Offaly secure date with Dubs after come from behind win takes out Laois

LOOKING to be heading to a fairly innocuous defeat for a good 45 minutes plus, Offaly senior footballers did very well to dig deep and rally powerfully to pull the win out of the bag against a disappointed Laois in a competitive O'Byrne Cup opener in Stradbally on Wednesday evening.

O'Byrne Cup Senior Football Competition 1st round

Offaly 1-11

Laois 0-12

Offaly struggled for almost the entire first half and were grateful to be only two points in arrears at half time, 0-6 to 0-4.

The home side got four points clear, 0-11 to 0-7 ten minutes into the second half and looked set to coast home but instead they only managed one more point as Offaly showed much more urgency and penetration in the closing twenty minutes.

Offaly's reward is a home quarter-final against Dublin in Gracefield this Saturday and that game will be no harm at all as they prepare for the league at the end of the month. A defeat here would not have mattered in the broader scheme of things but it is still good that Offaly now have an extra game to fine tune things.

Certainly if things had stayed the way they were ten minutes into the second half and Offaly had continued to play the same way, it would have been a very unsatisfactory defeat and the overall performance would have damaged confidence and left new manager Declan Kelly with a job of work to rebuild self belief ahead of that crucial first league game at home to Westmeath.

As it was Offaly managed to dominate most of the closing 20 minutes or so with Dylan Hyland getting a crucial goal and two points. Once Hyland found the net with an excellent 48th minute goal to reduce the gap to just a point, an Offaly win became instantly possible and as the half wore on, this switched to probable.

It took late points from two impressive subs, Nathan Poland and Declan Hogan to get Offaly the win and avoid a penalty shootout – the game would have went straight to penalties and not extra time if they had finished level, and that would have been good as there were definitely no spectators who wanted an extra twenty minutes on an increasingly cold evening.

It was a very mixed bag by Offaly and their first half performance was particularly poor. They worked hard and turned over some ball but their attacking football left a lot to be desired. As Declan Kelly admitted afterwards, Offaly played too much cagey football, moving the ball sideways and backwards. They struggled to break tackles and let in very little direct ball, with the result that they really struggled to create chances.

Three of Offaly's first half points came from frees and the only one from play from Jack Bryant in the 11th minute could have been a goal as he had clear sight of the net from ten metres out. Laois were clearly the better team in the first half, playing more constructive football and controlling the pace of play. They were full value for their 0-4 to 0-2 lead after nineteen minutes and would have been disappointed to be still only two points clear at half time – John Furlong got a 35th minute black card for something he said.

That black card was a definite factor in Laois going four points clear after 45 minutes. Laois introduced a spate of subs at half time and while Evan O'Carroll did some good things and others had good moments, overall their volume of changes weakened rather than strengthened them, or so it seemed.

Offaly's subs improved things with the veteran Nigel Dunne weighing in with two points, the first just 20 seconds after the restart and the second, an audacious shot from well out on the right wing, making it a one point game, 0-5 to 0-6 and then 0-7 to 0-8.

With Offaly a man down, Laois found a head of steam to score three in a row for that 0-11 to 0-7 lead but suddenly they ran out of steam and ideas. Hy;land's 48th minute goal changed the game and it showed the benefit of quick forward movement of the ball as a quick free was worked through to him and he finished superbly.

He levelled it up with a lovely 55th minute point and stroked over another delightful equaliser in the 62nd minute after Dylan Kavanagh had put Laois back in front with their final point. Hyland was replaced immediately after his last point and that suggested that Offaly were not unduly worried about the result but his replacement Nathan Poland got the crucial score to put them ahead late on and showed up well in his brief time on the field.

As the game wore on, Laois were infected by Offaly's first half malaise as scoring became a huge ordeal. Offaly worked much harder as a unit to force them into mistakes and up cul-de-sacs and as the final whistle loomed, it was the visitors' to lose.

Lee Pearson was very unlucky to hit the post when he got thrrough in the 66th minute, though his shot would have been a point. Two subs won the day with Nathan Poland putting Offaly ahead with two minutes left – one umpire waved it wide, another had the white flag in his hand and the point was awarded after the referee spoke to them.

The last point came a minute into injury time from raiding defender Declan Hogan. The Tullamore veteran had options left and right and a goal was a possibility if they went for it but he showed great experience and composure by dropping the ball over the bar and Offaly held on comfortably in the remaining two minutes.

