Offaly footballers get off the mark with emphatic victory over Wicklow

OFFALY gave their hopes of survival in Division 3 of the Allianz Hurling League a massive shot in the arm with an emphatic 20 point victory over Wicklow at Glenisk O'Connor Park on Sunday.

Allianz National Football League Division 3 Round 5

OFFALY 5-15
WICKLOW 0-10

It was Offaly's first win of the campaign but one that should give them huge confidence as they head into their final two games against Sligo and Limerick.

After the trauma of losing a big lead to Clare in their last game, Offaly made no mistake on this occasion and were full merit for their huge winning margin. They took their chances well and when they got on top, they ensured that there was no way Wicklow were going to come back the way Clare had in the last game.

They now have a great chance of maintaining their place in Division 3 for next season and will travel to Sligo for their next game full of confidence.

Offaly began the game well and controlled possession for much of the first half. Wicklow did show signs of threat on the break and Offaly had to be alert to cut out dangerous situations on a couple of occasions. In general they kept good control of the ball themselves, often being patient in the build up before getting a shot away. 2-7 of their 2-8 total in the first half came from play, which was impressive scoring in somewhat difficult conditions.

They continued in that vein in the second half and even when reduced to 14 players after 46 minutes, they continued to dominate their opponents, who only enjoyed one brief five minute spell of supremacy when they scored four points without reply, but those were their last scores and Offaly closed out the game with the last five points.

In all 10 different players got on the scoresheet from play for Offaly and they scored 4-14 from play, which is a very good return against any side. They were patient on the ball, nonemoreso than in the build up to their penalty early in the second half when Offaly must have passed the ball around for more than two minutes before Cormac Egan made the decisive burst and was fouled and Anton Sullivan dispatched the penalty.

It was a good sign of the side that they never showed any sign of panic, particularly after losing a number of recent games which they could have won, so narrowly, They were always looking to get forward but were content to wait for the right moment to make the burst and take the scoring opportunity.

Wicklow only offered brief resistance. They were in the game for the first quarter but once Offaly scored two goals in two minutes around the midway point of the first half, there was only going to be one winner and Offaly will now look to build on this and take further strides in the games ahead.

David Dempsey, Lee Pearson and Cormac Egan were prominent in defence, Eoin Carroll did well at midfield and Dylan Hyland, Jack Bryant and Ruairi McNamee were prominent in attack, with Anton Sullivan having a very good second half.

Tom Moran, Patrick O'Keane, Cillian McDonald, Jack Kirwan, Dean Healy and Kevin Quinn were best for Wicklow.

Offaly had a lot of early possession but registered two wides and it was Wicklow who got the first score of the game when corner back Tom Moran came forward to fist over after four minutes. Offaly did level quickly when Dylan Hyland hit the first of his scores and he put Offaly in front after eight minutes after a good move. Jack Bryant stretched the lead after 13 minutes but Wicklow hit back and Kevin Quinn kicked a good point and then pointed a free in the 16^th minute to level matters.

Offaly then stepped up a gear and began to pull away. Dylan Hyland put them back in front with a point and after 17 minutes Cormac Egan took a good pass from Dylan Hyland and headed goalwards soloing with his right before finishing low with his left for the first goal.

Two minutes later Offaly raised a second green flag. Good work in defence won the ball back from Wicklow and Jack Bryant put the ball in front of the onrushing Eoin Carroll. Goalkeeper Cathal Fitzgerald was backtracking and before he had time to set Carroll first timed off the ground to the net.

Kevin Quinn pointed another Wicklow free but Offaly finished the half on the front foot with Dylan Hyland, Keith O'Neill – after a lovely sidestep – Dylan Hyland (free) and Jack Bryant all pointing to give the home side a 10 point advantage at half time.

Less than a minute into the second half Dylan Hyland popped over his sixth point but Kevin Quinn replied with a free. Seven minutes into the half Cormac Egan burst forward but was hauled down and the referee awarded a penalty. Peter Cunningham had missed Offaly's last gasp penalty against Clare the last day but Anton Sullivan stepped up this time and dispatched the ball to the corner of the net.

Jack Bryant hit Offaly's next point after 10 minutes and when Keith O'Neill cut out the kick out, he picked out Anton Sullivan who closed in on goals before passing to Jack Bryant, who palmed the ball to the net. Shortly after Offaly were down to 14 men when Dylan Hyland picked up a black card and having earlier received a yellow, was shown a red.

Brian Nesbitt pointed a Wicklow free before Offaly netted their fifth goal after 16 minutes, when a good quick move upfield ended with Jordan Hayes finding the net from close range. Wicklow then enjoyed their best spell of the game with four unanswered points in five minutes from Dean Healy, Cillian McDonald, Kevin Quinn and Oisin McGraynor but the latter was their last score of the game with 12 minutes still left on the clock.

