Off-key Offaly play second fiddle

Leinster SFC Quarter-final replay: Laois 2-10 Offaly 0-13Having been more than a little lucky to catch their neighbours a week ago, National Football League finalists Laois left nothing to chance in yesterday's replay at O'Connor Park, Tullamore.

Offaly pushed it all the way, but, in the end, Mick O'Dwyer's team deserved their ticket to Sunday week's Bank of Ireland Leinster football semi-final against Dublin.

Beano McDonald's 47th-minute goal brought the hammer down on Offaly's thriving challenge, and Laois controlled proceedings with varying levels of comfort from there to the final whistle. But the scores were just the outward manifestation of a much-improved display by Laois.

O'Dwyer made changes to the team before the throw-in. Paul McDonald replaced Derek Conroy and Kieran Kelly came in for Damien Delaney.

This released Tom Kelly to play centre back, as he had done to great effect in the second half of the drawn match, and again he was an important influence.

McDonald also played well at corner back, but disastrously got a straight red card in the 68th minute, which will rule him out of the semi-final.

The whole Laois defence raised its game considerably on the first day's display. Sharper and more decisive on the ball, they stopped Offaly building the sort of flowing attacks that had put them so much on the back foot a week previously. It meant that the home side's attacking possessions were very hard won.

Complementing this tightened focus was the performance of the centrefield duo of Padraig Clancy and Noel Garvan. They battled far more competitively and established a solid platform for those phases when Laois loaded on the scores and created the gap that Offaly couldn't close.

A two-man full-forward line completed the game-plan.

Ian Fitzgerald and Beano McDonald stayed inside while the rest of the forwards pushed back into the middle, which at times was as crowded as the summit of Mount Everest.

This brought twin benefits. For a start, it frustrated Ciarán McManus and Alan McNamee in the Offaly centrefield.

As the opposition was reduced to breaking most of the high ball, Laois thrived on the congestion and snapped up the preponderance of what was going.

Secondly, Offaly really struggled to contain Fitzgerald and McDonald. And, in the ninth minute, a precise free from Michael Lawlor sent in Fitzgerald for Laois's first goal. Two minutes later, the scorer had another chance, but Kevin Meehan saved well.

The day ended on a down note with the Laois captain being sent off for a second yellow card, but it was his best intercounty display in a while.

And his early attacks were in contrast to Offaly's.

Within 90 seconds they had racked up two wides and their attacks were laboured and poorly finished compared to Laois's rapier incisions, which built a five-point lead by the end of the first quarter, 1-4 to 0-2.

Of equal concern to manager Paul O'Kelly must have been the haphazard fashion in which his team were giving away possession. Too often a relieving kick simply went straight to an opponent and needlessly rekindled broken-down attacks.

O'Kelly did say afterwards that his side's resilience had made him proud to be an Offalyman. He was chiefly referring to the first-half recovery that brought the team back into contention after a first quarter that saw them drowning under the constant waves of attack and counter-attack.

Niall McNamee, the teenager given his debut the first day, again played well and contributed two points as Offaly played themselves back to within striking distance.

The other scores included a quality kick squeezed over from the right by Pascal Kellaghan and a typical surface to air strike from 50 metres by Ciarán McManus.

It was Offaly's misfortune that their spell in charge coincided with a deluge. Although that didn't look as if it would dampen the possibilities of their long-ball attack, the slippery surface made it difficult for players and mistakes multiplied.

John Reynolds, who was enjoying a period of supremacy in his battle with Colm Byrne, who overall played his man successfully from behind, seemed particularly affected.

At the break, the Laois lead was down to a point, 1-5 to 0-7.

The second half opened cagily and it took five minutes for Offaly to equalise. Six minutes later and they hit the front for the first time after James Grennan landed a big kick from the right wing. At this stage, the home team had the momentum. But that was about to change.

O'Dwyer introduced Hugh Emerson and immediately the big Portarlington man combined well with Ross Munnelly to place Beano McDonald straight on goal and, after a stumble, he found the net.

Although Colm Quinn cut the margin to one with a free, Laois were about to make the decisive break. Four points without reply extended the lead to five with 10 minutes remaining.

The 57th-minute score by Munnelly summed up the difference between the teams. A ponderous Offaly attack in which constant possession wasn't creating a chance or opening broke down and, in a flash, Laois ran it the length of the field for a point.

Although the team effort was creaking under pressure, Offaly kept going. McManus's famous engine did seize up for a while before he finished strongly, and Laois always looked capable of the quick cut.

The strain on Offaly's attack told in that corner back Barry Mooney was needed to come up from the back for two of his side's points.

But as O'Dwyer knows well, you don't count Offaly out until the referee's waving his hands. Somehow they got the deficit to three points entering injury-time and, in the flurry of desperate attacks, replacement Seán Grennan's arcing shot from 20 metres flew wide.

There was that little in it. But Laois were deserving winners.

LAOIS: 1. F Byron; 18. P McDonald, 3. C Byrne, 4. J Higgins; 5. D Rooney, 2. T Kelly, 7. A Fennelly; 8. P Clancy (0-1), 9. N Garvan (0-1); 10. R Munnelly (0-2), 14. K Fitzpatrick,12. M Lawlor; 13. B McDonald (1-2), 14. I Fitzgerald (1-3), 19. K Kelly. Subs: 21. D Miller for Fitzpatrick (half-time); 20. H Emerson for Lawlor (46 mins); 28. G Kavanagh (0-1) for K Kelly (47).

OFFALY: 1. K Meehan; 2. C Daly, 3. G Rafferty, 4. B Mooney (0-2); 5. J Kenny, 6. F Cullen, 7. K Slattery; 8. A McNamee, 9. C McManus (0-1); 10. C Quinn (0-5, all frees), 11. N Coughlan, 19. J Grennan (0-1); 13. P Kellaghan (0-2, one free), 14. J Reynolds, 30. N McNamee (0-2). Subs: 15. V Claffey for Kellaghan (47 mins); 23. R Malone for Kenny (55); 25. M Mitchell for Cullen (59); 20. S Grennan for N McNamee (64).

Referee: B Crowe (Cavan).