Impressive Galway turn the screw as little goes right for disappointed Offaly

OFFALY endured a second hard defeat when Galway overwhelmed them in round two of the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship at O'Connor Park on Saturday evening – with a result and performance that many feared in the home county.

Leinster Senior Hurling Championship Round 2

Galway 2-25

Offaly 1-14

They were hard for very different reasons though. They had played well enough to win in Parnell Park and were unlucky but were resoundingly beaten here on a day when way too many things went wrong and too many players were either below par or were out played by their immediate opponents.

Played in front of a much bigger than predicted crowd of over 10,000, both sides had a major point to prove after their first round losses. Galway were smarting from the scale and nature of their first round mauling by Kilkenny while Offaly were licking their wounds after being so close to Dublin when they over powered with the winning post in sight.

It is a cut-throat campaign with the top two qualifying for the provincial final and the third placed team going into an All-Ireland preliminary quarter-final. With the games coming thick and fast, there is not much room for error and a second successive defeat was going to place the losers in a very difficult situation.

It was one of those days for Offaly when they gave it a real go but never looked like getting the result. Their intensity levels and work rate looked a bit suspect at times but it is difficult to know as Galway were just so superior all over the field. On the basis of this display, their only realistic target this year is retaining top flight status and building for the future, something that they are well capable of achieving.

After making a dream start with a second minute Killian Samspon goal, it all unravelled for Offaly before the interval when the game was beyond reach as they trailed by 2-14 to 1-9. It wasn't that big a deficit but Galway were so much on top that it was clear they wouldn't be beaten. Even when full back Daithi Burke was red carded at the start of the second half for his role in a brief melee on the half time whistle, it didn't raise Offaly hopes of a comeback.

It was probably Offaly's worse display of the year to date but a lot of the credit for this has to go to an excellent Galway, even though they will be disappointed at some of the wides they hit – admittedly when the win was well and truly in the bag.

While a lot of the Offaly players will be disappointed at their individual displays, it was a collective thing and very few will remember this one with any fondness. It was just one of those days where very little went right and they were well beaten in most sectors.

The Offaly defence struggled to live with Galway all day, especially in the first half, and Jason Samspon and Padraig Cantwell had been called ashore by the 24^th minute – Sampson had picked up an early yellow and then been burnt for pace with one point just before being beckoned while Colm Molloy had ran riot for Galway, taking three points of Cantwell and then one off Ben Conneely when that switch was made.

Cillian Kiely came on for Samspon, going into the attack with Cathal King dropping to wing back and Dan Bourke going to midfield – Kiely found the going tough and was himself replaced in the 47^th minute, shortly after missing a great goal chance when he hit the side netting.

Offaly were trailing 2-15 to 1-10 when Kiely missed his chance and a goal would have made it interesting for a bit longer. Instead, Galway were able to coast home without hitting top gear and there were times when it actually looked like they had the extra man, such was the ease that they could find a man in space.

Galway's lead was 2-21 to 1-12 after 53 minutes and it all drifted out very tamely from here. The introduction of Adam Screeney for his first senior game of the year injected a small bit of enthusiasm into the home support and he almost got a 54^th minute goal, flashing his low shot over the bar. Galway could afford the luxury of eight poor wides in the closing fifteen minutes but always had enough in the tank for a very convincing and easy win.

The first half was a crazy, topsy turvy affair as Offaly came flying out of the blocks but were staring a heavy defeat in the face by half time when they went in trailing by 2-14 to 1-9.

A super Killian Sampson goal, set up by David King, gave Offaly a 1-1 to 0-1 lead after two minutes as they hit the ground running but it soon became evident that they were in bother. Two intercepted short puckouts from Mark Troy led to disaster as the excellent Cathal Mannion pointed first and then got in for a goal to give them a 1-5 to 1-2 lead after eight minutes. Charlie Mitchell and Brian Duignan missed chances while the Offaly defence was regularly exposed by a very fast moving Galway attack.

Offaly did knuckle down and fought hard but Galway hit a great purple patch as they got seven points on the trot in a blistering spell of pressure to lead by 1-13 to 1-5 after 23 minutes. Offaly dug deep and two Brian Duignan frees and a lovely Oisin Kelly point brought the gap back to five points, 1-13 to 1-8 with 31 minutes gone.

They were hanging in there but disaster struck before the interval when they conceded a disastrous second goal as Mark Troy fumbled a ball over the end line and Cathal Mannion's '65' was deflected into the net by the unfortunate Donal Shirley. It could have been worse for Offaly as Troy made amends for his earlier mistakes with a spectacular injury time penalty save from Mannion after Ciaran Burke lost the ball following an initial great save from the goalkeeper.

