Relentless Tullamore find way to break down ancient barrier as gutted Ferbane just lose out in thriller

TULLAMORE somehow found a way to break down one of their longest standing barriers when they retained the Senior Football Championship in a captivating and thrilling shootout with Ferbane in O'Connor Park.

Tullamore Court Hotel Senior Football Championship final

Tullamore 0-15

Ferbane 0-14

It was Tullamore's first time to retain the title since 1926 and while they have downplayed this at every opportunity in the past couple of years, this is a huge and important monkey off their back.

This group of players has managed what no other group still alive has done and they had to dig so deep to secure the win. In a fantastic game of football that ebbed and flowed in every direction, Tullamore were staring a devastating defeat in the face when they trailed by 0-13 to 0-11 with five minutes left.

They showed serious character to win it from here with John Furlong, brilliant in the second half in particular, arrowing over a 56^th minute point. A controversial free when Leon Fox looked to have been hand tripped by Cillian Bourke but was instead penalised for over carrying allowed Harry Plunkett to float over the equaliser in the 59^th minute.

They edged in front in the 62^nd minute when Daire McDaid curled over a delightful point after a great Cillian Bourke turnover and their 15^th point was the pick of the bunch. Diarmuid Egan, playing his first game of the year, was all on his own on the half way line with no one inside when he gained possession in the 64^th minute. He took it on, twisting and turning as he ran straight at a retreating Ferbane defence, firing over a sensational point from about 35 metres. It was a score worthy of winning any game and a serious score by a player who missed the entire campaign through injury and had to work so hard to get back and play this very significant part.

That point left Ferbane needing a goal. They got a free that Cian Johnson tapped over with the five minutes of injury time just up. He was obviously told that there was one more play to come but when Tullamore won the kickout and just barely got it up field, it was all over.

It has been a sensational few years for Tullamore. This was their fifth final in a row and they have been relentless. This was another relentless display as Ferbane asked the most serious of questions of them and it looked like it would be their day at different times but Tullamore kept going, kept doing the right thing and eventually got their reward. It also means that they are coming out on the right side of things under manager Niall Stack as three wins out of five looks an awful lot better than three defeats out of five.

For Ferbane, it was a devastating defeat that will be very hard to accept and some of their supporters have been talking about the refereeing display. After winning their first title in 25 years in 2019, they have been so close on a few occasions since then. They lost two semi-finals on penalties, last year's final by two points and this was another agonising defeat. They have been as relentless as Tullamore but haven't got the same reward.

They deserve another title but sentiment never comes into football and Tullamore had their own points to prove.

The sides clashed in last year's final when Tullamore won by 1-5 to 0-6. That was a dreadful game of football played in dreadful conditions but this was its complete opposite. It was way more open, much more excitement and it all made for great viewing – Ferbane had scored more than last year by the 19^th minute while Tullamore's sixth point came in the 31^st minute and they were gone over the 1-5 tally by the 40^th minute.

The opening quarter was a bit like a chess match but there was still plenty of enjoyable football played. Tullamore led by 0-4 to 0-2 after eleven minutes and Ferbane then went on a sensational run. With the wind on their backs, they played some brilliant football to score seven points on the trot to lead by 0-9 to 0-4 after 23 minutes. It was remarkably sustained football as they got some quality scores and a shocked Tullamore were gasping for breath.

John Furlong's free made it 0-9 to 0-5 at half time but even with the wind to come, Tullamore looked in trouble.

In the early stages of the second half, however, they found their best form. They trumped Ferbane's run with their own crucial one of four points on the trot. Nigel Bracken got the only point from play but at 0-9 each after 40 minutes, the momentum was now with Tullamore.

A Joe Maher free in the 44^th minute was badly needed by Ferbane and there were so many twists and turns from here. Dan Fox equalised with a lovely point and Furlong's free put Tullamore a point ahead with 12 left.

Ferbane found another gear and kicked three in a row from the 50^th to 55^th minute, Cian Johnson getting the only one from play, to lead by two. The winning post was in touching distance but Tullamore found the right answers to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

MATCH ANALYSIS

MAN OF THE MATCH

John Furlong (Tullamore): A real tough call between John Furlong, Cillian Bourke and Cormac Egan and there was merit in going with either player. Bourke was immense, working his socks off, turning over ball and carrying it very well. He made a huge contribution to Tullamore's win.

