Leinster SFC Quarter-final/ Offaly 2-19 Carlow 3-7:It's a rarity in this profession that the mind wanders off to brighter pastures but as the sun beat down upon this non-event at O'Moore Park maintaining focus became a challenge.
Here follows a view from the shade.
Offaly can only be applauded for pulling clear in such clinical fashion by the 10th minute, nor is there much scope for criticism as they ruthlessly pushed into a 16-point lead early in the second half.
They join Carlow in Division Four next season but on this evidence they belong at least two levels above the basement.
Considering what comes next, at least their manager Pat Roe could latch on to the late slip in concentration that allowed Carlow to snatch 2-2 and ensure they attained some form of respectability.
"Overall I'm happy that we won and I'm happy that we were workmanlike for the bulk of the game. We did lose our shape for the last 10 minutes. When you are winning, well, you lose focus a small bit.
"We shouldn't but we did. And also we made a few substitutions that jolted the team off balance a small bit. By the same token I'm not happy that we gave away 3-7 - 3-7 would win a lot of matches."
Because of Offaly's poor league form they are out of the championship and into the Tommy Murphy Cup if they lose the Leinster semi-final to the winners from next week's Dublin and Meath replay.
This result will become a mere footballing footnote if they cannot transfer their form on to the next stage. The amphitheatre of Croke Park awaits.
"No offence to Carlow but it is a huge step up for us in two weeks' time," Roe conceded. "Whatever we did today we are going to have to do it by another 50 per cent to give ourselves a chance but we'll get back to training on Tuesday night and refocus.
"The physical intensity is going to be much different from today and certainly time on the ball is going to be cut down to the minimum. We'll factor that in over the next few weeks."
Twenty-two seconds in and Carlow had the lead thanks to a Paul Reid point. In response Offaly rattled off 1-10 to obliterate any chance of a competitive game.
Still, Carlow were poor. The writing was on the wall from the opening exchanges as their centre back Evan Doyle casually kicked possession away. Anyone who keeps even an occasional eye on Offaly football knows the potency of their inside forwards Niall McNamee and Thomas Deehan, now bolstered by the transfer of PJ Ward from Westmeath, but the space afforded McNamee to pluck balls from the sky would not be tolerated even by second-tier opposition.
McNamee and Ward ruthlessly exploited Carlow's defensive statues to combine for 0-14. Offaly could even afford to have Deehan, who clearly spent the winter months in a weights room, fail to register a score.
The official death knell was sounded on 33 minutes when, with Carlow already softened up 0-9 to 0-1, Alan McNamee powered through the middle before releasing Neville Coughlan for a finely constructed and finished goal.
A Derek Hayden riposte in first-half injury-time was never going to make much difference - except maybe for the video analysis conducted in Dublin or Meath.
If the Sunday Game were to show just one passage of play that defined this game it would be Niall McNamee's score seconds after the break. Nobody laid a hand on him as he gathered, ran and pointed.
Alan McNamee and debutant Niall Smith were in complete control of the midfield, while Carlow's only established scoring threat, Marc Carpenter, was reduced to a cameo point and some speculative foot passing by a dominant half-back line where Karol Slattery raced forward to gather 1-1.
Slattery's strike stretched matters out to 16 points but a calamitous own goal by Alan McNamee just after the hour was followed by a David Byrne point and then a James Hickey goal, after Hayden's shot rebounded off the post, before a JJ Smith point brought Carlow's tally to a respectable 3-7.
"Generally speaking, the three goals came from long ball into the edge of the square," added Roe. "Meath like to play like that so we'll look at that. We'll analyse the game."
They'll learn more from tuning in to RTÉ One next Sunday afternoon as their next opponents are revealed.
OFFALY: 1 P Kelly; 2 G Rafferty, 3 J Quinn, 4 J Keane; 5 P McConway, 6 S Brady, 7 K Slattery (1-1); 8 A McNamee (0-1, capt), 9 N Smith; 10 N Coughlan (1-1), 11 P Kellaghan (0-1), 12 C McManus (0-1); 13 T Deehan, 14 PJ Ward (0-8, two frees), 15 N McNamee (0-6, three frees). Subs: 20 J Coughlan for N McNamee, 27 S Ryan for P Kellaghan (both 50 mins), 22 N Grennan for G Rafferty (60 mins), 26 J Reynolds for PJ Ward (62 mins), 21 C Evans for J Keane (66 mins).
CARLOW: 1 J Clarke; 2 J Ryan, 3 C Bolger, 4 M Nolan; 5 P Cashin, 6 E Doyle, 7 J Hickey (1-0); 8 G Morrissey, 9 M Brennan; 10 K Nolan, 11 D Hayden (1-0), 12 M Carpenter (0-1); 13 P Reid (0-1), 14 D Byrne (0-1), 15 B Kelly (0-2, one free, capt). Subs: 24 R McGrath for G Morrissey (18 mins), 25 A Murphy for C Bolger (half-time), 28 JJ Smith (0-1) for P Cashin (46 mins), 17 N Conway (0-1) for B Kelly (52 mins), 19 P Doyle for P Reid (64 mins). 1-0 own goal by Alan McNamee.
Referee: M Daly (Mayo).
YELLOW CARDS - Offaly: P Kellaghan (32 mins). Carlow: J Hickey (2 mins), R McGrath (26 mins), B Kelly (32 mins), P Rei (45 mins).
Attendance: 11,490.
