Shane Dooley goals steer Tullamore into intermediate football final

Tullamore Court Hotel Intermediate Football Semi-Final

TULLAMORE 2-14

RAHEEN 0-9

TWO goals from Shane Dooley helped Tullamore claim their place in the Offaly Intermediate Football final as they overcame Raheen by an 11 point margin in the semi-final played at Walsh Island on Sunday.

Tullamore controlled most of the game and except for a spell at the start of the second half, always looked like they would advance to the final where they will meet St Brigid's. They were the sharper team throughout and the clinical finishing of Shane Dooley with those goals in either half was decisive.

Tullamore dominated possession from the throw in and scored three early points. Then just before the midway point of the first half Shane Dooley found the net for the first time. Raheen did better in the second quarter but still trailed by 1-6 to 0-4 at half time.

Raheen made a great start to the second half with four of the first five points in a six minute spell to leave just two points in it. The crowd was getting behind them but Tullamore struck then for their second goal and that took the wind out of their sails and they only scored one more point as Tullamore eased away to a comfortable victory.

Over the 60 minutes Tullamore were the better team. They maintained possession well but they were quick to attack when they had the opportunities and moved forward with pace and created the openings to pick off their scores.

In contrast Raheen were slower in their build up. They moved well up to about the 45m line but then tended to go in reverse, particularly in the first half, when Tullamore held a good defensive line to hold them up. There almost seemed to be a reluctance among some of their forwards to shoot and too often then they lost the ball. They were without their talisman Dylan Hyland, who was suspended, and there didn't seem to be a forward ready to step up in his absence. At the start of the second half they did pick up things and looked a different team but once Tullamore hit their second goal, the game seemed to drift away from them.

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Tullamore were a more slicker outfit. They created better space in attack and their forwards made the most of that. They were very solid in defence and shut down the Raheen attack effectively. On five occasions in the first half they blocked down Raheen efforts and that epitomised their spirit. That included a double block from Brian Crombie in the first half when a goal looked on but Tullamore blocked both efforts. It would have cut the lead to three points at a time when Tullamore were down to 14 men due to a black card and could have given them momentum coming up to the break but Tullamore stood firm and kept them out.

That period after the break was Raheen's best spell. They scored just 17 seconds after the restart and quickly added another and the crowd started the get behind them. When they cut the lead to two points it certainly looked game on but within a couple of minutes good Tullamore pressure resulted in Raheen losing possession in defence and the ball was quickly transferred to Shane Dooley and he fired low to the net and Tullamore were back in control.

Dylan Hensey, Shane Enright and Jack Maher impressed in the Tullamore defence while Cillian Martin did a lot of good work around the middle of the field. In attack Jay Sheerin, Shane Dooley and Peter Fox all caught the eye.

Aidan Pierce, Eamon Bolger and Mikey Keogh worked hard in the Raheen defence, Danny Gorman and sub James Lalor did well at midfield while in attack Brian Crombie, James Nolan and Paddy Rigney put in a good effort.

Tullamore won possession from the throw in and after a minute of holding possession Cillian Martin kicked the opening point. Shane Dooley added two more, one from play and one a free before Raheen eventually got off the mark after 12 minutes when Paddy Rigney kicked a free.

Two minutes later Raheen lost the ball in attack and Tullamore broke quickly with Jay Sheerin delivering a good ball to Shane Dooley and he turned and crashed a great shot to the roof of the net.

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Dylan Cahill pulled a point back for Raheen and then Tullamore were reduced to 14 men when Ben Connolly was black carded but they actually outscored Raheen by 0-3 to 0-2 in that period. Jay Sheerin kicked the game's only two pointer and then Raheen had a great goal chance when a good move set up Brian Crombie but he was denied twice by two blockdowns before the ball came back to Danny Gorman to point. Jack Daly pointed for Tullamore before Keith Kirwan kicked a '45' for Raheen to leave the half time score 1-6 to 0-4 for Tullamore.

