Offaly Hurling 2026

[Wing Back]

Having plenty in the tank for the Wexford game will be key as if Wexford get beaten by Dublin then Wexford will be coming with nothing to play for really as they will be safe from relegation and wont be able to make 3rd. For us 3rd is unlikely as the points difference from Sunday will be critical.

Need to get behind the group for the Wexford game regardless of what happens v Kilkenny, as 2 wins and a draw would be a great return.

I had run a few permutation in my head after last weekends results. And yes.....If Wexford lose to Dublin, they would need to beat us and Galway, and hope that Dublin lose to Kilkenny to make 3rd. Whatever about them beating us, but both them beating Galway and Dublin beating KK are probably unlikely outcomes individually, but very unlikely if you need both to happen.

For me the added motivation is not that Wexford may have nothing to play for, but the fact that if we can get a win over Wexford.....It will be our 1st win over a mainstay Leinster team in many, many years. To me that is massive milestone, and one that really shows progress. A side bonus is that it also means that Kildare (unless they pull off the biggest of shocks over KK or Galway)should have nothing to play for only pride in the last game, and we still have a mathematical chance of making 3rd.

While I was not so keen on the draw when it came out, it seems that it might not be the worst order to have our fixtures.

I also just want to note that, While I do see critics, and I won't disagree on the aspects they single out, as for the most part they are legitimate concerns. Being still in the game entering the 64th minute only 4 points down to the team that has hammered KK the last 2 times they played them, was not such a bad place to be on the face of it. And that is with all the mistakes that many have pointed out. We are a young side, and we can see there are lots of things we can improve on and sharpen up....but we stayed in the game which to me was very pleasing, and never threw in the towel or let the game peter out. Missing Ravenhill, Shirley, Mahon and King are big losses to us, much more so than other counties who have more depth, but our lads adapted well. We are finding our feet, and I hope we can do so against KK as well, hopefully without any further injuries ahead of the other 2 games.

[private joker]

Reading reports galway could have scored 5-30. 4 points down with 10 to go was very good going all considered. Reality is Galway know they are going to a leinster final. They ll beat wexford and kildare handy. They are already planning for the all ireland series knockouts.

[ah lethimoutwithit]

Reading reports galway could have scored 5-30. 4 points down with 10 to go was very good going all considered. Reality is Galway know they are going to a leinster final. They ll beat wexford and kildare handy. They are already planning for the all ireland series knockouts.

Fair enough analysis i think

[Plain of the Herbs]

I just want to pick up on this, and I am aware the poster is pointing out what was said on the radio.

I was there on Sunday, and I didn’t see any Offaly hurler being roughed up or anything like that. And if Johnny Kelly had any issues, he wasn’t going down that road in post match media briefings.

The thing with ‘letting the game flow’ is that we all want the referee to let the game flow when our player is fouling, but we demand zero tolerance when the shoe is on the other foot and the opposing player is the transgressor.

There’s a risk that Offaly are seen as whingers here, which isn’t going to do anyone any good. We had that in the aftermath of 2022’s Minor All-Ireland Final. And if you are demanding the opposition are decimated by sendings off, well, you’re not really at the races. And the worst thing to happen Offaly last year was Daithi Burke’s dismissal in Tullamore – and angry Galway blitzed Offaly after that.

And God help those media commentators if they are at home on some random Sunday and happen to turn on the Munster hurling championship and see the extent of the ‘roughing up’, and the referee letting them at it.

From the commentary on the radio i took the following,

-Galway roughed up a few of the lads and seemed to get away with it

[Faithfully]

Screeney out injured. Hopefully back for the last 2 games... Looks like the other injured lads are progressing well based on the team announcement.

Screenshot_20260508_104217_Facebook.jpg (322.72 KiB) Viewed 1554 times

[Fairplayalways]

while its hard see us gettinng enough scores to win, I do think that we have some sort of chance here, Kilkenny were made look very good by a disapointing Wexford side (who are better than their showing V KK) Offaly defence will be toe to toe with Kilkenny from the off - will we produce enough up top end though thats the worry...a good performance for 60 minutes would be a long way to a respectable defeat too...hopefully we bring the Dublin game hunger into this game...anything less and Kilkenny will win at pedestrian pace...

[faithfulfanatic]

while its hard see us gettinng enough scores to win, I do think that we have some sort of chance here, Kilkenny were made look very good by a disapointing Wexford side (who are better than their showing V KK) Offaly defence will be toe to toe with Kilkenny from the off - will we produce enough up top end though thats the worry...a good performance for 60 minutes would be a long way to a respectable defeat too...hopefully we bring the Dublin game hunger into this game...anything less and Kilkenny will win at pedestrian pace...

