Real business begins now as Offaly cruise on with double scores win

WITHOUT having to do anything special or being in anyway extended, Offaly cruised into the quarter-finals of the Leinster U-20 Hurling Championship with a routine double scores win over Kildare in Tullamore on Friday night.

Leinster U20 Hurling Championship preliminary quarter-final

Offaly 2-20

Kildare 1-10

The result had an air of inevitability from the start and Offaly gave a decent performance as they won pulling up. They only hit top gear in fits and starts but they injected real pace and intensity at times and were never in the slightest danger of an upset defeat.

They had the game won at half time with a 2-8 to 0-6 lead after playing into a strong wind. Their second half display was somewhat frustrating as they hit 11 poor wides which was way too many, cruised along in second to third gear and did not focus fully on the basics – however, with a quarter-final assured and as they ran on subs, including taking off star forward Adam Screeney and senior player Charlie Mitchell, this was both understandable and forgivable.

Having come out of tier 2, the real business starts now with a quarter-final next week against the third placed tier 1 team – one of either Dublin, Wexford, Kilkenny or Galway.

It was an impressive win by Offaly who did exactly what they needed to do, taking complete control of the game against the wind in the first half and easing home in the second half.

Kildare competed well early on, scoring the first two points and leading by 0-3 to 0-2 after five minutes. That, however, was the high point of their evening as poor defending allowed Shane Rigney in for a well taken fith minute goal and a 1-2 to 0-3 lead.

Kildare hung on for a while. It was 1-4 to 0-6 after six minutes but they didn't score again in the half. Their tactic of trying to ruffle Offaly feathers did not work – they adopted a physical approach with some dangerous looking flicks with the hurl and hard hits. When it came down to hurling, the home side were clearly a much superior team and let their skills do the talking.

They got 1-4 without reply before the interval for a 2-8 to 0-6 half time lead and it was all over. The second goal came from Adam Screeney in the 25th minute, getting it across the line at the second attempt after Shane Rigney got the ball across to him.

The second half was a non event as Offaly were never extended and never in one second of peril. They had Mitchell and Screeney called ashore by the 46th minute while they will have been particularly pleased at getting some game time into Ter Guinan, who is back from injury.

Some of the subs introduced and more fringe players on the team may not have helped their cause of future selection by less than stellar displays. Offaly will be hoping to get Dan Ravenhill back for the quarter-finals and will certainly be putting their strongest foot forward from here on.

Joe Hoctor missed a couple of goal chances from centre half forward while Eoin Burke had three wides from scoreable frees after coming on before Conor Doyle took over and converted a late one – before that, Screeney had got seven of his 1-8 from placed balls as well as missing a couple of long range ones.

Doing very little spectacular Offaly won the second half by 0-12 to 1-4 and that is an encouraging sign in itself. It could have been an avalanche as they could very easily have got another few goals. The in-form Shane Rigney should have ended up with a hat-trick and Offaly always looked like breaching the Kildare rearguard.

The losers did get an injury time consolation gol from sub Fionn Maher and Offaly's winning margin did not matter. Offaly's defence were in control all evening with Ben Miller and Sam Bourke outstanding and James Mahon doing a lot of very good work – the displays of Miller and Bourke in the heart of defence, their ability to win ball, be in the right place and do the simple thing, continues to give Offaly a very solid foundation. They were assisted by a very average Kildare side who over used the handpass, especially in the first half and found it hard to score all evening.

Cathal King did plenty of good things in the first half while Colin Spain had a very good game in midfield, getting on a lot of ball and using most of it well.

Adam Screeney was magical at times in the forward line. His ability to do the unexpected, his breathtaking skill level shone through and while he was not at full pelt before being rested in the 46th minute, he was instrumental in Offaly building up a winning advantage. Conor Doyle and Shane Rigney were also excellent in the attack with Doyle scoring four points from play, Rigney 1-2 and Alex Kavanagh impressed off the bench with two points.

