THE MAN BEHIND THE WIRE: Schools' success a big help to Offaly football as realism begins to return

AS a dose of realism sets in at senior inter-county level with Offaly struggling at higher levels in the National Hurling and Football Leagues, underage affairs and colleges games continue to provide green shoots of optimism about the future in the county.

The National Football and Hurling Leagues have been a sobering experience so far. The footballers have struggled in Division 2, shipping heavy beatings from Clare and Derry and only scoring a combined total of 13 points in the process. In modern football, you would need that along with a goal or two to win one game and Offaly are already prime candidates for relegation – though there are plenty of escape chutes still ahead of them..

Supporters need to be patient with the team, however, and realistic about what can be achieved. Offaly really got promotion by default last year – the league was split because of Covid-19 delays and Offaly ended up in Division 3 South with Limerick, Tipperary and Wicklow. They did very well to win their three games and in the not too distant past, they would not have done that. They performed very well when beating Fermanagh in the Division 3 semi-final, winning promotion and getting to Division 2 was a huge achievement.

Division 3 south did look weaker on paper than the north group, closer to a Division 4 league in some ways, but it was still great to get up and see how they get on up there. It represented definite progress but the early indications are that Offaly are a little bit out of their depth at the higher level.

The results so far have certainly been a wake up call. It is a transitional period for Offaly football. They are down five of their most experinced players – Eoin Rigney and Cian Farrell have had cruciate operations, Peter Cunningham is in Syria on Army duty, Eoin Carroll has taken a year out to travel Australia and Shane Horan has opted out.

Offaly have a lot of young talent coming up. Last year's spectacular success in the All-Ireland U-20 Football Championship set the county ablaze and has heightened expectations. Most of that squad have been called into the senior setup by John Maughan. Lee Pearson has started the two games in the defence so far and has been one of Offaly's better players. The Edenderry man has shown already that he is at home at senior inter-county level.

Jack Bryant has been named to start both games but has only come on as a sub. The Shamrocks man is playing Sigerson Cup with Dublin City University – Bryant, Bill Carroll (Cappincur) and Daingean's Shane Tierney all started in DCU's quarter-final win over Ulster University last week, though they were all taken off.

Bryant's performances for Offaly U-20s last year were simply breathtaking. The goals and points he scored, the skill he showed and the leadership he displayed proved how special of a talent he is. Bryant will be a senior inter-county player and management are probably protecting him at the moment because of his busy schedule – Bill Carroll has started the two league games but he is older than Bryant and that makes a big difference while Tierney is not on the panel.

It is great to see three Offaly players starting for a team with the quality of DCU in the Sigerson Cup. For years, Offaly footballers and hurlers struggled to make their Sigerson and Fitzgibbon Cup teams in college. Now they are and that is another very welcome sign of progress.

Other Offaly players have also played Sigerson Cup last year and the fact that they are now making teams is a very good sign. It is certainly unusual to have so many involved in the final stages and while you can't over play it, this is one of the biggest signs of progress with Offaly football – players from the county now look at home in the company of some of the best from other counties.

Yet senior level remains a big step up at the moment and Division 2 is a good standard of football. Other U-20s have been on the panel. Cormac Egan has come on in the two league games while Morgan Tynan and Kieran Dolan are also there – others are on the extended panel.

It is important not to be hard on young players, or indeed the Offaly team as a whole. If Division 2 is too high a step for them at the moment, so be it but it would be nice to see Offaly more competitive, fighting harder in the second half than they did in both their defeats.

The time of year is not great for the younger players. Take Cormac Egan as an example. The Tullamore man was sensational for the U-20s last year, creating a wave of excitement every time he got the ball as he raced forward at defenders. He has got nearly an hour's football in the two games so far but has struggled to get on the ball – maybe his runs have not been quite right but he is recovering from a bad hamstring injury, it is very new territory for him and he will be at his best on a dry sod in the summer. You can't judge him and other young players at the moment and they need time, while the experience they are now getting will serve them well in their careers.

There are further grounds for hope for Offaly football. Colaiste Choilm, Tullamore did very well to reach the Leinster Colleges senior “A” semi-final this year. They were well beaten by Naas CBS there but the final score line did not reflect how competitive they were for much of the year.

Senior colleges football is a very high level and for too many years, Offaly schools didn't compete here. St Mary's in Edenderry did have a great run, winning a historic All-Ireland title in 2012, while they were beaten in the 2009 final but a good few of those teams came from across the county boundary in Kildare.

St Mary's had a decent team this year and were not far off qualifying out of their group. Other Offaly players have featured on very good colleges side in Moate CS and St Joseph's of Rochfortbridge over the years.

Colaiste Choilm made the leap into “A” after winning the Leinster “B” title in 2021. A male only school, picking from a large area of some very passionate football clubs, Colaiste Choilm need to be at this level and it was refreshing to see them so competitive this year. It is also great to have outside help coming into help teachers – Tullamore manager Niall Stack was over the 2021 team, his fellow club man Mark Plunkett took over this year and is likely to stay at the helm for another season.

