Offaly 'realistic' as they brace for return to Broadway

In 2022, Offaly hurling will mix it with the big boys for the first time in three years.

After years of constant decline with seemingly no floor they couldn't fall below, 2021 was finally the year when they got things rolling in the right direction.

The penalty shootout loss to Down in the 2020 Christy Ring semi-final was a further blow to the solar-plexus, as if they could withstand any more. The national press got another viral story marking the scale of Offaly's decline - not only had they fallen into the third tier of hurling but they couldn't even escape it first time out.

The still-vivid memory of Offaly's golden generations, far from an inspiration, was a millstone hung around their necks, merely adding to the sense of humiliation. Had they been just another standard second/third tier hurling outfit, paddling around the nether-reaches since time immemorial, no one would have paid any attention.

Last summer, their curve ticked upwards for a change. Across Division 2A and the Christy Ring Cup, Michael Fennelly's team won eight games from eight, all by double-digit margins.

In the Christy Ring final in Croke Park last August, they racked up a whopping 0-41 against Derry, Eoghan Cahill running up a personal total of 0-13, while corner-forward Oisín Kelly notched 0-07 from play. The latter, unfortunately, is set to miss this year's league through injury.

And now, in the league at least, they're back among the elite. They replace Westmeath, who, ironically, are playing Liam MacCarthy hurling this year once their Division 2 campaign is out of the way.

It will be a formidable ask of a hurling county still feeling their way back to good-health after a traumatic few years.

Divisions 1A and 1B are no longer streamed on a quality or