First half goals set Tullamore on the road to hard earned victory

THREE first half goals were pivotal as Tullamore earned a hard fought four point victory over Ferbane in an entertaining first round game in the Offaly Senior Football Championship played in Ballycumber on Friday evening.

Tullamore Court Hotel Offaly Senior Football Championship Group 1 Round 1

TULLAMORE 3-11

FERBANE 1-13

Those three goals scored in a 12 minute spell in the middle of the first half provided them with the cushion to see off a detemined Ferbane side, which fought back into the game in the second half and gave Tullamore a few nervous moments before The Blues held on for victory.

Despite scoring eight times to Tullamore's seven in the first half, Ferbane found themselves five points down at half time, 3-4 to 0-8, and it was the concession of those goals that really cost them.

The best football of the game was played in the third quarter as the sides traded scores. Tullamore actually moved eight points ahead approaching the midway point of the half but Ferbane didn't give up and halved that lead with nine minutes left. But they were unable to build on that despite having some good possession and the sides just managed one more point each over the remaining 13 minutes, including injury time.

After all the rain early in the day conditions weren't ideal. It was slippy and ball handling wasn't the easiest but the teams adapted well and provided a good contest for an opening round group game. Over the hour Tullamore were probably that bit more sharper and had a better spread of scorers. 3-10 of their total of 3-11 came from play and they pic ked off some very good scores.

Ferbane were minus Joe Maher, Cathal Flynn and Conor Butler and that certainly had an impact on them. Despite conceding those first half goals they responded well on each occasion and got the next score after each one but it left them too much leeway to make up and although they got the gap down to four points on five occasions in the second half, they could get no closer.

Tullamore started very strongly and applied all the early pressure. They worked the ball well through the lines and opened up the Ferbane defence to create the openings for their goals. They were sharp and lively in attack where Dan Fox was particularly effective scoring the first two goals, although he also hit a few wides in that half as well.

Elsewhere Declan Hogan, Nigel Bracken, Jay Sheeran, Aaron Leavy, Luke Egan, Harry Plunkett and John Furlong caught the eye for Tullamore.

Ferbane did well to recover from the early setbacks and work their way back into the game. In that first half just when it looked like they were getting a good foothold in the game, Tullamore struck for another goal, but they kept going and were still pushing strongly at the finish, but just had too much of a mountain to climb. Ciaran Cahill, James Nally, Leon Fox, Kevin Nugent, Darragh Flynn, Ronan McGuire, Cian Johnson and Jack Clancy all made a good impression for them.

Tullamore took the lead after two minutes when Harry Plunkett pointed and he added a free two minutes later. Aaron Leavy then kicked a good point before Ferbane opened their account after six minutes when Cian Johnson kicked a lovely point from the left.

Tullamore continued to push and after 10 minutes were rewarded with their first goal after a good move. Declan Hogan and Luke Egan were involved in the build up as they put Dan Fox through and he finished to the net. Ferbane steadied things and a long range point from Shane Nally and another from Darragh Flynn cut the gap back to a goal as the game ticked into the second quarter.

Then Tullamore struck for goal number two when Aaron Leavy, Michael Brazil and Nigel Bracken all combined to put Dan Fox clear and he hit the net again. Ferbane's response was strong and Ronan McGuire kicked a good point and Cian Johnson pointed a free followed by another point from Darragh Flynn after 20 minutes to cut the lead to three again.

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Just when it looked like they were right back in the game Tullamore raised a third green flag. Nigel Bracken took a quick free and Harry Plunkett put wing back Jay Sheeran through and he fired to the Ferbane net after 22 minutes. Cian Johnson added a brace of frees sandwiching a John Furlong point to leave Tullamore 3-4 to 0-8 in front at half time.

Ferbane had most of the early possession after the break but it took them five minutes to get off the mark when Darragh Flynn pointed a free. Both sides were playing good football at this stage and put together good scores, Nigel Bracken and Diarmuid Egan pointing for Tullamore, being answered in turn by points from Jack Clancy and Paddy Clancy to leave four in it 10 minutes into the half.

Tullamore then enjoyed a good spell and a fine point from out on the right wing from Nigel Bracken was quickly followed by another from Luke Plunkett. The Tullamore bench was also having an impact at this point and not long on the field Niall Furlong kicked two points in succession and the gap was out to eight 15 minutes into the half.

