The support they get is massive. Strange that the senior hurlers can barely muster 20% of it.
Wexford would be a county that could be comparable enough to Offaly given that they were usually at the one level from about 1980-2013. When they won the Leinster title in 2019 they had a mix of 2/3 underage teams. The Liam Dunne minor crop of 2008 who took Kilkenny to a replay in a Leinster final (Matt O’ Hanlon, Mark Fanning, Paul Morris, Shaun Murphy, Dee O’ Keefe), the 2013 U21 Leinster winners like Lee Chin, 2014 winner Aidan Nolan and then the plethora of lads born in 94/95 who reached the All-Ireland U21 finals in 2014 and 15’ (Jack O’ Connor, Conor McDonald, Liam Ryan, Kevin Foley, Paudie Foley, Simon Donohoe). The decent minor team of 2016 backboned by Rory O’ Connor and Damien Reck proved important too as that pair became pillars at senior level and the likes of Conor Hearne and Mikey Dwyer have since filtered through from that age group.
To my eye Offaly are missing that older generation to supplement Screeney, Ravenhill, Rigney, Kavanagh et all. They did reach a Leinster U21 final in 2016 with the likes of Oisin Kelly in the side but they just happened to be on the weak side of the draw on that occasion. I’d be optimistic that they can be more than a yo-yo team at senior though. They may not be winning Leinster’s but if they were regularly competing for 3rd spot then it would be a great fillip for the Leinster championship.
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Biff cunts love a bangwagon!
I was at an underage yoke earlier in the year. Can’t remember the exact details but Offaly have somewhere around 120 boys registered for u13 football this year. Wexford have about 4-5 times that. I don’t think the counties are comparable really. Offaly overachieved massively in the 80s and 90s and maybe have reverted to type. Wexford should be more competitive with the numbers they have.
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We’ll do Tipp here.
Tipp Cork on TG4 now
Lovely score from Healy.
Twas a serious puck out on him. Pinpoint
O’Donoghue has it.
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Tipp lad flopped there
Soft enough free?
Impressive
Foley flying. Very good for Nenagh in the Harty
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English will make way soon
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Quite open so far, decent pace.
10 there for Tipp is a pure donkey
Cork keeper is good.
Leinster is where it’s at for u20s. It’s box office. 250 there at the GG?
Sad to see so little interest in Munster
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Hugh has a good paw
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