ALL-IRELAND SHC QUALIFIER: OFFALY v LIMERICK:THE PERCEPTION of Offaly as a hurling power was reinvigorated by forcing Galway to a replay and almost reaching the Leinster final. The Faithful believed again.
But then Galway went and ruined that perception last Sunday when they were summarily dismissed by Kilkenny.
So, Offaly were back where they started.
If they can maintain the intensity displayed on their last two outings, when Limerick arrive in Tullamore on Saturday, they should get a crack at Tipperary.
And that will tell us everything we need to know about them.
Manager Joe Dooley was up in Dublin yesterday to see his son, Shane, pick up the Vodafone hurler of the month award for June (like father and uncle Johnny, Shane’s nerves of steel were evident as he converted late frees against Antrim and Galway).
We wondered aloud if Galway looked tired in Croke Park. Perhaps it was better Offaly weren’t put in front of Kilkenny after all.
“I would much prefer to have had to play last Sunday,” countered Dooley. “Maybe Galway looked a bit tired. Kilkenny have a knack of making teams look tired. It was only when Kilkenny got on top that Galway started to look tired.
“Our aim was to win the Leinster championship, not just to compete well in it. We haven’t achieved that, but failing that it’s to advance as far as we can in the championship.”
Would your lads have got as close as Galway did (seven points is still considered a narrow defeat to Kilkenny)?
“We’d have been definitely down two more players. Derek Morkan would definitely not have been able to play and Derek Molloy and Dan Currams is still out suspended, which is a disgrace really, to be honest.
“He is going to miss two-and-half matches – and if we win on Saturday night he will miss three-and- a-half games – for a fairly harmless enough offence (a high tackle).”
The full-blooded Galway meetings has left them without two more defenders in Stephen Egan and Michael Verney, but Limerick still look manageable.
Dooley was never going to agree with that assessment.
“I haven’t seen them because we were playing the same day, but we played them in the league and we beat them by one point. They scored 3-13 on us. If there was no dispute in Limerick I would safely say that 11 or 12 of them would be on the Limerick team.
“There is a myth out there that this is their second team. It’s not, it’s their first team minus probably three or four players. They are not going to be easy to get over and if we don’t perform we will be pushed to the pin of our collar.
“The supporters are maybe getting a little carried away, but as a panel we know what we are facing and we are just trying to keep a lid on it.”
