Screeney gets first start of season as Offaly U20 hurlers aim to lay down marker

ADAM Screeney has been named for his first start of the season on the Offaly U20 hurling team for Saturday's home Leinster championship clash with Laois – in Tullamore at 3pm.

The brilliant attacking ace has worked hard to recover from a groin injury and came on as a sub in Tuesday's 5-17 to 0-19 loss to Galway.

The three teams will qualify from this Tier 1 group with a quarter-final place up for grabs for the winners here. Galway have already secured top spot and a semi-final place and the losers will go into a preliminary quarter-final against a Tier 2 team.

Offaly will be anxious to go into a quarter-final and have a point to prove after this week's defeat to Galway. With every team qualifying at this stage, it was not a surprise that Offaly's intensity levels were a bit short of their normal standards but they will be trying to get motoring from now on.

After coming on in the second half, moving well and showing his customary drive in Ballinasloe, it was anticipated that Screeney would start here and he is selected ahead of Shamrocks' Conor Egan, one of three players from last year's minor team who started against Galway. The other two, Andrew Hogan and James O'Sullivan have been selected in defence again.

Screeney missed Offaly's whole National Hurling League campaign and Johnny Kelly will be calling on him for the Leinster championship, as long as his fitness holds up. Dan Ravenhill went off late on in Ballinasloe with an ankle injury but is okay and will lead the attack from centre forward.

Screeney is the only change in personnel while there are positional changes in the attack, and Caelum Larkin, corner back on the team beaten by Tipperary in the All-Ireland minor final three years ago, returns to the panel. Ter Guinan is likely to miss the campaign with a hamstring injury and is a savage loss while his Kilcormac-Killoughey club mate, Daniel Hand is out with a shoulder injury but may feature in the coming weeks.

Offaly produced flashes of excellence in the first half in particular, but the game got away from them in the second half. They will be anxious to get a win under their belt and are favourites to beat Laois. Their neighbours were very good at minor level three years ago, beating Kilkenny and Wexford, and giving Offaly a run in the Leinster final but haven't made the same progress as the home side have since.

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Winning the Leinster and All-Ireland U20 titles last year has removed a lot of pressure off Offaly this year and it remains to be seen if the same all encompassing hunger is there. It wasn't fully present on Tuesday night but no one expected it to be and Offaly remain a very potent outfit with serious potential – it will take a very good team to eliminate them.

OFFALY: Liam Hoare (Carrig-Riverstown); Ruari Kelly (Lusmagh), Andrew Hogan (Coolderry), James Mahon (Kilcormac-Killoughey); Donal Shirley (Tubber), Brecon Kavanagh (Kilcormac-Killoughey), James O'Sullivan (Shinrone); Leigh Kavanagh (Kilcormac-Killoughey), Niall Furlong (Tullamore); Shane Rigney (St Rynagh's), Dan Ravenhill (Durrow), Conor Doyle (Clara); Patrick Lyons (Drumcullen), Cathal Robinson (Kinnitty), Adam Screeney (Kilcormac-Killoughey). Subs – Eanna Mulhare (St Rynagh's), Ajay Cleary (Coolderry), Conor Egan (Shamrocks), Darragh Scully (St Rynagh's), Shane Connolly (Coolderry), Mark Mulrooney (Kilcormac-Killoughey), Eoin Bailey-O'Brien (Shinrone), Caelum Larkin (Carrig-Riverstown), Gearoid Maher (Shinrone).