Rejuvenated Offaly face big challenge to take Louth down off their pedestal

IT won't quite match the excitement that gathered around Offaly U20 hurlers in 2023 and 2024 but the Leinster Minor Football Championship final between Offaly and Louth in Newbridge on Monday evening next will certainly transcend a normal fixture of this nature.

Louth's sensational year means that they will make the journey to Newbridge in their thousands. With the Leinster Senior and U20 Football Championships already in the bag, a win here will complete an unprecedented treble for them and there is wild excitement in the Wee County at their footballing achievements.

Louth are a great example to everyone else of what can be achieved with hard work and a willingness to stay on the long road. They have turned the corner spectacularly and it has been one incredible year for them.

A win on Monday would be the icing on the cake for them and Offaly face a huge challenge to sabotage those ambitions. They have already met in the group stages with Louth recording a 2-26 to 2-17 win and that is a very significant gap to have to bridge.

It is achievable, however, and the scoreline does not illustrate the true story of that evening up in Louth. 2-26 was way too much to concede but 1-7 of that came in the first ten minutes when Offaly were asleep. They also conceded six two pointers that evening – that was way too much to concede, it was fantastic kicking by a minor team and it is one of the many aspects that the Offaly management will be focusing on in the coming days.

Offaly played some excellent football in the second quarter and did really well to get back into the game by half time when they trailed by just 1-13 to 0-11. They then leaked water by the bucket in the second half and were 2-22 to 0-13 behind before some late scores gave them scoring respectability.

It was an extraordinary game in many ways and under any examination, it was a fair beating to receive. Yet there is genuine hope that Offaly can turn things around and record a win that would give such a big boost to the game in the county.

They were all over the place at that time. Offaly hadn't really settled on their best line-up and one of their strongest players Eoin Rouse returned from injury in Louth, coming on as a sub after 23 minutes. He is still not running freely on his injured knee but is getting stronger by the game and his influence has been pivotal to Offaly's revival.

Apart from that, Offaly just weren't set up right and they were on the verge of an early exit after that Louth game. There had been plenty of anticipation about the prospects of this minor team before the start of the championship. They had performed well on their way up the development squad system and they won the Leinster Minor Football League.

Yet it didn't translate into the group stages of the championship. They made a flying start in the first round against Dublin, leading by 2-1 to 0-1 after a few minutes and opening up the visitors. Yet they were a beaten docket by half time with Dublin scoring 5-4 without reply on their way to a 5-10 to 3-7 win.

Offaly showed glimpses of real potential in those games and it was clear that they had a really exciting attack. Cian McNamee and Dylan Dunne oozed quality at stages in those opening two games – Dunne's display in Louth was breathtaking in many ways and Offaly had other forwards capable of inflicting damage, impressing with their movement and general play.

Those defeats, however, placed them on a knife edge and it looked like it just might not happen for this team. They had to beat Laois in the final group game to qualify and just about managed to do this in a 1-15 to 2-9 win. It was a very close run thing though and it took a superb injury time two point free from goalkeeper Jack Ryan to get them over the line.

Offaly flirted with disaster in their preliminary quarter-final win over Wicklow in a game that showed this team in all their glory, at their best and their worse. They played some excellent football at times but fell into the quarter-final, needing extra time to win by 3-20 to 2-13. They were in cruise control when leading by 1-12 to 0-8 inside the last ten minutes but again fell asleep and were fortunate to see extra time – Wicklow should have got a penalty near the end and that would probably have put Offaly out.

They found their composure again in extra time, getting away for the win and they have improved steadily since then.

Their season has really ignited in recent weeks and a 4-11 to 2-14 win over Meath in Navan was a season defining one. It was a real backs to the wall win as they pulled it out of the fire at the end. 2-14 to 3-9 behind with just over a minute left, sub Paddy Burns got the crucial goal and another magnificent two point free from Jack Ryan in injury time gave them the cushion to hold on for a great win.

Offaly also made changes for the Meath game that worked. Tomas Carroll went in full back and without doing anything spectacular, he has been very steady and his spectacular goal line interception to deny Kildare a late goal in the semi-final was one of the moments of the year. Charlie Duffy won his place back at midfield and has been a huge presence in the past two weeks while the switch of Eoin Rouse to wing back has worked a dream – it has strengthened a creaking defence as well as adding huge attacking scope down the left channel.

