Fired up Offaly resurrect season with great against the odds win

DISPLAYING terrific character and resolve, fighting with every fibre of their being, Offaly resurrected their season with a great back to the walls win over a shocked Kildare in the Leinster U20 Football Championship in Kilcormac's Faithful Fields on Tuesday evening.

Leinster U-20 Football Championship Group 1 Round 2

Offaly 0-8

Kildare 1-4

After losing to Louth in their first game, a second defeat would have eliminated them from the championship. Considering the height of the stakes here, Offaly's composure, the calm football they played was remarkable, apart from a couple of moments of madness that almost let Kildare off the hook late on.

The win gives Offaly a real chance of making the quarter-finals, though it is all very much poised on a knife's edge. With two qualifying from the group, Offaly have to win in Longford next Tuesday and then the result of Kildare and Louth will come into play – Louth have four points from two games but Offaly and Kildare wins would leave three teams tied on four points and scoring difference determining who qualifies.

At the moment, however, Offaly can return to training this week glowing in the aftermath of a really good win and a really good, solid performance. It was low scoring, dog eat dog stuff with both forward lines firing blanks but Offaly were the better side and full value for their win.

They gave a defensive master class on the day and the way in which they chased and tackled without fouling was the big positive here. It was the reason Offaly won and they only made one real defensive mistake all day. It was very nearly a costly one as Conor Melia's wayward kickout was caught by Ross Harris and returned over his head into the unguarded net with seven minutes left.

It made the score 0-7 to 1-3 and gave Kildare a lifeline at a stage when Offaly were in full control. 0-6 to 0-2 up at half time, Offaly played such steady football for most of the second half against the wind and kept Kildare at arm's length.

The statistic that Kildare only managed two points with the wind in the second half speaks volumes about Offaly's defensive excellence. A Ryan Sinkey free got Kildare off the mark in the third minute of the second half but they didn't score again until that fortunate goal. At the other end, Offaly had too many wides for their own good but they almost killed the game off in the 45^th minute when Marcas Dalton interchanged with Luke Kelly and raced in on goal. The superb Dalton's low drive was brilliantly saved by David McPartlin but at least Offaly had the consolation of a point when Conor Melia pointed the '45'.

A four point lead was a huge one at that stage and it was clear that Kildare would not salvage the game by scoring points. They had plenty of ball but were shot shy and found it so difficult to break down the Offaly defence. They also kicked some poor wides and it took that Harris goal to bring them back into it. It was panic stations for Kildare for much of the second half and they took off Fionn Cooke, who shaped up as a match winner early on in the first half and Killian Browne, who got in for two first half goal chances – Cooke got a yellow as he lost his discipline briefly and that may have been a factor in his replacement.

Colm Dalton levelled it up with four minutes left but just when it looked like Offaly were going to blow up, they found another gear. A great break up field ended with Marcas Dalton racing in from the wing and fisting over a super point in the 58^th minute. Unfortunately for Dalton he was immediately sent off for a second yellow card – it was hard to see what he did from the stand but he did appear to collide accidentally with an umpire in the following seconds. The fact that it was just a yellow suggests that it was for a minor refraction but it left Offaly down a man with it all up for grabs.

Four minutes of injury time was played and Kildare threw the kitchen sink at Offaly. They piled forward but Ryan Sinkey and Niall Dolan kicked very poor wides and Offaly held on by the skin of their teeth. They lived on their wits in injury time but deserve full credit for the discipline they showed, not conceding a soft free and forcing Kildare to do everything under the most severe of pressure. Kildare's traditional forward failings manifested again as they rejected shooting chances and then kicked wides when they did pull the trigger.

The low score may suggest otherwise but this was a terrifically entertaining game of football, played at huge intensity and pace and every ball contested to the maximum. Reigning All-Ireland champions Kildare certainly contributed to their own downfall with a very defensive set up, especially against the wind in the first half when they made little attempt to take it on.

Their forward line misfired, only registering one point from play and that soft goal. Offaly's attack was only marginally better and too many forwards never threatened to score but they won because they took it on with much greater drive and pace. Niall Furlong did a lot of very good work on the ball, while Marcas Dalton caused havoc for Kildare when going forward. He was the one player who really took Kildare on and his three points won the day. In fairness to the other forwards, they worked very hard and were completely honest - Sean Afolabi Joseph was an example of this work rate, especially in the first half.

Cillian Bourke gave his customary composed performance at midfield, only making a couple of mistakes while the Offaly defence deserve the lion's share of the plaudits. As a unit, they were sensational. Conor Melia once again roved widely from his goals and he was very good on the ball for the second week in a row, though maybe a better balance needs to be found in terms of the amount of times he moves upfield. Offaly did take risks with the way they played the ball around at the back – Melia handled a huge amount of ball and the fact that he had more shots at goals than some forwards tells as story as he kicked three second half wides, two of them from play.

