NO STAGE fright, no hiccups. The distant drums have been conveying news of Offaly's well-being for some time, and their performance in Croke Park in yesterday's Leinster quarter-final provided conclusive evidence that the side's ambitions amount to realistic targets rather than mere folly.
"We were run off the field," confessed Wicklow manager Dave Foran. Indeed they were. Under Tommy Lyons, Offaly have developed the habit of winning; what's more, they have also learned how to play with considerable style. There is a hunger too in just about everything Offaly do, but especially when it comes to scoring.
Four games to date in the provincial campaign have hardened them, chiselled the raw product into championship contenders. A nine-point winning margin yesterday might infer that they got things easy, but they didn't really. There were tough, physical challenges, knocks given and taken.
"Just what you'd expect in the true championship tradition," said Lyons. The end result, though, was that Offaly negotiated their passage into a semi-final meeting with Louth on Sunday week like old hands.
Any question marks? A couple of minor ones. David Reynolds was their top scorer with seven points. However, the Clara man had missed three eminently kickable frees prior to converting his first effort in the ninth minute and the feeling persists that, under greater pressure, such misses could prove a bit costly. The other doubt concerns the full-back position. Larry Carroll was given a tough time by Kevin O'Brien and he was rather fortunate to have Cathal Daly, unquestionably one of the best corner backs in the business and James Brady flanking him.
Yet, the Offaly machine is marching on, garnering increased confidence with each outing. Ciaran McManus remains a dominant figure around the middle of the park and the diamond of centre half back Finbarr Cullen, midfielders McManus and Ronan Mooney and centre half forward Sean Grennan was particularly potent and snuffed out Wicklow's aerial threat.
McManus and Grennan, in fact, went on a number of powerful, thrusting runs which would be hard for anyone to contain. And, as ever, Peter Brady and Vinny Claffey, who switched corners at the start, retain the ability to score from play. It's a priceless commodity.
In contrast, Wicklow lacked the bite of their opponents . . . and perhaps, would have preferred the match-sharpening route to the quarter-finals through the preliminary rounds which Offaly had taken. Unquestionably, Wicklow's lack off games went against them. Fergus Daly put in a towering performance, nevertheless, at midfield, but the defence (although Brendan O hAnnaidh and Hugh Kenny, in fairness, had their moments) struggled to stem the tricolour tide.
The early stages of the game suggested that Offaly possessed too much power and guile. But, then, in the 13th minute, O'Brien produced the sort of moment that can sometimes galvanise a team. He gathered a ball some 60 yards from the Offaly goal and left his marker trailing in his wake like a seagull chasing a trawler. Then he finished the ball to the back of the net with the sort of exquisite touch that wouldn't be out of place in the Nou Camp.
That O'Brien goal left Wicklow adrift by just one point - 0-5 to 1-1 - and a Conan Daye free shortly afterwards put them level. Grennan and Damien McMahon swapped points before Offaly turned the screws.
Not surprisingly, Brady was the architect. The Edenderry attacker firstly tapped over a 21st minute point to set Offaly on the straight and narrow, but his more concrete contribution arrived a minute later when Brady, ace poacher, gathered a pass from Claffey and calmly slotted the ball past Wicklow goalkeeper Liam Cullen for his side's goal.
After that, it was virtually one-way traffic up to the half-time break as Offaly added three-points without reply to take in a 1-10 to 1-3 lead to their cups of tea. Wicklow, in fairness, didn't lie down - but, after reducing the deficit to six points 13 minutes into the second-half; they inflicted the killer blow on themselves in the 48th minute.
Offaly's goalkeeper, Padraig Kelly was adjudged to have fouled O'Brien, sniffing for another goal on the edge of the small square, but Keith Byrne drove the resultant penalty badly left and wide.
It knocked the wind out of Wicklow, so much so in fact that Offaly went into cruise mode and kicked six unanswered points - from Reynolds (4), Claffey and Mark Daly - before Wicklow salvaged some late consolation with points from Shane O'Neill, Damien McMahon and a punched effort from Seamus Miley.
Offaly, however, were well and truly the masters on the day. A general sense of well-being permeated through the Offaly dressing room afterwards. But Lyons, still seeking improvement, remarked: "I wish we had an extra week before the Louth game, just to improve our fitness."
