Improving Offaly set sights on bonus win over Roscommon

WITH their confidence flying after a fantastic win in Down last Saturday, Offaly will welcome Roscommon to Tullamore for their latest National Football League game on Sunday with a lot more hope than they would have held just a short few weeks ago.

National Football League Division 2 preview

Survival is now a very achievable target for Offaly who have really turned things around in Division 2 after a very poor start, in which they looked out of their depth at the higher level.

Offaly had been well off the pace in their opening defeats by Clare and Derry but they have kept working hard, kept trying to do the right thing and it is now paying off.

At the moment, Offaly are out of the relegation zone with three points from their two games – Down and Cork are both below them on one point, and they face Cork at home in their final game on Sunday week.

It leaves Offaly in the happy position of having their fate in their own hand – a win against Cork in that last game should be enough to keep them up. Cork and Down meet this Sunday in Cork while Down are at home to Clare in their last game.

Meath are not out of the woods yet. They had their best performance of the campaign when beating Cork last Sunday and are on four points – they are away to Clare and at home to high flying Derry in their last two games.

Clare are also on four points while the promotion race is down between Galway (10 points), Derry (9) and Roscommon (8).

Roscommon are at home to Galway in their final game and their visit to O'Connor Park is an absolute must win for them – Galway are in Derry this Sunday and it is all very tight at the top of the table.

The Connacht side are definite favourites on Sunday. They have performed very well in the league to date, beating Cork, Meath and Down and drawing with Clare and Derry. They have performed at a higher level than Offaly in recent years and they are hungry for Division 1 football.

After their opening losses to Clare and Derry, most Offaly supporters would have written off the Roscommon game as a certain defeat and focussed on the games against Meath, Down and Cork.

They deserve huge credit for managing to steady the ship after those first two defeats. Their confidence was damaged but they got their act together, getting their first point at home to Meath – Offaly were very unlucky not to win that day as Meath's equalising goal came almost at the end of five minutes of injury time. While Meath had created goal chances earlier on, Offaly played well enough to win and they were gutted at having victory snatched from their grasp.

They followed that up with another encouraging display in a 2-17 to 3-10 defeat in Galway. It was not as close as the final scoreline suggests. Offaly's last goal came from a retaken Anton Sullivan penalty in injury time and Galway never truly looked like losing once they opened daylight during the second half.

It was still a very satisfactory showing by Offaly. 3-10 was a good return and it was nowhere near the bad beating that many feared. The performance also did Offaly a lot of good and it set them up for last Saturday's trip to Newry.

While Offaly lost their way for an extended period in the second half, finding it very hard to get on the ball, it was another encouraging display. They did well to hang onto Down's slipstream as they opened up a 0-14 to 0-11 lead with a few minutes remaining. The game did look to be slipping from Offaly but they staged a sensational late snatch and grab raid, getting four points for a 0-15 to 0-14 win.

Their confidence will be much higher now for the conclusion of the campaign and Offaly will be aiming to give Roscommon a real run for their money on Sunday.

Even if Offaly do go down, they will do so with their heads held high now. They have shown that they can compete at this level. It has taken a few games for members of the All-Ireland U-20 winning side to settle in at this level but they have adapted. More will come on line next season and it would be great for the young players if they are playing in Division 2.

A draw or a win on Sunday will really enhance Offaly's survival prospects. You couldn't put a lot of money on that happening but Offaly are in bonus territory to an extent here. A defeat will be greeted with great disappointment by all involved but it is the outcome most will be expecting.

Offaly will approach the game in the belief that they can get something from it. Roscommon are far from unbeatable, Offaly will be aiming to be competitive and see where that brings them. They are underdogs but an upset is very possible, especially in Tullamore.