Christian McKeon and Diarmaid O'Neill had super games on the Offaly full back line and Geordi O'Meara was very good at centre half back, using the ball very well- it was a day where every defender did everything that could be asked of him with Dylan Kilmurray, Dylan Byrne and Luke Bourke never putting a foot wrong.

A very fired up Offaly gave it a real lash in the first half, really taking Kildare on and playing some very good football.

They had first use of a wind that ebbed and flowed while a remarkably defensive Kildare allowed them to dominate play for long periods.

Offaly led by 0-6 to 0-2 at half time and could have been further ahead. They had six first half wides and at least half of these could have been points – Robbie Gallagher was wide with a scoreable free and Cillian Bourke and Niall Furlong also kicked wides from decent chances.

Kildare also had their share of wides, five in all, and Offaly were certainly happy with a four point half time lead. They had five different scorers with only Marcas Dalton getting two while two points came from corner back Diarmaid O'Neill and full back, Christian McKeon.

Dalton was pushed into a more attacking role and Offaly played intelligent, composed football. They were patient as they tried to break down a packed Kildare defence but moved the ball fast and often broke tackles.

Both of Kildare's points came from impressive midfielder Fionn Cooke and Offaly were clearly the better team in the first half. Having said that, Kildare had two goal chances with the raiding Killian Browne wide in the sixth minute and drawing a great save from Conor Melia in the14th minute.

Kildare got the first point but Offaly had five on the board before Cooke got the visitors' second. Niall Furlong's super score gave Offaly that four point interval lead and a real chance of a win.

MATCH ANALYSIS

MAN OF THE MATCH

Marcas Dalton (Offaly): A very tough call here between two Clara men, full back Christian McKeon and Marcas Dalton. You could very easily go with McKeon and stand over it. It is a real 50-50 call and McKeon really came of age with his defensive display. He was solid defensively, attacked very efficiently, scoring a point while one spectacular second half catch near the end line was another highlight. Dalton, however, gets the nod. On a day when the Offaly forwards struggled to create chances, Dalton's three points were pivotal to the win. He took Kildare on at every opportunity, running at them at pace and this created most of Offaly's attacking openings. He was very powerful on the ball, playing in a forward role but also drifting back to help out his defence. Dalton does tend to play on the edge and will have to watch his discipline and make sure he doesn't pick up easy cards but he had a game to remember here and almost crowned it with a goal.

THE SCORERS

Offaly: Marcas Dalton 0-3, Conor Melia ('45'), Diarmaid O'Neill, Christian McKeon, Ross Kellaghan (free) and Niall Furlong 0-1 each.

Kildare: Ross Harris 1-0, Fionn Cooke 0-2, Colm Dalton and Ryan Sinkey (free) 0-1 each.

THE TEAMS

OFFALY: Conor Melia (Bracknagh); Diarmaid O'Neill (Clonbullogue), Christian McKeon (Clara), Dylan Kilmurray (Rhode); Dylan Byrne (Edenderry), Geordi O'Meara (Ballinagar), Luke Bourke (Tullamore); Cillian Bourke (Tullamore), Marcas Dalton (Clara); Ross Kellaghan (Rhode), Niall Furlong (Tullamore), Steven Doran (Ballinamere); Sean Afolabi Joseph (Tullamore), Robbie Gallagher (Ballinagar), Luke Kelly (Doon). Subs – Ben Kennedy (St Brigid's) for Gallagher (47m), Cillian Foran (Edenderry) for Kellaghan (52m), Cameron Egan (St Brigid's) for Luke Bourke (57m), Cillian Lowry (Edenderry) for Kelly (60m),

KILDARE: David McPartlin; Rob Fitzgerald, Eoin Lawlor, Ethan Mountaine; Killian Browne, James Harris, Colm Dalton; Dara Crowley, Fionn Cook; Oisin Grufferty, Niall Dolan, Sean Mahon; Ryan Sinkey, Ross Harris, Mark Gibbons. Subs – Sam Savage for Browne (40m), Josh O'Donoghue for Cooke (43m), TJ Nolan for Gibbons (50m),

Referee – Andrew Smith (Meath).

REFEREE WATCH

Andrew Smith had an excellent game. It was physical and fiercely contested but he was fit and up with the play the whole time. There were very few debatable calls and that is a really good sign of a referee.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

Marcas Dalton's winning point got the result for Offaly at a stage when it looked like their scoring was over.

VENUE WATCH

The recent mainly dry weather has helped the Faithful Fields pitch recover and the County Board hosted the game without any issues.

WHAT'S NEXT

Offaly travel to Longford for their final group game next Tuesday.

STATISTICS

Wides: Offaly – 12 (6 in first half); Kildare - 10 (5 in first half).

Yellow cards: Offaly – 2 (Marcas Dalton 2); Kildare – 1 (Fionn Cooke)

Black cards: 0

Red cards: Offaly – 1 (Marcas Dalton 2 yellows); Kildare – 0.