Antrim showdown looms into focus as Offaly suffer predictable heavy loss in Nowlan Park

THERE was an air of inevitability about the way Kilkenny disposed of Offaly in round 3 of the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship in Nowlan Park on Saturday evening.

Leinster Senior Hurling Championship Round 3

Kilkenny 4-25

Offaly 2-16

The raging hot favourites won with considerable comfort with Offaly fighting purely for their pride from an early stage. It went more or less as everyone expected and Offaly travel to Wexford next Saturday on the back of three consecutive defeats – it is all boiling down to a winner take all shootout with Antrim in Tullamore in two weeks time to decide who stays in top flight hurling.

It is all a learning curve for Offaly and the main lesson taught here was one that everyone knew: that Offaly are making progress, doing their utmost to truly find their feet back in the top tier but they still have a lot of road to travel.

They were never in with a shout of an upset here and their display in the third quarter when they had the wind on their backs but only managed one goal and couldn't even generate chances or shots was the big negative of the evening.

Playing against the wind in the first half, Offaly were at sea early on and found themselves 2-7 to 0-3 down after fifteen minutes. Martin Keoghan and the returning TJ Reid blasted home the goals in the fourth and 13^th minutes and the visitors were staring a really bad beating in the face.

Mark Troy made an excellent save to deny Stephen Donnelly a 15^th minute goal and Offaly did well to plug the leaks after this. There was a general knuckling down all over the field as Offaly got tighter and worked harder. Further up the field, Dan Bourke and Charlie Mitchell led the Offaly revival, if that is the right word to use, taking on Kilkenny and getting two points apiece in the first half.

Mitchell's delightful point made it 0-8 to 2-9 after 25 minutes and that was not a bad position at all considering how dominant Kilkenny had been in the first 15 minutes. Unfortunately for Offaly they didn't build on it as they missed a fewdecent chances – they just couldn't afford that while Dan Bourke's influence declined briefly after he received lengthy treatment following an incident that saw Killian Sampson and Paddy Deegan booked.

Kilkenny got two runs of three points without reply before the interval as Offaly found it hard to stop them and a double scores 2-16 to 0-11 half time lead meant that the game was out of their reach at half time – a couple of those Kilkenny points were not that far off being wide.

The second half went exactly as Offaly supporters feared and the losers never looked like getting back into it. Oisin Kelly did very well to break through for a 41^st minute goal, just moments after Adrian Mullen got Kilkenny's third goal but apart from a blocked shot by the same player, that was Offaly's only shot until Donal Shirley got their first second half point in the 53^rd minute.

Shirley's point made it 3-20 to 1-12 and was followed by a TJ Reid goal a minute later as Kilkenny operated in third gear for the most part, only occasionally injecting real pace into their play.

There was almost no championship bite or intensity in the second half as both sides ran in subs. The biggest cheer by the 5,000 crowd came when TJ Reid was replaced in the 58^th minute and it was all quite harmless. Kilkenny didn't go for the jugular and while Offaly worked hard to limit the damage, their energy levels were that of a team that knew they were beaten.

They didn't have a wide in the second half until Oisin Kelly shot one from distance in the 63^rd minute and it really was a poor second half by Offaly, who just couldn't get shots off or get any decent momentum. Oisin Kelly did bring the small Offaly contingent to a semblance of life with a stunning 67^th minute goal – racing at the Kilkenny defence from just inside their half, bouncing the ball off the ground with his hurl and blasting a super shot to the roof of the net.

The gap was 4-23 to 2-14 at that stage and supporters were heading for the exits as Kilkenny sauntered home.

MATCH ANALYSIS

MAN OF THE MATCH

Mikey Carey (Kilkenny): You could pick anyone of half a dozen Kilkenny players with John and Stephen Donnelly, Billy Ryan and TJ Reid motoring with real intent in their attack. Their defence were in complete control and the choice is Mikey Carey who cleaned up a lot of ball and used it very well.

There are no point in individual recriminations for Offaly. They did contribute to their own problems and some players struggled but it was very much a collective thing against a vastly superior force. Oisin Kelly was one of the big positives on the day as he continued his excellent season. The Belmont man got two class goals and was one of the players who kept fighting right to the end.

Charlie Mitchell has turned a fairly big corner in recent weeks after struggling for much of the season. His place had been under threat but he has managed to get going and has followed up a decent game against Galway with another one here. There were extended periods when he was a peripheral figure but that was down to Kilkenny's dominance out the field, he got three points and continued to work hard when the game was well and truly gone. There could be a big game in him yet and Antrim will be the time to produce that. Dan Bourke also helped arrest stem the tide in the first half and was going really well but never fully recovered from the heavy belt, he shipped just before the 30 minute mark.

Donal Shirley also kept going and got two points on a day when Offaly saw how far Kilkenny are ahead of them.

THE SCORERS

Kilkenny: TJ Reid 2-9 (7f), Billy Ryan and John Donnelly 0-4 each, Martin Keoghan and Adrian Mullen 1-0 each, Cian Kenny (2f) and Stephen Donnelly 0-3 each, Harry Shine and Fionan Mackessy 0-1 each.

Offaly: Brian Duignan 0-8 (8f), Oisin Kelly 2-1, Charlie Mitchell 0-3, Dan Bourke and Donal Shirley 0-2 each.

THE TEAMS

OFFALY: Mark Troy (Durrow); Ben Conneely (St Rynagh's), Cathal King (Carrig-Riverstown), James Mahon (Kilcormac-Killoughey); Donal Shirley (Tubber), Ciaran Burke (Durrow), Jason Sampson (Shinrone); Ross Ravenhill (Durrow), Dan Bourke (Durrow); Killian Sampson (Shinrone), Colin Spain (Kilcormac-Killoughey), Oisin Kelly (Belmont); Dan Ravenhill (Durrow), Brian Duignan (Durrow), Charlie Mitchell (Kilcormac-Killoughey). Subs – Eoin Burke (Coolderry) for Dan Ravenhill (43m), David Nally (Belmont) for Ross Ravenhill (47m), Sam Bourke (Durrow) for Jason Sampson (47m), Padraig Cantwell (Shamrocks) for Conneely (57m), Brecon Kavanagh (Kilcormac-Killoughey) for Mahon (61m),

KILKENNY: Eoin Murphy; Mikey Butler, Huw Lawlor, Tommy Walsh; David Blanchfield, Mikey Carey, Paddy Deegan; Cian Kenny, Jordan Molloy; Harry Shine, John Donnelly, Billy Ryan; Stephen Donnelly, Martin Keoghan, TJ Reid. Subs – Adrian Mullen for Shine (32m), Killian Doyle for Blanchfield (48m), Luke Hogan for Stephen Donnelly (50m), Billy Drennan for Reid (58m), Fionnan Mackessy for Keoghan (61mk),

Referee – Colm McDonald, Antrim.

REFEREE WATCH

Colm McDonald had to be on his toes throughout but consulted well with his officials and got most calls right.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

Kilkenny's fourth minute goal from Martin Keoghan came way too early for Offaly and they were on a damage limitation exercise from then on.

VENUE WATCH

Nowlan Park was in great condition and Kilkenny were efficient hosts as usual.

WHAT'S NEXT

Offaly travel to Wexford next Saturday.

STATISTICS

Wides: Offaly – 9 (6 in first half); Kilkenny - 11 (5 in first half).

Yellow cards: Offaly – 3 (Killian Sampson, Ross Ravenhill, Jason Sampson); Kilkenny – 3 (Paddy Deegan, Mikey Butler, Luke Hogan).

Red cards: 0.