PREVIEW: Patience needed as Offaly footballers bid to improve in Division 2

THE nature of their opening round defeat in Clare suggests that Offaly are going to find life very tough in Division 2 of the National Football League and they will learn more next Sunday when they welcome Derry to Tullamore for their first home game.

Offaly's loss to Clare was not a surprise on its own but the scale of it raises doubts about their prospects of survival.

Time will tell if Offaly are punching above their weight or not. They did very well to get promotion last year but fate was kind to them as Division 3 was split into two groups because of Covid-19 restrictions. Offaly were in the easier group here along with Tipperary, Limerick and Wicklow.

They did well to win their three games and then secured promotion with a fine win over Fermanagh in the semi-final. Offaly may not have got promotion in a conventional eight county league but that is speculation. They played the hand they were given and they did what they had to do by winning their games.

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Getting promotion was a massive bonus for John Maughan and his players. Even if the results are not what people might like, it is still a great opportunity to get to play against a higher standard of opposition and see where they are in the pecking order.

Patience is needed as Offaly are in a transitional period. Some of their most experienced players are gone for the season. Peter Cunningham is in Syria on Army duty, Eoin Carroll has taken a year out to travel Australia, Eoin Rigney and Cian Farrell are recovering from cruciate operations and Shane Horan has opted out of the panel.

There is talent in Offaly. Last year's All-Ireland U-20 Football Championship win has created new optimism about the future but it will take time for these players to find their feet at senior inter-county level.

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Lee Pearson started in Ennis while Cormac Egan, Jack Bryant and Rory Egan came on as subs. Morgan Tynan and Kieran Dolan were also on the panel and it is good to see these U-20s getting their introduction to senior county fare.

The time of year is not the best for some of them. Conditions were dreadful in Ennis with a strong wind blowing down the field and rain falling almost constantly. Offaly will play better in more favourable conditions and on a harder ground.

At the moment, however, Division 2 looks like it will be a struggle for them. Offaly will do very well to get anything from the Derry game next Sunday. It is a big help to have this game in Tullamore but Derry beat them well in the Division 3 League final in Croke Park last year and they are clearly improving. They started their campaign with a comfortable 1-10 to 0-6 win over Down on Saturday and they will be favourites to move to four points this weekend.

Offaly will have a chance in Tullamore but they need vast improvement from last Sunday and it will be hard to turn this around in a week. There are points there to be won for Offaly and the league certainly shouldn't be written off as a lost cause.

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Down and Meath have the same questions surrounding them as Offaly. They both suffered bad defeats last weekend with Meath surprisingly poor in a 1-14 to 0-6 beating by Galway. Cork were also poor as Roscommon beat them by 1-13 to 0-10 on Sunday. Offaly will have a chance against most teams but they need to show quick improvement.

They will also need to be a bit braver in attacking teams and it will be interesting to see how they perform next Sunday.