The man behind the wire: Cream rises to top in Offaly GAA championships for 2024

The Offaly GAA County Board came in for much criticism when they decided on a controversial format for the Senior Football Championship. With all eight teams qualifying for the quarter-finals, irrespective of results, people were not happy and understandably so.

However, a very decent championship emerged. The group games were not as bad as we feared they would be, for the first two rounds at least. The clubs treated them as competitive championship matches and there was some competitive games.

The performances of Shamrocks in particular helped rescue the system as they shocked Ferbane and Edenderry in their opening two games, topping the group and eventually making the semi-finals. For whatever reason, the final round of group games was poor with some teams off the boil and some of them provided the type of fare we feared when the format was decided – there was simply not enough at stake in the final round and some clubs were assured of their group placings, irrespective of results.

READ NEXT: Introducing our 2024 Offaly Senior Football Championship team of the year

When the dust settled though, the cream rose to the top and the best two teams in the county ended up in the final for the second successive year. Tullamore edged out Ferbane in a final that provided a great game and entertainment and could have swung either way. Ferbane were in a great position to win it with five minutes to go but Tullamore found a way to retain the championship for the first time since 1926 – getting a very important monkey off their back and correcting a major blemish on their record.

There were similarities between the final and the Senior Hurling Championship shootout between Kilcormac-Killoughey and Ballinamere. Both provided great value for money and it was great to see many of the best players perform to the standards you would hope in a final. It is always a sign of a good player when he performs on the biggest days and this very much happened in both football and hurling finals. They drove their teams on, showed leadership and were involved in big moments.

Both games could have swung either way. While Tullamore and Kilcormac-Killoughey may have deserved to win, very few would have been crying about a robbery if Ferbane or Ballinamere won, or they ended in a draw.

You can check out my Offaly senior football team of the year by TAPPING HERE