Leinster Senior Hurling Championship Quarter-Final

Offaly 3-22 Laois 2-14

By Kevin Egan at O'Moore Park

Twelve months after being humbled by their neighbours at O’Moore Park, Offaly roared into the Leinster SHC semi-finals this afternoon with a devastating second half performance against Laois, setting up another local derby clash with Galway and condemning Laois back into the round robin series in 2017.

League form suggested that Laois had regressed a little on the back of losing several key players to retirement over the winter and Offaly too had their troubles during the spring, culminating in their 2-22 to 1-11 reverse at the hands of Westmeath in Mullingar a month ago.

The Faithful men scraped past Carlow and showed glimpses of good form against Kerry in a winner-takes-all tie in Tullamore a fortnight ago, however the opening half of this fixture suggested that there would be little to call between these sides yet again. A first half that ebbed and flowed saw the teams go into the dressing rooms deadlocked at 1-10 each and few supporters of either county could have argued with that tally.

Both sides had their periods of dominance – Offaly in the opening minutes when their incredibly high work-rate secured three dead ball opportunities for Shane Dooley through hard-earned turnovers, and again in the second quarter when they built on James Mulrooney’s goal, while Laois enjoyed a purple patch around the fifteen minute mark and again shortly before half time. Neil Foyle’s presence at the edge of the square combined with his ability to exploit open space powered their first spell of supremacy while Cha Dwyer’s potency was key to their second.

Both sides found the net once and both would argue that they should have scored a second – Dwyer was denied by an unbelievable James Dempsey save midway through the half, while Laois defender Cahir Healy showed all the passion for his county that we’ve come to expect from the Portlaoise man when he made a stunning diving block to deny James Mulrooney from fifteen metres.

In truth however it was Dempsey’s save that was the more crucial. Laois were building momentum at the time but within a minute they were picking the ball out of their own net and trailing yet again. PJ Scully’s scrambled goal shortly before half time gave them some momentum but they failed utterly in their bid to carry that momentum into the second half and within forty seconds had been rocked on their heels by a Joe Bergin goal.

Bergin struck for two majors against Kerry but was uncharacteristically quiet here, however his value to the Offaly cause was made clear in the manner in which he leapt highest to field a long clearance and glided past two Laois defenders before picking out the bottom corner of the net.

In keeping with the warmth of the afternoon, Offaly took their chance and made hay. Kevin Connolly and Paddy Murphy fired over long range points either side of yet another Shane Dooley free, while the happiest man in the ground could easily have been the Offaly statistician as their hook/block/tackle count went through the roof.

Offaly’s high pressure defending led to Laois’ accuracy deserting them and while two scores in a row midway through the half pulled them back within six points, the tie was effectively settled with fourteen minutes to play when Kevin Connolly crashed into Enda Rowland inside the square and Johnny Ryan awarded a penalty to Offaly. Shane Dooley’s low strike beat the dazed Rowland and from then on Offaly piled on the scores, with three different substitutes all tacking on points in a cruising finish.

Willie Dunphy salvaged some pride for Laois with a thunderous strike past James Dempsey in injury time but by now their path into the qualifiers was clear, while for Offaly a glamour tie against Galway is next on the agenda – their first Leinster semi-final appearance in four years.

**Offaly Scorers: **S Dooley 1-11 (1-0 pen, 0-9f, 0-2 ‘65s), J Bergin 1-1, J Mulrooney 1-0, S Kinsella 0-3, S Ryan, S Gardiner, P Murphy, K Connolly, C Kiely, S Cleary, L Langton 0-1 each.

Laois Scorers: PJ Scully 1-3 (0-2f, 0-1 ’65), C Dwyer 0-5, W Dunphy 1-0, N Foyle & S Maher (0-1f) 0-2 each, E Rowland (f) & W Hyland 0-1 each.

**OFFALY: ** J Dempsey; C McDonald, D Shortt, P Rigney; D King, S Gardiner (0-1), D Mooney; S Ryan (0-1), P Camon; S Kinsella, J Bergin, P Murphy; K Connolly, J Mulrooney, S Dooley.

Subs: C Kiely for Shortt (HT), L Langton for Connolly (56), S Cleary for Mulrooney (60), J Sampson for Ryan (62), D Kelleher for Mooney (67)

LAOIS: E Rowland; C Healy, D Maher, D Palmer; L Bergin, M Whelan, R Mullaney; P Purcell, J Lennon; C Dwyer, W Hyland, S Maher; C Stapleton, N Foyle, PJ Scully.

Subs: B Conroy for Stapleton (44), T Delaney for Mullaney (48), W Dunphy for Scully (51), R King for Lennon (58), O Carroll for Delaney (65).

Referee: Johnny Ryan (Tipperary)