Relieved Offaly stumble into quarter-finals with extra time win

A MIGHTILY relieved Offaly stumbled into the quarter-finals of the Leinster Minor Football Championship with an extra time win over Wicklow in the preliminary quarter-final in Faithful Fields on Thursday evening.

Leinster Minor Football Championship preliminary quarter-final

Offaly 3-20

Wicklow 2-13

They almost conspired to throw it away in the closing ten minutes plus injury time at the end of normal time when they were very fortunate not to lose it as Wicklow had two great late goal chances that would have won the day.

It was an extraordinary end to a game that Offaly controlled for long periods. 1-6 to 0-2 ahead after playing against the wind in the first half, Offaly played their best football in that period. They were in total control, playing very composed football and the only issue looked to be their winning margin.

They were nowhere near as good in the second half as their error count crept higher, the attack began to flounder and an injury to one of their outstanding players Dylan Dunne had a huge impact but they were still 1-12 to 0-8 ahead inside the last ten minutes and no danger seemed anyway imminent until the visitors got in for two soft goals. They were level twice before the final whistle and should have had a penalty while their final equaliser from Conor Fitzgerald could have been a goal as his shot from the edge of the small square was deflected over.

Offaly were out on their feet, living solely on their wits and while they should have snatched a late winning point, they were very happy to hear the final whistle and settle for extra time, 1-13 to 2-10.

Dylan Dunne came back on for the first period of extra time and helped get them going again. His searing run at the heart of the Wicklow defence set up Tony Furey for a goal four minutes in and a 2-14 to 2-10 lead.

Cian McNamee should have wrapped it up with a 66^th minute goal but got a point just before half time to give Offaly a 2-16 to 2-11 lead. That was a huge advantage with just ten minutes remaining but after witnessing their late collapse in normal time, no chickens were being counted in Kilcormac.

Wicklow, however, were done for with nothing left in the tank and Ruari Woods' well taken 73^rd minute goal after a great interchange with Cian McNamee wrapped it up for Offaly. They got three of the closing four points then for a final winning margin that was a much more accurate reflection of the overall difference between the teams but in no way shows how close they came to a calamitous, soul destroying defeat.

It was still an important win and they had to show great character to recover their composure in extra time. While Meath won't be losing any sleepless nights ahead of next Thursday's quarter-final, Offaly have got their season back on track and are turning some sort of a corner after two opening defeats. They have now beaten Laois and Wicklow with a gun to their head and while Meath will be hot favourites, there may be another big display in Offaly.

Almost from the throw in, Offaly looked to be the better team, even though Wicklow had plenty of early ball. The visitors had three early wides, one of them a great goal chance for Pat Kehoe before Tony Furey got Offaly going with a lovely point.

Wicklow's only first half score was a Pat Kehoe two pointer in the fifth minute and they really struggled to break down an improving Offaly defence after this. They made very little headway and by half time, Offaly were firmly in the driving seat with a 1-6 to 0-2 lead,

With Eoin Rouse and Eamon Maher controlling midfield, Dylan Dunne ran the game from centre half forward, scoring 1-2 in that first half. The goal was a great finish in the 13^th minute after he tapped and went from a free, taking the return and burying the ball.

Offaly could have been further ahead at the break, kicking a few harmless wides while some of their short passing was not as clinical as required, either intercepted or not finding the man. Still a seven point half time lead represented a very satisfying body of work for the first half against the wind and it was difficult to envisage them losing.

Yet they almost conspired to throw it away in normal time and in the wind up, they were fortunate to make extra time. Points from Tony Furey and sub Dylan Deehan-Kavanagh put Offaly 1-12 to 0-8 ahead with nine minutes left and they looked set to coast home. The loss of centre forward Dylan Dunne after sustaining a heavy hit to the ribs in the 38^th minute was a cruel blow for Offaly – Dunne had missed a great goal chance just moments after getting that belt. The injury may have been affected him but he was too casual as his tame shot from a few metres was saved and Cian McNamee put the rebound wide from 20 metres.

That malaise inflicted Offaly late on as they struggled woefully in the final nine minutes plus five of injury time. A 52^nd minute goal from sub Lucas Reid after goalkeeper Jack Ryan came for but didn't claim a high ball didn't set the alarm bells ringing but they were certainly going off three minutes later when Conor Fitzgerald found the net after Ryan made a good save from Pat Kehoe.

Lucas Reid added a point and suddenly it was all square, 2-9 to 1-12 with four minutes left. Offaly's composure was well and truly gone and it was pure panic stations. Wicklow should have got a penalty when Pat Kehoe looked to be cleaned out of it as he tried to steer the ball to the net but was penalised for over carrying.

Cian Mc|Namee edged Offaly back in front in the 57^th minute and Wicklow got the final equaliser when Fitzgerald's shot was deflected over in the 59^th minute. Offaly had the best chances to win it in injury time as Tony Furey shot a poor wide instead of passing to Dylan Deehan-Kavanagh who was unmarked inside him while Deehan-Kavanagh then stumbled and lost a great chance of a winning point with a man inside him three minutes over the 60 minutes.

It ended 1-13 to 2-10 and while Offaly should have won it at the wind up, they gladly took extra time.

MATCH ANALYSIS

MAN OF THE MATCH

Patrick Duffy (Offaly): Eoin Rouse and Dylan Dunne had a huge influence on Offaly's win. Dunne was magnificent before he went off injured and his finishing and quality on the ball was of the highest order. He also went well for a few minutes when he came back in extra time before going off again and he would have almost certainly been man of the match if he had played for the entire game – it is doubtful if Offaly would have had to go through extra time if he had not been off the field for so long in the second half.