Colaiste Choilm has generally competed in B grades and this was their first run at the top flight since the early 1990s. The aim for the school is to compete at A in all football grades – there may be years when they won't be competitive but it is where they should be and there is already excitement about the prospects of a young emerging team in the school.

Last week, Tullamore College had their day in the sun. They gave an outstanding performance as they hammered Colaiste Abbain of Adamstown in the Leinster Colleges Senior Football “D” final in Carlow. The 5-20 to 0-2 final score does raise legitimate questions about the standard of this level and whether Tullamore College should have been in a higher grade.

Maybe they should but Tullamore College entered this competition in good faith. They had competed in the D division for the last five years at U-14 and 16 level and never got out of their group. They fielded an exceptionally young team at senior level this year – only five sixth years started in the final and they played nine third years who played very little schools football in 2021 and only a small bit in 2020 because of Covid.

Tullamore College is blessed with passionate football teachers in their school. Edenderry and former Offaly footballer, Richie Dalton and former Offaly minor football manager, Keith Begley were over this team and they made their grading decision based on past performances.

In football terms, Tullamore College can't be compared to Colaiste Choilm. Tullamore College now has an excellent reputation but their male numbers are much smaller. The balance is close to 50/50 between males and females in the school with 300 boys in total. Out of this, a large percentage don't play football – some are non nationals and from different backgrounds or just not interested in playing GAA. From first to sixth year, Tullamore College has just sixty male club footballers.

The final scoreline also has to be placed in perspective. Tullamore Colleges came out of a tough Leinster Colleges north division and only beat Colaiste na Mi in the divisional final, after being level with ten minutes left. Tullamore College came up against bigger mixed schools in this division while the South Leinster featured schools whose first priority is hurling and there was clearly a big gap in standards between the two.

Success has been rare for Tullamore College over the years. Their last success was a north Leinster “C” title in 2015 with a team that included five Offaly minors but were well beaten by a strong Rathangan side in the semi-final. Before that they won a Leinster Vocational Schools title in 20210 and their previous success was a Leinster VS win in 2002.

The Tullamore College team featured a host of players from junior and intermediate clubs as well as Tullamore and Rhode, and this win will do them a huge amount of good. They played some excellent football on the day and any Leinster success is to be welcomed with open arms.

Schools are so important for Offaly GAA and competing at the highest level is a sign of health – Westmeath regularly have five schools competing in A football: Moate CS, St Joseph's Rochfordbridge, Marist Athlone, Mullingar CBS and Athlone Community College have all competed there.

In Offaly, Gallen Community School in Ferbane had some great success a few years ago and they are always working hard. Ard Scoil Chiarain in Clara had fantastic teams in the 1990s, mopping up Leinster and All-Ireland VS titles but they have not featured for a good while. There aren't a huge amount of secondary schools in Offaly and some are very much hurling ones – St Brendan's Community School in Birr are in the Leinster Colleges senior “B” hurling final and they have a really good young team. St Brendan's have played a hugely important part in the development of Offaly hurling, as have schools in Banagher but that is a story for another day.

Tullamore College's experience this year does show the benefits from competing at the highest level possible. The above statistics explain very well why they were in “D”, even if the results prove they were too strong for it and sometimes there is a case for taking a chance and seeing what happens.

Colaiste Choilm probably should have went into “A” before they did. The team that reached the semi-final this year was a good, very honest side but the one that won the “B”in 2020 was even better – Jack Bryant, Cormac Egan, John Furlong and Oisin Keenan-Martin came off that and were outstanding as Offaly won the All-Ireland U-20 last year. Cathal Ryan was a sub and Luke Egan would have been on the U-20 panel only for opting for hurling – Sean Courtney played U-20 for Offaly in 2020 and was injured in 2021. We will never know but this team very possibly could have been good enough to win A.

Colaiste Naomh Cormac in Kilcormac have done very well in the Leinster Colleges senior “C” hurling this year but with a number of Offaly minors in their ranks and Kilcormac-Killoughey's success at underage level in recent years, you would imagine they could challenge in “B”.

Schools make these decisions with genuine intentions while Leinster Council also have a role to play with gradings.. They want to compete and if a team is out of their depth at a higher grade, that is damaging to young players. A Leinster title at a lower grade is better than maulings at a higher one but in the above mentioned examples, that probably wouldn't have happened.

The schools and teachers deserve huge credit for the role they do in promoting gaelic games. It is very important for the county and the young players in school and a success at this level could light the fire in a young fellow who might become a senior superstar – some of last week's Tullamore College team may go on to play at a high level.

Across the board, however, Offaly GAA is raising the bar and the schools can feed into this. Take a risk and try and play at the highest level possible for a while anyway – of course with schools, it is very different and just because you have a good team this year in a grade, it doesn't mean that next year's one will be at the races so each year and grade does have to be assessed on a case by case basis.