Offaly 0-16
Cork 5-28
JOHNNY CAROLAN REPORTS
CORK manager Pat Ryan hailed Alan Connolly’s eye for goal as he netted three times in last Sunday’s win over Offaly.
The Rebels stayed in with a chance of reaching the semi-finals of Division 1 of the Allianz HL with a 27-point win over the hosts at Glenisk O’Connor Park in Tullamore.
Connolly, who had not featured since the 2022 All-Ireland SHC quarter-final loss to Galway, scored twice before half-time and added a third in the second period before subs Brian Hayes and Darragh Fitzgibbon also raised green flags. Ryan is delighted to have him back again.
‘Alan goes for goals,’ he said, ‘that’s the difference between Alan and other players.
‘He will always go for goals. It’s great to have him back but we’ve a very competitive squad. Patrick [Horgan] wasn’t there today, Robbie [O’Flynn] wasn’t there today, Brian Hayes was rested with a bit of a quad injury after the Waterford game so we didn’t want to play him from the start but you could how good he played when he came on.
‘We have plenty of options in that area.’
While Offaly were without a win, they had drawn against Wexford earlier in the campaign. Cork, possessing a greater physicality, got on top early, though, and were 0-7 to 0-3 in front when Tim O’Mahony’s good catch from an Offaly puckout led to an early ball inside to Connolly. Though he had work to do, he got his shot past Mark Troy.
With Robert Downey and Niall O’Leary strong in defence, Cork pushed on with scores from Declan Dalton, Luke Meade and Jack O’Connor. Connolly was denied a second goal on 33 minutes as Troy saved for a 65 but, after Dalton put that over for a 1-12 to 0-7 lead, Connolly did find the net again, Conor Lehane the provider.
Offaly’s Eoghan Cahill had the final score of the half but Cork further solidified their advantage on the resumption. Dalton was strong from placed balls and Meade drew a save from Troy while Darragh Fitzgibbon added a point after being introduced for his first action of the year.
Connolly got his third goal on 52 minutes following a good delivery from Dalton, leaving the scoreline at 3-20 to 0-11. While Offaly’s David Nally did pull three points back from frees, Cork went into overdrive as the Faithful County tired in the closing stages.
Shane Kingston added four points after his arrival while Fitzgibbon drew a save from Stephen Corcoran – who had been brought on for the injured Troy. Hayes profited from Shane Barrett’s run to get the fourth goal on 68 minutes and the fifth followed immediately after as Meade and Barrett combined for Fitzgibbon to complete the rout.
If Cork beat Wexford this Saturday and Kilkenny were to lose to Waterford, the Rebels would make the semi-finals. Regardless of what happens there, the focus is on the Munster SHC opener away to Waterford on April 21st.
Thankfully, Cork look to be moving in the right direction.
‘That’s what we would be hoping for,’ Ryan said, ‘That’s the plan, really. We’re trying to build for the 21st of April. We were very disappointed to lose at home against Kilkenny at home. We value our home wins but at the same time there were good patches in all our performances this year.
‘It’s just trying to get that consistency and we've got another couple of fellas to come back into the team that weren’t able to start today and they’ll be ready for Wexford next week so we’re looking forward to getting them back on the team as well.’
Scorers
Offaly: David Nally 0-8 (6f, 1 65); Eoghan Cahill 0-5 (4f); Sam Bourke, Dan Bourke, Dan Ravenhill 0-1 each.
Cork: Alan Connolly 3-1; Declan Dalton 0-7 (4f, 2 65); Brian Hayes, Darragh Fitzgibbon 1-1 each; Shane Kingston 0-4 (2f); Robert Downey 0-3; Brian Roche, Conor Lehane, Jack O’Connor, Luke Meade, Shane Barrett 0-2 each; Séamus Harnedy 0-1.
Offaly: Mark Troy; Cathal King, Ben Conneely, Pádraig Cantwell; David King, Jason Sampson, Sam Bourke; Eimhin Kelly, Eoghan Cahill; Dan Ravenhill, Killian Sampson, David Nally; Dan Bourke, Oisín Kelly, Adam Screeney.
Subs: Charlie Mitchell for Ravenhill (14, injured), Jack Clancy for Cahill (half-time), Stephen Corcoran for Troy (39, injured), Luke Watkins for Screeney (44), Donal Shirley for Cantwell (50), Morgan Watkins for E Kelly (70, injured).
Cork: Patrick Collins; Niall O’Leary, Damien Cahalane, Eoin Downey; Ger Millerick, Tim O’Mahony, Robert Downey; Brian Roche, Luke Meade; Declan Dalton, Conor Lehane, Séamus Harnedy; Jack O’Connor, Alan Connolly, Shane Barrett.
Subs: Robbie Cotter for O’Connor (half-time), Darragh Fitzgibbon for Harnedy (45), Shane Kingston for Dalton (55), Brian Hayes for Connolly (58), Cormac O’Brien for R Downey (69).
Referee: Colum Cunning (Antrim).
