Early sending off crucial as impressive Offaly take venue out of equation with easy win

A LOT of the pre-match talk may have focused on the Hawkfield venue but the discussion during and after was very much about the remarkable superiority of Offaly who coasted to a surprisingly comfortable win – one that was even more comfortable than the final score suggests as Kildare got a couple of soft goals and Offaly very clearly took their foot off the accelerator for much of the second half.

Joe McDonagh Cup round 2

Offaly 2-22

Kildare 3-11

Having drawn with Kildare in the group stages of the league and then been ran to the wire in the Division 2 final, Offaly expected a tough battle, nothwithstanding the scale of the hammering Kildare got in their Joe McDonagh Cup opener against Carlow a week earlier.

The poverty of Kildare's performance coupled with a quality one by Offaly took all the heat out of any debate about the venue – that coupled with the fact that a much smaller than expected crowd turned up here, with ample room and tickets still available up to throw in time, meant that it was a moot subject.

Kildare's fall from looking a very decent side in the league to one barely able to function was very surprising but credit to Offaly for a very good display. They were hungry, sharp and clearly eager to do the right thing.

They were helped greatly by the 12th minute dismissal of Kildare's Mark Delaney. Delaney saw red just moments after Ben Conneely had deflected a Paul Divilly handpass over the bar – had he allowed it to go into the net, it would have been disallowed but Conneely didn't know who was behind him. Delaney was sanctioned after the referee was called by an umpire and that left Kildare with a mountain to climb.

That point left Kildare trailing by 0-5 to 0-3 and they had just about being holding their own up to this. The extra man allowed Stephen Corcoran to take short puckouts to Ciaran Burke and Jason Sampson who either found a man or horsed high ball into the danger zone. It meant that Kildare were on the back foot but even that doesn't explain their volume of errors, the poor wides and the amount of balls dropped short.

Once Offaly scented blood they were ruthless. They got three points and Cillian Kiely got in for a 16th minute goal to make it 1-8 to 0-3,

They were 1-12 to 0-3 ahead when Kildare got a goal against the run of play in the 26th minute, James Burke finishing after Corcoran saved well from Gerry Keegan. Offaly continued to dominate and were 1-17 to 1-4 ahead when they conceded a very bad second goal in the 35th minute. Stephen Corcoran probably should have saved Cian Boran's shot but the bulk of the blame belongs to Jack Screeney who went on a long solo run when the ball should have been sent in, ran into a cul-de-sac and was dispossessed by Rian Boran – Screeney did defend very solidly apart from that one kamikaze run.

However, a 1-18 to 2-6 half time lead still had Offaly in complete control and Kildare in need of a miracle.

That was never going to be happen and while Offaly were sluggish at the restart, they soon put the issue to bed. A clinically taken Eoghan Cahill goal in the 47th minute put Offaly 2-19 to 2-6 ahead and knocked all resistance out of Kildare – Paddy Clancy broke forward at pace and passed to Ben Conneely who did the right thing by laying the ball off to Cahill, resisting any temptation to go for his own goal.

Once again Kildare did not help their own cause, hitting harmless wides and making way too many errors. Offaly were much more efficient, making only a handful of real mistakes and it was a very good display by them.

With the game gone from them, Kildare did keep plugging away and almost got in for a 54th minute goal with Stephen Corcorcan making a good sace frm Brian Byrne. Paddy McKenna's point from the '65' was one of three in a row as Kildare got it back to 2-20 to 2-9 but Cillian Kiely ended Offaly's brief drought with another excellent point and they coasted home from here.

Offaly did get sloppy in the second half and lost some of their focus. With such a big lead, that was forgivable and there was never a chance of this going wrong in the second half. Kildare got a injury time consolation goal from a Paddy McKenna penalty after Brian Byrne was fouled with Paddy Delaney getting a black card – Goalkeeper McKenna had taken over the free taking duties after James Burke had a few early misses.

Offaly should have got a third goal themselves after that but Cillian Kiely sent wide after racing through a wide open Kildare defence – it just didn't matter at that stage, though scoring difference is always important.

While Eoghan Cahill once again caught the eye with a super attacking display, scoring 1-10, 1-3 from play, there was a lot more positives to the Offaly display. It was built on an excellent defensive display with the full back line of Ben Conneely, Ciaran Burke and David King brilliant. Killian Sampson excelled on the half back line, Cillian Kiely was superb at midfield and Adrian Cleary had another very productive game in attack – Cleary is showing great improvement in recent games while David Nally once against oozed class. His hurling intelligence, composure on the ball and ability to do the right thing commanded respect, apart from a couple of errors.