Offaly showed great courage to beat Kildare by 4-9 to 1-16 in a thrilling semi-final last week. They lived on their wits at times, had disastrous spells but kept going and eventually got there. For the third time, Jack Ryan got a fantastic two point free in injury time to help Offaly home and it was a season changing win in many aspects.

The game also showed the big challenge facing Offaly in this final. They were 2-4 to 0-3 up in the second quarter when they completely lost their way, conceding 1-7 without reply to trail by 1-10 to 2-4 at half time.

It is the nature of the beast at this young level that games can get away from a side very easily and momentum can be very difficult to get back but Offaly have been just way too fragile at times. Their work rate has been questionable when opposition does get on top of them and they have just conceded too much in those spells – it has happened against Dublin, Louth, Wicklow and Kildare and that frequency can't be attributed to youth alone, it is a sign of weakness and it has to be addressed if they are to get their hands on the silverware.

The absolute key for Offaly is to work as hard as they can when things don't go well, to chase, tackle and keep doing the right thing. The desire and character they possess is obvious but they can't take their eye off the ball for an extended period of time.

Louth will certainly punish them if they do and Offaly know all about the quality they have: the star factor of Cillian McQuillan at midfield and his ability to kick scores from outside the arc, the attacking excellence of Connel Kelly and Conal Mannion, the class of their players in all areas.

Offaly deserve huge credit for the way they have turned things around. The defence is tightening up and working hard, Eamon Maher and Charlie Duffy are forming a very effective midfield partnership while Dylan Dunne and Cian McNamee are the star players up front and Cathal Weldon, Aaron Daly, Tony Furey and Ruari Woods have the capacity to emerge as match winners.

It has been a real roller coaster of a year for Offaly and the emergence of this squad is a great help to the county. It is coming fairly soon after the 2021 All-Ireland U20 win and Offaly needs a second group of players to supplement them – the jury is still out but the way they are playing football, their pace and ability to bounce back from supporters is winning the hearts of supporters.

While Louth will be in the majority, Offaly supporters will also make the short trek to Newbridge in vast numbers and there is an air of anticipation about them now.

Louth's emergence at all grades has been a big talking point this year, across the country. Their development is a surprise in some ways but in other ways, the discussion should be on what they were doing for so long. Louth may be a small county but population wise, it dwarves Offaly. The combined population of Drogheda and Dundalk is bigger than the entirety of Offaly. For years, there seemed to be an almost tacit acceptance that soccer was king in those towns but the GAA has obviously got its act together in the past few years across the county and is yielding a powerful dividend.

Once they did that, it is a numbers game and Louth had to make progress but that could only come about by putting the proper structures in place. In GAA terms, Louth is a football only county whereas it is an almost equal split between football and hurling in Offaly.

Sometimes, the expectations in Offaly don't take these factors into account. People will bemoan poor underage performances but the reality is that the county can only produce good teams on an occasional rather than consistent basis.

A first Leinster minor football title since 1989 would be be a serious boost to Offaly. Either way, this team will have another bite at All-Ireland honours but a Leinster title would raise the bar for these players and those following behind them – the winners play Mayo while the losers meet Roscommon.

It is a long shot for Offaly and Louth were a much better side in the group stages but it can happen. Many Offaly people can still remember 2010 when they ate Longford alive in the first round of the the Leinster Minor Football Championship and were then beaten by them in the Leinster final.

That possibility is very much present for Offaly now and there is real optimism. It is hard to explain but there is an X factor of some sort present with this team, when they click into fifth gear, they are so good to watch. While there will be plenty of turns in the roads, not all of them will come through, a handful of them have the potential to play senior county football in the future – Cian McNamee, Dylan Dunne, Eoin Rouse and Tadgh Kelly have clear prospects in this regard and there are others who could emerge if they are willing to do the hard work over the coming years.

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Offaly have discovered a great killer instinct in getting goals- they have scored four each in their last two games - but if they can't limit the damage when Louth have their inevitable purple patches, that may not rescue them on this occasion. It will take the performance of their young lives but there is a very good outside chance that they can turn the tables on Louth.