But indicative of the home team’s spirit, they slammed in two goals in injury time from Jack Clancy and Killian Sampson, who finished their top scorer on 1-3, to put a more respectable look on it.
That was the pattern of the day. Cork racing off into a lead and Offaly refusing to let them get out of sight completely.
A point from the outstanding Sampson left only five points between the teams with 51 minutes played, but from there Cork scored 2-5 o 0-1 without reply over the next 20 minutes.
For the majority of Joe McDonagh finalists, the preliminary quarter-finals has been a blunt injection of reality, with average losing margins of 15 points since it began in 2018.
The only county to win a preliminary quarter-final was Laois in 2019, when they defeated Dublin, but that is far outweighed by the one-sided maulings.
In recent weeks, the hopes of an Offaly revival were given renewed energy with the under 20s winning an All-Ireland and the senior team returning to the Leinster Championship after winning the Joe McDonagh Cup.
None of that fooled you into believing that facing teams with serious Liam MacCarthy Cup ambitions didn’t remain a formidable challenge.
And here, Cork, rejuvenated and experiencing their own rebirth, underlined the gap that exist – but not brutally.
A year ago Offaly left at this juncture after suffering a humiliating loss to Tipperary, conceding 7-38 which was the highest ever score in a senior championship match.
They were spared that kind of indignity here.
The non-availability of Adam Screeney and Colin Spain reduced Offaly’s selection options. Manager Johnny Kelly explained the duo had booked holidays before knowing the Faithful advanced to this stage.
Whatever position you take on this, it is not a great look for those who campaigned to keep the McDonagh Cup finalists in the MacCarthy Cup race.
Last year’s Central Council motion to remove that privilege was surprisingly defeated. When it comes up again for consideration, the voluntary absence of Offaly players may be used in evidence.
Screeney is still a young player and physically light for this kind of combat but he is a hurler that Offaly followers travel to see and any occasion is diminished by his absence. He had a quiet McDonagh Cup final, taken off after 55 minutes and replaced by Spain. Yet there is always added electricity when he’s on the field. Offaly started with three of their under 20 side – Cathal King, Donal Shirley and Dan Bourke.
Bourke was one of Offaly’s best players as they took the fight to the overwhelming favourites.
There was an ominous feel to the relative ease with which Brian Hayes scored the opening goal in the second minute, winning a ball ahead of Ben Conneely and taking off towards the posts with Offaly’s defence struggling to contain him. He bustled his way through what cover existed and batted to the net.
But Offaly, who opened with a neat point from an impressive Killian Sampson, showed no intentions of rolling over. Jason Sampson fell back to offer extra defensive cover and they were spiky in the challenge while Killian Sampson, Brian Duignan and Dan Bourke all scored two points in a first half tally of 0-13.
That was a respectable half’s work in elite company, but Cork, even when hitting a spell where their shooting got sloppy, still had too much firepower to allow them present any serious threat of an upset by the 20/1 outsiders.
Shane Barrett had scored 1-3 when Offaly felt obliged to move David King on him in the first half and relieve Cillian Kiely of the burden, Kiely hitting one of the best scores of the half earlier on. His goal again exposed an Offaly lapse in concentration when he collected near the sideline and cut through in a diagonal route, the path opening up before he sent the ball low across Mark Troy in 22nd minute.
Cork led comfortably at half time, 2-15 to 0-13, but Offaly showed spirit in hitting three points in a row in the last ten minutes to cut an earlier eight-point deficit down to three.
Patrick Horgan scored one of Cork’s second-half goals, 55 minutes in, and finished with 1-10 which means TJ Reid’s lead in the all-time championship scoring records is rescued to ten points. There was also a late goal for Robbie O’Flynn, while Offaly had been given renewed hope earlier in the half when Oisín Kelly swung one-handed to the net. Cork, however, march on.
Scorers – Cork: P Horgan 1-10 (7fs, 2 65s), S Barrett 1-4, B Hayes 1-1, D Dalton (1f) 0-4, R O’Flynn 1-0, D Fitzgibbon 0-3, S Kingston, C Lehane, N O’Leary 0-1 each. Offaly: K Sampson 1-3, E Cahill 0-5 (4fs), B Duignan 0-5 (3fs), O Kelly, J Clancy 1-0 each, D Bourke 0-2, C Mitchell, C Kiely, D King, J Sampson 0-1 each.
Cork: P Collins; N O’Leary, E Downey, S O’Donoghue; T O’Mahony, R Downey, M Coleman; C Joyce, D Fitzgibbon; D Dalton, S Barrett, C Lehane; P Horgan, A Connolly, B Hayes. Subs: S Kingston for Connolly (44); L Meade for Barrett (54); P Power for Lehane (63); J O’Connor for Hayes (64); R O’Flynn for Dalton (67);
Offaly: M Troy; B Conneely, C Burke, C King; D King, C Kiely, D Shirley; J Sampson, R Ravenhill; K Sampson, D Bourke, O Kelly; E Cahill, B Duignan, C Mitchell. Subs: E Kelly for Cahill (ht); J Clancy for Ravenill (47); S Burke for Kelly (61); D Maher for Kiely (64); L Watkins for Bourke (70).
Referee: Sean Stack (Dublin).
