Ferbane lay powerful first half foundation to return to final as Shamrocks go down fighting

IN a wind dominated Senior Football Championship semi-final in O'Connor Park, the game was very much won and lost in a first half in which Shamrocks didn't take advantage of the elements and Ferbane laid a powerful foundation – they made hard work of it for a while in the second half as Shamrocks dug deep but generally looked like they would win and were able to squeeze home with an element of comfort.

Tullamore Court Hotel Senior Football Championship semi-final

Ferbane 2-13

Shamrocks 2-7

You had to admire the way Shamrocks battled in the second half to leave themselves in with an outside chance as it entered the closing minutes. It took an injury time Darragh Flynn goal to finally put the issue to bed but there was absolutely no disputing the merit of Ferbane's win. They were the better side by a distance and could have won by more.

As it was they outscored Shamrocks substantially, 15 times to 9, and from early in the second half, it was clear that the only way there would be an upset would be for Ferbane to self implode. They took their time about booking their return to the final but they played steady, controlled, extremely disciplined football and were able to outscore their opponents by 2-6 to 1-3.

Sadly Ferbane's win may have come at a cost. County hurler David Nally had lit a flame under them when introduced in the second half, scoring two points and moving with real menace but he went off twenty minutes later with a shoulder injury – not long back from a shoulder operation, Ferbane will be praying that this is not as serious as it could be.

They were excellent against the wind in a very lively first half and Shamrocks had it all to do at the break. The sides were level, 0-7 to 1-4, at half time and it was very much Ferbane's to lose. Shamrocks needed a four or five point lead to have a realistic chance of pulling off an upset and they were in serious trouble at half time. They gave a great effort in the second half but Ferbane's regular breaks forward at pace opened them up and they eventually built up a winning gap.

Shamrocks' had beaten Ferbane in the first round but their rating as underdogs was shown to be a legitimate one as the first half unfolded. The Rahan – Mucklagh parish men made the start they needed with Jack Bryant on fire early on. Bryant got a goal and a point in the opening seven minutes and with a 1-3 to 0-1 lead after twelve minutes, they were able to dream.

Unfortunately for Shamrocks, they couldn't build on that and the way Ferbane controlled the half from here on was very impressive. They used the ball very efficiently, turned it over and had the deficit back to 1-4 to 0-4 by the 20^th minute.

Two Darragh Flynn frees and a fine Joe Maher point from play levelled it up at the break and Ferbane should have been in front. They took some great points into the very strong wind and could have had three goals. Darragh Flynn drew a good early save from Sean O'Toole while Jack Clancy could have got two goals. O'Toole smothered his first chance in the 17^th minute but Clancy really should have buried his second four minutes into injury time, blasting wide across the face of goal.

Still Ferbane would have taken a draw match at the start and they turned the screw in the second half. They were patient but there was a lot to admire in the way they played as they scored 1-4 without reply to lead by 1-11 to 1-4 after 42 minutes. That haul included two quality points by David Nally while Darragh Flynn got the first of his two goals in the 42^nd minute, finishing off a Cian Johnson pass after O'Toole saved his first effort.

It looked all over but Shamrocks got an immediate lifeline when Jack Bryant punched to the net after his first attempt hit the cross bar. Bryant floated over a lovely point to bring it back to a goal with twelve minutes left. Shamrocks fought with everything but the wind was very difficult and Ferbane were able to punish them on counter attacks.

Joe Maher and Darragh Flynn got points before Nigel Dunne got a free to leave four in it, 1-13 to 2-6 after 52 minutes. Shamrocks were still alive going into injury time but Ferbane's second goal in the 61^st minute killed it off – Darragh Flynn audaciously back heeled the ball to the net though he really should have scored with his first attempt as O'Toole pulled off yet another save.

