Kerry have suffered their first defeat in the Allianz Hurling League.
They were outclassed by Offaly in Division 2 A in Tullamore, going down by 2-28 to 0-13.
Despite being named on the team Shane Conway did not start for Kerry. His replacement Colin Walsh opened the scoring with a first minute point. After Offaly levelled Shane Nolan put the Kingdom back in front again. The next 3 points went the way of the hosts who led 4 to 2 after 10 minutes. Kerry replied on the double with 2 Padraig Boyle points bringing them level before the quarter hour mark. At the water break Offaly led by the minimum at 6 points to 5. After Michael Leane made it a drawn game Offaly went down the other end to nab the first goal of the day
That goal spurred Offaly on and they hit 9 of the next 10 points to open up a 1-15 to 7 points advantage. In added on time at the end of the half Offaly goaled again.
Half-time score: Offaly 2-16 Kerry 0-7.
The result was never in doubt in the second half, making the period somewhat academic. There was a serious drop off in scoring by the hosts. The Offaly advantage was 2-21 to 0-10 in the 47th minute. It was 2-22 to 10 points at the water break. With 10 minutes to go the gap stood at 2-25 to 0-12. There were 21 points between the sides come the final whistle.
Mark Foley
Kerry manager Fintan O'Connor
Offaly boss Michael Fennelly
