Spirited second half rally not enough to save Offaly from defeat in Dublin
By Daire Walsh
In spite of a spirited second half display at Parnell Park on Saturday, Offaly suffered defeat at the hands of Dublin on the opening weekend of their Leinster Minor Hurling Championship Tier One Group One campaign.
Leinster Minor Hurling Championship Tier One Group 1 Round 1
Dublin 4-18
Offaly 0-19
12 points adrift at half-time, the Faithful County rallied superbly after the restart and brought the gap down to just three at one stage. A brace of late goals may have ultimately given Dublin the spoils with 11 points to spare, but there will be encouraging signs that Offaly manager Enda Mulhare can look back upon when he analyses this encounter.
While it is very much a new group of players, Caelum Larkin returned from last year’s Faithful panel to captain the side from right corner-back. Additionally, Kilcormac-Killoughey star Mark Mulrooney donned the number seven jersey, having appeared off the bench in the agonising 2022 All-Ireland final reversal to Tipperary.
It was the hosts who hit the ground running in this contest with the inside duo of Callum Graham and David Purcell registering points inside the opening two minutes. Shinrone midfielder Gearoid Maher split the uprights off a 60-metre free to get Offaly off the mark, but Dublin continued to play with confidence.
After knocking over a ’65’, Purcell gathered a high ball close to the target on seven minutes and proceeded to stroke the ball beyond Faithful netminder Killian Spain. Purcell (free) and Ryan Murphy also raised white flags, before Murphy responded for Offaly with his second point of the half.
Yet the Dublin attack was proving extremely difficult to rein in as Conor Newton and Mícheál Ó Tighearnaigh fired over quickfire scores to give the Metropolitans a 1-7 to 0-2 cushion on the first-quarter mark. Although Offaly were struggling to impose themselves on the proceedings, back-to-back points courtesy of Fionn Carney and Niall Kelly offered them solace.
Dublin reinforced their authority with three points on the bounce from Daniel O’Kelly, Purcell and Ó Tighearnaigh, before a brace by the impressive Maher followed for their opponents. Ajay Cleary also found the range from distance, but Offaly were ultimately in a tough position at the interval.
Supplementing a single effort by centre-forward Darragh Kilduff, Purcell added 1-2 to his ever-expanding personal tally to propel Dublin into a 2-13 to 0-7 buffer for the start of the second half.
The Offaly management introduced Liam O’Riordan and Harry Sweeney on the resumption in a bid to add fresh impetus to their challenge and a brace of pointed frees by the reliable Maher certainly raised their confidence levels. Newton did open Dublin’s second period account, but this was in advance of Offaly developing their first sustained purple patch of the action.
In as many minutes, Carney, Maher (two) and Niall Flannery registered four unanswered points to provide the Faithful supporters with renewed hope in the capital. Further momentum was gathered by the visitors when substitute James Morkan and Cillian Bourke also dissected the posts, before another two-point salvo by Maher left Offaly’s deficit at three (2-14 to 0-17) inside the final-quarter.
Having gone an incredible 16 minutes without troubling the scoreboard, Dublin finally settled down with a long-range special from Purcell. The Kilmacud Crokes attacker also converted a free on the right-wing as the Sky Blues started to gain a semblance of control in the tie.
The dead-ball accuracy of Maher kept Offaly in the reckoning, before a late flourish from Dublin finally killed the game off. In the space of just under 60 seconds, Kilduff and Newton hammered home stoppage-time goals to offer the home team a somewhat flattering 11-point victory.
SCORERS – Dublin: David Purcell 2-9 (0-6f, 0-2 ’65’), Conor Newton 1-2, Darragh Kilduff 1-1, Mícheál Ó Tighearnaigh 0-2, Ryan Murphy, Daniel O’Kelly, Callum Graham, Rónán O’Neill 0-1 each. Offaly: Gearoid Maher 0-12 (8f, 1 ’65), Fionn Carney 0-2 (2f), Ajay Cleary, Niall Flannery, Niall Kelly, James Morkan, Cillian Bourke 0-1 each.
The teams
DUBLIN: John Mooney; Massimo Pappalardo, Liam Dargan, Luke Mooney; Fionn Murphy, William Wheatley, Joe Sheppard; Tommy Costello, Ryan Murphy; Daniel O’Kelly, Darragh Kilduff, Mícheál Ó Tighearnaigh; Conor Newton, David Purcell, Callum Graham. Subs – Fiach Lupton for Murphy (48m), Gearoid Flannery for Graham (53m).
OFFALY: Killian Spain (Drumcullen); Caelum Larkin (Carrig & Riverstown), Daire Daly (St Rynagh’s), Joseph McLoughney (Coolderry); Richard Bracken (Kilcormac-Killoughey), Ajay Cleary (Coolderry), Mark Mulrooney (Kilcormac-Killoughey); Gearoid Maher (Shinrone), Jack Ryan (Drumcullen); Niall Flannery St Rynagh’s), Rob Carney (Ballyskenach-Killavilla), Niall Kelly (Ballinamere); Aaron Molloy (St Rynagh’s), Cillian Bourke (Tuallamore), Fionn Carney (Ballyskenach-Killavilla). Subs – Luke Bracken (Kilcormac-Killoughey) for Daly (23m), Liam O’Riordan (Ballyskenach-Killavilla) for Ryan, Harry Sweeney (Kilcormac-Killoughey) for Molloy (both h-t), James Morkan (Shinrone) for Carney (40m), James O’Sullivan (Shinrone) for Maher (45m-47m, blood), Dylan Hollywood (Drumcullen) for Kelly (59m).
Referee – Owen Beehan (Kilkenny).