Impressive Tullamore lay down marker of intent as disappointing Shamrocks forced back to drawing board

IT was all very anticlimactic as Tullamore sauntered to a routine, very easy win over a very disappointing Shamrocks in the second round of the Senior Football Championship in O'Connor Park on Saturday afternoon.

Tullamore Court Hotel Senior Football Championship Group 2 Round 2

Tullamore 2-16

Shamrocks 0-8

It would be wrong to say that Tullamore's win was easier than expected but even they anticipated tougher opposition and we had hoped that Shamrocks would be able to give them a run for their money – even if it fell short and ended in defeat.

Instead, Tullamore were in control the whole way, never looked like losing and had the points in the bag before half time. The win means that they are assured of top spot and a semi-final berth with a round to go – even if Clonbullogue did somehow pull off the shock of the year against them in the final round, Tullamore can't be caught as they now have both Shamrocks and Bracknagh on the head to head rule.

It was a dispiriting, thought provoking afternoon for Shamrocks, who look to be turning a corner and are ambitious about there they can go. This defeat doesn't mean they are a bad team and they will almost certainly make the quarter-finals. They could well talk to a team in a quarter-final and a semi-final spot may be achievable but this performance and defeat suggests that a first county title is beyond them at this stage of their development.

The time to beat Tullamore is in a knockout game not the group but Shamrocks still needed a much better performance here. They needed to be competitive and at least give a good account of themselves. Unfortunately, they fell well short of these modest targets, they never really showed up and they definitely didn't perform.

It doesn't matter that much in general but the nature of this defeat was damaging for Shamrocks and they were certainly a long way off Tullamore on Saturday. Some of their football with the wind on their back in the second half left an awful lot to be desired and the fact that the game was out of reach for them is a poor excuse for this.

In their defence, they came up against a Tullamore team, who were very focused and up for the game. They were ruthlessly efficient in all sectors and some of their football was of a real high order. Their concentration on the basics of work rate and closing down players commanded complete respect and Tullamore are definitely the team to beat in this championship.

There is a long way to go yet and Tullamore will be vulnerable at some stage later in the campaign but they are motoring very well and this was a genuine marker of intent.

Playing with a strong wind in the first half, Tullamore were excellent as they led by 2-8 to 0-2 at half time. Even with the wind to come, Shamrocks knew the game was up at that stage – even if Tullamore stopped scoring, Shamrocks were never going to score more than 2-8 against such a disciplined, effective defence.

The writing was on the wall for Shamrocks from the start as they just couldn't get their hands on the ball. At times, it seemed they were swimming against the tide as well as the wind and Tullamore eased into a 0-6 to 0-1 lead after 21 minutes, with an almost 100% conversion rate, It went from bad to worse for Shamrocks before half time as they conceded two at least partly self inflicted goals.

The finishes in both cases were top notch, Mike Fox ending it as a contest with an excellent 21^st minute finish and John Furlong rubbing salt in the wounds with a fantastic 29^th minute goal to put Tullamore twelve points clear at half time.

The second half was a bit of a non event as Tullamore remained in complete control while Shamrocks never got going. 2-11 to 0-3 behind after 38 minutes, Shamrocks got three points without reply, two of them a Scott Delaney two pointer, but Harry Plunkett got the next two from Tullamore, one from a free.

The closing quarter had almost no championship bite as Tullamore outscored Shamrocks by 0-3 to 0-2 for a very convincing win – Shamrocks made it very easy for Tullamore with some very substandard play and the only mitigating factor is that this can sometimes happen a team heading for a bad defeat and that they are much better than this.

MATCH ANALYSIS

MAN OF THE MATCH

John Furlong (Tullamore): John Furlong was near his sensational best here. He ran the game in the first half and continued to have a big influence in the second half. A couple of moments in each half showed what he is capable of. He was sensational in Tullamore's second goal and the block he made to deny Paddy Dunican a goal early in the second half just took the breath away, coming almost from nowhere to whip the ball off his boot – Tullamore colleagues don't call him “the ghost” for nothing.

Apart from Furlong, every Tullamore player did his job and performed with Mike Fox having a second very good game in attack and Harry Plunkett scoring very well.

For Shamrocks, there was no player who will look back on this game with any bit of satisfaction.

THE SCORERS

Tullamore: Harry Plunkett 0-8 (2f and 2 '45's), Mike Fox 1-3, John Furlong 1-0, Oisin Keenan-Martin, Cormac Egan, Luke Plunkett, Daire McDaid and Dan Fox 0-1 each,

Shamrocks: Nigel Dunne 0-3 (2f), Scott Delaney 0-2 (2p), David O'Rourke, Johnny O'Toole-Greene and Jack Bryant 0-1 each.

THE TEAMS

TULLAMORE: Corey White; Oisin Keenan-Martin, Pa Robbiliard, Ben Heffernan; Cormac Egan, John Furlong, Luke Bourke; Aaron Leavy, Cillian Bourke; Liam Dillane, Michael Brazil, Harry Plunkett; Dan Fox, Luke Plunkett, Mike Fox. Subs – Daire McDaid for Luke Bourke (HT), Declan Hogan for Brazil (51m).

SHAMROCKS: Sean O'Toole; Sean Mooney, David O'Rourke, Adam Keyes; Shane O'Toole-Greene, Padraig Cantwell, Kieran Dolan; Scott Delaney, Johnny O'Toole-Greene; David O'Toole-Greene, Alan Heffernan, Dan Heffernan; Jack Bryant, Nigel Dunne, Paddy Dunican. Subs – Darragh Bryant for David O'Toole-Greene (17m), Eoghan Neville for Dan Heffernan (37m). Andrew Delaney for Dunican (50m)

Referee – Chris Dwyer, Clara.

REFEREE WATCH

Chris Dywer had a solid game, controlling it well and not giving soft frees.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

Tullamore's second goal in the 29^th minute was a real highlight. John Furlong brilliantly intercepted the ball between half way and the 45 metre line, raced forward at full speed, Mike and Dan Fox were involved before Furlong got the ball back with the goal in sight. He often finds himself in these positions but his conversion rate is on the wrong side of where he would like it to be. On this occasion, however, he finished with the confidence of an ace marksman, picking his spot and giving Sean O'Toole no chance,

VENUE WATCH

The heavy rainfall took very little out of O'Connor Park and there were no issues apart from the short gap between games. The Ferbane v Edenderry one started at 3pm and the 4.30pm throw in time for this was too tight for teams and others – it should have been 4.45pm.

WHAT'S NEXT

Tullamore meet Clonbullogue and Shamrocks face Bracknagh in the final round of the group.

STATISTICS

Wides: Tullamore – 5 (3 in first half); Shamrocks – 7 (1 in first half).

Yellow cards: 0

Black cards: 0

Red cards: 0