Charlie Mitchell in action against Carlow
IT is not knockout hurling but Offaly will be doing everything in their power to beat Kildare in their last group game in Division 2A of the National Hurling League on Sunday.
A place in the league final is at stake for the winners and while the losers have the escape chute of a semi-final, both will be very anxious to win and have a week off as they face into a hectic few weeks.
It will also provide a very interesting test for Offaly. Them and Kildare are joint top on 8 points with Kildare having four points of a better scoring difference – that means that Kildare will go into the league final if it is a draw.
With the semi-final and final following on successive weeks from Sunday's game in Tullamore and leading straight into a high intensity Joe McDonagh cup campaign, both squads could really do with a week's break.
That is the target and it means that they will be approaching this game with a higher level of intensity than would normally be the case for one where the stakes aren't at the highest.
Offaly will be favourites to win on home turf but they will be showing Kildare complete and utter respect. While hurling is very much the second priority in Kildare, they have done a lot of work in recent years and are playing very well in this campaign.
They have beaten Offaly at various levels in the quite recent past, including senior and this is a real banana skin for the home side. Particularly good work has been going on in Naas and Offaly will be very conscious of the fact that the Kildare champions had an easy win over Shinrone in the Leinster Club Senior Hurling Championship last year. That doesn't have any bearing on Sunday's game but it does show the good work that has been going on in Kildare.
The losers will almost certainly play Kerry in the semi-final and there is a real chance of Offaly and Kildare meeting again in the final – though Kerry have been very close to both sides and will fancy their chances.
Offaly have done well to reach this stage with a 100% record. They were fortunate enough to beat Kerry and their win over Carlow was not quite as convincing as the 1-19 to 1-12 final scoreline might suggest. The bottom line, however, is that they are winning their games and every win increases confidence.
It is a big season for Offaly. While there is no evidence yet to suggest that they will compete any better at Division 1 level than they did last year, it would be good to get back up there. To try and bring players on by playing the best teams and players; observing their intensity levels and physicality at first hand.
The real aim for Offaly is the Joe McDonagh Cup. Having failed to reach the final last year, this will be the acid test for Johnny Kelly and his players. They could really do with getting back into the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship and trying to raise the bar as they wait for members of last year's outstanding minors to progress up to senior level.
The league is also important and it will be a blow if Offaly don't get promotion. Going direct into the final is important as it will give players a chance to recover, management an opportunity to do some hard training.
Offaly will be approaching the game in that vein and like Carlow last Saturday and Kerry in their previous game, it is another one that will tell a lot about the players and the way they are going. Offaly are well capable of taking the points.
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