MATCH ANALYSIS

MAN OF THE MATCH

Ben Conneely (Offaly): Eoghan Cahill's scoring return was once again phenomenal and he was excellent but with an extra man, a huge amount of ball going in and a lot of space, it was very much a forward's day. On this occasion, we will look elsewhere and while Cillian Kiely and David Nally were also contenders, the defensive display was top notch. They did have an extra man back there but the quality of hurling by David King, Ciaran Burke and Ben Conneely was immense. King was superb early on and didn't put a foot wrong, making several great interceptions but Conneely gets the vote. He oozed class, defending with great efficiency, using nearly every ball well and getting forward into attacking positions. The St Rynagh's man is benefitting from not being in a central position and showed what a good defender he is.

THE SCORERS

Offaly: Eoghan Cahill 1-10 (6f and 1 '65'), Cillian Kiely 1-3, Adrian Cleary 0-3, Killian Sampson 0-2, Joey Keenaghan, Brian Duignan, Charlie Mitchell and Cathal Kiely 0-1 each.

Kildare: Paddy McKenna 1-5 (goal from a penalty, 4f and 1 '65'), James Burke and Cian Boran 1-1 each, Paul Dolan, Brian Byrne, Paul Divilly and Drew Costello 0-1 each.

THE TEAMS

OFFALY: Stephen Corcoran (Coolderry); Ben Conneely (St Rynagh's), Ciaran Burke (Durrow), David King (Coolderry); Jack Screeney (Kilcormac-Killoughey), Jason Sampson (Shinrone), Killian Sampson (Shinrone); Cillian Kiely (Kilcormac-Killoughey), Joey Keenaghan (Clodiagh Gaels); Adrian Cleary (Shinrone), Jack Clancy (Belmont), Eoghan Cahill (Birr); David Nally (Belmont), Brian Duignan (Durrow), Charlie Mitchell (Kilcormac-Killoughey). Subs – Paddy Clancy (Belmont) for Keenaghan (40m), Cathal Kiely (Kilcormac-Killoughey) for Mitchell (53m), Paddy Delaney (Kinnitty) for Jack Clancy (63m), John Murphy (Ballinamere) for Duignan (63m)

KILDARE: Paddy McKenna; Niall O'Muineachain, Simon Leacy, Cian Shanahan; Jack Travers, Rian Boran, Paul Dolan; Johnny Byrne, Cathal McCabe; James Burke, Gerry Keegan, Mark Delaney; Brian Byrne, Cian Boran, Cathal Dowling. Subs – Paul Divilly for Dowling (7m), David Qualter for Dolan (HT), John McKeown for O'Muineachain (46m), Sean Christiansen for Divilly (51m), Drw Costello for Travers (54m),

Referee – Michael Kennedy (Tipperary).

REFEREE WATCH

Michael Kennedy had a very good game. There was almost nothing contenious here and he wasn't a factor at all.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

With a full quota of players, Kildare would probably have been well beaten but their goose was cooked with the 12th minute dismissal of Mark Delaney. Their heads dropped at that and it made life very easy for Offaly.

VENUE WATCH

There was a lot of talk in Offaly about this game being in Hawkfield and they were right, it simply can't cater for a big enough crowd for a big championship fixture. However, as things transpired, there was a small crowd here, much less than expected and there were still tickets available on Ticketmaster on Sunday morning – only 700 tickets were gone by 11am on Sunday morning. The capacity was eventually set at 1300 and perhaps an expectation that there would not be tickets kept people away but the crowd (it was probably less than 1,000) did justify Kildare's stance as it was the best Sunday of the year weather wise. Having successfully fought a battle to host the game here, Kildare made sure they did it well – they were under pressure in this regard and Croke Park officials attended to check up on things. The pitch did look a bit short for county hurling, though obviously it had to be within the regulations and the grass a tad long. They had loads of stewards, they were helpful and welcoming, there was gardai out on the busy junctions approaching Hawfield and there were no issues in this regard. Their press facilities were also good – for the early comers who got a seat in the press box.

TALKING POINT

The decision of Croke Park to fix the game for Hawkfield.

WHAT'S NEXT

Offaly are at home to Down next Saturday and then have a badly needed break.

STATISTICS

Wides: Offaly -10 (2 in first half); Kildare – 13 (9 in first half).

Yellow cards: Offaly – 3 (Ben Conneely, Adrian Cleary and Cathal Kiely); Kildare – 3 (Paul Dolan, Gerry Keegan and John McKeon).

Black cards: Offaly – 1 (Paddy Delaney); Kildare – 0.

Red cards: Offaly – 0; Kildare – 1 (Mark Delaney).