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Clinical Goals Help Determined Offaly Off To Winning Start Against Wasteful Westmeath

Thursday, 12 January 2012

Alan Mulhall about to shoot as Kieran Sheridan looks on.

Offaly 3-6, Westmeath 0-7. THE ability to take their goal chances proved to be the difference as Offaly got Gerry Cooney's reign as manager off to a winning start when they got the better of a mediocre Westmeath side in O'Connor Park on Sunday last.
Surviving on scraps for long periods, Offaly played their best football in the opening ten minutes and laid the foundations for victory when they led by 2-2 to no score after just eight minutes.
Westmeath were always playing catch up after this and while they had ample possession to have made it really tight, or even won it, they never really looked like getting there.
With both counties fielding experimental teams, this was an unsurprisingly dogged encounter and there was little to set the pulse racing. At the same time, it was a satisfactory season opener for a new look Offaly team and they did just enough to win.
Their application and work rate was pleasing and while there is a very long road ahead, Offaly at least showed their desire for football.
Their full forward line of Willie Mulhall, Alan Mulhall and Ken Casey had a particularly productive afternoon, accounting for 2-4 of Offaly's 2-6. They were especially effective in the opening quarter with last year's goalkeeper Alan Mulhall proving a fine ball winner and with his cousin Willie Mulhall and Ken Casey feeding off him, they gave the Westmeath full back line a torrid time.
The Offaly trio survived on scraps after this but they did the damage in that opening ten minutes while Ken Casey tapped home the match clinching goal seventeen minutes from the end.
Westmeath and their manager, Clara man, Pat Flanagan will be disappointed at their performance, particularly their conversion ratio. They had a huge amount of possession for long periods but failed to make it count on the score board and they will be especially bemused at their failure to find the back of Kevin Meehan's net.
Four times in the first half, Westmeath had decent goal chances but each time they let Offaly off the hook. First John Egan was wide with a great goal chance in the 14th minute. The same player was wide with another decent chance in the 19th minute after Mark Gorman hit the post and then Westmeath's best player, Callum McCormack, scorer of four points, missed two chances before the break, kicking wide with his first and drawing a good save from Kevin Meehan on the stroke of half time.
Those misses contributed significantly to Offaly's success and allowed them to lead by 2-4 to 0-5 at the break - Westmeath certainly had enough of the play and chances to have been a lot closer, if not ahead.
In the second half, Westmeath quickly cut the deficit to three points but despite again enjoying the lion's share of possession, they couldn't get any closer than that. And when Offaly finally lifted the siege at the three quarter stage, they quickly put Westmeath out of sight.
First Alan Mulhall fired over a good free after sub, Daniel Currams was fouled and then Ken Casey tapped home a match clinching goal with seventeen minutes left after Currams hit the post.
That was more or less that and the only other score came from the boot of Offaly midfielder Richie Dalton six minutes from time while the only real incident of note in the closing quarter was the introduction of Kilmacud Crokes player, Brian Hanamy two minutes from time - Hanamy, the son of a Ferbane man, has declared for Offaly under the parentage rule but unfortunately didn't get enough time to show his capabilities.
For the most part, it was typical January football - Played on a heavy but dry pitch, neither side lacked effort and both managements will be pleased with the commitment shown.
New Offaly manager, Gerry Cooney was not at the game as he was in Africa but his selectors, James Stewart and Tony Kenny's report card will read something like this:
A good win, decent commitment and a clear desire to play football; Nothing to get excited about and still a lot of work to do. A satisfactory start to the year but don't read anything into it.
From an individual performance point of view, there was a mixture of good and bad news. The Offaly defence didn't get to grips with Callum McCormack but apart from that, they did their job reasonably well, even if they were assisted by Westmeath's wastefulness. Kevin Meehan had a fine game between the posts while Brian Darby and Lorcan Hiney had some good moments.
Offaly were outplayed at midfield over the seventy minutes but Richie Dalton and Ross Brady had good spells while Niall Smith made a huge impact when introduced in the second half - The Gracefield man did the simple thing well and he turned the game back in Offaly's direction at a stage when the momentum was very much with Westmeath.
In attack, Offaly's full forward line of Willie Mulhall, Alan Mulhall and Ken Casey scored 3-4 and really tortured Westmeath in the opening ten minutes. The jury still remains out on them and they lost their way as the game progressed but Alan Mulhall was particularly impressive as a ball winning full forward, showing an ability to win ugly ball - Goalkeeper last year, Mulhall would want to be careful hat he doesn't fall between two stools but he was one of the success stories on the way.
Willie Mulhall and Ken Casey both showed good opportunism but both will need to discover more consistency over longer spells. Daniel Currams, a member of the county hurling panel in recent years, also showed up well when introduced while Aidan Keenaghan, a welcome addition to the team after a long battle with injury, showed sufficiently well to justify further opportunities.
Offaly made a dream start with Willie Mulhall scoring the opening point and Alan Mulhall netting a fine sixth minute goal after a great build up involving Graham Guilfoyle and Willie Mulhall. A minute later, Ken Casey got in for a well taken goal after a good Brian Darby ball and Willie Mulhall's neat point put Offaly 2-2 to no score ahead after eight minutes.
Westmeath took over after this and Offaly could only manage two further points before the break - From Nigel Dunne in the 17th minute and Willie Mulhall in the 29th minute. Westmeath could only manage five points for their part and this was a poor return considering the volume of possession they enjoyed.
Points from Trevor English and Callum McCormack cut the deficit to three points by the fourth minute of the second half but amazingly Westmeath didn't score again. Niall Smith's introduction helped Offaly steady the ship and 1-2 in the closing quarter was enough to set up a clash against Kildare next Sunday.
THE SCORERS: Offaly: Ken Casey 2-2, Alan Mulhall 1-1 (One free), Willie Mulhall 0-3, Richie Dalton and Nigel Dunne 0-1 each. Westmeath: Callum McCormack 0-4, Trevor English, Kieran Martin (Free) and Philip Sheridan 0-1 each.
THE TEAMS: Offaly: Kevin Meehan; James Gallagher, Paul McConway, Sean Pender; James Keane, Brian Darby, Lorcan Hiney; Richie Dalton, Ross Brady; Graham Guilfoyle, Nigel Dunne, Aidan Keenaghan; Willie Mulhall, Alan Mulhall, Ken Casey. Subs - Fergal Daly for Graham Guilfoyle (27m), Niall Smith for Nigel Dunne (47m), Daniel Currams for James Keane (47m), Brian Hanamy for Alan Mulhall (68m), Derek Kelly for Ken Casey (68m). Westmeath: L Darren Quinn; Mark Dalton, Kieran Sheridan, Tommy Warburton; Michael Curley, Michael Ennis, Kevin Maguire; Trevor English, Aidan Finnan; Kieran Martin, Callum McCormack, Philip Sheridan; John Egan, Declan Mullen, Mark Gorman. Subs - Denis Glennon for Declan Mullen (47m), Dean McNicholas for John Egan (51m), Willie Coyne for Mark Gorman (64m), David Gavin for Philip Sheridan (68m).
REFEREE: John Hickey (Carlow).

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