Controlled and clinical Offaly shatter Dublin hopes of a shock

Offaly2-25 Dublin 1-13

Dublin came to Croke Park hoping against hope that they could complete a hat-trick of against-the-odds wins; after just 23 minutes, those hopes had evaporated, shattered by a cold, controlled, clinical, well-drilled Offaly side.

After 21 totally one-sided minutes, it was 0-10 to 0-1; by half-time, that lead had increased, 1-17 to 0-7. After that, even with a brief third-quarter revival, the Dublin dream was done and dusted.

The win started with a covering defence, anchored down the middle by Ger Oakley and Brian Whelehan, that swept up almost everything, added to a midfield combination of Michael Cordial and Barry Whelehan that was totally on top. They were abetted by a towering half-forward line of the Hanniffy brothers Gary and Rory, with Joe Brady on the wing, and finished with a full-forward line that looked almost as lethal as that of the boys of Wexford.

Sum it up this way: of the Offaly first-half total of 1-17, 1-11 came from Brian Carroll (0-3), Brendan Murphy (1-5) and Damien Murray (0-3). Impressive.

At a scoring rate of a point every two minutes, most of them coming from that lethal inside line, where the pacy Murphy was destroying the returning Stephen Perkins, Offaly kept the white-flag umpire busy until the 27th minute, at which point they led 0-13 to 0-3.

One minute later, Dublin could have been forgiven if they themselves had raised the white flag as Murphy, capitalising on a defensive error, shot the first of his two goals.

Ten minutes into the second period, they had slipped again, three points from Damien Murray, after Liam Ryan had opened the scoring for Dublin, seeing the Offaly lead extended to 15 points, 1-20 to 0-8. Then came Dublin's best period. They scored 1-4 without reply, and it should have been 2-4 but for a brilliant save by 'keeper Brian Mullins from O'Callaghan. With 15 minutes still to play the Offaly lead had been cut to eight, 1-20 to 1-12.

But the final 15 minutes was all Offaly, out-shooting Dublin 1-5 to 0-1, and again, it was almost all that full-forward line. Centre-forward Rory Hanniffy notched two points, but it was Carroll with a beautiful strike from wide left, Murphy with his second goal (though from wing-forward, where he helped to stem the Dublin tide), and Murray continuing his superb second-half display with a fine brace, who applied the coup-de-grace to a disappointing Dublin challenge.

On this display Dublin won't trouble the Cats next time out and will need a quantum improvement just to compete. Offaly against Wexford in the Leinster final? Flyers on the wings and in the corners for both sides, at both ends of the field, that one will be played at some pace.

The returning Brian Whelehan was having his first really competitive game for Offaly in almost a year, his first in the pivotal centre-back position for many a year and it showed at times.

However, his experience around the ball, vital goal-saving flicks on a couple of occasions, also showed. With this game under his belt, he will be much more in the groove for the Leinster final.

As formidable as Wexford looked last week, as Waterford looked the week before in their down-to-the-wire wins over major opposition, Offaly looked just as impressive yesterday, when they needed to.

Everything is set up for a big game in Croke Park.

Scorers: Offaly: B. Murphy 2-5; D. Murray 0-8 (0-3 frees); B. Carroll 0-4; R. Hanniffy 0-3; M. Cordial 0-3; C. Cassidy 0-2 (frees). Dublin: D. O'Callaghan 0-5; M. Carton 1-0; K. Flynn 0-2; A. De Paor 0-2 (0-1 65); L. Ryan 0-2; D. Kirwan, D. Sweeney, 0-1 each.

OFFALY: B. Mullins; B. Teehan, G. Oakley, D. Franks; N. Claffey, Brian Whelehan, C. Cassidy; M. Cordial, Barry Whelehan; G. Hanniffy (c), R. Hanniffy, B. Murphy; B. Carroll, J. Brady, D. Murray. Subs: K. Brady (Franks 48); N. Coughlan (Cordial 57); S. Whelehan (J. Brady 61).

DUBLIN: B. Maguire; D. Spain, S. Perkins, S. Daly; A. De Paor, R. Fallon, K. Ryan; C. Meehan, J. McGuirk; D. Sweeney, L. Ryan, K. Flynn; D. O'Callaghan, S. Hiney, P. Fleury. Subs: M. Carton (McGuirk 35); D. Kirwan (Meehan 35); P. Brennan (Spain 35); D. O'Reilly (Perkins 65).

Referee: P. Ahern (Carlow).