Recalling a fright in 1969

Pat Henderson, the former Kilkenny player and manager, regards Sunday's All-Ireland final "with fear and trepidation" tinged with a liberal sprinkling of "quiet confidence".

The fear and trepidation seems to be inspired by his experience of the Leinster final of 1969 when Offaly almost put a halt to Kilkenny's gallop on their way to that year's McCarthy Cup victory.

Then Offaly were playing in their first Leinster final since 1928 and were expected to provide cannon-fodder for a Kilkenny side captained by Eddie Keher with such other distinguished performers as Ollie Walsh, Ted Carroll, `Pa' Dillon, Jim Treacy, Martin Coogan and Paddy Delaney and, anchored at centre half back, by Henderson himself.

"If my memory serves me right, it was the first year of the open draw in Leinster and Offaly came through to meet us in the final. That was the day that they really gave us a fright and Paddy Delaney had to score three goals to get us through by only two points (3-9 to 0-16)". As regards this season, he gives little credence to Offaly's poor form in their Leinster final against Kilkenny earlier this year or against Antrim in the quarterfinal.

"The important thing is that they have now had three tough matches against Clare and they improved in every match. They played great stuff against Clare in Thurles and that is what Kilkenny have to take into account, not their performance in the Leinster final.

"In the meantime Kilkenny have had to go five or six weeks without a really testing challenge and they cannot be as well prepared as Offaly. The Leinster final is of no importance at this stage," he says. "The thing about Offaly hurling is that they combine all aspects of the game, and they did this against Clare in the Thurles match. They can hurl on the ground, in the air, they can carry the ball and they can hit the long ball out of defence. "When Dermot Healy went to Offaly he managed to develop a lot of their skills and they have done very well this year in spite of problems off the field including a change of manager."

He expects Sunday's match to be a low-scoring one. "Both defences are strong. I believe that a lot of the match will be contested in the middle of the field. That has become the norm now and it can be both negative and positive. It can leave a lot of open space and this, in turn, gives an opportunity to the man who is faster to the breaking ball to take advantage of that pace.

"A lot of pressure has been put on D J Carey in the matches up until now but, though his retirement was a bit hasty, I believe he is very nearly back to his best. As well as that, Charlie Carter and P J Delaney in particular, have taken the pressure off him. I believe that he will, surely, have a very big impact on the match," he says.

"Tactics have become more important but I have always believed that hitting the ball off the ground or with a low trajectory gets the ball from place to place more effectively than long, high hitting which gives the advantage to the big strong player in defence."

It is an interesting point coming from a man who was a tower of strength himself in the cockpit of the Kilkenny defence of the 1960s and 70s. His respect for Offaly, therefore, is understandable but it does not conceal his basic belief in his county's ability to add another All-Ireland title to their impressive list.

In regard to the `back door' system which has produced an all-Munster final last year and an all-Leinster final this year, he has only slight reservations. "I believe that it has added a new dimension to the championship and all it needs now is a little fine-tuning. The situation about teams like Galway and Antrim should be looked at. "Galway have complained about not having any real challenge in Connacht and the same is true to a lesser extent in Ulster. But I don't think that going back to the old system will help anybody, including Galway and Antrim, and a new approach should be drawn up, based on what we have at the moment," he says.