Kildare hurlers come up short after blistering start in league final against Offaly

Allianz Hurling League Division 2A Final

Offaly 0-24

Kildare 1-18

In the end the score board told us there was just three points separating Kildare and Offaly in the final of the 2023 Allianz Hurling League Division 2A in Portlaoise on Sunday afternoon.

And despite Kildare coming back from a six point deficit at one stage in the second half, in reality Offaly were well worth their win and the margin of victory does not really give a true picture of the game.

In front of a mighty attendance, the vast majority supporting Kildare it has to be said, David Herity's side opened in absolute brilliant fashion and while Adrian Cleary opened for The Faithful Boys, it was Kildare who took control.

Cathal McCabe fired over a long range effort after four minutes, Rian Boran added a second before Gerry Keegan came bursting through the middle to rattle Stephen Corcoran's net on six minutes; Cathal Dowling was somewhat unlucky not to add another d goal as Kildare ran Offaly ragged.

Cian Boran made it 1-3 to 0-1 before a fine move involving Gerry Keegan, Simon Leacy and Declan Flaherty ended with the Coill Dubh man splitting the posts to make it 1-4 to 0-1 and all that inside the opening nine minutes.

It was a brilliant start from Kildare, one they could have only dreamt about but unfortunately that was their best patch in the entire game.

Offaly, never panicked, Adrian Cleary added his and his side's second on 11 as they (Offaly) gradually worked their way into the game.

Kildare had hit four wides at that stage, two from placed balls with James Burke having a tough game from a free taking point of view.

Offaly threatened through Cillian Kiely but his blistering shot was brilliantly saved by Paddy McKenna in the Kildare goals.

Eoghan Cahill got his tally off with a point from play on 17 minutes; Cillian Kiely added another before Cahill fired over a free to make it Kildare 1-4 Offaly 0-6.

Conan Boran set up Cathal McCabe for a much needed Kildare point before Shane Dooley should have found the Kildare net when put clean through in front of an empty goal but his effort went high and over the bar.

In fairness Niall Ó Muineacháin and Simon Leacy held their own throughout, both having top class games.

James Burke got his first and only score of the first half with a free but David Nally replied quickly with a point.

Declan Flaherty added a point before a free from James Burke taken from well inside his own 45m line, fell short; it was one of several poor shot selection decisions (by a number of players) that backfired.

A move involving Cian Boran, Cathal McCabe and Brian Byrne ended with the latter getting his only score of the day — Kildare 1-8 to 0-8.

Offaly however hit back to reduce the gap to a single point with white flags from Cillian Burke and another free from ace free taker Eoghan Cahill.

Kildare, however finished the half in positive mode when Paul Dolan and Cian Boran found the target that saw The Lilies back to leading by three and that was the way it stayed with Declan Flaherty getting one more, replied to by Eoghan Cahill (free) to see Kildare lead 1-11 to 0-11 at the break.

Despite that lead there was a sense that some of those first half wides (and shorts) might come back to haunt Kildare especially with Offaly having the breeze on their backs.

Offaly did not wait long to up their game and within two minutes had the lead cut to the minimum with points from Cillian Kiely and David Nally.

A great crossfield pass from Declan Flaherty was fired over by Johnny Byrne.

The very influential Cillian Kiely reduced the gap but at the half-way make James Burke got his first point from open play to increase the lead to two.

For the next 13 or 14 minutes Offaly took complete control. Adrian Cleary continued to have a major influence sweeping, clearing ball after ball and while Kildare had Brian Byrne filling a similar role it was the Offaly sweeper who had the major influence on the game with Kildare constantly dropping balls down on top of the unmarked no. 12.

Three points in a row from Eoghan Cahill saw Offaly take the lead for the first time since the third minute; three more from Killian Sampson, Cahill and David Nally saw the lead go to four.

Two poor frees from The Lilies failed to close the gap before Rian Boran got his second of the game to make it 1-14 to 0-21 in favour of Offaly.

The next three points came from players in white, David Qualter and two from James Burke (both frees) and suddenly the lead was back to two with the Kildare fans roaring on their favourites.

Killian Sampson pushed it back to three; James Burke got one back; Brian Duignan gave Offaly a breather with a fine point to push the lead back three — 0-24 to 1-18.

In the final minute of the game Kildare came forward seeking the goal that would send the game into extra time.

A 20m free saw Paddy McKenna advance from his goal but his effort was well cleared by his opposite number, Stephen

Corcoran as the final whistle arrived Offaly crowned Division 2A champions but more importantly now promoted to Division 1B for 2024.

SCORERS

Offaly: Eoghan Cahill 0-9 (6 frees, 65), Cillian Kiely 0-4, David Nally 0-3 (1 s/l), Adrian Cleary 0-2, KillianSimpson 0-2, Shane Doole 0-2, Brian Duignan 0-1, Jason Simpson 0-1.

Kildare: James Burke 0-5 (3 frees), Declan Flaherty 0-3, Gerry Keegan 1-0, Cian Boran 0-2, Rian Boran 0-2, Cathal McCabe 0-2, Paual Dolan 0-1, Brian Byrne 0-1, Johnny Byrne 0-1, David Qulter 0-1.

TEAMS

Offaly: Stephen Corcoran; Dara Maher, Ciarán Burke, Ben Conneely; David King, Jason Sampson, Killian Sampson; Joey Keenaghan, Jack Clancy; Eoghan Cahill, Cillian Kiely, Adrian Cleary; David Nally, Shane Dooley, Paddy Clancy. Subs: Charlie Mitchell for Shane Dooley (half-time); Paddy Delaney for Jack Clancy (45 minutes); Brian Duignan for Paddy Clancy (49 minutes); Liam Langton for Joey Keenaghan (67 minutes).

Kildare: Paddy McKenna; Niall Ó Muineacháin, Simon Leacy, Cian Shanahan; Paul Dolan, Rian Boran, Conan Boran; Johnny Byrne, Cathal McCabe; James Burke, Gerry Keegan, Cian Boran; Brian Byrne, Declan Flaherty, Cathal Dowling. Subs: Jack Travers for Paul Dolan (50 minutes); Mark Delaney for Declan Flaherty (58 minutes); John McKeon for Cian Shanahan (61 minutes); David Qualter for James Burke (blood sub 63-65); David Qualter for Cian Boran (65 minute).

REFEREE: Thomas Walsh, Waterford.