The man behind the wire: Colaiste Naomh Cormac's golden generation shows the way forward for Offaly

IT was great to see Colaiste Naomh Cormac capture the All-Ireland colleges senior “B” hurling title in such convincing fashion on Saturday last.

The Kilcormac school enjoyed a remarkably comprehensive 2-17 to 0-13 win over Hamilton High School, Bandon in Kilmallock and an All-Ireland title was no more than they deserved.

Several members of the squad endured gut wrenching heartbreak when Tipperary snatched victory from Offaly's grasp in the All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship final last year. A genuinely exciting Offaly side played well enough to have won and deserved to take the spoils on that agonising day in Kilkenny but it was not to be as Tipp got a late match winning goal.

Those young players showed their quality as they strangled all life out of a bemused Hamilton High School. 1-10 to 0-5 ahead after playing with the wind in the first half, they kept a vice like grip on proceedings in the second half, never allowing the Cork students a scent of victory.

It is a measure of their dominance that the title was in the bag well before the final whistle. Colaiste Naomh Cormac's work rate was phenomenal on the day and that is one of the greatest attributes of these young players. They have oceans of skill, buckets of natural talent but that will only carry you so far unless it is accompanied by a ferocious work rate.

That relentless work rate was a hallmark of the Offaly minors last year and Colaiste Naomh Cormac have the exact same. It provides a great example to all emerging young players in Offaly and these young hurlers have really shown the way forward for all teams in the county.

Players from Kilcormac-Killoughey and Colaiste Naomh Cormac have been at the epicentre of the positive developments in Offaly hurling in the past couple of years.

Six players from Kilcormac-Killoughey started in the All-Ireland minor hurling final last year: James Mahon, Brecon Kavanagh, Ter Guinan, Leigh Kavanagh, Daniel Hand and Adam Screeney while Mark Mulrooney came on as a sub.

They had nine on the panel in all. Mahon, the Kavanagh twins, Hand, Screeney and Mulrooney were all key players for Colaiste Naomh Cormac this year – Ter Guinan goes to school in Colaiste Choilm, Tullamore where he was outstanding on their football and hurling teams this year.

Brecon and Leigh Kavanagh were joined by older brother Alex Kavanagh on the Offaly schools team that had a tremendous win over famed Kilkenny nursery St Kieran's in the Leinster Colleges senior hurling “A” final some weeks ago. Mahon, Hand and Screeney also started that day while Colin Spain came on as a sub – as did Ter Guinan, who would have been an automatic starter but for injury.

St Kieran's were outstanding as they won the All-Ireland title on St Patrick's Day, beating Presentation College, Athenry very convincingly. As a combined team, Offaly Schools were not allow compete outside their province but would also certainly have gone the whole way if they were.

It would have been interesting to see how Colaiste Naomh Cormac would have competed in the top flight this year – and before anyone leaps onto their keyboards or phones, this is a compliment not a criticism. They would probably have been a few players short of what was required to beat St Kieran's but you would imagine they would have more than held their own against every school and could very possibly have reached the final.

Having won the All-Ireland C title last year – eleven of this year's team were on that -, it would have been a big jump and it would have taken a leap of faith to try and put them in “A” hurling. However, it would have been great to see how they would have got on there, assuming that it would have been allowed: Colaiste Naomh Cormac may have been good enough to win “B” last year and would have competed in “A” this year but irrespective of that, All-Ireland medals will serve these players very well.

Offaly GAA needs schools competing in “A” colleges competitions and it was great to see Colaiste Choilm go so well in football this year – their semi-final defeat by Naas CBS is one of the big regrets of the year.

Colaiste Naomh Cormac have a unique group of hurlers at the moment and they would not be able to compete at the top level over the long term. They are one of the smallest secondary schools in Offaly – they have just 160 boys and 130 girls enrolled – and almost every school they compete against is considerably bigger.

That shows the enormity of their achievement. Many of those boys students were too young and a significant percentage of the ones at the right age would not be interested in playing hurling. About half of Saturday's team will be in the school next year but most of their star players will be gone and Colaiste Naomh Cormac are unlikely to be strong enough to compete in A hurling next year – they are likely to try and stay in B and that will be the right thing next year.

Thirteen of last Saturday's starting team came from the Kilcormac-Killoughey club while Drumcullen provided two in goalkeeper Cillian Spain and forward James Hennessy – another Drumcullen man, Dylan Hollywood came on as a sub. It is great to see Drumcullen have players with All-Ireland medals and this once dominant club is trying so hard to improve hurling in their area.

As you would expect, Kilcormac-Killoughey backboned the side and it is impossible not to get excited about what some of these players can achieve. It is important not to over hype young players, to allow them to develop and it is all to easy to fall into the trap of piling the pressure of expectancy onto them.

Some won't play at the highest level for the county; some will fall away either through emigration, not being quite good enough or not making hurling a big enough priority in their lives. This Colaiste Naomh Cormac team does include some of the finest prospects to play the game in any era in Offaly.

Adam Screeney's name is already gaining national prominence. His performances for Offaly minors last year set pulses racing and he scored 2-13, 2-3 from play last Saturday. His skill levels are comparable with any Offaly hurler at the same age in any era. James Mahon is an outstanding old fashioned type full back; Brecon Kavanagh's reading of the game, ability to do the simple thing very effectively, to be in the right place at the right time suggests that he can go places and Daniel Hand, Leigh Kavanagh, Colin Spain and Alex Kavanagh certainly have the potential to play at a high level.

It has been a great year for these players and many of them also won Offaly Minor and U-20 Hurling Championship medals. Of all clubs, Kilcormac-Killoughey will be very aware of the possiility of outstanding minors not coming through but time will judge the long term excellence of these players and that is a story for another day.

You can make the case that an All-Ireland B title is more valuable to these players and Colaiste Naomh Cormac than a losing final or semi-final in the provincial A grade. There are huge positive spin offs from beating a Cork school in an All-Ireland final, of winning an All-Ireland medal. B colleges hurling is a very high standard once you get into the business end of championships and Colaiste Naomh Cormac have been really dominant at this level.

They have a fantastic, exciting group of young players and it is an absolute pleasure to watch them go about their business. Their skill levels and natural ability is only part of their package. Their work rate and willingness to put in the hard yards, the hard hits, to chase everything down is what truly distinguishes them and hopefully it will inspire young footballers and hurlers in every corner of Offaly.