Footballers complete memorable Portlaoise double for Offaly with second encouraging display

IT is way to early to claim that a bright new dawn or anything of the sort is dawning for Offaly but they have certainly hit the ground running, making an extremely positive start under the joint managership of Declan Kelly and Mickey Harte. They followed up an encouraging first round win over Sligo with a very good, impressive win over Laois in Portlaoise in round 2 on Sunday.

National Football League Division 3 Round 2

Offaly 2-19

Laois 1-17

A new look Laois side were very poor on the day, calamitous in aspects, but Offaly still performed very well on the day. While Sligo and Laois would have been targeted for two wins at the start, Offaly are absolutely delighted, pleasantly surprised in some ways, to be heading into their week off with full points.

The win was very good but the quality of football Offaly played, the pace and movement was the most satisfying aspect here of a very pleasing afternoon for visiting supporters – coming on the back of a very good win for the hurlers in the previous game, it was certainly a good afternoon for Offaly.

And for the second week in a row, Offaly football supporters found themselves in the very unique position of not enduring any anxiety in the closing ten minutes plus. In fact it took two late two pointers from Mark Barry to give Laois scoring respectability and they were quite flattered that the losing margin was only five points. Laois got eight of the last nine points, four of them in injury time and this gives the scoreboard a distorted look.

This was much more like a ten point game than a five point one and the double scores margin, 2-18 to 1-9, after 64 minutes was a much more accurate reflection of the way it had all went. Offaly were the better side in almost every sector, playing some exciting attacking football.

Whether it is the new rules, the Mickey Harte influence, Declan Kelly maturing as a senior county manager, the 2021 All-Ireland U-20 footballers finally coming of age at this level, or a mixture of them all, Offaly are certainly playing with an attacking instinct that only rarely surfaced last year.

Laois are in a transition period while they were also handicapped by having their opening round against Leitrim postponed but Offaly's work rate, intensity, and willingness to break tackles and race forward was more than they could live with.

Offaly played some excellent football in the first half and were full value for their 2-10 to 1-6 half time lead.

At one stage, it looked like the game could be over at the break. They came flying out of the blocks, leading by 1-10 to 0-2 after 20 minutes and could have been even further ahead. They attacked superbly with Shane Tierney a real live-wire in the full forward line. He got two first half points as well as setting Jordan Hayes up for the fifth minute goal.

Laois struggled to cope with Offaly's pace and were at nothing for most of the first half an hour. They did very well to get back into it before the break with the Offaly defence backing off for Damon Larkin's 31^st minute goal. The very good Ronan Coffey got two points and sub Pa Kirwin booted over a fine point to reduce the gap to 1-10 to 1-5.

Offaly's second goal arrived in the 35^th minute with goalie Paddy Dunican moving into open space, resisting the temptation to fist over an easy point and booting home a great goal. Offaly gave Laois a lifeline before the break when Robbie Gallagher received a black card for a sloppy tackle on Kevin Swayne and Mark Barry slotted over the free.

Gallagher did well when making his debut in place of the injured Ruari McNamee after thirteen minutes, scoring a good first half point and looking for the ball, but he will need to tidy up on his tackling a bit: he also saw a free brought in after placing the ball on the ground rather than handing it back when fouling after coming back on, though Laois went for the two pointer and were wide – presumably these were the main factor in him being replaced in the 53^rd minute and the lessons from this game will serve this improving player very well as he bids to make the jump to senior county level.

Gallagher's loss meant that the first ten minutes of the second half were absolutely crucial and by the time he came back on, Offaly were still in control, leading by 2-12 to 1-7. Laois should have been closer but had a couple of poor wides while they were unlucky when play was stopped for an injury to Cillian Bourke when Kevin Swayne looked certain to score and Killian Roche's free for a two pointer was fielded at cross bar height by Paddy Dunican, who also made a good save from Ronan Coffey in that period.

Laois didn't do enough with the extra man and arguably the most impressive aspect of Offaly's win was the manner in which they kept control, never allowing the home side a glimmer of real hope. From the three quarter way stage, it was clear that Offaly needed to stay steady and keep the score board ticking over to win. They did this very efficiently.

2-13 to 1-9 ahead after 51 minutes, they had a great purple patch from then until the 64^th minute, scoring five points without reply and playing almost text book football. They got some quality points in this spell and it meant that the game was over as a contest.

Laois had ample possession at different periods but their error count was too high and they made poor use of a lot of the ball that they had in advanced positions. When they finally did click in the attack with those late eight points, two of them two pointers from Mark Barry, it was too little, too late and the win allows Offaly to dream of promotion as they head into a week off.

