Midfield lay powerful foundation as Tullamore continue winning streak over Ferbane

WITH both sides down key players, Tullamore were able to maintain their winning streak over their current main contenders in Offaly, Ferbane in an entertaining Division 1 Football League semi-final at Tubber on Tuesday evening.

Division 1 Football League semi-final

Tullamore 2-17

Ferbane 4-7

Tullamore were without county players, Cormac and Diarmuid Egan and Daire McDaid in addition to Harry Plunkett – the Egan brothers are injured while Plunkett and McDaid have received 60 day playing sanctions for the USA. Long serving stars, Declan Hogan, Michael Brazil and Nigel Bracken along with Luke Egan and Aaron Hensey were also among Tullamore's lengthy list of absenstees.

Ferbane were without two of their county stars, Kyle Higgins and Cathal Flynn along with long established players such as Oisin Kelly, David Kelly, Leon Fox, Joe Maher and Ronan McGuire. Flynn did come on as a second half sub for them along with another established regular, Jack Clancy.

Tullamore were better able to cushion these absentees with Luke Plunkett returning after a year out in Australia and moving very well, showing good opportunism, registering three of their points. A few of their supporting act also rose to the challenge with twins Michael and Dan Fox getting important scores in the attack and wing backs Jay Sheerin and Luke Bourke combining very effectively to form a very good half back line with the excellent Oisin Keenan-Martin in the middle of them – they all scored and attacked with real venom.

A pronounced dominance at midfield was also instrumental in Tullamore's win. While James Nally and Eoghan Grennan were completely honest and hard working for Ferbane, you would expect county Cillian Bourke and Aaron Leavy to claim the honours here and they certainly did that. Bourke top scored with 2-2 from play, his haul including an early contender for goal of the year and a beautifully floated two pointer while Leavy got through a mountain of excellent work.

Yet the game had its contradictions. Tullamore looked set to coast home at one stage and were nine clear inside the last ten minutes but ended up holding on a small bit and Ferbane did look to be ahead in the physical fitness stakes. The new rules will certainly test club players and a handful of Tullamore ones cramped up near the end while Ferbane got a very positive impact off the bench with Cathal Flynn and Jack Clancy helping to pull them back into contention of sorts late on.

It was also a game of two halves. The first half was entertaining on a superficial level and the intensity was below that of the other semi-final on Saturday evening, where Edenderry were pushed all the way by Bracknagh. Yet it sprung to life in the second half with a noticeable raising of tempo across the board by Tullamore, who won the game in the third quarter.

With players to come back, Ferbane will be reasonably happy with the way they played. They were solid and well motivated though they didn't score anywhere near enough points to win it and seven just won't do the job in the modern game. They got in for four goals, two apiece from Brian Carroll and Cian Johnson but struggled to break down a very efficient Tullamore defence. Carroll did well throughout and Johnson tried to rally the troops late on while the Ferbane defence worked very hard without ever being truly comfortable.

Ferbane finished the better and were not that far away, though Tullamore were the better side and deserved to win. It was an important win for Tullamore who have a new manager at the helm, long serving playing stalwart, Paul McConway, alongside a new coach, Niall Smith, Gracefield. McConway has replaced Niall Stack, who guided Tullamore to great success in the past five years and a big part of his modus operandi was to win the league.

A defeat here would have raised early questions for Tullamore, though the absence of the two Egan's, McDaid and Harry Plunkett would have provided a safety net for them.

Tullamore were very sluggish at the start and found themselves 2-0 to 0-2 down after ten minutes. Brian Carroll got Ferbane going with a great first minute goal and Cian Johnson got the second in the 10^th minute after Luke Plunkett and Peter Fox pointed for the winners. As it wore on, Tullamore began to mop up more and more ball in the middle third. Cillian Bourke curled over a delightful left footed two pointer in the 11^th minute but were 2-4 to 0-4 behind after 20 minutes.

Bourke brought them right back into it with an excellent 22^nd minute goal and Tullamore finished the half strongly. Dan Fox got a point, Oisin Keenan-Martin blazed over with the goal at his mercy and goalkeeper Corey White got a great two point free in first half injury time to give Tullamore a 1-8 to 2-4 lead at the break.

Tullamore were outstanding in the first fifteen minutes of the second half. Cillian Bourke raced through and blasted home a breathtaking goal just twenty seconds after the resumption and Tullamore exerted almost complete control on the game in the next few minutes. Ferbane just couldn't get a look in and Tullamore had 2-12 on the board before Darragh Flynn fisted their first point in the 47^th minute.

Keenan-Martin and Dan Fox pushed the gap out to 2-14 to 2-5 with ten minutes left and it looked a winning lead every day of the week. The winners were hugely efficient in this period, so efficient on the ball and scarcely putting a foot wrong anywhere. Yet Ferbane did very well to rally the forces and get back into some sort of contention, even if they never looked like they would quite get there.

