Offaly impress to hold Rebels to a draw

A scintillating second half in O'Connor Park saw Offaly and Cork share the spoils 1-13 to 2-10 in today's NFL Division 1A encounter.

In comparison, a mundane first period saw the visitors go in at half time with one point advantage (0-4 to 0-5) thanks to two well-taken, long-range points from Brendan Ger O'Sullivan.

However, the scoring should have been higher but the Faithful managed a total of seven wides during the opening period and Cork fared not much better, recording six.

The second half told a different story as Offaly twice battled back to deny the Rebels their second win of their Allianz National Football League campaign.

Goals from James Masters and Kevin O'Sullivan on 37 and 50 minutes respectively looked to have dented Offaly's hopes of picking up points, but Kevin Kilmurray's side showed plenty of spirit to haul themselves back into this encounter.

The loss of Ciaran McManus after a tackle on Conor McCarthy didn't aid Offaly's cause, but when Cork had their star man Nicholas Murphy yellow carded for a foul on John Reynolds, the game was evened up once more.

James Coughlan was Offaly's star in the second half and his 52nd minute point proved the score of the game.

Minutes later Neville Coughlan blasted the back of the Cork net and it was game on, leaving Offaly with a slender one point lead 1-12 to 2-08 with nine minutes remaining.

Cork answered with points from substitute Michael Cronin and captain Sean Levis but perhaps the most controversial moment of the game came with two minutes left to play.

The Offaly bench were left reeling after Scott Brady shot's was contentiously waved wide.

The home side were then handed a glorious opportunity to take maximum points when midfield man Alan McNamee kicked a super ball in for Coughlan, but the Doon clubman put too much elevation on his shot.

Offaly had to be content with the point and gave their relegation worries a slight lift ahead of the trip to Donegal next weekend.

Scorers:

Offaly - J. Coughlan 0-5 (3 frees), N. Coughlan 1-1, N. McNamee 0-3, C. Quinn 0-1, J. Reynolds 0-1, B. Mooney 0-1, C. McManus 0-1.
Cork - J. Masters 1-2 (1free), K. O'Sullivan 1-1, BJ O' Sullivan 0-2, S. Levis 0-1, K. O'Connor 0-1, A. Cronin 0-1, N. Murphy 0-1, M. Cronin 0-1.

Offaly: P. Kelly; C. Daly, C. Evans, S. Sullivan; B. Mooney, S. Brady, K. Slattery; C. McManus, A. McNamee; N. Coughlan, M. Daly, J. Reynolds, C. Quinn, N. McNamee, J. Coughlan.

Subs: R. Malone replaced M. Daly 28 mins, J. Grennan replaced C. Manus YC 42 mins, J. Keane replaced R. Malone 66 mins.

Cork: K. Murphy; N. Geary, M. Cronin, G. Murphy; S. Levis, K. O'Connor, E. Sexton; N. Murphy, D. Kavanagh; J. Masters, BJ O'Sullivan, C. McCarthy; A. Cronin, F. Gould, K. O'Sullivan.

Subs: D. Hurley replaced N. Murphy YC 55 mins, M. Cronin replaced K. O'Sullivan 56 mins, P. Clifford replaced F. Gould 64 mins, G. Spillane replaced D. Hurley (YC) 70 mins

Referee: M. Duffy (Sligo)