Offaly have point to prove for Tailteann Cup clash
WITH their body language suggesting that at least some of the players have enough of inter-county football for this season, Offaly will have a major point to prove when they welcome Wexford to Tullamore for a Tailteann Cup preliminary quarter-final on Saturday.
Offaly's performance in a heavy defeat by Cavan last Saturday left a lot to be desired and a bad day at the office nose dived after Dylan Hyland and Jack McEvoy got straight red cards during a brief second half dust up.
It means that Offaly are likely to go out minus two of their automatic starters. Hyland has been one of Offaly's best players this year, working his socks off in the attack and coming of age as an inter-county footballer. He has been consistently in Offaly's best three performers this year but last Saturday was the one occasion when he was not on form and he then saw red along with Jack McEvoy as Offaly's discipline went briefly in the second half.
Clonbollogue man McEvoy had nailed down a position at midfield this year but the absence of him and Hyland will give an opportunity to two more players. Offaly will be examing their appeal options but it is unlikely that Hyland has a case for getting his card rescinded while McEvoy's prospects are in the long shot category.
Jordan Hayes has returned from army duty abroad and did well when coming on as a half time sub against Cavan. The Edenderry man would have been an automatic starter if he was at home the whole year and he is one obvious consideration for a place.
Aaron Leavy started the last day instead of Cian Farrell. The Tullamore man's best position is midfield and Farrell could come into the team instead of one of the suspended players. There is also a case for giving Morgan Tynan his chance. Outstanding as Offaly won the All-Ireland U-20 football title in 2021, the Ballinagar man has developing to do but has loads of potential and would benefit from a game. He has come on as a sub in some of the Tailteann Cup games to date and it would be interesting to see how he would do if in from the start.
Laois' draw with London last Saturday allowed Offaly to claim second spot in group one and a home game in a preliminary quarter-final. That was a reward they scarcely deserved but they now find themselves in with a real chance of further progress.
After beating London in their first game, Offaly came back late in their game against Laois to snatch a draw but their appetite for the Tailteann Cup is questionable. In some ways, this apathy is understandable. Two of the best young talents in Offaly, Rory Egan and Jack Bryant opted out after the championship defeat by Louth to travel to America and the Tailteann Cup was never going to foster the same desire as the top tier.
The Tailteann Cup format is very debatable. Whatever about having groups of four and three games, and that is arguably too many, there is definitely no need for preliminary quarter-finals and eight qualifiers and four quarter-finals would have been more than sufficient.
Offaly have played a lot of games this year. They have had seven games in the National Football League, three in the Leinster Senior Football Championship and Saturday will be their fourth in the Tailteann Cup. There was also two in the O'Byrne Cup at the start of the year and there was a considerable onus on them as they were the first competitive games under Liam Kearns.
The subsequent sudden death of Liam Kearns was a dreadful shock to the players. Martin Murphy has done well since stepping up as manager but it has been an emotionally draining year for the players. It is no surprise that they are tired now, that their enthusiasm for football has drained. Apart from that, every game in intercounty football is such high intensity now with a lot of pressure in the build up. The games are condensed in a short few months and the season provides very limited opportunities for players to just switch off and relax.
You can be sure that many of the squad won't be sorry to get a break and return to their clubs. That is fair enough and they deserve a break but the Tailteann Cup is there, the format is what it is and there is a duty to give it their best shot.
Offaly are very unlikely to be able to win it. The gap between them and Cavan is substantial and they probably can't beat them while it is very doubtful if they will be able to take Down or Meath – even though they had a great win over Meath in the Leinster championship.
They should have a chance against every other team in it and should be able to beat most of them. The preliminary quarter-final winners will have an away game against a group winner in a quarter-final. The groups were won by Cavan, Meath, Limerick and Antrim. Offaly won't be paired against Cavan again and will play either Meath, Limerick or Antrim if they win. There would be nothing to fear against Limerick and Antrim and Offaly's season could drift on for another few weeks.
That all depends on the players, their attitude and how close they decide to go to the wire. Wexford is a tricky game for them and they could lose to them but it is a game that Offaly need to win. Wexford didn't get promotion from Division 4 of the National Football League and a defeat would put a blemish on, leave a sour taste on a year where they have generally performed to the best of their ability and made steady progress.
It is, however, hard to know what way it will go. No result would be a surprise on Saturday and we really won't know what Offaly's mood is like until about fifteen minutes or so after the throw in but everything else being equal, they really should be able to get the win.