Offaly footballers welcome table toppers Meath to Tullamore

OFFALY footballers will draw the curtain on their Allianz National Football League Division 2 campaign when they host Meath at Glenisk O'Connor Park on Sunday next at 1.15pm.

Defeat to Cavan in last Sunday's penultimate round game, condemned Offaly to a return to Division 3 next year after just one season in Division 2. It is disappointing for Offaly to have to drop down a division again but their whole campaign was hampered from the off by injuries to key players and competing at a higher level that was an obstacle that was always going to be difficult to overcome.

On Sunday they will welcome a Meath team which still have a lot to play for as they are very much in the mix for promotion to Division 1 for 2027. They have enjoyed a very successful campaign, winning five of their six games thus far and playing an exciting brand of football that has drawn a lot of favourable comment.

Currently they are joint top of the Division 2 table alongside Cork – the only team to have beaten them in this campaign – and know that a win or a draw on Sunday will guarantee them promotion back to the top tier, so they will be fired up for this tie.

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That means it will be another tough test for Offaly but as their last outing before facing Laois in the Leinster Championship in three weeks time, they will be keen to make a good impression.

Offaly and Meath met in last year's Leinster Championship in Navan and for the first half of that game Offaly were dominant and seemed set for victory but Meath stormed back in the second half and sealed an important win.

Since that day the two sides have gone on a different trajectory. Although Meath went on to end Dublin's long reign as Leinster Champions, they lost to Louth in the Leinster Final but recovered to progress to the All-Ireland semi-final before losing to Donegal. Under Robbie Brennan they have continued to impress in this campaign and are now on the brink of promotion.

In contrast Offaly have lost all six games and are heading back to Division 3. They showed signs against Cavan on Sunday last of improvement and were unlucky not to snatch victory. They scored 3-12 from play in that encounter and with a couple of players coming back into the fold, they will hope that things are showing an upward sign again.

With Meath still needing a positive result from Sunday's game, they won't be holding back and Offaly will face a tough test. Meath have been scoring freely throughout the campaign and if they continue in that vein, they will add to Offaly's misery on Sunday.

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