Leinster SHC: Kilkenny and Offaly share the spoils

​Leinster senior hurling championship, Round 3

Kilkenny 1-21 Offaly 0-24

By Paul Keane at Glenisk O'Connor Park, Tullamore

Offaly remain alive and kicking in the Leinster SHC title race after a historic draw with holders Kilkenny, Eoghan Cahill the stoppage time hero with an equalising point from a 65.

Cahill was recalled to the lineup by boss Johnny Kelly and more than repaid the show of faith with 15 points overall.

The last of those, in the 76th minute, will be remembered for a long time by Offaly supporters in the 6,066 crowd as it broke a run of Championship defeats to Kilkenny that stretched all the way back to the 1998 All-Ireland final.

It's Offaly's second draw in the round robin having earlier tied with Dublin though nobody, outside of Kilkenny at least, would have complained had they pulled off a landmark win.

They took the game to the seven-in-a-row chasing Cats from the off and the scores were tied a whopping 14 times across the blood and thunder encounter.

Offaly will host Wexford next Saturday in a huge Round 4 fixture knowing that a win will give them a fighting chance of nailing down a top three position. After that, they will round off their campaign against Kildare.

From Kilkenny's perspective, they're still right in the race to hold onto their title too with ties against Kildare and Dublin still to come.

On a day when they blasted 16 wides, they had an unlikely goalscorer in defender Mikey Carey while Cian Kenny top scored with seven points.

Kilkenny were unchanged from the side that put 5-21 on the board against Wexford but if boss Derek Lyng was banking on picking up where they left off in Round 2, he was let down.

It wasn't quite the first half underperformance that Galway exhibited in their clash with Kildare in Newbridge yesterday afternoon, but it was still below par.

The Cats drilled a dozen first-half wides with TJ Reid accounting for three of those, including a 65 and a relatively easy free that seemed to sum up their sluggishness.

Reid wore number 14 and played most of the first half in the full-forward position, with Ben Conneely for company. But he came out deeper towards the end of the half as Kilkenny tried to make something happen.

They pushed for goals whenever a chink of light emerged in a well drilled Offaly backline.

Kenny drilled a shot wide in the 13th minute, Martin Keoghan had an effort blocked by a defender and Reid controlled a loose ball and then pulled on it close to half time, only to be thwarted by goalkeeper Liam Hoare.

After all of Offaly's hard work, they winced at the soft goal they did cough up, a 27th minute Carey shot taking enough of a deflection off Ciarán Burke to deceive Hoare and trickle in beneath him.

With Kenny sniping three points from play, Kilkenny just about led at half time, by 1-9 to 0-11, but it was unconvincing and travelling fans were still waiting for their team to catch fire.

Offaly were more efficient, drawing five fouls that Eoghan Cahill comfortably converted. Brian Duignan swung a beauty over from out on the left wing and Dan Bourke caused the Cats plenty of trouble, registering two first-half points.

Crucially, Offaly would have the wind behind them in the second half so opportunity knocked.

And when they reeled off four points in a row between the 38th and 43rd minutes - one of those coming off a morale boosting Ross Ravenhill interception ahead of Reid - they led 0-15 to 1-10.

Reid was taken off the frees and eventually replaced for one of the few times in his storied career.

It highlighted just how badly things were going for the Cats though they can take credit for refusing to lie down in a game that was level for the 14th time when Cahill nailed the late 65.

There was drama around the awarding of the puck as it was initially waved as a wide before referee Johnny Murphy conferred with his umpires and gave the 65.

Kilkenny scorers: Cian Kenny 0-7 (0-2f), Mikey Carey 1-0, Martin Keoghan 0-3, TJ Reid 0-2 (0-1f), Tom Phelan 0-2, Killian Doyle 0-2, Eoin Cody 0-1, Darragh Corcoran 0-1, Stephen Donnelly 0-1, Liam Moore 0-1, Fionán Mackessy 0-1.

Offaly scorers: Eoghan Cahill 0-15 (12f, 1 65), Dan Bourke 0-3, Brian Duignan 0-2, Charlie Mitchell 0-1, Conor Doyle 0-1, Shane Rigney 0-1, Ter Guinan 0-1.

Kilkenny: Eoin Murphy; Ivan Bolger, Mikey Carey, Mikey Butler; David Blanchfield, Darragh Corcoran, Paddy Deegan; Killian Doyle, Jordan Molloy; Cian Kenny, Eoin Cody, Tom Phelan; Martin Keoghan, TJ Reid, Liam Moore.

Subs: Richie Reid for Carey 10-12, Stephen Donnelly for Reid 49, Fionán Mackessy for Moore 53, Timmy Clifford for Phelan 59, Richie Reid for Molloy 68.

Offaly: Liam Hoare; Patrick Taaffe, Ben Conneely, Ter Guinan; Ross Ravenhill, Killian Sampson, Ciarán Burke; Colin Spain, Luke Watkins; Shane Rigney, Daniel Bourke, Conor Doyle; Charlie Mitchell, Brian Duignan, Eoghan Cahill.

Subs: Cathal King for Watkins 53, Dan Ravenhill for Spain 53, Oisín Kelly for Doyle 66.

Referee: Johnny Murphy (Limerick).