End of the road for Offaly GAA teams as appointment of managements comes onto agenda

THE curtain came down on the 2023 intercounty season for Offaly GAA teams when Tipperary ruthlessly evicted the senior hurlers from the All-Ireland senior championship in Glenisk O'Connor Park on Saturday afternoon.

It brings an end to a season that had a handful of real highs, some searing disappointment and the emotional trauma of the sudden death of the county's senior football manager, Liam Kearns during the National Football League campaign.

It was a season with moments of bright promise and some progress across both codes but ultimately ended without silverware and with Offaly GAA very much at a crossroads.

The appointment of management teams will now come onto the agenda for the Offaly GAA County Board and the majority of them are likely to be back in situ for the 2024 season.

The big dilemma facing them is senior football manager. Kerry man Liam Kearns had done very good work with the team before his sudden death a few months ago. A selector, Gracefield man Martin Murphy stepped up as manager and oversaw a very good Leinster Senior Football Championship campaign, followed by a Tailteann Cup one that never ignited.

Murphy will be discussing the situation with Offaly GAA chairman Michael Duignan in the coming weeks and no one will be putting much money on what way this will go. There will also be speculation about Declan Kelly, who guided Offaly to a sensational All-Ireland U-20 football title in 2021, and there will be plenty of soul searching by all the parties at the coalface in the coming weeks.

Johnny Kelly will almost certainly be back as senior hurling manager, despite Saturday's 7-38 to 3-18 mauling by Tipperary in the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship preliminary quarter-final. Offaly were never likely to compete against Tipperary and the timing of this game was all wrong for them – coming a few weeks after the bitter disappointment of an extra time defeat by Carlow in the Joe McDonagh Cup final while Tipperary, an All-Ireland contender, had a big point to prove after a substandard display in their last Munster championship defeat by Monaghan.

With their supporters rowing in behind them and making up the vast majority of the 10,000 crowd in O'Connor Park on Saturday, Tipperary were keen to put on a show and they certainly did that. Displaying great power, physique, skill and pace, they had the game won early and played some champagne hurling as they led by 3-25 to 1-10 at half time.

Offaly rallied briefly in the second half, bringing the deficit back to 3-34 to 3-14 but Tipp stepped on the gas again late on, running in four goals between the 63rd and 69th minutes. It showed how far Offaly are off the highest level but Portumna man Johnny Kelly won't be judged on this game and the job will be his if he wants it.

While Saturday's defeat was not pleasant for the Offaly team or supporters, the real disappointment this year was the defeat by Carlow in the Joe McDonagh Cup final. Prior to that, Offaly had done everything asked of them, winning promotion to Division 1 of the National Hurling League and qualifying for the Joe McDonagh Cup final with a round to go. Unfortunately they couldn't get across the line there, losing Dara Maher to a controversial red card just before half time and being edged out in an extra time shootout.

With injuries taking a toll, Offaly operated out of a small panel this year and the target next year will be to win the Joe McDonagh Cup. They would have been better off if their season had ended after that competition, though it is always good to see how you fare against a top tier team in knockout fare, no matter what the outcome.

It prompted Johnny Kelly to call on authorities to examine the whole hurling structures after Saturday's defeat. “The Joe McDonagh final is the All-Ireland for that level and today is a bonus to play the likes of Tipperary at this time of year even though it mightn’t appear so after that result. There was no turnaround between the League and the Joe McDonagh. For these teams... Brilliant Carlow won, fair play to them, but there was no gap between the League final and the start of the Joe McDonagh Cup. You're asking counties that are struggling with numbers to play the most games in the tightest window. Not on. It’s not fair and it needs to be looked at. Look, we’re all intelligent people here and there’s lots of guys around who have opinions on how this structure could be, let’s listen to the people on the ground that see this day in, day out and see if we can improve it that way,” he said.

The performances of the county's U-20 hurlers was the highlight of the year and has given real hope for the future. They were outstanding as they won the Leinster title and they competed very well against Cork in the All-Ireland final, before falling away in the second half.

The senior footballers also gave supporters a lift in the Leinster championship. After beating Louth, they had a super win over Meath in the quarter-final and almost took Louth in the semi-final, losing out in extra time. They ran out of steam and enthusiasm after this, struggling into the Tailteann Cup preliminary quarter-final, where Wexford proved too strong.

The other big disappointment of the year was the Offaly U-20 footballers. They had a handful of the 2021 All-Ireland champions still playing for them, had a very promising team on paper and should have been capable of challenging for provincial honours. For whatever reason, it didn't happen for them. Very fortunate to draw with Louth in their first game, they then lost to Wicklow and Dublin as they bowed out in the group stages.

The minor hurlers and minor footballers did well, even though the minor footballers' season ended with a thought provoking defeat by Dublin.

After beating Westmeath in the Leinster preliminary quarter-final, Offaly competed very well against Kilkenny as they bowed out, 2-15 to 0-14.

The minor footballers played with great heart as they qualified out of their group and beat Louth in the quarter-final. Unfortunately, Dublin proved way too strong in the semi-final as they won by 6-15 to 1-8 on a day when little went right for Offaly.

Leo O'Connor is a shoe in to be back as the Offaly U-20 hurling manager. A prospective Offaly senior hurling manager in the future, he has guided Offaly to All-Ireland final appearances in minor and U-20 in successive years and will be hoping to get them across the line at U-20 level in the coming two years.

Minor hurling and football managers, Enda Mulhare (St Rynagh's) and Roger Ryan (Shannonbridge) and U-20 football manager Ken Furlong (Tullamore) are likely to get a second year at the helm.