Offaly architects of own misfortune in devastating defeat
WHILE Wicklow missed their share as well, Offaly had only themselves to blame as they suffered a devastating one point defeat in the second round of the Leinster U-20 Football Championship in Faithful Fields on Tuesday evening.
Leinster U-20 Football Championship Group 2 Round 2
Wicklow 2-8
Offaly 1-10
After drawing with Louth in the first round, Offaly's defeat leaves them hanging on by the slimmest of threads. They have to beat Dublin next Tuesday and hope that Louth beat Wicklow to advance as one of the two qualifiers.
They really should have had their fate in their own hand as they missed three goal chances in the first half and made a succession of errors that drew groans from the large home support.
Wicklow produced their best football in the ten minutes coming up to half time to lead by 2-6 to 1-3 at the break. There was no way Offaly should have been behind and it left them with a mountain to climb in the second half.
They almost got there as they dug deep with every inch of their fibre and attacked Wicklow with everything they had. Their error count was not as high as the first half but they still did a few silly things as well as kicking poor wides.
Wicklow didn't score until 23 minutes into the second half and JP Nolan's point from a very softly awarded free gave them a 2-7 to 1-7 lead. Offaly could have been level at that stage as they almost got two goals – the raiding Daire McDaid had a goal shot blocked in the 43rd minute and the brilliant Cormac Egan was desperately unlucky to see his rocket bounce off the crossbar two minutes later.
With the game in the melting pot, it was Wicklow's turn to suffer stage fright in front of the posts. Conor Fee, Adam Byrne and Jack Kirwan kicked shocking wides in a sustained spell of pressure. Two points from Jamie Guing, one free, brought it back to a point with four minutes left. JP Nolan should have settled it for Wicklow in the 57th minute, blasting wide from in front of the posts – at the very least he should have had a point.
Three minutes into injury time, Jamie Guing superbly floated over the equaliser from a '45' and a draw looked certain. Instead the referee played on. Offaly almost got the winner when Harry Plunkett's shot was short and Alex Egan nearly punched it into the net. Wicklow flew into attack and sub Jack Reid floated over a fine winner in the 74th minute. Offaly had one more chance to attack but Cathal Ryan kicked the ball out over the sideline and that was that – and in many ways, that summed up Offaly's evening.
While Wicklow had their chances to kill them off in the closing quarter, Offaly will be wondering how they lost. Wicklow played 21 minutes of the second half with fourteen men – Adam Byrne had got a black card early on and then got a yellow which meant a red with six minutes of normal time left.
Offaly couldn't take advantage and they were gutted after this defeat. The second half in particular provided rip roaring entertainment as both sides threw the kitchen sink at each other. After a very poor performance when drawing in Louth, it leaves Offaly staring an early exit in the face.
This team was beaten in the Leinster minor final three years ago and there were high hopes for them. Injuries dealt them a cruel blow but they were much closer to full strength here. John Furlong and Tom Hyland played the full game while Cormac Egan started and Keith O'Neill came on as a second half sub.
Furlong was not firing on all cylinders but was still highly effective around the midfield zone, displayed a tremendous work ethic. O'Neill was very ring rusty but showed flashes of his immense ability while Egan was the one huge positive for Offaly.
He was sensational as he showed how good he can be. It was his best performance since the All-Ireland U-20 winning campaign two years ago. His speed and skills were on full show here as he won ball he had no right to and caused palpitations in the Wicklow defence. He missed all last year with a hamstring injury and unfortunately he went off with what looked like a hamstring issue a minute from time – Egan had his hamstring stretched for over a minute and was not able to run freely after getting to his feet. All supporters will be hoping that this is only a niggle rather than something more serious as he had a hamstring operation last year.
It was an extraordinarily mixed afternoon for Jamie Guing. He could have won the match in the first half as he failed to convert three goal chances but he was a major reason in them going so close in the second half. The Clonbullogue man top scored with nine points and got two excellent marks as well as two points from play in the second half. He did make a couple of mistakes in the second half but you had to admire the way he kept his head up after his first half misses.
Elsewhere Daire McDaid put in a great shift in defence, working his socks off, turning over ball and getting forward. Cathal Ryan was very effective at the heart of the defence and Tom Hyland did a lot of tackling, blocking and closing down.
Apart from Egan and Guing, the attack was not good enough and the attacking display over the two games is the reason Offaly are on some icy ground. They never got a point from play in the first half and the second half was fifteen minutes old before Guing booted over their first. Guing and Egan were the only forwards to score from play and that statistics says it all.
Ultimately the damage was done early on. The first half was a real horror show for Offaly and a 2-6 to 1-3 deficit left them in a very difficult situation at half time.
That half time score was no reflection whatsoever on the way the first half went and Offaly were entirely the architects of their own misfortune.
