Offaly hurlers wary of Kildare after Lily's shock defeat in opening Joe McDonagh Cup game

FRESH from a potentially season making win over Laois, Offaly will be very wary of Kildare in the second round of the Joe McDonagh Cup on Sunday next.

After long deliberations, the game has been fixed for the Kildare training ground at Hawkfield and this is a factor in this fixture. It should be a definite assistance to Kildare but Offaly won't be paying much heed to where it is being played this week.

Kildare's county ground at St Conleth's Park is closed as they begin a long overdue refurbishment. Hawkfield is in no way suitable for a big inter-county championship game and the Offaly County Board made their views known to authorities in Croke Park. Kildare have stated that they won't be attempting to get any football championship games played in Hawkfield but fought tooth and nail for the right to hold their hurling one there,

A health and safety inspection took place at Hawkfield earlier this week but unusually, Croke Park only released the fixture details on Wednesday afternoon. In 2018, Kildare successfully mounted a “Newbridge or nowhere” campaign to get a big All-Ireland qualifier football qualifer game against Mayo staged at home.

Memories of that may have Croke Park authorities running scared but Hawkfield will struggle to host much more than 1,000 supporters. While the attendance is likely to be considerably less than the league on Sunday, the Joe McDonagh Cup campaign will still attract plenty of interest, especially in Offaly.

All of that, however, won't be entering players' heads on Sunday.

Offaly got off to the best possible start last Saturday while Kildare endured their worse nightmare as they were walloped, 5-23 to 0-19 by Carlow.

Offaly's 3-19 to 1-22 win over Laois really sets them up and gives them a margin of error but they will be absolutely determined not to hand that up against Kildare on Sunday.

It is a very tricky assignment for Offaly and the venue increases the potential of a reverse for them. They are very familiar with Kildare, having drawn with them in the group stages of the National Hurling League Division 2 and then pipped them in the final a couple of weeks ago.

Kildare ran Offaly right to the final whistle in both games and there was almost nothing separating the sides. This made the scale and nature of Kildare's defeat to Carlow so surprising. It really was a bolt from the blue and it came as a serious shock to Kildare's system. They had been playing well and were beginning to dream big but got one hell of a rude awakening in Carlow.

They may have been flat after a busy schedule of league games but even that doesn't explain the poverty of their display. They were absolutely shocking with their defence at sixes and sevens as they went 3-11 to 0-3 down before rallying a bit.

That result and performance, however, is not a true reflection of Kildare and Offaly manager, Johnny Kelly will be scarcely discussing it this week, other than putting his players on high alert for an ambush.

Offaly will also be aware of the possibility of a flat, lifeless performance. Between league and championship, this will be their sixth of seven games in a row and they could do with a break. If they could beat Kildare and then Down before that break, they will be in a very strong position.

They will be expected to beat Down at home on April 22 but this Kildare game has the potential to go wrong.

Kildare are at a crossroads. This game could really knock the life out of them or they could bounce back. This is really a make of break game for them and a second successive defeat would be disastrous for them, leaving them with a mountain to climb in their bid to reach the final. It would really damage their morale and there will have to be a sting in the tail on Sunday.

Offaly's confidence will be booming after a quality second half display against Joe McDonagh Cup favourites, Laois. A defeat on Sunday would undermine the good work done there and this is very much a high stakes game for them.

Kildare's league performances against Offaly is a much truer indication of their ability as a team. Their pride has been badly stung and Offaly will get one very tough battle. At the same time, a defeat like the Carlow one does raise serious questions about Kildare and Offaly are favourites to win.