Venue announced as Offaly look forward to derby shootout in O'Byrne Cup
Third game will be great help ahead of O'Byrne Cup campaign
OFFALY senior footballers will receive another very welcome game when they take on Westmeath in the O'Byrne Cup semi-final next Saturday.
Westmeath have selected their main ground, Cusack Park in Westmeath at the venue with a 2.00pm throw in and this derby clash is likely to attract a decent crowd.
Both counties will be pleased to have reached this stage. Westmeath had a good win over Louth on Wednesday evening while Offaly had a fine 2-13 to 0-15 victory over Meath to qualify for the semi-finals.
Offaly have hit the ground running with O'Byrne Cup wins over Carlow and Meath. Both come with a warning attached in red – Carlow are a Division 4 side while Meath fielded very close to a second string outfit.
Neither win means anything significant but they were still important results for Offaly. It would have been dispiriting to lose either and three games in a couple of weeks, with the possibility of a fourth if they make the final, will be very good preparation for the National Football League Division 2 campaign.
With Paddy Dunican, Cathal Flynn, John Furlong and Dylan Hyland all out injured, Offaly have also had an opportunity to see how they perform without some of their most influential players. Dunican and Flynn will miss the league campaign while Furlong and Hyland are likely to miss some action.
It has opened up a chance for other players and some have impressed. Sean O'Toole has been very solid in place of his Shamrocks club mate Dunican in goals while a new recruit from Dublin, Ciaran Murphy has also showed up well.
Offaly look fit and they moved at pace against Meath, playing some good attacking football. Westmeath will provide their stiffest test yet. They will be hungry to make the final and will field a fairly strong team.
For Offaly, the result doesn't really matter but the performance does and the management will be carefully assessing the displays of all players, especially the non-established ones. It is a great game to get and will provide plenty of information about who is going well and who has to up the ante.