Poland relishing opportunity to make grade for Offaly senior footballers

NATHAN Poland could very easily have ended up as one of those talented underage footballers who slipped through the net and didn't fulfil early potential.

Still very much a work in progress with plenty of road to travel, the Erin Rovers club man sported a grin as wide as the Shannon after playing very steady football as he helped Offaly to a convincing 2-13 to 1-8 win over Laois in the Leinster Senior Football Championship in Portlaoise on Saturday.

Back in the late 2010s, Poland's attacking potential was obvious to all who saw him playing for Offaly minor and U-20 footballers but it was only this year that he joined the senior panel.

He came on as a sub in the National Football League games against Down, Sligo and Limerick this year and his call up to the starting line up for Saturday's big derby clash was a big surprise. The surprise wasn't about Poland's ability, it was just that his game time in the league provided no indication that he would be thrown in at the deep end.

The Pullough man justified his selection with a very steady display, never putting a foot wrong. Picked at full forward, he didn't really get into shooting positions but he was very solid on the ball, doing the simple thing so effectively. On the full forward line, he was a foil for Keith O'Neill and Jack Bryant on each side of him while he drifted out the field during the second half as Offaly opened daylight between the teams, getting on the ball and not wasting it with straightforward, no messing passes.

Offaly used all five subs on the day and the fact that Poland was one of the ten who played for the entirety suggests that the management were happy with his contribution.

Now in his mid 20s, it had looked like his chance of playing for Offaly seniors was gone. During his U-20 career, he had a bit of a chequered history with manager Declan Kelly – he was left off the panel at one stage as Kelly threw down the gauntlet to all young players, raising the bar and leaving them under no illusions about what was required and what he expected of them.

His approach yielded spectacular dividends as Offaly won the All-Ireland U20 Football Championship in 2021 and many of those players are now driving things on for the county seniors – Cormac Egan, Keith O'Neill, Lee Pearson, John Furlong, Jack Bryant and Cathal Flynn all contributed powerfully to Saturday's win.

The potential of that six and many others from that team is obvious while the late emergence of players from Kelly's earliest U-20 teams is a welcome bonus. Poland and Ballycommon's Aidan Bracken are two in this class – Bracken had been very good at corner back in the league and would have been a guaranteed starter on Saturday but an unfortunate shoulder injury has ended his county season.

Poland has since come up on the rails to claim a starting place and asked on Saturday evening was he surprised when he was told that during the week, he smiled:

“I was delighted. I knew i was going fairly well in training but when I was told Wednesday I was starting I was absolutely delighted. I couldn't wait to get out here and hopefully take my chance. I suppose it was a bit of a shock.”

Offaly played very well for much of the first half on Saturday, storming into a 0-7 to 0-2 lead but their superiority was not reflected when they went in on levels terms, 0-8 to 1-5 at half time.

He admitted:

“We were probably a bit disappointed but we knew we were kind off covering all bases at half time. We were fairly happy and we knew the score board probably didn't reflect the game. We were just happy to try to push on in the second half which we did. We got two goals and it kind of put the game to bed.”

He was asked was there any sense of deflation at not being three or four points ahead at half time – Laois were down to fourteen men with corner back James Kelly sent off in the 20th minute.

“No, I would say nearly the opposite. We kind of knew we were in a good spot and knew the score board didn't really reflect the game as such. We knew if we just kept doing more of the same, hopefully tag on a few scores with the extra man, we would put them to bed so we were fairly happy.”

He grinned when his U-20 history with Declan Kelly was mentioned, understandably resisting the invitation to delve into that period. Instead, Poland spoke with real passion about his delight when he got the call to join the panel this year and his progress on it – he had continued to play well for Erin Rovers in recent years and has been consistently their best player at intermediate level..

“I suppose at u20 I was in with Declan and then I didn't get a call for a few years. Then this year I couldn't wait to come in and try to prove myself. I think so far I've trained as well as I could have. Hopefully I am taking the opportunity. When Declan gave me the call I wanted to repay him by putting in a shift and putting my shoulder to the wheel.”

Now Poland and Offaly have a Croke Park date with All-Ireland champions, Dublin to look forward to.

“It's a game no one expects us to win and we have nothing to lose. We will give it a good go and see what happens.”