Waterford run riot to show they have a threat in reserve
DESPITE a resolute opening 25 minutes from Offaly, Waterford found their groove and marched on to the next round of the qualifiers with plenty in reserve. The margin of victory was 24 points in the end as the hosts failed to raise a gallop in the second half.
A crowd of 4,159, mostly from the Déise, piled into O’Connor Park to see Waterford flex their muscles, and while the game was one sided for the majority, they will take encouragement from hitting 1-35.
Had it not been for Offaly custodian James Dempsey, who pulled off a couple of outstanding saves, Derek McGrath’s (right) side could have had a few more.
With 0-9 coming from the bench, Waterford also had plenty of players staking a claim. Colin Dunford, Tommy Ryan, Jake Dillon and Patrick Curran all pointed with their first touch after being introduced in the second half.
McGrath was content after the game but was well aware that there will bet bigger tests ahead. ‘We weren’t looking for a response; we were looking for a performance,’ he explained.
‘After an edgy start, we found our way and worked the ball well. Fellas got a run, too, and made an impact off the bench, albeit the game was loose at that stage. If you told me this morning we would have 1-35, I would have taken your hand an’ all off.’
Waterford had the aid of the strong breeze in the opening half but they were being met by a stubborn home side that put together some neat passages of play early doors.
Offaly led 0-4 to 0-2 after 13 minutes but, slowly but surely, Pauric Mahony and company clicked into gear to take a 0-8 to 0-6 lead within 10 minutes as Austin Gleeson found some fine form.
Offaly began to make sloppy mistakes and Waterford capitalised with eight points on the spin. The hosts got one back but a huge puck out from Stephen O’Keefe landed down in the opposite penalty area and Shane Bennett reacted quickest to drive home the opening goal of the game.
That was the catalyst for a flurry of Waterford points as they added three more in firsthalf injury time to take a commanding 1-18 to 0-8 lead into the break.
With Shane Dooley forced off injured during the interval, Offaly’s faint hopes of a revival went out the window as Waterford showed no mercy and piled on the scores. For the second championship game in a row, Offaly shipped in excess of 30 points as 13 different Waterford scorers inflicted misery on boss Kevin Ryan, a man of Waterford origin.
The sides hit two points apiece early doors in the second half but Mahony went on to hit two frees and a ‘65’ while Barron and Colin Dunford also opened their accounts by the 55th minute to leave them 1-26 to 0-11 ahead.
Austin Gleeson started the game at centre forward and he finished with six points – his fifth a thing of beauty in the 56th minute. They reached the 30-point mark with 10 minutes to go through a Patrick Curran free and coasted to five more in the closing stages with Gleeson denied a goal by one of the saves of the season from Demspey.
Small mercies.
WaTERFoRD: S O’Keefe; N Connors, B Coughlan, S Fives; D Fives, C Gleeson, Philip Mahony; J Barron, K Moran (S Daniels 51m); M Walsh (J Dillon 49m), A Gleeson, Pauric Mahony (P Curran 60m); T de Burca, M Shanahan (C Dunford 49m), S Bennett (T Ryan 55m).
Scorers: Pauric Mahony 0-11 (0-7f and 0-1 ‘65’), A Gleeson 0-6, P Curran 0-4 (0-2f and 0-1 ‘65’), S Bennett 1-0, M Shanahan, D Fives, C Dunford, J Barron and K Moran 0-2 each, T Ryan, M Walsh, T de Burca and J Dillon 0-1 each.
oFFalY: J Dempsey; B Conneely , D Shortt, P Camon; S Gardiner, A Treacy (E Grogan H/T), D King; S Ryan, P Murphy(P Guinan 60m); S Kinsella (P Geraghty 54m), J Bergin, J Mulrooney; O Kelly, S Dooley (S Cleary H/T), E Nolan (M Cleary 54m)
Scorers: S Dooley 0-5 frees, J Bergin 0-3 (0-2f), B Conneely, P Guinan, E Nolan, O Kelly, S Kinsella, J Mulrooney 0-1 each.
Referee: Alan Kelly (Galway)