Return to top tier would cap Kiely's second coming

A week after the county U-20s made their All-Ireland breakthrough, a Joe McDonagh win would be the cherry on top for Offaly.

Joe McDonagh Cup finalist Offaly's Cillian Kiely during a Joe McDonagh, Christy Ring, Nicky Rackard, Lory Meagher Cup Final media day at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

After being beaten by Down on penalties in the Christy Ring Cup semi-final of 2020, Cillian Kiely figured that he'd had enough.

The result and the team's low form played a part in his decision to quit but there were other factors too.

He'd been five years on the senior panel at that stage and between college in Waterford and an apprenticeship in Tipperary, it was the guts of a two-hour commute to training most evenings.

"It was a quarter to one a couple of nights a week before I was getting home to bed," he recalled.

The big centre-back from Kilcormac-Killoughey was struggling with a couple of injuries too.

"Also, myself and Claire had our first child in the middle of it all too," he explained. "Hurling really was parked a small bit."

And that was fine with Kiely. Until he started to mull over what then Offaly manager Michael Fennelly said to him when he was leaving.

"He said to me that hurling was such a big part of my life, 'You might never hurl for Offaly again'," recalled Kiely. "Walking away that day, I knew that maybe he was right.

"It was probably two days before that really kicked in. At the time, when Michael did say it, I didn't pay much heed on it. But hearing it from a player of his calibre and experience, two days later it kicked in that, you know, 'Maybe I have made a bad decision here but I may run with it now'."

It turned out that there was a second coming for Kiely but only after two seasons out, the 2021 campaign which ended in Offaly winning the Ring Cup and the 2022 season when they missed out narrowly on a McDonagh Cup final place.

When Johnny Kelly invited him back for 2023, it was the call he was waiting for.

"I never made any phone calls begging to go back in or whatever," he said. "The way I looked at it, when I got my home scenario right, that would be time. And I was performing well, I was doing my talking on the field. I left it up to themselves, the management. I never asked to go back up, it was always up to the manager. But I was available and when the time came, it didn't take me long to answer."

Kiely ended up being Offaly's Hurler of the Year in 2023 and his powerful display in the league draw with Wexford last February again underlined his value to the team. Now 28, he has time on his side to make his mark at the top level of the game.

Which is where today's McDonagh Cup final against Laois comes in. They need to win it to get back into the Leinster championship where they last competed in 2018. Laois beat Offaly in the round robin but Offaly are narrow favourites this time, partly due to the 15 goals they've registered in the four games since.

A week after the county U-20s made their All-Ireland breakthrough, a McDonagh win would be the cherry on top.

Adam Screeney, Cathal King, Donal Shirley and Dan Bourke, all from that U-20 team, have been picked to start for the seniors.

"They're good lads, really hard working players, they want to play every single match going which is great," said Kiely.

Cork, meanwhile, will wait and watch. They will play whoever wins the McDonagh Cup final in an All-Ireland preliminary quarter-final next Saturday, in Tullamore or Portlaoise. Wexford will face the defeated McDonagh Cup final team.