More than just relegation at stake

CLOCKS go forward at 1am tomorrow morning. Thirteen and a half hours later, championship-esque fare comes early for Offaly and Wexford as they meet in a battle which will have a major say on their hurling for the next couple of years.

With each team showing zero points from their opening four games and facing uphill battles to collect anything from their last two rounds after tomorrow, it is rightly billed as the game of the day for all the wrong reasons. Both Offaly and Wexford managers have decried the current league format where one team goes down as unfair.

However, Faithful legend Johnny Pilkington thinks they are protesting too much about the impact the drop would have on their championship prospects.

“You don’t want to be in Division 2 next year and whoever loses is likely to go down,” acknowledged Pilkington. “There are financial reasons too, big differences between the divisions and the crowds coming in.

“But the other side of it is Wexford and Offaly are really making excuses for themselves. It’s not the end of the world being down in Division 2.

“If you’re not good enough for Division 1 then you’re not good enough. It really shouldn’t reflect on your championship. It’s not a big deal.”

“Kilkenny and Tipperary are a step above everybody else, granted, but all the rest of them are fair game.”

Former Wexford star David O’Connor is of the same mind that the teams are giving out too much to the extent that he feels they “can’t use the excuse of focusing on one competition and not the other.

“League form generally transfers to the championship. You saw that with Cork — they reached a league final and went on to beat Tipp and got to a Munster final and All-Ireland semi-final.

“There’s always a bit of experimentation but they want to perform in the league.”

O’Connor, who retired after the 2009 All-Ireland championship, reckons demotion to Division 2 will have a delayed reaction on the team that goes down next month.

“For this year’s championship, it will be a confidence issue this year as both teams will have both benefited from Division 1 hurling,” he said.

“Next year — that’s the worry. It’ll be a tough blow to take. No one can dispute the gulf between Division 1 and Division 2. You’ll learn more about yourselves playing the better teams.”

Akin to Offaly manager Joe Dooley’s point of view, O’Connor can’t understand why only one team goes up and down from the Division 1 and 2 as opposed to football where the exchange is two for two.

Like his fellow Birr club man Daithi Regan, Pilkington would prefer to see Offaly stage their home games in the town as opposed to Tullamore.

However, he is encouraged by the talent in the current senior set-up even if they are small in number.

“Lads like Shane Dooley, David Kenny and Joe Bergin are coming into the right age,” he said. ”We don’t have an abundance of minors or U21s but there are good hurlers there. There are signs there could be a run in the championship.”

As for Wexford, former star defender Liam Dunne reckons they have their best team out for tomorrow’s clash (they simply have to). But Pilkington suggests they are cursed by their Leinster draw.

“If Wexford win through to the semi-final they have to face Kilkenny and they’re unfortunate in that regard because a game against Limerick, Clare or Waterford in Munster and they would fancy their chances.”