Offaly footballers take on table toppers Cavan

AFTER losing their unbeaten record away to Westmeath on Sunday last, Offaly footballers have to regroup quickly as they face table toppers Cavan in the next round of the Allianz League at Glenisk O'Connor Park on Sunday next at 2pm.

After last week's round of games, Cavan are now the only team in Division 3 with a 100% record, so that is an indication of the task that faces Offaly. It is another big challenge but on home ground with local support behind them, it is a good chance for Offaly to bounce back from the disappointment of last weekend and get their promotion campaign back up and running again.

After their victories over Antrim and Fermanagh, Offaly went into their game in Mullingar with plenty of confidence and for much of last Sunday's game, they were very much in the contest but Westmeath got the breaks over the final 10 minutes to pull away and win by six points. Even many of the home supporters felt that victory margin flattered the home side, but at the end of the day it did go down as a disappointing defeat for Offaly.

They played well for good periods of that game, particularly in the first half, but didn't make enough use of the wind to build a half time advantage. They only led by two points at the break and although they were still level with 10 minutes left, Westmeath's second goal gave them the boost they needed and they pulled away in the remaining minutes.

So next up is Cavan, who have made the ideal start to the campaign. They began with a three point victory over Westmeath in Mullingar, getting a little bit of revenge for their defeat to Westmeath in the Tailteann Cup final last year. It was a good performance and a great start to their campaign.

They followed that up with a good win at home to Tipperary and last Sunday had a comfortable victory over Longford to leave them alone on top of the table with six points.

There are four teams now level on four points behind them as Offaly, Westmeath, Down and Fermanagh all have two wins from three. It is an indication of how tight this group is going to be and most of the counties are capable of taking points off each other and it's likely to go all the way before final positions are decided.

Those other counties will be looking to Offaly to do them a favour this weekend as if they can get a win over Cavan, it will bring them back into the pack and really throw the promotion chase wide open.

Cavan will provide a tough test for Offaly. They have enjoyed a good spell over the last couple of years, particularly winning the Ulster title in 2020. They did suffer relegation back to Division 4 the year after that but since then have been quite consistent under Mickey Graham, winning promotion back to Division 3 at the first attempt last year, reaching the Tailteann Cup Final and making a good start to this campaign. That kind of momentum is great to bring a team along.

Offaly had enjoyed that kind of a run up to last Sunday as they had won their first four competitive games of the year in the O'Byrne Cup and league as the Liam Kearns reign got off to a positive start. There are signs of progress and they are working hard on the field and that should begin to pay dividends.

The challenge for them next Sunday is to see how they will react to defeat last Sunday and there is no bigger test than coming up against one of the top teams in the division. It should provide more answers of where the team lies and a positive reaction to last week's setback would be another sign of things moving in the right direction.

Cavan have an experienced line up and players like Raymond Galligan, Padraig Faulkner, Dara McVeety, Oisin Brady and Cian Madden have done well in the league so far and will pose problems for Offaly.

The home side enjoyed a hard earned win over Fermanagh in their last home game and will be looking for something similar this Sunday. They have played with a fairly settled team through the campaign so far led by captain Declan Hogan from full back, with Peter Cuningham, Conor McNamee, Ruairi McNamee, Dylan Hyland and Anton Sullivan all being prominent in the games thus far.

Sunday will be another test for them and if there are no after effects from last Sunday's defeat, they are capable of troubling the table toppers.