That last free was some joke
I wouldnāt be too sure about that.
Kelly is a progressive coach. He has had success anywhere he has went.
Was that the time Cillian Byrne was cutting on from the left near the end? Heās a brother of Cianās and a cousin of Darragh Carley who played wing-back tonight. Good breeding there. Related to PJ Carley from the 2004 Leinster winning team.
Late hit on Offaly player. He blew it up once free was hit anyway
Donāt think Offaly will be able for Corkās athletic power in the final but will probably give a good account of themselves.
Offaly never feared Cork
Thereāll always be a place for a good hurler if he has a brain and is willing to work.
Screeney, especially in Offaly, should make it if he has the right attitude.
He may get bullied once or twice initially but you learn from that.
Offaly actually came through the equivalent of the Joe McDonagh (kind of) at U20 to win this. Savage achievement
The truth
His wrists
Offaly are back back back
The fact that OāConnor has brought this group back to win a provincial title at 20s after the manner of their AI loss at minor less than a year ago deserves huge credit, that could have done serious psychological damage long term but they did some job to get them back.
I think Cork have a lot of players up to the age. Quite a lot of Offalys minors from last year played tonight. Lads like Cunningham, O Connor, Downey (If hes back) and several others would over match a lot of these Offaly lads. As someone said above I think theyll be doing well to keep it to 10 points. But a Leinster title is a huge feather in their cap nonetheless.
Kilcormac winning a Leinster Club will be the next step on the Offaly renaissance journey.
Compelling game & disappointing to lose it. Think Wexford only led once all game at 9-8 & then conceded 3 in a row to go in 11-9 down. Got level umpteen times but never pushed on & got the next score. If you were being very critical, youād question the nous & composure at different stages but theyāre still relatively young so leave them off. You couldnāt begrudge the Offaly team the win though, that was fair going to score the last few points with 14 men.
I thought the ref was fine myself. I think we were awarded more frees overall but Offaly tackled aggressively. They were over-zealous &/or loose with the hurl on occasion (like the #14 picking up 2 yellow cards) so I think that explained the free count. Iād only quibble with one or two calls coming down the stretch in the last 10-15 minutes but not an issue. A little more interplay to work the best position/player to take the final shot & a few poor options were the deciding factors.
Weāll hopefully get a sprinkling of seniors from this squad though & weāll need it given the age profile of the senior team.
Thatās a formality youād feel. They have some amount of hurlers coming through, all serious stick men.
Some achievement to win an U20 title with so many key protagonists who are only turning 18 this year. Scalped Galway, Dublin and Wexford too.
Dr. Cullen was an ideal location for the final. Just the perfect size. Like Nowlan Park for last years minor final.
Very magnanimous & fair post.