Cats get an Offaly fright as Wexford draw yet again

ON A weekend when Limerick sent out a powerful message against Dublin at Croke Park that they will be the team to beat in the Munster Championship and in the All-Ireland race, the pretenders to their crown put on some mixed displays in their fixtures.

At half-time in Nowlan Park, a shock looked on the cards as Offaly led Kilkenny by an impressive margin of 0-14 to 0-8 points.

Given that Richie Hogan is already on record as saying he reckons his old teammates are the county best placed to stop Limerick’s five-in-a-row bid, a defeat here would be a bit of a reality check for the Cats.

Eoghan Cahill and bright young talents Charlie Mitchell and Dan Ravenhill were part of an impressive Offaly showing but Kilkenny went up the gears after the break. It only took them until the 42nd minute to draw level and an Eoin Cody goal helped them on their way to a 1-26 to 1-19 victory, Charlie Mitchell nabbing the Offaly goal.

Wexford and Clare served up a thrilling draw at Wexford Park — a far cry from last year’s campaign when the visitors filleted the home side to the tune of six goals. Jack O’Connor showed a lot of nerve to shoot the equaliser in what is a third successive draw in the division for Wexford. That Wexford got something from the game despite losing both Kevin Foley and Lee Chin to injury in the first half will encourage manager Keith Rossiter.

A Seamus Casey penalty helped them into the narrowest of half-time leads and it was nip and tuck from there until the end.

In Division 1 Group B, Galway overpowered Antrim on a 2-35 to 1-13 scoreline while Division 2A saw Kerry get back to winning ways with the returning Shane Conway leading the way. In Ballycran, a frantic finish saw Kildare denied from the penalty spot in injury time before Pearse Óg McCrickard landed a priceless equaliser.