Tullamore prove too strong for Edenderry to capture Division 1 Football League title

TULLAMORE have recorded the first success of the season in Division 1 and capped off the weekend with two league titles to their name as they prepare to defend their senior championship crown in the coming weeks.

Brosna Press Division 1 Football League Final

Tullamore 1-14 Edenderry 1-5

Despite championship only being two weeks, Edenderry and Tullamore gave us a taste of what could be in store for this season's campaign, with the reigning Offaly champions coming out on top to secure this season’s Division 1 title in Glenisk O’Connor Park on Sunday.

With both sides hoping to end their league campaigns with silverware, it started off a bit sluggish as neither side managed to create changes within the opening few minutes. A series of hand passes and kick passes finally resulted in the game's first score after seven minutes with Cian Farrell slotting over a free from out on the sideline. Tullamore didn’t panic as Harry Plunkett slotted over the bar to level.

Moments later and a short kick out from Shane Cummins slipped from the hands of Rory Egan and Luke Egan was on hand to to punish, playing a one two sequence with Sean McCabe before burying it into the net, with Ciaran Egan then slipping in Diarmuid Egan for a point to give Tullamore a four point advantage after 11 minutes played.

The Offaly champions were soon in their stride as Diarmuid Egan went on to register two fine scores in 30 seconds to stretch their lead to six and they looked dangerous at any given attack afforded to them. Edenderry needed a score badly and soon got one thanks to Alan Harte’s close range score, their first from play after 18 minutes on the clock.

Cian Farrell kept Edenderry in the contest with another free off the ground, before Michael Brazil’s delightful kick from near 40 yards out gave Tullamore some daylight, but Edenderry responded through talisman Farrell making no mistake with his third free of the half.

Tullamore kept the game under their own control and pace and attacked their opponents constantly through pace, and they went into the half time break adding on another point thanks to corner back Ciaran Burns who started and finished off the move to give his side a six point advantage and leaving Edenderry all the work to do in the second period.

Half time Tullamore 1-7 Edenderry 0-4.

The opening few minutes of the second half saw Tullamore hold complete control of possession not rushing anything but they were soon caught out as Cian Farrell broke his way through a number of tackles before taking the ball around the keeper and calmly slotting it into the net to bring Edenderry back into the game.

The game began to get a bit more feisty with both sides starting to feel the pressure of both holding on and closing the lead, with both blanket defences soon becoming defiant in regards turnovers and possession gained but things all of a sudden became even more challenging for Edenderry as an off the ball hit on Daire McDaid resulted in a straight red card on 43 minutes for half time substitute Sean Doyle.

Daire McDaid soon extended Tullamore’s lead out to four with a high kick in the air landing just over the post, along with Harry Plunkett’s free to afford Tullamore some breathing space. Ciaran Farrell soon followed up with his own placed ball to bring it back to just a four point game.

A series of hand passes and quick movement from Cormac Egan resulted in Diarmuid Egan fisting over his fourth of the afternoon with just eight minutes to play, and soon he had his fifth as he converted a fine kick on the run to leave six points in it and almost guaranteeing Tullamore to be home and hosed.

Harry Plunkett was also in fine form as he side stepped his man before popping over his third of the game to all but finish the game. Tullamore began to just see the game out from there as they went on to secure the game's final two scores thanks to Cillian Bourke and Nigel Bracken who both capped off fine performances from the middle of the park. Edenderry had no answer and soon Chris Dwyer blew his final whistle and Tullamore were crowned Division 1 Champions for the 2024 season and looked impressive ahead of their defence of the championship in two weeks time.

Full time Tullamore 1-14 Edenderry 1-5.

MAN OF THE MATCH

(DIARMUID EGAN): Cillian Bourke and Harry Plunkett had solid outings over the 60 minutes, whilst Paul McConway swept up a heap of ball, while Cian Farrell was Edenderry’s most dangerous player.

Diarmuid Egan was head and shoulders above the rest, as he kicked 0-5, all from play, and was generally the most effective forward all across the pitch. He’ll be hoping to now produce the same performances for the championship season.

THE SCORERS

Tullamore: Diarmuid Egan 0-5; Luke Egan 1-0; Harry Plunkett (1 free) 0-3; Cillian Bourke 0-2; Michael Brazil, Ciaran Burns, Oisin Keenan-Martin and Nigel Bracken 0-1 each.

Edenderry: Cian Farrell (3 frees) 1-3; Alan Harte and Ciaran Farrell (free) 0-1 each.

THE TEAMS

TULLAMORE: Corey White; Ciaran Burns, Paul McConway, Daire McDaid; Ciaran Egan, Nigel Bracken, Oisin Keenan-Martin; Aaron Leavy, Cillian Bourke; Luke Egan, John Furlong, Diarmuid Egan; Michael Brazil, Sean McCabe, Harry Plunkett. Subs. Sean Afolabi Joseph for Brazil (HT); Cormac Egan for Egan (47m); Luke Bourke for McCabe (53m); Jay Sheerin for Egan (57m); Mike Ferber for McConway (62m).

EDENDERRY: Shane Cummins; Eoin Dunne, Seán Pender, Lee Pearson; Rory Egan;, David Brady, Mark Abbott; Jack Brady, Alan Harte; Jordan Hayes, Dylan Byrne, Colm Byrne; Cillian Lowry, Cian Farrell, Adam Mahon. Subs. Conor McCarthy for Abbott (16m); Darragh Farrell for Egan (HT); Sean Doyle for Byrne (HT); Ciaran Farrell for Mahon (37m); Bobby Reynolds for Brady (53m).

REFEREE WATCH

Chris Dwyer refereed the game very well. The red card was the correct decision and no major decisions other than that had to be enforced as he let the game flow.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

Diarmuid Egan’s back to back scores in the 53rd minute were both excellently taken and he showed his quality in those moments to seal victory and cap off a quite fantastic performance from the wing forward.

VENUE WATCH

Glenisk O’Connor Park was in great condition for this encounter. A decent crowd roamed in on Sunday afternoon, and the pitch held up very well and looks in good knick ahead of championship season.

WHAT'S NEXT

The League campaign is now finished for both teams and both will begin their championship campaigns in two weeks.

STATISTICS

Wides: Edenderry 5 ( 2 in first half, 2 in 2nd half); Tullamore 6 ( 3 in first half, 3 in 2nd half).

Yellow cards: Edenderry (2) David Brady and Cian Farrell; Tullamore (3) Harry Plunkett, Nigel Bracken and Cillian Bourke

Black cards: 0.

Red cards: Edenderry (1) Sean Doyle; Tullamore (0).