First half goals decisive as Waterford overcome battling Offaly

THREE first half goals were decisive as Waterford overcame a battling Offaly side in the opening game of the Allianz National Hurling League at Glenisk O'Connor Park on Sunday.

Allianz National Hurling League Division 1A

WATERFORD 3-20

OFFALY 0-17

The final scoreline does not give a true reflection of the game and flattered Waterford to an extent. With 64 minutes gone on the clock only four points separated the sides but Offaly had been reduced to 14 men 10 minutes earlier when Leon Fox was red carded and as they tired in the latter stages, Waterford rattled off eight points without reply to stretch the winning margin out to 12 points, which doesn't do justice to Offaly's efforts.

Those first half goals were killer blows for Offaly, who had started the game brightly and twice led by four points towards the end of the first quarter. Waterford's first goal had brought them back level in the 17th minute and they pushed two ahead but Offaly were back within a point when Stephen Bennett fired home two goals inside a minute 10 minutes before the break and suddenly Offaly were eight points down.

Trailing by 3-8 to 0-10 at half time having played with wind advantage and having lost top scorer Eoghan Cahill to injury, it looked ominous for Offaly but to their great credit they came out fighting at the start of the second half and scored the first four points to cut the gap to three. A couple of bad wides at that point interrupted their momentum and when Offaly got close Waterford seemed to be able to pull ahead again. The red card for Leon Fox after 53 minutes was another blow but Offaly did get the gap down to three again after 56 minutes but the goal they needed never looked like materialising and Waterford pulled away again in those closing minutes.

Waterford were able to empty their bench and a number of their subs were among their 13 scorers from play. In all 3-17 of their 3-20 final tally came from play.

In contrast Offaly only managed seven points from play and Eimhin Kelly was the only Offaly player to score more than once from play. After conceding those three first half goals, they were always going to need goals themselves in the second half to get back into it, but despite some good play, they never seriously threatened Shaun O'Brien in the Waterford goal.

While the final scoreline might not look good, Offaly can take some positives from the game. They fought very well to get back into it in the second half when at half time it looked like they were totally out of it and they showed some good character. They had some good performances throughout with Ciaran Burke, Cillian Kiely, Jason Sampson, Cathal King, Killian Sampson and David Nally all enjoying some good moments.

Conor Prunty was excellent in the Waterford defence, where Jack Fagan and Mark Fitzgerald also did well. They also had strong contributions from Stephen Bennett, Patrick Curran and sub Seamus Fitzgerald.

Offaly did well in the first quarter but were relying on Eoghan Cahill to supply the bulk of their scores from free. Despite having the wind, a single point from David Nally was their only score from play from the forwards in the first half, with all three members of the half back line notching a single point each as well. They also hit too many wides in that first half, notching a tally a 10, twice that of their opponents. They ended with 14 while Waterford also wasted chances in the second half and ended with 12 wides.

Both sides yielded up the puck outs in the first half, but moreso Offaly, who retreated very deep on every Waterford puck out and allowed the Deise to build out of defence under little or no pressure and that enabled them to gain some momentum.

Eoghan Cahill had Offaly in front after a minute from a free following a foul on Brian Duignan. Padraig Fitzgerald levelled after four minutes and Patrick Curran put Waterford in front a minute later but Offaly responded well and scored the next five points in succession, three of them coming from Eoghan Cahill frees with Killian Sampson and David Nally also pointing to leave Offaly 0-6 to 0-2 in front after 13 minutes.

Scores from Patrick Curran and Cillian Kiely, with a great point from the sideline near the middle of the field, left four points in it again after 15 minutes. Stephen Bennett pulled one back for Waterfod and then Jack Prendergast was allowed to run way too far through the Offaly defence before offloading to Sean Walsh and he fired low to the Offaly net. The same player added a point and Kieran Bennett stretched the lead to two after 20 minutes.

Eoghan Cahill (free) and Jack Prendergast exchanged points but then it was went wrong for Offaly. Stephen Bennett tried to take a quick free to a colleague but fumbled the ball but in a scramble the ball came back to him and he shot to the far corner of the Offaly net. Straight from the puck out Waterford won back the ball and almost from the same position Stephen Bennett's shot took a deflection off Ben Conneely and ended up in the Offaly net and it was 3-7 to 0-8 with 26 minutes gone.

Eoghan Cahill added another free but was soon forced off injured. Jason Sampson added another good point before a Stephen Bennett free left Waterford 3-8 to 0-10 in front at half time.

