Offaly hurler Ciarán Burke poses for a portrait with the Bob O'Keeffe Cup at the launch of the 2025 Leinster GAA Senior Hurling Championship at UPMC Nowlan Park in Kilkenny. Photo by Sam Barnes/Sportsfile.
By John Harrington
Offaly captain Ciarán Burke believes the Faithful County learned some valuable lessons in Sunday’s Allianz Hurling League Division 1B Final defeat to Waterford.
They looked like they were going to be on the wrong end of a heavy beating when they went 15 points behind early in the second-half, but restored some pride that saw them reduce the deficit to four points by the final whistle.
Burke knows if they’re to have a successful Leinster Championship campaign they’ll need to adapt quickly to the challenge of hurling at the highest level for the first time in seven years.
“It just shows that when you're not at it at the top level that you'll just get punished," says Burke. "We struggled big time in the first half on our own puck-outs and 10 minutes into the second we weren't at the races.
“We showed great character to come back into it, in fairness. I think we got it back to four points at one stage.
“There are huge positives to take out of the game but we need to improve massively going into the Championship because we won't get away with being at that level for 45 minutes."
In attendance at the launch of the 2025 Leinster GAA Senior Hurling Championship at UPMC Nowlan Park in Kilkenny are, from left, Lee Chin of Wexford, Paddy Burke of Antrim, Cianán Fahy of Galway, John Donnelly of Kilkenny holding the Bob O'Keeffe Cup, Brian Hayes of Dublin and Ciarán Burke of Offaly. Photo by Sam Barnes/Sportsfile.
Offaly haven't hurled in the Leinster Championship since 2018 but Burke hopes that the experience of playing teams like Waterford and Dublin in Division 1B of the Allianz League this year has been a good preparation.
Their first match of the Leinster campaign is a trip to Parnell Park to play Dublin on April 19, and Burke knows they'll have to be capable of playing and competing with a speed of hurling that's a level above what they experienced in the Joe McDonagh Cup last year.
“If you make a mistake you're going to be punished," he says. "Everything is just way quicker. That's just the way the top level game is played.
“Getting to play on that hard ground and getting exposure to that is invaluable. I think we've gradually improved as the League has gone on.
"We drew the first day against Carlow and I think we built a good bit of momentum throughout the League and we've improved in every game.
“Having been down in the Joe McDonagh for the last few years there's a big step up to playing a Munster team like Waterford. You realise the pace the game is played at and getting that exposure before the championship is good.
“I'd say hurling that League Final is worth two or three training sessoins. There were great learnings in it, even with the whole occasion and the build up to it.
“You gain massive experience from playing on days like that.
“We know that when we do hurl well we can compete well with a lot of teams, we just have to bring that consistency into our performances so we can consistently hurl at our top level. That's what we'll need to get into our game for the Leinster Championship."
