Offaly show plenty of battling spirit but Kilkenny hold on for narrow victory

Allianz Hurling League Division 1 A

KILKENNY 0-20

OFFALY 0-16

OFFALY put in a battling performance but ultimately came up short against Kilkenny in their opening game of the Allianz Hurling League Division 1A clash at UPMC Nowlan Park on Sunday.

Offaly troubled the home side at times and three times in the second half got the lead down to a single point but they just couldn't get level and Kilkenny had the experience to pick off the late scores that gave them a four point winning margin at the final whistle.

It was an encouraging start to the campaign for Offaly and while admittedly it was far from a full strength Kilkenny team, Offaly showed enough spirit and fight to give them something to aim for for the year ahead.

Offaly made the brighter start and got the first two points of the game. It took Kilkenny almost 12 minutes to get off the mark but they scored four in a row and while Offaly got back level eight minutes before the break, Kilkenny pushed on again to lead by 0-9 to 0-6 at half time.

Kilkenny went four up early in the second half and threatened to pull away, but Offaly kept battling and three in a row got them back to within a point again. That was still the gap with 14 minutes to go but Kilkenny finished the stronger and outscored Offaly 0-5 to 0-2 in the remaining minutes to seal a four point win.

With up to eight players out for a variety of reasons, Offaly fielded a very young team with 11 of the starters being under 22. It was a big ask of them to go to Kilkenny and challenge the home side but they can take encouragement from the way they battled and never gave up the fight.

Offaly made a decent start and certainly didn't seem to be overawed by their opponents. There were times when the ball into the attack didn't stick well enough and came back out too quickly while on other occasions the final pass went astray or the wrong option was taken and a chance was lost.

Kilkenny did have their own problems too and their shooting was a bit awry in the first half when they hit eight wides, finishing with a total of 13 as against just six for Offaly. Offaly defended well and put them under pressure and Liam Hoare made two good stops from Eoin Cody and Liam Moore in the first half to keep his goal intact and was also out to smother a couple of attempts in the second half, finishing with a great save from Martin Keoghan in the closing seconds.

At times, particularly int he first half, the game did have the feel of a challenge game, almost as if both teams were still in pre-season mode. Even the atmosphere among supporters in the stadium seemed muted and it wasn't until the last 15 minutes or so that they began to get into the game.

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Conditions were difficult and while the pitch was soft, it held up fairly well in the circumstances. There were a lot of scrums at times and the referee had to throw the ball in on a number of occasions but considering the state of some pitches, Nowlan Park wasn't too bad.

Liam Hoare did very well in the Offaly goals and made some fine saves to ensure he kept a clean sheet. In front of him the full back line of Patrick Taaffe, Ben Miller and Ben Conneely all had some fine moments and Brecon Kavanagh did well on the half line. Cathal King worked hard at midfield and later in defence and Colin Spain did well when introduced. In attack Adam Screeney and Oisin Kelly battled hard and Daniel Bourke came more into it when moved out the field.

For Kilkenny Mikey Butler, Michael Carey and Darragh Corcoran were prominent in defence, Jordan Molloy had an excellent game at midfield and Eoin Cody and Martin Keoghan were the pick of the attack.

A minute's silence was observed before the throw in in memory of former St Rynagh's and Offaly hurler Gerry Nallen, who died at the weekend.

Both sides had early wides before Offaly opened the scoring after five minutes when Luke Watkins took a pass from Daniel Bourke and popped the ball over. They doubled the lead in the eighth minute when Dan Ravenhill came up from defence to shoot over.

Kilkenny had goal chance when Eoin Cody had a shot, but Liam Hoare was equal to the effort. The home side had registered five wides before they got their first score in the 12^th minute when Eoin Cody pointed a free and he levelled then with an effort from play from 65m. He edged them in front from a free and then added another from play when he took a short free to Killian Doyle and took the return pass before shooting over.

Adam Screeney pulled a point back for Offaly, who had gone 12 minutes without a score, but Jordan Molloy raced through to restore Kilkenny's two point lead. Another Adam Screeney free and a point from Luke Watkins, who shot over when he had a man outside him with a possibility of a goal chance, brought the sides level after 27 minutes.

Another Eoin Cody free put Kilkenny back in front and Jordan Molloy and Martin Keoghan added points from play to push them three clear. Adam Screeney pointed another Offaly free but Gearoid Dunne had the last score of the half to leave Kilkenny 0-9 to 0-6 in front at half time.

