Time for sleeping giants to reawaken
Offaly and Wexford is the headline game of this weekend’s Leinster senior hurling championship.
It wasn’t long ago this pair were up with the very best, contesting and winning All-Ireland titles, serving up some great games. What’s gone wrong since? Where are all the youngsters who should have been inspired to follow in the footsteps of their heroes, like the Dooleys, Whelahans and Pilkingtons in Offaly or Wexford legends like the O’Connors, Larry O’Gorman, Damian Fitzhenry, Storey and Dunne?
Someone needs to take responsibility for hurling in both those counties and return it to the glory days. And don’t give me the argument about being a small county, about numbers. Look what Kilkenny have achieved. Rory Jacob, Eoin Quigley, Diarmuid Lyng, Rory Hanniffy, Kevin Brady, Brian Carroll are all good individual players and yet all are playing second division hurling. That has to change.
Both teams are now being managed by two outstanding former players. I don’t know if Wexford would have won their 1996 All-Ireland without Liam Dunne, but I do know Clare wouldn’t have won in 1995 and 1997 without Ollie Baker. He had a massive influence on that team, a huge presence in midfield, an outstanding big-day performer and proved that time and again with the scores he landed at crucial times. He was a tower of strength, the engine of that team, and every day he put on that jersey he gave it everything he had. If he can do the same thing with this Offaly team, he’ll have done as big a job as he ever did in his playing days with Clare.
Can Liam Dunne do the same thing for Wexford? I think he can, and he has started on the right road, going for a new-look team and has not been afraid to give youth a chance. If he can put the kind of steel into this side that he was famed for, then Wexford too will be on the way back.
I expect a good game in Tullamore and let’s hope Offaly and Wexford can build on what we saw in Thurles last Sunday. Offaly are a nicely balanced side with Rory Hanniffy at centre-back, Kevin Brady in midfield, along with Joe Bergin, Brian Carroll, Shane Dooley, Cathal Parlon and Brendan Murphy.
Look at Wexford, young Matthew O’Hanlon at centre-back and the experience of Keith Rossiter behind him, Diarmuid Gizzie Lyng in midfield we all know about, a huge boost for Wexford to have him back, then up front, the quality of the experienced Eoin Quigley and Rory Jacob, and that exciting young prospect Jack Guiney.
He’s a teenager but built in typical Wexford fashion, a big strapping man. The famous Wexford team of the 50s were huge men. Maybe Liam is going down that road again as Gary Sinnott and PJ Nolan are built along similar lines.
A winner? Offaly have been very unlucky in the Leinster championship for a few years and should have beaten Dublin last year. Wexford will come out fighting but I think it’s Offaly’s turn.
Regarding the remaining fixtures, the vote goes to Dublin and Galway to progress. If Dublin can’t get over Laois with ease, they have no business going up against Kilkenny in three weeks. A question though — what’s the problem in Laois, why are some of their top players not bothering to play? That’s a shame, and a shame on the players themselves.
And what of Galway and Westmeath in Mullingar tomorrow? Galway are the opposite to Offaly and Wexford; they’ve won so much at underage, everything appearing to be in order, so what’s the problem at senior level, what happens to all those promising players? Do they get too used to the good life with their All-Ireland medal in the pocket so early? I fancy Galway to win here, and fairly comfortably at that; if they don’t, then as with Dublin they too have no business thinking of challenging the likes of Kilkenny later in the year.
