Tough test awaiting Offaly footballers in Mullingar on Sunday

AFTER their bright opening to their Allianz National Football League Division 3 campaign with wins over Antrim and Fermanagh to date, Offaly footballers will face their toughest test yet when to travel to Cusack Park, Mullingar on Sunday (2pm throw in) to face neighbours Westmeath.

The battle between these neighbours often tends to throw up tight contests and Sunday could be another one of those battles. Offaly couldn't have asked for a better start to the campaign as they travelled to Belfast to record an historic victory by a six point margin and then followed that up with a last gasp win over Fermanagh in Tullamore, kicking the winning point with the last kick of the game.

Westmeath didn't enjoy the best of starts, losing at home in their opening game to Cavan but they bounced back well in Round 2 to record a huge win away to Longford, scoring 4-16 against the O'Byrne Cup winners and that is probably a truer refletion of their form.

These sides last met in the Tailteann Cup semi-final in Croke Park last year and on the occasion Westmeath came away with a comfortable win on their way to winning the title.

Both sides have had changes of manager since then with Liam Kearns taking over the reigns in Offaly while former star forward Dessie Dolan assumed the top job in Westmeath.

There have been positive signs for Offaly so far with two wins in the O'Byrne Cup prior to the start of the league and then an unbeaten start to the league campaign. They played very well in the first half against Antrim and while they came under pressure after the break, they did well to hold on and seal victory at the finish.

The game against Fermanagh was close and tight throughout. Offaly kicked a lot of wides, particularly in the first half, but again when the chips were down in the second half they showed a lot of resilience and came from behind in the closing minutes to seal a one point victory.

Star of the show on that occasion was Bernard Allen, who came on as a second half sub and proceeded to kick five points from play. It will be interesting to see if he nails down a position in the starting line up for Sunday's showdown on the back of that display.

A game in Mullingar is never an easy task but a win for Offaly would put them in a very strong position to challenge for promotion. In what is going to be a very tight division, with teams likely to take points off each other, a defeat wouldn't be the end of the world but a third victory on the trot would give Offaly tremendous momentum for the season ahead.

Having lost one game already, Westmeath will be keen to build on their win over Longford to keep themselves in the promotion race as another defeat would leave them struggling. A big crowd is expected to watch these two neighbours do battle and it is likely to go down to the wire again.