Cork v Offaly: Nothing is guaranteed in the U20 All-Ireland final
Ben Cunningham of Cork. Photo by Eóin Noonan/Sportsfile
Cork will meet the Faithful in the U20 All-Ireland Hurling final on Sunday, where the Rebels will no doubt be heavy favourites after their two-point Munster final win over Clare.
Offaly have not had it easy – the Tier 2 side have had to overcome Galway, Dublin and Wexford on their journey to the All-Ireland final, and they certainly shouldn’t be underestimated ahead of Sunday.
Offaly go into this game with the underdog label – as they have done in almost all of their knockout games this season. They cruised through Tier 2 Group 1, beating Westmeath, Antrim and Meath comfortably, only conceding one goal in the three games and finishing with a point difference of 37.
They beat Kildare by 13 points in the preliminary quarter-final, and advanced to the quarter-final against Galway. With big performances from Shane Rigney and Joe Hoctor, the Faithful defeated Galway by a margin of six points.
Once again, the bookies' second choice – Offaly matched up against Dublin for the Leinster semi-final, but crucially, without Adam Screeney and Brecon Kavanagh. In the absence of two key players, Charlie Mitchell stepped up and hit 1-8, helping his side to a three-point win and booking a spot in the Leinster final.
With an opportunity to win their first Leinster title since 2000, Offaly didn’t disappoint. Offaly senior Mitchell was dismissed in the 36th minute after his second yellow card, with Offaly only one point up.
The Faithful battled on, and Adam Screeney’s 1-12 was key as they held out and beat Wexford, edging one step closer to their first-ever U20 All-Ireland title.
Cork have been strong defensively so far in the Munster Championship, only conceding three goals in the five games that they’ve played. The full-back line of Sean Daly, Shane Kingston and Darragh O’Sullivan were immense against Clare, but they won’t have an easy task against the likes of Screeney and Mitchell.
The former was key in Offaly’s minor run last year, as the Faithful lost the All-Ireland final to Tipperary by a point in 2022.
His tally of 2-51 makes him the Championship top scorer heading into the final, though it doesn’t stop there.
Charlie Mitchell has consistently featured at senior level for Offaly this season, and scored in each of the five league rounds, including a big 1-2 against Kildare, where they qualified for the semi-final, and eventually went on to win the competition and promotion to Division 1.
With limited minutes, the 19-year-old has managed 4-17 at U20 level to go with the 1-1 he scored in the Joe McDonagh final against Carlow.
Cork are rightly favourites for this one, but it doesn’t exclusively stem from the current teams on paper. With two All-Ireland titles in the last three years, the Rebels are in a situation of somewhat familiar territory.
On the contrary, it’s been over thirty years since Offaly last played in an U20 All-Ireland final, and after their Joe McDonagh disappointment last week, there’s going to be a lot of pressure on the young squad to defy the odds and come out victorious once again.
While Cork’s seniors haven’t had much luck this season, this group of U20s have a collective winning mentality that can’t be ignored.
They were down at the break in two of their four Munster group games and came back to win. In the Munster final, the Banner were four points ahead with less than 15 to go, and Cork still managed to battle back and grind out the win.
The likes of Ben Cunningham, Eoin Downey and Colin Walsh have featured for both the senior’s and U20s in 2023 and will be expected to perform for Cork, as they have throughout the U20 season so far.
Cunningham has scored 2-44 in just five games, while his tally of 1-13 against Tipperary being the second most by a player in a single game this year, just behind Kilkenny starlet Billy Drennan’s 2-12 against Galway.
Captain Micheál Mullins has also stood out in the Championship this year, and partnered with Ballincollig’s Tadhg O’Connell, Cork should have enough to overpower Offaly and secure their 14th U20 All-Ireland hurling title.
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