End of an era as reigning champions Offaly run out of road against Dubs

IT felt like the end of an era as Offaly relinquished their Leinster and All-Ireland U20 hurling crowns with a defeat by Dublin in an entertaining quarter-final at Newbridge on Monday afternoon last.

Leinster U20 Hurling Championship quarter-final

Dublin 4-12

Offaly 0-17

This wider group of players had won Leinster and suffered an agonising late defeat to Tipperary in the All-Ireland minor final three years ago but hopes that they could put back to back All-Ireland U20 titles together were dashed here.

The less than convincing form they displayed in their group campaign suggested that they were not motoring as well as last year and this was very much the case here. Injuries to key players were a definite factor. Adam Screeney was still showing the effects of his groin injury and was unable to run as freely as normal while the absence of Ter Guinan, Ruari Kelly and Daniel Hand were big blows.

The problems, however, were deeper than that. With a big focus on retaining senior status this year, a handful of players on both teams and the pressure eased by last year's sensational wins, the same hunger was just not there this year. That was very clear in the group and hopes that they would truly ignite in the knockout stages were off the mark.

They ran out of road here and had no complaints at their defeat. Dublin hadn't been going that well and were missing a key player in attacker David Purcell but they were the better team on the day. Offaly led by 0-9 to 1-3 in the first half and it did look like they had the measure of Dublin who didn't go well.

Offaly, however, weren't firing on all cylinders, far from it, and when Dublin got their tactics right and upped their work rate in the second half, the champions found that they had nothing left in the tank and were running on fumes. It was all a bit flat and even the muted attempts of the crowd to launch an “Uibh Fhaili” chant when they fell behind in the second half smacked of tokenism.

There was no shame whatsoever in defeat and these underage hurlers have brought such pride, created such excitement in the county in the past three years. They have brought the county to life and as Liam Hoare, James Mahon, Brecon Kavanagh, Leigh Kavanagh, Shane Rigney, Dan Ravenhill, Conor Doyle and Adam Screeney exit county underage ranks, they do so with their heads held high, assured of lasting affection among supporters.

Even when they were motoring okay in the first half here though, it was down to the deficiencies of Dublin as much as anything else and once they got going in the second half, it was clear that they would win. The underdogs were more efficient in their short game and their shot selection was much better as they worked the ball in instead of shooting from distance.

This yielded an instant oracle at the start of the second half, even though Daniel O'Kelly's decision to go short with a 40 metre free looked wrong in real time – he picked out Ollie Gaffney who was able to score a great goal in the 32^nd minute and Offaly's three point half time lead had been wiped out in the blink of an eye.

Offaly dug deep. Dan Ravenhill fired over a great point to put Offaly back in front and Leigh Kavanagh restored their lead after Cathal Kennedy levelled it up. Dublin, however, were becoming more dominant all over the field, winning a lot of the individual battles and when Callum Graham got away from James Mahon to fire to the net in the 37^th minute, the result had an air of inevitability.

Again, Offaly fought with everything and were still there when trailing by 3-7 to 0-14 with fourteen minutes left. The end was in sight though and they were in it mainly because of Dublin letting them off the hook. The winners had three bad misses in one spell of concerted pressure but then found the range to lead by 3-9 to 0-14 with ten minutes left. A four point lead was a huge one and Offaly needed a goal.

It never looked like coming, the energy just wasn't there for them and Dublin broke for home. They got three points in a row before Donal Shirley reduced arrears to five with four minutes left. Ollie Gaffney's 56^th minute goal finally broke Offaly and it all ended very tamely from here.

Without doing anything special or setting the world alight, Offaly were the better team in the first half and their half time lead of 0-9 to 1-3 was a fair reflection of the way it was going.

Dublin were fairly mediocre at times and had a few very poor wides while their goal was a stroke of good fortune in the 27^th minute as Liam Hoare seemed to misjudge the flight of Callum Graham's ball and deflected it into his own net.

