Offaly GAA waiting for official confirmation on Hyland cards

THE Offaly GAA County Board are waiting for official confirmation of the cards star forward Dylan Hyland received in Sunday's dramatic National Football League Division 3 win over Limerick – the one point win secured Division 3 football for next season though Antrim's win over Wicklow in Belfast meant that Offaly would have stayed up even if they had suffered a defeat.

Offaly ended up with thirteen men as Nigel Dunne got a straight red after getting involved in a fracas while star forward Dylan Hyland went after seemingly getting a black to go with his first half yellow. Initially, it looked like Hyland had got a straight red but the fourth official told Offaly officers afterwards that he had confirmed with the referee that it was a yellow and a black.

The Offaly GAA County Board are awaiting receipt of the referee's report for definitive confirmation of that and have requested it but it looks like Hyland will be okay. A straight red would have ruled him out of the big Leinster Senior Football Championship showdown with Laois later in April. He got his injury time card for a hand trip which was very much a black card offence and it was never a red card one – Nigel Dunne will be suspended for the Laois game unless he can get his red rescinded.

Hyland has been threading a disciplinary tight rope in the past year plus. He also got a yellow and a black in the run away win over Wicklow over two weeks ago – he had effectively got two reds in the Tailteann Cup defeat by Cavan last year as he was reported for two sending off offences in a late dust up, resulting in a three match ban. That resulted in him missing the opening two games in the National Football League this year but he has been brilliant since returning, absolutely instrumental in Offaly surviving. He scored five super points against Limerick on Sunday in another man of the match performance but he has been in the wars as well as playing sensational football – he was taken off in the defeat by Clare after getting into card trouble while he reacted angrily when replaced early on in the defeat in Down but it later emerged that he had hurt his groin in the warm up and was taken off as a precaution.

The Raheen club man was unlucky to be sent off on Sunday. While his second infraction was a definite black card, his first half yellow looked a very soft one. He may have fouled before that but his tackle for the yellow was innocuous, more clumsy than anything and neither malicious or deliberate but the Limerick player, Paul Maher went down holding his head and Hyland was shown yellow.

He is a player that may not be as effective if not playing on the line but his recent record does speak for itself as he has essentially received four red cards in his last six games – those “two” against Cavan and then his dismissal for two yellows and blacks in two of the five league games he played in this year.

If he picks up two more cards in any game, it will be his third time this year and he will be suspended for a game – he will have the option of appealing any of the cards he has received to date in the league at that stage but not until he is facing a ban.

Offaly will be very conscious of the fact that the next game is a championship derby against Laois. Not only is Hyland's Geashill home close to the Laois border and the reality of life in a border hotland is very evident there but there is a lot more at stake for him here and he will be very highly motivated for this. The wider Hyland family come from over the border and his uncles and aunts are great, passionate Laois and Kilcavan supporters - his father Tommy played for Kilcavan for years as well as with Ballinagar near the end of his career, and some of his uncles have featured on Laois squads.

Hyland has been excellent for Offaly over the past few seasons. A superb underage player, he spent a few years in Australia and has established himself as one of the best forwards in Offaly since coming back in 2021. He has brought so much to the table for Offaly. A predominantly left footed player, he is a supreme score taker, capable of kicking audacious, spectacular points and regularly getting over five points from play, in addition to his frees. A bundle of energy, he possesses fierce drive, runs directly at opponents and had a terrific work rate, often chasing players back into defence and dispossessing them. While he can hit players borderline hard at times, part of his problem is that he is not a brilliant tackler. His influence and importance to Offaly is considerable but he simply can't afford to keep picking up cards and he is no use to the team on the sideline with they a man down.

On Sunday, it didn't matter as it was so late and his black card was very much an instinctive thing as Offaly were living on their wits at the time - he reacted purely on the spur of the moment as a defender was coming out with the ball. That can happen in competitive sport but if he had been sent off earlier in the game, Offaly would have struggled to win.

