Offaly are ready for Dubs, says McNamee

NIALL McNAMEE insists his Offaly side will have no fear of Dublin in the Leinster SFC Final.

“They were formidable the last day against Laois,” said the Rhode forward who excelled in the semi-final defeat of Wexford. “We definitely won’t fear them but we will give them all the respect they deserve.”

Offaly had to beat Westmeath, Kildare and Wexford just to get this far and McNamee believes that they can only benefit from the games — and the Croke Park experiences.

“We’re getting a bit of momentum. We’ve had three games in Croke Park and I don’t know how long it’s been since Offaly have been able to say that. It’s great. We’re getting back near the top of Leinster where we belong.”

“This is huge,” agreed McNamee. “The last couple of years we’ve been unlucky but you make your own luck too. We were very disappointed not to be progressing further over the last few years. We knew we were a better side than we were showing. We’re not there yet, we’ve one more game to win.”

Manager Kevin Kilmurray has put the turnaround down to the team’s increasing maturity. McNamee and his corner-forward partner Tomas Deehan, who scored 2-11 between them, are both in their early 20s.

McNamee isn’t as quick to point to any one reason for their new-found success but their punishing schedule in simply getting this far may have been one of the catalysts, he believes.

“I’m not too sure. The first game against Westmeath was mentally very tough for everyone. The win there meant lads got a lot more confidence.

“The last few years we’ve been beaten early in the championship and our confidence has been battered and we’ve been trying to start to up it again in the qualifiers. At least now we’ve got good momentum going.”

After their destruction of Wexford, McNamee and Deehan will be Dublin’s first defensive priority in the final although the perception is that the full-back line is one of Dublin’s few areas of potential weakness.

The winners of that particular duel will go a long way to deciding the outcome, but, as Mattie Forde found out at the weekend, a forward is only as good as the ball he is supplied with.

On Sunday, McNamee and Deehan were served ball on a golden platter and their two goals came directly from long accurate ball pumped into the heart of Wexford’s defensive positions.

“Me and Tommo are going grand. Then again, you have to put it down to the guys who are kicking the ball in — Alan (McNamee), Ciaran McManus, all the half backs and half forwards. That’s where all the hard work is done and it’s our job just to put the ball over the bar. Everyone has their own job to do.

“We were attacking them very hard, putting a lot of pressure on their defence. They seemed to be getting a lot more frees than us but when we knocked it long it opened things up a bit more for us.”