Offaly stay on the road to recovery with very satisfying win over Wexford

OFFALY senior footballers continued their heartwarming recovery with a very encouraging come from behind win over Wexford in the Tailteann Cup quarter-final in Tullamore on Saturday.

All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Tailteann Cup quarter-final

Offaly 1-22

Wexford 1-17

A very solid, professional team display mixed in with some top quality individual displays saw Offaly turn over a six point half time deficit into a five point win.

It was a banana skin of a game for Offaly against a side who were promoted to a Division 2 that they were relegated from but they performed very well on the day.

It has been an extension to the season that few foresaw after an opening half where Offaly endured seven consecutive league defeats and a horror show against Laois in the championship. They now go into Monday's Tailteann Cup semi-final draw with their confidence flying and very genuine prospects of winning this second tier competition.

Offaly have now put three encouraging displays back to back with wins over Clare, Down and now Wexford and the turn around to their season has been fairly spectacular.

After the Laois game, there was a real fear that Offaly's season would end like a damp squib and they wouldn't get up for this second tier competition but from the opening minutes of their first game against Clare, we knew that something had changed.

It was the same here as Offaly hit the ground running against the strong wind in the first half, playing some very composed football and they deserved their 0-4 to 0-2 lead after 10 minutes. They were 0-5 to 0-4 up after fourteen minutes but trailed by 1-13 to 0-10 at half time.

It was a six to eight point wind and that deficit was no calamity but Offaly really should have been in control at the break. Wexford's first eight points all came from two pointers and Offaly conceded five of them in all in the first half.

That was the one negative to their display as they were a bit careless and slow in closing down two point opportunities in the first half and there could have been a price to pay for this. Wexford's first single pointer came from Glen Malone in the 19th minute to put them 0-9 to 0-6 ahead.

Pairc Hughes and Keith O'Neill exchanged points before Wexford got a very lucky 24th minute goal when Eoghan Nolan's two point shot fell short, hit the ground at pace and flew into the net. Mark Rossiter added a two pointer and suddenly the gap was 1-12 to 0-7.

It was the only time in the game that we really wondered if Offaly would lose and had Wexford extended their lead further before half time, the home side would have been in trouble. Instead, Offaly kept doing the right thing, holding the ball but breaking tackles and going at their opponents. Keith O'Neill, Jack Bryant and Jack McEvoy got three of the last four points and a six point deficit was very retrievable for the second half.

Offaly made the start they needed as Jack Bryant and the raiding Shane O'Toole-Greene got in for quick points. They got the goal they needed in the 41st minute when Jack Bryant and David Dempsey exchanged passes and the rejuvenated Bryant finished very well to the net. O'Toole-Greene blazed over the bar two minutes later and while that could have been a second goal, Offaly were delighted to be on level terms that early in the second half.

It was theirs to lose but it took a little while for them to move into the sunset. Wexford had a couple of poor misses and at the other end, Jack Bryant was unlucky when his rocket hit Darragh Brooks' finger tips and came off the crossbar.

Keith O'Neill put Offaly in front in the 51st minute, Niall Hughes levelled it up but Offaly introduced Harry Plunkett at the right time. One of the deadliest finishers in Offaly, Plunkett showed his value to this squad as he helped power them over the line with four points. His excellent 52nd minute two pointer was crucial as it was followed by a Jack McEvoy point and the gap was now three,

Mark Rossister kept Wexford alive with a point but they were finding everything very hard against a tenacious, hugely efficient Offaly defence. They quickly hunted down players and their discipline in not fouling was commendable. Points from Jack Bryant and Plunkett had Offaly 1-19 to 1-15 ahead after 55 minutes and they never looked like losing after this.

Lee Pearson and Dylan Hyland (free) pointed to put them six clear heading into the last ten minutes – Hyland's striking had been sensational in the win over Down and he was tightly marked here, not scoring from play but other players stepped up to the plate all over the place.

The closest Wexford could get was five points and as the final whistle neared, the certainty of Offaly's advancement grew with every half minute.

MATCH ANALYSIS

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MAN OF THE MATCH

Shane O'Toole-Greene (Shamrocks): It is a sign of a very good performance when you have a myriad of options for man of the match. The selection here is Shane O'Toole-Greene, who had his best ever game in an Offaly jersey.

His emergence as a genuine intercounty footballer this season has been a great bonus and he has nailed down a place in the defence. He was very solid defensively and never put a foot wrong but his attacking adventures up field really caught the eye. He scored three points and two of them could have been goals. He broke tackles at pace, showed great energy and had a few assists. A huge display by the Shamrocks man.

On another day, his Shamrocks colleague Jack Bryant or midfielder Jack McEvoy would have got the nod. Bryant deserves huge credit for the way he played. He has been off the boil a bit this year, on and off the team, either coming on as a sub and struggling to an extent or being replaced. Very much a confidence player, this had to have affected him but he took full advantage of his chance when he was a late replacement for Nathan Poland who had been ill during the week. He was lively, wanted the ball and he nearly always did the right thing in possession. He scored 1-3, was very unlucky not to have a second goal and this performance will do him the world of good.

