Daingean see off Tubber to reach Senior B Football semi-final

Daingean will go into the semi-finals of the Offaly Senior “B” championship with the lowest total score out of the four teams still standing, but the Maroons found their attacking rhythm on Sunday against Tubber, creating plenty of scoring chances to more than compensate for the warning signs that flashed at the other end of the pitch.

TULLAMORE COURT HOTEL OFFALY SFC “B”

DAINGEAN 1-17 TUBBER 2-9

On paper, Tubber’s attacking threat centred around Bernard Allen, but a combination of good marshalling from Adam Bolger and pressure on the long ball pass from the middle third reduced the influence of the veteran forward.

Instead it was Tubber’s running game, their willingness to drive at opposition defenders from close range and their ability to bore holes down the centre of the Daingean defence that created chances.

Conan Curley was forced to make three excellent stops while Lee Colgan flashed one goal attempt wide, Brian Kelly hit the side net from a tight angle and Ciarán Allen hammered another wonderful strike into the crossbar to round off the litany of missed opportunities.

It’s worth noting though that while Daingean might well have conceded more goals, there were more scores in them too, albeit of the white and orange flag variety, rather than green.

In the first half, both clubs left plenty behind them. A wide count of 8-2 would indicate that Daingean were particularly profligate, but Tubber left six shorts short in the same period, including a couple of efforts from less than 30 metres out.

Good scores from Brian Kelly and Eoin Murphy kept them in the game but Daingean had that bit more variation in their attack, and even as Nigel Farrell worked hard to limit Shane Tierney’s influence, Jamie Hayes stepped into the breach with some excellent strikes, including a two-pointer.

Wonderful handling from Tierney to scoop up a long pass than landed at his feet and get it away to Shane Marsden gave Daingean the game’s first goal. He then kicked his own score on the next attack to make it 1-7 to 0-4 and Tubber striking the post with the last action of the half summed up a difficult half-hour for Michael McNamee’s side.

McNamee sent for Ciarán McManus at half-time and the iconic midfielder duly delivered with a 45, hot on the heels of Eoin Murphy’s goal. For the first time, Tubber had momentum.

Cue the game’s big turning point, an altercation at midfield where Cian O’Reilly felt he was fouled and lashed out in frustration. A yellow card from Fergal Smyth was a huge reprieve for O’Reilly, who poured salt in Tubber’s wounds by kicking the next point.

That kickstarted a run of four unanswered as Daingean turned up the intensity in the tackle, picking up the tempo when on the ball and working it that bit further forward before making their pass, which drew out of the cover and gave Tierney the space to really terrorise the Tubber defence.

Ciarán McEvoy tightened Daingean’s grip around the middle, Jamie Hayes took advantage of the opening up of the game to slip into the playmaker mode, giving Tierney ideal passes and the diminutive attacker took full advantage.

Odhran Connolly, Shane Marsden and Cathal Ryan also weighed in as the lead briefly extended to eight points, and while Tubber gave themselves the faintest of hope with Conor Fox’s clever finish underneath Curley as stoppage time got underway, Daingean continued to enjoy more possession, more control, wrapping up the win through Tierney’s last kick, a self-earned free.

MATCH ANALYSIS

MAN OF THE MATCH

Shane Tierney (Daingean): The quality of delivery and the amount of space around him made life easy for Tierney, but he still had to put himself in the right position and do the right thing quickly and accurately, which he did repeatedly.

Adam Bolger’s performance against Bernard Allen was a key ingredient in their win, Jamie Hayes kicked some vital scores in the first half while Tubber asked plenty of questions of Conan Curley too, with the veteran goalkeeper coming up with the answers in style, both in terms of shot-stopping and under a high ball.

The bench weighed in too, Ciarán McEvoy and Charlie Hayes playing big roles in Daingean’s strong finish. Nigel Farrell, Lee Colgan and Eoin Murphy were among the better performers on the Tubber side while Bernard Allen, Ciarán Allen and Pádraig McLoughlin worked hard, albeit without having as much impact as they would have liked.

THE SCORERS

Daingean: Jamie Hayes 0-7 (1tp, 0-2f), S Tierney 0-6 (0-1f), S Marsden 1-1, Cian O’Reilly 0-1, Odhran Connolly 0-1m, Cathal Ryan 0-1.

Tubber: Eoin Murphy 1-1, Conor Fox 1-0, Brian Kelly 0-2, Bernard Allen 0-2 (0-1f), Lee Colgan 0-2, Ciaran McManus 0-1 (45), Seán Farrell 0-1.

THE TEAMS

TUBBER: James Langan; Nigel Farrell, Enda McLoughlin, Eddie Kavanagh; Seán Farrell, Lee Colgan, Pádraig McLoughlin; Ciarán Kinahan, Eoin Murphy; Ciarán Allen, Ciarán McGuinness, David Colgan; Conor Fox, Bernard Allen, Brian Kelly.

Subs: Ciarán McManus for Kinahan (half-time), Donal Shirley for McGuinness (43), Patrick Farrell for Kelly (50).

DAINGEAN: Conan Curley; Finn McGuinness, Adam Bolger, Casey Evans; Cian O’Reilly, Ryan Conway, Cathal Ryan; Steven Joyce, Sam Wright; Jamie Hayes, Odhran Connolly, Danny Mangan; Jack Connolly, Shane Marsden, Shane Tierney.

Subs: Ciarán McEvoy for Mangan (39), Cian Bracken for O Connolly (48) Charlie Hayes for J Connolly (46), Aran Byrne for Marsden (51), David Walsh for O’Reilly (53).

Referee – Fergal Smyth (Kilclonfert).

REFEREE WATCH

Cian O’Reilly was fortunate to escape with only a yellow card for a frustrated kick at a Tubber player early in the second half, and Tubber’s disappointment at that relatively mild sanction was exacerbated when O’Reilly kicked the next score to kill the rising momentum of the men in orange. There was no doubting the better team on the day, but that was a significant moment in Daingean’s favour what otherwise was a straightforward day for the Kilclonfert official.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

By the time Tubber got their second goal, the game was probably out of their reach. It would have been a different story if Ciarán Allen’s thunderous shot from 15 metres out with ten minutes to play had been a few inches lower. Given the quality of the approach play, a sensational goal like that to cut the gap to three points at that stage of the game would have fired up Tubber and set up a grandstand finish.

VENUE WATCH

If the weather had been less favourable, the lack of cover might have been an issue for a game that was quite well-attended. But on an ideal Autumn afternoon, the pitch was in perfect order and the games was well-stewarded, making it an ideal venue.

WHAT'S NEXT

With results elsewhere going as they did, Tubber needed a win to stay in the championship. Their race is run now, with Daingean set to face Ballinagar in what should be fiercely-contested championship semi-final between two neighbouring clubs.

STATISTICS

Wides: Daingean – 11 (8 in first half); Tubber – 8 (2 in first half).

Yellow cards: Daingean – 1 (Cian O’Reilly); Tubber – 0 (Conor Egan, Ciarán Doyle, ).

Black & Red cards: 0.