Hyland and Dunne sent off as stuttering Offaly stay up on a crazy day of high drama

ON a crazy, drama packed day, Offaly flirted with calamity before retaining their Division 3 status in the National Football League with a nerve tingling one point win over Limerick in Tullamore on Sunday afternoon.

National Football League Division 3 Round 7

Offaly 1-10

Limerick 0-12

Offaly were pushed to the pin of their collar by already relegated Limerick and were very relieved to get the win – as things turned out Antrim's win over Wicklow in Belfast would have kept Offaly in division 3 but it was tight up there and the home side lived very dangerously here, sailing as close to the wind as you can without toppling over the edge.

Their first half display was very much of a Division 4 standard as Offaly trailed by 0-6 to 0-4 at half time. They improved in the second half and were considerably better as they outscored Limerick by 1-6 to 0-6 but it was still a decidely unconvincing display. They made nowhere near the same volume of errors as the first half, their football was much more productive but they never put their opponents away and could very easily have lost or drawn it.

The game ended on a sour note for Offaly as Dylan Hyland and Nigel Dunne were sent off deep in injury time. Hyland got a black card for a trip on a Limerick player to go with his first half yellow while Dunne got a straight red after getting into an unnecessary fracas with a couple of Limerick players. There was uncertainty afterwards if Hyland had got a straight red for his second offence but Offaly officials were told that he got a black followed by a red.

It was a very messy and unsatisfactory ending as the referee John Gilmartin lost control of proceedings – he had shown Limerick wing forward Robbie Childs a black with six minutes left and he came on just before the end. There was almost no football played in injury time as tempers became frayed and both sides lost their discipline.

Dunne will now miss Offaly's championship game against Laois unless he can get his red card rescinded while it is Hyland's second time to get sent off for a yellow and black in the league. The Raheen man has ran into a lot of disciplinary bother in the past year but you had to feel sorry for him here. His first half yellow was very soft and while his black was a deliberate trip, it was at a stage of the game when Offaly were hanging on by their finger tips and he reacted purely on instinct.

His mounting volume of cards tell their own tale and part of Hyland's problem is that he is quite a poor tackler and fouls clumisly at times.

His discipline, however, is a huge issue for him and it is his fourth red in two years – he got two red cards in the qualifier defeat by Cavan last year, resulting in him missing the opening two league games this year. Apart from that, he is very much producing on the field and he was brilliant here, the single biggest reason Offaly won as he scored five points from play and was one of the few players to go well in the first half when so many were floundering in mediocrity. Cormac Egan also went well that first half while several players raised their games in the second half. David Dempsey drove forward with more ball from defence and John Furlong improved considerably after an uncharactacterically poor first half. Eoin Carroll put in a mountain of work at midfield, Cathal Flynn caused Limerick a lot of problems when running at their defence and Nathan Poland impressed off the bench.

Offaly raised the tempo from the start of the second half as Keith O'Neill (mark) and Hyland levelled it up. They grabbed the initiative with a bizarre 41st minute goal as Limerick goalkeeper Josh Ryan gave the ball away exactly where you can't afford to and Cathal Flynn tapped it into the unguarded net from twenty metres. Offaly fell asleep immediately after that and didn't build on it as Limerick got the next three points to level it up with 46 minutes gone.

Offaly were the better side from here to the end. Good points from Anton Sullivan and Hyland again got Offaly 1-8 to 0-9 ahead and they were able to hold on from here. Nathan Poland's mark put them 1-10 to 0-10 ahead in the 60th minute but Offaly failed to score again.

Their increased work rate forced Limerick into several errors but Offaly lived on their wits at times. They should have killed it off when John Furlong got in on goals in the 64th minute but he took too much out of the ball with the goals beckoning him and Paul Maher got back to make a dramatic save.

Offaly had other chandes to increase their lead and two Limerick points in injury time brought it down to the minimum. By the time the final whistle was blown, the result up north was known and Offaly's ambition of staying in Division 3 was secure even if Limerick snatched a match winning goal.

Offaly's first half display was close to as poor as you can get. They were shockingly poor at times, their energy levels were nowhere near right and it was frustrating to watch with a surfeit of wayward passing, poor shooting and clumsy fouling.

Offaly trailed by 0-6 to 0-4 at half time and that was a fair reflection of the way the half went. They never settled in the first half, didn't generate any real momentum and supporters were beginning to focus on the result up north much earlier than anyone could have anticipated.

Limerick hit the ground running and led by 0-3 to 0-1 after nine minutes. They were 0-4 to 0-2 behind after 22 minutes and it took an excellent point from Dylan Hyland deep in injury time to leave them only two points behind at the break.

