Leinster SHC: Kildare 0-15 Offaly 1-29
Offaly have caused a sensation in the Leinster Championship after getting a win over Kildare, coupled with Dublin’s victory over Kilkenny, the two results combining to knock the Cats out of the championship while Offaly march on to the All-Ireland knockout stages.
In front of a crowd of 5,602, made up almost entirely of Offaly support, Johnny Kelly’s team sensed the opportunity at hand and dominated pretty much throughout.
They led by three points at half-time but any chance Kildare had of playing the role of party pooper evaporated in the 37th minute with the sending off of Cathal McCabe after an off-the-ball clash with Ciaran Burke.
Eoin Cahill played a starring role with 13 points, but Offaly looked strong all over the field, building on draws against Dublin and Kilkenny earlier in the provincial championship and a win over Wexford.
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The win means Offaly will take on the Munster runners-up, either Cork or Limerick, in the All-Ireland quarter-final. While they’ll undoubtedly be underdogs in that fixture, they’ll go with great confidence and backed by a fanatical support.
Although Kildare were already relegated before a ball was pucked, they met Offaly head-on in the opening exchanges. The first eight points were evenly shared before Offaly went ahead for the first time in the 15th minute through the outstanding Cahill.
There was still a point between the teams after a superb effort from distance by Cian Boran in the 22nd minute, but Offaly then put daylight between the teams for the first time with five points in a row.
Kildare had a spell of three successive points themselves as half-time neared, but Cahill had the final say to leave the score at 0-13 to 0-10 for the break.
Just seven minutes after McCabe’s second-half dismissal, Offaly got in for the only goal of the game when Kildare goalkeeper Paddy McKenna delayed his clearance allowing Brian Duignan to nip in and dispossess him before scoring into the empty net.
It was routine after that for Offaly and the biggest cheer from their sizeable travelling support came when news filtered through of Donal Burke’s goal for Dublin against Kilkenny.
Duignan’s goal sparked him into life and he added two further points as the game wore on.
Offaly came close to a second goal in the 52nd minute, but McKenna atoned for his role in the earlier green flag with a flying save.
Down a man and in the heat of the searing sun, Kildare’s challenge faded but Offaly showed no mercy.
Corner back Burke got forward to score in the 54th minute and substitute David Nally added his name to the scoresheet almost immediately after his introduction on the hour mark.
Substitutes Paul Dolan and Tim Ryan scored after coming into the game for the hosts, but they were fleeting moments for Kildare in the face of an Offaly onslaught.
Heading towards injury time another substitute, Ciaran Cleary, put himself among the scores, and Colin Spain and Donal Bourke both added to their individual tallies.
Fittingly, it was left to Cahill to round off the win with his 13th point of the game in injury time.
The travelling support in the ground had spent the afternoon with one eye on events unfolding elsewhere. When the final whistle blew in Newbridge, the crowd invaded the pitch, but it was only when the result at Parnell Park was confirmed minutes later that the celebrations really began.
Heady days indeed for Offaly hurling.
KILDARE: P McKenna; L O’Reilly, R Boran, D O’Meara, D Guerin, C Boran (0-1), S Leacy (0-1); C Boran (0-2), C McCabe (0-1); J Travers, C Dowling, G Keegan, D Melville (0-2), M Curtin (0-1), J Sheridan (0-5, 4f). Subs: R Hogan for O’Reilly (41 mins), T Ryan (0-1) for Curtin (47), P Dolan (0-1) for Dowling (52), C Kehoe for Hogan (57), T Power for Travers (63).
OFFALY: L Hoare; C Burke (0-1), B Connelly, P Taaffe, R Ravenhill, K Sampson, T Guinan (0-1); C Spain (0-3), C King; S Rigney (0-2), C Doyle (0-1), D Bourke (0-4), E Cahill (0-13, 9f), B Duignan (1-2), A Screeney. Subs: O Kelly for Guinan (23 mins), D Nally (0-1) for Screeney (41-42), D Nally for Rigney (60), J Mahon for Taaffe, E Burke for Screeney (both 63), C Cleary (0-1) for Duignan (64).
Referee: M Kennedy (Tipperary).
