So it came to pass. Hubert Rigney raised the Liam McCarthy cup to draw the curtain on a summer the like of which hurling has never seen. Offaly's win against Kilkenny in yesterday's Guinness All-Ireland hurling final was heart-warming because it signified redemption for the most talented generation of hurlers any county has produced this decade.

When they string it all together, they are an awesome team. Fluent and irresistible at stages, Offaly reaped the reward of an attack which had been hot-wired out of early torpor by the arrival of Brian Whelahan into the attack after the first quarter - ironically underlining the truth about a match always reckoned likely to be controlled by defences.

Just as Limerick were burned off by Offaly in four minutes in 1994, Kilkenny were unable to cope with the irrepressible tide which engulfed them. As a leitmotif the final score will do.

Michael Duignan, crowning his best season and a determined performance, came off the right wing of the defence like an express train and as he careered through the beaten cover, he unleashed a 50metre shot on the run which dropped emphatically over the bar.

Over the afternoon, Whelahan turned the match when moved into the forwards, Johnny Pilkington delivered a bravura performance at centrefield and Kevin Martin subdued DJ Carey and did much else.

But it was a victory for the team as a unit. The above-mentioned players played exceptionally well to accomplish the victory, but the rest worked hard and made their contribution in digging the foundations of the success, the fourth All-Ireland for the county since their arrival on the roll of honour 17 years ago.

In contrast, Kilkenny disappointed. Coming into the final as slight favourites and with comfortable room for improvement, they couldn't cope with Offaly's decisive power-plays in the second half. Their fine defence couldn't keep out the goals and their prolific attack couldn't score enough of them at the other end. To complete the gloomy picture, the Leinster champions lost centrefield where they were also expected to hold the edge.

Offaly's redemption has made them the first All-Ireland winners to have lost a match en route - but few could argue with their form over the last five weeks. Plunged into crisis by unconvincing performances and the public bust-up which led to the departure of manager Babs Keating, Offaly looked washed-up.

Not that the triumph was one seamless 70-minute garb. Kilkenny started sharper and Offaly had an unconvincing look to them in the first quarter. Playing with a capricious wind which was to change a couple of times in the second half, Offaly struggled to establish their rhythm.

Both teams had filled their one vacancy contrary to conventional wisdom. Kilkenny brought Ken O'Shea in at right corner forward instead of the more widely predicted Niall Moloney. With two points and a lively afternoon on Martin Hanamy - which drew good saves from the ever-reliable Stephen Byrne in the 16th, after he had placed PJ Delaney, and, letting fly himself, 28th minutes - O'Shea justified his selection.

Offaly gave a start to Gary Hanniffy, the rangy Birr wing forward, whose three points after coming on a substitute were the ultimate margin between his team and Clare in the decisive Thurles semi-final.

During the week, it had been pointed out that Hanniffy's best performances tended to come when he was sprung off the bench whereas Paudie Mulhare had played solidly apart from a period of family bereavement after the death of his father. In the event, Mulhare replaced Hanniffy on half an hour and gave a diligent display from his first touch, which set up Joe Dooley for a point, until the very end when he fought tenaciously in the middle as the screw turned on Kilkenny.

In the first quarter, Offaly were looking uneasy at the back as Kilkenny moved faster and stretched the cover. Loose on the half-back line, Offaly were revisiting some of the malaise which afflicted their first-half performance against Clare in the second semi-final.

Brian McEvoy switched on to Brian Whelahan from the start, leaving DJ Carey to Kevin Martin's tender mercies. He put the great Birr man under enough pressure to bag two points in the first 16 minutes.

More ominously, Charlie Carter - Kilkenny's most impressive forward this year - was making inroads on Simon Whelahan, just as he had done on Whelahan's brother Barry in the Leinster final. This culminated in a 12th minute goal, fired in confidently after penetrating the defence.