It was very much a case of doing what was necessary, not a whole lot more and for Offaly, the real championship now begins.

MATCH ANALYSIS

MAN OF THE MATCH

Shane Rigney (Offaly): Shane Rigney had a superb game for Offaly and it would have been even better if he was a bit more clinical with his finishing. He scored 1-2 and it could very easily have been 3-4 or 3-5. Even at that, he is a worthy choice as man of the match as he showed great skill and awareness, assisted in a few other scores and was fast on and off the ball. Conor Doyle and Colin Spain also staked strong claims.

THE SCORERS

Offaly: Adam Screeney 1-8 (7f), Conor Doyle 0-5 (1f), Shane Rigney 1-2, Alex Kavanagh 0-2, Sam Bourke, Colin Spain, Dan Bourke 0-1 each.

Kildare: Charlie Sheridan 0-3 (2f), Fionn Maher 1-0, Conn Kehoe 0-2, Daniel O'Meara, Daire Guerin, Cian Boran, Killian Harrington and Conor Treacy 0-1 each.

THE TEAMS

OFFALY: Mark Troy (Durrow); Patrick Taaffe (Belmont), Ben Miller (Birr), James Mahon (Kilcormac-Killoughey); Luke Watkins (Shinrone), Sam Bourke (Durrow), Brecon Kavanagh (Kilcormac-Killoughey); Cathal King (Carrig-Riverstown), Colin Spain (Kilcormac-Killoughey); Dan Bourke (Durrow), Joe Hoctor (Carrig-Riverstown), Conor Doyle (Clara); Shane Rigney (St Rynagh's), Charlie Mitchell (Kilcormac-Killoughey), Adam Screeney (Kilcormac-Killoughey). Subs – Ter Guinan (Kilcormac-Killoughey) for Taaffe (HT), Cormac Egan (Tullamore) for King (33m), Alex Kavanagh (Kilcormac-Killoughey) for Mitchell (42m), Eoin Burke (Coolderry) for Screeney (46m), Leigh Kavanagh (Kilcormac-Killoughey) for Dan Bourke (53m).

KILDARE: Ben Loughlin; Evan O'Briain, Liam O'Reilly, Conor O'Grady; Sean Gleeson, Alan Goss, Bill Hennessy; Ciaran Kirwan, Daniel O'Meara; Daire Guerin, Cian Boran, Ciaran Flanagan; Charlie Sheridan, Conn Kehoe, Killian Harrington. Subs – Conor Treacy for O'Grady (29m), Oisin Lynam for Gleeson (44m), James Dolan for Kirwan (51m), Fionn Maher for Treacy (53m), Cormac Nolan for Kehoe (59m).

Referee – Padraig Dunne (Laois).

REFEREE WATCH

Padraig Dunne adopted a let it run policy but it could have led to to trouble as a number of fouls, on both sides were left unpunished and he didn't clamp down on a series of reckless Kildare challenges for a long time – some of them could have hurt, warranted cards and this was the big problem with the Laois man's display: the frees not given were neither here nor there as they more or less balanced out and Offaly were always going to win. He was more strict on Kildare's rash tackles in the second half but in a tighter game going down to the wire, their approach would really have got Offaly's dander up and the refereeing would then have had an influence on the outcome.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

Shane Rigney's goal in the fifth minute may have given Offaly a mere two point lead but even then, everyone knew what the outcome was.

VENUE WATCH

O'Connor Park is getting a of games at the moment but the pitch is in terrific condition with groundsman Jim Kelly quickly getting it mowed afterwards to get it ready for Saturday's Joe McDonagh Cup game against Down.

WHAT'S NEXT

Offaly play the third placed team in tier 1 which will be decided on Saturday evening.

STATISTICS

Wides: Offaly – 13 (2 in first half); Kildare – 6 (6 in first half).

Yellow cards: Offaly – 0; Kildare – 3 (Liam O'Reilly, Charlie Sheridan and Conn Kehoe).

Red cards: 0.