Flynn leads demolition as Galway put Offaly to the sword

Offaly 1-12

YOU could sense the local trepidation in Tullamore on Sunday ahead of the opening round of the Division 1B National Hurling League campaign. Offaly supporters were resigned to being well beaten by Galway, but were hoping it wouldn’t turn ugly. They didn’t get what they wished for.

Instead, it was another distressing day for Offaly hurling as their team of largely novices was simply wiped out by Galway on a bitterly cold day in front of a small crowd at O’Connor Park. Leaking a half dozen goals and falling to a 26-point thrashing sums up the Faithful county’s woes at present.

It made for sad viewing. Offaly’s decline in recent seasons has been alarming and on Sunday’s evidence, their predicament is now at a modern-day low. Their priority will be avoiding relegation to the backwoods of Division Two and new manager, Kevin Ryan, may have his work cut out to avoid that indignity.

Anything other than a clear-cut Galway win would have been a surprise, but even their camp must have been taken aback by the poverty of the home team’s challenge. The Offaly defence, in particular, was out of its depth and naive, while their attack possessed little or no thrust.

In those circumstances, Galway were always going to make hay. They went about their business in a professional manner and when they led by 4-9 to 1-8 at the break having faced the strong wind, the prospect of an embarrassing defeat for Offaly was already a reality.

Mind you, not everything the Tribesmen attempted to do was perfect. The defence conceded a few needless frees; they weren’t direct enough out the field at times and also lost possession in the tackle, but it seems churlish to be quibbling with a team which was utterly dominant.

David Burke and his St Thomas’ clubmate Conor Cooney were late additions to the Galway line up and their promotion only added to the sense of gloom among the local faithful about what lay ahead. As it transpired, the pair were in excellent form – Burke notching a goal and a point in a typically classy midfield display, while the lively Cooney hit five points from play.

It was also a very productive day for Jason Flynn, who had 2-10 to his credit, including 2-2 from play, before he was replaced in the 60th minute. The Galway full forward took his two goals excellently and there was a welcome bounce in his step after a subdued campaign in the maroon jersey in 2016.

Conor Whelan, who showed a lot more variety in his game compared to the previous weekend against Kilkenny in the Walsh Cup, was also influential, rifling home a brace of goals in a match which again showed full back John Hanbury in a good light and highlighted the value of Gearoid McInerney’s physicality in the half-back line.

Yet, the reality is that this league tie was of little value to Galway. Their players could almost do what they liked and was miles removed from the type of intensity they will experience against the sport’s elite teams. None of this is their fault, but they have to keep a sense of perspective.

Full report in this week's Connacht Tribune.