Daniel Bourke pulled a point back for Offaly a minute after the restart but Cathal Beirne and Martin Keoghan found the target for Kilkenny to push the gap out to four points for the first time. Offaly hung in there and after Adam Screeeney pointed a free, Oisin Kelly and Adam Screeney added points from play to cut the lead to a point 11 minutes into the second half. Eoin Cody pointed a '65' but another Adam Screeney point from play left the minimum between the sides again.

Jordan Molloy came forward to add another point and Eoin Cody pointed a free from midfield and he and Adam Screeney then exchanged points from frees before another Screeney free and a long range point from Patrick Taaffe to leave just a point in it with 14 minutes to go.

Sub Paddy Deegan was left into much room to come forward to point and Eoin Cody pointed another free before Martin Keoghan pushed the lead out to four again with three minutes to go. Ciaran Cleary pulled one back for one with his first touch after coming on as a sub but Eoin Cody (free) and Shane Murphy added further Kilkenny points before Adam Screeney had the final score of the day from an Offaly free to leave four between them at full time.

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MATCH ANALYSIS

THE TEAMS

KILKENNY: Aidan Tallis; Mikey Butler, Michael Carey, Rory Garrett; David Barcoe, Darragh Corcoran, Shane Murphy; Killian Doyle, Jordan Molloy; Luke Connellan, Eoin Cody, Cathal Beirne; Gearoid Dunne, Liam Moore, Martin Keoghan. Subs. Ed McDermott (for Liam Moore, 47 mins), Stephen Donnelly (for Gearoid Dunne, 47 mins), Paddy Deegan (for Rory Garrett, 50 mins), Niall Shortall (for Luke Connellan, 54 mins), Richie Reid (for David Barcoe, 60 mins).

OFFALY: Liam Hoare; Patrick Taaffe, Ben Miller, Ben Conneely; Dan Ravenhill, Donal Shirley, Brecon Kavanagh; Luke Watkins, Cathal King; Conor Doyle, Brian Duignan, Ross Ravenhill; Daniel Bourke, Oisin Kelly, Adam Screeney. Subs. Colin Spain (for Donal Shirley, 24 mins), Daniel Hand (for Brian Duignan, 47 mins), Leigh Kavanagh (for Luke Watkins, 52 mins), Eimhin Kelly (for Brecon Kavanagh, 65 mins), Ciaran Cleary (for Cathal King, 68 mins).

REFEREE: Thomas Gleeson (Dublin).

MAN OF THE MATCH

Kilkenny's Eoin Cody led the way for the home side. He scored half of their total of 20 points, two of them from play, but he was also involved in a lot of their good build up work. He did hit a few loose wides but in an inexperienced team, he led by example and kept the scoreboard ticking over when Offaly threatened their lead.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

Offaly got the lead down to a single point three times in the second half but just couldn't get level. Kilkenny brought experienced players like Paddy Deegan and Richie Reid into their defence in the second half to shore things up and with just a point between them it was Deegan who came forward in loads of space to shoot over and Eoin Cody and Martin Keoghan quickly added further points to push the gap to four and there was no way back for Offaly from there.

REFEREE WATCH

Thomas Gleeson handled the game well throughout. The home crowd felt a bit aggrieved with a few decisions late on but that was more out of frustration than anything. He got all the main calls right, did a good job and wasn't a factor in the outcome.

WHAT’S NEXT

Offaly host All-Ireland champions Tipperary in Tullamore on Sunday next February 1st, while Kilkenny have a bye next weekend before facing Limerick the following weekend.

VENUE WATCH

Like most other pitches at the moment, Nowlan Park was soft after all the recent rain but the pitch held up fairly well throughout the game. There were plenty of stewards on duty inside and outside the ground to ensure the good sized crowd was well looked after.

STATISTICS

Wides; Kilkenny 13 (8 in first half) Offaly 6 (4 in first half)

Yellow Cards: Kilkenny 2 (Gearoid Dunne, Eoin Cody) Offaly 2 (Ross Ravenhill, Ben Conneely)

Black Cards: None

Red Cards: None.

THE SCORERS

Kilkenny; Eoin Cody (0-10, 0-7 frees, 0-1 '65'), Jordan Molloy, Martin Keoghan (0-3 each), Gearoid Dunne, Cathal Beirne, Paddy Deegan, Shane Murphy (0-1 each).

Offaly; Adam Screeney (0-9, 0-7 frees), Luke Watkins (0-2), Dan Ravenhill, Daniel Bourke, Oisin Kelly, Patrick Taaffe, Ciaran Cleary (0-1 each).

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