Offaly fans handed summer joy by senior hurlers and footballers
Cahill’s scoring exploits crucial as Offaly make quarter-finals
WITH the sun shining and Summer finally arriving, the mood of Offaly GAA supporters was enhanced further with two excellent, heart warming wins by the county senior footballers and hurlers last weekend.
The footballers had a great 3-22 to 1-20 win over Tailteann Cup favourites Down in round 2A and the really big news came from the senior hurlers who have qualified for the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship quarter-finals. They clicked into top gear in the second half to demolish already relegated Kildare by 1-25 to 0-15.
Offaly would have won anyway but a red card for Kildare midfielder Cathal McCabe a couple of minutes into the second half made life very easy for them as they pulled out of sight.
There was a great old time Offaly atmosphere at this game with thousands of supporters making the journey to Newbridge. Offaly fans made up the overwhelming majority of the 5,000 crowd and as victory became inevitable, their attention focused on the clash between Dublin and Kilkenny in Parnell Park.
Offaly needed Dublin to win for them to qualify and the buzz from the crowd would have told the players that this was emerging. Dublin duly won, leaving a shell-shocked Kilkenny out of the championship and Offaly are in an All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship quarter-final, facing the beaten Munster finalists, Cork or Limerick on the weekend of June 20-21.
It represents a year of phenomenal growth for Offaly, who may have needed a favour but qualify very much on merit after draws with Dublin and Kilkenny and wins over Wexford and Kildare. While they will be complete underdogs in the All-Ireland quarter-final, this game will be a huge experience for them, another big step in their learning curve and emergence.
Once again, Eoghan Cahill had a magnificent game for Offaly on Sunday and his form has been instrumental in their recent well-being. One of Offaly's most experienced players, he only got into the starting team because of an injury to Adam Screeney for the Kilkenny game and he has grasped his chance with both hands. He scored thirteen points against Kildare, four from play. He got 0-15 v Kilkenny with 0-2 from play and 1-12 against Wexford with 0-4 from play.
That is 1-40 in three games and that is phenomenal scoring by any standards. Cahill actually started his county career in goals for Offaly in 2018 and remained the net minder until 2020 when he moved out the field moved into the attack. He had been playing in attack for Birr all the time and has always been a prolific scorer.
He has regularly hit double digits for Offaly but had become more of a fringe player in the past season plus as an outstanding young generation emerged. It looked like his game time could become increasingly limited but Screeney's injury opened the door and he has raced through it. His form has been breathtaking and a big factor has been a greatly enhanced work rate. Cahill has always been a beautifully skilful, natural hurler but it is now being accompanied by a great work ethic as he chases defenders back and works hard to over turn ball.
He has done this to great effect in recent games, leading to goals and other scores and Cahill's re-emergence as a scoring machine and starter is a great bonus. After the Kilkenny game, it was decided to leave him on frees when Screeney returned and his misses have been so rare that they come as a surprise.
His form has been a real bonus as Offaly have exceeded expectations this season. They played against the breeze in the first half on Sunday, leading by three points at half time and manager Johnny Kelly revealed afterwards that they opted to do this after winning the toss.
He agreed that it was a very mature performance by Offaly, pointing out that it was a warm day, the Offaly players aren't used to that and it took them a while to settle into it. The Portumna man stated that the sending off took the wind out of Kildare sails but felt they handled the extra man well. “That is something we haven't always done well in the past,” he reflected.
Kelly tried not to focus on what was happening in Parnell Park, stating that it was “out of our control”. He did get word that Dublin were up at half time and then word started to filter in from the crowd near the end that Kilkenny were in bother.
“We are just delighted ourselves to be in an All-Ireland quarter-final in four weeks time and we will give it one hell of a rattle, he said.
He is also happy that they now have a decent break. “Three games in three weeks is a huge ask for a young team. We need it. We really did well today in trying conditions. Kildare put it up to us but obviously they were out of the championship so we will take it and we are delighted to be still in it.”
The hurlers may be galvanising supporters but the footballers also gave a real boost in their win over Tailteann Cup favourites, Down. They have turned a traumatic season almost spectacularly in the Tailteann Cup and now have a break before they play the quarter-finals on 13-14.
Offaly will be happy to have avoided a preliminary quarter-final clash at home to New York in Monday's draw for the next phase. Fermanagh got New York and the winners, if Fermanagh win that, Offaly, Laois and Antrim will have a home quarter-final against the winners of: Leitrim v Wexford, Wicklow v Tipperary, Longford v Down and London v Sligo.