Offaly see chance for redemption

WHAT a difference a game makes. Having lost much of their aura in the Leinster final defeat against Wexford, suddenly Kilkenny are back as the one team everyone must match — and try to avoid.

Next up for Brian Cody’s rejuvenated side is the winner of this weekend’s Offaly-Clare qualifier in the Gaelic Grounds and few would relish the winner’s task in the last eight.

“You couldn’t help but be impressed by Kilkenny,” Offaly forward Brendan Murphy said yesterday.

“They were absolutely flying and they really looked like they had a point to prove.

“Galway were fancied to give them a good game as well so you have to take your hat off to Kilkenny. They had something to prove after the Wexford game and they did it.”

Less than 24 hours after the Thurles massacre, Murphy was already sick of the jibes that Offaly or Clare should accept the inevitable.

Offaly have, of course, struggled woefully against their Leinster neighbours ever since their famous victory against them in the 1998 All-Ireland final.

Naturally enough though, Murphy isn’t about to hoist the white flag on his, Offaly’s or Clare’s behalf.

“I suppose some people will be looking at the Offaly-Clare game and thinking it’s a bit of a formality no matter who wins but we can’t do anything about that.

“The way we look at it, if we can come away from Limerick, which is nearly a home venue for Clare, having beaten them, that’d be a great confidence booster to take into the Kilkenny game.

“Clare would be thinking the same, of course, beating Offaly would be a good result for them and set them up nicely for Kilkenny.”

Beating Clare would certainly be the perfect medicine for Offaly after their disappointment in the Leinster final. Hard as they might try to put the day to one side, they can’t escape the nagging feeling that they left the win behind them.

“The Leinster final was a massive disappointment to us. No disrespect to Wexford, but we felt we’d thrown it away with the amount of chances we missed in that first-half,” Murphy said.

“I think we scored only 12 of something like 28 chances on the day and that’s just a disaster.

“It says a lot about the game when Damien Fitzhenry was man of the match. We must have had six or seven goal chances and we didn’t take any of them. The first 20 minutes of that game, we were having much the better of it and we didn’t take full advantage of it.”

The scars will take time to heal but it hasn’t stopped Offaly looking forward with intent either. With Clare, they face another team eager to make a few points after their no-show against Waterford in the Munster championship.

“What can you do but get back into it. We’d put in six or seven months of training to get to that Leinster final and you can’t just throw all that away because of one bad result. We’ve regrouped now and we’ll give it our best shot.

“With Clare we know what to expect. They’re still a very dangerous team when you look at names like Frank and Brian Lohan, Lynch and the rest of them.

“They’ll feel like they have a lot to prove, just like we will, after the game against Waterford. They had a fairly easy run out the last day against Laois so they’ll be ready for us.”

One man who won’t be ready is Offaly’s Brian Whelahan who is still struggling to shake off the injury that forced him off against Wexford.

The Birr defender has already intimated that this would be his last season with the county so should Offaly lose in his absence against Clare we may not see him on such a stage again.

“Brian is a huge loss,” Murphy said.

“He was playing well against Wexford but I don’t think his going off was the big turning point. I still say our missed chances cost us that day.

“If we could win at the weekend though he’d have every chance of making the next game and that’d be fantastic. We’re not out of it yet,” he said.