Offaly on the march: 'It is moving in the right direction, the county is making progress'

Leo O'Connor on his move to Offaly and the state of hurling in the county.

Offaly's Adam Screeney with Bobby Murphy of Laois

First things first, how does a former Limerick hurler come to lead an Offaly minor team to within an hour of the county’s first All-Ireland final appearance at this level in 33 years?

“It was Declan Loughnane, back in late 2018, who approached me initially,” Faithful boss Leo O’Connor begins, “I had taken the Sligo hurlers for a couple of sessions in the years before that when Declan was manager up there.” The pair had first got to know each other during O’Connor’s time as Mayo hurling coach in 2014, challenge games routinely organised between O’Connor’s Mayo and Loughnane’s neighbouring Sligo.