Offaly on brink of promotion as defence takes the plaudits

Offaly 1-22 Westmeath 0-19

By Kevin Egan

It’s a mark of how far the Offaly hurlers have come in the last couple of seasons that last Sunday’s Allianz League clash with Westmeath was perceived by most pundits around the country as something of a foregone conclusion.

It’s a mark of the scars that Offaly have picked up along the way, that among the team and supporters that the overwhelming emotion among home supporters going into Glenisk O’Connor Park was one of foreboding.

Some of that trepidation stemmed not from history, or a general unease with how this team would carry the weight of expectation, but from simple appreciation of what the Lake County would bring to Tullamore.

In terms of form, the previous outings of the two counties saw Westmeath collapse against Laois while Offaly beat Dublin in Croke Park. Nothing to see here, one might suggest.

The introduction of Killian Doyle for his first start of the season was an instant upgrade of four to six points, and starts for Davy Glennon and Niall O’Brien added further ballast and experience to the visitors, who after four consecutive defeats were either in last chance saloon, or hanging around the function room of that same establishment.

Sure enough, Doyle didn’t show any signs of ring rust and Westmeath were a serious threat as a consequence of that. The Raharney man picked off two early points from play and went on to put in a superb all-round performance, balancing out Brian Duignan on the other side, who continues to produce the form of his life this year, relishing in his role as the leader of the attack.

There were other parallels too. Both sides were very strong along the spine of the defence, particularly Offaly’s Donal Shirley and Westmeath's Johnny Bermingham. The midfield battle was frantic but disjointed, where DCU colleagues Peter Clarke and Colin Spain cancelled each other out, with neither Cathal King nor Glennon having as much influence as they might have liked.

Both teams had their share of forwards that misfired, perhaps more than didn’t. Dan Ravenhill and Éamon Cunneen shot two points each and they each came up with one assist for an excellent goal chance, though crucially, Killian Sampson finished off his opportunity while Mark Troy was in the right place and ready to parry Clarke’s first time pull from 12 metres out.

All of which leads nicely into the three key factors that ultimately separated the teams. The first was Troy, who made the saves that he needed to make, put his puckouts in the right place, and generally played with assuredness and composure. Ciarán O’Brien was drafted into the Westmeath nets after Jack Gillen shouldered the blame for a couple of the four goals that Laois scored in Mullingar last time out, but even though O’Brien couldn’t be blamed for Sampson’s goal, he was beautifully pickpocketed by Ter Guinan for a late point, and he got away with a couple of nervy moments as well.

Then there was Oisín Kelly; not quite as effective as Duignan or Doyle and a little bit more error-prone, but he was a good outlet and always looked to do something positive with the ball, and the game’s joint top scorer from play with three points. This too gave Offaly some separation.

Finally there was the defensive unit as a whole. Westmeath were very good, Offaly were exceptional. Referee Michael Kennedy did what top tier hurling referees often do, airing out his whistle far more often than he would have done if it were any two out of Kilkenny, Galway or the Munster five on the field. On another day, far fewer dead ball chances would have been presented to the two marksmen, and Offaly might have conceded as few as 13 or 14 points, which would be a remarkable statistic in this day and age.

A collective effort it was, and yet it would seem churlish not to offer a tip of the cap to Ben Conneely here. The St. Rynagh’s man laid his grandfather Michael to rest that morning and came to Tullamore to play his first match of the year, saying of the man: “he was a mad GAA man, he would have been angry if I didn’t go to the match today”.

As ever, Conneely was a steadying influence, good for a couple of key turnovers, and capable of getting the ball away to a colleague even under pressure. Pádraig Cantwell didn’t put a foot wrong in his time as the starting corner back, but as if there was any doubt, that jersey remains Conneely’s to lose.

Though playing against the wind, because of Sampson’s early goal and some fine strikes from Duignan, Offaly led by five after the opening exchanges. Westmeath eroded that advantage and took an 0-14 to 1-9 lead into the dressing room.

However, 12 minutes after the resumption, Offaly had hit seven in a row and looked like they might power on and win well. They didn’t, largely because too many of the front eight misfired, but holding Westmeath to one point from a close range free for 25 minutes meant that when the visitors did find their way to picking off a couple of scores at the end, it was never going to be enough.

With two minutes of stoppage time remaining in Waterford it looked like the one unwanted result – a draw – was coming, but then the Déise found a couple of late scores to guarantee that Offaly will end the campaign ahead of Dublin. Carlow started a bit later and they looked to have Antrim beaten, but two late goals meant they only drew, leaving Offaly on the cusp of promotion to Division 1A, and a chance to take on the leading lights in 2026.

What it means: Promotion is yet to be officially wrapped up, but the only two teams that can overtake Offaly are Carlow and Waterford. For Waterford, it’s simple; run out the year with wins in Mullingar and in Dungarvan in a fortnight when Offaly come to town, and they’ll take one of the top two spots. For Carlow to also overtake Offaly they have to either pick up three wins on the bounce, starting on Saturday night against the Dubs in Parnell Park, or they can afford two wins and a draw, but only if they also bridge the current 26-point scoring difference gap.

SCORERS - Offaly: B Duignan 0-14 (10f, 1 65); K Sampson 1-0; O Kelly 0-3; D Ravenhill 0-2 (1f); D Bourke, C Spain, T Guinan 0-1 each. Westmeath: K Doyle 0-14 (11f); É Cunneen 0-2; M Cunningham, N O’Brien, D Williams (f) 0-1 each.

OFFALY: Mark Troy; James Mahon, Ciarán Burke, Ben Conneely; Ross Ravenhill, Donal Shirley, Jason Sampson; Cathal King, Colin Spain; Oisín Kelly, Daniel Bourke, Killian Sampson; Dan Ravenhill, Charlie Mitchell, Brian Duignan. Subs: David King for J Sampson (h-t), Cillian Kiely for Bourke (57), Eoin Bourke for Dan Ravenhill (66), Ter Guinan for Mitchell (68).

WESTMEATH: Ciarán O’Brien; Adam Ennis, Johnny Bermingham, Gary Greville; Shane Williams, Robbie Greville, Eoin Keyes; Davy Glennon, Peter Clarke; Mark Cunningham, Killian Doyle, Niall Mitchell; Éamon Cunneen, Niall O’Brien, David Williams. Subs: David O’Reilly for Cunningham (52), Joseph Boyle for D Williams, Aaron Craig for Ennis (65), Rory Keyes for Glennon (68).

REFEREE: Michael Kennedy (Tipperary).