Ferbane and Edenderry plot big ambushes in Offaly Senior Football Championship
FERBANE and Edenderry will be unleashing all barrells this weekend in a bid to prevent Rhode and Tullamore from qualifying for a fourth consecutive Offaly Senior Football Championship final.
The clubs have met in the last three finals, with Tullamore taking the title in a 2021 replay and Rhode winning by two and one point in 2020 and 2022. Ferbane won in 2019, ending a long 25 year famine with a great win over Rhode, who have played in every final since 2011 when Edenderry beat Clara – Rhode have won seven of those eleven finals.
It is a remarkable record by Rhode and since 2011, ony Clara have managed to qualify for the final outside of the big four of Rhode, Tullamore, Edenderry and Ferbane. Clara were beaten by Rhode in 2017 but have since plummeted down the ladder, suffering relegation twice – bouncing back from senior B in 2021 but going back down again this year.
The semi-finals will be very eagerly awaited and while neutral supporters would love to see a new pairing, Rhode and Tullamore have been the best teams in Offaly by a distance over the last few years and they are the favourites this weekend.
Rhode v Ferbane: Saturday, September 9 in O'Connor Park 5pm.
Ferbane certainly look to have the best prospects of ending Rhode's and Tullamore's run of final clashes.
They have been agonisingly close to getting through since that 2019 win and have suffered the acute agony of defeats on penalties to Tullamore and Rhode in the 2020 and 2022 semi-finals.
At some stage Ferbane's luck have to change and they will win a big game. They are very serious contenders this year, third favourites behind Rhode and Tullamore but with a great chance of going the whole way.
This is a massive game for them. In some ways, it could be a career defining one for some of their players. They are joined at the hip with Belmont hurlers and they have shown what can happen when you keep going close in those big games but don't win one – they went into empty this year and bowed out in the group stages in senior hurling.
Time is on the side of most of the Ferbane players but a couple of their older players may not get over another hard defeat.
Ferbane have been impressive in this year's championship. They played very well in their quarter-final win over Bracknagh, though the opposition did not compete at all that day. They were missing Cian Johnson for that and they have other forwards who can really hurt in Joe Maher and Cathal Flynn. Darragh Flynn has also made great progress in their attack this year and his performances will have been noted by new Offaly manager Declan Kelly.
Ferbane have a strong back bone and real strong characters in their defence with players such as Leon Fox and Ciaran Cahill. They have the players to win a championship and they could do it but this semi-final is as tough as it gets.
Rhode have been very solid this year, doing their business in a very efficient, no nonsence manner. In Niall McNamee, Ruari McNamee and Antn Sullivan, they have three of the most dangerous forwards in Offaly while Aaron Kellaghan is capable of winning games for them.
We have been talking for a few years now about Rhode's great run coming to an end as their older players, Alan McNamee, Brian and Niall Darby, Niall McNamee and others decline and eventually retire, but have always ended up with eggs on faces. They have continued to confound those predictions, retain an incredible hunger and win titles.
Their record is phenomenal and their hunger remains as high as ever. They are marginal favourites to win the Dowling Cup again and they will relish this game. Ferbane do look to have the best prospects of ending the dominance of Rhode and Tullamore but there are doubts about them. Rhode could run out of gas at some stage and it is a possibility for this game. There is a greater chance of Ferbane under performing than Rhode and it should all make very entertaining viewing.
There is a case to be made for going with Ferbane in this one and that is tempting. You can't, however, fully trust Ferbane whereas Rhode are masters at performing. They can break Ferbane hearts again.
Verdict – Rhode.
Tullamore v Edenderry: Sunday, September 10 in O'Connor Park 4pm
The meeting of Rhode and Ferbane provides the greater likelihood of an upset but Tullamore will be on very high alert for their tussle with Edenderry.
Tullamore are definite favourites but this is a real banana skin for them and they will have to be very careful.
Edenderry haven't played that well so far this year. Beaten by Rhode in their first game, they drew with Bracknagh and edged out Shamrocks in the group. In the quarter-final, Durrow were nine points up early in the second half and really should have won.
Edenderry scored 1-7 without reply to win and that was a potentially season changing result for them. Their win showed how hard it is for underdogs to win those type of games, even when they get into a winning position and should advance. There was almost an air of inevitability about the way Edenderry got back into it and then grinded out the result and they go into this semi-final in the almost perfect position.
It would be completely wrong to suggest that they have nothing to lose here. They have an awful lot to lose and the repercussions of a defeat won't be pretty in the town. The players will get plenty of criticism and let no one be under any illusions about what is at stake here for them.
They are in a favourable position in that outside expectations, not to mention many internal ones, about them are low but there is huge pressure on them here. Edenderry haven't performed at their peak and a cloud of sorts has been hanging over them this year – their manager left before the championship with speculation floating around about the role of players in this, and they need to perform now.
Edenderry are here, they have done enough to return to the last four again and they are dangerous. They command respect and there could be a big game in them. It is certainly make or break time for them and Edenderry have the players to go very close here. In Rory Egan, Lee Pearson, Jordan Hayes and Cian Farrell, they have four potential starters on the Offaly senior football team next year. Very few clubs can match that and this quartet means that they have a chance.
Can Edenderry suddenly turn it on, having been so unconvincing for much of the year? That is the million dollar question here and the answers will be unveiled on Sunday.
They come up against a very efficient, smoooth, well oiled machine in Tullamore. While Johnny Moloney has transferred away to Galway, they remain a real juggernaut of a force. Their exciting young players, John Furlong, Cormac Egan, Oisin Keenan-Martin et-al, are back playing and performing very well and they will be very difficult to beat in this year's championship.
Like Rhode, they have performed in a quitely impressive way, qualifying for the semi-finals with three wins out of three and giving the impression that they have another gear in them. They are so consistent, know their system inside out and play to it.
They are at a loss for a real natural scoring forward of the nature of Niall McNamee, Ruari McNamee, Anton Sullivan and Cian Farrell but what they have is a lot of players who score, a spread of scorers that others can't match. Edenderry's prospects of winning depend to a significant degree on a man of the match display from Cian Farrell but Tullamore don't have anything like that dependency on any man.
Maybe there is a big performance in Edenderry and they can produce a surprise. They have that capability but it remains to be seen if football is like a tap and you can suddenly turn it on. It could happen but Edenderry are outsiders on merit and the form book is the only guide we can go on.
Verdict – Tullamore.