Brian Duignan: If Kilcormac-Killoughey get a chance to belt us they’ll do it, and vice versa

Duignan's Ballinamere face Kilcormac-Killoughey in the Offaly senior hurling championship final on Sunday.

Brian Duignan in action for Offaly. Pic Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

Brian Duignan’s selection for the Joe McDonagh All-Stars last week was recognition that 2024 represented a coming of age for the Offaly attacker.

First drafted into the county panel for the 2020 campaign, this year saw him take over free-taking duties in Eoghan Cahill’s injury-enforced absence, while a superb solo goal at the start of the final against Laois was also a sign that he’s taken on a lot more responsibility this year.

However when it comes to moments that really tested him, they didn’t come any bigger than Ballinamere’s Offaly SHC semi-final clash with St. Rynagh’s last Sunday week.

Ballinamere, who last reached an Offaly senior final in 1908 and who hadn’t won a knockout championship game since winning intermediate in 2017, were five points in front of the grizzled Banagher outfit early in the game but now trailed by 2-14 to 1-14 with a little over five minutes remaining.

A penalty gave them a chance to level things up.

“I would confess that Dan (Ravenhill) is a better penalty taker, but he was after taking a seriously big hit so there was no chance we were going to put the pressure on him” Duignan recalls.

“It’s not that I don’t want to hit the penalties, I’m happy enough hitting them. When I was setting up I saw Conor Clancy (goalkeeper) going the other way so I said once I hit the right of the goals I am all right. Then, when it went wide I just thought ‘Oh God’”.

“A few of the Rynagh’s lads were letting me know about it as well, which is fair enough, that’s part of the game. But that would fire you up as well, so I thought to myself, there are 10 minutes left and it’s not over so I’m going to try and do something”.

And he did. Ballinamere finished with seven points in a row, including three from Duignan, the first of which was an 80 metre free on the sideline where as he said himself, a few Rynagh’s players reminded him of how difficult it was as he walked over.

But then, none of this is new. Carrying the surname of his All-Star father has always brought with it a certain amount of spotlight and pressure, albeit not in the family home.

“I have always said the same thing when it comes to my name, I actually never really felt the pressure. There was never any pressure put on me at home that we would have to perform.

"When you were playing, you had to be serious about it, but Michael never forced us to want to do it. It was all on us and it felt natural”.

Duignan, alongside fellow Offaly senior hurlers John Murphy, Ross Ravenhill and Ciarán Burke, were all part of that U-20 side and this Sunday, they will try and pull off one of their biggest success stories yet – upsetting a star-studded Kilcormac-Killoughey team that is widely predicted to dominate the Offaly hurling landscape for years to come.

“We would be very close with the Screeneys, Cillian Kiely, Charlie Mitchell and all the other K-K lads as well. That is just the way the bond is in Offaly right now.

"But once you cross the line and you go out in a county final, I can guarantee you that if any of them get a chance to get a belt off us, they’ll do it, and vice versa!

“The Joe Mc award was a nice way to finish off the year, but it would be even nicer to finish off the year winning a county championship with Ballinamere”.