Offaly's “Spice Boy” lets his football do the talking

HE may give the impression of a flamboyant showman but that is only one small side of a personality that has endeared him to football supporters far outside Offaly borders.

Cormac Egan very much let his football do the talking in another outstanding display as Offaly destroyed Laois in the Leinster Senior Football Championship in Portlaoise on Saturday evening. Flying up the wing from the half back line at regular intervals, he was a real thorn in the side of Laois and along and the Tullamore man and another very exciting young talent, Keith O'Neill were the outstanding two players on the pitch.

Egan came to national prominence as Offaly won the All-Ireland U-20 Football Championship in 2021 – O'Neill was one of his colleagues on that while Lee Pearson, John Furlong, Jack Bryant, Cathal Flynn and Rory Egan all featured in the very impressive and convincing 2-13 to 1-8 win over Laois.

Egan's blistering pace and some audacious skill captured the imagination of football lovers all over the country while his distinctive mullet hairstyle ensured that he was a standout figure on and off the field.

He still sports a mullet type perm, though a bit more understated than in 2021 and is now in the early stages of growing a red tinged moustache. As young children gathered around him for autographs and parents waited patiently for pictures, he grinned when he was questioned about his ambitions for the moustache minutes after a man of the match display in the win over Laois.

His new moustache is clearly a work in progress with plenty of room for growth and he joked when asked had he visions of a long drooping one hanging down over his chin: “I'm getting ready for Movember now, I have to start preparation fairly early. I am not the best at growing hair. The auld Summer days, I am hoping a bit of sunshine will come around.”

He may be the nearest thing to a “Spice Boy” that Offaly football has generated but that is only a sideshow, an avenue for fun. He is a very serious, driven football player and this is seen in every aspect of his game. The way he has developed himself physically, the toughness he possesses for a small man and the speed he has shows how hard he trains. Those things don't come without a mountain of work and Egan's desire can be seen in everything he does on and off the field.

Back early in the league, he was struggling for form in the attack. He was making runs but not geting on the ball and he was not making the impact people had hoped for. After a couple of rounds, his place on the team was far from secure but he has been a revelation since moved to wing back. Egan reflected that he had played all his underage football at wing back until county minor when he was thrown into an attacking role and he believes that the defence is his natural home.

For people accustomed to looking at him in attack, the quality of his defensive play; his reading of the game and he ability to tackle without fouling has been a bonus but this has not happened overnight or suddenly.

“I played wing back all the way up and it was only with Ken (Furlong, former Offaly minor football manager) with the minors that I went up to the forwards. In senior football, there is so much space at wing back. It is the perfect place to be. I want to get the ball and I want to take lads on. When I am inside, it is kind of congested. If you get by one man, there is two or three coming across to you. I love wing back. To be fair to Declan (Kelly) and the boys, he said to me would you fancy going back when Hylo (Dylan Hyland) was coming back from suspension and I have really enjoyed it so far. We have good lads beside me who can get me on the ball.”

He knew that it wasn't happening for him up front in the early games, that he wasn't getting on enough ball and that his runs were not working out with possession. Now looking at things from back down the field, he can understand why players didn't take a chance by letting in risky ball.

“The way modern football is gone, unless it is a 70-30 ball, a lot of players won't give it. I found myself making runs and it was kind of half on. Now looking back, would I give it to myself up there. I probably wouldn't because I was not getting that full separation from a man and if I was getting a ball, I was running into two or three lads. Back wing back, there is so much space. You are always getting the ball on the front foot and it is great to play with lads like Dec (Declan Hogan) and John (Furlong) and Lee (Pearson) and all the backs we have. At the minute, they see me in space, throw it out to me straight away and get me on the front foot.”

While Egan said that he wouldn't give risky ball now, he was one of the many Offaly players who let the shackles off and played football as people like to see in O'Moore Park. He gave a few great passes in over the top to players and while they were in space, he still had to trust himself to deliver the ball right.

