Tullamore make it clean sweep after being pushed hard by parish neighbours

Having already secured a spot in the knockout rounds, Tullamore came into this game with the pressure off and not in need of a win, in contrast to Durrow who would have loved to pull off a shock and attempt to claim a second place position in the group, but ultimately the scoreline was a fair reflection of the 60 minutes played. 

Tullamore Court Hotel Senior Football Championship Group 1 Round 3

Tullamore  1-10

Durrow  0-09

Not what you’d call a spectacle but Tullamore won’t care as their objective of three wins from three was met and they’ve officially confirmed their place in the final four of the Offaly Senior Football Championship. 

John Furlong, Cormac Egan and Declan Hogan were the bright sparks in an overall damp squib of a game, with Billy Fogarty the standout performer for Durrow along with Ciaran Burke.  

The opening 10 minutes saw Tullamore begin like men on a mission as they raced into an early 0-4 to 0-0 lead thanks to Luke Plunkett, Aaron Hensey and Cormac Egan scores from play, along with a free from Michael Brazil.  

Durrow found it difficult early on to create any meaningful chances towards goal despite having a good range of possession, they weren’t mustering any real threat at the Tullamore goal, until a kick out from Corey White was intercepted and presented an opportunity to Billy Fogarty whose effort was saved - he did manage to knock over the rebounded effort and register his sides first score of the game after 16 minutes. 

Tullamore began to drop shots short and not kicking on from their early advantage and were being pegged back due to a fantastic solo run and score from the returning Ciaran Burke, followed up shortly afterwards by a free from Billy Fogarty which left it just one between them coming up to the half time interval. 

 Durrow pegged the game back thanks to another free from Billy Fogarty as they started enjoying possession inside the Tullamore 45 and were winning their own individual duals as well as turning the ball over. Their patience in the build-up paid off thanks to a nicely taken point from full back Oisin Cusack, which left Noel O'Brien’s side with a one point advantage at the break with it all to play for in the second half. Half time Tullamore 0-4 - 0-5 Durrow. 

The opening exchanges of the second half saw Tullamore navigating their way towards goal more as they looked to up the pace from the opening 30 minutes. They sent over three of the opening four scores of the second period to lead by one after 40 minutes thanks to separate frees from Harry Plunkett and Michael Brazil along with a score from play from Aaron Leavy. 

Durrow were staying in the game thanks to the boot of Billy Fogarty as he sent over two frees to make it a tie game, with the game beginning to pick up. 

The two sides continued to exchange scores through substitutes Mike Fox and Barry O’Rourke, and the game turned on its head as Mike Fox found himself through on goal but played it smart and laid it off to the oncoming Declan Hogan who slotted the ball into the net to give Tullamore a four point advantage, followed soon after by Michael Brazil’s long range effort to stretch the lead to five with 10 remaining. 

The game began to peter out as both sides only managed one more point between them in the final 10 minutes with Michael Brazil and Kevin McDermott getting the final scores of the game. Both sides will take positives and negatives from this encounter with the real business set to begin soon for both teams. Final score Tullamore 1-10 - 0-09 Durrow. 

MATCH ANALYSIS

MAN OF THE MATCH

John Furlong (Tullamore): Cormac Egan and Declan Hogan contributed significantly to the team in what overall for Tullamore was a subdued performance, but John Furlong stood out the as he upped the tempo sufficiently in the second half to get Tullamore over the line, and was particularly key to starting the move which ended with their goal . 

THE SCORERS

Tullamore: Michael Brazil 0-3 (2 frees), Declan Hogan 1-0; Harry Plunkett 0-2 (2f rees); Luke Plunkett; Aaron Hensey; Cormac Egan; Aaron Leavy and Mike Fox 0-1 each.

Durrow: Billy Fogarty 0-5 (4 frees), Ciaran Burke; Oisin Cusack; Barry O’Rourke and Kevin McDermott (1 free) 0-1 each. 

THE TEAMS

Tullamore: Corey White; Declan Hogan; Dylan Hensey; Oisin Keenan Martin; Nigel Bracken; John Furlong; Jay Sheerin; Aaron Leavy; Aaron Hensey; Cormac Egan; Diarmuid Egan; Harry Plunkett; Dan Fox; Luke Plunkett; Michael Brazil. Subs: Niall Furlong for Keenan Martin (half time); Mike Fox for Luke Plunkett (40m); Luke Plunkett for Harry Plunkett (53m)– . 

Durrow: Stephen Fitzgerald; Jack O’Brien;Oisin Cusack; Sean Hughes; David Magner; Gavin Hand; Daniel Bourke; Ross Ravenhill; Ciaran Burke; Shane McDermott; Kevin McDermott; Daniel Wyer; Mark Troy; Billy Fogarty; Niall Geraghty. Subs: Barry O’Rourke for Mark Troy (44m); Stephen Doran for Niall Geraghty (53m); Niall McDermott for McDermott (53m); Mark Hughes for Hughes (56m); Colin Waters for Bourke (58m) - .

Referee – Ger Keyes (Shamrocks).

REFEREE WATCH

Ger Keyes had a good game overall. Some off the ball incidents were managed well by him and he allowed certain advantages but also kept the tempo of the game at a good speed, and no decisions made had a major impact on the result: a positive display. 

MOMENT OF THE MATCH:

Declan Hogan’s 47th minute goal was the sealer for Tullamore and made sure of their victory. At the time the game was still in the balance, but Mike Fox’s intelligent pass to Hogan allowed him to bury the ball into the net and helped Tullamore maintain a distance to see out proceedings. 

VENUE WATCH: 

Kilcormac was in good condition for this encounter. The wind was very minimal and the weather was pleasant for an evening of football. 

WHAT'S NEXT:

Tullamore have progressed to the semi finals,  while Durrow will play Edenderry in the quarter finals. 

STATISTICS

Wides: Tullamore 9  –  5 in the first half,  4 in the second half; Durrow 4  – 4 in the first half, 0  in the second half 

Yellow cards: Tullamore - Declan Hogan (1);  Durrow - Ross Ravenhill, Shane McDermott ,Niall Geraghty, Sean Hughes (4).

Black cards: Tullamore Nigel Bracken -  (1); Durrow (0).

Red cards: Tullamore – (0); Durrow – (0).