OFFALY U20 MANAGER Declan Kelly admits that it’s difficult to distract his players from the hype and excitement in their county as the All-Ireland final draws closer.
The Faithful county has already reached historic heights in 2021 after defeating three-in-a-row chasers Dublin in the Leinster final. That result was all the more impressive considering Kelly’s side conceded three goals while failing to score any themselves.
They followed that up with another memorable win over a much-fancied Cork outfit, making up for the lack of goals in the Dublin contest by rattling the net three times in O’Moore Park.
The journey continues this Sunday as they advance to a first underage All-Ireland football final for the county since 1989. Their neighbours Roscommon await them in Croke Park for the 1.30pm throw-in, in what will be an All-Ireland final pairing that few would have predicted at the outset of the season.
“It’s probably hard to shield them from it to be honest,” Kelly says when asked about the job he faces in managing the buzz around Offaly for his players.
“There’s two sides to it. Obviously all the lads that would have played would never have seen Offaly win a Leinster title, that’s the first thing.
“You win a Leinster title, [there is] a good bit of emotion with the few supporters that were there. And no doubt it’s given the county a brilliant lift. In fairness to the lads, they are grounded fellas and they know we’ve another game to play.
“From a county perspective, you would be hoping that more parents will say, ‘Right, let’s get little Johnny and the little girls involved in GAA more and bring the underage [on].’ That can only have a positive effect on the overall GAA community in Offaly.
“It’s a bit of a balancing act in relation to shielding them. It’s very hard at the moment. They’re in an All-Ireland final. There’s flags up everywhere, people are in great form. You just sort of say, ‘Go with it lads.’ There’s nothing you can do in relation to that.”
Although Roscommon and Offaly compete in different provinces, Kelly’s side have become familiar with their Leinster opponents through a series of challenge games in recent years.
Kelly says the two border counties have arranged these friendly ties every year since he has come on board with Offaly. Their most recent encounter was in May where Roscommon won by “a couple of points” according to the Kilconfert clubman.
There were some issues regarding tickets ahead of the final, with many Roscommon and Offaly fans encounter technical difficulties while trying to purchase their tickets online.
The problems appear to have been resolved since then, while Kelly reports that the Offaly county board have responded to the situation and that it “seemed to be sorted” by the evening.
A victory for Offaly on Sunday would represent more than just overcoming history for Kelly. Back in 2015, he endured a difficult time as the newly-appointed manager of the Offaly U20 team which was playing in the U21 competition at the time.
He resigned from the post 24 hours after ratification along with selectors Benny O’Brien and David Connolly as they did not agree to take up the roles before they were officially installed at a county board meeting.
“When that happened, it happened,” Kelly begins.
“I’m not going to get into the jigs and reels of it all, but like, at the end of the day, I moved on pretty quick and I said that, it is what it is, mistakes happen. But I never held grudges in relation to it or anything like that. We just said yeah, it happened, it shouldn’t have happened but if the opportunity came further down the line to be asked into a….I suppose to manage any Offaly squad and if I felt that I possibly could have something to offer, I said I’d go for it and that’s really what happened.
“Tommy Byrne came and asked me at the time if I’d be interested in the U-20s and we sat down and had a chat about it and yeah, it’s been sort of every year since [discussions], it was never a case of going in for a two- or three-year plan. We’re on year four, every year they have sort of come back and looked for us to go back in so that’s really what it is, it’s been year on year.”
Remarking on the novel pairing of Offaly and Roscommon in the final, Kelly added:
“I suppose it’s going to be a unique final. You would have got fair odds at the start of the year if someone said it would be an Offaly v Roscommon U20 All-Ireland final.
“In relation to the final, we’re just hoping the lads go up and put their best foot forward and if it’s good enough, it’s good enough.”
Declan Kelly was speaking ahead of the EirGrid U20 Football All-Ireland Final this Sunday. EirGrid has partnered with the GAA since 2015 as sponsor of the U20 GAA Football All-Ireland Championship.
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