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Hasselhoff wrote: ↑Wed May 29, 2024 6:41 pm Am I correct in saying most people now have tickets to the game with the allocation to clubs going out today?

The frenzy seems to have lessend a bit.

JimBwobb wrote: ↑Thu May 30, 2024 7:58 pm Lads I know it's a long shot but anyone have two tickets for Ardan De Gras Saturday?

Happy to pay for them or swap for terrace.

Doon Exile wrote: ↑Thu May 30, 2024 10:00 pm

JimBwobb wrote: ↑Thu May 30, 2024 7:58 pm Lads I know it's a long shot but anyone have two tickets for Ardan De Gras Saturday?

Happy to pay for them or swap for terrace.

Sorry Jim. Just back in from our club raffle and we had 66 people in for the 25 tickets.

Glendassaun wrote: ↑Fri May 31, 2024 8:31 am As a county, once again, we stand upon the eve of an All Ireland Final. The fourth consecutive year that we’ve appeared in an underage All Ireland Final. At seven fifteen tomorrow, just north of the banks of the River Nore, this side once again has a date with destiny. Another chance to take its place among the upper echelons of Offaly hurling greats, going where no Offaly team has gone before it. That is to say becoming the first Offaly side to win an All Ireland U20 hurling title, thereby completing the set of All Ireland wins at every grade in both hurling and football. An achievement only matched by a small select few, in counties far greater in size and population than that of our own. We each hold our collective breaths.

In sport, as in life, it’s rare that we get second chances to write the wrongs of the past. Instead, such negative experiences serve as valuable lessons for which we must reevaluate and take on board what it is that we should take from such experiences. But moments in time, such sporting occasions can be painful, as we only know too well. Such hurt however can often serve as the fuel necessary to power our drive back to the well once more, bringing us once more to the edge of the Holy grail of hurling, an All Ireland final. Call it fate or destiny, but tomorrow evening this time has earned the right for another shot at immortality and to create yet another historical feat for our county and the legacy of this side.

It was Friedrike Nietzshe who once said “he who must learn to fly, must first learn to stand, and walk, and run and dance”. From the time these young men first picked up a hurl, to their first games for their clubs, to the development teams, the Tony Forristal final, an All Ireland Minor hurling final appearance and last years premature run to the All Ireland U20 final, this side has taken each and every step along the developmental ladder in its stride. There have been knocks along the way, there has been tears, heartache, loss, illness, injury and the upheaval that is a part of living. But the walking is done, the lessons have been learned, and the stars that represent our individual experiences have now aligned into a constellation. This team is ready to fly.

Tomorrow the county will once again be empty, with over a quarter of the entire population of Offaly shutting up shop and mobilizing the citizens army of green, white and gold to lay siege upon the marble city. Memories will be forged, stories will be told, a few beverages are likely to flow and when the time is right the guttural roar of battle, Uibh Fhaili, Uibh Fhaili, Uibh Fhaili, will ring out in defiance, echoing into the azure blue of the summer sky. Every score, every block, hook, tackle will be cheered with renewed passion, as the unbreakable bond between this team and its county is once again forged under the white heat of championship, only to emerge stronger than ever and prepared for the battles that lie ahead.

But a battle it shall be. Tipperary are a formidable team, and despite the pain and justifiable sense of injustice we harbored from the Minor Final of 2022, the record books will show that this Tipperary side were victorious. The current side are blessed with match winners up front, Senan Buttler, Oisin O’Donoghue and Darragh Mc Carthy, to name but a few, all have the potential to cause Offaly serious concerns. Sean O’Farrell in the middle of the park is an excellent player, while center back and captain Ben Currivan shows a maturity and ability to read the game far beyond that of his years. In saying that, and coupled with the absence of Paddy Mc Cormack, I believe that if we play to our potential, and we get that little bit of luck required to win All Ireland finals, then I believe we will emerge from Nowlan Park victorious.

We stand upon the edge of a new era of Offaly hurling. An era many of us thought we would never live to experience. But Offaly people, the faithful county, are resilient. Offaly hurling transcends its people, going beyond history, beyond sport, and instead is rooted firmly in our identity and our attachment to this place we call home. Between the Boyne and the Shannon, the Great Esker and Slieve Bloom, our green fields are once again filled with the sound of leather on ash. The laughter of our children, their dreams of wearing the green, white and gold, echoes on each passing breeze. Tomorrow, that breeze will become a gale and a storm will engulf the hallowed sod of Nowlan Park. With the weight of an entire county behind them, with skill, guile, tenacity and heart, I’ve no doubt these young men will deliver a performance worthy of becoming champions.

Uibh Fhaili Abu!