Offaly footballers' revival continues as Down win causes a stir

By Kevin Egan

If you wanted to pick holes in last Saturday’s win over Down in Tullamore, it’s not hard to do.

Down had seven goal chances and took one, Offaly put 2-12 on the board before they kicked a wide, and when Diarmuid Egan seized on that rebounded shot to slam in the match-clinching goal, he was just the fifth Offaly player to put his name on the scoresheet. Quite how sustainable that path to winning games is in the long run is, at best, a matter for debate.

That said, a nice Swiss cheese or a curly wurly chocolate bar is proof positive that something can be very enjoyable, even if there are holes in it. Down remain the favourites for the Tailteann Cup even after that defeat, so this was a really good win over a decent team.

Dylan Hyland shot the lights out, Jordan Hayes was exceptional at midfield, Shane Tierney’s delightful finish for his goal crowned an exceptional overall display and Shane O’Toole Greene continues to develop into a really impressive defender, performing well on and off the ball.

The win means that Offaly have home advantage for the quarter-final and assuming Down beat Longford, they will be drawn out against one of the winners from the Wicklow vs Tipperary, Leitrim vs Wexford and London vs Sligo games. There’s no ‘gimme’ fixtures in there, but there’s nothing that this group will be afraid of either, certainly not in Tullamore.