Crucial games for Offaly as Meath and Clare come to town

Kevin Egan Column

It’s impossible to overstate the importance of this weekend’s two games in Tullamore, when both the county senior footballers and hurlers face games that, while not quite “must win”, are still fixtures where defeat will leave no room for error in the fight to avoid relegation.

Right now, on paper, the clash with Meath on Saturday (2.30pm) looks like the most winnable of all the seven fixtures on the schedule for John Maughan’s side. The Royal County will always have a formidable reputation, but there is incredible turmoil in the group at the moment, with none of the traditional strengths that one would associate with Meath football on display.

You think of Meath football and you think of legendary, physical players on the edge of square like Darren Fay, Mick Lyons and Jack Quinn. You think of towering midfielders in the mould of John McDermott or Gerry McEntee, and fearsome inside forward combinations, whether Stafford, Flynn and O’Rourke, Murphy and Geraghty, or even in recent years when Joe Sheridan, Stephen Bray and Cian Ward all racked up plenty of scores, it was rare that a Meath team didn’t have at least some of these characteristics.

So far this year Meath have played three games, and in each of those three games, their starting inside forward line score twice from play between all three of them. They have struggled badly at midfield, where Pádraic Harnan is lacking fitness and Ethan Devine hasn’t been the replacement for Bryan Menton they’ve needed, and both Ronan Ryan and Jordan Muldoon have been tried at full-back, with neither putting in a strong claim to make the number three jersey their own.

Now obviously, given current form, it would be just as easily for the Meath Chronicle or a similar publication to pick holes in Offaly’s current form, though no doubt when they go printing this out to put it on the Meath dressing room wall, they’ll run the scissors above this paragraph.

Adjusting to life in the second tier of the national football hierarchy hasn’t been easy, and not getting a run out against Galway last week – even if it almost certainly would have ended in the third successive defeat – would have been a welcome further piece of education in advance of what is a really important exam on Saturday.

And that is how Offaly have to treat this game. To take points from either of the first two matches would have been a huge bonus, but they could have played really well and still come away with nothing. Meath’s confidence is also fragile, they are deeply uncertain of their best team and deeply uncertain if they have the right management team in place at the moment, and Offaly need to attack that.

It's been notable in this year’s league, particularly the last game against Derry, that the better teams are making life easier for their defence by controlling possession, retaining the ball and putting the opposition on the back foot. The old adage that the best defence is a good offence is the way that the best football teams currently play, and Offaly have the natural flair in the group to bring that spirit to life against Meath.

Free hit for Offaly hurlers against Clare

Clare manager Brian Lohan might be in his first inter-county management gig but he has been around the block on the club and college scene, and he’s a shrewd operator. He won’t say it out loud, but he’ll understand the importance of Sunday’s trip to Tullamore (throw-in 2pm) for his hurlers, as it’s the one game of the spring that he needs to win.

Realistically, it will suit Clare just fine to go into the Munster championship rated as the outsiders of five, and given Tipperary’s recent win over Kilkenny, that is now how they will be perceived.

What he won’t want is a relegation final against Laois or Antrim complicating matters, and if Offaly somehow managed to pull off a win at Bord na Móna O’Connor Park, that would be exactly what would be on the cards for the Banner men.

Not unlike the footballers, Michael Fennelly’s side have played two games that they were never going to win, but now they face a game where it will be vitally important to put those lessons learned in Salthill and in Birr into practice.

What sort of team Clare bring to the midlands remains to be seen.

Tony Kelly, Cian Galvin and Shane O’Donnell are all on the road to recovery and while Lohan’s priority will remain the Munster championship and ensuring none of those players (particularly Kelly) get any setbacks before then, he’ll be sorely tempted to bring all his artillery into the battle in Tullamore to make sure they don’t get tripped up. The memory of last year’s league defeat in Belfast still looms large in the Clare psyche, and under no circumstances will they want to open themselves up to a similar possibility in 2022.

This has to be Offaly’s trump card this week. Playing the role of underdog is something every hurler and footballer loves to do – but conversely, playing the role of vulnerable favourite, where everyone expects you to win but losing would be a catastrophe, is not enjoyable at all.

The longer Offaly can keep this game competitive, the more nervous that Clare will become. If the 60-minute mark is passed and there’s still just a couple of points in it either way, anything can happen. Sure, Clare might get a psychological boost from seeing one of their big names come off the bench to rescue the day, but the other side of that coin is that it will be a clear signal to the players on the field that management thinks they’re in trouble and need help.

It's up to Offaly to sow that seed of doubt, and to harvest the crop that follows.