O'Byrne Cup Semi-final/ Offaly 0-15 Laois 0-10: There were no prizes for guessing which team wanted victory more in this O'Byrne Cup semi-final clash at O'Moore Park, Portlaoise, yesterday - in fact, Laois manager Mick O'Dwyer was extremely dismissive of the entire exercise afterwards.
When it was suggested to O'Dywer that the loss of their O'Byrne Cup title in this fashion was a blow to team morale, he replied: "It is not, not at all. I can tell you one thing: any team over the number of years that won the O'Byrne Cup went nowhere after.
"I don't want to hear anything about O'Byrne Cups. I hate them."
Laois have been around the summer course in recent years and can afford to be blase about this season-opening competition, but Offaly badly need to start building from somewhere and yesterday gives them a lift. However, Laois's indifference, particularly in the second-half, coloured all analysis of this clash.
If it weren't for Ross Munnelly's accurate kicking, and general leadership in the first-half, Laois would never have been in the contest.
The game was delayed by 10 minutes to allow the 7,000-strong attandance to settle into their places and then the home team raced into a 0-3 to 0-0 lead after just five minutes - two Munnelly frees and one from play by Brian McDonald - but determined Offaly countered with three Ciarán McManus points, and one each from John Reynolds and Leonard Mooney.
A speculative effort from all of 75 yards by Pádraig Clancy, followed by another McDonald point, left Laois 0-7 to 0-5 ahead after 26 minutes, but Offaly rattled off three in a row from Colm Quinn (free), Neville Coughlan and Thomas Deehan (free). An injury-time point from Chris Conway drew Laois level - 0-8 each - for the half-time break, but Laois's star was well on the wane at that juncture.
It's not that Laois didn't get possession after the break, just that they made poor use of what came their way. Gary Kavanagh was fatally indecisive when presented with one goal chance, and Colm Kelly saw another gilt-edged chance denied by a vigilant Shane Sullivan who dived on to his boot as he kicked.
Laois were utterly lacking in attackers willing to shoot from distance in the second half, while Offaly scored some fine points from Alan McNamee, Reynolds, and substitutes Seán Ryan and Pascal Kelleghan.
Selector Gerry Cooney played down the significance of the win over their age-old rivals. "It's early in the season yet, and just another game," he said. "But it's good for our players who are working hard. I thought our commitment and work-rate was excellent today. But it's all preparation for the league.
"Next Sunday against Meath in Navan will be another game to get us ready for Cork in the opening round of the league in a fortnight. We want to stay in Division One of the league, and that's our big priority."
OFFALY: P Kelly; K Lynam, S Sullivan, P McConway; B Mooney, S Brady, N Grennan; N Coughlan (0-1), A McNamee (0-1); J Reynolds (0-2), C McManus (0-3, one 45), L Mooney (0-1); C Quinn (0-3, two frees), R Connor, T Deehan (0-2, two frees). Subs: P Kelleghan (0-1) for Coughlan (half-time), S Ryan (0-1) for Reynolds (48 mins), N McNamee for Connor (67 mins). Yellow card: McConway (67 mins).
LAOIS: M Nolan; P McDonald, C Ryan, P Begley; J Higgins, D Conroy, P McMahon; P Clancy (0-1), N Garvan; C Parkinson, R Munnelly (0-5, four frees), G Kavanagh; B McDonald (0-2), C Kelly (0-1), C Conway (0-1). Subs: P Lawlor for C Parkinson (58 mins), S Cooke for G Kavanagh (58 mins). Yellow cards: P Clancy (46 mins), C Kelly (48 mins), P McDonald (64 mins), C Conway (68 mins).
Referee: P O'Reilly (Longford).
