oneills.com, leading online sportswear retailer, with the GAA are delighted to announce the fourth year of their U20 GAA All-Ireland Hurling Championship sponsorship deal at Croke Park, pictured is Offaly U20 hurler Adam Screeney. Photo by Tyler Miller/Sportsfile
By Cian O’Connell
“It's not simple at all, to be honest,” Adam Screeney says about missing matches due to injury.
So, it has been a frustrating start to 2025 missing Offaly’s Allianz Hurling League matches and UL’s Electric Ireland Fitzgibbon Cup campaign.
Screeney, the gifted young forward, doesn’t know precisely when he will be able to return to action which is tricky too as the oneills.com Leinster U20 Championship edges closer. “I'd be sitting on the sideline there itching to go,” he adds.
“Even though I know my leg doesn't feel right, I'm still raging I'm not able to play. I suppose that's, again, where you bring in the mental part into the game. You just have to be able to wrap your head around it and have to be able to get your body right.
“In fairness to all the management teams and lads, they're so well being able to sit you down now and just explain to you, to get you in the right frame of mind that you're doing this for the team, that you can be back and get yourself right to be beneficial for the team.”
Is the acceptance something a player you learn to deal with? “You think it's okay in January,” he replies. "You think it'll only be a couple of weeks. Then it comes into February and you're like, ‘The League's starting now’ and you’re sort of itching to be back.
“But as I said, you just have to bide your time. You have to be patient, especially with this injury. I have to try to get it right before I go back or else it'll just be the same thing over and over again.”
Offaly's Adam Screeney in action during the 2024 Joe McDonagh Cup Final against Laois at Croke Park. Photo by Seb Daly/Sportsfile
These are exciting times for Offaly GAA. Last year’s oneills.com U20 All-Ireland and Joe McDonagh Cup triumph brought joy and belief. The senior footballers are beginning to stir too. “It’s huge for all of Offaly,” Screeney responds.
“You see the Offaly footballers even at the weekend, beat Kildare in a huge, huge battle. Everyone in Offaly is starting to come back together, I say there was maybe 10,000 people at the Offaly-Kildare match at the weekend. It was great to see.
“The minors are out Saturday and I'm sure there'll be a great crowd going in to watch them in Birr. So, it's great to see. You'd be surprised with that little bit of momentum behind you, how beneficial it can be for the team.”
The increased interest and expectation doesn’t bother Screeney in the slightest. “I suppose you have to cherish it,” Screeney says.
“For many years there in Offaly, no one would mention hurling or football because it wasn't going that well. So, it's great to see the life back in Offaly and in the GAA that we're going well in the hurling and football.
“It's great for younger kids growing up. They're going into matches now, they're seeing Offaly win. There for a while it was a struggle going to Offaly, day in, day out they were being beaten.
“But it's great to see just competing again, Leinster and different things like that. It is a great buzz around.”