Eoin Rouse's return from injury has been instrumental in Offaly's revival and he put in a serious shift here before going off injured in extra time. Despite carrying a leg, he emptied the tank and had a huge influence on Offaly for the second week running.

The choice is a man who played the full eighty minutes plus, wing back Patrick Duffy. He may have put a bit too much meat on a couple of passes but he was excellent as he defended very well, cut out ball, carried it forward and used most of it well. He ran into the red in extra time but continued to work so hard and the character he showed was inspirational.

Cian McNamee made a few wrong decisions at times but kept working, kept trying and showing for the ball and he eventually came good, kicking five points from play. There were several others who did really well with Caden O'Beirne and Cormac Farrell doing a lot of solid defensive work while Tadgh Kelly's strength and power was important. Eamon Maher had very good spells at midfield and Tony Furey, a nephew of one of the greats of Offaly football, Peter Brady, went very well at times in the attack.

THE SCORERS

Offaly: Cian McNamee 0-7 (2f), Tony Furey 1-3 (1f), Dylan Dunne 1-2, Ruari Woods 1-1, Cathal Weldon 0-2 (1 2p), Jack Ryan (1 '45'), Aaron Daly, Cian Duffy, Dylan Deehan-Kavanagh and Dermot Crombie 0-1 each.

Wicklow: Conor Fitzgerald 1-2, Lucas Reid 1-1, Pat Kehoe 0-4 (1 2p, 2f), Odhran Cullen 0-3 (1 2pf and 1f), Jack O'Leary 0-2, Chris O'Toole 0-1.

THE TEAMS

OFFALY: Jack Ryan (Doon); Caden O'Beirne (Tullamore), Daniel Stoyanov (Clara), Cormac Farrell (Edenderry); Patrick Duffy (Tullamore), Tadgh Kelly (Kilclonfert), Stephen Byrne (Raheen); Eamon Maher (Ferbane), Eoin Rouse (Tullamore); Isaac Ryan (Clara), Dylan Dunne (Clara), Aaron Daly (Clonbullogue); Tony Furey (Edenderry), Ruari Woods (Belmont), Cian McNamee (Rhode). Subs – Dylan Deehan-Kavanagh (Clara) for Dunne, inj. (38m), Cathal Weldon (Bracknagh) for Byrne (42m), Charlie Duffy (Edenderry) for Ryan (46m), Cian Duffy (Doon) for Woods (56m), Dylan Dunne for Deehan-Kavanagh (FT), Ruari Woods for Stoyanov (FT), Darragh Stewart (Tullamore) for Daly (FT), Dermot Crombie (Rhode) for Rouse, inj. (70 +1m), Tomas Carroll (Erin Rovers) for Dunne (79m),

WICKLOW: Ryan Sargent; Simon O'Brien, Sam Behan, Ethan Hutton; Tiernan Byrne, Conor Coffey, Chris O'Toole; Jack O'Leary, Sean Corrigan; Harry Butler, Aaron Kenna, Odhran Cullen; Jack Woolohan, Pat Kehoe, Conor Fitzgerald. Subs – James McCarney for Kenna (34m), Chris Kehoe for Byrne (38m), Lucas Reid for Wolahan (48m), Oisin Dignam for Butler (69m), Evan O'Connor for Corrigan (69m), Jack Murray for Fitzgerald (77m),

Referee – Lar Murphy.

REFEREE WATCH

It was good to see a young referee like Lar Murphy getting this game and he had a very efficient display and very few mistakes, until the closing quarter when the game got away from him a bit. He should have given Wicklow a late penalty and there were other questionable decisions in the frantic closing minutes of normal time – while he was generally steady again in extra time, though Wicklow's complaints at every call against them were quite vociferous.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

The decision not to give Pat Kehoe a penalty three minutes from the end of normal time was a big moment. He had a tap in goal on the plate and that would have won it for Wicklow. It would have been a devastating defeat for Offaly and they could only have blamed themselves but they got away with it and were the better team by a mile in extra time,

VENUE WATCH

Faithful Fields was again chosen as the venue because of floodlights there and the possibility of extra time and penalties. O'Connor Park, however, really should be the venue for these big knockout games in Offaly – there has been cases in the past where team management have looked for Faithful Fields and the County Board have gone with it but it would be good practice to bring knockout fixtures to the county grounds at this time of year and have an earlier throw in. The U20 football Andrew Corden Cup final between Offaly and Westmeath is in O'Connor Park on Tuesday with a 6.30pm throw in and the same time would have been no problem here – Wicklow may have a distance to travel but with schools out on mid-term break, it should not have been an issue with this one in particular.

Irrespective of all that, Faithful Fields is a great option for Offaly to have for these games and the pitch is in excellent condition, despite being in heavy use lately. Having said all of that, the small crowd here would have been lost in O'Connor Park and as usual, the fixture was very professionally hosted.

WHAT'S NEXT

Offaly play Meath in the quarter-final next Thursday evening.

STATISTICS

Wides: Offaly - 15 (6 in first half, 6 in second half, 2 in 1^st period extra time, 1 in 2^nd period of extra time); Wicklow – 9 (5 in first half, 2 in second half, 1 in first period extra time 1 in 2^nd period of extra time).

Yellow cards: 0

Black cards: 0

Red cards: 0