Leinster SFC 1st Rnd/Offaly 1-15 Louth 1-6: On this display, Offaly will not trouble Laois in three weeks' time while Louth can expect to have just one more game this summer. Gavin Cummiskey at Páirc Tailteann
The championship has to start somewhere and this year Páirc Tailteann in Navan was the chosen location. At times, the combatants struggled more with the wind than themselves.
The only saving grace is that both teams had to deal with the difficult conditions that caused havoc in all field sports over the weekend. It cut across the Offaly path to goal in the first half with 12 wides the result.
If not for a John Reynolds goal and quick-fire scores from Ciarán McManus moments before the break, a mountain of possession would have resulted in a paltry three-point lead.
Crucially, though, Louth never punished Offaly for their wayward shooting. Any threat of an upset was cancelled out by Louth's inability to get through the Offaly defence. Conor Evans was solid at full back, while the entire half-back line prospered.
The only slight here was the dismissal of corner back Cathal Daly in injury-time after a second yellow card. The first, he may regret, came for dissent.
Taking the small matter of poor shooting out of the equation, some positives are evident from an Offaly perspective. Niall McNamee and James Coughlan showed well and finished with a combined total of eight points from play.
And the spine of Kevin Kilmurray's team's is strong with the defence complemented by McManus and Alan McNamee in a powerful midfield.
The game itself had plenty of ebb and flow thanks mainly to Tyrone referee Michael Hughes who allowed plenty of advantage as the late hit made a return to the game after a spring of experimentation. Players didn't need to be reminded that the trial yellow card had been consigned to the scrapheap. This matter will be surely be highlighted again as the championship continues.
One thing that has survived is the kicking-tee option for goalkeepers, but neither utilised it yesterday. Interestingly, the referee did wave his book in the direction of those being ticked.
Despite the avalanche of Offaly possession, Darren Clarke's second point drew Louth level on 25 minutes. Coughlan immediately put Offaly clear again and soon after Alan McNamee bustled past two defenders before Reynolds palmed the ball past Shane McCoy's near post. Then McManus awoke with two frees from way out to leave six points in the difference.
After some early sparring in the second half, Offaly finally moved up a gear to rattle off five unanswered points with Colm Quinn and former Buccaneers rugby player Damien Hunt also getting in on the act - although the biggest cheer was reserved for another long-range McManus effort. This left it 1-12 to 0-5 and it could have got really ugly only that everyone knew the game was up, especially the departing Louth crowd.
The pace slowed as killer instinct was reserved for another afternoon. Maybe it will be on display in Clones next Sunday.
The departed missed Paddy Keenan's excellent late goal. After a Clarke free came off the black spot, he gathered to fire to the top corner from 15 yards. They also would have missed Quinn's instant reply and the score of the afternoon from Niall McNamee.
For Louth, Aaron Hoey and JP Rooney worked hard, while Clarke finished with four points but confidence coming in last week was low and failure to capitalise on Offaly's early errors brought it down another notch.
"We hoped to get to half-time maybe six-three or six-four," said manager Val Andrews, "and then take the game to them for about 50 minutes and go after it.
"They went ahead by five or six points by half-time and that wasn't in the plan. It just showed you they had all the ball. We were struggling to keep it tight. We weren't really competing."
At least they have almost two months to circle the wagons as Offaly must get their house in order for Laois before May 29th.
Maybe Croke Park, the sight of their neighbours and a calm day will spark something extra from them.
OFFALY: 1 P Kelly; 2 C Daly, 3 C Evans, 4 S Brady; 5 B Mooney (capt), 6 S Sullivan, 7 K Slattery; 8 C McManus (0-3, 2f), 9 A McNamee; 10 J Reynolds (1-0), 11 D Hunt (0-1), 12 N Coughlan; 13 C Quinn (0-3, two frees), 14 N McNamee (0-5), 15 J Coughlan (0-3). Subs: 18 M Daly for J Reynolds (55 mins), 20 J Kenny for J Coughlan (68 mins).
LOUTH: 1 S McCoy; 3 D Mackin, 7 S Gerard, 4 J Carr; 5 C Sheridan, 6 A Hoey (0-1), 2 A Page; 8 D Devenny, 9 J Kermath; 10 P Keenan (1-0), 11 N McDonnell, 12 R Carroll; 13 M Stanfield (capt), 14 JP Rooney (0-1), 15 D Clarke (0-4). Subs: 24 T O'Brien for D Devenny (50 mins), 22 B Reilly for J Carr (54 mins), 26 P Matthews for N McDonnell (56 mins).
Referee: M Hughes (Tyrone).
