Laois club championship three in-a-row manager manager calls for review of Tailteann Cup

Portarlington's three-in-a-row Laois GAA club championship manager wants a review of the number of games teams have to play in the Tailteann Cup.

Martin Murphy, now Offaly senior football manager, was in no doubt that the volume of games was a major factor in Offaly's substandard performances in the Tailteann Cup this year.

Speaking after Offaly were beaten, 1-22 to 2-14, by Wexford in the preliminary quarter-final on Saturday, the Gracefield man called for a review of the format, while stressing that he was a fan of the competion.

The Wexford defeat brought the curtain down on an extraordinary year for Offaly, who had to deal with the sudden death of their manager Liam Kearns during the league. They recorded a super win over Meath in the Leinster Senior Football Championship and almost beat Louth in the semi-final but their year nosedived in the second tier, Tailteann Cup.

After beating London in the first game and then drawing with Laois, Offaly have succumbed to poor defeats against Cavan and Wexford and Murphy admitted that their energy has been gone for the Tailteann Cup.

“We were very flat again today, we haven’t really got going since the Leinster semi-final against Louth, and the disappointment of missing out on that is playing on people’s minds.“I am disappointed, I am sure every supporter here today is disappointed with our overall performance in the Tailteann Cup.”

The Gracefield man stated that a bit of rest will serve the players well now.

“A bit of R and R wouldn’t go astray for our lads now. The likes of Wexford, Meath, Antrim, all these teams doing well in the Tailteann Cup have all had a bit of a reasonable break between the championship outing and the competition itself. These lads went straight from the championship into the Tailteann Cup without any much rest and relaxation

“A lot of them will be relieved to get back to their clubs, and maybe take a holiday before starting the club championship.”

It was suggested that the players just couldn't muster enthusiasm for the Tailteann Cup.

“It is hard to generate energy if its not there but having said that, the loss of Jack McEvoy and Dylan Hyland last week through suspension has come back to bite us a bit because both of them have that energy you want going forward, particularly in possession.

“We will look back on it, we will asssess what we have done this year. It has been a long, arduous year and a lot of sadness, a lot of emotional drain on people too under the circumstances. That was our 19th game today, we have played sixteen competitive games with little or no break and that's from the 7th of January. In 24 weeks we have played 19 games of football and sixteen of them have been competitive where there is something at stake. It is hard to keep lads totally motivated unless there is light at the end of the tunnel.

“The Tailteann Cup is great to be in but sometimes the number of games you are scheduled to play comes back to bite you, particularly a team like Offaly who have been on the go so long.

“The bottom line is the teams that are doing well in the competition seem to be the teams that went out of the championship early and have had time to assess, readjust themselves and maybe have a short sojourn away from football for a week or two. They come back then revitalised. It is very hard to revitalise something when lads are on the road every weekend, week in, week out. The Tailteann is a brilliant competition and I am very much in favour of it but there has to be some review of the number of games they are playing in it,” he said.

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Murphy joined the Offaly setup after leading Portarlington to their third county championship on the trot in Laois in 2022. He was appointed Offaly manager after the sudden death of Liam Kearns in 2022.