Heavy defeat adds to ladies’ gloom
by Kevin Egan
Last Sunday’s LGFA intermediate championship game in Tubber was always likely to be a low key event given the clash with the Offaly minor footballers’ All-Ireland quarter-final and there was no obvious reason coming into the game why the team’s dismal run of form was likely to come to an end against a capable Wexford side. Sure enough Offaly lost out by 3-10 to 0-2, only scoring after 48 minutes.
It’s been an incredibly difficult year for all involved, with upheaval on the management side, a host of key players unavailable for selection for a variety of reasons and an unforgiving environment in Division Three of the league and Intermediate championship, grades where Offaly have had to play well to hold their own even when the conditions are much more benign.
At the executive level too, all is far from well, as evidenced by complete inactivity on Offaly LGFA social media pages, and so no information about ongoing games and events. At this stage of proceedings, relegation is not inevitable, but while mathematically, Fermanagh, Roscommon and Down are all in the mix, Wicklow look like the only team that might possibly be beatable in a one-off game for Offaly.
Even then, the eight-point win for Wicklow in the Leinster championship would indicate that Offaly have a fair bit to find if they are to make that happen.
Perhaps more important, however, is the wider issue of how the state of the game has deteriorated so rapidly in such a short space of time, and how that’s going to be addressed in the coming months.
The flagship county team struggling to compete is one thing, but far more important is the grassroots game within the county. Already Offaly has a very small player base, with perhaps half the number of clubs one might expect when compared to similar counties around like Westmeath, Laois and Roscommon.
Relegation can be undone in a year. Players walking away from club teams, either at adult or underage level, because the domestic scene is not thriving, is the type of damage that takes a lot longer to repair.