Offaly managers looking to regroup before final two games in push for promotion

OFFALY had to dig deep to come away from Ballinamore with two points after a hard fought win over Leitrim on Sunday but after the defeat to Fermanagh the previous weekend, it was just the result Offaly needed and puts them right back in the thick of the promotion race again.

It was far from easy against bottom of the table Leitrim, who took a five point lead after just eight minutes, but Offaly fought back to lead by four at half time and they had the same margin at the final whistle.

Joint managers Mickey Harte and Declan Kelly acknowledged that Offaly had to work very hard to get the win but pointed out they now have their destiny in their own hands with two games to go, at home to Kildare and away to Clare.

As they had done against Fermanagh Offaly started very slowly and asked his thoughts on that Mickey Harte said it was “the $6 million question. We thought a lot about it during the week and we tried to change up a bit of our preparation for the game and believe we had addressed that and put it to bed but again we started slowly and they got off to a bright start and no matter what team you are playing when you give them a 0-5 to 0-0 start you have a right bit of work to do to get ahead of that. I think we did well to get back and be ahead at half time but we still weren't firing on all cylinders the way we hoped to but look they played a very defensive game and when we gave them that five point lead it was easy to persist with that defensive game. We needed to be opening them up early on to make them come out but we didn't do it and we had to deal with the consequences.”

Declan Kelly said that their aim was to hit the ground running but it didn't happen. “We dropped stuff short as well and we gave them opportunities. We got back into it, which was positive, and we did end up being five points up and you would have been happy with that and gave ourselves a bit of a platform but in fairness to Leitrim, they had a lot of young lads playing and their U-20s are strong and their performances are improving and defensively they were hard enough to break down.”

John Furlong goaled for Offaly just before half time to give them a 1-7 to 0-6 half time lead and Mickey Harte said it was hugely important. “It was critical the goal before half time because we had to work hard to even get our noses in front at all and that was a really good boost to us and a real blow to them as they had held out so well and were probably delighted with where they were approaching half time, so it was a critical score by all means and John Furlong is good at nipping in for those kind of things, he is always on the hunt of a score. It was absolutely essential. If we hadn't had that goal before half time we would have had trouble getting out of here with two points.”

Offaly did have that bit of a cushion but were never quite comfortable and Declan Kelly noted “they then got the goal and brought it back to three and in fairness we got up and got a score or two then to give that bit of a gap again at the end but we missed a bit, our conversion rate wasn't where it needed to be, a bit like last week, so there is a bit of work to be done on that.”

Leitrim's goal came from winning the ball in the middle of the field to start the move. “It was a rare win for them, we won a lot of ball in the middle of the field,” said Mickey Harte. “We won a lot of their kick outs and we won every one of our own in the first half, so it was a rare event for them and it probably caught us a bit cold on that because we had been winning all those balls, and if we didn't win it clean we were winning the breaks, but the other thing about it was that we probably took the ball into the tackle too much during the second half when we really didn't need to and we weren't getting frees easy. I felt a few of our players were smothered a bit and we might have got one or two of them but we didn't get them. We obviously learned late in the game and in added time not to go into those things and we kept control of the ball and we made them do the work and exhaust them rather than the other way around. It took us a while to catch on but eventually we did and we had to be precious with our possession.”

Offaly did control the game after the Leitrim goal and held them scoreless for the rest of the game. “In fairness to the lads they did manage the game well at that stage,” said Declan Kelly. “It was one of those games where after the goal you just needed to get the next point or two and they did that and we didn't cough up the ball after that, considering we were trying to break down a lot of bodies, and we kept possession and you would be happy with that.”

Asked if the result was the main thing and that the performance didn't really matter, Mickey Harte said “well, ultimately it's not the most important thing, but it is important in that you want to be performing well, you want to be giving spectators something to enjoy to look at and the last two performances we didn't really do that. We could have got a draw out of last week's game but at the same time it would be papering over the cracks, we're not just playing as well as we did in the first few games so we have to look at that and try to improve things. The two games left, we're in with a shout at the top end of the table and if we play our cards right we hope to be able to manage that but probably two of the hardest games to come and maybe with the couple of weeks until we play the next game if we can get a few things straightened out, maybe we can regain the confidence we had in the first three games.”

Following other results over the weekend with two games to go, a win in Ennis might be enough to send Offaly up.

Declan Kelly said “you probably would have taken it if someone told you at the start of the year. If it's in your own hands with two games to go, you'd take that. In the division that we are in, teams are taking points off each other, that's the nature of it. There are teams fighting for survival but it's in our own hands at this stage and you would be happy with that.”

Mickey Harte said that they are still dealing with a number of injuries. “They are medium term injuries but none of them were ready today and two weeks won't necessarily mean there will be any of them ready but that's another factor we have to deal with because there are four or five players who would definitely be in contention to start on this team, which is a third of the team, so when you put in a third off the bench that means you're reducing your options and players without the experience that these men have, and that's why these guys are on the team because at this point in time they seem to be ahead of others, so you have to factor that in again and the lads out there are doing a good job in the situation we find ourselves in losing those first team players.”

Overall Offaly are happy with where they are at this stage of the campaign.

“Where we are with two games to go, we are in the promotion hunt, which is where you wanted to be at the start of the league,” said Declan Kelly. “It's what we try and make of it now. Three games on the trot is tough, the nature of the league is very condensed. We have a week's break now to try and regroup again and get ready for the last two in a row.'

“Of course we're happy,” said Mickey Harte. “That's the name of the game. The league is about trying to be at the top end of it. We are at the top end of it with two games to go and if we can make the best of any of the last two games it gives us a fighting chance and that's all you can ask for.”