the other end, John Power was awarded a hotly disputed penalty that DJ Carey sent to the net. At the long whistle, the relief of the Cats was palpable and Cregan's men sank to their knees in despair. Like their Senior counterparts, Offaly's U-21 hurlers went from early triumph to ultimate disappointment in both 1991 and 1992. Seir Kieran's Kevin Kinahan played at full back, while Johnny Dooley was wing forward. The Leinster Semi-final of 1991 ended all-square (Offaly 2-9, Wexford 3-6). Offaly won the replay at Nowlan Park by 1-11 to 1-9. In the Leinster U-21 Hurling Final, played at Portlaoise on 7 August 1991, Offaly sandbagged Kilkenny the reigning champions by 2-10 to 0-12. The mentors took a gamble by putting the erstwhile goalie John Troy at wing forward. This worked out very well, especially as Shinrone's Damien Franks (still a Minor) kept a clean sheet in place of the Lusmagh man. The Offaly defence all gave brilliant displays, especially the hooking of Hubert Rigney (St Rynagh's). Johnny Pilkington the captain received the Sean Robbins Cup (named for the time in which the great Offaly administrator had been chairman of the Leinster Council). Offalay's All Ireland U-21 Semi-final, played at Drogheda, turned out to be one-way traffic (Offaly 2-19, Antrim 1-8). The All Ireland Final took place at Limerick on 8 September 1991, when Offaly were blown away by Galway (2-17 to 1-9). Kevin Kinahan did noticeably well on Joe Rabbite, until the Galway man was switched to centre forward where he laid off scoring chance after scoring chance. Of the two penalties awarded to Offaly, Johnny Dooley netted the first but opted to put the second over the bar. Although over ten minutes remained, Galway were nearly out of sight by then. Many of the same U-21 panel were still eligible the following year. At Portlaoise on 28 June 1992, Johnny Dooley scored ten points against a Dublin side that were in contention all the way. Offaly were leading 0-14 to 0-11 with time almost up, when Pauric Tiernan's long-range effort cracked off the crossbar and over to leave it a close shave. Dooley added 0-9 in Offaly's great 1-15 to 2-10 Leinster Final win over the Cats; and 0-11 when the Midlanders had revenge on Galway in the Semi-final (Offaly 3-17, Galway 1-5). The All Ireland U-21 Hurling Final took place between Waterford and Offaly on