Friday profile: Limerick hero Carey aims to be Treaty-breaker with Kerry
Survival is name of the game for Offaly
OF FALY hurling manager Eamonn Kelly knows that his team’s season will be defined by the two teams he will face in the next four weeks.
They face neighbours Laois on Sunday – who beat them for the first time in 43 years last summer – and then next month in Birr, he will face the Kerry team he helped create.
Offaly r eceived a sobering reminder of their place in the game’s pecking order last weekend when they received a 12-point trimming from Clare in their opening match in Division 1B.
Although disappointed with the result, Kelly admits that while his team might be in the same division as the Banner County, they are in an entirely different league.
While Clare, Limerick and Wexford chase promotion, Kelly is adamant that it is all about who will survive for the other three teams in the division.
‘This is a very tough division; no more than Laois we are just trying to hold our position there and we know that it is a three-way battle with Kerry to try and stay here.
‘We have to try and consolidate our position in 1B, and try to get back into the Leinster championship proper.
‘They are our goals and you have to build it from there,’ insists the Tipperary native.
If that amounts to setting the bar low for some sections of the Offaly support base, who witnessed the county break from the pack to win four All-Irelands in the 1980s and ’90s, then Kelly believes that what they need is a reality check.
‘There is probably a lot more time involved in managing Offaly than there was Kerry because of that expectation,’ he confessed.
‘These are difficult times for Offaly hurling because the expectation is still there but we are in transition. ‘When you look back, 1998 is not that long ago and people look back and r e member t hat success and it is natural that they should still expect it, but you have to be patient because this is not going to happen overnight.’
Instead, they have set out to take some baby steps and beating Laois in Tullamore on Sunday would be as good a start as any.
They will be expected to do just that given that the price for a litany of departures from Laois in the close season was a surprise first round defeat to Kerry last weekend. But Offaly have been left weakened as well; they had just seven of the team that started against Laois in the Leinster championship playing against Clare last weekend.
That is down to a multitude of reasons – Brian Carroll has retired, David King is studying in the UK, Cathal Parlon is in the United States, while Sean Ryan, Dermot Mooney, Eanna Murphy and Conor Mahon are all injured.
Compounding matters, Colin Egan and Shane Kinsella were injured last week and a decision on their fitness will not be made until later in the week.
Should they win on Sunday, their March 20th clash with Kerry in Birr will double as a relegation play-off, with the winners likely to be safe.
He was happy to see his old team win last Sunday, but sentiment will not come into it when they cross paths next month.
‘We were veryy disappointedpp when we lost to Clare so it was no consolation for me that Kerry won. But I would be delighted on a personal level for those lads. I know what they’ve gone through to get there.
‘It is not the number one sport in Kerry, football for obvious reasons is the game down there so they are drawing from a very small pocket in North Kerry, but you will not come across more passionate hurling people and it is great to see them get their reward — I am sure that they will build on that.
‘It is great for hurling that they are up here and winning although I don’t think I will agree with that sentiment when we play them next month. But you do need new teams coming g to the table,’, said Kelly.y
We are trying to hold our position
What would be even better would be an old one coming back again.
Offaly are some way from that, but Kelly believes that he has put the structures in place which will enable them to do just that.
‘The most important cog in the wheel for us is Emmet Egan.
‘He is based in Athlone IT and he is overseeing the strength and conditioning training but you won’t see the benefits of that for 12 months.
‘I would be hoping that next year you will see the benefits of that because the difference in power at this level is huge. That is the one thing we noticed about Clare last week, the physical condition these guys are in is frightening. We are getting there but we are not there yet.’