Realistic Offaly hurling manager continues to put best foot forward

OFFALY senior hurling manager Michael Fennelly was quick to talk about the size of the jump ahead of them after they won promotion to Division 1 from Division 2A of the National Hurling League last year and he was in a philosopical mood when he spoke after his side shipped a heavy beating from Cork.

Galway did a job on Offaly in their first round defeat and Sunday's 4-25 to 1-15 reverse at the hands of a flying Cork in Birr showed the home side exactlky where they are.

Offaly made a nightmare start, conceding 3-5 in the first eleven minutes and Fennelly remarked afterwards:

“Yeah without a doubt the start killed us. Three goals within a few minutes and I think one of them was from our own mistake from a puck out maybe but Cork came at us and came flying through.

“We actually planned for their goals, we had an extra man back there because we knew they were going to be challenging looking for goals today, they got two the last day and probably didn't play as well as they wanted to so we expected it and unfortunately they just came at us with serious power and speed and caught us.

“We're very disappointed with that to be honest. Last week Gearoid McInerney came up the field as well fairly untouched in terms of getting his goal so they are things that we have to look at and look at our structure so it's disappointing but the lads kept at it.
“We could have easily dropped our heads and forgot about it but they didn't, they kept at it and put some nice pieces of play together. We came out with 1-15 against a very strong Cork team, a team that has a good depth to their panel.

“They won the 20s the last two years in a row as well so they are definitely going to be contending massively this year for Munster and All-Ireland titles, we knew we were going to be in a difficult position today and we have a lot to learn still and the boys put in a good shift to be fair to them.”

He talked about the lessons that Offaly have to learn but is not certain that confidence is the problem.

“I don't know is it belief or not, I just think the speed of play and the speed of touch realistically. The Galway's and the Cork's, these teams are at a higher level and if you maker a mistake, you're punished.

“It's very difficult if you are punished within that split second and they get a goal or a point. I wouldn't say belief but it's just very hard on the team in general. Compared to last year, you get away with making some of those mistakes and you're fine.

“Here, you get punished and I think we're trying to bring it up, the lads even Wednesday everything was increased in terms of the speed of play and everything else but there's still a gulf there and you can't go from not competing at underage in finals to be able to compete against teams that are at Liam MacCarthy level to be honest about it.

“The structures are starting to be put in place, GPOs are being put on the ground. I think Cork started that process in 2010 maybe and they're maybe seeing some of those fruits, they're obviously a county that has been competing well enough at senior level but their underage have been competing and now I suppose they're beginning to compete at that level.
“So I think there's a long road for Offaly but you have to start somewhere and these lads are putting in huge shifts and they're genuine and they're honest and they're trying their best to be fair to them.”

How steep is the learning curve?

“It's steep, it's very steep. You see the skill level there today, Limerick beat that Cork team by 16 points in last year's final so that's the team that beat us by 19 points today so it's a big step.

“For me it's two to three steps from where we're at being honest about it. You're not going from Division 2A to another group, you're gone two or three divisions above it. They're just at a higher level than us at the moment, the likes of the Galways', the Cork's, the Limerick's and those teams and that's where it's at.”

The Kilkenny man stressed that the Joe McDonagh Cup is the big target this year.

“At the end of the day we are gearing towards the Joe McDonagh in the summer, that's going to be massively competitive. You saw Antrim yesterday against Dublin and Carlow are moving well so we're on the right path without a doubt. But the speed of our play needs to increase and that doesn't happen overnight.

“Even coming up here today and seeing that Cork team, you know you're going to be under savage pressure and I feel for the boys because they're being thrown into the deep end realistically. And I do look back to Westmeath last year and I can't get away from that. Their scorelines were 7-27, 5-34, 4-47, huge defeats and probably scoring similar to ourselves.”

Fennelly repeated that the old Division 1B set-up with the strongest counties in Division 1A would have served Offaly better.

“Without a doubt. In Gaelic football, it's very hard to go from Division 3 to Division 2. This is going from Division 3 to Division 1 and that's the hammerings and the beatings that you're going to get.

“We can see the other side of the coin that you have two competitive groups, I can see that other side of the coin as well but just for the team that's progressing and has been promoted it does very little to be honest.

“You're in survival mode and you're shipping big defeats and I feel for the boys, I don't think it's overly fair on them but that's the system and the structure that's there and we can't do anything about it.

“We're planning our best and doing our best, but my heart goes out to the boys at times with shipping some of these defeats but our goal is to improve and I think they are enjoying competing against these great players who we saw on tv and our winning Munster titles and Leinster titles and going on to challenge in semi-finals and finals and we're getting to compete against them, but you couldn't be doing this every day. It can be deflating.

“They are two of our most competitive games, we obviously have Limerick later on. We've Clare next and they will obviously be looking for points, look we're on track in terms of where we are and that's important.

“The scorelines aren't what we want but I go back to Westmeath, they won the Joe Mc last year after shipping those heavy defeats in the League. The structure was different last year, it was only two games and you're in the final, now you've five games and it's going to be more competitive than ever I feel.

“That's going to be massively challenging for the boys and we need to get a lot of lads back from injuries and getting healthy. But our heads are in a good place, genuinely we are and even though these are hard days, that's the way it is. That's the structure that's there, but we now know what we need to do. That lads are learning without a doubt, but that speed doesn't happen overnight, it takes time and it'll come eventually.”