That goal gave Dublin a life line as Offaly were quietly controlling the game at that point, leading by 0-8 to 0-3. They had been more efficient in their use of the ball and were working hard though scores from play were hard earned – six of their first half points came from Adam Screeney placed balls and Screeney caused real anxiety with supporters when going down holding his leg midway during the half, getting lengthy treatment before resuming.

It was a strange sort of game. Offaly's work rate was at an okay level but lacked the ferocity that distinguished them last year – having said that, players such as Niall Furlong and Conor Egan showed a great appetite for battle, turning over good ball.

Dublin were perhaps fortunate to be only three points down at the break but could have been level or ahead at the same time. Ollie Gaffney had an injury time goal rightly ruled out for fouling Liam Hoare and Offaly were living quite dangerously at times and looked vulnerable enough.

MATCH ANALYSIS

MAN OF THE MATCH

Joe Sheppard (Dublin): Wing back Joe Sheppard had a super game for Dublin. He was excellent in the first half when Dublin were struggling and continued to defend very well in the second half.

Dublin had a few other players who reached a higher level than Offaly's best ones. Brecon Kavanagh, Donal Shirley, Leigh Kavanagh, Shane Rigney and Dan Ravenhill all tried to drive Offaly on while James O'Sullivan, Niall Furlong and Conor Egan all worked hard. Adam Screeney did what he could but as a unit, Offaly just didn't have it on the day and, indeed, this year.

THE SCORERS

Dublin: Ollie Gaffney 2-2, Callum Graham 2-0, Daniel O'Kelly 0-3 (2f), Brendan Kenny and Senan Crosbie 0-2 each, Cathal Kennedy, Conal O'Riain, James Norris 0-1 each.

Offaly: Adam Screeney 0-8 (7f and 1 '65'), Dan Ravenhill (1f) 0-4, Shane Rigney 0-3, Leigh Kavanagh and Donal Shirley 0-1 each.

THE TEAMS

OFFALY: Liam Hoare (Carrig-Riverstown); Ajay Cleary (Coolderry), Andrew Hogan (Coolderry), James Mahon (Kilcormac-Killoughey); James O'Sullivan (Shinrone), Brecon Kavanagh (Kilcormac-Killoughey), Donal Shirley (Tubber); Leigh Kavanagh (Kilcormac-Killoughey), Niall Furlong (Tullamore); Shane Rigney (St Rynagh's), Dan Ravenhill (Durrow), Conor Doyle (Clara); Patrick Lyons (Drumcullen), Conor Egan (Shamrocks), Adam Screeney (Kilcormac-Killoughey). Subs – Cathal Robinson (Kinnitty) for Lyons (38m), Harry Sweeney (Kilcormac-Killoughey) for Cleary (46m), Eoin Bailey-O'Brien (Shinrone) for Egan (52m),

DUBLIN: Daniel Joyce; Conor Groarke, Ben Lynch, Cathal Kennedy; Fionn Murphy, David Lucey, Joe Sheppard; Brendan Kenny, Conal O'Riain; Killian Costello, Darragh Kilduff, Senan Crosbie;Ollie Gaffney, Callum Graham, Daniel O'Kelly. Subs – James Norris for Kilduff (46m), Joey Kinnane for Kennedy (59m), Senan Bolger for Graham (62m),

Referee – Padraig Dunne.

REFEREE WATCH

Padraig Dunne refereed it fairly and got most of the big, important calls right. The decision to disallow Ollie Gaffney's goal was a correct one and there was no big flashpoints.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

Dublins's first two goals were game defining ones. Their first half one kept them in it at a stage when they were in serious bother while they sniffed blood after their second at the start of the second goal and it really changed the game.

VENUE WATCH

It was very unfortunate on Dublin to lose home advantage for this because of damage to their Parnell Park pitch. The change suited Offaly as Newbridge was much more convenient for supporters while it was also an opportunity to see the renovated St Conleth's Park. The new stadium impressed and the game was well hosted.

WHAT'S NEXT

Dublin go into the semi-final.

STATISTICS

Wides: Offaly - 7 (1 in first half); Dublin – 12 (6 in first half).

Yellow cards: Offaly – 0; Dublin – 1 (Brendan Kenny).

Red cards: 0