Offaly senior hurling star faces spell out of action after shoulder operation
Flying forward may get back in knockout stages
AN Offaly senior hurling star will miss several weeks of club action after getting a shoulder operation.
Forward ace, Adam Screeney got his operation this week and it is uncertain when he will be back in action for Kilcormac-Killoughey in the Senior Hurling Championship.
The most exciting of a golden generation of Offaly hurlers, Screeney was in sensational form as Offaly won the All-Ireland U20 Hurling Championship in 2024. His breathtaking skill and audacious scores earned him early national fame and he has settled in very well to life in county senior hurling.
His absence will be greeted with disappointment in Kilcormac-Killoughey, who are coming to terms with the loss of their other marquee forward, the 2024 and 2025 senior hurler of the year, Charlie Mitchell. Mitchell is recovering from a heart procedure after being hospitalised after Offaly's Leinster Senior Hurling Championship draw with Kilkenny – his hurling future has not become clear yet but at the moment, it has to be presumed that it could be over for the brilliant attacker.
K-K have a depth in strength that none of their contenders possess but the loss of two forwards of this calibre will test their resources to the maximum in the group stages and on. It is possible that Screeney will return for the concluding stages of the Offaly campaign, assuming K-K make it there, but you can never be sure of anything after an operation.
The flying forward, however, is right to get his injury dealt with early and not play injured through a tough club campaign. A couple of county footballers played with injuries in the club campaign last year, Cathal Flynn and Dylan Hyland. In the case of Hyland, who had a groin related injury, it is likely to have delayed his return to county action in the league, while Flynn's injury is much more problematic.
It is also a shoulder injury but a much trickier one than Screeney's, which is likely to be routine. It is unfortunate that two such unique talents have injuries: in many ways, Screeney and Flynn – along with Cormac Egan in football – are the poster boys for young Offaly hurlers and footballers, great examples of the excellence that can be reached when the work is put in from a young age.
There are growing doubts about Flynn's footballing future as he has to get a second shoulder operation after his first one was unsuccessful. He will have to go abroad for that and it means that the entire 2026 season is a write off for Flynn and hopefully he will be able to get back during 2027.
Time will tell on that but it is crucial for Offaly footballers and hurlers that injuries are quickly dealt with and not put on the longer finger. Screeney has done this but the first dilemma for K-K will be free taking. Screeney has been their free taker in recent years, Charlie Mitchell would have been second choice, another option, Daniel Hand is only on the way back from a broken jaw and it remains to be seen when he can play again.
K-K are favourites to win a historic four in a row but for all their talent, they will suffer without players of the calibre of Screeney and Hand and will be much more vulnerable. The likelihood is that Screeney will make it back later on in the campaign but the squad of players will have to qualify in his absence.
They are drawn in a group with Birr, Coolderry, St Rynagh's and Kinnitty and with three progressing, they should be well able to get out of that but it is not written in stone and there will be an anxiety in K-K that would not have been there with a full strength team available.