It took the introduction of scoring machine Eoghan Cahill to get Offaly motoring as they eventually breezed past the challenge of Derry in Glenisk O'Connor Park on Sunday afternoon.
The Birr man came off the bench four minutes from half-time with his stuttering, misfiring team struggling to get out of third gear. They were level, 0-08 each at that stage and while there was no real anxiety among the home support at the outcome, there were plenty of areas of concern.
They had hit eleven very poor wides prior to Cahill's introduction, while they also went for goals on a few occasions when points could have been taken. It all represented a very unsatisfactory half hour's work for Offaly but they were a much more potent outfit with Cahill on the team.
Cahill got three points almost in the blink of an eye as Offaly went on a five-point scoring run. They were five points clear when Reese McSorley flicked the ball to the net for an injury time Derry goal after Stephen Corcoran got caught in no man's land.
Two points was a tenuous enough half-time lead but Offaly were never in a moment of danger in the second half. Cahill continued to excel, getting two more points as they led by 0-18 to 1-09 after 41 minutes: he got five points from play between the 32nd and 40th minutes, plus two minutes of injury time which was a serious, game changing return.
After this, it was mere shooting practice for Offaly. They fired over points from a variety of distances and angles and Derry were a beaten docket long before the final whistle. The visitors missed a few handy frees and at one stage, Offaly got nine points without reply.
It leaves Offaly with full points from their two games and it will be a major surprise if they aren't around for the knockout stages, though there are still three games to come.
OFFALY: Stephen Corcoran; Ben Conneely, Ciaran Burke, Oisin Murphy; Killian Sampson (0-2), Jason Sampson, David King (0-1); Ross Ravenhill (0-2), Jack Clancy; Oisin Kelly, Cillian Kiely (0-2), Adrian Cleary (0-2); Paddy Clancy (0-1), Charlie Mitchell (0-4), David Nally (0-6, 2f and 2 '65's). Subs – Eoghan Cahill (0-12, 4f and 1 '65') for J Clancy (32), Brian Duignan (0-1) for Kelly (HT), John Murphy for P Clancy (HT), Jack Screeney for O Murphy (43)
DERRY: Eoin Mulholland; Sean Francis Quinn, Mark Craig (0-1), Ronan Mullan; Sean Cassidy, Paul Cleary, Meehaul McGrath; James Friel (0-7, 6f), Padhraig Neilis; Cormac O'Doherty (0-3, 2f), Darragh McGilligan (0-1), Corey O'Reilly; John Mullan (0-1), Richie Mullan (0-2, 1f), Reese McSorley (1-0). Subs – Callum O'Kane for Neilis (44), Eamon Conway for McSorley (54), Cahal Quinn for R Mullan (64), Kosta Papachristopoulos for Cleary (66), Cormac Gough for O'Reilly (73)
Referee: Callum Cunning (Antrim)
