Offaly minors hit by early scoring blitz as Wexford ease to victory

OFFALY were hit by an early scoring blitz as Wexford took control an eased to an 11 point victory in their Leinster Minor Hurling Championship tie at Grant Heating St Brendan's Park, Birr on Friday.

Leinster Minor Hurling Championship Tier 1 Group 1 Round 3

Offaly 0-10
Wexford 3-12

The home side were rocked by Wexford's start as they raced into a 1-5 to 0-0 lead after just five minutes and Offaly never really recovered from that.

They did steady things after that devastating start and fought hard to try and get back into game but the stuffing was knocked out of them again at the start of the final quarter when Wexford scored two goals in two minutes and that ended any hopes Offaly had of an unlikely comeback.

It was a disappointing end to the group stages for Offaly and having finished third in the group they will face into a preliminary quarter final and they will hope to pick up after this setback and try and gain a bit of momentum again.

Wexford finished top of the group with three wins from three and they will now go directly into the Leinster semi-finals.

Playing into the strong wind in the first half Offaly couldn't have got off to a worse start. Wexford came flying out of the traps and after an early point found the net after just a minute and 20 seconds. Three more points followed in the next two minutes and by the fifth minute it was 1-5 to 0-0.

Offaly were really unsettled by that poor start. They were struggling to get out of their own half and couldn't make the ball stick when they played it forward in those early minutes and Wexford took full advantage.

Eventually Offaly did begin to settle and held their own for most of the rest of the half but Wexford were always able to pick off scores easier and they built up an eight point interval lead, 1-10 to 0-5.

With the wind behind them in the second half Offaly were hoping to make inroads into the lead but while they had plenty of possession, they found it difficult to get scores.

A couple of long range wind assisted frees from Gerard Maher did help them cut the gap to seven points but crucially they missed a couple more towards the end of the third quarter which could have left just five in it and who knows what might have happened if they had managed that.

The goal they really needed to inspire a comeback never looked like materialising and instead it was Wexford who struck for two goals in two minutes at the start of the final quarter and that ended any hopes of an Offaly fightback.

Darragh Daly, Ajay Cleary and Mark Mulrooney were best in the Offaly defence, Gearoid Maher did well in the middle of the field while in attack Cillian Bourke and Liam O'Riordan were best.

Ciaran Doyle, Charlie Roark and Doran Daly O'Toole played well in the Wexford defence, Sean Hyland made a strong contribution in the middle of the field while in a lively attack Jamie Doyle, Liam Cooney and Joe O'Leary impressed.

Wexford were ahead after 53 seconds when Jamie Doyle pointed a free and half a minute later they struck for their first goal when Sean Hyland cut through the middle, offloaded to Joe O'Leary and he fired low to the net. Liam Cooney, Joe O'Leary and Jamie Doyle ('65') quickly added further points to push them eight clear after five minutes.

Offaly finally got off the mark after eight minutes when Liam O'Riordan pointed a free and Cillian Bourke added a good point from play. They had chances to cut the gap further but failed to take them and after nine minutes without a score Tom Dempsey added two in quick succession for Wexford. Liam O'Riordan and Jamie Doyle exchanged points from frees before O'Riordan scored a good effort from play as Offaly battled to get back into it. Liam Cooney and Jamie Doyle (free) were on target for Wexford before a Gearoid Maher free left the score at 1-10 to 0-5 in favour of Wexford at half time.

Gearoid Maher pointed a free from just outside his own 45m line three minutes into the second half but Jamie Doyle replied with two Wexford frees. Two more Gearoid Maher points (one free) left seven in it 10 minutes into the second half. Offaly were battling to get back into it but missed further chances to reduce the lead.

Then they were hit with a sucker blow after 16 minutes of the half when Jamie Doyle stepped up to a 20m free to the right of the goals and instead of tapping it over the bar, took it short to Liam Cooney and he shot to the net.

Two minutes later a quick sideline cut found sub Jason Rossiter, only on the field a minute, and he turned and headed goalwards before slapping the ball to the net. That proved to be Wexford's last score with 12 minutes still left on the clock.

