Ruthless Cork hurlers hit Offaly for 4-25 to record second league win

Offaly 1-15 Cork 4-25

CORK conjured an early goalscoring blitz to ensure that the outcome of this Allianz HL Division 1 Group A game was never going to be in doubt.

At St Brendan’s Park in Birr, the Rebels led by 2-1 to 0-0 inside three minutes as Shane Kingston and Darragh Fitzgibbon found the net and by the 14th minute, the scoreboard read 3-6 to 0-2 in favour of Kieran Kingston’s side, with the third goal having come from Conor Lehane.

By half-time, Offaly had improved somewhat as the Cork scoring rate dropped but a 3-12 to 0-8 advantage was never going to be significantly eroded in the second half and in the end, the visitors had 19 points to spare. It leaves them with maximum points after two rounds of fixtures, with their next assignment the trip to face Limerick – still seeking their first win – on February 27.

As with the win over Clare in their first outing, Cork will take a lot of positives while acknowledging that there are things that could have been better. Though the game was effectively won by then, there were ten second-half wides (a total of 15) while further goal chances were passed up. At the other end, some over-elaboration could have been punished had Offaly displayed a sharper edge.

Still, Cork should be commended for their ruthlessness in going for the jugular from the off. After Conor Cahalane put them in front with a second-minute point, they found the net as Séamus Harnedy intercepted a poor clearance and fed Lehane, who in turn found Kingston and he fired home – the first score of a day that would bring him 2-8.

The second goal arrived immediately after that as Cork goalkeeper Patrick Collins picked out Fitzgibbon with a superb long pass and the midfielder – excellent throughout – drove at the Faithful defence before sending a shot past Conor Clancy.

While Brian Duignan did get Offaly off the mark, they were wasteful with the few opportunities that did arise in the opening quarter and Cork continued to ease clear, with the attack showing a good appetite to pressure the Offaly defence and force turnovers.

Captain Mark Coleman and Shane Kingston converted the frees that were won, with Tim O’Mahony and Conor Cahalane the targets of heavy-duty challenges, and Cork’s 13-point half-time advantage didn’t flatter them.

Mark Keane had started at full-forward but was relocated to right half-forward for the second half as Patrick Horgan was introduced and the Ballygiblin man was more influential after the break.

Conor Cahalane was unlucky to see a shot come back off the crossbar after a move Keane instigated, while Luke Meade was unlucky to be crowded out after linking well with O’Mahony and sub O’Connor.

The fourth goal came on 64, with sub Colin O’Brien doing well to set up Kingston for his second green flag. While Eoghan Cahill, Offaly’s primary scoring outlet, did manage a 67th-minute goal for them, Cork added three late points from subs Sam Quirke and O’Brien as well as O’Mahony.

Scorers for Offaly: D Cahill 1-9 (0-8 f), J Murphy 0-2, J Sampson, L O’Connor, B Duignan, B Conneely 0-1 each.

Cork: S Kingston 2-8 (0-6 f), C Lehane, D Fitzgibbon 1-2 each, M Coleman 0-4 f, R O’Flynn 0-2, M Keane, T O’Mahony, L Meade, C Cahalane, P Horgan, C O’Brien, S Quirke 0-1 each.

OFFALY: C Clancy; J Keenaghan, C Burke, J Screeney; D King, B Conneely, K Sampson; E Kelly, L Fox; B Duignan, L Langton, E Cahill; J Murphy, J Sampson., D Nally.

Subs: P Delaney for Screeney, L O’Connor for Nally (both half-time), E Parlon for Duignan (52), A Cleary for Langton (54), P Clancy for Fox (65).

CORK: P Collins; N O’Leary, D Cahalane, S O’Donoghue; T O’Mahony, M Coleman, C O’Brien; D Fitzgibbon, L Meade; C Cahalane, S Harnedy, R O’Flynn; C Lehane, M Keane, S Kingston.

Subs: S O’Leary Hayes for O’Leary, P Horgan for O’Flynn (both half-time), T O’Connell for Harnedy (47), J O’Connor for Lehane (50), S Quirke for Fitzgibbon (58), C O’Brien for C Cahalane (61, blood).

Referee: S Stack (Dublin).