Minor champions will not have won provincial title

FOR the first time, the All-Ireland MFC title will be won by a county which failed to win the provincial decider.

Offaly and Down are first into the fray today when they clash in Navan. Offaly shocked Munster champions Cork in their quarter-final, while Down upset Connacht champions Galway.

This will be Down’s fifth championship outing, a statistic coach Mark Turley considers advantageous.

“In past years a county would have the All-Ireland won after four matches. I felt we had a very good squad of players available this year and, thankfully, they have taken us this far after losing the Ulster final to Armagh,” he said.

“We knocked out the champions Tyrone in the first round by a point, had two very hard games against Cavan and another close encounter with Galway so we are a well seasoned team.”

Offaly boss Phil O’Reilly wants a good start against the Mourne county.

“This season we found ourselves a couple of scores down early in all our games but it made the lads work that bit harder for the victories,” he said.

“By all accounts Down are the team to beat now. They leave nothing to chance and are going to be very difficult opponents.

“We’ll need every going right for us on the day. If it does, we will be in with a reasonable shout.”

Kerry and Mayo have the advantage of playing tomorrow’s semi-final in Croke Park, something that pleases Kerry coach Sean Geaney. “We’ve only three of last year’s team beaten in the final by Tyrone, so it’s important that the players get into Croke Park to sample the atmosphere. It can be a very intimidating place for young players,” said Geaney.

“We’ve already played Mayo in a challenge game shortly before the quarter-finals and they were impressive. They are a very big physical team.

“Thankfully, we did improve on our Munster final form against Laois. Unlike against Cork, we got out of the blocks quickly and there was never any chance of us losing.

“If we could produce that form again and about 10% more, I would give our lads a great chance.”

Mayo coach Stephen Rochford agrees that this championship is wide open: “It certainly is a strange championship and shows the benefit of the back-door system. Minors are so unpredictable.

“We lost to Galway by a point in the Connacht final, then went on to beat Ulster champions Armagh, so we are going into the game looking to build on that excellent result.

“Our record against Kerry at minor level hasn’t been very good. I played against them in 1996 and we lost to a team that included Tomás Ó Sé and Noel Kenneally, and they repeated the dose against us in 2003.

“I accept we are up against it, particularly as the game is being played in Croke Park where Kerry will have a lot of support because of their seniors. But there have been so many twists and turns to this championship, there could well be one more.”