Players focused on ending Offaly’s title famine, says experienced Daly

MARK DALY is a member of a dwindling club in Offaly.

The Clara man is one of five of the current county panel with a Leinster senior football medal but he hopes to be joined by 25 others with a win against Dublin on Sunday.

Despite Offaly’s reputation as one of the heavyweights in Leinster, that last title was won nine years ago and only two of that year’s panel — keeper Padraig Kelly and midfielder Ciaran McManus — will start the final.

A third, Colm Quinn is injured while Daly and his namesake Cathal were persuaded back onto the panel prior to the semi-final win over Wexford to bring some experience.

Said Daly: “I’m delighted for the younger lads who are just in now. You look at the likes of myself and Cathal Daly who came back to the panel the same night this year and we didn’t see as much success as you would like to think you should have got with the talented footballers we have.

“The ‘97 team was a lot more physical and had been around a lot longer. This is a younger team and more of a footballing team. I’m just delighted to be back involved and playing some part in a Leinster final.”

Up to a few weeks ago, Daly thought his inter-county career was at an end. Living in Dublin, playing for Lucan Sarsfields and with a young child, his schedule was full but, once the call came, he returned willingly.

He could sense the change as soon as he returned to training. The two wins over Westmeath and Kildare had re-energised the panel.

The spell that saw them lose year after year in heartbreaking circumstances has been shattered.

“It’s a mental thing after a while,” Daly explained. “You wonder if you will ever see the light. You just keep trying and hoping that you’ll get a break. This year a bit of luck and the ability of a lot of the lads coming to the fore did it for us. Hopefully that will continue in the same vein on Sunday.”

The most striking aspect of Offaly’s play has been their quick, no nonsense feed into the forward line and the corner-forward pairing of Niall McNamee and Thomas Deehan.

Both are still in their early 20s while other starters like defenders Ger Rafferty and Nigel Grennan are similarly fresh-faced but, as Daly pointed out, wiser than their years.

“Obviously the two corner forwards are scoring points but the team in general is getting a bit more experience. If you look through the team, even those two young lads in the corners, a lot of the young lads have two or three years’ experience.

“There is a general air of confidence but not over-confidence. It’s more an air of nervous excitement about Sunday. After having three matches in Croke Park they want to go up and give a good account of themselves.”

Daly knows the task awaiting them better than most because of his first-hand knowledge of clubmates like Stephen O’Shaughnessy and Paul Casey. He jokes about praying for the “Longford” Dublin rather than the “Laois” Dublin, pointing out that they fully warrant their position as one of the favourites for the All-Ireland.

“Their strength is in the panel. In Offaly, the difference is that any player with anywhere near the talent will get his chance of playing.

“I’m sure in Dublin that there are lads who have gone by the wayside who would have made other county teams, such is the depth of strength they have.”