Form book no guide as Furlong looks forward to Offaly's “cup final”

FOR once, the form book has no relevance whatsoever as Offaly finally gear up for their 2020 Leinster Minor Football Championship final.

They meet Meath in Mullingar on Wednesday evening but it represents a step into the dark for both counties. Offaly played very well last December to beat Wicklow and Kildare while Meath had excellent wins over Dublin, Laois and Westmeath.

It means that Meath are favourites for the final but as Offaly manager Ken Furlong said last week, it is more like a one off cup final than a traditional championship finale.

“It is a very piecenmeal championship. It is like playing a cup final now with the cup run being six months ago. For both teams it is just a final with no momentum or form coming into it because that is six months old now.”

The Tullamore man was happy with the work that his squad did while they were not allowed to train collectively.

“It has been disjointed for the lads because they have been off for so long. They were working hard on their own and in fairness to them, they came back in reasonably good shape so it was trying to get match fitness back into them. Now it is disjointed again with Leaving Cert but that is a problem all the counties have apart from some of the counties up north. That's the way it is. Meath will have the same thing.”

He has been pleased with the way things have been going since they got back.

“Things have been going pretty well. We got them back and they were in good shape. We have been playing plenty of football since. They are a great group and we have great coaches with Stephen (Lonergan) and Cathal (Daly) putting great work into them. We are as well prepared as we can be given the circumstances.”

He knows what Meath will bring to the table.

“They took Dublin out the first day and then beat Laois and Westmeath so that is fair form in fairness to them. Talking to other counties, Meath were the ones people were tipping for this championship. In Meath, there is a lot of expectation on this team. We will be up against it.”

Asked about the importance of an Offaly win for football in the county, Furlong replied:

“It is all about being competitive, getting up the levels and being consistently competitive. It is not just one team now and no one comes into line for another few years, it has to be systematic. That the high tide raises all boats really.”

How disappointed were you when the original fixture was called off because of the Covid-19 lockdown last December?

“We can only control what we can control. It was good that we had won two matches. Winning the first game was vital. Obviously if you don't win the first game, you are out so winning against Wicklow was vital. We made very hard work of that. We probably performed reasonably against Kildare and found ourselves in a final. Due to circumstances it got pulled but there was nothing we could do. Meath were coming in with form as well so it would have suited them as well to play back in December or January but it didn't happen.”

It means that the final is now like the old minor grade (U-18 compared to the current U-17) and some of the players have noticeably grown in the past few months.

“We just said it among ourselves the other night, myself, Stephen and Cathal, we took on chaps and we are handing over men. That is great, it is testament to the lads themselves because realistically, they have done a mountain of work on their own. We had them up to March of last year, then they were out on their own until they went back to the club scene in July/August. It looked like we were going to be back on in October, then it got shelved again and it ran in December. Realistically we have had them for very little time so maybe that says more about them than us.”

It must be nice to be playing the final in Summer as distinct from the Winter?

“There is pros and cons. We had momentum back in December but yes, championship football is summer time football. You want a fast pitch and hard ground. You would like to see a bit of a crowd there as well.”

Offaly have two dual players in Tullamore's Cormac Egan and Belmont's Patrick Taaffe. Last December, the minor hurling final was fixed to be playing first and the minor football second. Now it has been flipped. Furlong was not disappointed at that, though he said:

“No, it is just the way it fell. Again outside our control.”

There is encouraging signs of improvement and progress in Offaly football and hurling and the former Offaly goalkeeper has observed this.

“There seems to be a good bounce across all the codes which is brilliant. It's about time we were on an upward trajectory so that is a good thing.

“The senior footballers and hurler have gained promotion which is great. That gives a lift to the county. We have been long enough in the doldrums. It is great to be back in Division 1 in hurling and the footballers are up to Division 2 for the first time in a long time. That is a positive and it is great for the young lads to see that there is positivity at senior level as well. It is not a case that these lads have to win a Leinster final for momentum in Offaly, there is already momentum there.”

There seems to be a change of attitude among emerging young footballers and hurlers as they embrace the lifestyle needed to be county players.

“That lifestyle demands is there and it is a process of the development squads over the last number of years that lads have been fed more information and are taking it on board more. They are more keen to live the lifestyle, so that certainly helps the managers if it is coming through systematically.”

He stressed again that previous form has no bearing on this final.

“It is six months ago since we played Wicklow and Kildare so it is not really relevant. It is how we got to the Leinster final which was brilliant but it is not really relevant. It is a one game cup final. They are a good group so we will be looking for them to perform on the day.”

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