Offaly threatened a major shock in today’s early throw in, but in the end Kilkenny displayed their ruthless tendencies to extinguish dreams of romance at the quarter final stage of this year’s Leinster SHC.

Offaly put 4 goals past Brian Cody’s side but their profligacy in front of goal meant their goal haul served only to massage the extent of the deficit.

The Faithful county led from early on, with goals from Colin Egan and Joe Bergin early on giving Kilkenny a harsh welcome back to championship hurling.

The Cats narrowed the gap to just one before half time and used that as a spring-loaded launch pad into the second half, where they eradicated the deficit before stretching into a comfortable lead, all within a few minutes of restarting the second half.

Bergin and Daniel Currans struck again late on to soften the blow for Offaly, but Kilkenny’s excellent finishing has long since extinguished all hopes of an upset.