Home Walsh Cup fixture to get Offaly senior hurlers up and running

OFFALY senior hurlers will get a quick chance to brush off the Christmas cobwebs when they have a home Walsh Cup fixture on Sunday next.

The visit of Antrim to Tullamore will allow manager Johnny Kelly to give new panel members valuable game time ahead of a ruthlessly tough National Hurling League Division 1 programme.

With Offaly facing all of the top counties in the pace of a couple of months, there won't be much room to experiment and try out more fringe panel members.

The Walsh Cup affords that opportunity and the decision to re-instate this competition for 2026 has been warmly welcomed by managers who are very keen for games in January ahead of the league.

It will be a big season for Offaly hurlers and Johnny Kelly. They achieved their big objectives last season when retaining their status in the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship and winning promotion to Division 1.

Offaly have made significant progress in recent years and now aim to raise the bar higher. Beating Dublin or Wexford in the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship will be a big target while Offaly would love to retain their league status. They will be the starters' favourites for the drop there but it is great for Offaly to be back in with the big guns. This is where they want to be and they have been working very hard.

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The Walsh Cup is well down the season's priorities and the result on Sunday does not really matter. It is all about getting a competitive game under their belt, getting game time into players and seeing who is shaping up well – the winners will face Galway or Kildare in the semi-final and Offaly would like to qualify for that rather than go into the shield for first round losers.