Offaly really turned it on in the second half to give joint managers Mickey Harte and Declan Kelly the perfect start with an ultimately impressive win over Sligo in Tullamore.
In a real dog eat dog division with Kildare the clear front runners and the other teams looking to be very evenly matched, home games are very important and this was a crucial result for Offaly.
They outscored Sligo by 1-10 to 0-4 with a very good second half display and would have had to collapse to lose it going into the last ten minutes. Offaly were clearly the better side on the day and Sligo's best spell was coming up to half time but apart from that, they were the architects of their own misfortune.
Sligo kicked fifteen wides, nine of them in the second half, when they didn’t score until the 58th minute and it won’t take in-depth analysis for them to work out why they lost.
A great run of five points in a row from the 25th to 32nd minutes were responsible for Sligo leading by 0-9 to 0-7 at the break. Before that, there had been nothing between the teams and Offaly had been marginally the better side.
Offaly were 0-6 to 0-4 ahead after 27 minutes and both sides had missed good goal chances with Paddy Dunican saving brilliantly from Paul McNamara in the 12th minute while Jack Bryant didn’t get hold of his chance at the other end in the 21st minute.
The sides were level on four occasions in the first half and it took Keith O’Neill’s fourth point in injury time to leave Offaly just two behind at the break.
Offaly were in a difficult position at this stage but their second half display certainly pleased their supporters. They got an early grip on the game in the second half and three points had them ahead within a few minutes of the restart.
A well worked 53rd minute goal, finished off by Ruari McNamee, gave Offaly a 1-11 to 0-9 lead and they extended their advantage to 1-13 before Patrick O’Connor kicked Sligo’s first second half point in the 58th minute.
Sub Niall Murphy made a big impact and he kicked the game’s only two pointer as well as a point after coming off the bench but it is a measure of Offaly’s superiority that Sligo never threatened a revival in the closing quarter. Instead Offaly got four points themselves, with goalie Paddy Dunican’s second point from play among the bunch, as they won with a surprising degree of comfort.
Offaly: Paddy Dunican (0-2); Lee Pearson, David Dempsey, Rory Egan (0-1); Diarmuid Egan, Marcas Dalton, Cormac Egan; Jack McEvoy, Jordan Hayes; Ruari McNamee (1-1), Cathal Flynn (0-1), Keith O'Neill (0-6, 1f); Dylan Hyland (0-4, 2f), Jack Bryant, Eoin Sawyer.
Subs: Cillian Bourke for Dalton (HT), Shane Tierney (0-1) for Bryant (53m), Nigel Dunne (0-1) for Sawyer (62m), Kyle Higgins for Diamruid Egan (68m), Cathal Donoghue for McNamee (70m).
Sligo: Aidan Devaney; Paul McNamara, Eddie McGuinness, Evan Lyons; Brian Cox, Jack Lavin, Luke Casserly; Canice Mulligan, Paul Kilcoyne; Cian Lally (0-1), Alan McLoughlin (0-2, 1f), Eoghan Smith; Alan Reilly (0-2), Patrick O'Connor (0-5, 2f), Pat Spillane.
Subs: Lee Deignan for Smith (HT), Rossa Sloyan) for Casserly (50m), Niall Murphy (0-3, 1tp) for Spillane (50m), Luke Towey for Lavin (64m), Oisin Flynn for Lally (65m),
Referee: Chris Maguire (Clare).
