Offaly hurlers round off league campaign at home to Clare

OFFALY hurlers will complete their Allianz National Hurling League Division 1A campaign when they host table toppers Clare at Grant Heating St Brendan's Park Birr on Saturday next at 3pm.

After their heavy defeat to Cork last Sunday, the home side will be hoping to bounce back against the Banner and produce a more competitive performance than they did against Cork.

Sunday's defeat brought Offaly back down to earth again after promising performances in their opening three games against Waterford, Wexford and Kilkenny. There was a lot to be encouraged about in those games, particularly gaining a draw away to Wexford, but it just didn't happen for them against Cork. A number of wides early in the game prevented them getting a foothold in the contest and Cork troubled them when they ran at them, with slick passing movements. The Leesiders managed to open a gap and once the first goal went in they just pushed on.

It was a display Offaly will quickly want to forget about and they will get the chance to put it out of their system straight away when they host Clare on Saturday.

Not that that is going to be an easy task as Clare are currently top of the group and are unbeaten in the league thus far. They began with a good home win over Cork and then went to Waterford and had another good win. They drew away to Wexford in their next outing before recording a three point victory over previously unbeaten Kilkenny on Sunday last.

Offaly were without a number of players through injury on Sunday last and made a number of positional changes as well so maybe that upset their rhythm a bit. They also lost players early in the game and Cork had a lot of options on the bench, who were keen to make a mark when they came in against an Offaly defence that was tiring after a tough day at the office.

On the whole the campaign has been a promising one for Offaly and this will be their last outing before they begin their Joe McDonagh Cup campaign next month, so they will want to end on a good note.

Clare will obviously arrive in Birr full of confidence with three wins and draw under their belts and with an eye on a place in the league semi-finals later in the month. They have been building under Brian Lohan and have reached the last two All-Ireland semi-finals, so they are a well seasoned team. They will pose plenty of questions for Offaly and it will be interesting to see how Offaly will react to last Sunday's defeat and if they are capable of bouncing back and giving a stronger performance again.

After Saturday the focus will be turning to championship but for now, it is a final opportunity for Offaly to show what progress they are making and hopefully with the backing of the home crowd in Birr, they can put on another decent performance to match those of their first three games.