Second successive defeat leaves Offaly with relegation mountain to climb

A SECOND successive defeat in the National Football League has left Offaly with a mountain to climb as they bid to retain their Division 2 status.

Allianz National Football League Division 2 Round 2

Kildare 3-17

Offaly 0-17

The absence of some of their star players remains a factor in Offaly's dilemma but even with that, a very substandard first half display saw them fall away to a second defeat against Kildare in Newbridge on Saturday evening.

Offaly now have a badly needed week off but then face into a teak tough programme with Cork at home followed successive trips up north for Saturday night floodlit fixtures against Derry and Tyrone. The Cork game is an absolutely must win one now as anything from the northern trips will be a bonus, that just does not look on at the moment.

If they lose to Cork, the game will be very close to being up for Offaly and their minimum requirement was two points from their first two games against Louth and Kildare. Instead they are pointless and in a desperate relegation flight.
With players of the calibre of Paddy Dunican, John Furlong, Cathal Flynn and Dylan Hyland out, it is not a surprise that Offaly find themselves on a tight rope but this was a very mixed display in front of a large crowd at a buzzing St Conleth's Park. The first half was close to a horror show and while Offaly were way better in the second half, fighting with great spirit and getting back into contention, that nine point gap remained at the final whistle with goals the difference.

With a couple out of Furlong, Flynn and Hyland available, Offaly would very possibly have snatched a win against Louth in the first round but Kildare were too strong, too good here. They effectively had the points in the bag when they went in leading by 2-9 to 0-6 at half time and it was a somewhat calamitous first half by Offaly.

Kildare had way too much primary succession not to make it count on the scoreboard but Offaly also contributed to their own problems, losing players and giving some careless ball away. It was a sloppy first half by them and they were hanging on almost from the throw in.

A third minute Alex Beirne goal helped Kildare storm into a 1-2 to no score lead after four minutes and Offaly were in danger of being beaten early. They did well to halt the flow and get back into it with an audacious two pointer from Keith O'Neill help them reduce the gap to two points, 0-5 to 1-4 after nineteen minutes.

Offaly were in decent shape at that stage but by the time Keith O'Neill got their next point in the 32^nd minute, Kildare had 1-9 on the board and immediately got their second goal, Eoin Cully blasting home after they opened up the Offaly defence.

It could have been worse for Offaly who made some basic mistakes, most damagingly, two three man breaches but Kildare let them off the hook with those – Alex Beirne took the first one back for a two point attempt that he sent wide and then had an extraordinary miss from 21 metres with the second near the interval. Kildare should have had another goal as well when Brian McLoughlin blazed over with the goal at his mercy in the 16^th minute and you just couldn't see a way back for Offaly at the break.

The Offaly management have come in for criticism in the past two years for their sparse use of subs but they were ruthless here, pulling Jack Bryant and Dan Molloy off at half time, introducing Nathan Poland and Marcas Dalton. They brought in five in all and it was good to see them giving other players a chance to impress, something that will hopefully continue.

The half time subs smacked of damage limitation but it made a big difference with Poland making a sensational start, firing over three points as they trailed by 2-10 to 0-9 after 42 minutes while Dalton worked hard, getting his own point later on. Keith O'Neill brilliantly fired over a two point free in the 44^th minute, followed by a free and amazingly, the gap was down to four.

The difference between Offaly in the two halves was like chalk and cheese. They were much hungrier, efficient on the ball, their error count greatly reduced. They had fire in their belly, instead of being turned over, they were now turning over Kildare and it was a measure of how well Offaly were playing that the once boisterous home crowd became increasingly subdued.

The problem Offaly faced was they left themselves with too much to do and Kildare's inevitable purple patch was always likely to get them home. Dalton's point left just four it it, 0-13 to 2-11 after 49 minutes and Kildare were under pressure but they wrapped up the points in the next few minutes. Brian McLoughlin curled over two lovely points and Sam Doran's punched goal in the 55^th minute restored a nine point lead for the home side.

The fight went out of Offaly after this and while they kept working hard, the result was beyond reach and Kildare were able to coast to the finish line. Another sub Harry Plunkett did arrow over a super two pointer on his league debut in the 63^rd minute – he also got a late free that will do his confidence well as well as boosting his prospects of future game time. However, by this stage Offaly couldn't win and Kildare could have got more goals late on with James Harris rocking the cross bar and Liam Kelly just failing to get on the end of a Kevin Feely pass.

