Unconvincing Offaly head into much needed break in excellent health

IT was Offaly's least convincing display to date in the Joe McDonagh Cup but that won't be causing them any sleepless nights as they head into a much needed week off in excellent health following an easy win over Down in Tullamore.

Joe McDonagh Cup Round 3

Offaly 1-26

Down 1-15

It seems almost churlish to complain about the performance in a game that you win pulling up by eleven points but this was far from a good display by the home side. They never truly looked like losing but the final score flattered them. They scored six points in a row in the closing five minutes as Down's heads finally dropped and the visitors would have been much closer but for some very poor free taking by Pearse Og McCrickard in the second half – McCrickard had a handful of bad wides from second half frees and Down could certainly have asked more probing questions of Offaly down the straight.

As it was, Offaly won easily. An expectation that they would win coupled with playing their seventh game in successive weeks may have resulted in them being flat and not fully tuned in. With games to come against Kerry and Carlow, Offaly will be hoping they have their bad performance out of their system and this display won't be good enough against either team.

A shock looked possible for Down for much of the first half and briefly in the second half, when they got it back to two points, 0-16 to 1-11 after 44 minutes. In truth, however, the alarm bells never rang for Offaly for one second. Their hurling may have frustrated at times, their touch was mediocre for some of it and their work rate was particularly suspect but Offaly always looked to have another gear and there wasn't one second where you thought they would actually lose.

That would have required Down to really click into life and Offaly to fall apart completely and neither happened. It allowed Offaly to coast to a comprehensive win and with three wins out of three, they are in the perfect position with their fate very much in their own hands.

Offaly struggled to break down a defensive Down in the first half. Down played sweepers at the back and made life difficult but Offaly were not at the right levels of intensity either. They did start well and led by 0-6 to 0-1 and 0-7 to 0-2 at different stages in the first quarter. Down then went on the rampage, producing their best hurling from the 16th to 26th minutes, scoring 1-3 without reply to take a shock lead.

The goal came from Jordan Doran in the 24th minute, a fine finish though the Offaly defence should not have let him run as far as he did. 1-5 to 0-7 behind, Offaly recovered well, scoring four without reply and then getting three of the last four points for a 0-14 to 1-7 interval lead.

Considering the way they had played, four points was a good advantage but they took their time about putting it to bed in the second half. Down pushed hard at the start and four of the first six points had the gap back to two, 1-11 to 0-16 after 44 minutes. Offaly finally showed some urgency, scoring 1-3 without reply, the goal a very good finish by Eoghan Cahill after a great David Nally run and lay off in the 55th minute.

With a 1-19 to 1-11 lead, it should have been all over. Instead, Offaly went back into their shell and three points kept Down alive. Offaly were also fortunate that McCrickard choose this time to really lose his way with frees. There was six points in it, 1-20 to 1-14 with five minutes left and a goal could have made in very tricky.

Offaly, however, played some of their best hurling late on. Eoghan Cahill found top gear with three points from play in a couple of minutes while John Murphy, Joey Keenaghan and Brian Duignan also pointed to put them out of sight – Down got an injury time free from Oisin McManus, though by that stage, changing free takers was like closing the door after the horse was long gone.

It was a day where Offaly won because of a handful of excellent individual performances rather than a great team display. Their work ethic was not as high as usual for at least some of it and Offaly would have struggled against better opposition. Jack Screeney, Ciaran Burke, Killian Sampson and David King excelled in defence. Jack Clancy put in a very honest shift at midfield and with more work on his first touch, his influence will increase. Cillian Kiely and Eoghan Cahill were very much the main men up front. Kiely really stood up to be counted, scoring five crucial points while Cahill was very sharp for most of it, scoring 1-5 of his 1-12 from play – he missed a few frees at the start of the second half but two of those were at the very limit of his range and he didn't allow his head to drop, getting crucial scores afterwards.

MATCH ANALYSIS

MAN OF THE MATCH

Killian Sampson (Offaly): A tough call between Killian Sampson, Cillian Kiely and Eoghan Cahill. There is a very strong case to be made for Kiely as he was immense when most of his team mates were finding it difficult to get going. He got some inspirational scores. Once again, Offaly defended very well and the choice is Killian Sampson, who mopped up a huge amount of ball. He also attacked well and his distribution was generally good, apart from a couple of wayward strikes.

THE SCORERS

Offaly: Eoghan Cahill 1-12 (7f), Cillian Kiely 0-5, Paddy Clancy 0-2, David King, Jack Clancy, David Nally, Adrian Cleary, Brian Duignan, Joey Keenaghan and John Murphy 0-1 each.

Down: Pearse Og McCrickard 0-9 (7f), Jordan Doran 1-2, Niall McFarland, Oisin McManus (f), Stuart Martin and Finn Turpin 0-1 each.

THE TEAMS

OFFALY: Stephen Corcoran (Coolderry); Jack Screeney (Kilcormac-Killoughey), Ciaran Burke (Durrow), Ben Conneely (St Rynagh's); David King (Coolderry), Jason Sampson (Shinrone), Killian Sampson (Shinrone); Jack Clancy (Belmont), Paddy Delaney (Kinnitty); Cillian Kiely (Kilcormac-Killoughey), David Nally (Belmont), Adrian Cleary (Shinrone); Paddy Clancy (Belmont), Brian Duignan (Durrow), Eoghan Cahill (Birr). Subs – Joey Keenaghan (Clodiagh Gaels) for Delaney, inj. (19m), John Murphy (Ballinamere) for Cleary (46m), Charlie Mitchell (Kilcormac-Killoughey) for Paddy Clancy (51m), Dara Maher (Shinrone) for Screeney (61m).

DOWN: Stephen Keith; Aodhan Furlong, Tom Murray, Niall McFarland; Barry Trainor, Caolan Teggart, Liam Savage; Jordan Doran, Ryan McCusker; Mark Fisher, Pearse Og McCrickard, Paul Sheehan; Tim Prenter, Tom McGrattan, Daithi Sands. Subs – Chris Egan for McGrattan (32m), Stuart Martin for Prenter (HT), Finn Turpin for Sheehan (HT), Oisin McManus for McCusker (54m), Deaglan Mallon for Murray (61m).

Referee – Patrick Murphy (Carlow).

REFEREE WATCH

Patrick Murphy was a busy man with a physical, hard hitting game emerging. He kept a tight grip, brandishing cards and ensuring players knew where the line was. He got most calls right in open play – there were a couple of wrong decisions but that will happen in every match.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

Eoghan Cahill's 55th minute goal was the best score of the game. It came after a run through the centre by David Nally, who was aware of where everyone was moving before offloading to Cahill. The Birr sharp shooter made no mistake and a 1-19 to 1-11 lead was always going to be more than Down could haul back.

VENUE WATCH

Constant rain all day had an adverse impact on the crowd for what was not an attractive fixture in the first place. It meant there wasn't much of an atmosphere but the pitch was good and there were no issues.

WHAT'S NEXT

Offaly host Kerry on Saturday, May 6.

STATISTICS

Wides: Offaly – 12 (6 in first half); Down - 6 (2 in first half).

Yellow cards: Offaly – 3 (Jack Clancy, Paddy Delaney and Cillian Kiely); Down – 3 (Aodhan Furlong, Tom Murray an Daithi Sands).

Black cards: 0.

Red cards: 0.