A dispiriting, uneven romp, brightened only by the sheer poetry in Offaly's stickcraft, preceded the 70 minutes of furious magic which has defined this hurling season.

After a week awash with nostalgic reflection on Antrim's dismantling of the midlanders at Croke Park 10 summers ago, caps were doffed in honour of the old maxim that, come championship, anything is possible. Indeed, word had it that the northerners had enjoyed their best period of preparation in recent years.

It all came to nothing. That Antrim could point to a March victory over Offaly only gives added vent to those who would cry that the league is all but buried. The All-Ireland champions cantered on a different plane yesterday, resoundingly tight in defence and delightfully expressive in attack.

Question was, aside from the illuminating flourishes to which the Offaly boys treated us when the mood took them, of what practical use was this spectacle to anyone?

The Antrim players must have crossed the border again accompanied by the onset of severe disillusionment. It is impossible now to ever see them achieving any tangible mid-summer rewards for the pains they endure on dark winter evenings.

Offaly manager Michael Bond heads west counting the toll of victory; Hubert Rigney, his team's pivotal central defender, was carried off with a broken shin after Jackie Carson accidentally pulled across him in the first half and Kevin Martin was withdrawn suffering from a severely damaged hand.

Two integral cogs have now been pulled from a prized defence still wounded by the impudence with which Kilkenny danced through them a fortnight ago.

So once more Offaly advance to the last four with their current pedigree still a topic of debate. We learned little new about them yesterday.

Antrim did manage to keep their opponents contained for the first quarter of the game - Gary O'Kane was in uncompromising mood at half-back and both he and Seamus McMullan pumped enough ball forward for Jackie Carson, Allister Elliott and Greg O'Kane to break sweat early. They matched Offaly for points in that period, but the ease with which the champions prized Antrim open for the first goal was a portent of things to come.

Michael Duignan walloped a long ball goalward, John Troy rose with Antrim 'keeper Shane Elliott, and John Ryan trotted on to the break and leisurely swiped home. Too easy.

However, it was the second goal, after 20 minutes, which precipitated the landslide. Brian Whelahan, proving as impervious yesterday to the ill-effects of venomous ladders as he did to flu last September, lobbed a sideline cut from the half-way line.

Antrim failed to clear, Joe Errity fed Johnny Pilkington, who had the time and poise to bury it. The midfielder trotted back up field and nailed a point seconds later. Down 2-5 to 0-4, the nightmare was just starting for Antrim.

Offaly, without ever looking showy, relaxed and excelled throughout the lines. Both Whelahans, Simon in particular, dictated the flow of ball from defence while Elliott squeezed not an ounce of joy out of full back Kevin Kinahan. Pilkington fired 1-5, and might have had three more points. Johnny Dooley, having set up shop at centrefield for the day, foraged diligently and sent Pilkington free with a steady supply of astute ball.

And Troy had one of those afternoons. His goal, after 29 minutes, originated from a heavenly pick-up with the hurl which set his artistry in free flow. Early in the second half, he threaded through a pass to Billy Dooley which he ought to have netted.

In the next sequence, Troy doubled on a Niall Claffey clearance and Dooley fired home. Indeed Dooley popped 1-2 in just four minutes to push Offaly into a 4-15 to 0-6 lead with 10 minutes remaining.

Antrim, their optimism in tatters, continued to hurl in the shadows and now and then had a few shining presences. Conor Cunning, the emerging underage star, rifled three fine, second-half points from play and the O'Kanes gave of themselves with typical selflessness. But it was futile. In the second half, they were running on empty against a team who weren't even displaying any particular urgency.

Carson's challenge on Rigney, unintentional as it looked to have been, did stir the Offaly backs significantly, but they have yet to step it up in the manner that saw them through the latter stages of last year's championship.

This result has done nothing for Ulster hurling, a province which has long been the sickman of hurling. Talk of 1989 will be reserved for the fireside from now on. Yesterday is the only relevant reference point for Antrim hurling.

For Offaly, well, it just reminded us all that they haven't gone away.