Considering how poorly they had played, Offaly were fortunate to be that close at half time. Normally reliable players made mistakes, balls were given away with reckless abandon. An example of Offaly's woes was the 33rd minute when giant Limerick goalkeeper Josh Ryan placed a wayward kickout over the sideline. John Furlong, however, gave the sideline straight to a Limerick player, they swept into attack and Cathal Downes pointed to put them three ahead.

Offaly did begin to win more possession as the half wore on but only Cormac Egan and Dylan Hyland were close to their best form in that first half – Hyland picked up a yellow card early on, unluckily, but kept trying to get on the ball.

The groans from supporters became audible as Offaly's error count crept higher and higher and one would loved to have been a fly on the wall at half time to hear Declan Kelly's speech.

MATCH ANALYSIS

MAN OF THE MATCH

Dylan Hyland (Offaly): Dylan Hyland once again found himself in the wars, getting sent off in injury time. He was, however, the best player on the field, scoring five super points, wearing his heart on his sleeve and showing for everything. Cormac Egan was once again a contender while Eoin Carroll's second half tour de force commanded the utmost of respect.

THE SCORERS

Offaly: Dylan Hyland 0-5, Cathal Flynn 1-0, John Furlong, Anton Sullivan, Jack Bryant (f), Keith O'Neill (m) and Nathan Poland (m) 0-1 each.

Limerick: James Naughton 0-4 (4f), Cathal Downes 0-3, Barry Coleman, Robbie Childs, Peter Nash, Diarmuid Kelly (f) and Shane Costelloe 0-1 each.

THE TEAMS

OFFALY: Ian Duffy (Walsh Island); David Dempsey (Ballycommon), John Furlong (Tullamore), Lee Pearson (Edenderry); Cormac Egan (Tullamore), Declan Hogan (Tullamore), Peter Cunningham (Bracknagh); Eoin Carroll (Cappincur), Jack McEvoy (Clonbullogue); Dylan Hyland (Raheen), Ruari McNamee (Rhode), Jordan Hayes (Edenderry); Cathal Flynn (Ferbane), Jack Bryant (Shamrocks), Keith O'Neill (Clonbullogue). Subs – Anton Sullivan (Rhode) for McNamee (40m), Nigel Dunne (Shamrocks) for Bryant (46m), Nathan Poland (Erin Rovers) for Hayes (50m), Jack O'Brien (Durrow) for Pearson (62m), Kevin McDermott (Durrow) for Sullivan, inj. ( 67m),

LIMERICK: Josh Ryan; Darren O'Doherty, Sean O'Dea, Brian O'Sullivan; Barry Coleman, Iain Corbett, Paul Maher; Tommy Childs, Cillian Fahy; Robbie Childs, Cathal Downes, James Naughton; Jamie Baynham, Danny Neville, Bryan Nix. Subs – Peter Nash for Baynham (35m +2), Shane Costelloe for Corbett (HT), Diarmuid Kelly for Nix (60m),

Referee – John Gilmartin (Sligo).

REFEREE WATCH

John Gilmartin had a steady if mixed game until the last few minutes when it slipped out of his control and became increasingly messy, ragged and racuous. The yellow card he showed Dylan Hyland in the first half was very harsh. Hyland is not a good tackler and his foul on Paul Maher was clumsy but there was nothing malicious or hard in it, Maher seemed to make a meal of it and it did not warrant a yellow - Hyland had fouled earlier and maybe that was a factor in it but he certainly did not deserve a yellow for that particular foul. He gave Robbie Childs a black card in the 64th minute but how he didn't give one to Paul Maher for a blatant pull down on Anton Sullivan moments later was a mystery to everyone in O'Connor Park. Late on, Hyland got what appears to have been a black, though it seemed he had shown a straight red at the time while Nigel Dunne got a straight red as both sets of players lost their discipline.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

Cathal Flynn's 41st minute goal gave Offaly a 1-6 to 0-6 lead and separated the sides at the end.

VENUE WATCH

Everything was perfect in O'Connor Park and it was easy to host the small crowd.

WHAT'S NEXT

Offaly prepare for the championship against Laois now.

STATISTICS

Wides: Offaly – 10 (6 in first half); Limerick - 4 (2 in first half).

Yellow cards: Offaly – 3 (Lee Pearson, Jordan Hayes, Jack McEvoy); Limerick – 3 (Josh Ryan, Paul Maher, Bryan Nix).

Black cards: Offaly – 1 (Dylan Hyland); Limerick – 1 (Robbie Childs).

Red cards: Offaly – 2 (Nigel Dunne and Dylan Hyland, yellow and black).