Waterford were given a bit of a scare before securing promotion to Division 1A of the National Hurling League with a win over Offaly in Walsh Park on Saturday.
Needing the win to make promotion certain, Waterford stared disaster in the face when they went behind to a resurgent Offaly early in the second half, clawing back to level terms with 20 minutes left. Introducing hugely effective subs, the Déise staged a powerful finish, scoring the final eight points without reply for a 0-22 to 1-11 win.
Carlow could have been the big beneficiaries of an Offaly win but it was not to be as news of Waterford’s success was known before half-time of their home game against Westmeath. Whether or not Waterford’s win was a factor must remain conjecture but Carlow didn’t even manage to fulfil their end of the bargain, ending a decent campaign with a dispiriting 3-18 to 3-15 loss.
Meanwhile Dublin ended a disappointing league on a winning note, beating Laois 2-21 to 0-13 in O’Moore Park. Warm favourites for promotion at the start, the damage was done in a disastrous defeat to Offaly in Croke Park a few weeks ago.
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The win over Dublin was Offaly’s single biggest result of an excellent campaign, signalling a remarkable resurgence by the Faithful, with outstanding underage hurlers emerging on to the scene. Clearly moving in the right direction, their promotion back to the league top-flight is an unexpected bonus.
Offaly and Waterford will meet again in the league final in a couple of weeks time and the former will be quietly pleased with the way they performed at Walsh Park. With their league final berth and promotion booked, Offaly had nothing to play for in Waterford but wanted to give a really good account of themselves.
They certainly did that and 15 minutes into the second half, the Waterford support were beginning to get worried. A big talking point was a debatable red card for Offaly corner back James Mahon in the 23rd minute. It looked harsh and the numerical disadvantage was a factor in Waterford getting on top in the closing quarter.
There was more to it than that and Waterford were impressive when the gun was put to their head. Offaly were 0-6 to 0-4 behind when Mahon saw red and were happy with that as they were playing into a stiff wind.
Waterford led 0-10 to 0-6 at half-time but were stunned when Offaly hit them for 1-2 without reply within three minutes of the restart. Brian Duignan got the goal but missed a great chance to turn the screw in the 47th minute when Waterford goalkeeper Billy Nolan was penalised for a charge into Charlie Mitchell, drawing a penalty. Nolan made amends by tipping Duignan’s strike over the bar to deny him the goal.
That made it all square on 1-10 to 0-13, the sides then trading points to stay level as the clock hit the 50-minute mark at which time Waterford found top gear. They got a big return off the bench with subs Tom Barron, Charlie Treen and Padraig Fitzgerald taking scores, and inside the last 10 minutes all anxiety had disappeared for the home support.
Saturday’s results mean the group phase ends with Waterford on 10 points, Offaly on nine and Dublin on eight. Carlow have six points, ending their campaign one point ahead of Antrim.
Laois and Westmeath finish bottom of the table, both with two points, after a disastrous league for the two midland counties. The latter did however manage to end on a positive with their win over Carlow, Killian Doyle scoring 1-15 while David Williams bagged two goals.
In their game against Laois, Dublin led by 1-9 to 0-9 at half-time, Conor Donohue getting the goal in the 19th minute. The Dubs pushed on in the second half, a 65th-minute goal from David Purcell ended any notion of a Laois comeback.
