All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Qualifiers Round 1A – Offaly 1-20 Waterford 1-7

Offaly defeated Waterford by 1-20 to 1-7 in the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Qualifiers Round 1A on Saturday June 20th at Fraher Field Dungarvan.

Report: Comfortable win for @Offaly_GAA vs @WaterfordGAA in Round 1A Football Qualifiers http://t.co/HooVrTfN7s #GAA pic.twitter.com/ACQWm8ViPg

— The GAA (@officialgaa) June 20, 2015

1A Qualifiers: Offaly too strong for Waterford

GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship Round 1A: Waterford 1-7 Offaly 1-20

Offaly secured their first championship success since 2011 as a scorching second half performance proved too much for Waterford on a boiling Saturday afternoon in Fraher Field.

Pat Flanagan’s outfit outscored the hosts by 1-11 to 0-2 after the resumption to coast home by 13 points. Man of the match Nigel Dunne totalled eight points as he stepped up in the absence of the injured Niall McNamee. The away side bolted out of the blocks and sprinted five points clear with only six minutes on the watch. No. 14 Dunne slotted two as Graham Guilfoyle, Joseph O’Connor and Anton Sullivan also split the posts. Mark Ferncombe landed Waterford’s opener after eight minutes and JJ Hutchinson added another. Guilfoyle and Bernard Allen extended Offaly’s lead to six but they missed glorious chances to put Waterford out of sight. The home side hit a purple patch before the interval.

On 32 minutes, Joey Veale put the finishing touches to a splendid counter attack as he fired low to the back of Alan Mulhall’s net. Boosted by further points courtesy of Ferncombe and Patrick Hurney, Tom McGlinchey’s charges trailed by 0-9 to 1-5 at the halfway stage.
Despite this wobble, Offaly re-emerged with a strong third quarter showing. They notched four points in a row to move 0-14 to 1-6 in front. Dunne was deadly accurate for the Faithful as he punished Waterford indiscipline. The Shamrocks front man accounted for six second half singles. Johnny Moloney and Peter Cunningham also blasted fantastic long range efforts as ten different scorers contributed.
On 65 minutes, Anton Sullivan’s point attempt slipped through Seán Barron’s grasp and Dean Crowley couldn’t prevent the ball from travelling across the white wash. Waterford could only register two second half points in response from Joey Veale and Liam Lawlor.
***
Scorers for Waterford: J Veale 1-1, M Ferncombe 0-2, P Hurney, JJ Hutchinson, L Lawlor, T Prendergast 0-1 each.

Scorers for Offaly: N Dunne 0-8 (4fs), A Sullivan 1-1, G Guilfoyle 0-3, B Allen 0-2, E Carroll, W Mulhall, J Moloney, J O’Connor, C McNamee, P Cunningham 0-1 each.

WATERFORD: S Barron; D Crowley, P Crowley, T Ó hUallacháin; S Briggs, P Whyte, S Prendergast; T Prendergast, C Guiry; JJ Hutchinson, M Ferncombe, M O’Halloran; L Lawlor, J Veale, P Hurney. Subs: D Guiry for Hutchinson (24), L Ó Lonáin for O’Halloran (47), C O’Keeffe for Hurney (51), M Curry for C Guiry (59), K Murphy for T Prendergast (66), J Curry for Veale (66).

OFFALY: A Mulhall; B Darby, P McConway, C Donohue; N Darby, J Moloney, J O’Connor; C McNamee, N Smith; P Cunningham, G Guilfoyle, A Sullivan; B Allen, N Dunne, W Mulhall. Subs: N Bracken for Mulhall (H-T, B-C), E Carroll for Allen (H-T), J Evans for Guilfoyle (62), N Geraghty for Smith (66), D Brady for B Darby (66), P McPadden for Moloney (71).

Referee: F Kelly (Longford)
***
Report: Tomás McCarthy for GAA.ie

Offaly’s kept their summer alive with a 1-20 to 1-7 triumph against Waterford. http://t.co/u7IZN5UYZy pic.twitter.com/mjT5n1wvpE

— Sky Sports GAA (@SkySportsGAA) June 20, 2015

Preview – All-Ireland SFC Qualifier, Round 1A, @WaterfordGAA v @Offaly_GAA, Fraher Field, Saturday, 2pm: http://t.co/9d4tw6JWsk #GAA

— The GAA (@officialgaa) June 19, 2015

Fixture Details

20.06.2015 (Sat)
GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship Round 1A
Fraher Field, Dungarvan 14:00
Port Láirge v Uíbh Fhailí
Referee: Fergal Kelly (An Longfort)
(E.T. if Necessary)