Offaly face Meath this Saturday in huge contest in the Division 2 relegation battle

FOLLOWING the disappointment of the late postponement of their scheduled clash with Galway in Salthill in Division 2 of the Allianz Football League last Sunday, Offaly will be keen to return to action when they host Meath in their round 4 game at O'Connor Park on Saturday next.

It is a huge tie for Offaly as they look to kick start their campaign after suffering losses in their opening two games and they will be hoping that they will see an improved performance when they take on the Royal County, who have also struggled in the early rounds of the league.

Offaly were due to play Galway last Sunday in Pearse Stadium but the game was called off at a very late stage, after Offaly had already arrived at the stadium, and the decision to leave the call so late didn't go down well with Offaly. Conditions throughout the country were extremely difficult after Storm Eunice and it probably should have been clearer earlier in the day that the game wouldn't be able to go ahead.

Hopefully the weather will improve as this week goes on and Offaly's encounter with Meath will be able to go ahead unhindered in Tullamore.

Approaching the half way stage of the league, Division 2 has taken a bit of a two way split with Derry, Galway, Roscommon and Clare in the top half, while the relegation battle now looks to be a contest involving Offaly, Cork, Down and Meath.

That is what makes Saturday's game against Meath so important for Offaly. They still have to play all those teams in the bottom half with them so if they hope to avoid relegation, these are the games that they will have to target to win. Offaly have no points thus far while the other three teams all have one point having played a game more than Offaly.

A win for Offaly therefore would give their campaign a huge fillip and give them the confidence boost that is needed right now. Their opening two games were disappointing, losing away to Clare in Ennis in the first game before succumbing to high flying Derry at home in their last encounter.

Meath have also struggled badly in their early games. They went down badly to Galway in their opening game at Salthill before losing at home to Roscommon by a four point margin in their second game.

On Sunday last they hosted fellow relegation strugglers Down and the sides finished level 2-6 apiece, a result which probably didn't suit either team, but ultimately could be an important result from an Offaly point of view if they were to get a couple of wins on the board against their fellow strugglers.

Offaly have found the step up from Division 3 to be a bit more difficult than they might have anticipated but now they are aware of the standard required, and possibly refreshed after a few weeks without a game, they can head into Saturday's game with decent hopes of a morale booster.

Their performances have been below par in their first two games, so that will be the first target on Saturday, to get the type of performance they are capable of producing and if they do that, they will have a good chance of getting a badly needed win.

Meath are having similar struggles to Offaly and confidence there has been at a low ebb as well, but they too will be targetting this game as one to get a win to get them out of the relegation quagmire. They will be disappointed not to have won at home on Sunday and have just a six day turnaround to get themselves up for this one.

This is a game that should give a very good indication of how Offaly are progressing and how they rate against other teams in the division. A good performance and they could give themselves a great chance of surviving for another year in Division 2, but if they suffer another bad defeat, the prospect of a quick drop back down to Division 3 will loom large.