Offaly football management thrilled as All-Ireland U-20 heroes come of age

IT was impossible not to feel a heart warming buzz of excitement at times as Offaly out ran Kildare in a thrilling National Football League Division 3 final in Croke Park on Sunday.

With a championship date against Meath or Carlow looming, no one is getting carried away in Offaly but their achievement in getting promotion to Division 2 and winning the Division 3 league has given the county a massive boost.

With hurling's profile growing in the county in the past couple of years, football needed this to keep pace and it all represents a quite remarkable turn around from last year's horror show in the Tailteann Cup when Offaly had their tails handed to them by London and Limerick.

With Dublin in the same half of the draw in Leinster, Offaly will almost certainly compete in the Tailteann Cup again this year and their reward for promotion is not as big as it might have been last year when it may have qualified them for the All-Ireland round-robin series.

All of that, however, is concerns for tomorrow and down the road and at the moment, Offaly are fully entitled to bask in what they have achieved this year. The quality of their football, the pace they are playing at has captured the imagination and they enter the championship in two weeks time in a very good frame of mind.

Things have just worked out for them. Many of the heroes that won the All-Ireland U20 Football Championship in 2021 have finally transitioned into top class county senior footballers. Injuries delayed the emergence of some while the youth of them was another factor – it is easy to forget that some of the best of those players had another year or two at U20 level in 2021 and that patience was needed.

The Edenderry duo Lee Pearson and Rory Egan were the first to make the step forward and after a stuttering end to 2024, they are finding their real form again in defence – Egan's renaissance has been a real help. John Furlong's class has been obvious from the moment he was seen playing football by most observers and he is performing very well while the form and enterprising play of speed merchants, Cormac Egan, Cathal Flynn and Keith O'Neill has just took the breath away. Jack Bryant had his best game of the year on Sunday, joining them in the pantheon of U20s performing at a really high level and it has been a joy to watch some of their football.

Former Offaly GAA chairman Michael Duignan pulled a real rabbit from the hat when unveiling Mickey Harte as joint manager with Declan Kelly last year. There is not much in the GAA world that people don't see coming but that was certainly one. It is paying off. Harte has had a hugely positive impact, both on the training field and in his dealings with players.

He gave a passionate address to the Offaly development squads players on Saturday as they received their gear for 2025 and the power of his words as he urged them to fulfil their potential, whether it is as a star player on the team or a back-up figure on an extended panel, almost brought a tear to the eyes of some of the very well seasoned adults present.

While some outsiders like to have a go at Harte and sneer at his record in leagues with other counties, it is no laughing matter in the likes of Offaly and Louth. Offaly were on the floor last July, staring into the gutter, trying to block their noses, and there is nothing funny or remotely entertaining about any attempt to undermine what this means to the players and supporters and what it can do for the county going forward.

Harte's track record deserves complete respect and he is certainly a good fit with Offaly at the moment. It is also important that people don't down play Declan Kelly's influence and give Harte all the credit. The two are working very well together and Kelly's hand prints are very obvious in a variety of ways. Some of the big early season calls with the selection of the panel were clearly influenced by the no nonsense Kilclonfert man – they had the potential to pile pressure on management if Offaly had ended up in a relegation dogfight but results dictate the mood of people and at the moment, Offaly is a very content county.

The new rules may be a factor but the type of football Offaly are playing is reminiscent of the U20s in 2021 when Kelly was in charge and it is just great to see a team take opposition on at pace and have a real cut at them. It won't work every day and Offaly definitely had some hairy moments during the campaign but they found their top form in Sunday's thrilling 2-17 to 1-18 win over Kildare.

Kelly, Harte and team captain Lee Pearson spoke about what it all meant after the win with Kelly agreeing that the U20s are beginning to come of age.

“In fairness to the lads, that particular group, you mention Cormac (Egan) … Cormac is only 21,  John (Furlong) is only 21, Keith O’Neill is only 21. In the greater scheme of things they’re young. Lee has gone 22, 23 – but they’re finding their feet in the last couple of years, beginning to find their feet. It’s good to see lads delivering on the efforts being put in. You can work hard and not get results but, to be fair to the lads, they’ve been going at it the last couple of years … and to get a result and get up to Division 2 is big for them.”

