Offaly go down to students
DCU 0-17 Offaly 0-8, Rhode
DCU began the defence of their O'Byrne Cup crown in impressive fashion, thanks to a clinical second half display at Rhode tonight.
The visitors held Offaly to just two second-half points, as they booked a quarter-final spot against Kildare next Sunday.
Ken Casey was eager to get Offaly's 2011 campaign off to a positive start, landing two points inside the opening three minutes,
However, DCU's Roscommon contingent quickly stood up to the plate with David O'Gara linking with Donie Shine for his side's opening score, two minutes later.
But Offaly looked dangerous and with the likes of Sean Ryan showing his attacking prowess, they quickly tagged on two points to take a 0-4 to 0-1 lead by the seventh minute.
Wexford's Shane Roche, Martin McElhinney of Donegal and Shine all landed well-struck points to tie the game for the first time at 0-4 each in the 24th minute.
Offaly pegged a point back through the Dublin-based John Coughlan, but DCU took the lead for the first time approaching the interval.
Roscommon star David Keenan edged the visitors ahead in the 33rd minute, with a third Roche score ensuring a 0-8 to 0-6 half-time lead for the students.
DCU failed to let up on the restart and were buoyed by the introduction of Donegal star Michael Murphy.
They added seven points without reply with Murphy, Roche, Shine and Cork's Fionn O'Shea bolstering the defending champions' tally.
Offaly's first point of the second half arrived in the 55th minute from Casey, but the hosts were well marshalled by a strong DCU defence.
Noel Andrew Graham cut the deficit to seven points with nine minutes remaining, but this was as close as Offaly got in the final quarter.
(Roscommon unless stated): R Hennelly (Mayo); N Collins, K Gavin (Westmeath), S Ormsby; J McCarthy (Dublin), N McAdam (Monaghan), C McGuinness (Monaghan) (0-1); F O'Shea (Cork) (0-2), M McElhinney (Donegal) (0-1); D Keenan (0-1), D O'Gara, C Rafferty (Louth); S Roche (Wexford) (0-5, 0-2f), D Shine (0-4, 0-2f), D Kelly (Sligo).
Subs used: M Murphy (Donegal) (0-2) for Rafferty, B Cullen (Dublin) (0-1) for Keenan (both half-time), L O'Donovan (Dublin) for Collins (49 mins), P Andrews (Dublin) for Kelly (50) .
A Mulhall; S Pender, S Brady, J Keane; S Ryan, R Brady, S Lonergan; N Smith, R Dalton; NA Graham (0-1, 0-1f), K Slattery, C McManus (0-1, 0-1 '45'); K Casey (0-4, 0-2f), J Coughlan (0-1), J Reynolds (0-1).
Subs used: N Dunne for Slattery (45 mins), W Crampton for Smith (49).
Referee: David Gough (Meath)