John Furlong and man of the match awards when Tullamore win almost go hand in hand and he edges it by a whisker. He was brilliant when Tullamore were under pressure, doing his defensive duty so well and getting forward to attack. He was also given the right sided frees, kicking three of these off his left and also got a crucial point from play.

Cormac Egan also had a terrific game for Tullamore with his ball carrying at pace creating a ripple of excitement. He put in a great shift and was also a very close contender. Others also played very well. Daire |McDaid, Nigel Bracken and Oisin Keenan-Martin caught the eye while Harry Plunkett took his frees so well.

Ferbane had several players who performed to a high level. Kevin Nugent was outstanding in a fired up defence, Kyle Higgins and Oisin Kelly did great work at midfield, Cian Johnson, Joe Maher and Darragh Flynn had excellent spells in defence and Cathal Flynn also had good moments.

THE SCORERS

Tullamore: Harry Plunkett 0-5 (5f), John Furlong 0-4 (3f), Nigel Bracken 0-2, Cormac Egan, Dan Fox, Daire McDaid and Diarmuid Egan 0-1 each.

Ferbane: Joe Maher 0-6 (6f), Cian Johnson (1 mark) and Darragh Flynn (2f) 0-3 each, Cathal Flynn ('45') and Jack Clancy 0-1 each.

THE TEAMS

TULLAMORE: Corey White; Paul McConway, Declan Hogan, Daire McDaid; Nigel Bracken, John Furlong, Oisin Keenan-Martin; Aaron Leavy, Arron Hensey; Cillian Bourke, Michael Brazil, Cormac Egan; Luke Egan, Dan Fox, Harry Plunkett. Subs – Diarmuid Egan for Hensey (30m), Niall Furlong for Luke Egan (52m). Mike Fox for Dan Fox (62m), Sean McCabe for Diarmuid Egan (65m).

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 (34m), Shane Nally for Clancy (46m), David Kelly for Higgins (62m),

Referee – Eamon O'Connor (Ballycommon).

REFEREE WATCH

Eamon O'Connor refereed it well in general, though there were plenty of things to discuss afterwards and Ferbane were complaining about some of the decisions that went against him – there were hairy ones but these went both ways. Linesman Chris Joslin awarded Ferbane a lineball in the 48^th minute when Cillian Bourke got his boot to the ball. It didn't look out and Joslin to his credit immediately tried to correct his error by waving play on. O'Connor had no option but to throw in the ball and Cian Johnson got a point in the resulting move. That was unfortunate but did have a bearing on things as Ferbane got momentum back after that, scoring what looked like three decisive points in a row. The referee also wrongly signalled a free for Ferbane after that when Cillian Bourke was fouled but corrected it immediately. Cillian Bourke was lucky to get a late free in when he hand tripped Leon Fox but the Ferbane man was penalised for over carrying – not only that but Bourke could very easily have picked up a black card for his foul. That call and the lineball had equally big bearings but there was one each way.

Cormac Egan also got a very dubious free in during the closing quarter and having been impressively anonymous for the guts of 45 minutes, the referee did find himself at the centre of attention late on.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

Diarmuid Egan's 64^th minute point was a fantastic score and a two point lead was massive at that stage.

VENUE WATCH

There was a good crowd of 5,275 here and they created a great atmosphere. The pitch held up really well considering this was the fourth game in two points.

It was delayed by 10 minutes as it took time to get celebrating Ballinagar players and supporters off the field after their great intermediate win. The Ballinagar game started at 2.15pm, the county final was scheduled to start at 4pm and this gap was not enough. The County Board have been leaving too small of a gap between fixtures in double bills the whole year and the senior B final was also delayed by ten minutes on Saturday. While the gap was bigger for the finals than group games, it was still not sufficient, leading to complaints from teams in the second game. There may be logic in the thinking that supporters won't wait for a second game if the gap is too long but the primary consideration must be to the teams.

WHAT'S NEXT

Tullamore will be hoping to give the Leinster Club Senior Football Championship a lash.

STATISTICS

Wides: Tullamore - 6 (1 in first half); Ferbane - 1 (1 in first half).

Yellow cards: Tullamore – 1 (Aaron Hensey); Ferbane – 1 (Joe Maher).

Black cards: 0

Red cards: 0