Brave Offaly rue missed chances but bow out with heads held high

A BRAVE Offaly went out fighting for everything, with their heads held sky high as their Leinster Minor Hurling Championship ambitions were ended by Wexford in an entertaining, fiercely contested quarter-final at Kilcormac's Faithful Fields on Saturday evening.

Leinster Minor Hurling Championship quarter-final

Wexford 3-15

Offaly 0-14

The ten point losing margin in no way reflected the way Offaly battled and how competitive they were for a lot of this game. Wexford did deserve to win and they were the better team with a few really good players having a major impact but Offaly could have been snapping on their heels in the closing minutes.

Unfortunately, they missed a handful of scoreable chances at a crucial stage in the second half while the goal they needed never arrived. Instead, Wexford hit the net three times with their third from Sean Hyland clincing it in the 56^th minute.

That goal after Joey McLoughney was brilliantly robbed by the superb Sean O'Brien gave Wexford a 3-13 to 0-13 lead and there was no way back for Offaly. Offaly should have been within a point or two of Wexford before Hyland's goal and had they been, it may never have come. Instead they committed the cardinal sin of not keeping the scoreboard ticking over and taking their points when the game was slipping away from them.

In fairness to them, it wasn't a case of trying to run in goals and doing the wrong thing. It was just that they didn't put their chances over the bar and it allowed Wexford to keep a gap between them. Andrew Hogan and James Hennessy had wides that looked like they were sailing over when they left their sticks, Odhran Fletcher dropped a free short and was wide with another while Hogan had another wide.

It would have been interesting to see what way Wexford would have responded had Offaly got to within a score and that was the biggest regret of the evening for the home side. It meant that Offaly only managed one point from the 45^th to the 61^st minute and that was a huge factor in the game. It was a period when Offaly showed terrific heart and character. They contested every ball with great ferocity and played with intensity. They did well to get on top for a nice bit of the second half and one point out of the possession they enjoyed from the 45^th to 61^st minutes when Luke Bracken got a consolation score was a big part of the reason they lost.

Offaly really needed goals though to survive and rarely looked like getting these while the defence struggled to come to grips with a lethal Wexford full forward line – a couple of the Wexford goals came after Offaly mistakes.

Still there was no shame whatsoever in defeat for Offaly. They really wanted it and did very well to hang in the game in the first half and get back into it in the second half as there were times when it looked like Wexford could pull away.

It was a very respectable effort by Offaly and while they will regret some things, they can be satisfied that as a group they played fairly close to their potential. They had their limitations and there was never any real sense that they could win a championship but if every Offaly team displayed their ability to perform to their best and empty the tank every day, the county would be in a good place.

It just didn't quite happen for them here as they made a nightmare start when conceding a goal after a minute to Adam O'Connell-Byrne. Wexford led by 1-3 to 0-2 after eight minutes and for a brief while, it looked like they could have it won early. They were sharper in the first few minutes and went 1-5 to 0-3 ahead after 15 minutes – they could have had a second goal and that would have been it but Offaly knuckled down very well to hang in there gamely. A beautiful Odhran Fletcher point, followed by an inspirational Andrew Hogan one raised morale. It was 1-7 to 0-5 after 21 minutes while Offaly had their best goal chance two minutes later but Paddy Quigley saved very well from Killian Wynne.

Distaster struck Offaly before half time when Colin Carley got in for a 28^th minute goal and Wexford led by 2-8 to 0-6 at the break.

Offaly competed really well on the restart. Andrew Hogan was pivotal to their revival when moved to centre forward and he got an excellent point as they began to test Wexford. Matt Watkins made a good save from Sean O'Brien and did well to deflect another O'Brien shot out for a '65'. A fine James O'Sullivan point reduced it to five points, 2-10 to 0-11 after 44 minutes. Macdara Mitchell's point made it 0-12 to 2-11 and a goal at this stage could have changed everything for Offaly.

Fletcher's free made it 2-13 to 0-13 after 49 minutes but Offaly had too many misses in this spell and Hyland's goal knocked the stuffing out of them, giving Wexford a nine point lead that they couldn't lose at that stage.

MATCH ANALYSIS

MAN OF THE MATCH

Sean O'Brien (Wexford): Sean O'Brien had a sensational game for Wexford. A brilliant ball winner at the edge of the square, his pace created a lot of openings. Four of his eight points came from play, he set up other scores, missed a couple of goal chances and his rob for the third goal was one of the highlights of the game.