Harte was delighted to see Offaly produce a second top quality display against Kildare.

“We’d a very good game against Kildare in O’Connor Park, and we just got the goals at the right time that day to get the result that we needed. Again, it was going to be hard to back it up, and I think the players deserve great credit because sometimes it’s very hard to back up a good result when you have to play the same team again within a couple of weeks.

“It was a good spectacle as a game; lots of scoring, lots of energy; lots of quality tackling, quality football. But look it, a toss of the coin – it could have gone either way.”

Pearson acknowledged that the new rules were a help to Offaly.

“I think the new rules suit us, absolutely. As Declan just mentioned, we’ve a young team, plenty of energy, plenty of legs. We’re able to move at speed down through the middle so, yeah, the new rules definitely do suit us.”

He spoke about the impact of Harte and coach Luke Bree, a Sligo man.

“A huge difference, in fairness. They just bring that experience in from around the country. They bring their knowledge, combined with the knowledge we have here in Offaly. It’s a wonderful combination, yeah.”

Offaly quickly dispelled any notion that they would have one eye on the championship and Harte said their only focus in the past week was the league final – managerial upheaval in Meath and Carlow in recent days flew over their head.

“We hadn’t time to think about that at all. We’d a very important game here today, and whatever happens in any other county is their own business; it’s not really our business at all. What we had to do was prepare ourselves to be in the very best position we can be in a fortnight from now. Whoever it is we have to play, because that begins the rest of the journey of this team for this year. So it’s a very important day for us. Whoever comes along, we have to be really ready for them and I don’t anticipate it being an easier day.”

Despite Offaly's end to the 2024 campaign, Harte believed they could get promotion from the start.

“Yeah, yeah, I did. I’m kind of like that anyway … but I didn’t necessarily announce it to anybody. In my own head and heart, I said this team is good enough to go out of this division. We said that when we went to Louth as well … we said they were good enough to get out of Division 4, we believed they were good enough to get out of Division 3. And now they’re consolidating themselves in Division 2, which I’m glad to see.

“So yes, if you didn’t have the aspiration to improve, then you’re going in to just create a team for a division and think they’re happy to stay there. If you’re happy to stay where you are, you generally don’t – you go backwards. So, if you’re not moving up and forward, you’re moving backwards and I don’t really think that’s a great idea.”

The Tyrone man acknowledged that Offaly are unlikely to make the All-Ireland series this year and will end up in the Tailteann Cup.

“It’s a very unlikely event, put it like this! Who we have to play to get there, it seems very unlikely that we’ll get that route so it seems like we won’t be there. But look, that’s a pity; it would have been great to be there. But the rules are the rules. As they transpire, it doesn’t favour us at the minute. But look it, we have to go where we find ourselves and whatever level we’re playing at, there’s no easy games. Everybody is out to win whatever competition they’re in, whatever cup they’re in, so I don’t think it makes a lot of difference at this point in time. If we want to continue to win silverware, we have to really keep focussed and keep working hard and get the rub of the green and all of that stuff.”

REPORT ON FINAL: 

https://www.offalyexpress.ie/news/gaa/1765985/flying-offaly-end-terrific-league-campaign-on-spectacular-high-with-great-league-final-win.html

Kelly agreed that winning this trophy helps validate the effort of players and management.

“It does, yeah. Obviously promotion was key but, when there’s a final at stake in Croke Park with a cup on the line, it’s great to come out here today … we don’t get up here that often and to get a cup at the end of the day, it’s great. For the players it’s great; it’s great for the county. We’d a good support there today, and we’ve the hurlers down in Cork next Sunday, a good crowd if they can get tickets will try and travel to that. But there’s good following, there’s good backing around the county. To give everyone days like today is great for the county.

“To be playing a team two weeks later, as quick as that, and probably being underdogs again today … to get that result today, you’d just hope it gives lads belief that we’re going the right route and the efforts are being rewarded in some shape or form.”