Eoghan Cahill inspires Offaly to McDonagh Cup win over Laois

An excellent second-half display saw Offaly defeat old rivals Laois against the head in the first round of the Joe McDonagh Cup in Glenisk O'Connor Park on Saturday afternoon.

Bigger shocks may emerge during the hurling season, but Offaly's win here was very much a turn up for the books.

Laois have generally punched at a higher level than the Faithful County in the past decade or so and are just down out of the Leinster Championship while their first half display here suggested that their superiority would continue.

Yet this game was lost by Laois in the first half, not that they could have done a whole lot more, apart from getting a goal or two that would surely have killed the game off.

After the break, Offaly raised their performance levels by several notches, with a swirling wind on their backs, and they got on top in all sectors for extended periods.

Eoghan Cahill's was Offaly's match-winner up front, registering 2-04 from play in a 2-11 haul while the defensive brilliance of Ciaran Burke and Ben Conneely galvanised their side, especially when they were under the cosh in the first half and many of their colleagues had their hands full.

Laois were clearly the better side for much of the first half and their half time lead of 0-14 to 2-06 did not reflect this at all.

Laois forwards were much sharper and more dangerous with the Offaly defence living on their wits.

There was no way it was a two-point game on the balance of play, but Offaly dug deep and goals from Cahill and Joey Keenaghan kept them alive.

The first was a good finish by Cahill in the ninth minute after a good David Nally ball a across and it left Offaly trailing by 0-5 to 1-1.

Aaron Dunphy, Stephen Maher and Aidan Corby were all outstanding in the Laois attack in