Ryan Donohue, Ciaran Gethings, Jack Dunne, Conor Fanning and Colin Carley were also immense for Wexford.

No Offaly player can be faulted for effort. Andrew Hogan was their best player and Odhran Fletcher showed some delightful skill, scoring two points from play while Conor Berry, Luke Bracken, James O'Sullivan, Eamon Maher and Conor Egan caught the eye at different stages as Offaly played with real honesty.

THE SCORERS

Wexford: Sean O'Brien 0-8 (2f and 2 '65s'), Sean Hyland 1-1, Conor Fanning 0-3, Colin Carley and Adam O'Connell-Byrne 1-0 each, Ryan Donohue, Jack Dunne, Kevin O'Mahony 0-1 each.

Offaly: Odhran Fletcher 0-7 (5f), Andrew Hogan 0-3, James O'Sullivan, Killian Wynne, Conor Egan, Macdara Mitchell 0-1 each.

THE TEAMS

OFFALY: Matt Watkins (Ballyskenach-Killavilla); Conor Berry (Clodiagh Gaels), Joey McLoughney (Coolderry), Cian Kinnarney (Durrow); Oisin Carroll (Kilcormac/Killoughey), Andrew Hogan (Coolderry), Michael Dooley (Kinnitty); Luke Bracken (Kilcormac/Killoughey), James O'Sullivan (Shinrone); Brian Guinan (Kilcormac/Killoughey), Killian Wynne (Tullamore), Eamon Maher (Ferbane); Odhran Fletcher (Kilcormac/Killoughey), Conor Egan (Shamrocks), James Hennessy (Drumcullen). Subs – Morgan Feenane (Birr) for Dooley, inj. (10m), Macdara Mitchell (Kilcormac-Killoughey) for Wynne (36m), James Sampson (Shinrone) for Hennessy (58m), Donal Dooley (Shamrocks) for Feenane (58m), Sean Carey (Seir Kieran) for Guinan (59m),

WEXFORD: Paddy Quigley; Ian Reilly, Paddy Keavey, Ben Harpur; Cathal Sinnott, Ryan Donohoe, Jack Nolan; Ciaran Gethings, Jack Dunne; Conor Fanning, Kevin O'Mahony, Sean Hyland; Colin Carley, Sean O'Brien, Adam O'Connell-Byrne. Subs – Jack Gethings for Dunne (33m), Darren Rossiter for O'Connell-Byrne (41m), Peter Wickham for O'Mahony (54m), Jamie Kennedy for Carley (57m), Rhys Wickham for O'Brien (61m).

Referee – James McGrath (Westmeath).

REFEREE WATCH

James McGrath is a very good referee and he was not a real factor in the outcome. He got the vast majority of calls right though a few Wexford balls looked suspiciously like they had been picked up. Sean O'Brien may have been fortunate not to be red carded late on as an Offaly helmet came off. He got yellow and Wexford's sighs of relief were almost audible as it would be a disaster for them if he missed the Leinster semi-final.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

Wexford's first goal from Adam O'Connell-Byrne was a disaster for Offaly. It came so early in the match, left them chasing it the whole way and the home side really needed that break to win this.

VENUE WATCH

There is no issue over the ability of Faithful Fields to host this game. It is an excellent facility but this match should have been in O'Connor Park, preferably, or failing that, St Brendan's Park in Birr should have been the second option. The Kilcormac grounds is a great venue for games but the county grounds should be the venue for a big game like this. It may have suited Offaly to an extent to have it in the tighter surrounds of Faithful Fields but if young players are to win anything significant, it will be in large county grounds and that message should be given to them from minor level onwards.

Having said that, the crowd created a lovely atmosphere here that would not have been replicated in O'Connor Park and the Faithful Field stewards managed everything with their customary efficiency. The venue was not a factor in Wexford winning or Offaly losing and in fairness to the Offaly minor management, you could see why they wanted Faithful Fields.

WHAT'S NEXT

Wexford go into the Leinster semi-final.

STATISTICS

Wides: Offaly – 10 (4 in first half); Wexford – 8 (5 in first half).

Yellow cards: Offaly – 1 (Cian Kinnarney); Wexford – 1 (Sean O'Brien).

Red cards: 0.