NHL Division 1A: Waterford 1-19 Offaly 0-16
Waterford made it back-to-back wins as they continue the rebound from the opening day trimming from Cork at Páirc Uí Chaoimh, but the scoreline flattered the Déise at Walsh Park in this Division 1A contest against Offaly.
Still without almost all of the Ballygunner crew, Waterford were well below par and fortunate to win by six. They scored just 1-7 from play in 70 minutes and finished with 12 wides, and for a touch it looked as though they might not even get the result. With 44 minutes played they led their opponents by just two, 0-12 to 0-10.
When Eoghan Cahill set up Brian Duignan for a goal chance, the Faithful thought they had taken the lead, only for Billy Nolan to make the stop. Even then, Offaly almost had a second bite at the cherry when the rebound fell for Adam Screeney, but he missed his pulled effort.
Waterford almost saw that become a six-point swing when they countered, but Mark Fitzgerald failed to get the ball to hand and punish the Faithful miss.
READ MORE
The story of the game for both sides. Wasteful.
But, from the 50th to 53rd minute Waterford hit more than two points without reply for the first time in this contest, with two placed balls from the excellent Reuben Halloran, who finished with 1-12, kick-starting a run of 1-4.
In the 54th minute, they finally shook free from Offaly, with Jamie Barron and Calum Lyons carrying possession through tackle after tackle. Offaly couldn’t stop the inevitable as Lyons found Halloran, and he rifled across goal and into the bottom corner to leave it 1-15 to 0-10.
The brief spark where this game felt like anything more than a challenge match had come and gone.
Offaly would finally get their second score of the half in the 63rd minute through Dan Bourke, and they would hit five of the last eight, but they never looked like coming back into contention.
Twice in the first half Offaly had come close to hitting the net. Both Screeney and Brian Duignan had seen chances go over instead of under, the latter’s effort in the 35th minute had drawn them level for the third time at 0-9 each.
The Déise were lethargic in the first half, allowing themselves more time in possession on the short restarts.
Iarlaith Daly was the spare Waterford defender as Offaly played with two up front and kept Brecon Kavanagh as the sweeper, and they were competitive for the opening period.
Screeney had done well and picked off a couple of decent scores, while Ter Guinan was lively too for the visitors. But once Waterford got over the initial slump and Conor Keane tightened his grip on Screeney, there was only going to be one winner.
WATERFORD: B Nolan (0-1); C Keane, I Daly, A O’Neill; Shane Bennett, D Lalor, B Lynch (0-1); C Daly, D Lyons; C Lyons (0-1), J Barron, T O’Connell; R Halloran (1-12, 9f, 3 65s), M Kiely (0-1), P Curran (0-1).
Subs: Stephen Bennett (0-1) for O’Connell, M Fitzgerald for C Daly (both h-t); C Treen for Curran (57 mins); S Mackey for Lalor (60); S Walsh (0-1) for Kiely (63); M Power for Keane (68, inj).
OFFALY: M Troy; B Miller, B Conneely, S Bourke; B Kavanagh; D Ravenhill (0-1, f), C King, R Ravenhill; L Watkins (0-1), D Bourke (0-1); T Guinan, E Cahill, O Kelly (0-1); B Duignan (0-1), A Screeney (0-10, 8f).
Subs: J Clancy for R Ravenhill (35+3 mins, inj); P Taaffe for S Bourke, C Spain for Guinan (both 55); C Cleary for Watkins (57); D Nally (0-1) for Cahill (61); L Nolan for Screeney (70+4).
Referee: C Mooney (Dublin).
