Offaly county hurling team

The Offaly county hurling team represents Offaly in hurling and is governed by Offaly GAA, the County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association. The team competes in the Christy Ring Cup and the National Hurling League.

Offaly's home ground is O'Connor Park, Tullamore. The team's manager is Joachim Kelly.

The team last won the Leinster Senior Championship in 1995, the All-Ireland Senior Championship in 1998 and the National League in 1991.

History

After a scheme developed by the Gaelic Athletic Association in the 1970s to encourage the playing of hurling in non-traditional counties, Offaly was one of the first teams to benefit. As a result, the county won six Leinster Senior Hurling Championship titles in the 1980s, as well as its first All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship in 1981.

The county has since gone on to win three other All-Irelands. Perhaps Offaly's most famous win came in the All-Ireland Final of 1994 in what has come to be remembered as the "five minute final." Limerick looked set to win their first All-Ireland title since 1973 until Offaly staged one of the greatest comebacks of all time, scoring two goals and five points in the last five minutes. They defeated Limerick by 3–16 to 2–13.

In the 1998 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship semi-final, Offaly defeated All-Ireland champions Clare in a second replay. Offaly had lost the first replay after referee Jimmy Cooney blew for full-time too early, leading Offaly fans to blockade the pitch in protest.[1]

Offaly conceded a walkover to Kildare in the 2020 Christy Ring Cup after an outbreak of COVID-19 forced "almost every member" of the panel into isolation due to Health Service Executive (HSE) advice that they were "close contacts".[2][3][4] Later in the same competition, in the semi-final, Down knocked Offaly out in a first ever inter-county hurling penalty shootout.[5]

Current squad

Team as per Offaly vs Mayo in the NHL Division 2A, 23 February 2020

No. Player Position Club
1 James Dempsey Goalkeeper Kinnitty
2 Michael Cleary Right Corner Back Shinrone
3 Ben Conneely (c) Full Back St Rynagh's
4 Paddy Rigney Left Corner Back Kinnitty
5 Brian Watkins Right Half Back Birr
6 Cillian Kiely Centre Back Kilcormac–Killoughey
7 Brendan Murphy Left Half Back Birr
8 David King Midfield Coolderry
9 Eoghan Cahill Midfield Birr
10 Leon Fox Right Half Forward Belmont
11 Peter Geraghty Centre Forward Kilcormac–Killoughey
12 Oisin Kelly Left Half Forward Belmont
13 Jason Sampson Right Corner Forward Shinrone
14 Sean Cleary Full Forward Shinrone
15 David Nally Left Corner Forward Belmont
No. Player Position Club
16 Stephen Corcoran Substitute Coolderry
17 Ross Ravinhill Substitute Durrow
18 Brian Duignan Substitute Durrow
19 Aidan Treacy Substitute St Rynagh's
20 Colm Gath Substitute Drumcullen
21 David O'Toole Substitute Shamrocks
22 Cathal Kiely Substitute Kilcormac–Killoughey
23 Dan Doughan Substitute Shinrone
24 Liam Langton Substitute Clodiagh Gaels
25 Thomas Geraghty Substitute Kilcormac–Killoughey
26 Mark Egan Substitute Belmont

Current management team

Honours


U16 arrabawn all Ireland hurling division A shield (2016)

U17 Celtic challenge division 1 shield (2016)

References
  1. "Back to '98: 'I broke my hurl clear off his shoulder before the ball was thrown in'". The42.ie. 8 July 2017.
  2. "Offaly forfeit Christy Ring opener to Kildare due to COVID contacts". Newstalk. 22 October 2020.
  3. "Offaly's Christy Ring Cup tie against Kildare in doubt after positive Covid-19 test in panel". Irish Independent. 21 October 2020.
  4. "Covid-19 case forces Offaly hurlers to forfeit Christy Ring Cup opener". The42.ie. 22 October 2020.
  5. "Great Scenes In Newry As Down Shock Offaly In Christy Ring Semi-Final". Balls.ie. 15 November 2020.
  6. "Oisín Kelly's late score secures Kehoe Cup honours for Offaly". The Irish Times.
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