Offaly battled away but despite trying to engineer a goal couldn't manage it. Liam O'Riordan pointed a free and sub James O'Sullivan added a late point but Wexford had 11 points to spare when the final whistle sounded.

MATCH ANALYSIS

THE TEAMS

WEXFORD: Paddy Quigley; Ben Harpur, Ciaran Doyle, Patrick Kinsella; Doran Daly O'Toole, Charlie Roark, Niall Furlong; Jack Nolan, Sean Hyland; Colin Carley, Jamie Doyle, Tom Dempsey; Kian O'Connor, Joe O'Leary, Liam Cooney. Subs. Jack Gethings (for Colin Carley, 41 mins), Jason Rossiter (for Joe O'Leary, 47 mins), Steven Walsh (for Jamie Doyle, 50 mins), Corey Ryan (for Niall Furlong, 55 mins), Pauric Doyle (for Sean Hyland, 56 mins).

OFFALY: Killian Spain (Drumcullen); Luke Bracken (Kilcormac/Killoughey), Richard Bracken (Kilcormac/Killoughey), Daire Daly (St Rynagh's); Caelum Larkin (Carrig & Riverstown), Ajay Cleary (Coolderry), Mark Mulrooney (Kilcormac/Killoughey); Gearoid Maher (Shinrone), Harry Sweeney (Kilcormac/Killoughey); Fionn Carney (Ballyskenach-Killavilla), Niall Flannery (St Rynagh's), Cillian Bourke (Tullamore); Rob Carney (Ballyskenach-Killavilla), Liam O'Riordan (Ballyskenach-Killavilla), Darragh Scully (St Rynagh's). Subs. Dylan Hollywood (Drumcullen) (for Fionn Carney, 39 mins), James O'Sullivan (Shinrone) (for Richard Bracken, 40 mins), Aaron Molloy (St Rynagh's) (for Rob Carney, 49 mins), Niall Kelly (Ballinamere) (for Niall Flannery, 56 mins), James Morkan (Shinrone) (for Darragh Scully, 57 mins).

REFEREE: Conor Daly (Kildare)

MAN OF THE MATCH

Wexford had lively forwards and constantly threatened the Offaly backline. Joe O'Leary was particularly sharp, scoring 1-1 himself and helping set up a number of other scores for his side.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

Offaly were doing their best to get back into the match in the second half when they were caught out by some quick thinking from Wexford. With everyone expecting Jamie Doyle to pop over a 20m free, he caught Offaly napping by taking a quick free to Liam Cooney and he fired to the net. The third goal followed two minutes later and it was game over for Offaly.

REFEREE WATCH

Conor Daly did a good job throughout. He was firm in his decision making and was always in control of the contest.

TALKING POINT

After the high of last year's minor campaign this was a sobering experience for Offaly. They were hit by that early scoring blitz and were fighting an uphill battle after that. They showed plenty of heart and battled away but just found it hard to get scores. They only scored four points from play, just two of them from the starting forwards, and that cost them. When they got the gap down to seven in the second half, they missed a couple of frees which could have cut the lead to five, and that might have given them the impetus to drive on but those chances went abegging and then they got caught for those two goals in two minutes and the game was over as a contest.

WHAT’S NEXT

Wexford progress directly to the Leinster semi-finals as group winners while Offaly will have to face a preliminary quarter final.

VENUE WATCH

St Brendan's Park looked very well in the Good Friday sunshine and a decent crowd turned out for the Friday afternoon throw in. All arrangements were well in place for the game.

STATISTICS

Wides; Wexford 6 (4 in first half) Offaly 10 (4 in first half)

Yellow Cards: Wexford 1 (Ben Harpur) Offaly 3 (Richard Bracken, Mark Mulrooney, Niall Flannery)

Red Cards: None

THE SCORERS

Wexford; Jamie Doyle (0-7, 0-5 frees, 0-1 '65'), Liam Cooney (1-2), Joe O'Leary (1-1), Jason Rossiter (1-0), Tom Dempsey (0-2).

Offaly; Liam O'Riordan (0-4, 0-3 frees), Gearoid Maher (0-4, 0-3 frees), Cillian Bourke and James O'Sullivan (0-1 each).