The Offaly hurlers must plan without Derek Molloy for the rest of the season after he left for the US on Monday.

The Shamrocks clubman, who was sent off in controversial circumstances in the Faithful County's Leinster SHC defeat by Dublin, will spend the remainder of the summer Stateside.

The blow of losing Molloy has been softened somewhat by the return of Brendan Murphy to the squad. The former captain scored a point after coming off the bench in last night's Walsh Shield final win over Carlow in Portlaoise and could be in contention for a starting place against the winners of this weekend's All-Ireland hurling qualifier between Cork and Laois on Saturday week.

Joe Brady also scored a goal on his return from injury last night, but Rory Hanniffy - who didn't make an appearance against Carlow - only has an outside chance of making the All-Ireland qualifier.

The Offaly footballers have also lost under 21s Brian Connor and Graham Guilfoyle to America this summer. Tweet

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