The curtain came down on a fantastic season for Offaly when Cork eliminated them in the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship preliminary quarter-final. Offaly achieved their big 2024 ambitions of winning the All-Ireland U-20 Hurling Championship and Joe McDonagh Cup and they bowed out with their heads held very high. Coming a week after the Joe McDonagh Cup final, a win over Cork was never a genuine prospect but the team performed close to as well as they could and a 4-25 to 3-19 defeat was as good as any realistic supporter could have hoped for. It gives Offaly a very solid platform to build on for the future. Here is my players' ratings: MARK TROY - Mark Troy had a really good game in goals. He could do little about the Cork goals, made one very good tackle to stop a second half one and was very solid with his puckouts and clearances. Rating – 8. PICTURES: SPORTSFILE
PLAYER RATINGS: How the Offaly players fared in spirited performance against Cork
SUBS - Sam Bourke - Sam Bourke had good moments after coming on. Rating - 6
18.
SUBS - Dara Maher - A very honest player, who wants to play at this level, Dara Maher provided a fresh pair of legs when players were tiring and moved on some good ball. Rating – 6
19.
SUBS - Luke Watkins - Introduced in the 70th minute, Luke Watkins was not on long enough to rate
