Former Offaly footballer stars as Gracefield gets crucial SFC “B” win

FORMER Offaly footballer Ruari Allen put in a storming performance as Gracefield got a crucial win in the Tullamore Court Hotel Senior “B” Football Championship on Saturday night.

Allen, home for a few weeks from Australia where he has lived and worked in recent years, dominated as Gracefield got a great boost with a 1-17 to 2-11 win at home to Ballycumber.

With Gracefield and Ballycumber both well beaten in the first round, by Tubber and Clara, respectively, this was an early must win game for them and Gracefield were delighted to get the result after a tough battle.

They led by 1-6 to 0-7 at half time thanks to a Ruari Allen goal and were able to extend that margin slightly in a closely contested second half. Comparatively quiet in the first round loss, the extra couple of weeks training and match practice worked the oracle for Allen and Gracefield and he was very much the difference between the teams.

Allen played a lot of good football for Offaly from 2013 to 2017 and his departure to Australia after that was a big blow. Walsh Island man Brian Connor went to New York after the 2013 Leinster Senior Football Championship and with Allen following him abroad a few years later, Offaly were deprived of the services of two of the most physical, strongest footballers in the counties – they could have formed a very effective midfield partnership.

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Allen has returned home for fleeting appearances for Gracefield in recent years and his availability in the early rounds of the championship is a great asset to their prospects – they don't expect to have his services for all of the group but if they do make the semi-finals, they would have to make efforts to get him back home. Allen has played football regularly in Sydney but that does not prevent them from playing back home.

The other two senior B games went as expected. Cappincur weren't at their best in a 1-10 to 0-10 win over Tubber on Friday evening but after drawing with Ballinagar in the first round, they are in a strong position to claim one of the four semi-final places on offer in this four team championship.

Cappincur led by 0-6 to 0-5 at half time but Tubber got ahead well into the second half. A lucky goal from Eoin Carroll followed by a two pointer from the former county star saw Cappincur snatch the win.

The game was marred by injuries to a key player on each side. PJ Daly, a former Offaly minor and U20 footballer, went off early in the first half and a scan will determine his injury this weekend but Cappincur are fearing the dreaded cruciate. Offaly hurler Donal Shirley broke his wrist for Tubber inside the last ten minutes and his departure was a big factor in them losing – Shirley is facing a few weeks on the sideline while Daly's season will be over if it is a cruciate.

Championship favourites Clara showed excellent form with a 0-19 to 1-6 demolition of Daingean in Clara on Saturday evening. Daingean scored 1-1 at the start but were way off the pace after that, only managing five points. Not one forward scored from play for Daingean who were missing five regular starters, including county star Shane Tierney. Clara, however, were also missing a handful of players who would be on or close to on their team – two of those, Colm Doyle and Patrick Phelan are out for the year with cruciate injuries while Ed Cullen is recovering from an injury and Cormac Delaney only came on as a sub. Another key player Carl Stewart hasn't been able to play yet after returning from Australia and it remains to be seen when he can be got back into action as he deals with an injury.

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With seven teams in the group, there is a lot of football to be played yet. Clara have four points from two games and are odds on to make a semi-final. Cappincur with three from two are on course while Tubber and Gracefield have two from two. Ballinagar have one point from one game, Daingean have none from one and Ballycumber are in early bother with two losses.

Clara have a bye in round three on the weekend of August 15-17 and while there is a lot of room for error in this championship, the stakes are getting high for plenty of the teams.

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The round 3 pairings, with first named at home, are:

Tubber v Ballinagar;

Ballycumber v Cappincur;

Daingean v Gracefield.