A 2-14 to 1-9 interval lead, however, was a big advantage and the expectation that Galway would win with plenty to spare proved correct.

MATCH ANALYSIS

MAN OF THE MATCH

Cathal Mannion (Galway): Cathal Mannion had a sensational game for Galway, running the game as he scored 2-8, 1-5 from play, though his goal from a '65' could nearly have been put down as an OG. He was brilliant and the quality of his play took the breath at times.

TJ Brennan and Colm Molloy were also magnificent for a very impressive Galway side. Offaly now have a fortnight to dust themselves off ahead of the next game against Kilkenny in Nowlan Park. There wasn't a whole lot of positive takes for Offaly, other than they gave it the best shot they had. The defence were exposed by the quality of ball going into the Galway forwards but most of them had their hands full. Killian Samspon made a flying start, Dan Bourke had some very productive spells, you had to admire the way Oisin Kelly battled and Charlie Mitchell had his best game in a while, on limited ball, but it just didn't happen for Offaly on the day.

THE SCORERS

Galway: Cathal Mannion 2-8 (1-0 '65', 3f), Colm Molloy 0-5, TJ Brennan and Brian Concannon 0-3 each, Conor Whelan 0-2, Cianan Fahy, John Fleming, Tiernan Killeen, David Burke 0-1 each.

Offaly: Brian Duignan 0-5 (4f), Killian Sampson 1-1, Adam Screeney 0-3 (2f), Dan Ravenhill (1f) and Charlie Mitchell 0-2 each, Oisin Kelly 0-1.

THE TEAMS

OFFALY: Mark Troy (Durrow); Ben Conneely (St Rynagh's), Ciaran Burke (Durrow), Padraig Cantwell (Shamrocks); Ross Ravenhill (Durrow), Donal Shirley (Tubber), Jason Sampson (Shinrone); Cathal King (Carrig-Riverstown), David King (Coolderry); Killian Sampson (Shinrone), Dan Bourke (Durrow), Oisin Kelly (Belmont); Dan Ravenhill (Durrow), Brian Duignan (Durrow), Charlie Mitchell (Kilcormac-Killoughey). Subs – Cillian Kiely (Kilcormac-Killoughey) for Jason Sampson (21m), James Mahon (Kilcormac-Killoughey) for Cantwell (24m), Adam Screeney (Kilcormac-Killoughey) for David King (42m), Eoin Burke (Coolderry) for Kiely (47m), Colin Spain (Kilcormac-Killoughey) for Conneely (61m),

GALWAY: Darach Fahy; Fintan Burke, Daithi Burke, Darren Morrissey; Padraic Mannion, Gavin Lee, TJ Brennan; Cianan Fahy, David Burke; John Fleming, Cathal Mannion, Tiernan Killeen; Conor Whelan, Brian Concannon, Colm Molloy. Subs – Tom Monaghan for Killeen (33m), Conor Cooney for Fleming (54m), Donal O'Shea for Molloy (59m), Sean Linnane for David Burke (61m), Ronan Glennon for Cathal Mannion (68m),

Referee – James Owens (Wexford).

REFEREE WATCH

The dismissal of Daithi Burke for the melee on half time proved to be a big talking point but referee James Owens had plenty of time to find out what happened during the interval before making his call. Outside of that, Owens handled it well, was in control and got most decisions spot on – despite the obvious Galway displeasure at some of his calls.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

Galway's second goal in the 32^nd minute was very fortunate as Cathal Mannion's '65' was deflected into the net but it gave the winners a 2-13 to 1-8 lead and was a disaster for Offaly who had really knuckled down to hang onto their coat-tails.

VENUE WATCH

The Offaly County Board put in a lot of work to ensure the fixture was hosted to perfection and they certainly did that. The pitch was in good condition though it didn't look quite as immaculate as usual – the heavy rainfall on Friday was probably a factor in this and may have impacted on how often they could mow it. There was a much bigger crowd than initially anticipated with over 8,000 tickets sold by Saturday afternoon and the ticketmaster website then crashing. It meant that stewards had to be on their toes to get people in on time – a nice percentage arrived in early which was a help.

It all created a very good atmosphere and the sight of hundreds of children out on the field pucking about added to the whole occasion – and these young children were very well behaved, leaving the field when asked to do so ahead of the teams coming out for the warm up.

WHAT'S NEXT

Offaly have a week off before travelling to Kilkenny on May 10.

STATISTICS

Wides: Offaly - 11 (6 in first half); Galway - 14 (3 in first half).

Yellow cards: Offaly – 3 (Ciaran Burke, Jason Sampson, Donal Shirley); Galway – 3 (Fintan Burke, Cathal Mannion, Gavin Lee).

Black cards: 0

Red cards: Offaly – 0; Galway – 1 (Daithi Burke).