Dooley to contemplate Offaly future

Joe Dooley will take time out to consider his future as Offaly senior hurling manager following their exit from the All-Ireland Championship at the hands of Cork.

Despite their off-the-pitch troubles, Offaly put it up to the Rebels in Saturday's qualifier and a late goal from captain Shane Dooley, Joe's son, brought them back to within a point of the hosts.

But referee Johnny Ryan blew for full-time shortly afterwards, frustrating Dooley who felt that his side could have sealed a draw if more injury-time was allowed.

"How he added only one minute is beyond me. Sure you get a minute for picking your nose these days. Another 20 seconds and we'd probably have got the draw," he said, in the aftermath of the 2-17 to 2-16 defeat.

Dooley recently wrote to Offaly County Board Secretary Martin Bolan to express his annoyance at his panel's treatment at a training session in Tullamore.

Preparing for the first phase qualifier, some of the Offaly players were prevented from training at O'Connor Park, with a groundsman denying them access ahead of their scheduled training time.

Dooley wrote that 'as a result of the way we were received, from gates being locked all over the place, to players and mentors being asked to leave the field, to not being allowed walk across the field, to the threat of cars being removed from outside the ground, we had no choice but to call off training.'

The Offaly County Board responded by saying that they will issue 'a full and frank response to the issues raised' following the completion of the Faithfuls' Liam MacCarthy Cup campaign.

Dooley's grievances with the set-up have come towards the end of his fourth season at the helm. He was reappointed last October after taking time out to mull over his position.

2010 has been his best year to date, with Offaly taking Galway to a replay in the Leinster semi-final and beating Limerick in the All-Ireland qualifiers.

But relegation from Division 1 of the Allianz League this spring and the emergence of those training issues has set them back, albeit with injuries blighting their summer preparations.

Dooley said that they were missing 'eight or ten' first choice players for the trip to Cork, and the early injury-enforced withdrawal of defender Stephen Egan was another setback for them.

However, Offaly showed plenty of heart and skill in keeping in the game right to the final seconds and in doing so, banished memories of heavy losses to Cork in the 2007 and 2009 Championships.

As for Dooley's future in the job, he replied: "It's not for this evening lads. To be honest with you, I didn't even think about it coming down here today because, if I did, I personally wouldn't be in the right frame of mind.

"We highlighted our difficulties in getting into O'Connor Park but that's water under the bridge now. If I'm going to do it (continue) I'll do it for the right reasons.

"It's hard going. There were 100 sessions this year and that's only the tip of the iceberg, with all the things outside that, as any county manager will tell you.

"You can do it right or you can do it for the sake of doing it. It's a huge job, but we'll think about that over the next couple of days - it's not for this evening, it wouldn't be fair to the players or anybody else."