Offaly to begin 2012 season with local derby clash

NEW Offaly senior football manager Gerry Cooney will face up to Faithful County native Pat Flanagan during the opening round of fixtures in the 2012 O'Byrne Cup, as Offaly and Westmeath do battle in Tullamore in January. The sides will meet in Tullamore on January 8, with the winners down to play Kildare or an undecided college team on January 15; the losers of these ties will meet in the O'Byrne Shield. Cooney finally became Offaly's new manager earlier this month, after a three-month search to replace Tom Cribbin led to much criticism of the county board. A former selector with Offaly, and two-time All-Ireland winner as a player with Meath, Cooney will be hoping to kick-start his Offaly reign with a morale-boosting victory over the Lake County, who are managed by Pat Flanagan from Clara. Meanwhile, the Leinster Council have announced venues for its senior championship games in 2012, as well as the live TV schedule. Offaly's quarter-final clash with Kildare will take place in Portlaoise on Saturday, June 16, and the game will be shown live on RTÉ. Recently appointed hurling boss Ollie Baker will enjoy home advantage when Offaly face Wexford in the quarter-finals of the 2012 Leinster SHC at Tullamore on June 2 (also on RTÉ). The draw for the 2012 Walsh Cup was also made earlier this week, with Westmeath and Offaly meeting in the quarter-finals at Mullingar on January 22. The winners will play one of Carlow/UCD/or Galway, or Kilkenny in the semi-finals. Meanwhile, It has been confirmed that this year's Leinster club senior hurling championship final will be played at Nowlan Park. The clash between Offaly champions Coolderry and Oulart-the-Ballagh (Wexford) will take place at the Kilkenny venue on Sunday week, November 27, with a throw-in of 2pm. Coolderry had a superb win over a fancied Ballyboden St Enda's team last Sunday, while Oulart-the-Ballagh have defeated James Stephens (Kilkenny) and Clough-Ballacaolla en route to the Leinster decider. St Brigid's of Offaly are in Leinster championship action this Sunday when they face Éire "g (Wicklow) in the semi-final of the provincial IFC (Aughrim, 2pm). The Croghan side were defeated by the second team of local rivals Rhode in the Offaly intermediate final, but they are now in with a shout of winning a Leinster title. O'Byrne Cup 2012 (First team named - home venue) 1. Meath v Wexford 2. Louth v Kilkenny 3. Wicklow v College team 4. Longford v College team 5. Kildare v College team 6. Offaly v Westmeath 7. Carlow v Dublin 8. Laois v College team 9. 1 v 2 (15.1.2012) 10. 3 v 4 (15.1.2012) 11. 5 v 6 (15.1.2012) 12. 7 v 8 (15.1.2012) 13. 9 v 10 (22.1.2012 14. 11 v 12 (22.1.2012) FINAL: 13 v 14 (29.1.2012) O'Byrne Shield A. Loser 1 v Loser 2 B. Loser 3 v Loser 4 C. Loser 5 v Loser 6 D. Loser 7 v Loser 8 E. A v B F. C v D FINAL: E v F. Walsh Cup 2012 1. Carlow v UCD 2. 1 v Galway 3. Laois v DIT 4. 3 v Dublin 5. Wexford v NUI Galway 6. 5 v Kilkenny 7. Westmeath v Offaly 8. 2 v 4 (5.2.2012) 9. 6 v 7 (5.2.2012) FINAL: 8 v 9 (12.2.2012)