Cork hurlers win ugly in Tullamore just getting the job done against an Offaly side that scored too many times for Pat Ryan’s liking

THE Cork hurlers justified their heavy favouritism tag to see off the challenge of Offaly in O’Connor Park in Tullamore on Saturday, but no one is likely to be tipping them for All-Ireland honours based on this display.

Offaly got the opening score in the 2nd minute, but from a Cork perspective it was worrying as to how easily the home side were able to work a short puckout all the way up the pitch to score without a hand being laid on them, and while Brian Hayes did score a superb solo goal in the 3rd minute, Offaly were level within a minute as they rifled over two further points from range.

Patrick Collins made a superb flying save in the 11th minute to keep Oisin Kelly at bay, as the homeside were clearly not interested in playing second fiddle, although at times lackadaisical play from Cork allowed the Faithful county to stay in touch. 

For instance, Offaly scored two points in the space of 60 seconds in the 27th minute, with sloppy play from wing backs Tim O’Mahony and Mark Coleman turning over the possession that led to both points.

Also, around the half hour mark the Cork shooting went wayward, with Coleman and Declan Dalton missing two each, and Conor Lehane also registering a wide, although the ability of Patrick Horgan to win ball inside and win frees or take scores ensured the scoreboard kept ticking upwards.

Shane Barrett clipped over three lovely scores in the space of less than three minutes from the 9th minute onwards, and the Blarney centre forward rifled to the back of the net in the 21st minute to give Cork some breathing room.

Cork manager Pat Ryan would not have been overly pleased with the first half showing, however, where only Barrett, Horgan, Niall O’Leary and Patrick Collins stood out.

A lot of eyes were on Ciaran Joyce to see how the midfield experiment would go, and the truth is that the jury is probably still out on that one. The game was extremely loose and had more league than championship vibes, and therefore it was hard to judge how the Joyce – Fitzgibbon partnership would work in a tight championship encounter.

Oisin Kelly scored a goal for Offaly in the 40th minute, with the move starting from a Cork puckout that had been sent down on top of Conor Lehane, but when the Midleton man was outmuscled the home side were able to work it up the pitch a tad too easily and score, to ensure that there were only five points in it.

Alan Connolly was starved of possession and was replaced in the 44th minute, with Shane Kingston coming on to offer a different type of threat, although it took until the 57th minute for the Douglas man to get clean possession, as the inside line continued to be frustrated with lack of supply.

Luke Meade came on in the 54th minute, in the type of loose game that seemed made for the Newcestown man. Meade replaced Barrett, who scored 1-4 from play, but looked to have picked up a shoulder injury shortly before being withdrawn. Cork fans will be hopeful that he is OK for next week, as his energy on the 40 is vital to Cork.

Patrick Horgan scored a sublime goal in the 54th minute, after playing a sumptuous one-two with Hayes to finally give Cork some daylight, as up until then Offaly were very much in the tie.

It was no surprise to see the Offaly energy levels drop in the last twenty minutes, considering their recent exploits in winning the All-Ireland U20 championship and the Joe McDonagh Cup, as they failed to score between minutes 50 to 69, while Cork scored 1-5 in this timeframe to kill the game, although two injury time Offaly goals did put a big of gloss on the scoreboard from their perspective. Cork will certainly be happy with conceding 3-19 to this level of opposition.

The wide count did not make for pleasant viewing, with Cork hitting fourteen wayward shots at the Offaly goal, with three of those being from frees – two from Declan Dalton and one from Horgan. 

They also dropped three short into the Offaly goalkeepers hands.

Ultimately, it was a case of job done in terms of qualifying for next week’s All-Ireland quarter-final against Dublin, but no one will be under any illusions that the performance levels will have to increase greatly for the challenge that Dublin are likely to bring next weekend.