Offaly made a good start to the second half and Brian Duignan pointed two frees in the first four minutes. Eimhin Kelly and Brian Duignan added two more and the lead was down to three points 10 minutes into the half.

It took Waterford 12 minutes to get off the mark in the second half but Seamus Fitzgerald hit two quickfire points. Offaly then suffered a major blow when Leon Fox was red carded at the midway point of the half but they got the lead down to three again after 21 minutes with another Brian Duignan free and a point from Eimhin Kelly. Mark Fitzgerald and Michael Kiely found the target again for Waterford before Brian Duignan pointed another Offaly free but that was their last score. Waterford hit the last eight points as Offaly tired with Neil Montgomery, Michael Kiely, Patrick Curran, Jack Fagan, Conor Sheehan, two Stephen Bennett frees and Shane Bennett all adding to their tally to give them a flattering 12 point winning margin.

MATCH ANALYSIS

THE TEAMS

WATERFORD: Shaun O'Brien; Mark Fitzgerald, Conor Prunty, Tom Barron; Jack Fagan, Calum Lyons, P.J. Fanning; Kieran Bennett, Paddy Leavey; Patrick Curran, Michael Kiely, Jack Prendergast; Padraig Fitzgerald, Sean Walsh, Stephen Bennett. Subs. Conor Ryan (for Calum Lyons, inj, 35 mins), Seamus Fitzgerald (for Kieran Bennett, 43 mins), Patrick Fitzgerald (for Sean Walsh, 54 mins), Neil Montgomery (for Padraig Fitzgerald, 60 mins), Conor Sheehan (for Patrick Curran, 68 mins), Shane Bennett (for Michael Kiely, 71 mins).

OFFALY: Stephen Corcoran; Ben Conneely, Ciaran Burke, Sam Bourke; Killian Sampson, Cillian Kiely, Jason Sampson; Cathal King, Leon Fox; David Nally, Eimhin Kelly, Dan Bourke; Charlie Mitchell, Brian Duignan, Eoghan Cahill. Subs. David King (for Eoghan Cahill, inj, 29 mins), Jack Clancy (for Dan Bourke, 39 mins), Donal Shirley (for Ben Conneely, inj, 58 mins).

REFEREE: Kevin Jordan (Tipperary)

MAN OF THE MATCH

Ciaran Burke was excellent in the Offaly defence and Stephen Bennett came up with the important scores for Waterford but I'm giving the nod to Waterford full back Conor Prunty. He was in total command around the square and moved forward well with the ball when Waterford were in possession and let very little get past him.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

Those two goals inside a minute from Stephen Bennett in the 26th minute of the first half were decisive. They gave Waterford a cushion and while Offaly battled back manfully in the second half, they could never close the gap.

REFEREE WATCH

Kevin Jordan did a good job overall and got all the main decisions right. He pulled overcarrying on a number of occasions and liaised well with his umpires and linesmen.

WHAT’S NEXT

Offaly travel to Wexford Park to take on Wexford in the second round next Saturday while Waterford host Clare in Walsh Park on Sunday.

VENUE WATCH

On a breezy but dry day, O'Connor Park looked well. The pitch was soft in places and cut up a bit with the ball getting caught in the ground on occasions. Otherwise as usual they had all arrangements well in place to cater for a decent sized crowd.

STATISTICS

Wides; Waterford 12 (5 in first half) Offaly 14 (10 in first half)

Yellow Cards: Waterford 3 (Mark Fitzgerald, Padraig Fitzgerald, Jack Fagan) Offaly 3 (Leon Fox, Cillian Kiely, Ciaran Burke)

Black Cards: None

Red Cards: Waterford 0 Offaly 1 (Leon Fox)

THE SCORERS

Waterford; Stephen Bennett (2-4, 0-3 frees), Sean Walsh (1-1), Patrick Curran (0-3), Seamus Fitzgerald, Michael Kiely (0-2 each), Padraig Fitzgerald, Kieran Bennett, Jack Prendergast, Mark Fitzgerald, Neil Montgomery, Jack Fagan, Conor Sheehan, Shane Bennett (0-1 each).

Offaly; Eoghan Cahill (0-6, frees), Brian Duignan (0-5, 0-4 frees), Eimhin Kelly (0-2), Killian Sampson, David Nally, Cillian Kiely, Jason Sampson (0-1 each).