Pressure free Tullamore set sights on ambushing crack Dublin outfit

WITH a very heavy, burdensome monkey finally removed off their backs, Tullamore will be able to approach Saturday's Leinster Club Senior Football Championship semi-final in Parnell Park with a sense of freedom.

Cuala will be fairly hot favourites to advance but Tullamore are in an ideal situation to a considerable extent. It would be very wrong to suggest that they have nothing to lose, that is not the case at all but they are in bonus territory with no real expectations surrounding their prospects – even in their home club and town.

There will be optimism that they can reach the Leinster club final for the first time but the repercussions for a defeat here are all internal rather than external.

It has been a great year for Tullamore and they have achieved two very significant and important objectives. They have retained the Offaly Senior Football Championship for the first time since 1926 and they won their first Leinster club game since 1977.

While the Tullamore camp adopted a “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil” approach when asked about these twin failures in recent years, they were a considerable problem for them. Manager Niall Stack understandably took evasive action when questioned about both but was more forthcoming about them when he spoke about them after their quarter-final win over Tinahely.

“If I'm honest, yes. It is something actually club members and supporters carry a lot. It is something that is thrown at us locally and stuff,” Stack admitted.

Now they find themselves in new territory. A Saturday night floodlit fixture in Parnell Park is not ideal but Tullamore will relish the challenge. Their win over Tinahely in the last round was a huge one.

There was huge pressure on them for that one and a defeat would have been a disaster. They performed well to win and controlled the game for long periods. It was a decent display and while Tullamore won't need anyone to tell them that it won't be enough to beat Cuala, they are approaching this one from an entirely different place.

Any team that wins in Dublin is a very good one and Tullamore won't need any introduction to their star players. Their best known players are centre half back Mick Fitzsimons and one of the best forwards in the country, Con O'Callaghan.

Con's brother, Niall O'Callaghan had a sensational game in their quarter-final win over Naas and Cuala will play a very composed brand of football, breaking the line at pace.

Tullamore have a good outside chance. Naas were not far away from Cuala in the quarter-final and Tullamore should have beaten the Kildare side two years ago. That suggests that they could pull off an upset and Cuala are a long way from unbeatable.

The first challenge for Tullamore is to be competitive heading into the closing quarter, to be either ahead or at least within touching distance. You can be certain they will give it a go. Tullamore have been often criticised within Offaly for playing a defensive brand of football but they have certainly thrown off the shackles in recent times.

The Offaly final against Ferbane was a very entertaining game and Tullamore also went at Tinahely when they needed to the last day, opening them up and getting in for good scores. There are doubts about Tullamore. They do have weak-links and as you go up the levels, their second or third tier of players will find the going that bit tougher. They have a lot of star quality and they need John Furlong and Cormac Egan to fire fully.

Cormac's older brother Diarmuid Egan has returned from injury and he has enhanced their attacking threat. The continued emergence of Cillian Bourke has really strengthened Tullamore and his display around the midfield zone will be crucial.

The Tullamore defence has looked unusually vulnerable at times in recent games and the Cuala attack will give them their biggest test yet. We can be fairly sure that Tullamore will perform and they should be competitive. It will take a huge display to get the win and that is possible but even if it doesn't happen, Tullamore have achieved their main goals for 2024.

Verdict- Cuala.