Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

Hurling

“The Offaly public has fallen in love with this team”

Offaly chairman Michael Duignan describes the passion the public have for the Under-20 team ahead of Sunday’s All-Ireland final against Cork

Offaly chairman Michael Duignan describes the passion the public have for the Under-20 team ahead of Sunday’s All-Ireland final against Cork.

Michael Duignan says that the Offaly public has fallen in love with their underage stars.

The Faithful are in an All-Ireland Under-20 final against Cork on Sunday with a number of the talented youngsters who excelled at minor in 2022.

Leo O’Connor’s charges suffered a cruel defeat to the Premier when Paddy McCormack flicked home a late winning goal, but no momentum has been lost.

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

The huge crowds that followed them across the country last year have done so once more, with Dr Cullen Park packed out for the Leinster final win over Wexford.

Semple Stadium will be heaving on Sunday, and it brings to mind Duignan’s underage days when 30,000 people showed up for their All-Ireland Under-21 loss to Tipp in 1989.

The seniors lost a Joe McDonagh final to Carlow last weekend, but the numbers that will show up for the Under-20s will far outstrip that which went to Croke Park.

โ€œIt is (strange),” Duignan admits. “Offaly brought 14,000 people to Nowlan Park last year (for the All-Ireland minor final against Tipperary) and Iโ€™d imagine thereโ€™s going to be 15,000 or 16,000 from Offaly at this.

“Because thereโ€™s more kidsโ€ฆ the Offaly jerseys are everywhere, and Michael (Verney) can testify to that. Itโ€™s unbelievable.

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

โ€œIโ€™m a long time going to Croke Park commentating and everything, and I always watch the minor match and see the young lads playing at half time โ€” the National Schools.

“And the National School team from Offaly last Saturday at half time, they were unbelievable.

“I don think Iโ€™ve ever seen a better team at half time โ€” their fielding, their athleticism, their left and right, teamwork was unbelievable.

“I hope thatโ€™s a good sign for the future but it was really at a very high level.

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

โ€œThe young lads that we have, itโ€™s a very young team and we have 27 of the squad next year, and 14 the year after, and youโ€™re not putting pressure on these lads.

“But the Adam Screeneys and the Dan Ravenhills, the younger lads, your Charlie Mitchells, Sam Bourkes, Joe Hoctor and so on, there are so many exciting talents.

โ€œThe one thing, and this is all that Offaly people ever wanted, is that when you go out on the field that you give it everything you have, and whatever happened at the end of the day.

“Play with a bit of flair and a bit of style and a bit of panache, and go for it. Thatโ€™s what these lads do.

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

โ€œWe have been so long waiting for these types of players to come again that the public has just fallen in love with them. Theyโ€™re bringing massive crowds.

“Weโ€™d do well to get a couple of thousand to our senior hurling or football matches, but these lads can bring 15,000 or 16,000, and thatโ€™s a credit to them.”

Visit https://ourstore.ie/
๐ŸŽ“Coaching Clinic โ€” see our latest events at the following link โ€” https://bit.ly/OurGameEvents
For more exclusive content, why not join us at https://www.patreon.com/OurGame
โžก๏ธ Monday and Thursday show audio pods, and more exclusive content is on the OurGame Supporters Club for just โ‚ฌ5 per month ๐ŸŽŸ
Alternatively, if you wish to support OurGame, you can also do so through PayPal: https://paypal.me/SSOurGame
LIVE CLUB FUNDRAISERS: Does your club need to run a fundraiser this year? Let OurGame do it for you with a live show โ€” email Events@OurGame.ie for an information pack ๐Ÿ’ฐ๐Ÿ’ฐ๐Ÿ’ฐ๐Ÿ’ฐ
DISCORD ๐Ÿ‘พ: https://discord.gg/vfybkGvKyf
FACEBOOK ๐Ÿ“˜ https://www.facebook.com/OurGame.ie/
INSTAGRAM ๐Ÿ“ท https://www.instagram.com/ourgame.ie/
TWITTER ๐Ÿฆ https://twitter.com/OurGameHQ
TIKTOK ๐Ÿ’ƒ https://www.tiktok.com/@ourgamehq
WEBSITE ๐ŸŒ https://ourgame.ie/

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Subscribe to our newsletter

You May Also Like

Sports

The lads are back once again to talk all things GAA.

Sports

The lads are reflecting on a dramatic weekend of club action and discussing the latest across the world of GAA.

Sports

Another big live show as we preview the All-Ireland SHC club semi-finals and talk to some big names in the GAA.

Sports

Enjoy our latest offering and leave a comment below. ๐˜ˆ๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜ˆ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ป๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ˆ๐˜ด๐˜ด๐˜ฐ๐˜ค๐˜ช๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฆ, ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ง๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ ๐˜ฒ๐˜ถ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ง๐˜บ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐ŸŽ ๐—–๐—ต๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜€๐˜๐—บ๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐—ด๐—ถ๐—ณ๐˜ ๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—บ...

Advertisement