Expectations rise as Offaly face season defining showdown with Cats – crowd urged to arrive early
AN exciting generation of young Offaly hurlers will experience another magical evening to savour when they welcome Kilkenny to Tullamore on Wednesday evening for the semi-finals of the Leinster U20 Hurling Championship.
Wednesday's game will be another huge occasion. A crowd of over 5,000 is expected in Tullamore and the bulk of them will be home supporters. These young players clearly revel in these situations and it is just fantastic to see an Offaly hurling team create this level of excitement again. Supporters are being urged to arrive early and not leave it late as the game can't be delayed because of the possibility of extra time and penalties.
The visit of Kilkenny will define their season as they bid to retain their Leinster title. While Kilkenny beat Offaly well, 3-23 to 1-16, on their way to winning the corresponding Minor Hurling Championship three years ago in 2021, the goalposts have moved considerably, the gap narrowed dramatically since then.
Offaly won the Leinster Minor Hurling Championship in 2022, suffering a devastating late defeat to Tipperary in the All-Ireland final while they won the Leinster U-20 title in terrific style last year, competing well before falling away against Cork in the All-Ireland final.
Kilkenny remain a very formidable team and they are slight favourites to win here, there is great excitement building once again about this young Offaly team.
With several of them underage again next year, Offaly have very realistic prospects of returning to the Leinster final but Kilkenny represents a huge banana skin.
So far Offaly have done everything expected of them. They weren't at their very best in their group games but with every team qualifying irrespective of results, they didn't need to be and it was all about match practice and sharpening up.
They scraped to a win over Dublin and let Galway off the hook when drawing with them in the second game but both these matches showed that Offaly were once again fiercely competitive at this grade.
The quality of their hurling when demolishing a shell-shocked Laois in the quarter-finals last Wednesday really set the pulse racing and showed how good they are. Whether they can win on Wednesday and retain their Leinster title are questions yet to be answered but every single Offaly supporter was so proud of these young players.
They have such good hurlers and play with fierce pace but it is matched by an incredible work rate and the one certainty is that it will take a very good team to beat Offaly.
Kilkenny definitely have the potential to do that and it will take another huge Offaly display to survive.
It is a pity that Dan Ravenhill is out with a hamstring injury and he would be a great asset for Offaly but apart from that, they are nearly full strength – Daniel Hand wasn't on the subs bench last week but is on his way back and should be coming into the equation now.
A complication for Offaly is that a few players are likely to be involved in Sunday's Joe McDonagh Cup game against Kerry. There is plenty of discussion on the ground about the merits of playing these players at senior but the games at this level certainly haven't done some of them any harm. It has helped bring Cathal King on and younger players such as Adam Screeney, Dan Bourke and Donal Shirley are very much at home at that level while Colin Spain has to be occupying space in senior manager, Johnny Kelly's thinking.
Hard calls may have to be made if Offaly U-20s stay on the road but Johnny Kelly would not be looking after his team if he didn't seek to use the best players at his disposal. This very much includes those U-20s but it is a delicate balancing act and it would be disastrous for Leo O'Connor if he lost any of those players for a big game.
Wednesday's game is close to 50-50, though Kilkenny will travel fully expecting to win. Their form has been very good in big wins over Wexford and Laois and they have some excellent hurlers, a couple of senior stars of the future. It will take a titanic effort from Offaly to survive but at every step of the way, this group of players have shown up and performed. This one will be no different and once again, anything is possible for Offaly.
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