Jack McEvoy is another who has come to his milk in the Tailteann Cup. His work rate and desire is never open to question but occasionally, his performances are blighted by the odd mistake or silly thing. He has managed to arrest that in recent games – he performed well against Down and raised it another notch here with what was possibly his best Offaly display. Finishing is not his forte but he choose his shots wisely and scored three very nice points here – on a day when Dylan Hyland was held scoreless from play, that return was a great help to Offaly. The Clonbullogue man ran himself into the ground and was very good on the ball.

There were several other players who played well. David Dempsey was at his defensive best in defence and also got forward. Marcas Dalton had a very good first half and was only taken off because he was gone into the red. The Egan brothers Cormac and Diarmuid oozed quality and desire, Lee Pearson is back to close to his A game, Jordan Hayes handled a huge volume of ball and Keith O'Neill regained his best form in attack, scoring four points and attacking with lethal intent.

Harry Plunkett also deserves a special mention. He is a great example of what can happen a man who puts the head down, bides his time, stays patient and positive and doesn't press the nuclear button when others are telling him he is getting a raw deal. His form may well merit a starting place but there is a case to be made for the role management are giving him as a high impact sub. He is excellent coming on at that stage of a game and he was superb here with really top quality finishing – his last point off the left foot was a delicious score, one of the big highlights of the afternoon.

THE SCORERS

Offaly: Jack Bryant 1-3, Keith O'Neill and Harry Plunkett (1 x 2p) 0-4, Shane O'Toole-Greene and Jack McEvoy 0-3 each, Dylan Hyland 0-2 (2f), Lee Pearson, Cormac Egan and Shane Tierney 0-1 each.

Wexford: Eoghan Nolan 1-3 (1 x 2p), Mark Rossiter 0-4 (1 x 2p), Darragh Brooks (1 2pf), Cathal Kehoe (1 2p), Dylan Furlong (1 2p), Glen Malone 0-2 each, Niall Hughes and Pairc Hughes 0-1 each.

THE TEAMS

OFFALY: Conor Melia (Bracknagh); Shane O'Toole-Greene (Shamrocks), David Dempsey (Ballycommon), Lee Pearson (Edenderry); Cormac Egan (Tullamore), Diarmuid Egan (Tullamore), Marcas Dalton (Clara); Jack McEvoy (Clonbullogue), Jordan Hayes (Edenderry); Kyle Higgins (Ferbane), Keith O'Neill (Clonbullogue), Aaron Leavy (Tullamore); Dylan Hyland (Raheen), Shane Tierney (Daingean), Jack Bryant (Shamrocks). Subs – Harry Plunkett (Tullamore) for Tierney (49m), Rory Egan (Edenderry) for Cormac Egan, inj. (51m), Aidan Bracken (Ballycommon) for Dalton (61m), Eoin Dunne (Clodiagh Gaels) for Higgins (62m), Nathan Poland (Erin Rovers) for Hyland (65m),

WEXFORD: Darragh Brooks; Eoin Porter, Gavin Sheehan, Dylan Furlong; Liam O'Connor, Eoghan Nolan, Glen Malone; Liam Coleman, Niall Hughes; Pairc Hughes, Catha; Kehoe, Michael Kinsella; Ben Brosnan, Mark Rossiter, Robbie Brooks. Subs – Sean Ryan for Brosnan (HT), Martin O'Connor for Kinsella (49m), Colum Feeney for Kehoe (60m), Tom Byrne for Coleman (60m), Patrick Breen for Hughes (62m),

Referee – Seamus Mulhare, Laois.

REFEREE WATCH

Seamus Mulhare had a steady game, though a couple of minor things went wrong for him in the first half. He incorrectly awarded a free to Offaly for a three man breach by Wexford – Wexford had the three men forward but one of them was out on the sideline getting water. In fairness to him, he corrected that while a Wexford defender was suspiciously close to gathering a kickout inside the arc after that but he let it run.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

Offaly's win was noteworthy as Wexford outscored them by five two pointers to one. The one kicked by Harry Plunkett in the 52nd minute, however, was very important as it gave them a two point lead at an important stage and Offaly pushed on.

VENUE WATCH

O'Connor Park was in perfect condition. The early 1pm throw in definitely impacted on the crowd here and that was down to a Wexford request but having said that, it could have been a lot smaller and the attendance was a respectable size.

WHAT'S NEXT

Offaly go into the semi-finals.

STATISTICS

Wides: Offaly – 7 (4 in first half); Wexford - 7 (2 in first half).

Yellow cards: Offaly – 0; Wexford – 3 (Cathal Kehoe, Colum Feeney and Martin O'Connor).

Black cards: 0

Red cards: 0