side narrowly won out (4-9 to 3-10). Eugene Coughlan at corner back was effecting many huge clearances, until he was sent to midfield early in the second half. As the constant drizzle turned into a deluge, Galway went six points up. Although Sylvie Linnane was dismissed, the Tribesmen deftly re-organised and extended their lead to eight points. It took Offaly a while to figure out how to deploy the numerical advantage. Eventually Joe Mooney was brought on as the "available" attacker, and Brendan Bermingham's goal plus a late 1-1 from Mark Corrigan left it nick-or-nothing at the finish. Only for a short time did defeat put a dampener on Offaly's epochal breakthrough – which was given added lustre when Pat Carroll and Joachim Kelly received the Faithful County's first All Star Awards in hurling since Damien Martin in 1971. The 1981 campaign Over the winter of 1980/81, another teak-tough National Hurling League campaign brought the team further on. At Nowlan Park on 19 April 1981, 14-man Offaly held out for a 2-13 to 4-6 League Semi-final win against Laois, after another cliffhanger of hard close pulling. Pat Delaney lofted in a free that Paddy Kirwan sent to the net for what proved the decisive score, despite a furious Laois onslaught in the dying minutes. Some 19,000 spectators came to Thurles on 3 May for the League Final itself. Offaly won the toss and opted to play against the wind and hail – only to be rocked by Cork's opening salvo of two goals and three points. Offaly effected a tremendous fightback, holding the Rebels scoreless for the last 14 minutes, but they had left themselves with too steep a climb. Cork took the League Title by 3-11 to 2-8. That year's Leinster Senior Hurling Semi-final (21 June 1981), would be the only championship match of the 1980s or 1990s where Offaly took to the field minus a Seir Kieran contingent. Laois again almost upset the apple cart, as Dermot Healy's charges somehow evaded the usual consequences of piling 20 wides on top of the concession of six goals and ten points. Two penalties and two long-range shots deceived goalie Christy King, while Laois full forward PJ Cuddy had done serious damage by the time Pat Delaney was switched to take him on. Offaly's own tally of 3-20 included a first-half Pádraig Horan goal that had only got in through a