Big guns to emerge after initial phase of shadow boxing in Offaly Senior Football Championship

PUBLIC interest will be at a minimum for the initial group phase as the Offaly Senior Football Championship gets underway this week.

With all teams qualifying for the quarter-finals, irrespective of results in the groups, the stakes are almost non existent and clubs can afford to gear their training for knockout football at the end of August.

The controversial new format was adopted by the County Board earlier this year and it has gone down like a lead balloon with many supporters. While people will still go to games and teams will still try to win, the stakes are simply not big enough to force truly competitive games and to generate neutral public interest.

As the reality of the format dawns, the decision taken looks increasingly ludicrous and it is very hard to generate any real enthusiasm for the group games.

It gives clubs a licence to cruise through the next six weeks – resting or not taking chances with injured players; allowing players to go on holidays or miss games for reasons such as weddings etc.

It will be very much akin to shadow boxing and while there is a potential reward for finishing high up in the group, this may be very limited. The top team in each of the two groups plays the fourth in the other one with second placing third in the four quarter-finals. While the top team should have an easier game, this may not materialise and it would not be a surprise if one of the so called weaker teams went well and a title contender went through the motions in the group stages.

There is another conundrum about the championship. Under the format agreed, relegation applies with the quarter-final losers meeting in two relegation semi-finals and the losers then meeting in a final play off to decide who goes back to senior “B”.

However, this is up in the air. There is moves to bring the Senior Football Championship back up to ten teams next year. A structures committee was due to be set up in May to examine this and come back with recommendations for October. Depending on what the calendar is for the inter-county season in 2025, they will almost certainly propose a ten team SFC with the Senior “B” Football Championship consisting of six teams in one group.

This system is working well in hurling and there is merit in it but it is not satisfactory that we don't know yet. If this format is feasible, it will certainly be passed by clubs and will mean that there will be no relegation from the top flight while the two senior “B” finalists will go up – the losing senior “B” finalists may have the option of staying in the lower grade.

The championship format has been agreed and no matter what our opinion on it, we have to get on with it.

Group one consists of Tullamore, Rhode, Bracknagh and Ballycommon while group 2 is Ferbane, Edenderry, Durrow and Shamrocks.

With nothing really at stake, there is no need for any analysis of these groups. Suffice to say that all eight teams will be in the quarter-finals and while the finishing positions could be important, they don't really matter that much.

For example, there could very well be a clash of a big gun in the quarter-final and one of the main contenders biting the dust at an early stage. As usual, the top four consists of Tullamore, Rhode, Ferbane and Edenderry and it is very hard to envisage the champions coming outside this quartet.

Tullamore and Rhode are in the one group and one of them could meet Ferbane or Edenderry in a quarter-final.

What you basically have is two competitions within the one championship. A warm up league first followed by a high intensity knockout championship and it is the later phase that people are looking forward to.

Holders Tullamore are the favourites. They have an enviable array of talent, a production line that is delivering another quality footballer into senior ranks in Cillian Bourke this year. They certainly have the players to win a title but history weighs against them. Amazingly Tullamore haven't retained it since 1926 when they won three in a row and this is a huge failing for the county's biggest club.

They have often been very poor as defending champions but this group of players do look to be a bit different. Time will be the judge of that but at the moment, Tullamore are the team to beat.

There are plenty of banana skins on the way. Ferbane, Edenderry and Rhode are all capable of beating them and would love the opportunity of taking them on in a big knockout game.

Tullamore were the better team in last year's final but Ferbane only lost by two points while Edenderry were closer to taking them out in the semi-final. Traditionally, Rhode have been masters at beating Tullamore in big knockout games and the quarter and semi-finals and final will be absolutely compelling.

Bracknagh, Ballycommon, Durrow and Shamrocks are very much the outsiders. Durrow have a lot of good footballers and have the best prospects of producing a surprise and making the semi-finals but a lot depends on how the Ballinamere hurlers are going.

Ballycommon won the senior “B” last year in great style and have enough good players to command respect. Shamrocks have some key players abroad while Bracknagh have a key player in Ciaran Donnelly out of the country and need Peter Cunningham to do a lot for them – though they have plenty of other good footballers.

It is very possible that one from the “second tier” will make the semi-finals – a shock against a big gun is always possible while it is unlikely if the championship will pair off as you would expect Tullamore and Rhode meeting Durrow or Shamrocks and Ferbane and Edenderry meeting Bracknagh or Ballycommon.

If results go as expected, that is the way it will go but it may not be that smooth and that uncertainty is the one big attraction in the group games.

Rhode, Ferbane and Edenderry have equal looking prospects of ending Tullamore's reign. Rhode have a few players near the end of the road but the format suits these in particular and they have the forwards to hurt any team. Both Ferbane and Edenderry have big game players and the ability to beat anyone.

You would expect that the final will be between two of the big four, though it would be a breath of fresh air to see one of the outsiders get through. The odds on that, however, are quite long and Tullamore are deservedly starter favours, even though there are some doubts about them and they don't have a real natural scoring forward in the mould of Edenderry's Cian Farrell, Ferbane's Cian Johnson and Rhode's Niall McNamee.

Verdict – Tullamore.

First round games

Group 1

Ballycommon v Tullamore, Ballycommon on Friday, July 26 7.30pm; Verdict – Tullamore.

Bracknagh v Rhode, Bracknagh on Saturday, July 27 7.30pm; Verdict – Rhode.

Group 2
Shamrocks v Ferbane, Mucklagh on Thursday, July 25 7.30pm; Verdict – Ferbane.

Durrow v Edenderry, Durrow on Saturday, July 27 5.00pm; Verdict – Edenderry.