By: Kevin Corrigan
Tullamore Court Hotel Senior Football Championship Group 1 Round 1
Tullamore 2-23
Edenderry 1-11
With a strong wind almost propelling them forward, Tullamore were unstoppable as they ripped Edenderry to shreds, outscoring them by 2-17 to just 0-3 in the second half. Their score taking, attacking football and their overall competency all over the field took the breath away after a patchy, disjoined first half display.
It was a real statement of intent by Tullamore and Edenderry just did not know what hit them in the second half. When we saw the two teams in the programme and the make up of a new look Edenderry team, we knew that a Tullamore win was fairly certain but no one expected the scale of it.
You certainly couldn’t foresee a fifteen point winning margin at half time, even though the writing was on the wall for Edenderry at that stage and a five point lead was never going to be enough.
Edenderry did well in the first half and manager Peter Brady will take some positives out of that. They worked hard and moved reasonably okay but even though they were playing with the wind, they were swimming into the tide at the same time.
Tullamore led by 0-4 to 0-3 after 13 minutes without getting out of third gear and Edenderry did well to lead by 1-8 to 0-6 at half time. Despite that lead, the warning signs were there as six of their tally their tally came from two pointers that were extremely unlikely into the wind – though Diarmuid Egan had got a great one for Tullamore in the 13th minute.
Their penalty goal was also a very fortunate break as the otherwise outstanding Diarmuid Egan handed it to them on the plate – firstly he gave a wayward pass straight to an Edenderry player and as he chased back to try and retrieve his error, he cut Cian Murphy down in the 24th minute and Murphy blasted the penalty to the net.
Tullamore were a bit sloppy in the first half. They played a lot of steady and contained football but also gave a few wayward passes and coughed up possession. At the same time, they could have had two goals as Declan Hogan was wide with a 17th minute chance and Mark Abbott got back to deny Aaron Leavy just before half time with a fantastic goal line save.
A five point lead should have made Edenderry competitive into the closing quarter. Instead, the game was gone from them within five minutes of the restart as Tullamore ate them alive. Early Mike Fox and Luke Plunkett points got them going and then the two pointers started to flow, Nigel Bracken, Harry Plunkett – a huge free from over 50 metres – and Aaron Leavy sent them over as Tullamore stormed into a 0-14 to 1-8 lead by the 34th minute.
Four minutes was way too early for Edenderry to be behind and Tullamore went for the jugular. Harry Plunkett tapped home a 35th minute goal after Niall Furlong had initially lost the ball and all of a sudden the game was over.
Tullamore were 1-18 to 1-8 clear by the 38th minute and at the risk of being repetitive, it is worth stressing that they had scored 1-12 without reply in eight minutes, representing a huge fifteen point turnaround. That type of football and attacking instinct commands absolute respect and Edenderry only lifted the siege thanks to a careless three man breach by Tullamore – a tendency to flirt with three man breaches was the only negative for Tullamore and they will have to sort out their communication in this regard.
Goalkeeper Stephen McGlynn got Edenderry’s first second half point from a 44th minute free but it was a hard watch for the home support – with their county stars powerless to stop Tullamore in the second half, Edenderry are clearly in a rebuilding phase. They only got three points in the second half and their only one from play, courtesy of Cian Murphy was in injury time. Tullamore eased off a bit in the closing quarter but retained a vice like grip on the game, adding a second goal from a Harry Plunkett penalty after the very lively Luke Plunkett was fouled.
MATCH ANALYSIS
THE SCORERS
Tullamore: Harry Plunkett 2-6 (1 goal from a penalty, 1 x 2pf, 1 x 2p, 1f), Diarmuid Egan 0-4 (1 x 2p), Luke Plunkett and Nigel Bracken (1 x 2p) 0-3 each, Aaron Leavy (2p) and Mike Fox 0-2 each, Jack Maher, Niall Furlong and Luke Bourke 0-1 each.
Edenderry: Cian Murphy 1-4 (goal from a penalty, 1 x 2p), Stephen McGlynn 0-3 (1 x 2pf, 1f), Jordan Hayes (2p) and Kaelem Bryan (1f) 0-2 each.
THE TEAMS
TULLAMORE: Aaron Hensey; Declan Hogan, Patrick Kenna,Ciaran Burns; Diarmuid Egan, Cormac Egan, Jack Maher; Michael Brazil, Aaron Leavy; Nigel Bracken, Niall Furlong, Luke Egan; Mike Fox, Luke Plunkett, Harry Plunkett. Subs – Luke Bourke for Leavy (43m).
EDENDERRY: Stephen McGlynn; Darragh Farrell, Callum Dunne, Lee Pearson; Eoghan Cullen, Dylan Byrne, Harry Goulding; Jordan Hayes, Rory Egan; Mark Abbott, Cian Murphy, Cillian Lowry; Mason Farrell, Aaron Murphy, Kaelem Bryan.
Referee – Eamon O’Connor, Ballycommon.
STATISTICS
Wides: Tullamore – 9 (3 in first half); Edenderry – 8 (4 in first half).
Yellow cards: Tullamore – 1 (Diarmuid Egan); Edenderry – 0;
Black cards: 0
Red cards: 0
By Offaly Secretary Sat 4th Jul