Manager Declan Kelly is very aware of Hyland's disciplinary record, though he didn't comment on this when asked about the sending off. He was unsure of whether it was a straight red or what the implications where when speaking a few minutes after the final whistle. The Kilclonfert man didn't have a good view of the first yellow as it happened over the far side of the pitch but when it was suggested that it was harsh, he remarked:

“The first one, it happened over on the stand side. Among ourselves on the line, we weren't too sure what it was for. It is one of those. Unfortunately you can pick yellow cards up at times for easy enough stuff and they can hurt you.”

Declan Kelly was more relieved than in any way exultant after they secured their place in Division 3 of the National Football League for another year on Sunday.

It had been a real dogfight of a game and after a very below par first half, Offaly scraped home to a 1-10 to 0-12 win. They played much better in the second half but ended up holding on for dear life in one of those crazy type games that can crop up every so often.

It all ended very scrappy and disjointed with nearly ten minutes of injury time played. The referee John Gilmartin had gone over the announced four minutes when a couple of dust ups took place and it took some time before he could resume play – there was very little football played in the injury time as tempers on both sides became frayed.

Kelly reflected: “In fairness to Limerick, even though they were relegated, there was very little in a lot of their games, like a lot of the games in Division 3. We got into a dogfight like a lot of the matches this year and it got a bit scrappy near the end.”

Offaly's first half performance was substandard as they gave away a lot of ball, fouled a lot and their shooting was poor. The manager confessed:

“We looked at it at half time and we gave the ball away thirteen times in the first half. You just can't do that. That is the reality of it. At this level of football, you will get punished and that was one thing we tried to rectify at half time. That was definitely one area we had to work on. You just can't give the ball away.”

The ball was given away in the first half by some players who are normally very efficient on it.

“It was one of those. A couple of players who would normally be very good on the ball and we gave away a couple of cheap scores.”

Kelly was much happier with the second half as Offaly overturned a 0-6 to 0-4 half time deficit to win.

“We definitely kept the ball better. Even in the first half, the chances we had were scoreable. They were in the areas to shoot. Just the execution wasn't what it needed to be. We would have spoke about that at half time too but we told them to keep shooting. They weren't in corners or outside the scoring area. In fairness in the second half, the execution and the finishing was a good bit better.”

He knew Antrim were beating Wicklow at half time and had an idea what way it was going later on. Ultimately he was glad that they stayed up.

“We would always have said with the league structure, we had a break of a week after the first four and then three in a row. At that stage, we had five games played in six weeks and you review where you are. Losing the first four put us out of the running for promotion and we had to see where we were. Even today, Limerick were already relegated but there were still three teams that could easily have been relegated. Ultimately after four games when you had no points on the board, it was to get points and stay up.”

Offaly have injuries worries ahead of the April 13 showdown with Laois in Portlaoise. Ballycommon's Aidan Bracken didn't play on Sunday after injuring his shoulder in the draw with Sligo the previous Saturday and he faces a race against time – playing his first year at senior county level, Bracken had impressed with a series of very solid displays at corner back. Kelly revealed that he got a scan last week and they will have a better idea of where he is when he goes through rehab work with the physio this week. Anton Sullivan went off on Sunday when he pulled up with an apparent hamstring injury with a few minutes left. Sullivan had injected new life into Offaly when he came on and the sudden way he pulled up raised immediate fears that he could have a serious tear. While he was able to walk afterwards, Kelly said they will have to wait and see the “level of tear” he suffered.

“Unfortunately, you pick up knocks now and you can be looking at a few weeks. We are only three weeks out from Laois. The games come very quick. I will know more over the next 7-8 days.”

Are you happy enough in general.

“Overall, the last few games was about getting results to stay up and we have done that. Now it is a quick turnaround. We will assess where we are this week with bodies and bits and pieces and Laois is coming down the road at us hard and fast.”