GAELIC GAMES: It's lacking the bang until next week but the championship is back. A windy Páirc Tailteann was the setting for a transitional Offaly to dismiss a Louth team on a steep decline - 6,000-odd believers witnessed the litany of shooting errors.

Offaly footballers went through a torrid time in the off-season, the panel going on strike before eventually starting again under Kevin Kilmurray.

They easily disposed of Louth yesterday, 1-15 to 1-6, with a performance that will be remembered for the 18 wides they posted.

Down at pitch level, Kilmurray defended his team's disastrous kicking display by blaming the elements.

"In respect to the Offaly players they have gone through a rough time, particularly last season," he said.

"I honestly credit them with the way they have worked at it. That breeze, you can feel it over here. It was almost impossible to get a shot on target today.

"I thought we were always the better team and always played the better football."

He did have a point but on this display Laois and Mick O'Dwyer, who await Offaly in the quarter-finals at Croke Park on May 29th, have little to fear.

Kilmurray refused to be drawn on the coming hurdle.

"What about them?" he asked. "All year long I have been hearing about Micko trying to get expletives and descriptive adjectives for his second team so I presume he will probably put his first team out against us. We'll take it as it comes. It's just another game for us.

"Down the years we have always enjoyed playing our next-door neighbours and I'm sure the next game will be no different."

It's a far grimmer tale for Louth, who stayed within nine points only because Offaly struggled. It will be another seven weeks before we see them again as they become the first to try the dusty back-door route.

Manager Val Andrews kept it short in accepting his team weren't "really competing". Injury decimates a county of Louth's size.

A tame start then but it gets exciting next week as Armagh and Fermanagh get reacquainted in Clones, while Dublin start their journey against Longford at Croke Park.

It will feel then like the championship has arrived.