Missed chance against Cats, Tipp up next for Offaly

By Kevin Egan

Neither the Kilkenny hurlers nor their Offaly counterparts can be blamed too much for the sloppy action that was produced in Nowlan Park. For a decade and more, Kilkenny’s home ground was as good a playing surface as there was in Ireland outside of Croke Park, but in recent years it has struggled to hold up and it certainly wasn’t good last Sunday.

Like the Offaly footballers' defeat to Louth, there were positives. Ben Miller, Liam Hoare, Brecon Kavanagh and Cathal King were among the better performers on a day when Offaly brought 11 players aged 22 or under to start the game, and even in the physical stakes, they were competitive.

Still, it was a chance to poach a result against a Kilkenny team that left a lot of scores on the table (14 wides and four missed goal chances) and once again, the difference in bench contribution was crucial.

Losing Donal Shirley to a quad injury didn’t help matters, even if Colin Spain hurled well after being introduced in his stead, but for Derek Lyng to be able to send in players like Paddy Deegan and Richie Reid to steer them through choppy waters at the end made all the difference.

On Saturday evening, Galway came very close to guaranteeing that Tipperary would be stung and sore coming to Tullamore on Sunday (throw-in 2pm).

There was a lot to like about how the Tribesmen went about their business but Tipperary still found a way to win, probably to Offaly’s advantage.

Liam Cahill went with a strong team for that game and while he’ll make a few changes no doubt, it’ll still be a team with plenty of Munster and All-Ireland championship experience that lines out in O’Connor Park.

Winning is likely to be a bridge too far for Offaly, but a strong, front-foot performance that looks to attack the game instead of just containing the opposition would be encouraging, and would set the group up nicely for what looks like the most winnable game of the six the following weekend in Walsh Park.