Dylan Hyland excels as Offaly ease past New York in Tailteann Cup

EXCELLENT: Dylan Hyland’s sustained excellence ensured that Offaly had a comfortable afternoon in Tullamore this afternoon, easing to victory against a New York side that cause Laois plenty of problems in the same fixture 12 months ago. Pic: Matt Browne/Sportsfile

Tailteann Cup preliminary quarter-final: Offaly 2-25 (2-4-17) New York 1-12 (1-1-5)

Bobby O’Regan’s sensational late goal for New York may dominate the social media channels over the next few days, but Dylan Hyland’s sustained excellence ensured that Offaly had a comfortable afternoon in Tullamore this afternoon, easing to victory against a New York side that cause Laois plenty of problems in the same fixture 12 months ago.

Some excellent catches from Kieran Murphy and Eoghan McElligott in the early stages gave New York a solid foothold and with ten minutes gone in the first half, the Exiles led by 0-2 to 0-1 with a strong breeze favouring the midlanders.

Then Hyland hoisted over a superb two-pointer, Leaving Cert student Cillian Bourke came to the fore in the kickout battle to give the Faithful County a solid base of possession, and Offaly would have 1-15 added to the scoreboard by the time New York raised their third flag of the game.

Eleven first half wides, three shots dropped short and a good goal chance that Keith O’Neill poked wide of the target might have been costly on another afternoon, and given the strength of the breeze, even at 0-14 to 0-2 behind coming up to half-time, New York wouldn’t have been entirely without hope. Then Hyland cut in from the left corner and attempted to fist a point, only for the ball to bounce off the far post and fall perfectly for him to gather up the rebound and score as simple a goal as he’ll ever get.

With the life and hope extinguished from New York, Offaly continued their momentum after the break, Ruairí McNamee adding to the attack with 1-2, but New York finally showed their talent in the closing stages.

Jack Robinson, who grew up on the Offaly border club of Clogherinkoe, fired two excellent points and should have had a goal to go with it, while Bobby O’Regan’s incredible strike will no doubt go viral during the week, as it’s unlikely that there will be as good a score registered anywhere.

Bobby O'Regan with a brilliant goal 🎯 for @NewYorkGAA against @Offaly_GAA in the Tailteann Cup 🏆 in Tullamore #OFFVNY pic.twitter.com/9ZMZpKWIKv

— The GAA (@officialgaa) June 7, 2025

No-one was taking the limelight from Hyland however, as he struck two neat points from play and then stroked a free over the bar with the last kick to ensure Offaly will still carry plenty of momentum into either their trip to either Newbridge, Enniskillen or a Limerick venue next weekend.

Scorers for Offaly: D Hyland 1-12 (1tp, 2tpf), R McNamee 1-2, J Hayes 0-4 (1tp), C Bourke 0-2, K O’Neill 0-2, K Higgins 0-1, C Egan 0-1, S Tierney 0-1.

Scorers for New York: B O’Regan 1-3 (0-2f), F O’Reilly 0-3 (1tpf, 0-1f), J Robinson 0-2, K Murphy 0-1, J Hagan 0-1, M Argue 0-1, K Butler 0-1.

OFFALY: P Dunican; L Pearson, D Dempsey, D McDaid; A Bracken, J Furlong, C Egan; J McEvoy, J Hayes; K Higgins, C Flynn, C Bourke; D Hyland, Jack Bryant, K O’Neill.

Subs: S Tierney for Bryant (half-time), R McNamee for Bourke (47), R Egan for C Egan (51), R Gallagher for O’Neill (53), A Leavy for Higgins (53).

NEW YORK: J Grace; C O’Dea, S Wilson, S Bolger; B Maher, J McKenna, R Wharton; K Murphy, E McElligott; S Brosnan, G O’Brien, M Garry; F O’Reilly, B O’Regan, J Robinson.

Subs: T O’Riordan for Wilson (24), T Mathers for Garry (half-time), M Argue for McKenna (41), J Hagan for Maher (51), K Butler for O’Brien (55).

Referee: David Murnane (Cork).