A sense of partial deja vu at Croke Park yesterday: Guinness All-Ireland champions Offaly received a sound thrashing as Kilkenny hurled at times marvellously well and comfortably retained their Leinster title. As in last year's provincial final, Offaly were quite disappointing, but unlike 12 months ago their conquerors looked in excellent shape.

To what extent one consideration influenced the other remains to be seen, but there was plenty of encouragement for Kilkenny manager Brian Cod as he saw his reshaped side effectively put the match away by half-time with some predatory finishing.

The attack was sharp enough to plunder five goals but robust enough to ride out the physical challenges in a manner that has proved beyond the team in recent years. The addition of a recalled John Power and this season's debutant, Henry Shefflin, galvanised the attack, particularly in the first half when the match was there to be won.

Power was in the thick of things and picked up a gash to his head at an early stage. But his marauding style created a lot of space for the other forwards - at no time better illustrated than his run and handpass to DJ Carey for the team's first goal in the 20th minute.

Shefflin wasn't as much in it at that stage after a pre-throw-in switch from full forward to the wing, but he scored two points from play before half-time, including an exuberant piece of work in the 27th minute when he careered through the heart of Offaly's defence like a bumper car, crashing off defenders before taking his point.

Brian McEvoy's pace and athleticism were in evidence from an early stage as he gave Brian Whelahan a taste of the sort of difficulty which had forced the Offaly captain up the field in last year's All-Ireland final (ironically, with disastrous consequences for Kilkenny).

This time around Whelahan again made the move, but without success. McEvoy's hard work was gilded four minutes after the start of the second half when he embarked on a pacy solo through the Offaly cover and finished spectacularly for his team's fourth goal.

And all this without reference to Carey and Charlie Carter, who were left free to snipe. Carter started at full forward and his 28th minute goal - kicked past the advancing Stephen Byrne - was the beginning of the end for Offaly.

Carey's track record in this fixture is extraordinary: yesterday was the third successive meeting of the counties in which he has scored two goals. More importantly, he was as lively and troublesome as he's been in two seasons of championship and that had a major impact on the match.

On top of his 2-3, the long handpass for Shefflin to venomously crack in the fifth goal was a delightful piece of work. Ken O'Shea was held scoreless, but he was deprived of a goal only by an athletic save from Byrne as early as the fourth minute.

The interplay of the forwards was the primary influence on Kilkenny's win and all but one point came from the sector. Yet the defence also did its job when the match was in the balance.

Eamonn Kennedy hurled vigorously and well for much of the match, and behind him Canice Brennan was assured at full back. In the corners, Tom Hickey and Willie O'Connor were in total control.

Andy Comerford at midfield had a great match, and his early grafting was a significant factor in setting the stage for the win, although Johnny Pilkington and Paudie Mulhare were more of a threat than other sectors on their team.

The trend of the match was like the Offaly-Wexford semi-final except that Offaly were on the receiving end. Like Wexford, Offaly were hanging on by scoring points, but the regular concession of goals incrementally drained their morale.

When the third went in on the edge of half-time - Carey got in his touch with Martin Hanamy caught in no-man's land - it killed the contest as surely as Joe Dooley's did last month.

Offaly's response in the second half was fractured. Brian Whelahan's move to wing forward didn't work and his covering was missed at the back. Similarly, Joe Errity didn't trigger the goalbursts for which he was responsible last year, and Joe Dooley was forced to retire with a leg injury in the 42nd minute.

The second-half effort also showed Offaly as a rather tired-looking team. Team manager Michael Bond pointed out afterwards that several of his players had missed substantial amounts of training because of injuries - a factor which certainly told by the end of a hot, sunny afternoon.

The Birr pair of Simon Whelahan and Pilkington were the ones who most consistently impressed as the match wore on. The younger Whelahan never gave up the battle for the ball and his soaring clearances ensured an element of defiance: one of them in the 55th minute sent Pilkington in for a point.

Pilkington - as usual and, curiously, given his laid-back demeanour - was one player to turn up the heat, and his 1-3 was scored in the final 15 minutes. The goal, a minute from time, was a simple reaction to a breaking ball to the left of the Kilkenny goal.

It was all too late, and in the midst of Offaly's frantic attempts to come back, Kilkenny were slipping in for scores which kept the match out of reach. Troy flashed a chance across goal in the 56th minute and, had it gone in there might have been a grandstand finish. But the overall impression was of too little coherence.

Petulance also surfaced occasionally - sufficiently visibly in the case of Daithi Regan's dig at Comerford to earn the offender a red card - but mercifully the contest finished without anything messy spoiling a match which if one-sided, featured some good play and yielded impressive champions.