In-form Tullamore brace themselves for Ferbane sabotage raid
TULLAMORE will return to very familiar territory when they play Ferbane in the Senior Football Championship final in O'Connor Park on Sunday next.
It is a golden era for the county's biggest club and population centre. With a hugely talented array of young players after graduating onto the scene in recent years, Tullamore have been remarkably consistent.
This will be their fifth county final in a row and that type of consistency has only been matched by Rhode in recent decades. They have won two and lost two while the fact that they haven't managed to retain one is one of the most intriguing external tidbits in the back story to this final.
In their long and distinguished history, Tullamore have never competed in five finals in a row and the enormity of the achievement by the current group deserves to be acknowledged.
You can be sure no one in the Tullamore management or camp is talking about two in a row or piling pressure on in that way. The history of all that matters more to their supporters than anyone else, particularly their older ones, but it is something that is being talked about.
For all their recent excellence, promise and the obvious quality of the players they have, Tullamore still haven't retained the Dowling Cup. The reality is there is no one alive who can remember seeing Tullamore win two in a row. They haven't put championships back to back since 1926 but Tullamore will only speak about that if they win on Sunday – and that is a very big if as a ravenously hungry Ferbane come into the final with plenty of their own baggage.
One of Offaly's proudest football clubs, Ferbane have big points to prove. When they ended a long 25 year famine by winning the Dowling Cup in 2019, they looked to have the players to take more. Yet five years on, they are still waiting for their second one and their large support will be travelling more in hope than confidence for this one – they know they can win it but they also know what can happen.
You have to admire this group of Ferbane players for the way they stay on the road and keep coming back for more. Several of them are dual players with Belmont hurlers and between them and Ferbane, they have suffered some seriously heartbreaking defeats in big games in the past few years.
Belmont have been within touching distance of getting to a county final but just couldn't get over the line. Since 2019, Ferbane have been consistently in the top three teams but have only made one final. They suffered two dreadful semi-final defeats on penalty shootouts, losing out to Tullamore and Rhode while they also were well beaten by Tullamore in one.
When they did get over Rhode in a semi-final, performing very well to beat them in an extra time ding dong battle last year, they found an uncompromising Tullamore waiting for them in the final.
Absolutely dreadful rain turned that into a lottery and it was very much a game to forget as Tullamore won a remarkably low scoring one by 1-5 to 0-6. Yet, there was plenty for Ferbane to regret. They were second best on the day and Tullamore controlled long periods but despite not performing, the losers almost snatched a sensational win in the dying moments.
The goalposts are beginning to move in Offaly football. Rhode, such a compelling force of nature for over two decades, are heading into a transition, rebuilding period and this is the second final in a row that they won't be in. Ferbane took them out in the quarter-final this year and since starting their sensational run of dominance in 2004 – they had bridged a 25 year gap when winning in 1998 -, Rhode have never gone two years without competing in the final.
In fact they competed in every final from 2013 until 2022 and that shows just how good they have been. It is absolutely remarkable but as a few of their stalwarts tip into the red, they are facing into a less than certain future. They could very well bounce back next year but as things stand, Ferbane do look to be Tullamore's biggest rivals. Edenderry are very good at giving the impression of being contenders but flatter to deceive and the inescapable reality for them to examine is that they haven't reached the final since they last won it in 2015.
Ferbane have a couple of players in their thirties but their age profile is fairly good and they have so much going for them. While people might talk about Tullamore winning two in a row, Ferbane's need to win this for legacy reasons is every bit as acute. The current group certainly don't want to be one title winners and there is also huge pressure on them here. Another loss in a big game would be a very bitter pill to swallow.
Tullamore's form has been a bit more convincing over the year and they have done everything asked of them but any examination of the results comes with a caveat. With every team qualifying for the quarter-finals, the group stages did not matter – even if clubs treated them more seriously and the games were better than we expected.
The holders have performed the whole way. They didn't do a whole lot more than they needed in the group but they still went out to win and duly won each match. They did just enough to beat Ballycommon, 0-12 to 2-5 in the first round, they were very comfortable in their 3-11 to 1-5 win over Bracknagh and grinded out the win in Rhode, 0-8 to 0-5.
Ferbane stuttered and stumbled in the group. They were surprised by Shamrocks in the first round, 1-11 to 1-10 and they sort of fell over the line in the second round against Durrow, 1-14 to 2-10. They should have saw it out against Edenderry in round 3 when leading by 1-7 to 0-4 inside the last quarter but were pegged back for a draw, 1-8 to 2-5.
On the surface, that result was a poor one for Ferbane as it propelled them into third place and a more difficult quarter-final against Rhode. In the long run, however, it was exactly what they needed and it has served them well.
They finished very well to beat Rhode by 0-12 to 0-10 in the quarter-final and they gained revenge over Shamrocks in the semi-final, 2-13 to 2-7. While there would always be a difference in a team between the first round and a semi-final, the two Shamrocks results demonstrated the folly of this year's format. Shamrocks' wins over Ferbane and Edenderry salvaged the group stages of the championship but no matter what people say about treating every game with full intensity, there was a vast difference in Ferbane's intensity in the two Shamrocks' games.
