Offaly continued their very solid start to the National Hurling League with a convincingly impressive 2-26 to 0-17 win over Antrim in Tullamore on Sunday.
It was Offaly's fifth point from their three games and while their toughest tests lie ahead and they missed an opportunity of collecting both points in their opening draw against Carlow, they will still be very happy with where they are.
Still missing regular starters in Ben Conneely, Cillian Kiely and Eoghan Cahill along with Adam Screeney, Offaly will learn a lot more in their next outing against Dublin in Croke Park but they will travel there with their confidence high.
They anticipated the usual tough test from Antrim here but played extremely well on the day, gaining control in the ten minutes before half time and remaining in the driving seat throughout the second half.
They never looked like losing in the second half, keeping the scoreboard ticking over and the points were wrapped up from a long way out.
Even before man of the match Killian Samspon got their second goal in the 59th minute, firing home after poor defending, Offaly supporters were relaxing. Sampson’s goal gave them a 2-23 to 0-12 lead and he was given a rest moments later with his conscience clear after a great shift that included four points and some powerfully incisive running and passing.
Sampson’s super display was significant as it had been a traumatic week for him and all in Shinrone following the tragic death of a club senior colleague Joe Cleary earlier on.
Players such as Ciaran Burke, Donal Shirley, James Mahon, Brian Duignan and Dan Bourke also gave five-star performances in an encouraging win and very solid all round display – the defence were very tight and the forwards scored freely with all six starters scoring from play.
Antrim will be bitterly disappointed at their display, particularly in the second half when they could get very little going and were chasing their tail the whole way.
The visitors had competed well in the first half when playing against the wind. They were level twice early on and a 0-09 to 0-07 deficit after 27 minutes was a very satisfactory place for them to be. It all went wrong for them before the interval as Offaly scored 1-05 without reply for a 1-14 to 0-07 half time lead.
The goal was expertly finished by Dan Ravenhill in the 31st minute and had been coming as Antrim goalkeeper Ryan Elliott had denied Charlie Mitchell and Brian Duignan in near one on one positions earlier on.
That run of scores changed the entire game and it seemed to knock the fight out of Antrim. The expectation that they could at least close the gap in the second half proved to be wide of the mark and Antrim’s fate was sealed in the first minute of the restart when Mark Troy made a very good save from Paul Boyle.
James Naughton, who had some uncharacteristic second half misses from frees, pointed the '65’ but Offaly responded with four in a row and were never going to cough up a 1-18 to 0-08 lead. It all dwindled out fairly tamely from here and Offaly led by 2-26 to 0-13 before Antrim finished with three late points.
Offaly: Mark Troy; Padraig Cantwell, Ciaran Burke, James Mahon; Ross Ravenhill (0-01), Donal Shirley, Jason Sampson; Colin Spain, Cathal King; Oisin Kelly (0-01), Dan Bourke (0-01), Killian Sampson (1-04); Dan Ravenhill (1-02, 1f), Charlie Mitchell (0-04), Brian Duignan (0-12, 9f and 1 ’65). Subs: Sam Bourke (0-01) for Cantwell, inj. (16m), David Nally for Killian Sampson (59m), David King for Jason Sampson (61m), Luke Watkins for Spain (63m), DJ McLoughlin for Shirley (67m)
Antrim: Ryan Elliott; Gerard Walsh, Paddy Burke, Declan McCloskey; Scott Walsh (0-01), Eoghan Campbell, Joe Maskey (0-01); Nigel Elliott, Niall O’Connor (0-01); Paul Boyle, Keelan Molloy (0-03), Niall McKenna; Seaan Elliott (0-02), James McNaughton (0-09, 7f and 1 ‘65’), Conor Johnston. Subs: Eoin McFerran for Walsh, inj. (13m), Ryan McCambridge for McKenna (HT), Conor Boyd for McCloskey (HT), Eoin O’Neill for Boyle (46m), Cormac McKeown for Johnston (61m),
Referee: Seamus Hynes (Galway)
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