Faithful stumble past Exiles

PAT FLANAGAN admitted that the Offaly players were still suffering a hangover from their Leinster quarter-final loss to Westmeath and that getting over the line was the sole objective of this qualifier against London. ‘There was extreme disappointment after Mullingar,’ said the Offaly boss. ‘We just played in spasms. We didn’t play anything close to what we did against Longford. ‘Our energy levels and work-rate weren’t anything close to what they should be.’ Nigel Dunne weighed in with seven points, including five in the second half. London led by 1-4 to 0-2 after 22 minutes, with Patrick O’Hara fisting the goal but they failed to score for another 40 minutes, while Offaly managed 13 points to pull clear. OFFALY: A Mulhall (K Garry 64), B Darby (J Lalor 62), E Rigney, S Pender, N Darby, P Cunningham, J O’Connor, E Carroll (L Fox 66), G Guilfoyle (J Gethings 52), A Sullivan, N McNamee (W Mulhall 58), M Brazil, B Allen, N Dunne, J Moloney (N Bracken 45). Scorers: N Dunne 0-7 (7f); N McNamee 0-4; B Allen 0-3 (2f); N Darby, A Sullivan, N Bracken 0-1. Yellow Card: J O’Connor 70. LONDON: G McEvoy, P Butler, C Carty, C Dunne, D Ryan (C O’Neill 64), C Healy, D McGreevy, J Moran (E Murray 48), L Gavaghan, A Moyles, M Gottsche, C Coyne (K Butler 51), S Conroy, C Óg Greene (E Mageean 63), P O’Hara (D Molloy 66). Scorers: P O’Hara 1-1; A Moyles, L Gavaghan, S Conroy M Gottsche (1f), E Mageean, D Molloy, 0-1. Yellow Card: D McGreevy 70. Referee: D Coldrick (Meath). DARAGH Ó CONCHÚIR