Waterford look for back to back league wins

Waterford and Offaly, the only two unbeaten sides in this year Division Four of the National Football League put their record on the line this Sunday afternoon when the two clash at Tullamore.

The two sides head into the game in fine form.

Waterford are unbeaten having won four games in the McGrath Cup and followed it up with a win over Wicklow at Fraher Field last weekend, while Offaly played three games in the O’Byrne Cup, winning two and last weekend at Ruislip had a four point win over London in the opening round of games.

Like Waterford, Offaly heading into this game have tried out a large amount a players in a bid to get the best team possible on the field of play.

And like Waterford, Offaly will go into the game with a settled looking team.

That will mean that the likes of Alan Mulhall will start between the posts. Daithi Brady, Paul McConway, Joseph O’Connor and Declan Hogan will be part of the backs. In the middle of the field, Graham Guilfoyle and Ruairi Allen could well start while in attack Nigel Bracken, Bernard Allen, Nigel Dunne and William Mulhall are all likely to start.

Waterford too has a settled starting fifteen in recent weeks. Reports going into this weekend’s game suggest that Liam Lawlor is Tom McGlinchey’s biggest doubt, having to leave the game with Wicklow last weekend after 27 minutes.

If the Nire play maker does not make the team it will be a blow to Waterford’s chances. Since his return to the team he has become a vital part of the team being able to play in a number of positions in both defence and attack.

If he is ruled out from the start, then his place could well be taken by either Paul Whyte or Niall Walsh who missed the game against Wicklow but who played in the McGrath Cup.

The management team are unlikely to make any further changes to the team meaning the likes of Stephen Enright, Dean Crowley, Thomas and Maurice O’Gorman, Shane Ahearne, Tommy Prendergast, Michael O’Halloran, Patrick Hurney, Joey Veale and Gavin Nugent will continue.

Bernard Allen and William Mulhall may as they have done all year provide the bulk of Offaly’s scores in this game.

The pair would be expected to start in the corner forward positions for the home side and continue their recent run of form.

Allen is the side’s top scorer in their four competitive games to date hitting 1-15 for his side while William Mulhall has hit 1-10.

The side are able to hit scores from further out the field as well, as Graham Guilfoyle and Ruairi Allen from the middle of the field have kicked scores, while wing back Declan Hogan has also got forward to hit a number of scores.

Waterford have proved consistent through 2015.

Against University of Limerick the side hit 1-16 with nine different scorers, against Cork IT Waterford hit 1-11 and had seven different scorers. Against Cork the side had hit 0-8 with four different scorers and in the McGrath Cup Final against UCC hit 3-12 past the students and had ten different scorers. Last week Waterford put 14 points past Wicklow and had seven different scorers.

Last week Offaly beat London 0-9 to 1-2 in a game that was won pretty but it did produce a steady display.

The win was much more comfortable than the final score line suggests. With a quarter of the game to play Offaly were seven points up, but the concession and scoring of a penalty with six minutes to play meant that Offaly had a tense few minutes to the game at a ground that Waterford know only too well can be a hard place to get a result at times.

Offaly however will not be put out by the winning margin too much as they will know only too well if a side win all their games or even loose one along the way, then regardless of whether they win each game by one point or ten points, they will be in the league final at Croke Park.

If Offaly had a tense few closing minutes last weekend in Ruislip, the same can be said of Waterford.

With less then ten minutes to play against Wicklow, Waterford held a seven point lead but three points in a row by Wicklow made the closing minutes tense for the home side. The concession of a late goal in this time could have made life all the more difficult.

Last week Offaly were without Niall McNamee and Anton Sullivan amongst those that travelled to play the exiles.

If both of these players are involved this weekend, then Offaly will be a much stronger side than they were last week.

Waterford will be hoping that they make the journey to Tullamore with a full deck to play with.

If Waterford can get something from this game, then as others who dropped points last weekend will also drop points this weekend, then the side will be in a good position to win promotion in a few weeks time.

To get something from this game will not be easy. It’s a game that could well go right to the wire. Who will win? Let’s sit on the fence and say that a draw would be a good result for Waterford, a win an excellent result.