I don’t think Wexford have shown anything this year to suggest they are better than they showed against Kilkenny

[Asiseeit]

they went toe to toe in Div 1b with both Clare and Dublin, losing out on scoring difference for final if i recall correctly..they were dismal v Kilkenny after a competitive start..they will trouble Offaly..wait and see..

[faithfulfanatic]

they went toe to toe in Div 1b with both Clare and Dublin, losing out on scoring difference for final if i recall correctly..they were dismal v Kilkenny after a competitive start..they will trouble Offaly..wait and see..

They drew with 13 man Dublin in the league.
Clare were already promoted and Wexford lost to their reserves.
They beat Antrim by a point and Down by 2 points.

I have no doubt they will trouble Offaly, and they will probably be 2-3 point favourites.

[Géill Slí]

The team has a definite look of not risking any of the injured players. Sights may be already set on the Wexford match as a priority, its will shape our season, whether fighting for third place or fighting against relegation vs Kildare. Still, getting something from Sunday’s game would be a real bonus.
The bookies have Kilkenny by 8, and it’s hard to argue with that, but if we can go into the last 15 minutes still within touching distance, who knows?!
It’s also a good opportunity for the lads coming in … I’d love to see a big performance from Eoghan Cahill especially, he has all the ability to be a big player for us.
Hoping for a big Offaly crowd and a fighting performance on Sunday.

[G91]

The other two options were possibley nally or oisin Kelly , cahill gets the nod for his free taking id imgaine that's how the decision was made ,

Surprised oisin didn't get the nod big and powerful can be lethal when on form.

There's alot Cahill can do and he helped sail the ship during Christy ring and when we got back into Joe mcdonagh I think it's forgotten at times how good he can be

Same can be said for nally who literally put his body on the line v Carlow in the Joe mcdonagh final and then again got a nasty injury v Westmeath

But has been overlooked for game time maybe it's not happening at Training

[Wing Back]

Screeney with a hamstring strain. Usure how serious it is or not. Hopefully he's back for Wexford.

Very happy to see Ravenhill, King and especially Mahon back. Slowly but surely we are coming along in terms of depth in my eyes. When I look across the subs and the extended panel above, I see plenty of names who have clocked up reasonable minutes in league and championship over last 2 years....and I would generally be happy enough for any of them to slot in and out.

For this immediate game, I am going in optimistic but with a sense of reality aswell. We were soundly beaten in this game last year. I think KK may have regressed a bit...TJ older, no Hugh Lawlor, maybe a bit of the KK swagger knocked out of them by Galway in 2 very convincing beatings. They steadied the ship well, by putting Wexford well and truly in their place. And they are prob still hurting....making them dangerous for us. Possibility of a backlash and beating is very real too. But saying that....... I know it's hard to go on strict form lines, as hurling matches don't follow the same logic as Horse racing.....and maybe I'm grasping at straws....But we ran Galway to 11, and were closer than that but for 2 late goals....and that was with us not playing that well. Which was better than KK could manage in 2 attempts. Now Galway were going full pelt against KK.....maybe that wasn't the case against us.

But I think back to our league match, and we were only a point down against KK entering the final 5 or 6 minutes if I recall correctly. We are without Shirley now, but we have improved and added to our depth, Screeney is a loss no doubt....but there are angles of hope that we can grasp onto for optimism in my opinion. The fact the game is in Tullamore will also be in our favour hopefully.

If we can beat the bookies handicap I will be quite happy......if we can give KK a scare, I will be over the moon.....if we get any kind of a result...well that's dreamland stuff, and I'm not sure we are in that space yet to be honest.

[oneshot]

kilkenny will ate that offa.y half forward line and midfield alive on sunday. its obviously we are targeting the last two games.

[Anon444]

Hopefully a big crowd turns up in OCP. I think we can be close, we’ll probably need TJ to have an off day to some extent and the other forwards too in general. I like our team, it’s a pity that the game wasn’t a week later so that we would have King, Ravenhill and Screeney back. I suspect that King and Ravenhill won’t be chanced if management don’t sense an update. I presume Cahill will drift out, Mikey Butler will surely take Charlie.

On the above post, our half forward line can cause them problems if they can get the ball into the hand clean and stay out of rucks. If it goes to dirty ball, I don’t see a great chance of success.

Best of luck to the team and management.

[biffinbanner]

great brave performance. were making progress!!