ALLIANZ HURLING LEAGUE DIVISION IB: OFFALY 2-17 KERRY 2-18

By Kevin Egan at Birr

Kerry secured one of the most famous wins in their hurling history on Sunday afternoon when they travelled to St Brendan’s Park and recorded a sensational 2-18 to 2-17 win over Offaly at the Birr venue, a victory that was fully merited after the Kingdom came back from six points down early in the second half.

Afterwards manager Ciarán Carey hailed the collective team effort that his side produced, declaring that he was really proud of his team’s performance against Clare a week ago and that he knew this was likely to be a far more winnable fixture for his players.

His attempts to communicate that sense of self-belief to the group clearly paid off as his charges never stopped competing ferociously in this tie, even after twice falling into a six point deficit to the overwhelming pre-match favourites.

Once Colm Harty hit the net midway through the second half with an excellent run and low shot Kerry were back on terms and while neither side was able to pull decisively clear late on, scores from Egan and Shane Nolan were crucial to Kerry taking both points – even if their win was ultimately in vein, thanks to Wexford’s late winner at O’Moore Park.

Bright and warm conditions prevailed for the first Allianz Hurling League game in nine years to be played at St Brendan’s Park and it was the home side who hit the ground running in the early stages, striking the game’s first score through a Shane Dooley free before the game’s opening goal put real daylight between the sides.

Joe Bergin was the only player on the field who had previously started a National Hurling league game at the Birr venue and it was he who gave his side a four point advantage when he collected a diagonal pass from club colleague James Mulrooney and sprinted clear of the Kerry full back line before picking out the top corner of the Kerry net.

Offaly continued to look slightly sharper in front of goal while Kerry struggled to hit the target, perhaps in part due to shooting into the low sun at the southern end of the ground, but strong defensive showings from the Kerry half back line kept them in contention.

Only Shane Dooley made any impact on the scoreboard, though Joe Bergin also looked capable of opening holes in the defence when he contested high deliveries against Patrick Kelly. Indiscipline continued to haunt the Offaly half back line however and a series of fouls and subsequent John Egan frees meant that Kerry trailed by just four points, 1-11 to 0-10, at the break.

Dooley and Bergin pointed immediately after the game’s resumption to stretch the lead but the result was again thrown right back into the melting pot when John Egan turned Niall Wynne and blasted the sliothar into the roof of the net after two minutes.

The gap was cut to one when Offaly struck their second goal through James Mulrooney with 25 still to play but that turned out to be little more than a brief ripple in the graph that was trending entirely towards the Munster county.

Colum Harty levelled the game once again as he darted through open country and precisely picked out the bottom corner of the net with all the flair and exuberance of a player that was beginning to sense an historic result, and by now the vast bulk of the attacking play was taking place at the Offaly end of the field.

Jordan Conway gave Kerry their first lead of the game and while Offaly responded immediately, Eamon Kelly simply couldn’t find a mix up front that could address his side’s scoring problems. For the fourth time in five starts this year no Offaly substitute was able to raise a flag while a final tally of 2-4 from all players other than Shane Dooley told its own story.

With confidence surging through their veins, Kerry struck twice to build up a two point lead with just four minutes of added time remaining and while Shane Dooley cut the gap again with a ’65, that was to prove insufficient in the bid to deny the most remarkable result of this Allianz League campaign so far.

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**Scorers for Offaly: **S Dooley 0-13 (8f, 1 sl, 1 ’65), J Bergin 1-1, J Mulrooney 1-1, C Egan 0-1, S Ryan 0-1

**Scorers for Kerry: **J Egan 1-10 (9f), C Harty 1-0, J Conway 0-3, M Boyle 0-2, J Griffin 0-2, S Nolan 0-1

**OFFALY: **J Dempsey; N Wynne, C McDonald, P Rigney; P Camon, C Doughan D Shortt; S Ryan, S Kinsella; P Murphy, C Egan, S Dooley; S Cleary, J Bergin, J Mulrooney. **Subs: **J Sampson for Murphy (33), C Kiely for Cleary (42), K Connolly for Kinsella (52), S Connolly for Wynne (55), P Guinan for Ryan (64).

**KERRY: A McCabe; B Murphy, P Kelly, K Carmody; J Diggins, D Dineen, T Murnane; D Collins, J Griffin; J Buckley, M O’Leary, B O’Leary; J Conway, M Boyle, J Egan. Subs: **C Harty for Buckley (ht), S Nolan for B O’Leary (53), T Casey for Diggins (58), S Weir for Kelly (62), P Lucid for Griffin (70+1).

Referee: John Keane (Galway).

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