Kerry stun Offaly but still face relegation play-off

It can be a thin line between victory and success and Kerry hurlers got the full gamut of emotions as national league hurling returned to St Brendan’s Park in Birr for the first time in almost a decade.

Kerry rightly gave full vent to their joy at the full-time whistle when they secured their first win over Offaly in almost 60 years; the celebrations multiplied when it was incorrectly implied that they had reached the quarter-finals of the league.

So you can imagine the deflation when the correct result came through from Portlaoise and it became apparent that far from having a quarter-final joust with one of the really big guns, they must again defeat Laois in a relegation play-off.