Venue change for Offaly O'Byrne Cup tussle with Meath
GAA season up and running as footballers qualify for quarter-finals and hurlers win toss
IT was a typical January start in many ways as the 2026 GAA season got underway last weekend with the footballers having a good win over Carlow while the hurlers' opening fixture fell victim to the weather.
Offaly senior footballers rallied late in Carlow to defeat the home side by 3-14 to 3-9 in a decent O'Byrne Cup game while the hurlers' Walsh Cup opener against Antrim was cancelled because of a frozen pitch in O'Connor Park, Tullamore.
New regulations for the pre-season competitions resulted in a toss to determine who advanced to the semi-finals with luck favouring Offaly who travel to Ballinasloe to play Galway on Sunday next, with a 2.30pm throw in.
With a number of newcomers getting their chance, the footballers looked set for the shield competition when they trailed by 3-9 to 1-13 with the finish line looming into view in Eire Og's ground in Carlow. Hugely influential subs, Cormac Egan and Aaron Leavy grabbed the all-important goals as Offaly finished very strongly to earn a home quarter-final tilt with Meath on Wednesday evening.
This game will take place in Gracefield on Wednesday at 7.30pm with the winners qualifying for a semi-final against Westmeath or Louth on Saturday – the game was originally fixed for Faithful Fields in Kilcormac but was switched on Monday afternoon.
Joint managers Mickey Harte and Declan Kelly will have been reasonably happy with the way Offaly played, particularly late on when the gun was put to their head.
The hurling game was called off on Sunday morning before Antrim made the long journey south. The heavy frost played havoc with Sunday's Walsh Cup fixtures as the games between Galway and Kildare and Westmeath v Kilkenny were also cancelled – Galway and Westmeath won the toss to qualify for the semi-finals with Kildare and Kilkenny going into the shield.
The Westmeath and Kilkenny cancellation was a controversial one with Westmeath accusing the visitors of refusing to play it.
The Galway game will be of great benefit to manager Johnny Kelly and players as they build towards a tough National Hurling League Division 1 campaign.
They had named their team to play Antrim last weekend and will more than likely go with the same line-up in Ballinasloe.
OFFALY: Liam Hoare (Carrig-Riverstown); Patrick Taaffe (Belmont), Ciaran Burke (Durrow), James Mahon (Kilcormac-Killoughey); Eimhin Kelly (Lusmagh), Donal Shirley (Tubber), Dan Ravenhill (Durrow); Ross Ravenhill (Durrow), Cathal King (Carrig-Riverstown); Ter Guinan (Kilcormac-Killoughey), Charlie Mitchell (Kilcormac-Killoughey), David Nally (Belmont); Brian Duignan (Durrow), Dan Bourke (Durrow), Eoghan Cahill (Birr). Subs – Eamon Cleary (Shinrone), Luke Watkins (Shinrone), Ben Miller (Birr), Ben Conneely (St Rynagh's), Brecon Kavanagh (Kilcormac-Killoughey), Sam Bourke (Durrow), Ailbe Watkins (Birr), Eoin Burke (Coolderry), Oisin Kelly (Belmont), Jack Clancy (Belmont), Luke Nolan (Birr).