Hanniffy keeps faith as Offaly plan shock treatment on Déise
But the result came as no surprise to the players, according to midfielder Rory Hanniffy.
“It wasn’t a hit-and-hope day out for us. We felt we had a great chance, though, looking back on our record over the last few years it was understandable people were expecting us to lose.”
It was even more understandable given Limerick had reached last year’s All-Ireland final and had given the Leinster side a hammering in the league (5-19 to 1-17).
“I wasn’t around for that but I gather they gave us a right trimming. But the last time we won a decent game in the championship was against Limerick in 2003, (1-18 to 0-14), and the last time we played them in the championship we were eight points up at half-time but threw it away (2006, lost 2-29 to 2-19) so we certainly weren’t afraid of them, though I’m sure they were shocked themselves afterwards, and very disappointed.”
Though Limerick didn’t perform up to expectations, there was no taking away from what was an impressive display by Offaly, who didn’t just outgoal Limerick, but outpointed them also.
“Yes, but we’re also aware that everything we hit — bar myself! — went over the bar. Sometimes you get days like that, and we’re very much aware of that, they mightn’t all go over like that the next day.
“But yes, we were on top in every sector, we got through for a few goals in the first half, took our chances when we got them while we were able to snuff them out at the other end when they got through.”
A major reason Offaly won was their strength down the middle, from keeper Brian Mullins, through full-back David Kenny, centre-back Ger Oakley, midfielders Rory himself and Brendan Murphy, centre-forward Joe Brady, to hat-trick hero and man-of-the-match Joe Bergin at full-forward. Youngsters Kenny and Bergin especially impressed. Kenny was like a new version of former powerhouse Kevin Kinahan.
“David probably announced his arrival to a lot of people last Saturday evening but he had already caught the eye within the county last year. He doesn’t come from a very strong club (little Belmont), so he wouldn’t have been noticed that much prior to making the senior team, but he really gave a fantastic display against Limerick.”
So did Joe Bergin, who pipped Kenny for man of the match.
“Yes, any time you score three goals in championship you probably deserve man of the match but David was pushing him hard. Joe is like anyone who ever came out of Clareen, a great striker of the ball, a great eye for it. He’s like the Dooleys that went before him, doesn’t miss many opportunities when they come up. He’s still U21, so hopefully there’s a good few years in him yet. Ball in hand, he’s as good as any forward in the country, gets up to speed very quickly and then, like any big man, he’s very difficult to stop.”
Could be interesting, then, around the Waterford kitchen on Saturday afternoon in Thurles, if Ken McGrath lines up where he did against Antrim at full-back? Hanniffy agrees: “He’ll be a handful for Ken, but he’s a handful for any full-back now.”
After the Limerick win, manager Joe Dooley reckoned anything that came afterwards would be a bonus — is that still the case?
“We’re looking for a bit more at this stage. This knockout element in the qualifiers means you throw everything at the game. We’ve beaten Waterford in the league in the last few years, we’re going into it with the same attitude as last week, not over-worrying about the game. Hopefully we can play to our strengths again.”
Again, though, not too many people are giving Offaly a chance, no more than are giving Cork a chance against Galway in the Thurles double-header. Well, let’s wait and see what happens, says Rory.
“It’s nice to be mentioned in the same breath as Cork, and it’s not normally you’d be in the same breath when you’re being written off — it’s foolish to write Cork off any day. Obviously we’re going to be underdogs again, Waterford have been one of the form teams of the last few years, would still be considered serious contenders for an All-Ireland. People are probably still waiting to see what’s going to happen under Davy Fitzgerald, and while I can understand that they’d be favourites, I’d like to think we’ll be a serious hurdle for them.”
