By: Mary Dunne
Tullamore Court Hotel Senior Football Championship Group 1 Round 5
Ferbane: 1-18
Shamrocks: 1-11
Ferbane took the first of the semi final placings but they had to withstand a strong second half Shamrocks showing in the final group game of the Tullamore Court Hotel sponsored Senior Football championship.
Ferbane, who were coasting with a sublime opening half performance relied heavily on their margin at the break and while the result may too well never have been in doubt, Shamrocks asked plenty of Ferbane in the second half and in reality it was the Ferbane first half onslaught that won this tie for them.
Both sides will learn an awful lot from this game and while they were still both still in the championship ahead of the throw in no matter the result, they certainly will both use it ahead of their crunch semi final and quarter final clashes.
With a semi final spot still up for grabs, Ferbane took to the field on Saturday afternoon in Glenisk O’Connor Park, Tullamore with one intention on their minds and by the half time whistle they had certainly on foot in the semi finals with a sterling display of football and scoring.
The half time gap was a staggering thirteen points and Ferbane were worth every inch of it. They played some extremely intelligent and open football in the opening thirty minutes and with all bare two their shots scored it was a brilliant return from the 2019 County champions.
Ferbane are physically very strong and their movement both on and off the ball is second to none. They lined up some brilliant moves in the opening half and time and time again they exposed Shamrocks who struggled to keep up with them.
A bye to the semi final will certainly help their chances particularly with ten of the team that started against Shamrocks also lining out on the starting fifteen for Belmont, who have a massive game next weekend as they bid to keep their hurling championship dreams alive.
Shamrocks came into Saturday’s game on foot of a brilliant run. They recorded massive outcomes against both Rhode and Edenderry on route, while being very unlucky not to be closer to Tullamore when they played off and they certainly would have been expected to be a lot closer in the opening half.
They did spring the their Manager and club veteran Nigel Dunne along with David O’Toole Greene on his first match back having got injured against Rhode in the opening round and Paddy Dunican who made the welcome return to the fold after a year out with a cruciate injury.
They certainly were welcomed players for the Shamrocks and with a little more self belief and determination, they did play a good bit better in the second thirty and they asked a lot of questions of Ferbane.
It was a hill they had to climb and they were never going to pull it back, but a good performance in the second half gave them something to work on ahead of their quarter final clash.
Ferbane will not like the way they folded in the second half. They were lording it by the break, but a rejuvenated Shamrocks side certainly made them look very ordinary indeed. They were nowhere near the team that played in the opening half.
Ferbane struggled to get possession and by the end of the second half. Shamrocks pushed up on absolutely everything. The space that they had enjoyed in, in the opening half wasn’t there anymore and they were extremely relived to come out of the contest with the win.
Ferbane were superb in the opening half and by the 8th minute they had marched into a 0-8 to no score lead. Playing exceptional football, they tore Shamrocks apart and once one score came they floodgates opened with some very good shooting.
Paddy Clancy opened the accounts with a two pointer and with the follow up scores coming from Pat Taaffe, Ciaran Cahill, Jake Maher, Cian Johnson and a magnificent two pointer from David Nally the scores read 0-8 to no score after only eight minutes.
Darragh Bryant got Shamrocks off the mark finally on the ninth minute, but with more to come from Ferbane thanks to Eoghan Grennan, Paddy Clancy, another two pointer from David Nally and Cian Johnson the gap was suddenly twelve 0-13 to 0-1 with twenty on the clock.
It was all one way traffic to say the least but with twenty four played Conor Egan landed a fine score for Shamrocks, but Ferbane had even more to come.
David Nally was again put in a tremendous shift for Ferbane and hitting another score he had five on the board for the half.
Cian Johnson was too very much on form. He played so well throughout the hour and every time he touched the ball in turned to gold no more than his twenty sixth minute goal that brought the scores to 1-14 to 0-3.
Johnny O’Toole Greene did have the final say of the half for Shamrocks to leave the half time scores reading 1-14 and a mountain to climb for Shamrocks.
It may well have been a mountain to climb, but Shamrocks were a totally different outfit in the second half asking serious questions of Ferbane in the closing thirty odd minutes.
Their substitutes certainly gave them a lift and wasn’t long until they had Ferbane squandering for possession.
Darragh Bryant like he had done in the opening half, got their first with a superbly kicked two pointer.
Cian Johnson was on the mark twice for Ferbane, either side of a score from David O’Toole Greene and while Ferbane still led comfortably on the scoreboard by 1-16 to 0-7, the game was shifting in Shamrocks favour.
Rightly so too, Shamrocks were playing all the attacking football now. Andrew Delaney pointed and then with brilliant work between Darragh Bryant and David O’Rourke they found Scott Delaney on hand to get the ball over the line with the slightest of margins and with that we had a right game on our hands.
Paddy Dunican who made his first appearance in almost a year landed a superbly kicked two pointer from out near the sideline and with forty eight on the clock the gap was whittled down to five, 1-16 to 1-11.
Ferbane now were the ones who needed a score and who better than David Nally to be the player to provide. He once again was a driving force for Ferbane on Saturday with two late scores he sealed the win. The final scores reading 1-18 to 1-11.
The Scorers
Ferbane: David Nally 0-7 (0-4 TP), Cian Johnson 1-4, Paddy Clancy 0-3 (0-2 TP), Ciaran Cahill 0-1 (Advanced Mark), Pat Taaffe 0-1, Eoghan Grennan 0-1, Jake Maher 0-1.
Shamrocks: Scott Delaney 1-1, Darragh Bryant 0-3 (0-2 TP, 0-1 Free), Andrew Delaney 0-2, Paddy Dunican 0-2 (TPF), Conor Egan 0-1, Johnny O’Toole Greene 0-1, David O’Toole Greene 0-1.
The Teams
Ferbane: Adam Nugent; Pat Taaffe, Leon Fox, James Wren; David Nally, Aron McCabe, Jake Maher; Ciaran Cahill (Capt.), Kyle Higgins; Paddy Clancy, Eoghan Grennan, Brian Carroll; Cian Johnson, Joe Maher, Jack Clancy.
Subs: Darragh Flynn for Jack Clancy (40 mins), Oisin Kelly for Eoghan Grennan (40 mins), Conor Grennan for Kyle Higgins (44 mins),
Shamrocks: Sean O’Toole; Adam Keyes, Gary Hutchinson, Padraig Cantwell; Kieran Dolan, Shane O’Toole Greene, David O’Rourke; Andrew Delaney, Johnny O’Toole Greene; Dara Bates, Scott Delaney, Dan Heffernan; Darragh Bryant, Eoghan Neville, Conor Egan.
Subs: David O’Toole Greene for Adam Keyes (Half Time), Nigel Dunne for Johnny O’Toole Greene (Half Time), Paddy Dunican for Dan Heffernan (Half Time), Michael Lambe for Darragh Bryant (56 mins),
Referee: Kevin Williamson (Tullamore).
By Offaly Secretary Sat 29th Aug
