Offaly's 'magician' Adam Screeney now the star attraction

The talented corner forward remembers what it was like to be the youngster rushing out to greet your heroes.

NEXT BIG THING: Offaly's Adam Screeney will aim to make an impression in an All-Ireland decider this weekend.

When they time them correctly and don’t burst through the sidelines too early, an Offaly U-20 pitch invasion is a pretty predictable thing. Hordes of young children lead the way, and in the vast, vast majority of cases, they look for the distinctive green helmet of Adam Screeney.

Because of his slight stature, the corner forward can get lost amongst his adoring fans, but he patiently takes the time to sign everything he can and take as many selfies as possible, because he remembers what it was like to be the youngster rushing out to greet your heroes.

“You can’t blame the kids for running out on the field like what happened in Portlaoise (for the Leinster final), it was just pure excitement and they probably weren’t conscious of the time that was left to play. But when it happened, at the time we weren’t sure of the win, so it was awkward trying to get them off the pitch” he says.

After one more premature interjection, the final whistle sounded to confirm Offaly’s second successive Leinster title at this grade – the first time that happened since Brian Whelahan, John Troy, Johnny Dooley and others picked up medals in 1991 and 1992 – and sure enough, in the closest thing the hurling world has to the David Clifford effect right now, Screeney settled in to let the young supporters have their moment.

“I was one of those kids growing, my Dad brought me to games all over the country. I remember TJ Reid was my hero and running on to him, and I have a hurl of Joe Canning’s that he signed for me as well.

“‘It’s absolutely huge the support we get at the moment. There’s no doubt about it, it definitely helps and gives you a bit of extra energy.

“We don’t mind waiting an hour in that case. I know that there is great excitement there, and somewhere in there are players who will play for Offaly in the future – if I’m lucky I might even get to play alongside some of them!” 

A huge part of his appeal stems from the effortless way he makes incredibly difficult scores look easy, leading to the memorable description used by Brian Tyers on TG4 this year of ' An Draíodóir' -- the magician -- but his role as the talisman in this Offaly side has led to opposition defences targeting him, both in terms of physical attention, and mentally. On both fronts, he understands the importance of not showing weakness.

He missed four frees in the round robin game against Dublin in the U-20 championship but came back to put in two flawless displays from dead balls in the semi-final and final, largely on the back of relentless practicing over a period of four weeks. Less draíocht, more díchill (diligence).

In what was effectively a Joe McDonagh Cup semi-final against Kerry, he come on as a blood sub for a few minutes, and without touching the ball, in that time he drew a yellow card from his marker and won a free, all without backing down.

“It definitely does cross your mind if you miss a shot, but you have to fight that out because if you start handing over frees, the opposition will know that if he gets the ball he’s not confident any more, he’s not going to shoot. You just have to keep it when it’s not going well. One or two are bound to go over the bar, and you just have to make sure that you’ve practiced enough that you trust your technique.

And the other attention that he gets from markers?

“It’s part of the game” he says with a smile.

“When I’m going out I have to not concentrate on what’s going on around me. As I said, I have the easy job, pucking the ball over the bar. It’s the lads out the field, winning the ball and putting the ball into my hand, they’re the ones that have to win it in the middle of the rucks and break tackles and puck it in. I’ve the easy job.

“The rest of it, don’t be worrying about what he’s doing, keep your head in the game”.

A big part of it is his ease and peace with who he is as a hurler.

“I’m never going to be six foot five and going through lads. You have to find your own way, and while everyone in this group works hard in the gym and we know that the senior game will be tougher, opponents will be stronger and faster, you have to learn to adapt and see what way works for you.

“Last winter I marked Mikey Butler when I was playing for Kilcormac-Killoughey against O’Loughlin Gaels, and again in the league when I was playing for Offaly against Kilkenny. He’s an All-Star and an outstanding player, so that’s the type of battle you want to be in”.

Not long ago, Adam Screeney might have ran on to the pitch to get an autograph off a player like that. Now, he’s the one the fans all want.