Offaly senior hurlers face must win Joe McDonagh Cup showdown

A DEVASTATING opening round defeat by Laois means that Offaly senior hurlers have their biggest game of the year to date when they welcome Kerry to Tullamore for round four of the Joe McDonagh Cup on Sunday next.

That dramatic late defeat in Portlaoise removed Offaly's margin from error, leaving them dependant on winning their remaining games to be certain of returning to the final.

That is not a situation that Johnny Kelly and players will be one bit put out at and they have recovered well for the first round loss, performing very well in their win over Westmeath and running riot against Meath in Trim.

The visit of Kerry will make or break them with the Munster side emerging as their main obstacle to a final. A great first round win over Westmeath set Kerry up for the season and they followed up with a win over Down before sustaining a 1-25 to 0-18 defeat at the hands of Laois.

Kerry and Offaly are tied on four points and the winners will be odds on to reach the final against Laois. Offaly face a tricky trip to Ballycran to take on Down in their final game but should be able to win while Kerry will be unbackable favourites to beat struggling Meath in Tralee.

Offaly will be more wary of Down than Kerry will be of Meath but Sunday's game is effectively a knockout one, a semi-final of sorts. If Kerry win, Offaly won't be expecting any slip ups from them against Meath to let them out of jail and this one will define their season.

Offaly will be expecting another very tough, high scoring shootout and they will be under no illusions about the possibility of a defeat here. They have lost to Kerry a few times over the years. They beat them by 11 points in Tullamore last year but Kerry have been much better this year and Offaly's one point winning margin in their 2022 win in Tralee is a much more accurate reflection of the gap between the counties.

Kerry beat them by two points in 2019, and Offaly have shown in recent years that they are capable of very flat and subdued performances. They have, however, being playing well this year with U-20 players adding a lot to them while established players such as Ciaran Burke, Cillian Kiely, Killian Sampson and Brian Duignan have been in terrific form.

Offaly know exactly what the stakes are, there is no hiding places for them now and it is all about performing. Even allowing for the Laois defeat, there has been something very impressive about the way they have gone about their business this year. They were very good for 50 minutes or so against Laois and in general, have been playing close to potential the whole year.

There will, however, be bitter disappointment if they don't make the Joe McDonagh Cup final. They need to get there and they will relish another crack at Laois in a Croke Park final.

They won't get that, however, if they don't beat Kerry on Sunday and the stakes are as high as they come here. Offaly are capable of winning and you would fancy them to get the job done. Their form augurs well for them but they will have to perform at optimum to keep their dreams of returning to the top flight alive.