Kilkenny click into gear in second half as fired up Offaly experience “satisfactory defeat”
A DEFEAT is always a defeat but Offaly had plenty of positives to grasp on as Kilkenny took two predictable National Hurling League points in Nowlan Park on Sunday.
National Hurling League Division 1 Group A Round 3
Kilkenny 1-26
Offaly 1-19
Conmpeting at a much higher grade then their championship level, Division 1 hurling is all about performances, putting their best foot forward and competing to the best of their ability for Offaly. They are certainly doing that, having a fine draw with Wexford in the last round, in a game that should have been won and continuing on their good work here.
Offaly's commuitment and desire was exemplary and they also produced plenty of really good hurling. They had an excellent first half with a strong wind on their back, playing almost flawless hurling and they were full value for their interval lead of 0-14 to 0-8.
Even though 14 points was a very good return and six points a sizeable lead, no one in the Offaly support was getting carried away about the possibility of a shock win. The wind was sufficiently strong and Kilkenny had missed enough first half chances to suggest that the “natural order” would restore in the second half.
That duly happened, almost with an air of inevitability but even though they ended up well beaten, it was still a very commendable display by Offaly. They kept fighting for everything, they forced Kilkenny to work hard and they tried their best to limit the damage.
Kilkenny were different gravy in the second half. They got their shooting eye in and got some breathtaking scores. Offaly's problem was that they couldn't hold their lead for long enough to give themselves a genuine chance of winning. Kilkenny got two points within 45 seconds, had the gap back to two within five minutes, one two minutes later and at that stage, everyone knew that Offaly would not be able to withstand the onslaught.
Walter Walsh's stunning 43rd minute point levelled it up at 0-15 each and Adrian Mullen put Kilkenny ahead a minute later. They were never going to lose it from here though Offaly did have some good breaks. They should have got a goal in the 47th minute when Adam Screeney brilliantly set up David Nally but the Belmont man didn't get a clean strike as Darren Brennan made an easy save.
Kilkenny were 0-18 to 0-15 up at that stage and it was all over as a contest a minute later as Eoin Cody got in for a stunning goal, showing sublime skill and blasting the sliotar to the roof of the net. Offaly lived on scraps in the second half, only managing five points and Kilkenny had the luxury of emptying their bench. They were 1-24 to 0-18 ahead when Offaly got a richly deserved consolation goal in the 65th minute, Charlie Mitchell finishing well after Oisin Kelly did well to set him up.
Kilkenny ended up comfortable winners and were in no danger in the closing quarter but as defeats go, this was a satisfactory one for Offaly. They can be happy with their attitude, work rate and plenty of their hurling – when Kilkenny got on top in the second half and raised their intensity levels, Offaly's error count did creep higher and their touch was certainly not as good as the first half. They are, however, competing well, better than many expected and they have not shipped any really bad beating yet – that is all people want at the moment and Offaly are going okay.
There were plenty of encouraging things for Offaly to reflect on and some of the younger players did very well. Mark Troy made a couple of great saves in goals and was a very reliable last line of defence. Adam Screeney also oozed class in the attack – not every ball stuck to him but he won some audacious turnovers, showed some breathtaking moments of skill and he will adapt to this level. Dan Ranvenhill also had some good moments and Dan Bourke showed up well when introduced. Elsewhere Ben Conneely had an excellent game at full back. Cillian Kiely was a big loss when he went off injured in the first half as he had been playing well and Jack Clancy defended well in the first half. Charlie Mitchell played well in attack, scoring 1-2 from play while Eoghan Cahill had his custumary good game, top scoring with ten points, nine frees.
The quality of Offaly's first half display clearly caught Kilkenny by surprise as the home side did very little wrong, using possession very efficiently.
They were in no way flattered by that half time lead of 0-14 to 0-8 even though Kilkenny missed a lot. Kilkenny had eight first half wides and probably half a dozen of them should have been points with Adrian Mullen, Cian Kenny, David Blanchfield, Mikey Carey and Darragh Corcoran all having particularly bad misses. We knew that once Kilkenny started to find the range Offaly would be in bother and they duly did that in the second half.