A soft punched goal from Brian Carroll gave Ferbane a glimmer of hope with 52 minutes gone but the gap was still six points. Darragh Flynn added a free and with the scoreboard a point wrong in Ferbane's favour, their supporters were beginning to wonder if they could snatch it. Tullamore responded very well with Michael Fox slotting a free and Luke Plunkett booting over his third point, 2-16 to 3-7.

Cian Johnson gave Ferbane a lifeline with 59 minutes gone after the otherwise very steady Ben Heffernan carried the ball into traffic and fouled it – Ferbane tapped and went from the free and Johnson stroked home the goal.

Now the deficit was three and Tullamore's legs were going. Having said that, they remained dangerous on the break and an excellent Michael Fox point gave them a safe four point gap in injury time. Ferbane had one last chance of a goal, Corey White saving brilliantly from Darragh Flynn but despite what the scoreboard indicated, a three pointer would not have forced extra time as Tullamore held on.

MATCH ANALYSIS

MAN OF THE MATCH

Cillian Bourke (Tullamore): A pronounced dominance in midfield was instrumental to Tullamore's win as Cillian Bourke and Aaron Leavy laid a powerful foundation.

There is a strong case to be made for Leavy as he was hugely influential, working his socks off, putting in the hard hits and very economical on the ball. Cillian Bourke's contribution, however, was absolutely pivotal. His 2-2 won the match, including a spectacular goal and two pointer. He carried the ball very well and while he was turned over a couple of times, it was an outstanding display by him.

THE SCORERS

Tullamore: Cillian Bourke 2-2 (1 x 2p), Luke Plunkett and Michael Fox (1f) 0-3 each, Corey White (1 2pf), Oisin Keenan-Martin, Dan Fox 0-2 each, Luke Bourke, Jay Sheerin and Peter Fox 0-1 each.

Ferbane: Brian Carroll 2-1, Cian Johnson 2-0, Darragh Flynn 0-4 (3f), Kevin Nugent and David Nally 0-1 each.

THE TEAMS

TULLAMORE: Corey White; Jack Daly, Pa Robbiliard, Ben Heffernan; Luke Bourke, Oisin Keenan-Martin, Jay Sheerin; Cillian Bourke, Aaron Leavy; Dan Fox, John Furlong, Niall Furlong; Michael Fox,v Luke Plunkett, Peter Fox. Subs – Tom Furlong for Peter Fox (48m), Liam Dillane for Dan Fox (50m), Shane Enright for Daly (52m), Martin Keogh for Sheerin (59m), Jack Maher for Luke Bourke (59m).

FERBANE: Adam Nugent; Patrick Taaffe, Ciaran Cahill, Conor Dunican; Kevin Nugent, Mark Wren, Aaron McCabe; James Nally, Eoghan Grennan; David Nally, Brian Carroll, Ronan Flynn; Cian Johnson, Adam Egan, Darragh Flynn. Subs – Cathal Flynn for James Nally (37m), Jack Clancy for Ronan Flynn (39m), Stephen Wren for Egan (44m), Shane Nally for Nugent (47m), Conor Grennan for Grennan (59m).

Referee – Marius Stones (Clara).

REFEREE WATCH

Marius Stones had a very good game and got most calls right. There was no big talking points though for the second league semi-final, a referee opted to start without his full compliment of officials. There was an umpire missing for the first fifteen minutes of the semi-final between Edenderry and Bracknagh on Friday evening and there was only one linesman here. That was Ferbane chairman Padraig Boland and while he was very honest, it is not ideal. When a spectator got onto the Clara man about the absence of a linesman during the first half, he explained that Tullamore had declined to provide one. They should have done that but the onus should really have been on the host club Tubber to provide one and Stones did come with his own four umpires – with the new rules, a referee has enough to be doing without calling the line as well and there were hairy moments down that side – whatever about the group stages of a league, a referee just shouldn't start a game without the full compliment of umpires and linesmen- and it looks bad.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

Cillian Bourke's goal at the start of the second half was worth the trip to Tubber alone. It gave Tullamore a 2-8 to 2-4 lead and was ultimately the difference between the sides.

VENUE WATCH

Tubber was in its usual excellent condition and they hosted the fixture with their customary professionalism. They managed the traffic well, the only complaint was that they didn't step in to provide a linesman – and in fairness to them, personnel can be an issue for clubs though it should be a condition of hosting games that they assist the referee when required. The scoreboard was also wrong for the last few minutes with Ferbane's score reading 4-8 instead of 4-7.

WHAT'S NEXT

Tullamore play Edenderry in the final.

STATISTICS

Wides: Tullamore – 7 (4 in first half); Ferbane – 5 (2 in first half).

Yellow cards: Tullamore – 1 (Dan Fox); Ferbane – 0.

Black cards: 0

Red cards: 0