Lure of the US growing worry for managers

The anger in Tommy Byrne’s voice is thinly masked.

This should have been a good week for Offaly, one pregnant with optimism for both county teams, the footballers having given a good account of themselves against Kildare last weekend and then the hosting of a Henry Shefflin-less Kilkenny in Tullamore tomorrow.

Instead, he is coming to terms with news that two of Emmet McDonnell’s footballers — Brian Connor and John Moloney — are upping sticks and heading to the USA for the summer three weeks before the qualifiers.