Clare defeat no reason to panic as Offaly face Derry

A lot of the optimism and hope that surrounded the Offaly footballers has dissipated in the aftermath of what was a poor performance in Ennis against Clare last Sunday.

It speaks volumes about the continued respect for “tradition” in Gaelic games that losing this game has been taken as such a blow, despite the fact that Clare are a consistent Division Two side, very mature and ready for winter football, and very hard to beat in Ennis at any time.

A full strength Offaly side, featuring Cian Farrell, Eoin Rigney, Peter Cunningham and plenty more could go to Ennis, play well, and still find it very tough to take anything from the game. To go from 0-5 to 0-1 up after 20 minutes and lead by just one at half-time, while wind-assisted, was poor, but now is the time to work on what happened during this spell.

Offaly’s survival in Division Two of the Allianz Football League, or their potential relegation to Division Three, won’t be decided by the Clare game, or by this Sunday’s fixture against Derry at Bord na Móna O'Connor Park (2pm) either, frankly.

Relegation or survival will be determined by the home games against Meath and Cork, and the trip to Newry. Win two of those, and John Maughan’s side have a great chance. Games like this Sunday's in Tullamore (see below for Offaly team list) would be a nice bonus to win, but even if another defeat is the outcome, the time for panic is still a fair bit away.

Offaly team v Derry:

1. Paddy Dunican (Shamrocks)

2. Declan Hogan (Tullamore)

3. James Lalor (Raheen)

4. Niall Darby (Rhode)

5. Lee Pearson (Edenderry)

6. Johnny Moloney (Tullamore, captain)

7. Colm Doyle (Clara)

8. Jordan Hayes (Edenderry)

9. David Dempsey (Ballycommon)

10. Bill Carroll (Cappincur

11. Anton Sullivan (Rhode)

12. Dylan Hyland (Raheen)

13. Bernard Allen (Tubber)

14. Jack Bryant (Shamrocks)

15. Ruairí McNamee (Rhode)

Subs: Ian Duffy (Walsh Island), Niall McNamee (Rhode), Cormac Egan (Tullamore), Ciaran Donnelly (Bracknagh), Aaron Leavy (Tullamore), Morgan Tynan (Ballinagar), Cian Donohoe (St Brigid's), Cathal Donoghue (Kilcormac-Killoughey), Joseph O'Connor (St Rynagh's), Kieran Dolan (Shamrocks), Rory Egan (Edenderry).