By: Kevin Corrigan
Tullamore Court Hotel Offaly Senior Football Championship Group 1 Round 4
Ferbane 0-17
Tullamore 0-13
Ferbane were full value for their four point win and were the better side on the day by a bit. They had a marked edge in hunger and intensity and while sub Liam Dillane was wide with a gilt edged goal chance for Tullamore a minute from the end of normal time and they may well have salvaged a point had that hit the net, that would not have been a just result.
It puts Ferbane joint top with Tullamore in the group with four points from three games. Rhode will leap frog both if they have an expected win over struggling Edenderry on Sunday evening and it means that the race for the two semi-final places from this strong group is very much up for grabs.
Third and fourth will go into quarter-finals against the top two teams in the weak group and with Tullamore, Ferbane, Rhode and Shamrocks already assured of qualification, results in the final two rounds don’t really matter that much. A semi-final place would be desirable, particularly for dual clubs but no one will be too perturbed at an extra game in a quarter-final and this was all too clear in the way Tullamore went about their business.
It was an uncharacteristically off colour display by four in a row seeking Tullamore. Their energy levels and work rate were well below their usual high mark and Ferbane did not have to set the world alight to beat them.
Tullamore had 27 players named but only introduced one sub and operated off a very curtailed panel. Apart from Oisin Keenan-Martin who was named to start but didn’t feature and Ciaran Burns, all the Tullamore subs have been playing senior “B” – one of them Liam Dillane did come in but Tullamore were crying out for fresh, hungry legs throughout the second half and the fact that they not only ignored this but left Luke Plunkett on the field late on after he got a heavy knock, tells its own story.
Yet it was a very important win for Ferbane, who have been Tullamore’s main challengers in the past three years but have suffered some devastating county final losses. They also beat Tullamore in the Division 1 Football League final and while those results will be in vain if they don’t get over the line in October, the big positive for Ferbane to take away is that they show they can at least beat Tullamore and it will help remove any lingering belief that they can’t.
Neither Ferbane or Tullamore managements will be reading much into this result. It was a fairly pedestrian game for a lot of the way with Ferbane finding an extra gear in the second half to get a win that they fully deserved. Tullamore didn’t really get going and it was a disjointed, occasionally sloppy display. The Egan brothers, Cormac and Diamuid were two notable exceptions and other players had good spells but as a unit Tullamore just didn’t have the fire in their belly.
That doesn’t detract from a solid, decent display by Ferbane who really went after the game in the second half and were able to take the points.
Playing with a slight wind in the first half, Ferbane by 0-8 to 0-7 after a very uneventful opening half. Tullamore looked like getting in for goals early on with Adam Nugent saving well from Niall Furlong in the first minute. Ferbane led by 0-4 to 0-1 after ten minutes and Tullamore got it back to a point on three different occasions. Both sides spurned great goal chances with respective centre forwards Diarmuid Egan and Eoghan Grennan blazing over the bar with the goal at their mercy in the 13th and 18th minutes.
Quick second half points from Jake Maher and David Nally put Ferbane three clear in the second half and they looked likely winners from here to the final whistle. An excellent Harry Plunkett two point free brought the gap down to the minimum in the 35th minute but even that didn’t inject any urgency into the Tullamore.
They were level at 0-12 each after 45 minutes at a stage when Tullamore normally take over but they remained rooted in third gear. Instead it was Ferbane who found a higher level and they got five of the next six points for a 0-17 to 0-13 lead with seven minutes to go.
There was no further score and while Tullamore should have got that 59th minute goal and ensured the three minutes plus of injury time was fiercely fought, they just didn’t seem that bothered – time will tell if there is a new vulnerability creeping into them. With John Furlong still out injured, there could be but it remains as we were in Offaly football with Tullamore still title favourites and Ferbane still the second favourites, despite the absence of Cathal Flynn while their deadliest forward Cian Johnson also missed this one.
MATCH ANALYSIS
THE SCORERS
Ferbane: Jake Maher and Joe Maher (3f) 0-4 each, Darragh Flynn 0-3, Eoghan Grennan 0-2, Aron McCabe, David Nally, Paddy Clancy, Brian Carroll 0-1 each.
Tullamore: Harry Plunkett 0-6 (1 x 2pf), 3f), Mike Fox 0-3, Diarmuid Egan 0-2, Daire McDaid and Luke Plunkett 0-1 each.
THE TEAMS
TULLAMORE: Aaron Hensey; Patrick Kenna, Declan Hogan, Jack Maher; Cormac Egan, Daire McDaid, Luke Bourke; Michael Brazil, Aaron Leavy; Niall Furlong, Diarmuid Egan, Luke Egan; Mike Fox, Harry Plunkett, Luke Plunkett. Subs – Liam Dillane for Brazil (36m),
FERBANE: Adam Nugent; James Wren, Leon Fox, Patrick Taaffe; David Nally, Aron McCabe, Jake Maher; Ciaran Cahill, Kyle Higgins; Paddy Clancy, Eoghan Grennan, Brian Carroll; Oisin Kelly, Joe Maher, Darragh Flynn. Subs – Kevin Nugent for Fox (50m), Jack Clancy for Higgins (54m), Conor Grennan for Cahill (57m),
Referee – Eamon O’Connor, Ballycommon
STATISTICS
Wides: Tullamore – 7 (4 in first round); Ferbane – 7 (3 in first round).
Yellow cards: Ferbane – 2 (Joe Maher, Oisin Kelly); Tullamore – 1 (Jack Maher).
By Offaly Secretary Sat 15th Aug
