Kilkenny will play Galway in the semi-final after an easier than expected win over Offaly at MacDonagh Park. The sides have met twice this season, with the Noresiders prevailing in the Division 1 final but their old rivals getting the upper hand in the last game of the round-robin stages.

That win gave Galway a direct route to the last four while Kilkenny faced what looked a dangerous hurdle in Offaly.

Ann Downey's side got a dream start with a goal from Julieann Malone and Offaly never seemed to recover from the setback. Miriam Walsh (two), Anna Farrell and Michelle Quilty all added points before Michaela Morkan put Offaly on the board from a free. Kilkenny were relentless however, and the unerring Gaule fired over five more points to give her side a 1-11 to 0-6 lead at half-time.

Competitive

To give Adrian Clancy’s charges credit, Offaly were much more competitive after the restart and kept their feint hopes alive with three points from Morkan but Kilkenny had scoring power everywhere, while their defence shut down

Tina Hannon

and

Arlene Watkins

.

Katie Power, Malone and Quilty kept the scoreboard ticking over and Downey was in the happy position of being able to empty her bench. Offaly kept fighting but the game fizzled out to an inevitable end.