Offaly cruise home Wicklow torn apart in second-half slaughter in Tullamore
OFFALY WICKLOW 4-29 2-14
MARCH might have came in like a lion but it was the Wicklow hurlers who went out like lambs in their final league game of the year as Offaly inflicted a second-half slaughter on Eamonn Scallan’s side in Bord na Mona O’Connor Park in Tullamore last Sunday afternoon.
In a parallel universe this writer clings to a belief that the defeat of the Wicklow men by a talented Faithful outfit who were without three major players in captain Ben Conneely and Oisin Kelly and Cillian Kiely was – while not deliberate in any sense of the word – not as crushing as it would seem and that some powder was kept dry for their visit to Aughrim for the Christy Ring Cup clash in May.
Because in a glass-half-empty situation in this current reality that we inhabit there doesn’t seem to be much grounds for optimism apart from the fact that this was a dead-rubber game and that certain players are unlikely to ever play as tamely or as ineffectually ever again.
The return of the name of Mikey Lee to the match programme at number 26 after his return to training some six weeks ago offers another option in attack for Eamonn Scallan but the crucial thing now is how they handle the extensive break between games with an agreement having been reached with the clubs that the players be left within the county set up and not return to their clubs for games.
The hurling camp have exuded an air of quiet positivity since the beginning of this Division 2A after credible showings for stages in the games against Antrim, Meath and
Kerry and they were only a point behind Offaly at the break albeit having played with the wind and against a home side clearly not firing on all cylinders.
The message emanating has been that these Wicklow hurlers can mix it and can hold their own against these more formidable counties but playing well for 35 minutes is not holding your own or mixing it. Running these counties to a point or clinching morale-boosting victories here and there is mixing it and holding your own. Beating Mayo on a horrendous day for hurling cannot be described as a successful league campaign. Wicklow survived. That’s it.
That said, there has been an improvement in the county hurling camp given the huge effort and commitment being put in by the panel and management team but that needs to be built on now and closing that 21-point drubbing is the requirement in Aughrim when Michael Fennelly’s men come calling with Wicklow having hopefully accounted for Sligo away in their opener.
Can it be done? It’s fair to say it goes against all logic to suggest that it can but there’s no way that the Wicklow defence – normally so miserly under Eamonn Scallan – will be ripped asunder with such shocking ease as they were on Sunday.
Hopefully come May there won’t be this inclement weather and strong winds that are shaping every sporting fixture in the country and hopefully the chances that present themselves in front of goal can be taken and that the gods smile kindly on what will be a gargantuan mission for these Wicklow hurlers.
All things being equal everything points to an Offaly victory, albeit by a much smaller margin, but things are never equal in Aughrim and if Andy O’Brien, Michael Boland, Enda Donohoe, Danny Staunton and company hit the ground running and if Wicklow show the same control, passion and intelligence which they had been up until the second half in Tullamore then what would be something of an outrageous shock could be on the cards.
The first half on Sunday was promising and Wicklow should have taken a lead of some sort into the dressing room but Thomas Geraghty’s goal when Wicklow lead by double scores at 0-8 to 0-4 proved to be a major turning point in this game after 25 minutes.
After falling 0-3 to 0-1 behind by the eighth minute (their opener from Enda Donohoe), Wicklow surged back into this game with points from Andy O’Brien (five, three frees), Michael Boland and Eamonn Kearns to lead by 0-8 to 0-4 with Martin O’Brien saving a certain goal early on when blocking David Nally.
Thomas Geraghty then got on the end of a sweeping Offaly move that cut the Wicklow defence apart and they took a 1-9 to 0-11 lead into the break having played against a strong wind and well within themselves.
As quick as lightning Offaly opened up a five-point lead immediately after the restart but Wicklow reacted very well with a goal from Enda Donohoe who finished home to the back of the net after great work by Eoin McCormack to make it 1-13 to 1-11 in favour of the home side.
The game was over by the 12th minute of the second half when defensive blunders gifted Offaly two goals and from there on in the Faithful hurlers were in free flow with all substitutes adding massively to their performance.
Wicklow battled on and were rewarded with an Andy O’Brien goal to make it 4-18 to 2-13 but Offaly cruised home with points from all angles as Eoghan Cahill and his colleagues rode roughshod and exploited space all over the field to run out comprehensive winners as they look to bounce back to the top table of Division 1 hurling.
– Offaly: Eoghan Cahill 0-17 (13f), David Nally 0-4, Peter Geraghty 1-1, Colm Gath 1-1,
Scorers
Thomas Geraghty 1-1, Jason Sampson 1-0, Leon Fox 0-2, Paul Kinsella 0-1, Dan Doughan 0-1, Brendan Murphy 0-1.
Wicklow: Andy O’Brien 1-9 (6f), Enda Donohoe 1-1, Michael Boland 0-2, Eamonn Kearns 0-1, Gary Byrne 0-1.
Bob Fitzgerald; Martin Fitzgerald, Bryan Kearney, Peter Keane; Gary Byrne, John Henderson, Warren Kavanagh; Eamonn Kearns, Jack Doyle; Danny Staunton, Enda Donohoe, Eoin McCormack; Padraig Doyle, Andy O’Brien, Michael Boland. Subs: Luke Maloney for P Keane (47), Luke Evans for P Doyle, James Cranley for E Donohoe (51), Gavin Weir for D Staunton (53), Ciarán Breen for W Kavanagh (63).
WICKLOW: OFFALY:
James Dempsey; Andy Flynn, David O’Toole Greene, Paddy Rigney; Brian Watkins, Dan Doughan, Brendan Murphy; Leon Fox, David King; Colm Gath, Jason Sampson, Thomas Geraghty; David Nally, Sean Dolan, Eoghan Cahill. Subs: Peter Geraghty for T Geraghty (h/t), Ciarán Burke for A Flynn (43), Sean Cleary for D Nally (47), Liam Langton for B Watkins (52), Stephen Corcoran for J Dempsey (53), Paul Kinsella for S Dolan (53).
REFEREE:
Alan Kelly (Galway)