AN INJURY-TIME point from Brian Whelehan gave Offaly victory over Kerry by the minimum margin in a closely fought Division One game at St Brendan's Park, Birr, yesterday.

A battling display by Kerry looked to have earned them a share of the league points, but in the second minute of injury-time Whelehan collected a clearance from Gary Cahill and raced forward to shoot the winning score.

It was a cruel blow for Kerry who suffered a similar defeat two years ago when Offaly grabbed a last-minute goal. They had played with great enthusiasm and their efforts deserved at least a share of the points.

Many expected Kerry to suffer a backlash after Offaly's 27 points defeat at the hands of Galway in their last game, but despite getting off to a good start, that did not happen and Offaly were very relieved to snatch a late win.

Offaly are struggling in attack and their starting forwards only managed to score 1-2 from play in this game. Whelehan was moved into attack in the final 10 minutes and he scored the final three points for his side to clinch this hard-earned win.

Yesterday's defeat means that Kerry return to Division Two after just one season. Ironically, their only victory so far was against All-Ireland champions Clare. However, they have also run some of the other top teams very close. They are lacking strength in depth. Yesterday, they depended too much on Mike Foley.

Offaly got off to a good start and went 1-1 to 0-1 in front after nine minutes. The goal came from a bad error by Kerry goalkeeper John Healy. Having gathered the ball, he tried to hand-pass to one of his backs but gave the ball straight to Billy Dooley and his goal-bound effort was finished to the net by Pat O'Connor.

Kerry didn't let that setback effect them, and they held Offaly scoreless for the next 27 minutes. They really came into their own in the second quarter and with Foley shooting five consecutive long-range points, from play and frees, they went in at half-time leading 0-7 to 1-1.

Offaly showed more determination on the re-start and when they regained the lead after 13 minutes, it looked like they would pull away. Kerry had other ideas and hit back to take the lead again. Whelehan and Foley traded points from frees to leave the sides level going into injury-time, before Whelehan's final intervention decided the matter.