Gaelic GamesMatch Report

Offaly shock Meath ending their Leinster hopes and sending them into Tailteann Cup

‘The Offaly public probably wouldn’t have overly expected us to win as comfortably but we knew it was coming’

Offaly’s Declan Hogan celebrates his team's win over Meath on Sunday. Photograph: Evan Treacy/Inpho

Sun Apr 23 2023 - 19:53

Leinster SFC quarter-final: Offaly 1-11 Meath 0-10

A super first half and defensive heroics in the second half earned Offaly a shock win over Meath in O’Connor Park on Sunday last.

While Offaly very much deserved a Croke Park semi-final next Sunday, the fallout in Meath won’t be pretty as they now go into the Tailteann Cup. While they battled very hard in the second half, Meath’s first half performance was shocking and they couldn’t get any closer than four points in the second half.

Offaly were excellent in the first half, dominating all sectors and displaying a level of composure and intensity that was not matched by Meath.

It was a dream first half by the home side and they fully deserved their 1-8 to 0-2 interval lead. They held on to the ball very well and broke the line with pace as Meath struggled badly.

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Two early points from Nigel Dunne, from a 45, and a Dylan Hyland free settled Offaly down and they were four clear when they scored an excellent 21st minute goal. Cian Farrell did well to send Rory Egan in and the wing back finished well.

Matthew Costello got Meath’s first point in the 22nd minute but even then, they continued to struggle. Donal Lenihan got their second point in the 29th minute but Offaly finished the half superbly and points from Egan, Anton Sullivan and Dylan Hyland gave them that half time lead.

As you would expect, Meath were much better in the second half. They introduced three half time subs and had all five on the field by the 57th minute. The subs made a difference as they got five of their eight second half points but significantly, they couldn’t manage more than three in a row or get closer than four points.

Offaly were out on their feet in the closing quarter but tackled and worked like men possessed as they kept Meath at bay. Meath’s only real goal chance fell to Cillian O’Sullivan who had to settle for a 53rd minute point that reduced the arrears to 1-10 to 0-7. Offaly only got three second half points but they were all crucial with their last from the outstanding Ruari McNamee putting them six ahead with seven minutes left.

Ronan Jones got two to cut the deficit to four after 70 minutes but seven minutes of injury time didn’t yield another score.

Offaly manager Martin Murphy felt a shock was coming during the week. “It has been brewing. We had probably the best week of training this week in terms of intensity, effort, the communication between players on the field at training was savage, it was just really peak, top-class stuff. I know the Offaly public probably wouldn’t have overly expected us to go out and win that game as comfortably today but we knew it was coming.”

OFFALY: I Duffy; L Pearson, D Hogan, D Dempsey; R Egan (1-1), P Cunningham, C Donnelly; J McEvoy, C McNamee; C Farrell, R McNamee (0-2), A Sullivan (0-1); D Hyland (0-2, one free), N Dunne (0-4, one ‘45 and one free), J Evans. Subs: C Donohue for Egan (HT), B Allen (0-1) for Farrell (49), J Maher for Evan (56), B Carroll for Conor McNamee (59), S Tierney for Allen (59).

MEATH: H Hogan; A O’Neill, R Ryan, M Flood; D Keogan, P Harnan, S Coffey; D McGowan, J Flynn; K Curtis, M Costello (0-3, two frees), C Hickey; J Morris, C O’Sullivan (0-1), D Lenihan (0-1). Subs: J O’Connor (0-1) for Hickey, H O’Higgins for Flood and J Scully (0-2) for McGowan (HT), R Jones (0-2) for Lenihan (54), D Moriarty for Curtis (57).

Referee: Seamus Mulhare (Laois)

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