Offaly hurling manager targetting Dublin and Wexford wins in Leinster championship

The Leinster Senior hurling championship will return to action this weekend…

Wexford will take on Kildare in Newbridge this Saturday evening (6:30pm). Saturday kickstarts the Leinster Senior hurling championship for all teams, with betting leaders Galway hosting Kilkenny while Offaly host Dublin in the opening round.

Leading up their opening clash against Dublin this weekend, Offaly manager Johnny Kelly pinpointed two games that they will be targetting in this year’s championship.

Even though they will of course be going out to win all games, it’s realistic that they’re focussing on their two home games against teams that they will believe they can potentially overcome: Dublin and Wexford. Offaly take on Kildare in their Round 5 clash in Newbridge, which at the start of the Championship, looks like a must-win for both sides.

Wexford, however, will not be looking past their opening game against Kildare. In the past, Wexford have struggled against teams of similar level. This away clash for Wexford serves as a potential banana-skin for Keith Rossiter’s Wexford side — and coming away with the points, with an away clash to Kilkenny to come in the next round, is absolutely needed.

All teams have no doubt pinpointed games that they’ll see as a win-able. Dublin and Wexford have been on a similar playing field over the past number of years, and an Offaly win against either of those teams could propel Offaly into a third-placed position — as opposed to just retaining Leinster Championship status for next year:

“There is certainly grounds for optimism. We are very young, very talented so youth moulded in the right direction will shove it up to Dublin and Wexford. We really think we can this year and if we follow the trajectory and progress we have shown from 2020, there has always been a step up every year. It might plateaux for six months or a year and go again. We are at that stage now.”

“Staying in Leinster last year was huge. We played Wexford in Wexford and were beaten by a couple of points. We know we are close but being close 12 months ago is not good enough now, we have to try and get over the line in these games,” the Offaly manager told the Offaly Express.

In the Leinster Senior hurling championship betting, Galway are 10/11 favourites, followed by Kilkenny. Then Dublin, Wexford, Offaly and Kildare follow.

Offaly enjoyed success against Wexford in recent u-20 Leinster Championship campagins and a host of those players are now on the Offaly Senior hurling team, with the manager revealing that their average age profile is just 22 years of age.

Offaly will host Wexford in Round 4 of the Leinster Senior hurling championship.