Nightmare stuff as Offaly suffer humiliating defeat against exiles

OFFALY'S worse nightmare unfolded in front of their disbelieving eyes as they suffered a traumatic, humiliating and embarrassing Tailtean Cup defeat at the hands of London in O'Connor Park on Saturday afternoon.

All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Tailteann Cup Group 4 Round 1

London 2-20

Offaly 0-12

It was as bad a performance as an Offaly football team has suffered in a long time, their energy levels and body language miles off from the throw in, their work rate way below what was needed as they suffered a defeat that will haunt everyone involved for many a long day.

Offaly's appetite for second chance and second tier competitions has been disgraceful in the past but no one saw this fiasco emerging against the exiles who were not one little bit flattered by the size of their win.

The 2-20 to 0-12 scoreline says it all as Offaly went down with a whimper and manager Declan Kelly is left with a huge task on his hands to pick things up for the next two games away to Limerick next Saturday and against Down, on neutral turf.

It all made for very difficult viewing in the second half as London built on their very solid first half, opened daylight and then pulled out of sight. Offaly went down without a fight, never looked like winning this one, never generated any momentum and it really was a shameful performance.

There was absolutely no redeeming factors in it, no excuses and no hiding places for anyone involved. It was just a terrible, terrible result and display and Offaly owe their supporters and everyone who backs them in any way a couple of really big displays in their next two games.

With the top two teams coming out of each group along with three of the fourth third placed teams, Offaly are staring a sickening early exit in the face. Two wins will probably put them through while the scale of this defeat greatly reduces their prospects of claiming one of the best third placed qualification spots.

Everyone is entitled to an off day but this was on a different planet from that. It was just not acceptable and for Offaly to treat a serious competition with this level of disdain is just not on. They were miles off their championship level intensity and the outcome was a truly shocking afternoon.

First things first, and hats off to London who fully deserved their win. They were the better side all day, and played some very good football when they opened up as the winning post loomed into sight early in the second half. When the questions were asked, Offaly found they had no response, nothing in the tank and their football went from bad to worse as the game went on.

It was obvious from the start that Offaly had not got their attitude right and that a shock was possible. Their work rate was not high enough, their concentration levels poor and their application of the basics way off.

Even with all that, the alarm bells didn't truly go off until a couple of minutes into the second half. In the first half, it was clear that Offaly were in bother, even though they were against the wind. Cathal Donoghue kicked the opening point and they had a couple of minutes of early pressure but this set the template for them. London packed their defence, dragging every man back and Offaly struggled pitifully at breaking them down, passing the ball around and rarely breaking the line at pace.

London on the other hand were able to quickly get into the shooting zone when they did attack forward. They were helped by a very loose Offaly defence, who just didn't get tight enough while their tackling was poor and London got four points on the trot for a 0-4 to 0-1 lead after eight minutes.

Offaly were unlucky to be denied a goal in the 11th minute when Keith O'Neill was penalised for overcarrying as he raced through and blasted to the net. O'Neill is exceptionally fast and it looked a harsh decision. It was an important turning point, though Offaly got three points to level it up by the 20th minute – the equaliser from a Jack Bryant free came after David Dempsey had been black carded for a block on Michael Carroll.

London got the next three in a row as Offaly went backwards again before points from Dylan Hyland and an Eoin Carroll mark brought the gap back to a point.

Daniel Clarke's point made it 0-8 to 0-6 at half time and even though Offaly were in a hugely difficult position, we still believed that they would get the finger out and be able to win in the second half.

Their situation, however, became critical almost immediately as Aidan McLoughlin and Shay Rafter kicked points to put them four ahead after 37 minutes. Jack Bryant replied for Offaly but again, they were sluggish and sloppy in all sectors. London turned a three point lead back into four on three more occasions and then got their first goal after calamitious defending in the 49th minute with Ian Duffy not getting to a ball that the defence should have dealt with to the left of the Park Avenue goal. The back was kept in with Stephen Dornan accredited with the final touch to give London a 1-13 to 0-9 lead.