MATCH ANALYSIS

MAN OF THE MATCH

Cathal Flynn (Offaly): Offaly had several contenders but the selection is Cathal Flynn. The Ferbane flier had a second excellent game and he had a huge influence here. Roving deep from the half forward line, he oozed quality on the ball, carrying it forward and distributing superbly. He turned over ball and he is one of those 2021 U20s now beginning to show his quality with the right type of consistency at this level.

There was loads of positives. Few would have predicted a few weeks ago of an Offaly half back line of brothers Cormac and Diarmuid Egan flanking Jordan Hayes but they gave them a powerful foundation here. Hayes was superb on the ball and held the centre very well until tiring a little bit late on. Cormac Egan had another super game here and his power on the ball is a credit to the off field work he does in the gym. He hasn't bulked up at the expense of his lightening pace but he has got very strong and his ability to burst through tackles was very noticeable here.

Older brother Diarmuid is also settling in very well to the team. Declan Kelly was disappointed when he didn't commit last year but he is fully on board this year and going very well, in good physcial shape. Egan was very solid against Sligo but he was more prominent and adventurous here, getting forward and giving good passes.

Lee Pearson was very good in defence and once again Paddy Dunican exerted a big influence on positions. Offaly's youngest player Cillian Bourke put in a great shift at midfield. Between his Leaving Certificate and Offaly U20s, he has a lot on his plate but is very much at home at this level – Offaly supporters will be praying that the growing stories about him attracting interest from Australia don't materialise into reality as he is one of the great white hopes of the game in the county.

Jack Bryant was outstanding in attack for a good 45 minutes or so while Shane Tierney's dynamic play was instrumental in that all important start and Dylan Hyland and Keith O'Neill had excellent moments.

THE SCORERS

Offaly: Dylan Hyland (1f), Keith O'Neill (1f) 0-4 each, Jordan Hayes 1-1, Paddy Dunican 1-0, Jack Bryant and Shane Tierney 0-3 each, Diarmuid Egan, Cormac Egan, Cathal Flynn and Robbie Gallagher 0-1 each.

Laois: Mark Barry 0-9 (2 x two points, 3f), Ronan Coffey 0-4, Damon Larkin 1-0, Pa Kirwin 0-2, Killian Roche, Kevin Swayne (f) 0-1 each.

THE TEAMS

OFFALY: Paddy Dunican (Shamrocks); Lee Pearson (Edenderry), David Dempsey (Ballycommon), Rory Egan (Edenderry); Diarmuid Egan (Tullamore), Jordan Hayes (Edenderry), Cormac Egan (Tullamore); Jack McEvoy (Clonbullogue), Cillian Bourke (Tullamore) ; Ruari McNamee (Rhode), Cathal Flynn (Ferbane), Keith O'Neill (Clonbullogue); Dylan Hyland (Raheen), Jack Bryant (Shamrocks), Shane Tierney (Daingean). Subs – Robbie Gallagher (Ballinagar) for McNamee, inj. (13m), Kyle Higgins (Ferbane) for Gallagher (53m), Eoin Sawyer (Castleknock) for O'Neill (62m), Marcas Dalton (Clara) for Diarmuid Egan (70m),

LAOIS: Killian Roche; Ben Dempsey, Simon Fingleton, Trevor Collins; James Kelly, Brian Byrne, Seamus Lacey; Kevin Swayne, Damon Larkin; Daniel O'Reilly, Mark Barry, Conor Heffernan; Ronan Coffey, Benny Carroll, Cathal Lee. Subs – Pa Kirwin for Lacey (29m), Niall Corbet for Lee (HT), Josh Hogan for O'Reilly (49m), Jonah Kelly for Byrne (53m), Jake Darcy for Dempsey (62m),

Referee – Jerome Henry (Mayo).

REFEREE WATCH

With the new rules still in their infancy, the sidesmen and umpires have a considerable influence in addition to the referee. An experienced referee, Jerome Henry communicated well with his team and handled the game well.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

Paddy Dunican's 35^th minute goal had a huge bearing on Offaly being so comfortable. Laois had finally found form for a few minutes before that, scoring 1-3 without reply, but Dunican's goal gave Offaly a very significant seven point cushion at half time.

VENUE WATCH

It was a busy day for the stewards with a double bill and a long day for supporters. There was also a cross-over of supporters – despite both counties playing in the two games, some football supporters came late for the hurling or only for the football while some hurling fans left after the first match. The host county managed all efficiently and the pitch held up well for this, the second fixture.

WHAT'S NEXT

Offaly have a free weekend next week before welcoming Antrim to Tullamore.

STATISTICS

Wides: Offaly - 7(5 in first half); Laois - 7 (1 in first half).

Yellow cards: 0.

Black cards: Offaly – 1 (Robbie Gallagher); Laois – 0.

Red cards: 0.