Star corner-forward Peter Cunningham had a major hand in all of Offaly’s goals from Niall Wynne, Aaron McDonagh and Brian Grehan and was only denied a goal of his own after a fine save from Wicklow ‘keeper Colin Smullen. Offaly led by 3-4 to 0-4 at the break, but Wicklow dominated the third quarter and a brace from corner-forward Adam Conway and singles from Brendan McCrea and Philip Murphy cut the deficit to 3-5 to 0-9 on 54 minutes.

Brian Norris and Cunningham stretched the Offaly lead to seven before Niall Sweeney got a late consolation goal for Wicklow from the penalty spot.

Scorers — Offaly: N Wynne 1-2 (2f), A McDonagh, B Grehan 1-0 each, P Cunningham 0-3, C Cahill, B Norris 0-1 each. Wicklow: A Conway 0-4 (4f), B McCrea 0-3 (2f), Niall Sweeney 1-0 (1pen), T Smith (1 ’45’), Philip Murphy 0-1 each.

Offaly — K Keogh; L Colgan, C Lowry, N Bracken; J O’Connor, E McCabe, P Foy; C Cahill, C MacNa- mee; J Gettings, A McDonagh, G Mann; N Wynne, B Grehan, P Cunningham. Subs: T Mooney for E McCabe, B Norris for G Mann, J Maher for B Grehan

Wicklow — C Smullen; G Burke, P Geoghegan, J Manley; D Keane J Kelly, J O’Brien; T Smith, A Corrigan; N Crosbie, B McCrea, C McKenna; A Conway, S Olohan P. Crowley. Subs: S Murphy for G Burke, J Snell for D Keane, M Healy for P Crowley, N Sweeney for N Crosbie, P Murphy for S Olohan.

Ref — F Barry (Kildare).