Leinster U-20 hurling final between Offaly and Wexford fixed for Carlow

THE Leinster U-20 Hurling Championship final between Offaly and Wexford will take place in Carlow next Wednesday evening at 7.30pm - after Leinster Council examined their various options on Thursday morning.

The game will be live on TG4 and it promises to be a massive occasion. It could attract a crowd in the region of 10,000 as both Offaly and Wexford are mad for success.

There was plenty of speculation about the final with Portlaoise and Kilkenny also in the mix. However, Carlow was always likely to be the choice. Offaly and Wexford have met there occasionally over the years while Portlaoise would be very convenient for Offaly and Kilkenny much handier for Wexford – Carlow is more or less half way between the two counties.

Both counties recorded huge wins in the semi-finals on Wednesday evening with Offaly once again mixing a great level of skill with a tremendous work ethic to see off Dublin while Wexford had a superb and dramatic win over favourites, Kilkenny.

Offaly eliminated the 2020 All-Ireland minor hurling champions, Galway in the quarter-final and both them and Wexford will have their confidence soaring. It is a 50-50 game and the stakes are huge as there is an All-Ireland final place at stake for the winners – Offaly or Wexford will meet the Munster champions in the All-Ireland final. Clare and Cork play in that on Monday evening.

The All-Ireland final is fixed for Saturday, May 27 and that will create a big dilemma for Offaly if they get there. It is fixed on the same day as the Joe McDonagh Cup final where Offaly will play either Carlow, Laois or Kerry. If Offaly are there, playing the games as a double bill in Croke Park would make sense but Charlie Mitchell, outstanding on Wednesday night as he really stood up in the absence of Adam Screeney, is on both teams and it remains to be seen what will happen.

Offaly, however, won't be considering this or making any representations about it as Wexford represents a huge challenge – they simply can't look one centimetre beyond the Leinster final. There is great optimism and excitement about Offaly's prospects in the county. There was probably 6,000 people in O'Connor Park at the Dublin game, and the vast majority were from Offaly.

Keeping their feet on the ground and players insulated from public excitement will be one of the big tasks ahead of manager Leo O'Connor in the coming days but he should have no bother with this. Offaly are young with a few of last year's beaten All-Ireland minor finalists on the team and this could be a year early for them but a belief that they had real prospects this year have proven to be well founded to date. Offaly could well lose to Wexford but you are nearly guaranteed that the team will show up and perform to the best of their ability.

That is all people want and if it is not good enough, so be it. Offaly went out against Dublin without two of their best players, Adam Screeney and Brecon Kavanagh. Both sustained head injuries in the win over Galway but manager Leo O'Connor said after the game that he hopes both will be available for the Leinster final.

Dan Ravenhill also came on as a half time sub and was superb as he helped drive Offaly across the finish line. If all three are fully fit, management will face a big dilemma about whether to start their best team or hold players in reserve – forward Alex Kavanagh, older brother of twins Brecon and Leigh, was also out last night with a thumb ligament injury.

Normally a fully fit Ravenhill, Screeney an Brecon Kavanagh would be automatic starters and it will make sense to start their best team from the throw in – this would result in hard calls being made but the fitness of Screeney and Brecon Kavanagh will be fully assessed over the coming days and that will determine a lot.