Carlow bag the points in Offaly, but the Kingdom march on

Kerry were the big winners as Carlow shocked Offaly in the Joe McDonagh Cup at Bord na Móna O'Connor Park, winning by five points.

Kerry's win over an experimental Antrim meant that Carlow's win counted for nothing and the Munster and Ulster men will now contest the final.

The win for the visitors merited a bigger reward as they had been the better side by a distance on the day and pulled away from the Faithful with the wind on their backs in the second half.

A draw would have been enough for Offaly to have made the final but they never got going on the day, giving a strangely subdued and lethargic display. Their intensity levels were never where they needed to be and they can absolutely have no complaints at their defeat. Carlow would have went through if Antrim had got a draw or win against Kerry.

While the result was a shock, it was not a big surprise to those who have followed Offaly throughout the Joe McDonagh Cup campaign. After losing to Antrim in their first game, they did what they had to do by winning their next three against Meath, Down and Kerry but they had been blowing very hot and cold and it was clear that they were very vulnerable.

And so it proved on the day here.

Playing with the wind in the first half, Offaly never really hit top gear and were posed plenty of questions by Carlow – particularly visiting forward Chris Nolan who got four fine points from play in that opening half.

Offaly led by 0-10 to 0-08 at half time and while they just about deserved that, they had loads of work to do.

Carlow settled quicker and led by 0-03 to 0-01 after five minutes. Offaly levelled it up with two Eoghan Cahill frees but Carlow then upped it and two Nolan points along with on from Conor Kehoe saw them lead by double scores,