Kevin Martin has been relieved of his duties as Offaly hurling manager after a county board meeting this evening. He will be replaced by Joachim Kelly.
It has been an absolutely disastrous year for Offaly so far, meaning this change comes as no real surprise. They would win only one game in Division 1B of the National Hurling League, ultimately being relegated to Division 2A after losing to Carlow in the relegation play-off.
Their fortunes have hardly improved since the start of championship. The Faithful County have suffered defeat in each of their opening two Joe McDonagh Cup matches. After dropping out of the Liam McCarthy in 2018, there is now a real possibility that Offaly will be playing Christy Ring hurling next year.
Currently bottom of the group, they face Antrim in Tullamore next week, before they face Kerry in Tralee. The bottom placed team will be automatically relegated to the Christy Ring.
Offaly GAA have released a statement to confirm the move:
Following on from an Offaly GAA Management Committee meeting tonight, Kevin Martin & his management team have been replaced as the current senior hurling management with immediate effect. The committee would like to thank Kevin and his team for their commitment and effort over the last two years.
Survival in the Joe McDonagh Cup competition in 2019 is essential for the long-term development of hurling in the county.
To this end Joachim Kelly has been appointed by the management committee as interim manager to the end of this year’s Joe McDonagh Cup competition. We wish Joachim and his team the best of luck in the upcoming games.
