Offaly Senior Football teams profiled ahead of start of championship

DURROW

Manager – Shane Kelly;

Selectors – Damien Spollen and Simon Byrne;

Captain – Oisin Cusack;

Retirements/Long term injuries – None;

New players – None;

Last year – Beaten by Edenderry in the quarter-final;

Star player – Ciaran Burke;

Key players –Kevin McDermott, Dan Bourke, Ross Ravenhill;

Prospects – Durrow have earned the right to respect and it would not be a surprise if they sneaked into a semi-final. Hurling is the priority for some of their key players but it looks like their hurlers will commit to football this year. Brian Duignan opted out last year but has confirmed he is playing this year. Durrow's challenge is that some of their best footballers are pivotal to Ballinamere's senior hurling prospects. The format suits them perfectly this year. Ballinamere are in a tricky senior hurling group and Durrow are assured of a quarter-final place. It means they can error on the side of caution with game load and football but football will be a very welcome diversion from hurling, where the pressure is immense. County hurlers such as Ciaran Burke, Dan Bourke and Ross Ravenhill are all excellent footballers, and Ciaran Burke and Dan Bourke could certainly play county football if hurling wasn't their choice. Kevin McDermott will have benefitted greatlty from being on the Offaly senior football panel this year. They were very close to Edenderry in last year's quarter-final and are capable of taking a big scalp. They probably don't have the overall strength to win a title but they can give bother to most teams on any given date.