Offaly's best days - Ones when the supporters didn't show up
Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 1:19 am
1980 - Leinster final Offaly 3-17. Kilkenny 5-10.
The great breakthrough and where it really got going. Only 9,631 turned up. 50,000 Offaly people now claim to have been there that day mind. Just like 250,000 Munster people saw them beat the All Blacks in 1978.
1990 Leinster championship Offaly 4-15 Kilkenny 1-8 - 17,000 turned up for this, while the rest of the country watched Ireland draw 0-0 with Egypt in Italia '90. Offaly hit Kilkenny for 3-6 in the first 20 minutes and delivered one of the greatest hammerings of Kilkenny in modern times.
1998 - All Ireland semi final Offaly 1-13 Clare 1-13. Day 1 was special for me. No one gave Offaly a prayer, Pete Finnerty recommended Offaly call in sick. Croke Park was packed with rabid Clare fans in light of the Colin Lynch controversy. The small band of Offaly fans there that day almost witnessed a most spectacular unseating.
Game 3 in Thurles was the day the sunshine boys dusted off their moth eaten jersies and turned up to follow Offaly. Game 1 was the do or die day for the Offaly team of the 90s.
2000 Leinster championship Offaly 0-13 Meath 0-9. 20,000 people at this one to see Offaly dethrone the All Ireland champions. In the 1997 Leinster final, Meath were shorn of Fay, Geraghty, Mark O'Reilly and Martin O'Connell. In 2000 Offaly were without McManus and supposedly in a tailspin. The victory that day was sweet and well merited. In 1998 48,000 turned up to watch the exact same fixture. The defeat of ‘98 sent many of them away flinging programmes on the ground and vowing to "never go watch that shower again".
2000 All Ireland semi Offaly 0-19 Cork 0-15 Another day to spot the Offaly fan in the crowd. There was an unusually big crowd of Offaly fans for the Leinster final against Kilkenny. The defeat that day sent them packing. Flinging programmes on the ground and vowing to "never go watch that shower again". The ones who stayed away missed one of the biggest shocks of modern hurling and on of the most sensational performances by an Offaly hurling team.
2008 Qualifier vs. Limerick. If there were more than 200 Offaly people in the Gaelic Grounds, they must have been dressed in Limerick colours. The ones who disowned the Offaly hurling team will probably be back for the Waterford match. A defeat will see them flinging down programmes and vowing to "never to go watch that shower again".
The great breakthrough and where it really got going. Only 9,631 turned up. 50,000 Offaly people now claim to have been there that day mind. Just like 250,000 Munster people saw them beat the All Blacks in 1978.
1990 Leinster championship Offaly 4-15 Kilkenny 1-8 - 17,000 turned up for this, while the rest of the country watched Ireland draw 0-0 with Egypt in Italia '90. Offaly hit Kilkenny for 3-6 in the first 20 minutes and delivered one of the greatest hammerings of Kilkenny in modern times.
1998 - All Ireland semi final Offaly 1-13 Clare 1-13. Day 1 was special for me. No one gave Offaly a prayer, Pete Finnerty recommended Offaly call in sick. Croke Park was packed with rabid Clare fans in light of the Colin Lynch controversy. The small band of Offaly fans there that day almost witnessed a most spectacular unseating.
Game 3 in Thurles was the day the sunshine boys dusted off their moth eaten jersies and turned up to follow Offaly. Game 1 was the do or die day for the Offaly team of the 90s.
2000 Leinster championship Offaly 0-13 Meath 0-9. 20,000 people at this one to see Offaly dethrone the All Ireland champions. In the 1997 Leinster final, Meath were shorn of Fay, Geraghty, Mark O'Reilly and Martin O'Connell. In 2000 Offaly were without McManus and supposedly in a tailspin. The victory that day was sweet and well merited. In 1998 48,000 turned up to watch the exact same fixture. The defeat of ‘98 sent many of them away flinging programmes on the ground and vowing to "never go watch that shower again".
2000 All Ireland semi Offaly 0-19 Cork 0-15 Another day to spot the Offaly fan in the crowd. There was an unusually big crowd of Offaly fans for the Leinster final against Kilkenny. The defeat that day sent them packing. Flinging programmes on the ground and vowing to "never go watch that shower again". The ones who stayed away missed one of the biggest shocks of modern hurling and on of the most sensational performances by an Offaly hurling team.
2008 Qualifier vs. Limerick. If there were more than 200 Offaly people in the Gaelic Grounds, they must have been dressed in Limerick colours. The ones who disowned the Offaly hurling team will probably be back for the Waterford match. A defeat will see them flinging down programmes and vowing to "never to go watch that shower again".