OFFALY MANAGER KEVIN Martin has bemoaned the structure of the Leinster SHC round-robin competition, which saw his side lose four games in 21 days to suffer relegation to the Joe McDonagh Cup.
After strong showings against Galway and Kilkenny, a fatigued Offaly lost to Wexford and Dublin by a combined total of 41 points over the last two weekends.
Without the strength-in-depth available to Martin to rotate his squad, he had to rely on the same players week-in-week-out and eventually the heavy schedule caught up with them.
Offaly were the first county to play four weeks in succession and it clearly had a detrimental impact against a Dublin outfit coming off a bye-week.
“It’s heartbreaking for the guys, they put in a huge effort this year,” a disappointed Martin said outside the Parnell Park dressing rooms.
“We just weren’t able for four weeks in-a-row really. Last week was a sucker punch as well and mentally they’re fatigued, physically they’re fatigued.
“We’re not as bad as that. We were there until just before half-time and Dublin got a sucker-punch of a goal just before half-time.
“We turned to play with the breeze and after 10 minutes of the second half we just went flat again. We were trying to work the ball out and mentally we were making mistakes. Concentration levels were going and we brought in a few subs that lifted it in places but the game was gone.
“These guys are amateurs, they’re not professionals. You take the Leinsters of this world, if they have three or four weeks in a row, they’ll rotate their squad about three times.
“They’re professional guys that can sit around the next day and get rub outs and relax. These guys (Offaly) have to go and do a day’s work. Some of them are farmers and electricians and they just don’t have the energy levels for that.”
Tipperary, Cork and Wexford were all playing for a third week in succession over the weekend and none of them managed to claim a victory. Lining out for a fourth straight weekend was always going to be an uphill struggle for the Faithful.
“It’s not fair on them really. That goes for every county. I think even Cork were probably lucky enough to get the draw too, playing against the 14 men of Limerick for the best part of the second-half. They just squeezed a draw out of it whereas if Cork were fresh they would have hammered that home.
“It takes its toll on every team and you’ll probably see it again with Wexford next weekend. Kilkenny are after getting the week off to freshen up. I can’t see Wexford beating Kilkenny either.
“It’s just the way it’s set up, it’s trial and error really. Headquarters wanted to throw something…try to revive the championship a bit and throw it in but it’s just not working for us anyway.”
The Tullamore native intends to meet with the county board over the coming weeks to discuss his future.
“We’ll see what happens. We’ll have to have a meeting and talk first and see. But yeah, listen, we hope to be there to try to get them back up anyway. We did a lot of work this year, we still have a lot to do, but we have the right guys there to do it so hopefully we’ll stay on.
Martin managed to entice a number of players back into the fold this season but it remains to be seen if competing in the second tier will affect the players making themselves available.
“These guys have got a lot of beatings down through the years and they’re back in that place now again for the last couple of weeks. It’s not going to be easy but they’re good lads to train and I think they’ll come out of this.
“Okay, if they’re down in the Joe McDonagh they’ll just have to have a good cut at winning it and come back next year. That’s it. You need everyone, we need everyone that’s good enough in the county to play for us.
“Okay, we are a small bit off that level but we are getting there, we’re making progress. This is a bit of a setback. But I think these guys when they do get their mental strength they will push on and get to where they’re probably supposed to be. That’s up in the top tier.”
He believes extending the Leinster championship to a six-team group would be of greater benefit to hurling in the province, rather than forcing Offaly to play at a lower standard for next season.
“If we won and Dublin were relegated, I’d still be shouting for Dublin not to be relegated. Dublin, like ourselves, we’re the bottom two teams in the group and we’re trying to improve things.
“No disrespect to the teams in the lower tier we’re going into now but you have to be playing the Dublins, Kilkennys and Wexfords to improve. There’s been calls to bring the winners of the Joe McDonagh up and just make six out of it – it would be great for Offaly if they did. But that’s for top table, that’s not for us. ”
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