of both sides' display was absolutely top-drawer. The Rebels shaded it by 0-19 to 0-16. Cork and Offaly each scored 0-12 from play, so the match turned on the frees awarded by the referee, Dickie Murphy. Another crucial factor was the maturity shown by Jimmy Barry-Murphy's gifted young team when Offaly's grip seemed to be tightening. In the aftermath, Johnny Pilkington expressed his side's perplexity at having played so brilliantly, and yet having lost the game: "I don't know where it went wrong – if it did go wrong." The championships of 2000 Pat Fleury took over from Michael Bond for the 2000 season, for which Johnny Dooley was team captain. Although both Billy Dooley and Martin Hanamy had retired, Offaly again defeated Wexford (3-15 to 0-8) in the opening round of the championship. When both the Offaly Minor and U-21 hurling teams won out their Leinster Finals, it briefly seemed that the Faithful County's underage prospects were reviving. In the Leinster Senior Hurling Final, however, Kilkenny beat Offaly comprehensively (Kilkenny 2-21, Offaly 1-13). Kevin Kinahan grimly summed up this third-in-a-row Leinster Final defeat: "They opened us up and spread us out – typical Kilkenny." The All Ireland Quarter-final took place on 23 July 2000, between Offaly and Derry. Not only had Derry shocked Antrim in the Ulster decider, but in the second half of this Quarter-final, Offaly's experimental side looked to be in real difficulty. With an outstanding 12 points from Johnny Dooley, the Faithful County pulled through (Offaly 2-23, Derry 2-17). Not many people rated their chances for the All-Ireland Semi-final re-match against Cork. On the day, however, Offaly wore down their opponents with a display of passion, power and pride, before storming to a famous 0-19 to 0-15 victory. Gary Hanniffy (Birr) got the better of Brian Corcoran, while Kevin Kinahan effortlessly intercepted the balls lofted in towards Joe Deane in the second half. Joe Dooley rated this: "one of the sweetest victories of my career.". Although Pat Fleury's team were still the underdogs going into the All Ireland Final (10 September 2000), they believed that losing both the 1998 and the 1999 Finals would pile the pressure on Kilkenny in the closing stages. For this to be a factor, Offaly would have to prevent the concession of goals early on. That was exactly what they failed to do, as the rampant Cats scored two early goals.