London went for the jugular spectacularly, adding two points for good measure and there was not one second when Offaly looked like salvaging it. The winners were 1-17 to 0-12 ahead when Ciaran Diver got their second goal in the 65th minute and they coasted home from here.

Offaly's afternoon was summed up when sub Dan Molloy got a crazy red card in the 67th minute, just one minute after coming onto the field – Molloy had no complaints for a challenge that left Michael Miller on the ground and the sight of Offaly supporters heading for the exits well before the final whistle told its own story.

The only “positive” from this defeat is that Offaly were collectively so bad that individual inquests and blame is pointless. It was a collective collapse and while a couple of players did work hard and had bright moments – Cormac Egan chased back to prevent one late goal when many of his team mates had given up -, there is not one who can excuse himself for this quite horrific afternoon.

Offaly were outscored by 2-12 to 0-6 in the second half and tellingly, never managed to get two scores in a row.

MATCH ANALYSIS

MAN OF THE MATCH

Ciaran Diver (London): Ciaran Diver was brilliant for London, getting their first three points as well as scoring a goal. He went out of the game for periods but was excellent on the ball, setting up other scores. Shay Rafter also had a super game for a London side who performed at their peak.

THE SCORERS

London: Ciaran Diver 1-5 (3f), Shay Rafter 0-4, Stephen Dornan 1-1, Daniel Clarke, Ruari Rafferty and Joshua Obahor 0-2 each, Eoin Walsh, Aidan McLoughlin, Liam Gallagher (f) and Michael Carroll 0-1 each.

Offaly: Dylan Hyland 0-4 (2f), Jack Bryant (1f) and Nigel Dunne (1f) 0-2 each, Ian Duffy ('45'), Peter Cunningham, Eoin Carroll (mark), Cathal Donoghue 0-1 each.

THE TEAMS

OFFALY: OFFALY: Ian Duffy (Walsh Island); Lee Pearson (Edenderry), David Dempsey (Ballycommon), John Furlong (Tullamore); Cormac Egan (Tullamore), Peter Cunningham (Bracknagh), Rory Egan (Edenderry) ; Eoin Carroll (Cappincur), Cathal Donoghue (Oughterard); Dylan Hyland (Raheen), Cathal Flynn (Ferbane), Jordan Hayes (Edenderry); Cian Farrell (Edenderry), Keith O'Neill (Clonbullogue), Jack Bryant (Shamrocks). Subs – Jack O'Brien (Durrow) for Rory Egan (42m), Nigel Dunne (Shamrocks) for Flynn (44m), Ruari McNamee (Rhode) for Farrell (47m), Nathan Poland (Erin Rovers) for Donoghue (50m), Dan Molloy (St Brigid's) for Dempsey (66m),

LONDON: Andrew Walsh; Eoin Walsh, Daire Rooney, Ciaran McKeon; Oran Kerr, Shay Rafter, Aidan McLoughlin; Stephen Dornan, Liam Gallagher; Michael Carroll, Daniel Clarke, Ciaran Diver; Joshua Obahor, Ruari Rafferty, Fiontan Eastwood. Subs – Michael Miller for Kerr (57m), Cahir Healy for McLoughlin (60m), Tighe Barry for McKeon (63m), DJ O'Flaherty for Rafter (63m), Joseph McGill for Rafferty (71m),.

Referee – Derek O'Mahoney (Tipperary).

REFEREE WATCH

A mixed bag from Derek O'Mahoney. He wasn't bad but the number of debatable decisions was a bit too high while the decision to disallow Keith O'Neill's first half goal for overcarrying looked harsh.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

Offaly's appetite for a battle was just not present but it completely went after London's first goal in the 49th minute.

VENUE WATCH

The recent good weather had O'Connor Park looking its best while as expected, there was a small crowd present.

WHAT'S NEXT

Offaly travel to Limerick next Saturday for round 2 while London meet Down.

STATISTICS

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

Yellow cards: Offaly – 3 (Jack O'Brien, Peter Cunningham and Dylan Hyland); London – 1 (Fiontann Eastwood).

Black cards: Offaly – 1 (David Dempsey); London – 0.

Red cards: Offaly – 1 (Dan Molloy); London 0.