Kiely delighted to be putting his shoulder to the Offaly hurling wheel once again

WATCHING Offaly lose to Carlow in the Joe McDonagh Cup from the O'Connor Park stand last year, Cillian Kiely experienced a moment of regret mixed in with quiet reflection.

A demoralising defeat saw Offaly exit from hurling's second tier championship as their ambitions of making the final went up in smoke.

One of the most talented hurlers in Offaly in the past few years, Kiely had opted out of the panel three years ago, after Offaly suffered a Christy Ring Cup semi-final defeat by Down in Newry.

27 years of age, he always had unfinished business with the county and responded positively when new manager Johnny Kelly asked him to come back on board for 2023.

It has yielded a rich dividend for both. The Kilcormac-Killoughey man is clearly enjoying being back in the county set up and after an initial settling in period, he is now coming into form at the right time. With his fitness levels improving with time, he produced arguably his best ever game in the Offaly jersey as they rallied powerfully in the second half to beat Kildare in the National Hurling League Division 2 final.

Offaly struggled early on as they went 1-4 to 0-1 behind and Kiely was one of the players who really stood up to stem the tide. He went onto produce a man of the match performance as Offaly returned to Division 1 hurling with a very good 0-24 to 1-18 win. There was much more to his game than his four point haul as he displayed great physicality, won all sorts of ball and took on his opponent at every opportunity.

That Carlow game last year ignited a fire in him as the reality sank in that he was no good to Offaly watching on in the stand.

“It is huge. What really sunk in last year was the Carlow game. I was in at it in the stand and I said, you are no good here. You need to get back in and do what you can for Offaly. This is great, back to Division 1. It is what everyone wants, we haven't lost a game all year. We are going into play Laois in the first round of the championship next Saturday and have to keep the ball rolling,” he said after a thrilling game of hurling.

Kiely elabourated: “I stepped away three years ago. I had family commitments and things. It was the right decision at the time but it was always in me that I hadn't fulfilled my journey with Offaly and I met with Johnny this year. I seen his approach and I seen the programme. We all want to play for the county. I am delighted I made the decision to come back and we have a big few weeks ahead going into the championship. Things are working out.”

He knew that Offaly lived on their wits in the first quarter last Sunday as Kildare tore into them.

“We knew we weren't in the game in the first half. We were lucky in ways that Kildare pucked a lot of wides. We hung in there and we didn't give up.

“We spoke at half time and we reset. It has been a very tough five or six weeks on this panel. We are losing big names every day we go out on the field and we keep finding something. We haven't lost a game all year. There is just something in this panel that is different from the last time I was here. There is a never give up and every week we go training, Johnny and the boys get us together. It is working and it is great to get back up to Division 1.”

He was asked about his own improvement and the performance he produced on Sunday.

“I have been finding my feet the last few weeks trying to get used to centre forward. I have been in full forward and am carrying a knock on the leg as well. I said going out it is a final and it is a day to stand up. I just kept playing every ball as I could. The work rate of the panel is what counts. The lads scoring the points is the easy one, it is the boys winning the tough ball and pucking it out, that is what matters and we have loads of them boys.

“It is an unselfish panel, an unselfish forward line and a big work rate all through.”

Now Offaly face into a tough Joe McDonagh Cup campaign. Laois is first up in Tullamore next Saturday and they then have Kildare away and Down at home on successive weekends before they finally get a week off. They will have seven games in successive weekends and their injury count has risen with Oisin Kelly (cruciate), Ross Ravenhill (broken ankle) and Padraig Cantwell (knee) all out.

There is the possibility of further injuries as well as a Carlow type flat performance and Kiely is not impressed at the fixture scheduling.

“We are getting used to it at this stage. It is very unfair to be honest. Division 2 is being over looked, week after week. It is not good enough. We are all putting in the same effort, division 1 and division 2 teams and it is being threw at us. We are taking it and I hope everyone stays going but I don't know how long lads can stick it. We are carrying a lot of knocks again so Tuesday night is going to be important.”