Laois full value for win over honest Offaly

AN honest and whole hearted effort was not sufficient for Offaly as Laois powered to a deserved win in the Walsh Cup opener at their Centre of Excellence in Portlaoise on Thursday evening.

Walsh Cup Senior Hurling Group 3 Round 1

Laois 2-18

Offaly 0-18

Offaly gave their all but never looked like snatching the win and were fighting an uphill battle for a lot of the whole evening. The defeat means that they have a home game against Galway this Sunday while Laois travel to Ballinasloe the following Sunday – the Offaly v Galway game is fixed for O'Connor Park but with an All-Ireland club junior football semi-final there on Saturday, it remains to be seen where this will be played, though team management will be understandably anxious to get a game there with all their home National League games at headquarters this year.

The defeat now leaves Offaly facing into a very challenging couple of months. They have a real challenge in Division 1 of the league and will be underdogs against Galway in Sunday's game, though you never know what team the Connacht side will field.

It means that Offaly could very well go into the Joe McDonagh Cup campaign later in the year on the back of a run of consecutive defeats. That will be no disgrace if it happens, considering the standard of opposition they face in the league and they will be fighting hard to produce an upset along the way but this match in Portlaoise represented their best chance of a win.

It is too early in the year to make judgements and January is no place for them but this game showed what we know. That this Offaly squad of players are very honest, determined and clearly want to be there but these attributes will only carry you so far.. There are players to come back and they gave some younger players their chance here, which is what the Walsh Cup is for while they produced some very good direct hurling here. They will continue to try players next Sunday as the room for experimentation will be limited in the league and onwards.

Offaly trailed by 1-8 to 0-10 at half time and were very happy to be that close as Laois had been clearly the better side for 25 minutes or so. The home side dominated a lot of play but their wide count crept too high, 9 compared to 5 for Offaly, and it meant that the game was wide open at half time.

In some ways, it was very similar to the football O'Byrne Cup meeting between the counties the previous night. Offaly were able to turn the tables in Stradbally but couldn't do so here as they hit their share of wides in the second half – 8 compared to Laois' 3. That wastefulness ensured that they could never get quite close enough late on to cause Laois anxiety and they had only one chance of the goal they had to get with the impressive Eimhin Kelly drawing a fine save from Enda Rowland in the 66th minute.

Eimhin Kelly was one of the big positives for Offaly on the night. He had a particularly useful first half when he got on good ball at full forward and also tracked back very diligently. Ben Conneely looked good at full back while Killian Sampson also did well in the attack, scoring two points. Cathal King also had a useful game at midfield, and back in defence in the second half while David Nally did well from frees, until losing his eye towards the final quarter, hitting two wides from scoreable ones – this resulted in the free taking duties been given to sub Eoghan Cahill, who found the range from two frees and a '65' after Rowland's save from Kelly.

Several subs were run in by both teams in the second half and this was a game that provided a very beneficial workout for both but doesn't matter one bit in terms of the rest of the season.

A good sized crowd were treated to a very competitive and quite enjoyable game. It was teak tough and it was good to see Offaly putting in some genuine bone rattling challenges that grounded Laois players without drawing frees.

Laois laid down a serious marker early on, firing over four pooints in three minutes before hitting three wides in succession. They were 0-6 to 0-2 ahead after nine minutes but Offaly dug deep after this and did well to get back into it. Paul Cleary, David Nally and Eimhin Kelly brought the gap down to a point but Mark Dowling broke through for a 19th minute goal and this separated the sides at half time. Two late frees from Nally got them back to a point and Offaly had a definite chance at the break.

Another Nally free levelled it upo at 0-12 to 1-9 four minutes into the second half but Laois regained control and never looked back after a 42nd minute penalty goal from goalkeeper Rowland – sub Ciaran Burke was yellow carded for the foul.

It was 2-10 to 0-13 after 51 minutes but three in a row from a fast moving Laois put them six clear with fifteen minutes left. Offaly fought hard but couldn't get any closer than five points, missed chances and frees and Laois were never under real threat of losing late on.

MATCH ANALYSIS

MAN OF THE MATCH

Gearoid Lynch (Laois): The Laois defence did well and Gearoid Lynch really caught the eye. The Ballinakill man was particularly influential in the first half when he cut out a lot of ball. He continued to put in the hard yards in the second half, tackling tenaciously and his confident use of the ball, generally finding a man, was particularly impressive.

THE SCORERS

Laois: Enda Rowland 1-4 (penalty, 2f and 2 '65's), Aaron Dunphy 0-5 (3f), Mark Dowling 1-0, Aidan Corby, Martin Phelan and Willie Dunphy 0-2 each, Jer Quinlan,John Lennon and Diarmuiod Conway 0-1 each..

Offaly: David Nally 0-8 (7f), Eoghan Cahill 0-3 (2f and 1'65'), Killian Sampson 0-2, Luke Watkins, Eimhin Kelly, Paul Cleary, Joe Hoctor and Charlie Mitchell 0-1 each

THE TEAMS

LAOIS: Enda Hyland; Ian Shanahan, Liam O'Connell,, Lee Cleere; Gearoid Lynch, Diarmuid Conway, Tom Cuddy; Aidan Corby, John Lennon; Cody Comerford, Aaron Dunphy, Mark Dowling; James Duggan, Martin Phelan, Jer Quinlan. Subs used – David Dooley, Willie Dunphy, Padraig Delaney, Padraic Dunne, Noah Quinlan, Aaron Phelan.

OFFALY: Stephen Corcoran (Coolderry); Jack Clancy (Belmont), Ben Conneely (St Rynagh's), Paddy Delaney (Kinnitty); James Nally (Belmont), Leon Fox (Belmont), Dara Maher (Shinrone); Cathal King (Carrig-Riverstown), Luke Watkins (Shinrone); Dan Bourke (Durow), Killian Sampson (Shinrone), David Nally (Belmont); Morgan Watkins (Birr), Eimhin Kelly (Lusmagh), Paul Cleary (Shinrone). Subs - Charlie Mitchell (Kilcormac-Killoughey) for Cleary (HT), Jason Sampson (Shinrone) for Clancy (HT), Sam Bourke (Durrow) for James Nally (HT), Ciaran Burke (Durrow) for Delaney (HT), Eoghan Cahill (Birr) for Dan Bourke (50m), Donal Shirley (Tubber) for Luke Watkins (52m), Joe Hoctor (Carrig-Riverstown) for Maher (63m), Kieran Connors (Seir Kieran) for Fox (63m).

Referee – Owen Beehan.

REFEREE WATCH

Owen Beehan refereed with a smile on his face and while there were some questionable calls, he had a good game. He was consistent and kept a tight grip on it.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

Enda Rowland's penalty goal seven minutes into the second half gave Laois a 2-9 to 0-12 lead at a stage when Offaly were very much in it and they were able to power home from here.

VENUE WATCH

The Laois Centre of Excellence beside O'Moore Park in Portlaoise is a splendid facility and the pitch was in remarkable condition for the time of year. The only thing missing was a stand but it was a fine venue for the game. The host county could have done with a couple of stewards on the main road from early in the evening to direct people into the venue as visibility wasn't great there.

WHAT'S NEXT

Offaly are at home to Galway this Sunday while Laois travel to Ballinasloe the following Sunday.

STATISTICS

Wides: Offaly - 13 (5 in first half); Laois - 12 (9 in first half).

Yellow cards: Offaly – 3 (Jack Clancy, David Nally and Ciaran Burke); Laois – 3 (Liam O'Connell, Aidan Corby and Cody Comerford).

Black cards: 0.

Red cards: 0.