The Kevin Egan Column

Offaly’s new found ability to finish strongly proves key

THE recent hugely impressive victory over Tipperary may have extended Offaly’s Allianz Football League season by three weeks. But since the one remaining game against Limerick in the Division 4 final is without question the least important of all eight league fixtures, already it’s reasonable to use this week’s column to look at the whole campaign in review. 

For the players involved, playing at Croke Park is always a nice experience and it would be good to have medals to show for their efforts as well. However these “showpiece” occasions tend to offer more opportunities for experimentation to management teams than the round robin ties, where a single bad result can be incredibly costly.

In terms of the positive aspects, without doubt the most encouraging aspect for most supporters was the sight of Offaly teams competing right up until the final whistle, in most cases outstaying their rivals with a demonstrably good level of fitness. Several management teams in recent years have been unable to get Offaly up to a level where they are still going strong in the latter stages of matches, but each of Offaly’s four victories against Leitrim, Carlow, Waterford and Tipperary came about after the result was very much in doubt with five minutes to play. Coming away with two or three victories in that situation could be attributed to either luck or good competitive instinct, but winning all four would suggest that it was no coincidence and that this group of players have finally found a level of fitness that gives them an edge – at least at this level of competition.

Of course, Kildare will be a completely different type of test in that regard; however, all progress is incremental and having taken this step, the panel are in a much better position to build on their success in the coming weeks and prepare for their Croke Park examination in June.
Almost as encouraging for Offaly supporters were the visible defensive improvements that were put in place. Any neutral supporters that made the trip to O’Connor Park last Sunday would not have enjoyed the conservative style that was employed by the home team. However it would be foolish to ignore the fact that Offaly ended the round robin section of the league with just four goals conceded. One of those was in a topsy-turvy finish against Carlow; in Ruislip a penalty was conceded before the players had a chance to draw breath; while Tipperary’s goal last Sunday was contentious at the very least.  Bad breaks will happen and concentration must be maintained in the opening and closing minutes, but the concession of one goal per 100 minutes of football is good going, all the more so in a panel where it could be argued that with the exception of Brian Darby and possibly Seán Pender, no player had really established themselves as a guaranteed starter in defence over the past few season.

Above all, this league campaign marked a return to form for many key players who hadn’t lived up to their ability or potential in recent years. Alan McNamee had his best game in several seasons last Sunday, competing aggressively in the air and making tackles on the ground, while Ken Casey followed up his stellar performance in Waterford with a much more subtle but equally impressive outing up front. Astute running lines and excellent decision making on the ball ensured that he was quite effective even when outnumbered, a vitally important aspect of forward play when a team chooses the tactical approach of dropping players back into defensive positions. 

The speed with which Emmet McDonnell and his selectors have made substitutions has been a constant topic for discussion and, as long as players don’t get disheartened by such moves, this is to be encouraged as well. In any strong panel it would stand to reason that there would be little to call between the player who gets the nod to start and another player who might have narrowly missed out. Equally games can develop on unexpected lines, where a different skill set is required – this was most apparent in Waterford, when Joe Maher’s early withdrawal came about purely for tactical reasons rather than any poor play from the young attacker.

However, while substitutions after twenty minutes have been frequent, substitutions midway through the second half to replace tired legs haven’t been as commonplace and this is one area which will be critically important against a team of Kildare’s physical power and stamina. Against Tipperary, fourteen of the players that started the game were still on the field as the game entered the 68th minute of play – a startling statistic in the modern era, when so much running is asked of players.

Another concern that may need to be addressed in advance of the Leinster championship is the very deep defensive stance that has been put in place. Historically, 80% of football scores come from within thirty metres of goal and in division four in particular, defending the “red zone” effectively is the key to success. This was particularly the case when taking on Tipperary last week as the Premier County had to get the ball in very close to goal before they were willing to shoot.

However, as the standard of opposition improves, it will become less and less viable to concede possession forty metres from goal. Chances are that if a team has a range of players that are able to kick scores from range, they don’t play their spring football in division four. Division one teams, in contrast, are well able to capitalise if the opposition isn’t able to get real pressure on the ball further out the field. 

None of this however is to detract from a highly successful spring campaign, where the team produced their best and most polished performance when it mattered most – in a do-or-die game. Their Croke Park reward now awaits.
On a final note, it’s likely that the Limerick county board will make a submission asking for the Division four final to be moved to an alternative time and possibly an alternative location, to avoid a clash with Munster’s Heineken Cup semi-final. If it were the case that there were an extra thousand supporters likely to travel at a different time, a real case could be made for this – however Limerick’s footballing support base is very small and the number of supporters who would travel to Dublin at a different time are negligible.

There is a huge competitive advantage to Offaly in getting a game at the same time of day and on the same day of the week as their Leinster championship game with Kildare. This should not be conceded if at all possible.