Reid class too much for Offaly
IN the final moment of this enjoyable Allianz League quarter-final, Shane Dooley dropped a free in front of the Kilkenny goalmouth, hoping an Offaly teammate would get the flick that turned the ball into the net to cause a seismic shock.
Instead, TJ Reid, back in his own full-back line, claimed the ball and cleared it, prompting referee Paud O’Dwyer to blow the whistle. It was fitting that the final action belonged to Reid as this was yet another game that served to illustrate the former Hurler of the Year’s importance to Kilkenny.
Reid was the most dominant player of this entertaining match. He nailed half his team’s tally, nine from placed-balls. But it was in the second half, whenever an impressive and hard-working Faithful side seemed to have the Cats on the ropes, that the experience and nous of Reid — and Walter Walsh to a lesser extent — came to the fore and guided the team past a potential landmine.
There was plenty to admire in this Offaly performance. Conor Mahon was superb and ended the day with 1-2 beside his name, Ben Conneely and Pat Camon were excellent in defence, while Dooley kept the scoreboard ticking over in the second half, nailing one splendid score from right out on the left wing.
If Offaly’s impressive display surprised some in O’Connor Park, Brian Cody wasn’t among them. He came to Tullamore, expecting a battle and appeared pleased his players got a fierce one.
‘Offaly a very, very good team,’ Cody insisted. ‘Physically, very strong with good ball-winners. I expected a massive battle and we got it. It could have gone any way. If our attitude was less than it was, we wouldn’t have won that game. Offaly are going to be a serious threat to anyone in the Championship.’
Cody was still without his regular custodian Eoin Murphy, who is still recovering from a whiplash injury, while the Kilkenny boss explained that talented forward Kevin Kelly, key to Ballyragget’s successful club campaign, will be missing this summer as he just underwent knee surgery.
However, others did step up. Liam Blanchfield hit three points from play, while John Donnelly came off the bench to nail two fine points. Whenever Offaly came within striking distance of Kilkenny, they had enough within them to stretch away.
Kevin Martin, who has clearly got this Offaly side fitter and working harder than some of his predecessors, admitted that they are still a workin-progress and yesterday was about absorbing some hard lessons about how to win. ‘They are training hard and putting in the effort,’ Martin explained. ‘They are starting to get there, starting to believe in their hurling so we are heading in the right direction.’ Martin was proud that his players never dropped their heads, even after Kilkenny’s customary fast start after the interval — led by Reid, they scored the first four points of the second half. Those that came to O’Connor Park were pleasantly surprised by Offaly’s effort. The teams traded blows for most of the first half, before Mahon, in a tussle with Joey Holden, seized on Cillian Kiely’s long ball into the square and managed to scuff the ball into the net. That put Offaly 1-8 to 0-9 ahead in the 33rd minute.
A couple of minutes later, Richie Reid had the ball in the Offaly net, but it was ruled out for a square ball. It meant that the home side went in at the break, 1-10 to 0-10 ahead, and the Tullamore crowd started to believe.
TJ Reid and Walsh had other ideas and those two seasoned campaigners plotted a path into a League semi-final, somewhere that few expected Kilkenny to be at the start of this spring, as Cody pointed out.
‘We are in a League semi-final now, which is progress obviously because after our first two games, we weren’t being tipped at all to come this far,’ the Kilkenny boss said.
With TJ Reid in this form, they might go further still.
KILKENNY: D Brennan; J Holden, P Walsh, P Deegan; C Delaney, C Buckley, C Browne (E Morrissey 64); R Leahy (L Ryan 60), O Walsh (J Donnelly 41); L Blanchfield, TJ Reid, J Maher; G Alyward (L Scanlon 41), W Walsh, R Reid (A Murphy 65).
Scorers: TJ Reid 0-12 (9f), W Walsh 0-4, L Blanchfield 0-3, J Maher, J Donnelly 0-2, G Alyward 0-1.
Yellow card: G Alyward 37. OFFALY: E Cahill; T Spain, S Gardiner (P Rigney 47) , B Conneely; D O’Toole-Breen , D Shortt, P Camon; S Kinsella (D Egan 57), D King; C Mahon, C Kiely (O Kelly 57), C Egan (T Geraghty 67); S Dooley, J Bergin, D Currams.
Scorers: S Dooley 0-8 (5f), C Mahon 1-2, C Egan, J Bergin, S Kinsella 0-2, C Kiely, D King, D Currams 0-1. Yellow cards: D King 8, T Spain 42, C Mahon 43. Referee: P O’Dwyer (Carlow).