At the final whistle, the gap was the same nine points that was there at half time and while Offaly's second half display gave grounds for encouragement, it was still a heavy defeat and relegation is now likely.

MATCH ANALYSIS

MAN OF THE MATCH

Brian McLoughlin (Kildare): Brian McLouglin had a terrific game for Kildare, scoring five crucial points. He scarcely put a foot wrong and his two points in the 52^nd and 55^th minutes were particularly crucial as they lifted a powerful Offaly siege.Offaly had plenty of players who performed well. David Dempsey has made a great start to the campaign and followed up last week's super display with another very solid seventy minutes. Cormac Egan kept working, kept driving, even when the game was gone while Jordan Hayes was very good on the ball. The starting forward line didn't do near enough with Eoin Sawyer the only player to contribute a score outside of Keith O'Neill, who oozed quality and was a livewire – Sawyer got the first point but was replaced in the second half with Nathan Poland and Marcas Dalton doing really well when they came on and Harry Plunkett taking his scores very well.

THE SCORERS

Kildare: Brian McLouglin 0-5, Ben Loakman 0-4 (1f), Alex Beirne, Eoin Cully and Sam Doran 1-1 each, Callum Bolton 0-3, Harry O'Neill, Kevin Feely 0-1 each.

Offaly: Keith O'Neill 0-8 (1 x 2p, 1 x 2pf, 2f), Nathan Poland and Harry Plunkett (1 x 2p, 1f) 0-3 each, Aaron Leavy, Eoin Sawyer and Marcas Dalton 0-1 each.

THE TEAMS

OFFALY: Sean O'Toole (Shamrocks); Shane O'Toole-Greene (Shamrocks), David Dempsey (Ballycommon), Lee Pearson (Edenderry); Cormac Egan (Tullamore), Jordan Hayes (Edenderry), Diarmuid Egan (Tullamore); Jack McEvoy (Clonbullogue), Aaron Leavy (Tullamore); Ciaran Murphy (Skerries Harps), Keith O'Neill (Clonbullogue), Rory Egan (Edenderry); Dan Molloy (St Brigid's), Jack Bryant (Shamrocks), Eoin Sawyer (Castleknock). Subs – Nathan Poland (Erin Rovers) for Bryant (HT), Marcas Dalton (Clara) for Molloy (HT), Harry Plunkett (Tullamore) for Sawyer (48m), Eoin Dunne (Clodiagh Gaels) for Diarmuid Egan (55m), Daire McDaid (Tullamore) for O'Toole-Greene (65m),

KILDARE: Cian Burke; Harry O'Neill, Padraic Spillane, Ryan Burke; James Harris, Eoin Lawlor, Brian Byrne; Kevin Feely, Brendan Gibbons; Brian McLoughlin, Callum Bolton, Colm Moran; Ben Loakman, Alex Beirne,, Eoin Cully. Subs – Sam Doran for Moran (44m), Darragh Mangan for Gibbons (58m), Darragh Swords for Beirne (59m), Liam Kelly for Lawlor (62m), Dara Crowley for Bolton (67m),

Referee – Seamus Mulhare, Laois.

REFEREE WATCH

Seamus Mulhare had a reasonable game. There was a few frees missed but these very much balanced out and he adapted a let it run policy. He allowed the advantage rule and was not a factor in the result.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

Kildare's three goals was the difference and their third from Sam Doran in the 55^th minute ended it as a contest.

VENUE WATCH

There was a good atmosphere at this floodlit fixture while the pitch didn't look in great shape, that is par for the course in the current weather conditions and it held up okay.

Well done to the Kildare stewards for the way they dealt with a silly looking after match protest by a handful of people about the Allianz sponsorship of the National Leagues. Shouting into a loud speaker and unfolding a Palestinian flag with Irish written on it, the stewards, crowd and players did exactly the right thing: letting them be and ignoring them.

There has been protests about the Allianz sponsorship of the leagues and Offaly were among the counties who submitted a motion asking for their removal. However, there are a whole range of factors for the GAA to consider in this – the Allianz involvement with their player injury scheme, the role of other companies doing work for Israel and as a sporting organisation, the GAA is best advised to leave the politics to others and get on with their games.

WHAT'S NEXT

Offaly now have a week off before Cork come to Tullamore.

STATISTICS

Wides: Offaly – 8 (4 in first half); Kildare - 12 (7 in first half).

Yellow cards: Offaly – 2 (Jack McEvoy, Lee Pearson); Kildare – 0.

Black cards: 0

Red cards: 0