Louth test looks crucial to Offaly's overall hopes
By Kevin Egan
These should be exciting times for Offaly GAA, with both the county’s flagship footballers and hurlers set to embark on a new adventure in the National League. Both sides will get their campaigns underway this weekend, hoping to consolidate and build on their promotion in 2025.
At the risk of being seen as the wet blanket quenching the fire of excitement, the sense of trepidation and worry in advance of the upcoming spring season in both codes is every bit as palpable as the excitement. Both panels would have to be at their very best to be competitive in the company they now find themselves in and for the footballers, in particular, that’s not where they are right now.
So in the spirit of getting the tougher half of this league preview out of the way first, we’ll start with the big ball code as Offaly get ready to face Louth in Tullamore this Sunday (2pm).
If Offaly were preparing to host the Leinster champions with John Furlong anchoring the defence, Cathal Flynn pulling the strings and opening up opposition defences from centre-forward, Dylan Hyland scoring well, Paddy Dunican driving two-point frees and 45s over the bar, Cillian Bourke adding athleticism in the middle and with the experience of players like Declan Hogan and Ruairí McNamee available to guide the group, there would be apprehension but still plenty of optimism. Instead, all of those pieces are missing, and in Division Two company, that’s a huge amount to overcome.
The O’Byrne Cup campaign was relatively successful in that three games were played where Offaly were tested in plenty of respects. Westmeath ultimately shone a harsh light on the cracks that were there in the group but with two weeks in between the defeat in Mullingar and this Sunday’s game against Louth, that should be the ideal lead-in to what looks already like a decisive fixture.
Marcas Dalton and Ciarán Murphy showed up well while Dan Molloy might have something to offer and Jack McEvoy is getting better and better, even if he still has some work to do with regard to channelling his competitive spirit in the right way at times. There were positives in the January games, but when so many key players need to be replaced, it’s hard to feel like that’s enough to bring the team back to where they were last spring.
The fixture list has been kind to Offaly with four home games punctuated by trips to Omagh and Derry (the pragmatists out there would acknowledge that even with home advantage, winning these games would be a huge ask) and a visit to Newbridge, a familiar venue and comparatively short road trip for most players and supporters.
Louth are also short one or two key players, while it still should be a year or two too soon for the majority of last year’s U-20 successful cohort, so it’s not like Offaly are taking them on hot on the heels of their famous win over Meath in Croke Park.
Nonetheless, the early indications are that the battle for relegation will see Offaly and Louth at the heart of it, both hoping to draw Kildare and Cavan into the mire as well. Each of the other teams have a lot more by way of depth to cope with any additional injuries, and the bar for survival is high.
In ten of the last 12 full campaigns (not including the Covid-shortened league of 2020) one team got relegated with at least five points on the board. You have to go all the way back to 2011 to find the last time a team survived without getting at least five, i.e. getting a minimum of two wins and a draw in seven games. For Offaly to clear that bar, more than a few players will have to step up their game to a whole new level.