Offaly seek U20 final postponement over senior star Mitchell

Offaly have requested a postponement of the All-Ireland U-20 final and are awaiting an official response.

Offaly’s Charlie Mitchell lifts the Leisnter U20 trophy

Offaly U-20 manager Leo O'Connor says it would be 'absolutely impossible' for rising star Charlie Mitchell to play in two huge Croke Park finals in a row on Saturday week.

Mitchell has captained O'Connor's U-20s to the All-Ireland final against Cork, a tie that was scheduled to be played before the Offaly v Carlow Joe McDonagh Cup senior decider at GAA headquarters.

Kilcormac-Killoughey attacker Mitchell is also a regular with the Faithful's senior team and, in the normal course of events, would be in line to start for them too.

As a result, Offaly have requested a postponement of the U-20 final and are awaiting an official response.

Asked if Mitchell could possibly compete in both games on the same afternoon, O'Connor said: "I think it's absolutely impossible."

And reflecting on last night's dramatic 1-21 to 0-22 Leinster final win over Wexford in front of a capacity crowd in Carlow, O'Connor called on the GAA to realise just how important the U-20 grade is.

"With all due respects, you had a sellout crowd and if the GAA don't recognise that, if the headquarters don't recognise that, then we have a major problem within the GAA because, let's be honest about it, what they did, both teams, they're ambassadors for their county and you cannot deny a young fella to play in a McDonagh Cup final," he said.

"Hopefully he might never again get a chance to play in a McDonagh Cup final, that Offaly push on, but the most important thing is that he has to be given the opportunity to play in both."

U-20s Sam Bourke and Joe Hoctor are also on the senior panel though Mitchell is the only regular on both teams.

It remains to be seen what leeway there is for a postponement of the U-20 final as Offaly chase a maiden title. O'Connor, who guided Offaly to last year's All-Ireland minor final, noted that if the U-20 final is pushed back to the following weekend, June 3 or 4, 'there's Tailteann Cup on as well that week so there's fixture clashes all over the place'.

"Then you have Leaving Certs, fellas doing their Leaving Cert as well and college exams," he explained. "Mark Troy did an exam from three o'clock to five o'clock and then came over to the game (on Wednesday). Cathal King did an exam in Waterford and Cormac Egan got an exam postponed above in Dublin so there's a lot of factors that we have to sit down and consider."

On Offaly's quest for a first-ever All-Ireland U-20 hurling title, Limerick man O'Connor said it's an exciting time for a richly talented group, many of whom contested last year's minor decider.

He expects to be boosted by the return of injured duo Shane Rigney and Ben Miller who sat out the two-point win over Wexford.

"There's 10 of that team that are underage again next year so from our point of view, look, it means everything," said O'Connor. "At the end of the day, it's the honesty that's among them, it's the endeavour that's there and the work rate."

Meanwhile, O'Connor agreed with Cork U-20 Ben Cunningham who was critical earlier in the week of the rule which prevented Cork's Eoin Downey and Clare's Adam Hogan from competing in the Munster U-20 final. Both players are involved with their senior teams and couldn't play for the U-20s due to the seven-day eligibility rule.

"I'll be honest with you, I think the rule has been absolutely crazy," said O'Connor. "The further you go on in these competitions, the more it's been exposed and that's the truth of it. But look, these are things that happen, no-one's perfect. It's something that the GAA has got to go back and revisit and look at in the future."