Still it was a very satisfactory first half by Offaly as they continued the encouraging form they showed in their previous game in Wexford. It was 0-2 each after five minutes but as Kilkenny's wide count mounted, Offaly found the range spectacularly, scoring five without reply for a 0-7 to 0-2 lead after fourteen minutes. Adrian Mullen, Kilkenny's only forward to click in the first half, halted the rot but Offaly got another three without reply for a shock 0-11 to 0-3 lead after 22 minutes.
The pick of those was a huge point from Cillian Kiely from distance as he made full use of the strong wind but Offaly suffered a blow when the Kilcormac-Killoughey man limped off with a leg injury a few minutes later - Killian Sampson went back to centre back and did well. Kilkenny's shooting improved a bit as the half wore on, though they still did silly things – taking one short free when an easy point was there for the taking wtih Offlay sweeping into attack and Cahill converting a free.
A six point half time lead represented a very good 35 minutes for Offaly, though it was also clear they would have to fight a rearguard action in the second half and would not hold out.
MATCH ANALYSIS
MAN OF THE MATCH
Adrian Mullen (Kilkenny): Adrian Mullen had a superb game for Kilkenny. He scored six great points from play, three of them in the first half when his colleagues were firing blanks. He set up other scores, could have got a couple more points and Offaly never got to grips with him.
THE SCORERS
Kilkenny: Billy Drennan 0-11 (8f and 2 65s), Adrian Mullen 0-6, Eoin Cody 1-1, John Donnelly 0-2, Darren Brennan (f), David Blanchfield, Shane Murphy, Kevin Blanchfield, Timmy Clifford, Walter Walsh 0-1 each.
Offaly: Eoghan Cahill 0-10 (9f), Charlie Mitchell 1-2, Dan Ravenhill 0-2, Jason Sampson, Cillian Kiely, Eimhin Kelly, Jack Clancy, Adam Screeney 0-1 each.
THE TEAMS
OFFALY: Mark Troy (Durrow); Cathal King (Carrig-Riverstown), Ben Conneely (St Rynagh's), Sam Bourke (Durrow); Jason Samspson (Shinrone), Cillian Kiely (Kilcormac-Killoughey), Jack Clancy (Belmont); Eimhin Kelly (Lusmagh), David Nally (Belmont);,Eoghan Cahill (Birr), Killian Sampson (Shinrone), Dan Ravenhill (Durrow); Adam Screeney (Kilcormac-Killoughey), Brian Duignan (Durrow), Charlie Mitchell (Kilcormac-Killoughey). Subs – Dan Bourke (Durrow) nfor Kiely, inj. (26m), Paddy Delaney (Kinnitty) for Clancy (43m), Oisin Kelly (Belmont) for Nally (54m), Dara Maher (Shinrone) for Ravenhill (65m),
KILKENNY: Darren Brennan; Mikey Butler, Conor Delaney, Tommy Walsh; David Blanchfield, Darragh Corcoran, Shane Murphy; Peter McDonald, Mikey Carey; Adrian Mullen, Cian Kenny, John Donnelly; Billy Drennan, Liam Blanchfield, Eoin Cody. Subs – Walter Walsh for McDonald (26m), Martin Keoghan for Walsh, inj.(57m), Timmy Clifford for Liam Blanchfield (59m), Kevin Blanchfeld for Kenny (62m), Padraic Moylan for Carey (66m),
Referee – Michael Kennedy, Tipperary.
REFEREE WATCH
Kilkenny's supporters were not happy with some of the frees Michael Kennedy gave Offaly in the first half and it did take them a while to nwin a free. Over the course of the 70 minutes, however, it all balanced out and Kilkenny got their share. Kennedy was a solid game and there were no big flash points.
MOMENT OF THE MATCH
Eoin Cody's spectacular goal in the 48th minute was worth the journey alone. It also gave them a 1-18 to 0-15 lead and Offaly were never going to haul that back.
VENUE WATCH
Nowlan Park was in its usual good condition and Kilkenny had plenty of stewards on duty to manage the fixture.
WHAT'S NEXT
Offaly have a week off before they welcome Cork to Tullamore on Sunday week.
STATISTICS
Wides: Offaly - 11 (5 in first half); Kilkenny - 11 (8 in first half).
Yellow cards: Offaly – 2 (Jason Sampson and Dan Ravenhill); Kilkenny – 3 (Mikey Butler, Conor Delaney and Cian Kenny).
Black cards: 0.
Red cards: 0.