The ‘five-minute final’
Time has flown by since that memorable success but fondness for team remains
‘THE SQUAD WAS YOUR FAMILY, IT WAS TOUGH WHEN IT BROKE UP’
TWENTY-FIVE years on, we are putting the old band back together. It’s hard to believe that a quarter century has passed since the famous 1994 All-Ireland win over Limerick, dubbed the ‘five-minute final’. No more than Seamus Darby’s goal for Offaly against Kerry in the 1982 football final, the finish will always be remembered. From five down, we won by six – it had to be one of the most memorable deciders ever.
That Offaly team of the 1990s were seen to have a fond place in the hearts of hurling people.
It can feel strange saying that as someone who was inside the bubble, but the good days seemed to strike a chord with the public.
You had Éamonn Cregan – a Limerick legend – managing us. He never thought he would have to go up against his native county in such circumstances. Brian Whelahan ended up on the Team of the Millennium. Johnny Pilkington was a huge cult hero. You don’t realise in the middle of it, that history is being created around you.
When Ger Canning interviewed Johnny in the build-up, asking him ‘What will it mean to Offaly, Johnny?’, the reply was priceless: ‘A lot of drinking Ger!’ The years pass by very quickly. In 2004, on the 10-year anniversary, we went to Galway for a Saturday night. Those outside the county might not realise the contradiction at play. While we had some larger-than-life personalities, off the field the lads were very, grounded. Not quite shy or retiring, but laid back, low-key individuals in a lot of cases.
With my media work, I probably didn’t quite fit that profile!
For a team with so many great characters, who were so close, we never got together on any sort of regular basis.
A few of us will bump into each other now and again but not as a group. We can give out about Croke Park at times, but the tradition of the jubilee team being introduced to the crowd on All-Ireland final
day is a special one. It will be nice to come together in August, go to Croke Park and be remembered.
A few of us met up some months ago and said ‘let’s do something before then’. That’s what led to a celebration of the 1994 win that’s coming up on May 10 in the Tullamore Court Hotel.
The hotel came on board as sponsors along with Carroll’s of Tullamore who have been county sponsors for the last 28 years. A total of 400 tickets, giving supporters the chance to meet the players and reminisce, sold out quickly.
Some say there is too much looking back but I think this is a fitting occasion.
There is such genuine warmth for Offaly hurling and that team, we even have a waiting list for tickets.
Of course the inimitable Marty Morrissey will be hosting.
TJ Ryan and Dave Clarke are coming from Limerick, along with Tom Dempsey of Wexford, Kilkenny’s Christy Heffernan and Galway’s Joe Cooney.
The minor team I played on in 1986 won an All-Ireland, it was won again in ’87 when four of the team were under 16s – John Troy, Brian Whelahan, Johnny Dooley and Adrian Cahill. So there was a realisation that there was an exceptional bunch coming along.
While we were beaten by Tipperary in the 1989 All-Ireland Under 21 final, every player on the team went on to play senior hurling for Offaly. And look at the Tipp team that beat us – they had Declan Ryan, Liam Sheedy, and Michael Ryan.
At senior level, we had a very young squad, so it took a few years for lads to mature. Kilkenny beat us in the first round of Leinster in 1992, ’93 and went on to win All-Ireland before we made the big breakthrough in ’94.
When we got the balance right between training hard and having the craic, it all came together.
We had a reputation of not training hard which wasn’t true. The lads loved the craic but they were very serious about their hurling, Johnny Pilkington and John Troy as much, or more, than anyone.
It wasn’t about partying. For me, travelling up and down the country for 15 years, it never felt like a chore. At training, you were seeing things on the field that were a joy – what the likes of Whelahan, Pilkington and Troy were doing – and by competing against them, they made you better.
There was genuine fun had along the way, too.
And some plain old messing. Whether it was Pilkington loosening the top of the vinegar bottle at the meal afterwards, or someone using your towel and dumping it back, or discovering some turf in your gear bag, we bounced off each other. Going on the team holidays tightened the bond – we went to Florida, Cape Town, the Canaries. They were brilliant trips where the wives, girlfriends, everyone, got to know each other.
The squad became your family. I found it tough when it broke up.
I know from going on various golf trips away the esteem that group of players are held in. John Troy must be everybody’s favourite hurler. When I look at Cian Lynch now, I think of Troy with his vision and flicks.
Take the Dooley brothers, Joe, Johnny and Billy. To score 2-11 in that All-Ireland final was remarkable. And they scored the same in the county final when they beat us in ’88, to win the club’s first title. Martin Hanamy, my own clubmate and captain in ’94, was a quiet man but a true leader. Hubert Rigney was the same.
Kevin Kinahan and Johnny Dooley born on the same day in a place where Clareen has only roughly 300 people. The pair won three All-Stars each.
Joe Dooley, Brian Whelahan and Kevin Martin have all managed Offaly, and plenty more have been involved at underage level or with development squads. The fact that Offaly are playing Laois the day after the anniversary dinner in the Joe McDonagh Cup is, I guess, a sign of the changing times.
During our whole time playing, only two of the players were living outside Offaly. Shane McGuckin was a vet in Gorey.
I was in Dublin, then Naas, before moving back 16 years ago. Lads were self-employed, or lucky enough to be working locally, and a big part of Offaly’s success was keeping all the lads together. All that’s changed now. Pat McLoughney, one of our selectors, sadly passed away last year. That was one of the main motivations to do something.
We’re not all going to be around together forever. To round the year off, we are all going to Portugal on holiday together in September, together with wives and partners. That will be the real re-enactment of the good times!