Offaly hold off Cats' comeback on another glorious night

GAA: ONeills.com Leinster Under-20 Hurling Championship Semi-Final

Offaly 2-17 Kilkenny 2-16

By Kevin Egan

The incredible love story between this remarkable group of hurlers and the people of the county they represent just keeps on growing.

The bare facts of Wednesday night’s game in Tullamore are that Offaly came from three points down in the second half to lead Kilkenny going into the closing stages of a tense Leinster U-20 semi-final, and somehow managed to concede two late goals and still come out on the right side of things.

But as is always the case with these players, the bare facts of the story don’t come anywhere close to doing justice to a rollercoaster of an evening that culminated in Offaly’s first championship win over Kilkenny at any grade since 2007. It was a game that looked to be lost, then looked to be won, then finished in a welter of drama with the home side just about holding on.

This contest did not follow the well-worn path of Offaly putting their hopes in the diminutive but magical hands of Adam Screeney. The Kilcormac-Killoughey maestro made a fine contribution with his excellent freetaking, but from open play, he wasn’t anywhere close to his best, albeit he still added a majestic score late on when it was badly needed.

Enter Shane Rigney, who scored two outstanding goals, both at times of real need, as well as popping over three frees and winning several of the frees that Screeney converted. Enter too Liam Hoare, who was little short of impregnable in the Offaly goal, keeping the team in it throughout that fallow period that saw Kilkenny add eight points without replay either side of half-time.

Brecon Kavanagh was also one of the stars of the show, but that was more as part of an outstanding defensive unit, with Colin Spain and Cathal King setting the tone in front with tireless efforts throughout.

Perhaps the greatest testament to this performance is not anything that Offaly did with the ball, but the fact that the brought about a sight every bit as rare and every bit as spellbinding as the Aurora Borealis that captivated the nation a week ago – a Kilkenny meltdown.

Admittedly, there was an early spoiler. Offaly’s first score was a free from Screeney, brought about by relentless pressure on a Kilkenny defender, attempting to clear his lines, but who ultimately had to overcarry. Rigney, Dan Bourke and Cathal King all fired over good points from play as Offaly moved 0-5 to 0-3 in front with 12 minutes gone, but they needed a lead, as they were playing with a noticeable breeze.

Kilkenny were heavily dependent on Harry Shine’s frees in the early exchanges, but two majestic catches – one from Eoghan Lyng in the half-back line and another from Marty Murphy on the edge of the square (fielding Lyng’s clearance) gave the Cats a rousing score that levelled the game at 0-6 each.

With seven minutes to go to half-time, Kilkenny were the happier team – until Rigney plucked a sliotar from the sky, drove 40 metres towards the Arden Road goal, and rifled the ball into the net.

With the 8,000-strong crowd now properly engaged, Offaly kicked on to lead by five, with Leigh Kavanagh and Screeney winning frees thanks to their absolute incessant pestering of Kilkenny backs trying to clear the ball.

The momentum of the game changed almost immediately, however, as Kilkenny shot four points before half-time to reduced the gap to the minimum, then four more after the break to seize complete control of things.

No Offaly forward other than Rigney was really in the game, and the home side couldn’t get to grips with the wind and dropped several shots short, and for all the tenacious defending in the back line, it had all the hallmarks of a game that was slipping away. But for some outstanding saves from Hoare, it would have.

Then Dan Bourke floated a pass into Rigney, and the St Rynagh’s man took on responsibility and delivered a second goal. What followed for the next 20 plus minutes was utterly remarkable.

Without ever looking like they were hurling at their fluid best up front, Offaly squeezed the absolute life out of Kilkenny, pressuring and hounding them into the type of bad decisions that usually get coached out of Noreside hurlers by the time they leave the U-12 ranks.

Again Hoare had to come to the rescue, saving a Gearóid Dunne penalty, but the subsequent 65 was mishit by Harry Shine, who also missed a 25-metre free, while Offaly became even more dominant in the scraps for contested possession. From the 39th- minute onwards, Kilkenny didn’t score a point.

Offaly had misses too, including an uncharacteristic effort from Screeney, but when Marcas Dalton won possession out of one of those rucks and fed Rigney, the score made it 2-15 to 0-16, and it seemed like the job was done.

Not quite. Another outstanding save from Hoare to deny Marty Murphy saw the ball roll perfectly for Niall Shortall to slam it home, and a nightmare scenario for home fans looked imminent when Murphy had a goal chance on the next attack, but instead found the crossbar.

Points from Screeney and Adam Kavanagh doubled the lead, but Shine then found the net with a free, and Offaly had one more attack to repel. They did, and the tension in the ground exploded, replaced by frantic dashes onto the field and yet another of those joyous scenes of young Offaly hurlers and besotted Offaly fans coming together.

Next, a romantic jaunt to Portlaoise to face Dublin in the Leinster final next Wednesday night (7.30pm). Right now, Venice or Paris wouldn’t have a patch on it.

Man of the match: A toss of a coin between Shane Rigney and Liam Hoare, both of whom were something close to flawless on the night. Rigney came up with huge scores and won frees at absolutely vital times, but it’s impossible to look past Hoare, who didn’t just make the saves that were needed – his distribution was also outstanding.

Talking point: Had TG4 opted to show this game, it would have had to be played under lights – and even though Offaly would still have dominated the crowd in Portlaoise or Carlow, would that make a difference in a one-point game? What of Kilkenny’s administrative calamity that meant senior player Killian Doyle was ineligible, or even the shot off the crossbar late in the game? But this Offaly team works hard enough to earn their luck, and there was an element of payback for some of the heartache they experienced as minors two years ago in Nowlan Park.

SCORERS - Offaly: A Screeney 0-10 (8f, 1 65); S Rigney 2-3; C King, D Shirley, D Bourke, A Kavanagh 0-1 each. Kilkenny: H Shine 1-9 (1-6f, 0-1 65); N Shortall 1-0; M Murphy 0-2; J Walsh, R Glynn, C Hackett, G Dunne, D Queally 0-1 each.

OFFALY: Liam Hoare; Rúairí Kelly, Ben Miller, James Mahon; Ter Guinan, Brecon Kavanagh, Donal Shirley; Colin Spain, Cathal King; Shane Rigney, Dan Bourke, Conor Doyle; Leigh Kavanagh, Barry Egan, Adam Screeney. Subs used: Alex Kavanagh for L Kavanagh (half-time), Marcas Dalton for Egan (40), Eoin Burke for A Kavanagh (43-48, temp).

KILKENNY: Niall Holland; Ivan Bolger, Killian Corcoran, Jeff Neary; Eoghan Lyng, Bill Hughes, Paddy Langton; Cillian Hackett, James Walsh; Darragh Queally, Harry Shine, Rory Glynn; Gearóid Dunne, Marty Murphy, Niall Shortall. Subs used: Aaron McEvoy for Walsh (37), Ted Dunne for Glynn (44), Seán Moore for Hughes (55).

REFEREE: Thomas Gleeson (Dublin).

*See more photos from the game in this week's Offaly Independent.