Offaly responded themselves and hit the next five points. Captain Lee Pearson picked off the first of them, sub Nigel Dunne hit two and Anton Sullivan and David Dempsey were also on target to leave Offaly with a 20 point winning margin.

MATCH ANALYSIS

THE TEAMS

OFFALY: Mikey Cunningham (Bracknagh); Aidan Bracken (Ballycommon), John Furlong (Tullamore), Declan Hogan (Tullamore); Cormac Egan (Tullamore), David Dempsey (Ballycommon), Lee Pearson (Edenderry); Eoin Carroll (Cappincur), Peter Cunningham (Bracknagh); Dylan Hyland (Raheen), Ruairi McNamee (Rhode), Jordan Hayes (Edenderry); Anton Sullivan (Rhode), Keith O'Neill (Clonbullogue), Jack Bryant (Shamrocks). Subs. Rory Egan (Edenderry) (for Cormac Egan, 52 mins), Jack McEvoy (Clonbullogue) (for Eoin Carroll, 54 mins), Jordan Quinn (Kilcormac/Killoughey) (temp sub for Jack McEvoy, 57-62 mins), Nigel Dunne (Shamrocks) (for Jack Bryant, 62 mins), Cathal Flynn (Ferbane) (for Keith O'Neill, 64 mins), Daire McDaid (Tullamore) (for Lee Pearson, 68 mins).

WICKLOW: Cathal Fitzgerald; Tom Moran, Malachy Stone, Jacques McCall; Eoin Murtagh, Patrick O'Keane, Cillian McDonald; Craig Maguire, Jack Kirwan; John Paul Nolan, Dean Healy, Cathal Baker; Eoin Darcy, Kevin Quinn, Christopher O'Brien. Subs. Matt Nolan (for Eoin Murtagh, half time), Darragh Fee (for Jacques McCall, half time), Brian Nesbitt (for Eoin Darcy, half time), Johnny Carlin (for Jack Kirwan, 52 mins), Oisin McGraynor (for Malachy Stone, 52 mins).

REFEREE: David Murnane (Cork)

MAN OF THE MATCH

Offaly had some strong contenders. Dylan Hyland was leading the way in the first half but his red card probably militated against him in the end. Jack Bryant also contributed 1-3 from play but the nod goes to wing back Cormac Egan. He was very effective coming forward from his new wing back role. He scored the first goal, won the penalty which resulted in the third goal and was involved in the thick of the action all the time he was on the pitch.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

Offaly's first goal was the moment they began to put distance between the teams. They had a lot of the early possession but Wicklow had just hit back to level in the 16^th minute. Offaly just retaken the lead when Dylan Hyland put a good pass into the path of Cormac Egan and he headed goalwards and sent a fine shot to the far corner of the net. The second goal followed two minutes later and Offaly were never in danger after that.

REFEREE WATCH

David Murnane handled the game well overall. He dished out a lot of cards but there would be very little quibble about any of them. He frequently punished dissent by moving the ball forward and overall had little undue influence on the game.

WHAT’S NEXT

Offaly travel to face Sligo the weekend after next while Wicklow host Limerick in a bottom of the table clash.

VENUE WATCH

O'Connor Park catered for the game well. There wasn't a big crowd but there were plenty of stewards on duty. The pitch was a bit soft and cut up and a heavy downpour about half an hour before the start, which didn't help after the poor weather of recent days. But overall it held up reasonably well.

STATISTICS

Wides; Offaly 6 (5 in first half) Wicklow 8 (3 in first half)

Yellow Cards: Offaly 1 (Dylan Hyland) Wicklow 6 (Eoin Darcy, Tom Moran, Cathal Baker, Kevin Quinn, Matt Nolan, Dean Healy)

Black Cards: Offaly 1 (Dylan Hyland) Wicklow 1 (Cillian McDonald)

Red Cards: Offaly 1 (Dylan Hyland) Wicklow 0

THE SCORERS

Offaly; Jack Bryant (1-3), Dylan Hyland (0-6, 0-1 free), Anton Sullivan (1-1, 1-0 penalty), Cormac Egan, Eoin Carroll, Jordan Hayes (1-0 each), Nigel Dunne (0-2), Keith O'Neill, Lee Pearson, David Dempsey (0-1 each).

Wicklow; Kevin Quinn (0-5, 0-3 frees), Tom Moran, Brian Nesbitt (free), Dean Healy, Cillian McDonald, Oisin McGraynor (0-1 each).