Offaly 2-25
Dublin 1-15
Kevin O’Brien reports from Croke Park
KEVIN MARTIN’S TENURE in charge of Offaly got off to a flying start with a 13 point hammering of Dublin in the Division 1B opener tonight.
This was Offaly’s first league win at Croke Park since 1991 and their first victory of any kind at HQ since 2005.
Second-half goals from substitutes Shane Dooley and Liam Langton helped Offaly to the comfortable win, and consigned Pat Gilroy to a heavy defeat in his first game over Dublin.
Both sides came into this game under new management, but it was Offaly boss Martin who left Croke Park in far better spirits after they hit the ground running in the league.
The Tullamore native was a double All-Ireland winner with Offaly in the 1990s and was tasked with stopping the county’s alarming slide in the last decade.
Colin Egan, Conor Mahon and Dan Currams – three players Martin enticed back into the set-up – make successful returns to inter-county action. Egan and Currams scored 0-5 between them, while Mahon was fouled for Dooley’s goaled penalty.
Gilroy, who was without his Cuala contingent, started with eight debutants in Bill O’Carroll, Cian Hendricken, Cian McBride, Tomás Connolly, Fergal Whitely, Ronan Smith, Alan Moore and Paul Winters.
Conal Keaney arrived on as a second-half substitute to make his first appearance in a Dublin jersey since July 2015.
Dublin played with Alan Moore and Fionn O Riain Broin as a two-man full-forward line, with three in midfield. Johnny McCaffrey looked to release centre-back Cian McBride in front of his full-back line at every opportunity.
The Faithful opted for a more conventional system, but looked far more comfortable on the ball and held a greater scoring threat up front.
Offaly looked sharper from the early stages and led by 0-6 to 0-3 after the opening quarter, with Kinsella, Currams and Kelly on target early on.
Kinsella, who scored 1-3 in the Walsh Cup semi-final against Kilkenny, continued his fine pre-season form and scored three points from play in a fine display.
Paul Winters’ goal in the 26th minute, which arrived after Shane Barrett broke forward unmarked, threatened to derail Offaly but they responded impressively.
They hit six of the next eight scores, including a few long-range beauties from Damien Egan and Currams, to lead by 0-16 to 1-8 at the interval.
Conor Mahon was hauled down inside the area three minutes after the restart and substitute Shane Dooley duly dispatched the penalty.
Dublin enjoyed their best spell in the third quarter as Gilroy ran the bench and Donal Burke fired over a few frees, but they never looked capable of mounting a comeback.
Langton turned Bill O’Carroll and skipped around Alan Nolan for a well-taken goal seconds after coming off the bench. A couple of late Dooley frees and a booming effort from Dermot Shortt put the icing on the cake for the visitors.
Scorers for Offaly: Shane Dooley 1-5 (1-0 pen, 0-5f), Joe Bergin 0-6 (0-3f, 0-1 65), Shane Kinsella 0-3, Oisin Kelly (0-1 sideline) and Colin Egan 0-3 each, Liam Langton 1-0, Daniel Currams and Damien Egan 0-2 each and Dermot Shortt 0-1.
Scorers for Dublin: Donal Burke 0-6 (0-5f), Paul Winters 1-1, Alan Moore 0-2, Chris Crummey, Fergal Whitely, Niall McMorrow, John Hetherton, Ronan Smith and Eamonn Dillon 0-1 each.
Offaly
1. Conor Slevin (Kilcormac/Killoughey)
2. Tom Spain (Brosna Gaels)
3. Sean Gardiner (Lusmagh)
4. Ben Connelly (St Rynagh’s)
5. Patrick Delaney (Kinnitty)
6. Pat Camon (St Rynagh’s)
7. Dermot Shortt (St Rynagh’s)
8. David King (Coolderry)
9. Shane Kinsella (Kinnitty)
10. Joe Bergin (Seir Kieran)
11. Colin Egan (Belmont)
12. Damien Egan (Belmont)
13. Oisin Kelly (Belmont)
14. Conor Mahon (Kilcormac/Killoughey)
15. Daniel Currams (Kilcormac/Killoughey)
Subs
17. Shane Dooley (Tullamore) for Bergin (half-time)
23. Thomas Geraghty (Kilcormac/Killoughey) for Egan (52)
24. Liam Langton (Clodagh Gaels) for Mahon (62)
18. David O’Toole (Shamrocks) for Conneely (71)
20. Daniel Doughan (Shinrone) for Delaney (75)
Dublin
1. Alan Nolan (St Brigid’s)
2. Paddy Smyth (Clontarf)
3. Bill O’Carroll (Kilmacud Crokes)
4. Cian Hendricken (Naomh Mearnog)
5. Shane Barrett (Na Fianna)
6. Cian McBride (St Vincent’s)
7. Chris Crummey (Lucan Sarsfields)
8. John McCaffrey (Lucan Sarsfields)
9. Tomas Connolly (St Vincent’s)
12. Ronan Smith (Lucan Sarsfields)
11. Fergal Whitely (Kilmacud Crokes)
10. Donal Burke (Na Fianna)
13. Alan Moore (St Vincent’s)
14. Paul Winters (St Brigid’s)
15. Fionn O Riain Broin (St Jude’s)
Subs
24. Eamonn Dillon (Naomh Fionbarra) for O Riain Broin (26)
18. Darren Kelly (Craobh Chiarain) for McBride (35 – half-time, blood sub)
21. Niall McMorrow (Ballyboden St Enda’s) for McCaffrey (43)
23. Conal Keaney (Ballyboden St Enda’s) for Moore (46)
25. John Hetherton (St Vincent’s) for Winters (52)
19. James Madden (Ballyboden St Endas) for Hendricken (65)
Referee: Paud O’Dwyer (Carlow).
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I’m delighted for Offaly, I grew up in an era when offaly were a dangerous team to meet and had very strong club teams in the all Ireland Club championship .
Well done Offaly. Terrible performance by us. Roll on March when we’ve the Cuala lads back. Also Sutcliffe, Rushe, Kelly and Boland to come back. Still can’t see us being promoted after today’s result. It’s now all about staying in 1b.
@Ciara Baines: fair play Ciara. Was surprised with that result even with those lads missing. I know it’s only the first game but would be great if Offaly could get back to being competitive in Leinster again. A good start for them anyway.
@Ciara Baines: Why were Dublin not playing at “home” :)
@Ciara Baines: I wouldn’t get too excited about Kelly and Sutcliffe, Leinster is a different animal in recent times and they have a lot missed…I am looking forward to seeing how Rushe goes under Gilroy, he looked disjointed and unintrested last couple years… league and championship are hectic and congested this year, Dublin will get to league QF regardless and will need to hit the ground runnning there!
Was in Pairc Ui Chaoimh and didn’t see Dublin’s game, but I’m very surprised at that result, especially the margin. I know Dublin were missing a lot of good players, but they’ve been good at U-18 and U-21 in recent years, and I thought that they would have been better tonight.
I know it didn’t work out for Ger Cunningham, but he is an excellent coach, and perhaps he was an easy target and was made the fall guy, when perhaps the Dublin Players should have been held more accountable and accepted some of the blame.
Well done to Offaly though. They have a superb training facility and they should be more competitive than they have been in recent seasons.
oh oh… looks like somebody remembered how to play hurling
Gilroy out
Wait til Offaly have whelahan and Johnny Dooley back