It was a very worthwhile evening for Offaly. Declan Kelly was happy that they got to use 23 players and stated that both management and players will have learnt a lot from it.

He will also be talking to the players about their discipline and in particular contesting decisions. They got two yellow cards, one black card and had two first half frees brought in from a difficult position to can't miss territory and players will have to learn that a referee won't overturn a decision because of something said to him.

He started a handful of the players who won All-Ireland U-20 football medals with him in 2021 and while most of these were called ashore, Morgan Tynan, Cathal Flynn, Cormac Egan and Jack Bryant had good moments and showed they had the appetite for this level. Two more, Lee Pearson and John Furlong, apart from his ten minute sabbatical, played the full game and Pearson was superb while Furlong was immense when he came back on during the second half.

MATCH ANALYSIS

MAN OF THE MATCH

Dylan Hyland (Offaly): Lee Pearson was probably Offaly's most consistent player and looked hungry and sharp. He has been named the new captain and this honour may drive him on even more this year. The choice, however, is Dylan Hyland. It may have been a mixed bag by the Raheen man as he drifted in and out of the game and also lost a small bit of ball but when he found top gear in the second half, he was brilliant. He got his 1-2 from play between the 41st and 62nd minutes and these scores separated the sides.

THE SCORERS

Offaly: Dylan Hyland 1-5 (3f), Jack Bryant (1f) and Nigel Dunne 0-2 each, Declan Hogan and Nathan Poland 0-1 each.

Laois: Mark Barry 0-6 (5f), Simon Fingleton, Fionn Holland, Brian Daly (f), Brian Byrne, Paul Kingston (f), Declan Kavanagh 0-1 each.

THE TEAMS

OFFALY: Ian Duffy (Walsh Island); David Dempsey (Ballycommon), Diarmuid Finneran (Ballinagar), Lee Pearson (Edenderry); Rory Egan (Edenderry), John Furlong (Tullamore), Jack O'Brien (Durrow); Jordan Hayes (Edenderry), Morgan Tynan (Ballinagar); Eoin Carroll (Cappincur), Cathal Flynn (Ferbane), Dylan Hyland (Raheen); Cormac Egan (Tullamore), Jack Bryant (Shamrocks), Anton Sullivan (Rhode). Subs - Jack McEvoy (Clonbullogue) for Tynan (HT), Nigel Dunne (Shamrocks) for Bryant (HT), Daire McDaid (Tullamore) for Rory Egan (HT), Declan Hogan (Tullamore) for Finneran (43m), Kevin McDermott (Durrow) for Cormac Egan (53m), Cathal Donoghue (Oughterard) for Carroll (53m), Ruari McNamee (Rhode) for Flynn (55m), Nathan Poland (Erin Rovers) for Hyland (62m).

LAOIS: Killian Roche; Ben Dempsey, Seamus Lacey, Liam Knowles; Eoin Buggie, Mark Timmons, Simon Fingleton; Kevin Swayne, Damon Larkin; Cormac Murphy, Niall Corbett, Fionn Holland; Mark Barry, Brian Daly, Brian Byrne. Subs used – Ciaran Burke, Cathal Doyle, Jack Lacey, Mikey Dempsey, Evan O'Carroll, Daniel O'Reilly, Dylan Kavanagh.

Referee – Kieran Harris.

REFEREE WATCH

It was a difficult evening for football and not an easy match to referee but Kieran Harris did well. He missed a few things but that was inevitable in these conditions under lights. He was consistent, told players what they did wrong and was not the reason either side won or lost.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

Dylan Hyland's 48th minute goal turned the game on its head and ignited Offaly's victory charge.

VENUE WATCH

Stradbally was a less than ideal venue for Offaly while limited car parking meant that traffic management was an issue on a damp, wet evening. In fairness, the home club and county had ample stewards to handle this well. The pitch held up as well as could be expected in these conditions, though the venue did not had a stand and it was only good luck that spectators didn't get drenched as the rain held off, apart from a couple of drizzles.

WHAT'S NEXT

Offaly play Dublin in Gracefield on Saturday in the quarter-final.

STATISTICS

Wides: Offaly - 6 (2 in first half); Laois – 5(3 in first half).

Yellow cards: Offaly – 2 (Jordan Hayes and Jack Bryant); Laois – 0.

Black cards: Offaly – 1 (John Furlong); Laois – 0.

Red cards: 0.