Offaly footballers face must win clash against Cavan on Sunday

OFFALY'S very slim hopes of surviving in Division 2 of the Allianz Football League are now dependent on them winning their final two group matches and hoping that Kildare don't get any points in either of theirs.

That simply is the scenario facing the county's footballers as they prepare to face Cavan in their second last group game at Glenisk O'Connor Park on Sunday next at 2pm.

Cavan themselves are deep in the relegation battle as well and defeat to Offaly on Sunday would leave them staring at the trapdoor and facing the drop into Division 3 for 2027.

Effectively it looks like two from the three of Offaly, Cavan and Kildare, will make the drop, although Tyrone are not out of the woods exactly yet, but it would take an extraordinary series of results to see them dragged back down into the bottom two.

Offaly are in the most precarious position with no wins from their five games thus far with Cavan just above them on two points, with one win from their five outings, while Kildare have three points.

Thus Offaly need to win on Sunday against Cavan and the following Sunday against Meath, also at home, to get onto four points and hope Kildare lose both their games. Then even if Cavan won their final game away to Derry to join Offaly on four points, Offaly would be ahead on the head to head between the sides.

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However if Kildare were with win either of their remaining games, away to Derry this weekend and home to Louth on the final weekend, that would condemn Offaly to relegation. Even a Kildare draw would scupper Offaly, either on the head to head between the sides, or in the case of a three way tie with Cavan, on score difference as Offaly currently have the worst scoring difference of the three sides.

All Offaly can do now is concentrate on Sunday's game against Cavan first and see where that takes them heading into the final weekend.

It hasn't been a good campaign for the Faithful County, who have been hampered by injuries to key players throughout the campaign. They began promisingly enough at home to Louth before going down by a five point margin. Defeats away to Kildare and at home to Cork put them very much on the backfoot before they had to make two trips to Ulster on successive Saturday nights and they suffered heavy defeats to both Derry and Tyrone, that supporters will hope haven't done serious damage to the side's confidence.

Cavan would have gone into the campaign with hopes of challenging nearer the top of the table. Under new manager, former star Dermot McCabe, who managed Westmeath in 2025, they wouldn't have expected to be in a relegation battle. They were decidedly unlucky not to win their first two games, going down by a point away to Cork, and losing by two to Meath, late scores costing them on both occasions, but it seemed to indicate they were on the right track. They suffered a heavy defeat to Tyrone in round three before recording their only victory when beating Kildare by three points in their next game. However they suffered a big home defeat to Louth in their last game so are now just above Offaly in the table.

Having had a two week break since their last game, both sides will be eager to try and get back on track again. Both are under pressure and that could lead to a tense game.

After their last two away defeats, Offaly will be glad to be back on home soil again and will be keen to try and get something out of this campaign. This could be their best chance to do that, with high flying Meath the visitors the following Sunday, and a win on Sunday could set them up nicely for that clash.

Cavan will be just as keen to avoid the drop and after a mixed bag of performances will be hoping to produce one of their better ones on Sunday. It could be a nervy contest and whoever keeps their nerve best could be the ones to come out on top.

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