Tullamore have Ballyboden and historic Leinster final place in their sights

IT is by no stretch of the imagination a free shot but it will be very much internal pressure that will be on Tullamore as they count down to Saturday's eagerly awaited Leinster Club Senior Football Championship semi-final against Dublin champions Ballyboden St Enda's.

As usual the Dublin champions will be favourites to advance but a golden opportunity is present for Tullamore to reach their first ever Leinster club final and they can approach this game with a significant degree of confidence.

Home advantage in Tullamore is a big help. There is a big difference between having this game in O'Connor Park and travelling to Parnell Park, where they were edged out by Dublin's Cuala last year – while Cuala were the better team on the day, Tullamore performed admirably and were within touching distance of a snatch and grab raid inside the last few minutes.

Apart from that, Tullamore are improving the whole time and are in a much better place than they were last year.

They travelled to Parnell Park last year after winning their first Leinster club game since 1977 and after retaining the Offaly senior football title for the first time since 1926. Those were two huge millstones around Tullamore's neck and it was a terrific release to remove them – it also meant that the Cuala game was a bonus in many ways and there were very few outside the camp, not many inside it, who expected Tullamore to win.

They were, however, competitive on the day, giving Cuala plenty of food for thought and Tullamore look to have brought their football onto a different level this year. They won their first three in a row since 1926 and they produced arguably their best performance of the modern era when beating Westmeath's The Downs in the Leinster quarter-final a couple of weeks ago.

Tullamore ended up hanging on for dear life in the end but they were excellent for 50 minutes plus and the 3-13 to 4-8 final scoreline in no way reflected how well they played and how much better they were than the home side.

Tullamore's control of the game was remarkable to witness for a long time but they conceded four goals, mainly soft ones and this allowed The Downs to get back into contention late on. They were not that far away from taking Tullamore out and that would have been a calamity for the Offaly side, considering their dominance for so long.

Fortunately, they had enough in the tank to withstand the rally and needless to say, cutting out on the defensive errors will be a big target for manager Paul McConway, head coach Stephen Rochford and back room team ahead of Saturday's big game.

While none of The Downs' goals were real quality ones, Tullamore were actually fortunate not to concede more. They played a risky game with goalkeeper Corey White playing a sort of sweeping role out the field a little bit. White has improved significantly in the goals in the past year plus but he was too far out off his line a few times when the losers raided forward – The Downs went for the lob on one occasion, with the ball just making it over the bar and there were another couple of times when they had a look but decided not to go for it.

Conceding a goal of this nature would be a disaster for Tullamore and you would presume the way White and they danced will danger will have been noted by all concerned, including the Dublin champions. Ballyboden have players capable of taking it on and an all round defensive improvement is needed – though this should not be overplayed as the Tullamore defence were also brilliant for extended periods. They had just 2-4 conceded inside the last ten minutes and in many ways, this is a more accurate reflection of the way they defended.

It is a sign of how well Tullamore are playing that their dreams of provincial glory are realistic. It is a big ask for them but they are now a serious side, oozing quality all over the field. They have some of the best footballers in Offaly and the return to fitness of Diarmuid Egan is a big help – the older brother of flying wing back, Cormac started his first game of the year against The Downs and played really well before tiring late on.

One of their most experienced players, Nigel Bracken is out with a broken ankle and he is a big loss but apart from that, Tullamore are full strength.

The bookmakers and many observers got it very wrong for the last game, where they had The Downs as warm favourites. They were guilty of both over estimating The Downs and under estimating Tullamore but Ballyboden will be under no illusions about the task that now awaits them.

Ballyboden have a good team with plenty of quality but are definitely no world beaters. They are physically strong in defence and that could be a big factor at this time of year, especially if the weather turns nasty. Tullamore are quite light up front and could find it hard if conditions are very bad – at the same time, a fast, skilful player is fast and skilful in both dry and wet weather and one of Tullamore's strengths is the fact that they have so many forwards capable of inflicting damage.

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It will take a huge performance but there has been something very impressive about the way Tullamore have went about their business this year. They are motoring very well and while Ballyboden are the favourites, Tullamore have a great chance of reaching their first ever Leinster club final.

Verdict – Tullamore.