MATCH ANALYSIS

MAN OF THE MATCH

Leon Fox (Ferbane): There were a lot of high quality individual performances on both sides and my choice is Ferbane's Leon Fox. His first half tour-de-force was instrumental in Ferbane being in a winning position at half time as he cut out a lot of ball and used it so efficiently. He continued to dominate the centre of defence in the second half and had a huge influence.

Ferbane were excellent up the middle. Ciaran Cahill put in a terrific shift at full back, tying up Nigel Dunne who was Shamrocks' match winner in the quarter-final win over Ballycommon. He did his primary defensive duty so well. Cathal Flynn was also a man of the match contender at centre half forward. He didn't score but carried a huge volume of ball forward from deep, used most of it very well, delivering in some great football passes into open space and moving so well.

Joe Maher went very well in their attack while Darragh Flynn managed to get 2-2 of his 2-5 from play and hung in close to goal, waiting for openings which was his job.

Sean O'Toole's saves kept Shamrocks from a much bigger beating while David O'Rourke and Jack Bryant played very well for them. O'Rourke stayed at home in defence and was very strong on the ball while Bryant more or less did what Shamrocks' needed to have a chance. While he missed a couple of chances, he scored 2-2 and was full of movement the whole day. He couldn't have done a whole lot more but as a unit, Shamrocks were second best on the day.

THE SCORERS

Ferbane: Darragh Flynn 2-5 (3f), Joe Maher and Cian Johnsopn (2f) 0-3 each, David Nally 0-2.

Shamrocks: Jack Bryant 2-2, Nigel Dunne 0-2 (1f), Dara Bates, Darragh Bryant (mark), Alan Heffernan 0-1 each.

THE TEAMS

FERBANE: David Dunican; Patrick Taaffe, Ciaran Cahill, Jack Egan; Kevin Nugent, Leon Fox, Stephen Wren; Oisin Kelly, Kyle Higgins; Brian Carroll, Cathal Flynn, Jack Clancy; Cian Johnson, Joe Maher, Darragh Flynn. Subs – David Nally for Carroll (35m), Ronan McGuire for Clancy (46m), David Kelly for David Nally, inj. (56m), Conor Dunican for Maher (63m), John Dunican for Wren (65m)

SHAMROCKS: Sean O'Toole; Eoghan Neville, Gary Hutchinson, Padraig Cantwell; Shane O'Toole-Greene, David O'Rourke, Luke Molloy; Andrew Delaney, Scott Delaney; Dara Bates, Alan Heffernan, Dan Heffernan; Darrgh Bryant, Nigel Dunne, Jack Bryant. Subs – David O'Toole-Greene for Andrew Delaney, inj. (9m), Jason Minnock for Darragh Bryant (HT), Sean Mooney for Dan Heffernan (45m),

Referee – Marius Stones (Clara).

REFEREE WATCH

Marius Stones refereed it very well. He allowed it run but applied the rules fairly. He rightly threw up one ball in the first half when Oisin Kelly put his hand up to claim a mark and then played on. There were no big issues here. He gave a couple of Shamrocks' players the benefit of the doubt before giving Alan Heffernan a first half yellow for his second infraction, and he didn't give cards softly. The four minutes injury time at the end of the first half did seem excessive, though Andrew Minnock had went off injured early on. Stones did penalise Shamrocks for over carrying a couple of times late on and these looked a bit harsh.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

Ferbane had looked capable of getting goals through for goals and Darragh Flynn finally got their first in the 42^nd minute. That gave Ferbane a 1-11 to 1-4 lead and while Shamrocks did well to score the next 1-1, they were chasing their tail from Flynn's goal on.

VENUE WATCH

Both crowds had a good number of enthusiastic supporters and they created a good atmosphere at a well presented O'Connor Park.

WHAT'S NEXT

Ferbane go into the final.

STATISTICS

Wides: Ferbane – 7 (3 in first half); Shamrocks – 8 (4 in first half).

Yellow cards: Ferbane – 0; Shamrocks – 3 (Alan Heffernan, David O'Toole-Greene and Sean Mooney).

Black cards: 0

Red cards: 0