Bond's tactics made the difference

At half-time, it was difficult to foresee Offaly concluding what was an enthralling Championship finale so emphatically. Although they should have had a goal after just 45 seconds, from that time Kilkenny went on to dominate the first half.

Offaly clung in there by virtue of converting chances, but overall there looked to be a slight uneasiness about them. Philly Larkin was enjoying an abundance of possession in the centre for Kilkenny and Canice Brennan was doing a good job in bottling up John Troy.

Kilkenny came out after the break with the wind and a two-point advantage and they looked to have the wherewithal to take the game.

But I thought that the tactics employed by Offaly throughout were extremely interesting. They lined out with a conventional one to 15, but once the ball went in, Michael Bond and the selectors introduced myriad changes.

Errity came out to centre-half, Joe Dooley went to the corner, Johnny Dooley to midfield and Michael Duignan was dispatched to centre-half forward. Both teams proceeded to attempt to play low ball into their forwards, and Kilkenny enjoyed a wealth of opportunities. Offaly seemed to be a bit out of it, to be honest.

Their second half resurgence wasn't necessarily irresistible. Kilkenny started fairly positively, and in the first 10 minutes they should have increased their lead. But the Offaly backs began to come into it. I can recall one sequence where three consecutive Kilkenny strikes were blocked.

Moreover, their switches started to work.

I was astounded to see Brian Whelahan go up forward, until I found out later that he had flu. I thought maybe that the half back line would collapse without him, but instead they flourished.

Hubert Rigney is never spectacular but as the game progressed he was increasingly effective, despite enduring a torrid first half through the display of Andy Comerford. Duignan fell back and suddenly the threat of Brian McEvoy, who had been creating an untold amount for Kilkenny, was nullified. Martin Hanamy had another terrific game.

In short, the Offaly defence smothered the Kilkenny attackers and their (Kilkenny's) lack of height told in the end.

Meanwhile, Whelahan exerted an astonishing amount of influence up front, dragging Pat O'Neill out and gradually dictating play.

I recall one particular ball coming in at tremendous speed, which both Whelahan and O'Neill both came to claim. Suddenly, Whelahan's hand was in the air and the ball was his. That's the difference between a great player and a very good player.

But impressive as Offaly were in the second half, I felt they were losing their grip again with about 15 minutes remaining.

They were, I think, up by 1-15 to 1-13 when I counted three individual Kilkenny forwards showing for the ball in space. But the Offaly half backs were incredibly tenacious in closing their markers down and Kilkenny simply couldn't score. Then Offaly suddenly got a goal.

Errity's score was an opportunist's strike. He reacted to a break, got on to it and finished extremely well. Whelahan's was, ironically, more of a classic forward's goal. You can't really blame any individual defender. The scores just fell for Offaly and they converted.

After Offaly's first goal, it was imperative that Kilkenny replied almost instantly, but their hopes went a-begging with DJ's penalty strike. Kilkenny needed a big game from DJ today and unfortunately it didn't happen.

DJ's strike sort of reflected his game. On a good day, he would have risen that ball and it would have travelled six or seven yards before he made contact. Instead it only went about two or three yards and he mis-hit it. But that's how it goes, DJ Carey can't be the saviour the whole time.

None of the Kilkenny forwards played consistently well throughout. Charlie Carter started very well but faded a little. Same is true for the half-forward line. PJ Delaney caused Kevin Kinahan sporadic trouble, but I felt that, as a unit, they did get enough quality ball in the second half to make an impact but they just didn't convert.

So Offaly are All-Ireland champions. Looking at their win in the context of the entire summer, you would have to feel they were a trifle lucky. They opened with two or three fairly easy matches, then the Babs Keating affair made these guys suddenly decide they were going to show people their worth. Michael Bond did a fine motivating job and they won through after three games with Clare which left them very sharp. I don't think they would have won yesterday had they not had the benefit of those games.

Overall, yesterday's All-Ireland was disappointing in the first half, there was some poor hurling on show and Kilkenny ought to have led by more. But the quality of the game was redeemed by the second half, and when the Offaly backs began to control matters they simply came at Kilkenny in waves. They finished incredibly jubilantly and looked very fresh, but I suppose it's easy to look sharp with a favourable scoreboard looking down at you.

As for individual displays, well, Whelahan was terrific, Stephen Byrne made great saves, but these lads won't care about man of the match awards, it was a team effort.

Considering the long-term prognosis for these teams, well, Offaly could be tricky.

A lot of those lads now have two All-Irelands, Joe Dooley has three. It might be enough for some of them. What this win will do is encourage the younger lads to play.

As for Kilkenny, they go back to the drawing board and they have to unearth a few forwards in the Richie Power mould, more ball winners. But this is a young team and I can see them winning an All-Ireland within three years.

(In an interview with Keith Duggan)