Win over Wicklow sets Offaly footballers up for genuine assault on Tailteann Cup
THE mood was one of relief more than anything else after Offaly senior footballers ended their Tailteann Cup losing streak with a 2-13 to 0-11 win over Wicklow in Tullamore on Saturday afternoon.
After losing their last five games in the second tier competition, this was basically a must win game for Offaly and goes some way towards banishing the painful memories of last year's losses against London and Limerick.
It wasn't anything special and doesn't really signify anything but it was a very important result for Offaly and lifts a lot of the pressure that would have gathered very quickly with a loss.
Offaly gave Wicklow full respect and knew that they would have to perform to avoid a calamitous defeat. Without setting the world alight, they gave a solid performance and once they truly settled into the game coming up towards half time, it looked like they would always have enough to get the job done.
It was division 2 against division 4 opposition and Offaly were favourites but it was a banana skin for them and the big take away was that their head was in the right place for it – and that was not something you could say about this time last year.
Offaly travel to Waterford next Saturday for round 2 and a win there will almost certainly put them into the knockout stages. That is the first requirement for the Declan Kelly and Mickey Harte managed side and Offaly should be able to achieve that with a degree of comfort.
They will have to work to do it and again, their attitude will have to be right but Offaly now have a solid platform to build on and they should get better in the coming weeks.
There is a general realisation in the group that a Tailteann Cup win would be a very good thing for Offaly, a very good addendum to what has been a very encouraging year to date. Waterford gave a respectable account of themselves when losing by 0-28 to 1-16 to Laois in O'Moore Park last Saturday – 28 points was a lot to concede but Waterford would have taken a nine point defeat when travelling up.
Offaly showed against London last year that they can take nothing for granted against any opposition and are capable of unravelling. They are in a much better place this year but that possibility can never be discounted with them and they need to hit the ground running in Walsh Park.
Offaly will be patient but if they can build up an early lead, it will diminish Waterford's resistance levels and they should be able to get away for a comfortable win.
There are plenty of supporters out there who would like to see Offaly give a game to members of the panel who have not been used in recent games. Sean O'Toole, Cathal O'Donoghue, Oisin Keenan-Martin, Shane O'Toole-Greene and Morgan Tynan are all firmly in this camp while Marcas Dalton, Aaron Kellaghan and Aaron Leavy have seen limited action – there are other players on the extended panel who would love an opportunity.
There is a case to be made for throwing some of them in, giving them the responsibility and the chance to perform but it certainly won't happen in any widespread way. There may be a feeling among some that Offaly will be going nowhere if they can't beat Waterford with an experimental team and they may have a point but it won't and shouldn't happen.
Firstly every county team must be treated with respect and the punishment can be severe for anything else. Secondly, it is unlikely if management will go down this road considering their sparse use of the bench in the past few games.
Expect Offaly to select their strongest available team – if they do manage to build up a decent lead, then it would be very good to give players a chance. There is a balance to be found and some of those more fringe players have earned a chance and could grab it with both hands but winning is the first priority for management.
There are plenty of tough battles ahead and Westmeath and Kildare are the two biggest obstacles to Offaly's Tailteann Cup ambitions but the early indications are encouraging and suggest that Offaly will give it a go.
There were some really encouraging performances on Saturday,particularly David Dempsey, Diarmuid Egan, Cathal Flynn and Jack Bryant while Jordan Hayes and Dylan Hyland really got up to the pace of things in the second half. Cormac Egan, John Furlong and Keith O'Neill did not fire on all cylinders but they can't be expected to do that every day and it was not because of any lack of appetite. You can be sure that this trio are up for this competition and that they will get back to their real form in the coming weeks.
There is always a nervousness around games like this. Not a fear factor but a possibility of not being right and suffering a really damaging defeat. It shouldn't happen here but the key for Offaly is to turn the screw early, not allow any rot to set in and not to give Waterford any real glimpse of an upset. They should get the win but have to be tuned in for it.