Offaly live on their wits to keep season alive with narrow Tailteann Cup win

OFFALY lived on their wits to keep their season alive for another week at least with a one point win over Wexford in the Tailteann Cup at Enniscorthy on Sunday afternoon last.

Tailteann Senior Football Cup first round

Offaly 3-11
Wexford 2-13

It was a very close run thing as Offaly managed to overturn their championship defeat by the same opposition. The visitors hung on for dear life for the win and now face Wicklow in Tullamore in the second round next weekend.

They will be favourites to win that and now have a chance to rescue something from a disappointing season. This was a mixed, unconvincing display but Offaly deserve credit for getting the result. They worked very hard and they showed a good appetite for this competition, even if some of their football was heart attack stuff as they were careless in possession and coughed up too much ball.

They did, however, empty the tank with a number of players almost out on their feet by the end and they did just enough to win, even if they would not have had a hard luck story if the result had went the other way – and it very nearly did as Wexford pushed hard to salvage it in five minutes of injury time as they got two points to bring it back to a one point game.

Offaly led by 1-7 to 1-5 at half time and that was a very tenuous lead after playing with a quite strong wind. Second half goals from Lee Pearson and Niall McNamee, with McNamee's one especially influential, got Offaly home and they will have been very pleased to win.

Offaly were well motivated and up for the game as they took things to Wexford from the throw in but their first half display was a quite flawed one.

Offaly attacked at pace with the wind on their back but never enjoyed a concerted spell of pressure. It meant that it was all very delicately poised at half time as Offaly led by 1-7 to 1-5 and they were glad to be in this position.

Wexford had missed two good goal chances near the interval with Paddy Dunican making an excellent 32nd minute save from Ben Brosnan while Lee Pearson got back to keep out a goal bound Glen Malone punch two minutes later.

Offaly also missed chances. Niall McNamee and Keith O'Neill had two shocking wides from frees around the 25 minute mark and they struggled to carve open the Wexford defence. The work rate of the attackers was questionable as Wexford backs got forward to score 1-2 in the first half.

Diarmuid Egan got Offaly's goal in the 12th minute, blasting home via the underside of the cross bar after Bill Carroll's shot was saved to give them a 1-1 to 0-2 lead. Dylan Furlong got forward for an excellent 15th minute goal, hammering a powerful shot to the net after a Michael Furlong pass to level it at 1-2 each.

There wasn't much in it from here to the interval. Anton Sullivan and Johnny Moloney pointed to put Offaly two clear but Wexford got back on terms by the 30th minute. Offaly got three of the final four points to lead by two points at the break, with Bill Carroll firing over a spectacular point in the 36th minute.

Offaly pushed hard for twenty minutes or so in the second half before adopting a what we have we hold attitude. A 38th minute goal from Lee Pearson after a very good move involving Declan Hogan and Niall McNamee gave Offaly a 2-8 to 1-6 lead and a strong launching pad. Jack Bryant hit the cross bar with a dipping 43rd minute shot and Offaly were in the driving seat when they led by 2-9 to 1-8 after 46 minutes.

They let Wexford back into it with the concession of a shockingly soft goal. A high Eoghan Nolan ball should have been dealt with by Jordan Hayes and Paddy Dunican but Niall Hughes managed to fist it to the net in the 47th minute. Offaly responded well with a Niall McNamee point after he brilliantly won the ball but points from Mark Rossiter and Niall Hughes had Wexford back on terms 2-10 each after 51 minutes.

The initiative was now with Wexford but the crucial score arrived in the 53rd minute when Niall McNamee did very well to drive the ball to the net after a very good interchange with the hard working Cian Donoghue.

From here on, Offaly lived very much on their wits. Their attacks regularly broke down thanks to a careless pass and Wexford brought it down to the wire. Eoghan Nolan reduced it to two with 11 minutes left, Niall McNamee had a very bad wide from a free but then Ben Brosnan cancelled that out by underhitting an easy one moments later.

Anton Sullivan put three in it with five minutes of normal time remaining. Offaly had attacks that could have yielded the insurance point but they broke down and injury time points from Kevin O'Grady and Donal Shanley (free) brought it down to the minimum before the final whistle brought sweet relief.

It was a very middle of the road performance by Offaly. The win was the bottom line and the work ethic was there but there was also a lot of very average play. It still had to be won and Offaly had decent performances from Paddy Dunican, Lee Pearson, Declan Hogan in the second half, Cian Donoghue, Johnny Moloney, Bill Carroll, Niall McNamee, Keith O'Neill, Anton Sullivan and Cathal Flynn.

MAN OF THE MATCH

Anton Sullivan (Offaly): Anton Sullivan put in one serious shift for Offaly. His work rate was incredible and he got on a huge volume of ball. He used nearly it all very efficiently, breaking the line regularly and scoring two important points as well.

THE SCORERS

Offaly: Niall McNamee 1-5 (3f and 1m), Lee Pearson and Diarmuid Egan 1-0 each, Anton Sullivan 0-2, Niall Darby (f), Bill Carroll, Johnny Moloney and Keith O'Neill 0-1 each.

Wexford: Niall Hughes 1-1, Dylan Furlong 1-0, Ben Brosnan 0-3 (1m and 1f), Kevin O'Grady and Eoghan Nolan 0-2 each, Dean O'Toole, Eoin Porter, Donal Shanley (f), Mark Rossiter and Glen Malone 0-1 each.

THE TEAMS

OFFALY: Paddy Dunican (Shamrocks); Lee Pearson (Edenderry), Declan Hogan (Tullamore), Niall Darby (Rhode); Cian Donoghue (St Brigid's), Johnny Moloney (Tullamore), Rory Egan (Edenderry); Bill Carroll (Cappincur), Jordan Hayes (Edenderry); Ruari McNamee (Rhode), Diarmuid Egan (Tullamore), Keith O'Neill (Clonbullogue); Jack Bryant (Shamrocks), Niall McNamee (Rhode), Anton Sullivan (Rhode). Subs – Cathal Flynn (Ferbane) for Diarmuid Egan (HT), Conor McNamee (Rhode) for Bryant (49m), Mark Abbott (Edenderry) for Rory Egan (62m), Dylan Hyland (Raheen) for Sullivan (68m), Kieran Dolan (Shamrocks) for Pearson, inj. (69m).

WEXFORD: Darragh Brooks; Gavin Sheehan, Eoin Porter, Michael Furlongl Paidi Hughes, Glen Malone, Dylan Furlong; Liam Coleman, Niall Hughes; Dean O'Toole, Kevin O'Grady, Alan Tobin; Ben Brosnan, Eoghan Nolan, Sean Ryan. Subs – Mark Rossiter for Ryan (44m), Donal Shanley for Tobin (44m), Tom Byrne for O'Toole (60m), Cian Hughes for Brosnan (65m).

Referee – Maurice Deegan (Laois).