Window of opportunity opens up for Offaly footballers

A GREAT window of opportunity has opened up for Offaly in Division 3 South of the National Football League.

John Maughan's charges made the start they needed with a reasonably comfortable 1-14 to 1-10 win over Wicklow in Aughrium last Sunday and Limerick come to Tullamore next Saturday for round 2.

While Limerick's confidence will be flying after a surprise 1-13 to 0-14 win over Munster champions Tipperary last weekend, it still represents a real chance for Offaly to take a giant step towards the semi-finals.

With two teams going into the semi-finals from a four team group, Offaly are in a good position. It is possible for three teams to finish on four points in this group and for scoring difference to dictate who goes through but a win on Saturday will put Offaly in pole position.

Offaly's confidence will also be high after Sunday's win. They played particularly well in the first half as they led by 1-9 to 1-3 at the break. The pace that Offaly played with and hunger they displayed was noticeable as they took on Wicklow at every opportunity once they settled into the game.

Offaly weren't as good in the second half but their victory was never under real threat. Wicklow did get the gap back to three points late on and it could have went wrong for Offaly at this stage but they got the crucial scores they needed for a deserved win.

It was an encouraging start by Offaly, a definite step in the right direction, even if Wicklow had come out of Division 4 and were quite mediocre on the day. Offaly worked very hard and played with real honesty. Their performance wasn't perfect and they struggled in the second half. Offaly were a bit more cautious on the ball in the second half but their all action first half style also took a physical toll and they did appear to tire a bit as the game wore on.

They still got the job done and it was a crucial win for them. Offaly had produced a surprise when they named David Dempsey at centre half forward in their starting team. The Ballycommon man has played most of his football in defence and he played well in his new role. Dempsey was good on the ball and he injected plenty of pace into it as he took on his man created plenty of openings. He is likely to play there again on Saturday and Offaly are likely to go with the same starting team.

Cappincur's Bill Carroll made his senior debut and did enough in the second half to keep his starting place. It took him a while to get up to the pace of the game but once he did, he looked good. Offaly also gave games to other young players, Rory Egan and Jack Bryant but they won't be starting many younger players as they go with experienced teams at the moment.

Offaly have a particularly potent attack. Niall McNamee and Cian Farrell came off the bench late on in Sunday's win and Offaly possess a real scoring threat up front.

They will be fully respecting Limerick. While Limerick have also come out of Division 4, they almost beat Tipperary in last year's Munster championship. Tipp of course went onto win a famous title and their win last weekend shows that Limerick's display against them was no fluke.

While hurling is on a big high in the Treaty County, they have strong footballing areas and have plenty of good players. They will fancy their chances in Tullamore but it still represents a great chance for Offaly to make a significant move towards the knockout stages and it will be very disappointing if they can't grasp the opportunity.

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