Disappointing end to disappointing campaign for battling Offaly

IN many ways, this defeat summed up Offaly's campaign in the Leinster U-20 Football Championship. A promising side, albeit hamstrung by injuries, never quite got motoring and their season came to a predictable end when an experimental Dublin proved too strong in Glenisk O'Connor Park.

Leinster U-20 Football Championship Group 2 Round 3

Dublin 1-15

Offaly 1-9

Offaly needed to win and Louth to beat Wicklow up the country but they didn't fulfill their end of the bargain as they started poorly and then fell away late on.

Offaly did battle very hard here and can hold their heads up high but in tune with their entire campaign, it didn't quite happen for them. They could have been very close at the finish and were not six points the worse team but they conceded the last four points in the last five minutes and ended up a fairly well beaten team.

Expected to come out of their group before the start, a fortunate draw in Louth and a self inflicted defeat against Wicklow left them with a mountain to climb. They went at it valiantly and a win looked possible here for much of the game but ultimately Dublin, with a handful of new faces from the side that destroyed Louth last week, had too much in the tank.

It looked fierce bleak for Offaly early on as Dublin powered into a 1-4 to 0-1 lead after thirteen minutes. The goal came from midfielder Greg McEneaney who had way too much space to run through and Offaly seemed to be in for a long evening.

They did very well in the second quarter, knuckling down all over the field, opening up Dublin and asking serious questions of them. They got three of the next five points to stop the Blue flow and should have been much closer, if not ahead. Harry Plunkett had a mixed day from frees, scoring four points, one from play, but missing a couple while Jamie Guing was also guilty a couple of misses.

Offaly also had a couple of half to decent chances of goal. Jamie Guing almost got through in the 10th minute but hadn't the pace to get away and spilled the ball while Sean Conway also had sight of the net ten minutes later but got bottled up and passed to Niall Furlong who pointed.

Offaly finally breached the Dublin cover in the 30th minute and it was worth the admission free. It was a Furlong manufactured goal, a stunning score as John won the ball at midfield, sped at the Dublin defence, interchanged with younger brother Niall, and found the net with a low strike to the near post.

It left Offaly 1-6 to 1-4 behind at half time and very much in the hunt. They were the better side for the opening ten minutes plus in the second half. Geordi O'Meara took over free taking duties and got a couple of excellent ones as well as a point from play. Jamie Guing got a super score from play and Offaly were ahead, 1-8 to 1-7 after 39 minutes.

That was the peak of it for them. Dublin got four in a row to lead by 1-11 to 1-8 after 46 minutes. O'Meara cut it to the minimum with a great 50th minute free but Offaly then ran out of steam. Dublin got the closing four points, three of them in injury time and Offaly had nothing left to offer.

It is hard to escape the feeling that there was more in this team, that they weren't as bad as results have shown. Injuries were a factor. Marcas Dalton missed the entire campaign and Cormac Egan and Keith O'Neill were absent in Louth. Tom Hyland only came on as a late sub that day, starting the next two games and improving with each outing. Egan was sensational against Wicklow but it didn't happen for him here as he rarely got into open space and made a couple of handling errors. O'Neill came on as a second half sub in the last two games and while he moved better here, his influence was way less than it would be if fully fit.

The squad, however, clearly tried hard and produced flashes of very good football. Daire McDaid was excellent in defence where Geordi O'Meara and Tom Hyland showed up well while Diarmuid Finneran tackled and tracked very diligently. John Furlong showed his quality at times at midfield while Cathal Ryan was very good in possession.

Up front, Offaly struggled and were unable to unlock the Dublin defence, though they should have scored more.

MATCH ANALYSIS

MAN OF THE MATCH

Daire McDaid (Offaly): It is unusual to pick a player from a side beaten by six points but Daire McDaid once again caught the eye. The Tullamore man defended tigerishly, showed a great capacity to get out of tight corners, attacked regularly and used the ball very well, apart from a couple of occasions.

THE SCORERS

Dublin: Ross Keogh 0-4 (3f), Greg McEneaney 1-0, Darragh Dempsey 0-3 (1m), Luke Breatnach and Luke Ward 0-2 each, Dan O'Leary, Ethan Dunne, Kalem O'Brien and Conor Dolan 0-1 each.

Offaly: Harry Plunkett 0-4 (3f), Geordi O'Meara 0-3 (2f), John Furlong 1-0, Niall Furlong and Jamie Guing 0-1 each.

THE TEAMS

OFFALY: David Dunican (Ferbane); Diarmuid O'Neill (Clonbullogue), Diarmuid Finneran (Ballinagar), Tom Hyland (Bracknagh); Geordi O'Meara (Ballinagar), Dylan Byrne (Edenderry), Daire McDaid (Tullamore); John Furlong (Tullamore), Cathal Ryan (Daingean); Niall Furlong (Tullamore), Harry Plunkett (Tullamore), Luke Bourke (Tullamore); Cormac Egan (Tullamore), Sean Conway (Ballycommon), Jamie Guing (Clonbullogue). Subs – Keith O'Neill (Clonbullogue) for Conway (38m), Alex Egan (Clara) for Niall Furlong (48m), Pauric Robbins (Tubber) for Bourke (48m), Dylan Kilmurray (Rhode) for Diarmuid O'Neill (54m), Ben Heffernan (Tullamore) for O'Meara (57m).

DUBLIN: Hugh O'Sullivan; Eoghan O'Connor-Flanagan, Theo Clancy, Finn Bruton; Dan O'Leary, Dara McGrath, Alex Gavin; Ethan Dunne, Greg McEneaney; Conor Dolan, Luke Ward, Tom Brennan; Darragh Dempsey, Ross Keogh, Kalem O'Brien. Subs – Andrew Smith for O'Sullivan, inj. (22m), Luke Breatnach for O'Brien (HT), Caelum Moriarty for Brennan (HT), Seamus Smith for Dolan (57m), Michael McDonald for McGrath (45m).

Referee – Kieran Harris (Kildare).

REFEREE WATCH

Kieran Harris refereed it well. He knew what he was at and there wasn't much contentious here, though he did seem to lose his way a bit late on and the quota of questionable decisions crept up.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

Greg McEneaney's 13th minute goal gave Dublin a 1-4 to 0-1 lead and had Offaly chasing the game at an early stage.

VENUE WATCH

The O'Connor Park pitch is in pristine condition lately and the care taken of it in between games is obvious to all spectators. Compliments also to the County Board who handed out a free programme at the turnstiles. The programme provided the basic team and referee's details and is all that is required. Some counties have been fleecing supporters lately, charging up to €3 for a glossy programme that provides nothing more than the same information, apart from a few advertising plugs. They provide zero value for money with no reading material and it is good that Offaly have steered away from this – county finals in club championships and big senior intercounty games is time enough for bigger programmes.

WHAT'S NEXT

Offaly's campaign is over.

STATISTICS

Wides: Offaly – 3 (3 in first half); Dublin - 2 (1 in first half).

Yellow cards: Offaly – 1 (Cormac Egan); Dublin – 1 (Luke Ward).

Black cards: 0.

Red cards: 0.