from repeating the damage Lane had done against Cork. Brendan Bermingham effectively marked another of Galway's Semi-final stars, 21-year-old Tony Keady (who had lost his father that August). Padraig Horan at full forward distributed very effectively, and the other Offaly forwards tacked on points when it mattered. Midway through the first half, Joe Dooley raced in to hand-pass past Galway custodian Peter Murphy, only for it to be adjudged a square infringement. However, Pat Cleary darted through to score two crucial goals, the second of which (early in the second half) seemed to put Offaly in the driving seat. Then PJ Molloy at wing forward and Joe Cooney at midfield initiated a comeback by the Tribesmen. When Michael "Hopper" McGrath lobbed a ball in, Molloy leapt highest before rifling a sublime goal to the roof of the net. Another Galway goal, from Joe Cooney's long-range effort, was not given when Jim Troy let fly to clear the ball from just inside his goal-line. Brendan Keeshan was introduced to take on Cooney. The mentors made wholesale switches in the closing stages, and Offaly emerged victorious by 2-11 to 1-12. The Irish Independent deemed the two-point winning margin to be "a fair and factual summary of seventy minutes of hazard and hope." Dermot Healy said that he had had no doubts, because "the attitude was right". In evoking the absence through illness of Pat Carroll, Offaly County Board chairman Paudge Mulhare said: "You have won an All Ireland for Pat. This is for him and I thank you for that." The McCarthy Cup's return to the Faithful County was as memorable as it had been four years before, not least in Seir Kieran where the Offaly panel (including four parishioners, Eugene and Mick Coughlan, Joe Dooley and Joe Mooney) had a raucous reception on Tuesday, 3 September 1985. Over the following two years, there would be equally heartening triumphs at Colleges and Minor level, and Clareen players would feature in each case. Lifting the Dr. Croke Cup and the Irish Press Cup, 1986 and 1987 The passing of Pat Carroll in March 1986, at the age of 30, came as a big blow to Coolderry and to Offaly. It also signified the break-up of the team that had delivered four Leinster and two All Ireland Titles in six short years. Offaly remained a force to be reckoned with, however, and in June