Offaly footballers in bonus territory as promotion looms into sight

PROMOTION will be very much on the table as a live possibility for Offaly when they face Down in their last group game of Division 3 of the National Football League on Sunday next.

The stakes are very simple for Offaly. If they beat Down and Cavan beat Fermanagh, they will be up – if Fermanagh win, however, Offaly will lose out under the head to head rule. A draw in the Ulster clash will also eliminate Offaly.

While their fate is not in their own hands, it leaves Offaly in a very good position going into Sunday's final round.

It has been an extraordinary campaign for Offaly with the sudden death of their manager, Liam Kearns devastating the squad last Sunday week. The Kerry native had made real progress with the players and had achieved Offaly's primary aim of safety in Division 3.

Selector Martin Murphy has taken over as manager for the rest of the season with John Rouse and Alan Flynn as selectors. The Gracefield man steered Offaly to a hard earned win over Tipperary in an emotion fuelled game in Thurles last Saturday.

Offaly rode their luck in that game. It took injury time goals from Ruari McNamee and Anton Sullivan to get them across the line and Offaly could very easily have drawn or be beaten. However, they showed great character to get the win and there were scenes of raw emotion as they celebrated with family and friends afterwards.

It was much more than a mere game of football for Offaly but they now find themselves in with a real chance of a quick return to Division 2.

There is no real pressure on Offaly. While it would be good to get back up and see how they would fare, it is hard to avoid the impression that they are not quite ready for Division 2 football yet. Offaly were blown out of the water by promoted Cavan while they were also well enough beaten by Westmeath.

While Westmeath are a step above Offaly, they are actually out of the promotion race after losing to Fermanagh last weekend.

Offaly will be going all out to win promotion next Sunday but as Martin Murphy said after the win over Tipperary, they also have to keep one eye on the impending championship date with Longford. A league final will take place on the weekend of April 1-2 with the trip to Longford on a week later.

Beating Longford is the main priority for Offaly now and the league is secondary to that. Sunday's game will provide very valuable preparation for Offaly. It looks to be a real 50-50 one and Offaly will watching individual performances keenly.

They have won their last two games without setting the world on fire and there is plenty of room for improvement. They are doing well and it was encouraging to see Rory Egan having his best game for the seniors last Saturday. The Edenderry man was outstanding as Offaly won the All-Ireland U-20 football title in 2021 and this was his first time to truly show that form for the senior side.

Peter Cunningham is on the verge of playing very well at centre half back. He controlled the centre for long periods on Saturday and is so composed on the ball but is making a couple of errors in every game and the challenge for him is to cut these out. He is adapting well to his new role and could be a really big player for Offaly there if he tidies up that side a bit. It would be no harm to see him take on shots when he gets into attacking positions and for a man who has played most of his football in attack, it is strange to see him lacking confidence when he has sight of the posts.

Joe Maher is also improving. He is being taken off in most games but is contributing well in the attack and he offers something different. Dylan Hyland and Anton Sullivan are Offaly's two form players and it is great to see them with such a realistic chance of promotion going into the last round.

They certainly won't fear Down and this is very much a game that can go either way. Promotion is somewhere between possible and probable for Offaly but no matter what happens, they can be proud of their league campaign and look forward with optimism to the championship.