Tullamore have also raised the bar in the knockout stages. While they were warm favourites against parish neighbours Durrow in the quarter-final, their 1-14 to 1-3 win was much more comprehensive and easier than most predicted. They also played really well in the semi-final against Edenderry and again, their 2-8 to 0-5 win was much more clearcut than observers anticipated.
Playing against a strong wind in the first half, an early Cormac Egan goal got Tullamore going and the manner in which they controlled the game from here on, never giving Edenderry a sniff of it, was very impressive. It all suggests that Tullamore are in very good health at the moment and they also have no injury problems – in fact, one of their stars of recent years, Diarmuid Egan is back in training. Egan hasn't played this year because of injury but has returned to training in recent weeks – the Tullamore management are not certain yet that he will be fit enough, or get the football under his belt to feature, but Egan, older brother of Cormac and a direct running player, is on the way back.
Ferbane have suffered a blow with David Nally going off in their semi-final win with a worrying looking shoulder injury. Nally has missed most of the season after getting injured for Offaly hurlers and had done very well to get back in recent weeks. He came on as a sub against Edenderry and was flying, firing over two high quality points and moving with real method. He would have been a great addition to the Ferbane arsenal but it now looks like he will be out.
Tullamore often get criticised and a lot of this is unfair. People are critical of the way they play football, their focus on retaining the ball and passing it sideways and backways but that is modern football. You have to have a high skill-set, a good footballing brain and the composure to operate in tight areas to play this football and Tullamore are masters at controlling a game, dictating the pace of it.
They demonstrated the full range of this against Edenderry in particular. They went bald headed at Edenderry early on and cut through them for sport. Then when they were in a winning position for the second half, they slowed it down, kept the ball and strangled the life out of Edenderry before finishing strongly to ease over the line. It was a master class in how to win a game and people need to be a bit kinder to them and their players.
Another criticism of Tullamore has been that they don't put opponents away when they have them on the ropes, they sit back and leave the door open for sucker punches. This is a valid one and they have kept teams in it a few times in recent years but there is also evidence of it changing this year. They can grind out results but when Bracknagh, Durrow and Edenderry were there for the taking this year, Tullamore took them out with a degree of ruthlessness.
With the pace they have on their team, the quality of the likes of John Furlong, Cormac Egan and Cillian Bourke, we would all like to see Tullamore attack with a bit more abandon but they are not doing anything that most teams in the country aren't doing and they have developed into a real powerful force to be reckoned with – they experimented with playing John Furlong at centre half forward in the group games this year but abandoned it in the knockout stages and that was a wise course. Furlong is much more comfortable in defence, he actually gets into better scoring positions from deep, even if he doesn't always finish, and his influence from defence in profound.
Ferbane have a good 40 to 45% chance here. They need everything to go right for them or a few things to go wrong for Tullamore but they have the players to win. They have real leaders in some of their most experienced players, Ciaran Cahill, Leon Fox, Kevin Nugent and Joe Maher. Cian Johnson, at one stage the most exciting emerging attacking talent in Offaly, has returned to the starting line up and is scoring well – Padraig Cantwell did a good marking job on him in the semi-final but he has the head for a big occasion. Johnson came on at half time in last year's final and his three points were the reason Ferbane were so close. Tullamore won't need anyone to tell them about the need to keep space very tight in close to their goals.
Cathal Flynn is a key player for them. He was brilliant in the semi-final. Even though he didn't score, his pace on the ball, his movement and vision in passing took the breath away and Ferbane need a huge game from him. Flynn's big challenge at the moment is finding the middle ground on the days when he doesn't click into top gear. At the moment, he tends to be either very good or very average and there have been a few games when he has been taken off.
He needs to develop more consistency but he is a truly exciting talent and if he ignites here, Ferbane will be very close.
Ferbane do need a few individuals to reach for the sky whereas Tullamore don't need this. Tullamore's strength is their collective ability to perform most days. They have some of the best footballers in Offaly, a potent mix of flying youth and ultra reliable older players but they are also masters at every man doing what is required of him. Cormac Egan may excite in a way that very few can in Offaly but they don't have a magical scoring forward up front.
What they have, however, is nearly better. They have so many players than can weigh in with those two or three points here or there. Cormac Egan will always ask questions of defenders, whether starting on the half forward line or racing in deep from the half back line. He can score while Harry Plunkett is having his best year on the Tullamore team, much more consistent in their attack and this is a symptom of an increased work rate. The likes of Dan Fox and Luke Egan can get crucial scores on different days, Cillian Bourke's quality and potential on the wing is apparent to all who watches him. They have Niall Furlong on the bench, Michael Brazil can kick the odd audacious score and they have raiding defenders who can pop them over.
As a unit, they are so efficient in what they do and the possibility of them controlling this game is a real one. They will be patient and Ferbane will have to work very hard to win the ball back when they don't have it.
Ferbane do deserve another title. They have been knocking on the door and been so close. Deserve of course has nothing to do with it and you have to perform on the day. They will click and win one at some stage and this could be it. Tullamore's failure to win two in a row adds to this feeling but we can only go on the form book and what we know. Tullamore are well capable of losing this, Ferbane of winning it but there has been something very compelling, impressive about the way the champions have performed this year. As things stand, we just can't argue with that.
Verdict – Tullamore.