Darragh Flynn pulled one back for Ferbane and they were thrown a lifeline with nine minutes left when Ronan Flynn was fouled and Kevin Nugent dispatched the penalty to the net to leave just four in it again. They missed chances of getting it down to one and then Nigel Bracken blocked down a clearance, gathered the ball and kicked his third point to settle Tullamore. Another Darragh Flynn free got it down to four again heading into injury time but they could make no further impact on the scoreboard.

MATCH ANALYSIS

THE TEAMS

TULLAMORE: Corey White; Declan Hogan, Paul McConway, Dylan Hensey; Nigel Bracken, John Furlong, Jay Sheeran; Aaron Leavy, Aaron Hensey; Michael Brazil, Diarmuid Egan, Luke Egan; Dan Fox, Luke Plunkett, Harry Plunkett. Subs. Mike Fox (for Aaron Hensey, 40 mins), Niall Furlong (for Luke Plunkett, 42 mins), Oisin Keenan Martin (for Aaron Leavy, 48 mins), Aaron Leavy (for John Furlong, 60 mins).

FERBANE: Adam Nugent; Jack Egan, Ciaran Cahill, Stephen Wren; James Nally, Leon Fox, Shane Nally; Kevin Nugent, Kieran McManus; Paddy Clancy, David Kelly, Conor Grennan; Cian Johnson, Ronan McGuire, Darragh Flynn. Subs. Jack Clancy (for Kieran McManus, 24 mins), Ronan Flynn (for Conor Grennan, 41 mins), Patrick Taaffe (for Stephen Wren, 44 mins).

REFEREE: Fergal Smyth

MAN OF THE MATCH

There were some strong contenders on both sides. Darragh Flynn and Ronan McGuire were both prominent for Ferbane but in the end it was a toss up between the Tullamore pair Dan Fox and Nigel Bracken. In the end I've plumped for Dan Fox. Nigel Bracken kicked three great points from play in the second half but it was Fox's two goals in the first half which laid the foundations for this victory and he was very lively throughout, winning a lot of possession and causing plenty of problems for the Ferbane defence.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

Tullamore's third goal was probably the defining moment. Ferbane had responded well to the concession of the first two goals and had just kicked three points in a row to cut a six point gap back to three when Jay Sheeran came forward to finish a good move with the third goal and Ferbane never got closer than four points again after that.

REFEREE WATCH

Fergal Smyth raised the heckles of the Tullamore supporters at times and there were a couple of occasions early in the second half when it looked like Tullamore players were fouled but didn't get a free. However, overall he handled the game well and got the big decisions correct. He penalised dissent on a few occasions and applied the advantage rule well.

TALKING POINT

Both of these sides will be hoping to be in the shake up at the business end of the championship and on this evidence they should be. Tullamore looked particularly well drilled and they used the bench well to lift their game in the middle of the second half. Ferbane will be boosted by the return of players like Joe Maher and Cathal Flynn but can't afford any more slip ups.

WHAT’S NEXT

Tullamore face Clara on Friday July 28th at O'Connor Park while Ferbane meet Durrow in Tubber on Sunday July 30th.

VENUE WATCH

There was very heavy rain early on Friday but the Ballycumber pitch held up fairly well in the circumstances. There was some surface water in patches near the dressing room end goals but on the whole the pitch was good. The club had very good arrangements for parking with plenty on stewards on duty inside the ground and on the roads leading to the venue.

STATISTICS

Wides; Tullamore 6 (3 in first half) Ferbane 10 (7 in first half)

Yellow Cards: Tullamore 1 (Paul McConway) Ferbane 0.

Black Cards: None.

Red Cards: None.

THE SCORERS

Tullamore; Dan Fox (2-0), Jay Sheeran (1-0), Nigel Bracken (0-3), Harry Plunkett (one free) and Niall Furlong (0-2 each), Aaron Leavy, John Furlong, Diarmuid Egan and Luke Plunkett (0-1 each).

Ferbane; Darragh Flynn (0-5, 0-2 frees), Cian Johnson (0-4, 0-3 frees), Kevin Nugent (1-0, penalty), Shane Nally, Ronan McGuire, Jack Clancy and Paddy Clancy (0-1 each).