two quarter-finals were very disappointing matches and Rhode always looked comfortable against Shamrocks in their semi-final, but Clara v Tullamore and Rhode v Clara were excellent fixtures, both in competitiveness and in standard. Rhode may yet crown their season with a first ever Leinster title, but whether they succeed or fall short in that aim, they deserve huge praise for maintaining very high standards throughout the latter part of this decade. Moving down the grades, the Intermediate championship was perhaps the most open it has ever been and while it would be hard to imagine Rynagh's making an impact at senior next year in the same way that Walsh Island did this summer, there were plenty of very enjoyable games. At least ten clubs will start this championship with hopes of winning it out in 2011, which is an excellent basis as we all look for the general standard to be raised. At Junior level, Clonmore's win over Shamrocks was a great day for a tiny club, and proof of what can be done with almost no resources when a community pulls together. Underage Football The majority of the plaudits in this category must go to Ferbane/Belmont, who continue to push the envelope at the younger age categories. Championship wins at Under-12, Under-14, Under-16 and a minor semi-final appearance show that the famous West Offaly club is going the right way about getting back to prominence at senior level. Of course there is a long way to go and in 2011 all eyes will be on the minor championship to see can the club win a first minor title in 20 years, with this year's finalists St Rynagh's and Ród â€g likely to push hard as well. Ród â€g showed that their production line continues to be as strong as ever with another very impressive group of minor footballers, many of whom played a big part in Offaly's lengthy championship campaign. Already several of these young players look well capable of playing adult football in 2011 and footballers like Cian Donoghue and Paul McPadden have particularly bright futures on the horizon. At under-21 level, Tullamore proved that success at minor level is not a prerequisite for putting together a championship winning team and with a strong spine in place, they overcame several tough opponents en route to winning this title in the spring. One word of warning for the county is how few players of age took part in this grade. Thirteen under-21 panels in the county with an average panel of 25 players, of whom usually ten or so are minor, is a recipe for trouble down the road. There were considerably less than 100 footballers aged between 19 and 21 playing in this championship last year – and with the amount of emigration that lies in store in Ireland, not to mention the usual migration to Dublin and loss of interest due to work commitments, this is simply not enough to replenish the existing stock of players. Put it another way, it means that there are less than two players aged between 19 and 21 for every adult team that played football in Offaly last year across the grades. That's simply not enough. Adult Hurling Coolderry's first county title since 2004 was undoubtedly well deserved as they demolished all opponents on the way to their win, however any Coolderry player or supporter who doesn't admit to a little tinge of regret about the way they let a glorious chance for a tilt at a Leinster title slip away in Mullingar is simply not being honest about their feelings. Raharney were an honest, committed group of hurlers but not a team that should have been capable of beating Coolderry, and with a home semi-final to be played for that day, Coolderry could easily be in the same position as Rhode right now. Equally, when Coolderry won their title in 2004 it was a joyous occasion because they took on the dominant force that was Birr in the final and beat them. This year Birr were eliminated before Coolderry met them, and undoubtedly most Coolderry people would have preferred to have taken out Birr along the way. Drumcullen's success at intermediate level was a huge boost for the area and could be the fillip that finally sets one of the county's most historic clubs back on the right path. The support and colour to be seen when driving through Rath, Fivealley, Eglish and Killyon is heartwarming for anyone to witness and hopefully now the club will get back to competing at senior and starting to bring on more badly needed younger players. Underage Hurling The foundations for Coolderry's senior success were laid earlier in the year when their under-21 team, backboned by players like Kevin Connolly, Eoin Ryan and David King, came through a marathon series of games against Seir Kieran to take the honours. Indeed, the trilogy of games between these two clubs was one of the highlights of the year in Offaly GAA and served as a testament to the value of this grade of hurling, or something similar to it at least. Sadly the positivity didn't extend down the grades. Banagher's win in the All-Ireland Vocational Schools was great news and Rynagh's subsequent win in this year's minor championship was of little surprise. However the standard of hurling at minor grade this year wasn't very high, with the Banagher parish head and shoulders above everybody else. Kilcormac/Killoughey were similarly dominant at under-16 level, though Shinrone's win at under-14 was a great source of encouragement to smaller clubs looking to compete in these grades. All in all, however, as the county results would indicate, a general rising of the standard is badly needed if Offaly hurling is to get the raw material it needs to regain competitiveness.