Resurgent Offaly won't get carried away

Ian O'Riordan talks to John McIntyre, who insists his team are keeping Sunday's hurling quarter-final in perspective.

When it comes to pressure games such as Sunday's hurling league quarter-finals the typical manager plays down his team's hopes while talking up those of the opposition. Yet John McIntyre has reason to be cautious when assessing Offaly's chances against Tipperary, the second game in the double bill at Semple Stadium, Thurles.

Not only must they travel into Tipperary's backyard, Offaly also find themselves in the league play-offs for the first time since 1995. In fact, their league record is notably barren, their one and only title coming in 1991.

And yesterday Tipperary announced their strongest team of the season, with Eoin and Paul Kelly back to full fitness and Micheál Webster restored at full forward. So McIntyre's caution is understandable.

"Having to go to Thurles makes a difficult challenge all the harder," he says. "At least it gives Offaly the opportunity for big-match experience, in the best hurling venue in the country, and it would be a bit rich for a Tipperary man to be complaining about going to Thurles with an Offaly team.

"But we're not going to give our players any crutches to lean back on if we lose. We're a very young team, so it's an ideal opportunity to really test the progress we've made in a big-game atmosphere in a big stadium. But we're expecting to see a transformed Tipperary team on Sunday from what we've seen early in the league."

Offaly have of course been doing some transforming of their own. They were the unlikely leaders of Division One A before a loss to Clare interrupted their progress. Yet they bounced right back last Sunday with an eight-point hammering of Waterford.

"Yeah, the Waterford match was huge for us," admits McIntyre, "and we did deliver. It was in essence a knockout game for us, and in fairness the players took it by the scruff of the neck from the throw-in. Our priority all along was to preserve our Division One status. We still need to walk before we can run, and we're not getting too far ahead of ourselves.

"The signs are encouraging, but there's still a strong perception out there that the real hurling doesn't start until the All-Ireland quarter-finals in July. We're three months away from that, and by the time that comes along nobody will remember what happened in April."

McIntyre would prefer if there were no pressure this early in the season, but that's not quite possible when the league has finally thrown up some meaningful games. The business end of the championship is well down the road, but games like Sunday's are a step on the way.

"We had nothing like this type of preparation in advance of the championship 12 months ago, so we're approaching the game in a positive frame of mind, and I hope the self-belief and confidence of this team is improving all the time.

"We had a traumatic summer initially in 2005, and we've worked hard in trying to get Offaly to step out of the hurling shadows. We have made progress, but there's nobody getting carried away."

In order to make that progress Offaly have looked to youth. Full forward Joe Bergin, the 19-year-old from Seir Kieran, scored 2-3 from play last Sunday. Full back Paul Cleary is only 18. Alan Egan and Declan Tanner are also part of the new generation.

"What I liked about the players last Sunday is that two weeks after being well beaten by Clare, they came up with their best performance so far," says McIntyre. "But look, last year's heavy defeat to Kilkenny is still in the back of our minds, and maybe helping to drive us on as well."

Egan is a doubt for Sunday because of a shoulder injury, while Brian Carroll and Gary Hanniffy have knee trouble. Still, Offaly's appearance at this stage of the league is such a novelty that they're going to be talked up despite the best efforts of their manager.