Footballers struggling for form as knockout stages begin
By Kevin Egan
The nation at large will expect Offaly to come through the Tailteann Cup tie against Wexford with relative ease today (Saturday, Tullamore, 4pm). But it’s hard to share that confidence after another lacklustre performance last weekend in Longford, with the Breffni men winning by 2-25 to 2-9.
It’s no criticism of this group, quite the opposite, to say that they emptied themselves in the Leinster championship. The manner of that defeat to Louth after extra-time, piled on top of the emotional energy that had already been expended towards the end of the league due to the loss of Liam Kearns, took a heavy toll.
Add in the loss of Jack Bryant, Rory Egan and Bill Carroll, and the players were entitled to be very short of positivity and optimism going into the Tailteann Cup – and that now shows on the field.
The resolve and the quality that we saw in the games against Meath and Louth is nowhere to be seen now, and whatever about the meeting with Wexford, extending the season beyond the following week, which would require an away win in either Belfast, Limerick or Navan, is not on the cards right now.
Things can change, but right now, Wexford seem to be in a much better place. Their group form saw them get a good draw away to Fermanagh, play competitively against an in-form Antrim side, and then top it off with a good win over Leitrim.
They’re no world-beaters, but they have a lot of fielding ability at midfield, and some wily heads at either end of the pitch, not to mention plenty of physical strength.
If both sides were at their best, then we’d confidently predict a home win. Right now? Very hard to call.
Offaly team (v Wexford): Ian Duffy; Lee Pearson, Declan Hogan (captain), David Dempsey; Cian Donohoe, Peter Cunningham, Ciaran Donnelly; Conor McNamee, Aaron Leavy; Jordan Hayes, Ruairí McNamee, Anton Sullivan; Cian Farrell, Joe Maher, Nigel Dunne. Subs: Correy White, Bernard Allen, Jamie Evans, Morgan Tynan, Cormac Delaney, Jack O'Brien, Nigel Bracken, Aaron Brazil, Mark Abbott, Luke Egan.