CATS SKIN OFFALY ALIVE
Kilkenny are primed for summer as they run up 26-point winning margin in Nowlan Park
NO SIGN of Paul Merson in the Sky Sports commentary box. Or the Sky robot umpires. Nobody sentenced to death.
To the Liveline and Primetime brigade, who promised an apocalypse of Mayan proportions, the world kept spinning on its axis at the final whistle of the historic first live television broadcast of Gaelic games on subscription-based channel Sky Sports.
Unfortunately, it was less Gift Grub sketch territory than run of the mill Leinster Championship fare, Kilkenny quickly turning the match into a rout, putting up a whopping 2-22 past a hapless Offaly in the first half alone and finishing with a massive 26 points to spare.
Offaly simply had no answer to Kilkenny’s devastating attacking play, the ploy of dragging corner-forward Kevin Connolly back as a sweeper to try and limit the damage was abandoned by the 20th minute, just around the time Colin Fennelly pounced to power home his side’s second goal.
Offaly had no answer to Kilkenny’s movement and understanding as TJ Reid, Eoin Larkin and Fennelly in particular all picked off scores at will, the only worry being the sight of Reid limping off in the second half.
On this form, Kilkenny will be hot favourites to dispose of Galway in the semifinal.
Those who warned of a stay-at-home protest over the GAA’s decision to end the tradition of making all Championship matches free-to-air were well wide of the mark.
Rather than keeping people at home, the interest generated by Sky’s debut clearly added to the appeal of the fixture and 11,841 turned up at Nowlan Park.
The very same fixture 12 months ago saw 8,337 pay through the turnstiles at Tullamore as Offaly nailed four goals past Kilkenny and signposted a short summer ahead for a team chasing a three-in-a-row.
This time, the game followed a much different pattern with Kilkenny hitting 1-7 on the spin in a display of power scoring early in the first half to effectively end the game as a contest.
The National League champions looked sharp and clinical in their first sighting since extending their winning streak over Tipperary
When Offaly last took Kilkenny’s scalp in a Championship match, Brian Whelahan rose from his sickbed to deliver an attacking tour de force in the 1998 All-Ireland decider, one of the game’s finest wing-backs cementing his status by scoring 1-6.
Dipping his toes into inter-county management though hasn’t come quite so easily, an Offaly team in transition needing a relegation playoff to survive in Division 1B and last night the gulf in class was frightening.
Offaly have to go all the way back to 1995 for their last Leinster championship win over Kilkenny and this made it 10 championship defeats ina-row.
Kilkenny’s first goal 14 minutes in came midway through their first serious scoring burst that put them out of sight. Larkin smuggled the ball to the net after Walter Walsh’s shot was saved and the way the Kilkenny attack were moving, it was only a matter of time before the second came.
Twenty minutes in Colin Fennelly got inside the cover and drew a brilliant save from goalkeeper James Dempsey who can hold his head up high, but the same player made no mistake a minute later.
The score came from a sublime pass from Richie Hogan to Michael Fennelly who was somehow left unmarked inside. When his shot was brilliantly saved again by Dempsey, Colin Fennelly was sharper to the break and pulled on it to the back of the net.
Offaly had a rare sniff of goal on 29 minutes, Conor Mahon reacting quickest to a breaking ball around the square but his flicked effort was well saved by Eoin Murphy.
It was little more than a procession though for the Cats. Reid added couple of magical scores and Offaly were demoralised at the break, trailing 2-22 to 0-6.
From there on, it was simply a matter of trying to save face. Joe Bergin grabbed an early point but the only question was when the last Kilkenny player from midfield up – namely championship debutant Mark Kelly – would get on the scoresheet.
Given that Brian Cody whipped another rookie Brian Kennedy off after just 28 minutes, the Kilkenny full-forward knew he needed to make an impression and he certainly did that.
Switched out to midfield, he drifted forward to link up with his attack, taking the ball straight up the centre of the Offaly defence and hammering the ball home.
Seven minutes later, he repeated the trick, firing low to the corner to leave James Dempsey no chance.
On came Tommy Walsh then to a tremendous cheer, Cody throwing the legendary wing-back on in the position where he first made a Championship impact, at wing-forward.
Brian Carroll’s kick to the net was about as much response as Offaly could muster. Carroll was able to hold his head high as the game’s top scorer with 1-10, as Kilkenny coasted to victory with Eoin Larkin rattling home a fifth goal just to complete the job.