Heroic Kerry fall short as Offaly scrape through

Offaly 2-17 Kerry 2-18

Kerry recorded a famous win over a stunned Offaly in Birr on Sunday but it was not enough to claim a quarter-final place.

It was a shocking result for Offaly, who were playing their first National Hurling League game in Birr since 2007, though they still qualified for the quarter-finals.

Kerry gave a powerful second half performance as they overturned a 1-11 to 0-10 half time deficit. A brilliant John Egan goal cut the gap to 1-13 to 1-10 two minutes into the second half and they soon cut it to the minimum but a well taken James Mulrooney goal put Offaly back in the driving seat.

In a thrilling closing quarter, Colum Harty’s 47th minute goal put Kerry on level terms, 2-13 each, and it was a real dogfight from here to the end. With seven minutes left, Kerry had edged in front and in a frantic finish they were able to hold on.

Offaly’s defeat came despite a blistering start that saw them put 1-2 on the board without reply after just five minutes. The goal was a brilliantly struck shot from Joe Bergin after he charged through the middle and for much of the first half, Offaly were clearly the better side.

With Shane Dooley once again in great form in their attack, they led by 1-5 to 0-2 and 1-9 to 0-5 after 17 and 26 minutes. Kerry, however, hung in grimly and with Jordan Conway (2) and John Egan finding the range, they were just four points behind at the break.

OFFALY: J Dempsey; N Wynne, C McDonald, P Rigney; P Camon, C Doughan, D Shortt; S Kinsella, S Ryan (0-1); P Murphy, C Egan (0-1), J Mulrooney (1-1); S Dooley (0-13, 8f, 1 '65' and 1 sideline), J Bergin (1-1), S Cleary. Subs: J Sampson for Murphy (32m), C Kiely for Cleary (41m), K Connolly for Kinsella (51m), S Connolly for Wynne (55m), P Guinan for Ryan (64m).

KERRY: A McCabe; B Murphy, P Kelly, K Carmody; J Diggins, D Dineen, T Murnane; D Collins, J Griffin (0-2); B O'Leary, M O'Leary, J Buckley; J Conway (0-3), M Boyle (0-2), J Egan (1-10, 9f). Subs: C Harty (1-0) for Buckley (H/t), S Nolan (0-1) for B O'Leary (54m), T Casey for Diggins (57m), S Weir for Kelly (62m), P Lucid for Griffin (71m).

Referee: J Keane (Galway).