Offaly manager Leo O'Connor celebrates the oneills.com GAA Hurling All-Ireland U20 Championship final match between Offaly and Tipperary at UPMC Nowlan Park in Kilkenny. Photo by Ray McManus/Sportsfile.
By Kevin Egan
30 years ago, when Offaly last won an All-Ireland title with a Limerick man at the helm, Leo O’Connor was also involved.
On that occasion he was a substitute for his native county when they succumbed to Offaly’s incredible last five minute comeback, and when the scar tissue from Paddy McCormack’s goal in the 2022 minor final between Tipperary and Offaly was added in, it’s no surprise that O’Connor was very wary as he watched the Premier County chip away at Offaly’s commanding lead during the final quarter of last night’s oneills.com U-20 All-Ireland final.
“Sure you’re always worried” was his take on that tense final ten minutes in front of a packed house at Nowlan Park.
“We’ve bad memories of 2022 down here. We let it slip and we know we did. It was very hard tonight to get word onto the field with 10 minutes to go. There was a break in play with four or five minutes to go and we were getting it out onto the field: drive on, drive on, drive on. That energy has to come and it has to come from somewhere. It came from within tonight”.
Last year’s All-Ireland final defeat to Cork was different. Sure, Offaly did lead in the first half, but even by half-time, the signs were ominous, and in the second half hour, the Rebels really stamped their authority on things.
Like the minor final of 2022, those lessons were stored and used by the Faithful County in last night’s game.
“You see how they developed tonight over the last 12 months, and they’re not finished yet” O’Connor said.
“There’s 10 of that team, 11 of the team that finished up on the field, underage again next year. There’s no doubt that’s an opportunity. We set our goal at the start of the year that we’d go out and defend our Leinster championship. Now we’ve to come back and defend an All-Ireland championship. That’s the standard”.
“Cork were physically stronger than us, we were as good hurlers as them. But they were physically stronger and gradually wore us down and that’s part and parcel of what happens in the game. And as I said to Michael Duignan two years ago after we were beaten in the All-Ireland minor final, by the time we got to 2025 the most important thing is that these guys are physically strong enough to be able to compete at this level”.
Offaly players celebrating at UPMC Nowlan Park. Photo by Ray McManus/Sportsfile
For many, the challenge is different – it’s getting ready to compete at a much higher level again. If Offaly can follow up this win with another victory against Laois next Saturday in the Joe McDonagh Cup final, they will be back in the 2025 Leinster championship. And for all the glory and adulation that O’Connor, his management team and above all his players will get for this victory, O’Connor is adamant that senior progression is still the name of the game.
“It’s brilliant winning tonight, but really the end product is to get Offaly back into the MacCarthy Cup. You know there’s a massive task ahead next week but one I know the senior team will look forward to and I’ve no doubt they’ll meet the challenge.
“Let this be a mark for where Offaly are judged, going forward. We’re not going to be able bring teams every year that are going to be able develop this, but we’ll always be knocking on the door and that’s my aim. And you’re just getting two or three players the next two or three minor teams, the next two or three under-20 teams, that they’re able step up. Because Offaly have those people and Offaly are more than capable of getting up to a level. I won a Munster U-21 championship with Limerick in 2011 with Declan Hannon. And in 2013, Declan progressed to a senior hurling team. They’ve all worked their way through the lines. Limerick didn’t win an All-Ireland minor. It’s 40 years since we won an All-Ireland minor. And I keep emphasising that people don’t realise, just be patient. There is talent there but you just got to manage it through the lines. And that’s the most important thing”.
