Winning start vital for Offaly footballers in tough league campaign

OFFALY have a very big National Football League Division 3 opener when they welcome Sligo to Tullamore next Sunday.

It is the first competitive game under joint managers, Declan Kelly and Mickey Harte and there will be a lot of interest in it because of that.

Apart from that, it is a game that could very well dictate the trajectory of Offaly's league campaign and they could really do with a win. With just three of their seven fixtures in Tullamore, home wins are crucial and this is a huge test for Offaly.

Offaly are in a tough group with a lot of teams evenly matched. Kildare will be the starters' favourites for promotion and Offaly have them at home on March 16.

After Sligo, they are away to Laois, at home to Antrim, away to Fermanagh and Leitrim, at home to Kildare and away to Clare. A lot of those teams look to be fairly evenly matched and it will be a real dog eat dog division.

There are plenty of points to be won but it remains to be seen if Offaly can develop the consistency to truly challenge for promotion. That will be the target for them but as usual, the first priority is to stay up and then hopefully get into the mix for moving up to Division 2.

Offaly have been working hard in recent months but have had some mixed performances in recent challenges, losing to Down and Wexford.

The new rules creates a big challenge this year for both managements, players and referees. They are very much a learning process and there will be plenty of mistakes made. Referees will make their share of them while players will also be punished for not abiding by the new rules.

With two points given for ones scored outside a 40 metre arc and teams forced to keep players in the opposing half of the field, it will be very interesting to watch the type of games that emerge.

Offaly will be without three of their most experienced players. Veteran defender Declan Hogan is injured while long serving attacker Anton Sullivan was not brought back onto the panel and experienced utility player, Peter Cunningham has opted out. Goalkeeper Ian Duffy also opted out but Paddy Dunican has returned from abroad and Dunican's Shamrocks club mate, Sean O'Toole is also on the panel.

Offaly will be looking to some of the players who won All-Ireland U20 football medals in 2020 to take over leadership roles and they are now approaching the right age for that. The announcement of the team later in the week will be eagerly awaited by supporters but it will feature several established players.

Sunday's game is a very tricky one for Offaly, a 50-50 one and the teams have been very evenly matched in recent meetings. No result will be a surprise but for Offaly, the stakes are considerable – a win will set them up nicely and a defeat will result in early season pressure.