Little cause for optimism for Offaly after Newbridge display

By Kevin Egan

It’s hard to make an optimistic case for the Offaly senior footballers, who endured a tough Saturday evening at Cedral St Conleth’s Park, where Kildare won by 3-17 to 0-17.

Not unlike the Offaly hurlers' clash with Tipperary, there were patches of the game that were mildly encouraging, mostly at the start of the second half when a double-figure deficit was chipped down to four points.

By the end of the game, however, it was Kildare who probably left more scores behind them, particularly when it came to goal chances.

Kildare have started the season well and a draw in Omagh was an excellent result, but they aren’t the equivalent of the Tipperary hurlers, or anything like it. Kildare had three 20-year old players on duty, they were shorn of a lot of experience through injury and retirements, and in terms of the physical exchanges and winning primary possession, they were still miles ahead of Offaly.

Mickey Harte and Declan Kelly are trying to work with a host of injuries themselves, but most counties are still four or five players short of full strength for one reason or another, and across the four divisions, only Monaghan have made a worse start than the Faithful County.

Getting relegated wouldn’t be the end of the world, albeit it would be a lost opportunity and yet another missed chance to play Sam Maguire football. But with daunting trips to Omagh and Derry ahead, losing to Cork on Sunday week would leave salvation all but out of reach and the psychological impact of being condemned to relegation by Valentine’s weekend could fester into a very negative environment.

Staying up in Division Two might not be absolutely crucial, but staying in the fight certainly is.