“I think it was just a case that they were leaving pockets of space and then when the man (James Kelly) got sent off for them, they were man to man on the back and it allowed us to take that risk. Then you look up and you see the lads we were playing with. I know I saw Pearson going down the line there. I know if I put the ball in there, he'll get it. It is the calibre of players you are playing with as well. Jack (Bryant) and the boys inside, I trust them to win the ball if I kick it so yes, take the risk and it did work out for us.”

Egan is also a good hurler and had a call to make this year. He played on the Offaly U-20 hurling team that reached the All-Ireland final last year and senior hurling manager Johnny Kelly would loved to have had him on board this year. Football may well be his strongest game, and by a good bit. He well able to hurl at a decent level but he doesn't excite, set the pulse racing in the same way that he does on the football fields. It was a football scholarship that UCD gave him, not a hurling one but his passion for the small ball game and desire to also excel in it is considerable.

However, once the 2021 U-20 football manager Declan Kelly got the senior job, his mind was made up and it wasn't a hard choice to make.
“No, to be honest the minute I heard Dec had the job, I felt I owed it to him to come in. I love playing under Dec. He took a chance on me by putting me on against Westmeath (in the Leinster U20 FC semi-final in 2021) when I hadn't played any under 20 football and thankfully enough it worked out. I owed it to Dec and I am delighted for him today. He got a bit of abuse and that comes when you don't get results. Dec is a serious manager and you either love him or you don't. I love Dec, I love playing for him and I would run through a brick wall for him every day.”

Offaly lost their first four games in Division 3 of the National Football League before staying up with two wins and a draw. Egan was asked if he felt pressure after those four defeats as a very small minority of supporters began to focus on the management.

“It is water off a duck's back for Dec. He doesn't care what anyone says and he re-inforces that to us. To be fair, stuff that is said on Twitter and stuff like that is all online. Would they say it face to face? That is the main thing. We knew we were playing decent football. We went up to Down and everyone was saying we were going to get a 15/20 point hammering. We nearly could have won it if we took our chances. It is just keeping it in the group. We know there is loads of people behind us, as you can see here today. Offaly people will always get behind their teams so we wouldn't pass any remarks on people saying bad comments online or anything about Dec.”

Discussing the Laois game, he said: “The extra man told in the second half. We got a couple of goals that changed the momentum. In the first half, we nearly played better football. We were in control of the game and the next thing, when you looked at the scoreboard, we were only a point up and then a draw match at half time. They got a few handy frees and to be fair to Roachy (Killian Roach, the Laois goalkeeper who converted two sensational frees before half time), I play with him in college and he is some man to strike the ball.

“It was a brilliant win to get. They are a decent side, on a good run and we needed that. We had an up and down year. We played good football at times but hadn't got results. A good win today. It is nearly 20 years since we beat Laois in the championship.That was something we really worked on and re-inforced at training. A massive win and thankfully you got it.”

Offaly were four or five points the better team in the first half but went in level, 1-5 to 0-8 after conceding a goal and missing their own chances. Was there any sense of deflation at this stage?

“I don't think so. We knew we were playing decent football. The experienced players we have, they have been there before and they knew we were playing good football, that the scoreboard would keep ticking over in the second half and we would get a break or two. They seemed to get all the breaks in the first half. In the second half, we got a break or two. Suddenly it is eight or nine points and the game is over. At half time, we just reassessed. We thought we were going well and then we got the breaks.”

Offaly now face the winners of Dublin and Meath with Dublin hot favourites to win. Egan would relish the chance of playing the All-Ireland champions, if that happens. “Look the Dubs in Croke Park, you'd love it, what is there to lose. Go out and play football, get a cut at them. No one is giving Meath a chance tomorrow, no one will give us a chance if it is us against Dublin. What is there to lose. Go out and play football. We can take them risks and chances. Go out and have fun in Croke Park, the best place to play football. A brilliant oppportunity now. A Leinster semi-final, I can't wait.”