Concession of late points takes gloss off comfortable Offaly win

WITHOUT having to do anything special, Offaly sauntered to one of the most predictable wins of the weekend when they eased over London in the first round of the Tailteann Cup in Tullamore on Sunday afternoon.

Tailteann Cup Group 1 Round 1

Offaly 2-14

London 0-11

It was a reasonable display by Offaly, who were never asked to hit top gear. However, with scoring difference possibly going to count later on, Offaly's winning margin was important and they will have been bitterly disappointed at the concession of four late points that resulted in a nine instead of an thirteen point win.

If Offaly lose to Laois next weekend, scoring difference could determine which of them goes through and nine points was not a big win. Their victory was never in the slightest of doubt and a thirteen point win would have been okay but Offaly fell asleep in the closing few minutes.

It was that type of display by them. They only played in fits and starts, doing enough to win but not a whole lot more. They were nine points up at half time and retained that winning margin to the end. Even playing into the wind in the second half, Offaly should have been able to push on to win by more but simply didn't play with true urgency.

Too many players went through the motions and while this was entirely understandable, the second half in particular was not good by Offaly as they just went through the motions. If they win in Portlaoise next Saturday, it won't matter and Offaly will have to get their intensity levels much higher for that.

This was one of those games where Offaly were damned if they did, and damned if they didn't. There weren't many really outstanding individual performances with Cian Farrell Offaly's best player and Peter Cunningham and Dylan Hyland having good spells. While a handful or less had off days, most players did just enough and there wasn't a whole lot to be said about this Offaly display.

They played with a strong wind in the first half and came up against a very defensive London, who pulled most players back. It took Offaly a few minutes to warm to the task but once they did, it was clear that there would be no shock result.

London, as you would expect, were a very limited side. Their tackling was poor at times and Offaly had too much pace for them. Offaly had four points on the board by the tenth minute, seven by the 18th as the visitors struggled to mount any meaningful attacks

An excellent move ended with Cian Farrell striking home a fine goal in the 20th minute and with a 1-7 to no score lead, the game was over. Offaly, however, didn't build on that and the gap was back to nine at half time. Joshua Obahor got London's first point in the 29th minute and they got two more before the break to trail by 1-9 to 0-3 at half time.

Offaly were disappointing in the second quarter. They got a bit sloppy on the ball with Cian Farrell and Lee Pearson mishandling, they didn't drive at them and while there was never any doubt about the result, they should have been able to have a ten point plus half time lead.

In the second half, Offaly never clicked into top gear. They never really drove at their opponents and seemed content to just win. They were particularly stagnant early on when London outscored them by 0-2 t 0-1 in the first seventeen minutes. Lee Pearson had a goal shot saved before Offaly began to move a bit better. They got four of the next five points to lead by 1-14 to 0-6 after 62 minutes.

Liam Gallagher got a London point before a very good Cian Farrell goal in the 66th minute put Offaly thirteen clear. Farrell did very well to make the space and Offaly really should have went for the jugular. Instead, they sat down, stopped working and allowed London get four points late on – Offaly will be hoping they don't pay a price for this poor finish.

MATCH ANALYSIS

MAN OF THE MATCH

Cian Farrell (Offaly): Cian Farrell was one Offaly player who really got up for it. His handling was a bit suspect at times in the first half but he moved well and was particularly good when Offaly needed to put the game to bed. He scored 2-4 with 2-3 from play.

THE SCORERS

Offaly: Cian Farrell 2-4 (1f), Dylan Hyland (1m and 1f) 0-4, Nigel Dunne 0-3 (2f and 1m), Jack McEvoy, Anton Sullivan and Cormac Delaney (f) 0-1 each.

London: Conal Gallagher 0-3, Aidan McLoughlin, Joshua Obahor and Liam Gavaghan (1f) 0-2 ach, Joseph McGill (f) and Liam Gallagher 0-1 each.

THE TEAMS

OFFALY: Ian Duffy (Walsh Island); Lee Pearson (Edenderry), Declan Hogan (Tullamore), David Dempsey (Ballycommon); Jack O'Brien (Durrow); Peter Cunningham (Bracknagh), Ciaran Donnelly (Bracknagh); Aaron Leavy (Tullamore), Jack McEvoy (Clonbullogue); Dylan Hyland (Raheen), Ruari McNamee (Rhode), Joe Maher (Ferbane); Cian Farrell (Edenderry), Nigel Dunne (Shamrocks), Anton Sullivan (Rhode). Subs – Cian Donohoe (St Brigid's) for Dempsey, inj. (29m), Morgan Tynan (Ballinagar) for McNamee (49m), Cormac Delaney (Clara) for Dunne (56m), Nigel Bracken (Tullamore) for Hyland (60m), Shane Tierney (Daingean) for Sullivan (63m).

LONDON: Andrew Walsh; Conor O'Neill, Michael Clarke, Nathan McElwaine; Ronan Slone, Eoin Walsh, Aidan McLoughlin; Daniel Clarke, Joshua Obahor; Conal Gallagher, Stephen Dornan, Liam Gallagher; Christopher Farley, Liam Gavaghan, Cahir Healy. Subs – Joseph McGill for Farley (29m), Ryan Tohill for Dornan (34m), Fiontan Fitzgerald for McElwaine (44m), James Hynes for Clarke (56m), Henry Walsh for Gavaghan (59m).

Referee – David Murnane (Cork).

REFEREE WATCH

David Murnane had a good game and was not a factor in the result. There were a few times when Offaly players stopped when they thought they had been fouled. A couple of those resulted in the free going to London and manager Martin Murphy will have to have a word with his players about playing to the whistle.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

Cian Farrell's 66th minute goal should have been a big score for Offaly as it gave them a 13 point lead. Instead, they just stopped after this, allowing London to get four late points and this could be costly.

VENUE WATCH

The decision to have a Leinster club hurling league game between Clodiagh Gaels and Clonaslee before it was questionable. Most of the hurling crowd left before the football game and there was a bit of traffic mayhem outside the ground. Car parking spaces were initially scarce for the early arrivals for the Tailteann Cup game but it soon eased off. Apart from this, there were no issues – a brief flare up between two Offaly supporters behind the Park Avenue goal didn't look good in the second half while there was an incident with another Offaly suppporter and Dublin players at the Leinster U-20 hurling game on Wednesday evening. Some of these supporters are passionate Offaly followers but they can't be getting involved in this type of stuff – and any interference with players is a bridge way too far.

WHAT'S NEXT

Offaly play Laois next weekend.

STATISTICS

Wides: Offaly – 4 (2 in first half); London – 11 (4 in first half).

Yellow cards: Offaly – 2 (Jack O'Brien and Joe Maher); London – 1 (Conal Gallagher).

Black cards: 0.

Red cards: 0.