Having survived two ferociously tight battles with Kildare in the league, Offaly were pleasantly surprised to waltz to a comfortable win in round 2 of the Joe McDonagh Cup in Hawkfield this afternoon.
A bad beating by Carlow in their opening round was a big shock to Kildare's system and further evidence of the wheels falling off was provided here as they were never really at the races. A 12th minute red card for attacker Mark Delaney after an off the ball offence was a major factor in their downfall here but even that does not fully explain two big defeats.
A seven point winning margin does not reflect the full extent of Offaly's superiority and this game was over as a contest early on. They could afford the luxury of going through the motions in the second half and with two wins out of two, Offaly have very much hit the ground running.
There had been plenty of talk in Offaly about the Croke Park decision to fix this game at Kildare's training ground but it ended up a very moot point. There was a surprisingly small crowd here, less than 1,000 people as Kildare hosted the fixture well while Offaly's dominance meant that it lacked the anticipated championship fervour.
Offaly were 0-5 to 0-3 ahead when Delaney saw red. With Kildare making mistakes and hitting wides as well as dropping too many balls short, it was clear that Offaly were the better side but they really went for the jugular.
Cillian Kiely got a 16th minute goal as Offaly scored 1-7 without reply to lead by 1-12 to 0-3. The game was over at this stage and a 26th minute goal from James Burke was greeted with a mute response by the home support.
Very sloppy play allowed Kildare in for a second goal before the interval, Cian Boran's less than clinical strike scraping across the line. However, Offaly led by 1-18 to 2-6 at half time and it would have taken a catastrophic collapse for them to lose.
It was never going to happen, though they did not play near as well in the second half. Eoghan Cahill got a very well taken 47th minute goal as Offaly went into a 2-20 to 2-7 lead. Kildare rallied briefly with three points but Cillian Kiely's point ended that and it all petered out very tamely.
Kildare to their credit did continue to fight to the final whistle. Goalkeeper Paddy McKenna converted a 72nd minute penalty with Offaly sub Paddy Delaney getting a black card for ruthlessly halting Brian Byrne in his tracks.
Cillian Kiely was wide with a late gift for Offaly but it didn't matter with the winners having a Joe McDonagh Cup final in their sights while Kildare are beginning to keep a nervous eye on the Christy Ring Cup as they urgently need a win.
Offaly: Stephen Corcoran; Ben Conneely, Ciaran Burke, David King; Jack Screeney, Jason Sampson, Killian Sampson (0-2); Cillian Kiely (1-3), Joey Keenaghan (0-1); Adrian Cleary (0-3), Jack Clancy, Eoghan Cahill (1-10, 6f and 1 '65'); David Nally, Brian Duignan (0-1), Charlie Mitchell (0-1).
Subs: Paddy Clancy for Keenaghan (40m), Cathal Kiely (0-1) for Mitchell (53m), Paddy Delaney for Jack Clancy (63m), John Murphy for Duignan (63m)
Kildare: Paddy McKenna (1-5, penalty, 4f and 1 '65'); Niall O'Muineachain, Simon Leacy, Cian Shanahan; Jack Travers, Rian Boran, Paul Dolan (0-1); Johnny Byrne, Cathal McCabe; James Burke (1-1), Gerry Keegan, Mark Delaney; Brian Byrne (0-1, f), Cian Boran (1-1), Cathal Dowling.
Subs: Paul Divilly (0-1) for Dowling (7m), David Qualter for Dolan (HT), John McKeown for O'Muineachain (46m), Sean Christiansen for Divilly (51m), Drew Costello (0-1) for Travers (54m),
Referee: Michael Kennedy (Tipperary)
