oneills.com All-Ireland U20 Hurling Final
Offaly 2-20 Tipperary 2-14
By Kevin Egan at UPMC Nowlan Park
This time, there was to be no heartbreak for Offaly.
Midway through the second half, a long delivery into the Tipperary square dropped on top of the heads of Barry Egan and Aaron O’Halloran. Egan got a flick, and the sliotar evaded Eoin Horgan in the Tipp goal, and suddenly Offaly were eight points up, and it seemed like a first ever All-Ireland hurling title at U-20 (or U-21) was in their grasp.
Then on the next attack, Senan Butler got in behind the Offaly defence to poach a clinical inside forward’s goal, and memories of the Premier County’s late poaching of the minor final between these two counties in 2022 came flooding back.
With the wind at their backs and hope flowing through their veins, points from Oisín O’Donoghue, Sam O’Farrell and Conor Martin cut the lead back to three, and the stage was set for another smash and grab raid.
Perhaps it was muscle memory, or perhaps they just had pushed on that fraction more than Tipperary in the past two years, but Offaly weren’t going to be denied again. Majestic points from Colin Spain and Ruairí Kelly will be perceived as the clinching scores that made the win safe, but it was the ravenous and energetic manner in which Offaly hoovered up contested ball in those closing minutes that ensured that Tipp never got the look at goal that they needed.
It was the least that the Leinster champions deserved, because notwithstanding the first quarter, they seemed to be that bit more inventive and that bit sharper throughout.
A trademark point from the sideline from Adam Screeney brought the Offaly-dominated capacity crowd of 25,825 into the game early on, but Darragh McCarthy wasn’t long about proving that Screeney wasn’t the only talented inside forward on the pitch as he earned and slotted a penalty, leaving Tipp the happier side at 1-3 to 0-3 in front after 15 minutes of hurling into the breeze.
The second quarter was all Offaly however, and with Screeney nailing his dead ball chances, Brecon Kavanagh and Ter Guinan sweeping up a world of ball in front of the full back line, and two incredible scores from the sideline from Barry Egan, they were full value for their 0-12 to 1-5 interval lead.
The third quarter was high on intensity and tension, but mistakes at either end meant that it didn’t explode into life until Rigney and Butler exchanged goals. Cue a helter skelter finish with Tipp roaring back once, then Dan Bourke delivering a majestic goal, only for Tipp to get back within three again.
For the vanquished minor finalists of 2022 and U-20 finalists of last year, the lessons learned in those defeats were about to be put to the best use imaginable.
Scorers for Offaly: Adam Screeney 0-12 (8fs, 3 65s), Dan Bourke 1-3, Barry Egan 1-2, Cathal King 0-1, Colin Spain 0-1, Ruairí Kelly 0-1.
Scorers for Tipperary: Darragh McCarthy 1-5 (1-0 pen, 4fs), Senan Butler 1-1, Ciarán Foley 0-3, Oisín O’Donoghue 0-2, Conor Martin 0-1, Cathal English 0-1, Sam O’Farrell 0-1.
Offaly: Liam Hoare; Ruairí Kelly, Ben Miller, James Mahon; Ter Guinan, Brecon Kavanagh, Donal Shirley; Colin Spain, Cathal King; Shane Rigney, Dan Bourke, Conor Doyle; Leigh Kavanagh, Barry Egan, Adam Screeney.
Subs: Alex Kavanagh for Egan (49), Eoin Burke for Doyle (54), Dan Ravenhill for L Kavanagh (60+2), Daniel Hand for Rigney (60+3)
Tipperary: Eoin Horgan; Podge O’Dwyer, Aaron O’Halloran, Chris O’Donnell; Jack Collins, Ben Currivan, Mason Cawley; Sam O’Farrell, Adam Daly; Cathal English, Conor Martin, Ciarán Foley; Darragh McCarthy, Oisín O’Donoghue, Senan Butler.
Subs: Jack O’Callaghan for Cawley (49), Joe Egan for Foley (50), Sam Rowan for Daly (60).
Referee: Seán Stack (Dublin).
