Offaly begin Leinster MFC campaign with home local derby

OFFALY will get their campaign in the Leinster Minor Football Championship underway this Saturday when Kildare travel to Tullamore.

The game has a 12 noon throw in and Offaly will be hoping to get off to a winning start. The championship is being played on a round robin basis this year with three groups – Offaly have been drawn in group 2 with Kildare, Longford and Meath.

Three teams will qualify for the knockout stages with the group winners going into a semi-final, the runners-up into a quarter-final and the third placed team playing a preliminary quarter-final.

It gives Offaly plenty of margin for error and one win could get them through but they will want to come flying out of their group.

It is difficult to know what to expect from Offaly but underage football has improved significantly in the county in recent years. Offaly won the All-Ireland U-20 Football Championship in sensational style last year while they were very close to beating Meath in the 2020 Leinster minor football final, which was played last year.

They were well beaten by Dublin in the 2021 Leinster Minor Football Championship, but with some schools teams going well and a lot of promising talent coming up from underage development squads, Offaly can go well at this level.

They have a busy schedule in the next month and their last two games are away in Meath on April 2 and Longford on April 20. Saturday's game will give a clear indication of the quality of team Offaly have and they will be anticipating a very stern challenge from Kildare.