McEvoy's second point left the score 1-4 to 0-3, the pick of Offaly's scores being a three-man move featuring Birr clubmates, Pilkington, Brian Whelahan and Joe Errity who pointed.

Offaly's most problematic phase bottomed out when Johnny Dooley, in acres of space, stroked his unchallenged shot wide in the 19th minute. In fact the match's course had been crucially altered by then.

Brian Whelahan swapped with Michael Duignan in the 18th minute. This switch had turned around the second Clare match, but yesterday, it looked a bit panicky. Last month, Offaly had trailed by 10 points when Whelahan began his migration up the pitch.

Manager Michael Bond insisted subsequently that this was a desire to move the player into attack rather than to get him out of harm's way as Clare's Alan Markham cut loose, just as McEvoy was doing a little too well yesterday.

Duignan likes facing the ball and slotted in at wing back. Whelahan, a flu victim during the countdown to the final, revitalised the attack and the seeds of victory were sown. Offaly needed more dynamism in attack and, particularly, they needed to compete more with the Kilkenny defence in which full back Pat O'Neill and centre back Canice Brennan held early sway, beating their markers and driving the ball back down the field.

From now on, this was a contest. Whelahan had two scores, points from play and a free. Furthermore he linked well with an otherwise subdued John Troy to give direction to the attack. By half-time he was operating at full forward.

Offaly's gradual assumption of the controls of this match moved into its next phase in the third quarter. Having repaired the most obvious damage and slowed Kilkenny sufficiently to trail by only two points at the interval, they then set about frustrating their opponents.

Johnny Dooley had come into the match as the first half wore on and played soundly until injury forced his departure, but his partner Pilkington was the mainstay. Dropping back frequently, he hurled a load of ball and, as he had done in Birr's All-Ireland success in March, re-affirmed his bigday temperament, hallmarking the display with a towering 75-metre point in the 63rd minute.

In defence the tide was turning. Simon Whelahan, to his immense credit, put aside the early travails and shackled Carter, at one stage winning three balls in succession off his illustrious opponent. In the 43rd minute, the defence came at Kilkenny like clingfilm and Simon Whelahan and Martin between them blocked three successive shots for points from Comerford, twice, and Carter.

Martin played a stormer. His athleticism and sturdy striking was at the heart of a great secondhalf defensive performance by Offaly. Captain Rigney held the middle as usual and competently handled all comers, shutting down Andy Comerford who was unable to provide the ruling presence hoped for on the 40 and also Carey whose arid year's form continued, although he shot 0-5 from dead ball.

Denied the sort of space and supply he favours, Carey also tried his hand on Kevin Kinahan as well, but the full back completed a great comeback from injury earlier this year by conceding nothing from play and playing a great rallying role all through the second half. In the 61st minute he deftly dispossessed Comerford and earned a free to relieve another attack.

Having hauled Kilkenny back to 1-9 to 0-12, Offaly struck in the 49th minute when Errity burrowed through the Kilkenny defence and shot to the net. Two minutes later he added a point and Offaly led by four.

Having notched only one wide in the first half, Kilkenny were now becoming spendthrift and O'Neill uncharacteristically sent a 65 wide in the 52nd minute.

The Leinster champions had their last big chance in the 58th minute. Martin Hanamy pulled down PJ Delaney and referee Dickie Murphy awarded a penalty. There were three points in the match as Carey addressed the ball and aimed it high. Too high. The shot flew over for a point.

The match fluctuated in a tight band and was still open to a winning goal. In the end Offaly got it. This coup de grace was administered in the 68th minute. Troy and Errity combined to leave Whelahan a simple tap-in and at 2-15 to 1-13, there was no way back.

Offaly could have had more. Joe Dermody in the Kilkenny goal intercepted a ball from the hardworking veteran Joe Dooley - winning his third All-Ireland medal - to John Troy. Substitute Darren Hanniffy was set up in the closing minutes by his ebulliently awkward fellow replacement John Ryan, but the shot was blocked.