Crunch tests for Offaly teams with promotion at stake

By Kevin Egan

Two massive home games for Offaly senior footballers and hurlers this weekend, with promotion on the line in both cases.

The U-20 footballers got out of jail in Louth and now face a must-win home game against Wicklow, while for good measure, the minor hurlers will get their season up and running tomorrow afternoon (Saturday) in Parnell Park. Welcome to the fun and games of the GAA split season, where there is no shortage of important action taking place in the month of March!

For the Offaly senior footballers to have four wins on the board at this stage of the season, and to be the only team in the country with three wins away from home, says a lot about where their mindset has been. The margin of defeat against Westmeath was harsh but the result was fair, while Cavan were comfortably the better team when they visited Tullamore.

Overall, if we were to summarise Division Three this year, there are two teams that haven’t been at all up to the mark – Longford and Tipperary – while Cavan have been comfortably the best side, even allowing for their lapse in concentration with a weakened team last weekend.

One other side will make the step up to Division Two and while it would be a stretch to say that Division Two football looks like Offaly’s level right now (it plainly doesn’t), one would hope that in twelve months’ time there might be a few more players available for selection, an extra year in the legs of the All-Ireland winning U-20s, and most importantly, some reprieve from the constant injury crisis that has beset the county.

How Cavan fare against Fermanagh is out of Offaly’s control, and ultimately that contest will be decided by Cavan’s mindset. Possibly the shock of last week’s defeat and the prospect of a local derby against their neighbours will keep them honest, or possibly Fermanagh’s greater need will drive them to victory. Either way, Offaly need to focus on the task at hand in Tullamore, which is to stop a Down side that has a lot of mobility and some excellent running threats from the middle third, but can be vulnerable at the back.

It was a deeply disjointed Longford side that travelled to Newry last weekend and they still came away with 1-14 on the board, despite no obvious semblance of a clear attacking plan.

This is a Down team that is there to be attacked, and Offaly have the weaponry to attack them. Ruairí McNamee produced his best performance of the league so far last week, Nigel Dunne and Joe Maher both made meaningful contributions, so there is a bit more support for Anton Sullivan, Bernard Allen and Dylan Hyland in the forward division. Expect a high-scoring contest, and Offaly to be in with every chance.

Hurlers' lacklustre display a concern

Kildare may have fallen just short of picking up a first competitive win over Offaly since their 1975 victory in Birr, but there was no masking the fact that they had Offaly in big trouble last weekend, and they will be the side that will feel a lot more confident about their prospects for promotion if that happens to be the league final pairing.

Offaly have no business thinking that far ahead yet, however, as they will face a huge test against Kerry in Tullamore tomorrow (Saturday, 2pm). After losing back-to-back games to the Kingdom in the 2019 Joe McDonagh Cup and then again in the 2020 National League, the balance of power has shifted back Offaly’s direction with three wins in a row, albeit two of them by a single point.

The concern this week is that Kerry look to be getting a bit better as they gradually re-introduce some of their star names, while there isn’t the same evidence of progression on the Offaly side. The year began with a promising showing against Kilkenny in the Walsh Cup, but could we really say with confidence that things have improved since then?

There’s a lot of good things happening defensively, but up front, scoring 33 points against Derry has papered over a lot of cracks. Kerry got a huge boost from Jordan Conway and Dan Goggin off the bench last week as they chipped in with 1-5 between them. Meanwhile, in Offaly’s last three league games, the bench has contributed the sum total of two points – one for Charlie Mitchell against Kerry, and another for Shane Dooley against Carlow.

As it stands, there are a few too many reasons to be concerned for tomorrow’s game, with the recent injuries to Ross Ravenhill and Shane Dooley only adding to the list.