They left an easy 3-3 behind them, at least, in the first half and their only score from play was an excellent seventh minute goal from Cormac Egan. Jamie Guing should have had a hat trick of goals in the first half – he was wide with a very good chance in the 6th minute and had shots saved in the 14th and 20th minutes. The 14th minute one was the best chance of the lot as he got a misplaced Jack Sargent kickout and raced through on goals – he got caught in two minds between passing to the waiting Cormac Egan, which he should have done, and shooting, but not getting the power or accuracy he required.
Offaly also had a couple of bad wides as well as dropping shots short but there was much more to frustrate the home support than that. Their error count was way too high and every sector was guilty as players spilled easy ball, made basic mistakes or got caught in possession, sometimes under minimal pressure.
Still it looked like they would get away with it for much of the half. Egan's goal gave them a 1-0 to 0-1 lead and they were 1-3 to 0-2 ahead after 17 minutes and not under any great pressure. It all unravelled at the seams in the second quarter as Offaly's volume of errors became increasingly frustrating to watch.
Wicklow got three points and Adam Byrne blasted wide with a snap goal shot in the 24th minute. Two minutes later Joe Prendergast hit the net, moments after Sean Conway was wide with a very scoreable chance at the other end. It got worse for Offaly before the interval. Geordi O'Meara dropped a point chance short and then Wicklow got their second goal from a self inflicted penalty with Pauric Robbins dropping the ball and JP Nolan was fouled. Tommy Keogh slotted home the penalty and JP Nolan added a great point for that 2-6 to 1-3 half time lead.
Unsurprisingly Offaly rang the changes at half time, bringing on Ben Heffernan and Alex Egan, as they just came up short.
MATCH ANALYIS
MAN OF THE MATCH
Cormac Egan (Offaly): It was great to see Cormac Egan in this form and hopefully his late withdrawal with a hamstring injury is not serious. You will always fear the worse with his hamstring problems. He terrorised Wicklow here and they had no answer once he got the ball. A created a buzz of anticipation any time the ball went near him and he didn't disappoint. Apart from his injuries, he had struggled to find his form in the games he did play last year but he showed here how good he can be. The high point of the evening for Offaly.
THE SCORERS
Wicklow: Tommy Keogh 1-2 (goal from a penalty and 1f), Joe Prendergast 1-0, JP Nolan 0-3 (2f), Jack Reid, Liam O'Neill and Tim Harrington 0-1 each.
Offaly: Jamie Guing 0-9 (4f, 2m and 1 '45'), Cormac Egan 1-0, Geordi O'Meara 0-1 (f).
THE TEAMS
OFFALY: David Dunican (Ferbane); Daire McDaid (Tullamore), Diarmuid Finneran (Ballinagar), Tom Hyland (Bracknagh); Dylan Byrne (Edenderry), Cathal Ryan (Daingean), Luke Bourke (Tullamore); John Furlong (Tullamore), Harry Plunkett (Tullamore); Geordi O'Meara (Ballinagar), Niall Furlong (Tullamore), Pauric Robbins (Tubber); Cormac Egan (Tullamore), Sean Conway (Ballycommon), Jamie Guing (Clonbullogue). Subs - Alex Egan (Clara) for Conway (HT), Ben Heffernan (Tullamore) for Bourke (HT), Keith O'Neill (Clonbullogue) for Robbins (43m), Cian Murphy (Rhode) for O'Meara (54m), Luke Kelly (Doon) for Egan, inj. (59m).
WICKLOW: Jack Sargent; Adam Byrne, Luke O'Brien, Adam Kinsella; James Boland, Liam O'Neill, Austin Brennan; Dan Cooney, Jack Kirwan; Joe Prendergast, Matt Nolan, Tim Harrington; Conor Fee, Tommy Keogh, JP Nolan. Subs – Sean Doyle for Keogh (46m), Cian Deering for Brennan (50m), Paidi Kavanagh for Harrington (50m), Mark Murtagh for O'Neill (55m), Jack Reid for Fee (62m).
Referee – Andrew Smith (Meath).
REFEREE WATCH
A very mixed bag by Andrew Smith. He was fair and was clearly trying to do the right things but he did give a few very soft looking frees. He had the whistle blown, presumably for a penalty, just before Wicklow's first goal but he awarded it anyway – it may have been going in but it hadn't crossed the line when he blew it.
MOMENT OF THE MATCH
Joe Prendergast's winning point.
VENUE WATCH
Faithful Fields was in excellent condition and the fixture as hosted with its usual professionalism.
WHAT'S NEXT
Offaly host Dublin in Faithful Fields next Tuesday.
STATISTICS
Wides: Offaly – 9 (4 in first half); Wicklow – 8 (2 in first half).
Yellow cards: Offaly – 0; Wicklow – 3 (Adam Byrne, Liam O'Neill, Matt Nolan).
Black cards: Offaly – 0; Wicklow – 1 (Adam Byrne).
Red cards: Offaly – 0; Wicklow – 1 (Adam Byrne, black and yellow).