 Offaly's Brian Carroll tries to burst away from Antrim's Ciaran Herron |
Antrim's hopes of earning a Division 1 spot in next season's Allianz NHL were dashed as Offaly set up a promotion decider against Wexford. The Saffrons matched Offaly in the opening quarter and home keeper Brian Mullins made a fine save to stop a goalbound PJ O'Connell shot. However, Derek Molloy's goal put Offaly five ahead and the lead was extended to 1-11 to 0-6 at the interval. Antrim never got closer than five points down in the second half. The Saffrons suffered a huge blow late in the first half when key forward Neil McManus was yellow carded and had to be replaced. The sides were level on three occasions inside eight minutes, but Offaly gained dominance at midfield with some excellent play by Brendan Murphy to move 0-7 to 0-3 clear by the 19th minute thanks to four unanswered points. Joey Scullion and Karl Stewart (2) were on target with the Saffrons opening scores with Brian Carroll, Joe Bergin, Shane Dooley and Kevin Brady on target for the home side. Daniel Currams had a 20th-minute goal chance for Offaly but Antrim keeper Chris O'Connell held firm to set up an attack for his side which finished with Eddie McCloskey sending over his side's first score for 12 minutes. A couple of Karl Stewart frees left Antrim only two behind but Molloy's 31st-minute goal rocked the Saffrons. Offaly hit three further unanswered points before the break to move eight ahead and McManus' yellow-card dismissal for a silly foul on Molloy in the middle of the field rubbed salt into Saffron wounds. Antrim had a decent spell in possession terms midway through the second half but they were never scoring at a sufficient rate to suggest that a comeback was on the cards. Substitute Paddy Magill (2), Stewart, Michael Herron and Sean Delargy all hit scores to cut the gap to five points with 12 minutes remaining but Offaly re-asserted their dominance in the closing stages - despite Joe Bergin's yellow-card dismissal.
Offaly scorers: B Carroll (1f) 0-5; J Bergin, B Murphy 0-4 each; S Dooley (3f) 0-3; D Molloy 1-0; K Brady, C Parlon 0-1 each. Antrim scorers: K Stewart (4f) 0-6; P McGill 0-2; B Herron, S Delargy, J Scullion, M Herron, E McCloskey. Offaly: B Mullins, B O'Meara, P Cleary, M Verney, K Brady, G Oakley, J Rigney, R Hanniffy, B Murphy, B Carroll, J Brady, D Molloy, S Dooley, J Bergin, D Currams. Subs: S Wynne for O'Meara (28); C Parlon for Bergin (yellow 53); C Mahon for Molloy (yellow 57); C Coughlan for Dooley (70); M Egan for Currams (72); C Hernon for Verney (72) Antrim: C O'Connell, C McGourty, N McGarry, A Graffin, C Herron, C Donnelly, K McKeegan, E McCloskey, S Delargy, N McManus, K Stewart, J Scullion, K Kelly, PJ O'Connell. Subs: P McGill for McManus (yellow 35); M Herron for McCloskey (44); S McNaughton for O'Connell (48); N McAuley for McGarry (yellow 53); D McKillop for Kelly (62); C McKinley for McGourty (yellow 73) Referee: Sean McMahon (Clare)
Sunday's Allianz National Hurling League results Division 1
Clare 0-19 4-16 Galway
Cork 3-15 2-22 Waterford
Kilkenny 1-23 3-15 Dublin
Tyrone 1-17 1-11 Limerick Division 2
Down 1-23 4-5 Kerry
Offaly 1-18 0-13 Antrim
Westmeath 2-17 1-14 Laois
Wexford 6-21 0-14 Carlow Division 3B
London 1-16 0-10 Donegal
Fingal 4-13 1-17 Roscommon
Louth 0-24 0-9 Tyrone
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