FOLLOWING recent good performances, Offaly fotballers went into yesterday's O'Byrne Cup final against Wexford in Tullamore as favourites yet few could have anticipated that they would win' by 20 points.

They achieved this despite a sluggish first half in which they played well below recent form. Indeed, only a point separated the sides with five minutes of the half remaining, with Offaly ahead by 0-3 to 0-2. However, they really opened up in that final five minutes' spell, scoring 1-3 to forge an interval lead of 1-6 to 0-2.

Their goal was a beauty, finished with power and precision by Ciaran McManus, following good approach work by Colm Quinn and Peter Brady.

Following an early flourish by Wexford - it yielded two quick points on the resumption - the second half was dominated by Offaly. Peter Brady, McManus and Vincent Claffey hammered home a hat trick of top quality goals to add to an unbroken sequence of seven points.