Hungry Offaly aim for their place in the history books

THEY may be underdogs but there is considerable optimism in Offaly that they can record a historic and famous victory when they take on Cork in the All-Ireland U-20 Hurling Championship final next Sunday in Thurles.

Semple Stadium will be a seething mass of humanity with huge interest in this final in both counties while it will be preceded by the All-Ireland minor hurling final between Clare and Galway.

Cork have impressed all observers this year and are favourites. Indeed there is a body of opinion in Munster that they won't be beaten but such talk won't occupy one second of Offaly's preparations, other than it adds another layer of motivation – not that any is needed for an All-Ireland final.

There is a welter of excitement in Offaly about this final and it provides a great opportunity to remedy the one big blemish on the county's record – they have never won an All-Ireland title in the U-20-21 hurling grade. Apart from junior football, Offaly has everything else on its roll of honour and the absence of U-20-21 hurling hurts.

Offaly won three All-Ireland minor hurling titles in 1986, '87 and '89 but those great teams didn't manage to back it up with an U-21 title, suffering devastating defeats in the 1989, 1991 and 1992 All-Ireland finals to Tipperary, Galway and Waterford.

Now a new exciting generation of talent has the opportunity to achieve their place in GAA folklore in Offaly. Their performances this year have both delighted and excited supporters and they will have huge backing in Thurles on Sunday.

Offaly supporters made up the bulk of the 10,000 crowd at the Leinster final win over Wexford in Carlow and an even bigger crowd will travel to the Tipp venue.

This young team has captured the hearts of Offaly GAA supporters. The quality of their play, their pace and their skill level has won them admirers far outside county boundaries but in Offaly, it goes far deeper than this.

Those attributes are fantastic but their work rate, their honesty and hunger, their desire to succeed has created an unbreakable bond between team and supporters. They are providing a terrific example to every other aspiring county player in both hurling and football in Offaly and they are showing that talent alone is not enough, that it must be accompanied by work rate and desire.

Offaly's progress to the All-Ireland final has captured the imagination of people in the county. It has been an amazing three years for Offaly, a sensational turnaround after two decades in the doldrums and despairing about a return to the glory days.

This is Offaly's third All-Ireland final in three years. They won the All-Ireland U-20 football in 2021 and that win really transformed the county. The minor hurlers went agonisingly close last year, pipped at the post by Tipperary in the most gut wrenching of finales and now they are back for another final.

Three years ago, no one could have envisaged this run of success and it has given great hope for the future. A win on Sunday would really add to this sense of confidence and it is very possible. Offaly are far from guaranteed a win but you can be fairly certain that they will turn up and perform. That will give them a fighting chance and anything is possible for them. That is all anyone wants from Offaly players and it is why the supporters have reacted so positively to this team.

Getting to this All-Ireland final is a huge bonus for Offaly. At the start of the year, we knew that it could happen, that they had that ability but it was still a long shot.

Three years ago, Offaly were well beaten by Kilkenny in the Leinster minor hurling final. Getting to that final was important, it was part of the wheel turning for Offaly but that team would not have been good enough to reach an U-20 decider.

The influence of members of last year's All-Ireland minor finalists has rejuvenated the whole squad. It has resulted in a considerable turnover of players in three years. Exciting minors from 2020 such as Lochlann Quinn and Luke Carey are gone, others didn't commit and some didn't make the panel. There was always going to be a turnover with members of the 2022 minors coming through – they were too young to play minor three years ago but are not too young to play U-20 now.

James Mahon, Brecon Kavanagh, Ter Guinan, Conor Doyle, Dan Ravenhill and Adam Screeney all started in the Leinster final win while Shane Rigney would have started only for injury.

Offaly have had to deal with considerable injuries this year and this adds to the sense of achievement. Rigney and full back Ben Miller missed the Leinster final with injury – management are very hopeful that Rigney will be back while a scan will determine Miller's fate but it looks like this game could come too soon for him.

Dan Ravenhill spent most of the campaign on the sidelines but came on as an injury time sub against Galway, a half time sub against Dublin and played the full game against Wexford. Adam Screeney and Brecon Kavanagh missed the Dublin game as a result of head injuries sustained against Galway but were back for the Leinster final while Donal Shirley has been out for the whole campaign and Cillian Martin only returned to the match day panel against Wexford.

It is fair going to win big knockout games when missing key players but Offaly have shown they have that depth in strength. Management will have a dilemma if both Miller and Rigney are fit. Miller had been very solid at full back throughout, doing the simple thing very effectively while Rigney is a class forward with a great burst of pace. Neither would have lost their place only for injury but more than likely, the same fifteen that lined out against Wexford will start the final. James Mahon is also a natural full back and while it would be hard to leave Rigney off if fit, management will be conscious of the need to be able to inject pace into the wide expanses of Semple Stadium.

They opted to start their strongest available team against Wexford with Adam Screeney, Dan Ravenhill and Brecon Kavanagh in for the throw in. This trio are certain to start again. If management opted to start Ben Miller at full back, James Mahon would go to the corner, Brecon Kavanagh to wing back and Ter Guinan could lose out. However, Guinan's fitness is improving and one late interception against Wexford was absolutely crucial and showed his ability – injury also ruled him out of earlier games.

It was telling that Offaly only introduced one sub against Wexford, Clara's Barry Egan. Joe Hoctor was unlucky to lose out for the Leinster final as he had improved throughout the year, leading the attack from centre forward and playing to his maximum. He didn't feature against Wexford as management opted for real fast players but he offers a very good option for Offaly and Shane Rigney's quality is obvious to all.

Offaly have done very well this year. Drawn in tier 2, they didn't set the world on fire but they played as well as they needed to, recording comfortable wins over Westmeath, Meath and Antrim. They had shaky patches against Westmeath and Antrim, when they needed to introduce Charlie Mitchell off the bench to get them firing – the captain had not been selected as he was playing in the Joe McDonagh Cup the following day. They were never in true danger of losing and the second tier allowed Offaly the luxury of preparing for the knockout stages without having to hit full intensity.

From then on, they have upped things considerably. They had no problems beating Kildare in the preliminary quarter-final and then had a season defining win over Galway in the Leinster quarter-final. That was arguably Offaly's biggest win in years. Galway had won the All-Ireland minor three years ago and it was their first against a marquee hurling county in a generation.

Their season took off from there. They had a good win over Dublin in the semi-final and then held off a gallant Wexford in a frantic Leinster final, 1-21 to 0-22.

Cork represent Offaly's greatest challenge. They have been outstanding in Munster, winning all their games. They topped the round robin system with maximum points, beating Waterfoprd 1-17 to 1-13, Tipperary 1-28 to 1-19, Clare 1-24 to 0-22 and Limerick 1-19 to 0-21.

They edged out Clare by 1-23 to 1-21 in a thrilling Munster final and Cork have power, pace and skill. They will ask new questions of Offaly, especially the younger players. There is a chance that Cork will win by a few points but equally, Offaly could have another huge game in them.

This Offaly team has so much going for them. Adam Screeney and Dan Ravenhill are potential match winners up front but it is their collective excellence that has commanded respect.

Many people felt that this would be a year too soon for Offaly with so many of their squad still in secondary school. That could prove to be the case but there is a great opportunity there now. There is no guarantee these players will win another Leinster and get back to this stage again. Those chances don't often crop up and must be grasped when they are there.

It should be a great occasion, a fierce contest played at a fierce pace. You can have faith in this Offaly team, trust them to play well and empty the tank. If Cork are better than them so be it but there could be another rare evening of celebration in Offaly on Sunday and on the bank holiday Monday.