Just 17 seconds after the restart Paddy Arnold pointed and then Brian Crombie added a second. Shane Dooley pointed a Tullamore free but Paddy Rigney got a fist to a Brian Crombie line ball to first time it over the bar and when James Nolan pointed after six minutes, the gap was just two points and Raheen were back in the game with the enthusiastic crowd was really behind them.

However a minute later Raheen were dispossessed deep in their own half with good pressure and the ball was quickly transferred to Shane Dooley and he found the net. Raheen had a couple of chances to regain momentum but Danny Gorman was fractionally wide and goalkeeper Keith Kirwan had a chance of a two pointer from a free but mishit his effort badly wide. Brian Crombie did get one point just before the midway point of the half but that was their last score.

Jack Maher moved forward to pop one over for Tullamore and then Peter Fox kicked three in quick succession to effectively put the game out of Raheen's reach. Davin Keegan, Peter Fox and Ciaran Burns added late points to give Tullamore a comfortable 11 point victory margin.

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MATCH ANALYSIS

THE TEAMS

TULLAMORE: Donncha Keoghan; Jake Moore, Dylan Hensey, Shane Enright; Jack Daly, Jack Maher, Ciaran Burns; Cillian Martin, Davin Keegan; Martin Keogh, Jay Sheerin, Tom Furlong; Peter Fox, Shane Dooley, Ben Connolly. Subs. Ryan Sheerin (for Ben Connolly, 44 mins), Patrice Fati (for Martin Keogh, 44 mins), Diarmaid Egan (for Jay Sheerin, 49 mins), Devon Henchy Gragnic (for Cillian Martin, 56 mins), Aaron Hensey (for Tom Furlong, 57 mins).

RAHEEN: Keith Kirwan; David Carthy, Brian Corcoran, Aidan Pierce; Eamon Bolger, Mikey Keogh, Mikey Buckley; Adam Kelly, Danny Gorman; Rory Grehan, Brian Crombie, Paddy Arnold; Dylan Cahill, Paddy Rigney, James Nolan. Subs. James Lalor (for Mikey Buckley, 26 mins), Lee Mulpeter (for Dylan Cahill, 44 mins), Cein Gorman (for Paddy Rigney, 53 min), Jack Keogh (for Paddy Arnold, 53 mins), Reece Seery (for Brian Corcoran, 53 mins)

REFEREE: Ciaran Groome

MAN OF THE MATCH

The evergreen Shane Dooley was the man who produced the significant scores in this game. His general play was good as he made himself readily available in attack but he showed he still has the finisher's touch with two excellently taken goals which proved decisive. Jack Maher, Jay Sheerin and Peter Fox also deserve honourable mention.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

Tullamore's second goal was the decisive moment of the game. Raheen had made a great start to the second half with four of the first five points to cut the half time deficit to just two points and they were building momentum but Tullamore hit back straight away for their second goal and that put a halt to the comeback and Tullamore regained control after that.

REFEREE WATCH

Ciaran Groome handled the game well. He applied the advantage rule well, got all the main deisions correct and wasn't really a factor in the outcome of the game and overall did a good job.

WHAT’S NEXT

Tullamore advance to the Intermediate final where they will face St Brigid's while Raheen will have to regroup and try again next year.

VENUE WATCH

The Walsh Island venue was in good condition for this contest. Overnight rain had made the surface slippy and that impacted players on both sides on occasions but the pitch held up well. The club had plenty of parking organised around the pitch and hosted the game well.

STATISTICS

Wides; Tullamore 6 (3 in first half) Raheen 8 (4 in first half)

Yellow Cards: Tullamore 0 Raheen 2 (James Nolan, Reece Seery)

Black Cards: Tullamore 1 (Ben Connolly) Raheen 0

Red Cards: None

THE SCORERS

Tullamore; Shane Dooley (2-3, 0-2 frees), Peter Fox (0-4), Jay Sheerin (0-2, 1 x 2p), Cillian Martin, Jack Daly, Jack Maher, Davin Keegan, Ciaran Burns (0-1 each).

Raheen; Brian Crombie (0-2), Paddy Rigney (0-2, 0-1 free), Dylan Cahill, Danny Gorman, Keith Kirwan ('45'), Paddy Arnold, James Nolan (0-1 each).

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