Joe Dooley was keeping his feet firmly on the ground after Offaly's first competitive win over Kilkenny since the 1998 All-Ireland final.

The Faithful County boss certainly wasn't losing the run of himself after the Faithful County staged a late rally to see off a Kilkenny team that included just two regulars - John Tennyson and Richie Hogan - to progress to next weekend's Walsh Cup semi-final against Galway.

"If Kilkenny had a full team today, it might have been a different story," Dooley said.

"But, at the same time, psychologically, it's nice to get the win. Any day you beat Kilkenny, or Tipp or Cork, or any of the top teams, especially for teams like Offaly trying to get up the ladder, is a good day.

"We're delighted with the win - missing an awful lot of lads as were Kilkenny, but still it's a great start to the year, keeps the auld thing going. It's given us another good game now next week, against Galway."

Brian Cody, who used the game to run the rule over a mixture of fringe players and newcomers, said: "It was a good competitive game, I'm happy enough with the way it went for most of the game but they came strongly at the end, that was it.

"We're looking at lads, trying to bulk up the panel, see how they go in a competitive game." Tweet

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