Shamrocks do it the hard way as they take junior “B” honours at second attempt

SHAMROCKS definitely did it the hard way, playing real heart attack football late on but there was a real sense of justice as they captured the Junior “B” Football Championship at the second attempt with a deserved replay win over Tullamore in O'Connor Park on Sunday.

Tullamore Court Hotel Junior “B” Football Championship final replay

Shamrocks 0-11

Tullamore 0-8

They should have won it the first day when they were clearly the better team but conceded a devastating late goal deep in injury time to Patrick Cosgrove as Tullamore snatched a fortunate second chance.

History almost repeated itself here as Shamrocks went into defensive mode way too early with the strong wind on their back and a three point lead from the 52^nd minute. There was more scores to be got for Shamrocks but like a startled rabbit in the headlights, they panicked with the winning post in sight as they just stopped attacking, became ultra cautious and invited Tullamore onto them.

0-8 to 0-4 behind at half time, they held Tullamore scoreless in the second half, kicking seven points themselves for the win but for the second time in two weeks, they didn't shut the door on them and almost paid the cruellest of penalties.

In a frantic closing few minutes, Tullamore threw the kitchen sink at Shamrocks and it was just pure luck that prevented them from getting a match saving goal and forcing extra time. One of the best football referees in Offaly, former senior stalwart Kevin Williamson had a goal shot blocked and toed the rebound wide in the follow up with the 60 minutes just up.

It would be wrong to condemn Shamrocks for their lack of composure late on and living on their wits. It was after all, Offaly's fifth tier, and every single player here is playing junior “B” for a reason – whether it is an ageing stalwart seeing out his career, the talented player who doesn't have the commitment or interest to play at a higher level, the young gun who could make it at a higher grade or the several players at the right level.

The winners, however, were out on their feet late on, lashing at any breaking ball, just trying to get it away from the danger zone but resulting in the pressure being piled on. Five minutes of injury time was played and the pressure was almost unbearable on the Shamrocks defence. Their supporters almost had heart attacks when Patrick Cosgrove got possession fifteen metres out with only one thing on his mind in the 63^rd minute but unlike the drawn game, Shamrocks were onto him straight away and Neil Minnock made a super tackle to dispossess him – then lashing the ball straight back to Tullamore hands.

Mike Feeley had a goal shot blocked and the final whistle over five minutes into injury time came as a great relief to Shamrocks. It would have been a disaster for them if they had not won a compelling, enthralling game and they were very worthy winners. While the defeat will be a great disappointment to the Tullamore squad and management, this win also means so much more to Shamrocks who are desperate for any sort of silverware. It will have a much more positive, meaningful effect on their club than it would on Tullamore, where it's importance would have been negligible and for that reason alone, the result should be welcomed by everyone outside of Tullamore.

Tullamore had first use of the strong wind and led by 0-8 to 0-4 at half time. It was very retrievable for Shamrocks in the second half but at the same time, it was a decent advantage and Tullamore were full value for it as they played better than they had in the drawn game.

They changed things up with former senior stalwart Mark Conlon playing in a sweeper role. Conlon was solid but as so often happens in these cases, there was a price to pay as it left Shamrocks' corner back Jason Daly with a lot of freedom and he got two of their four first half points.

Two two pointers were crucial to Tullamore having that four point lead. The first from Shane Kelly in the 11^th minute was questionable as Shamrocks goalkeeper Cillian Twomey may have got a hand to it but it was not definitive in real time.

There was certainly no dispute over their second, a 28^th minute strike from Mike Feeley and Tullamore did need that as there was a big difference between a four and two point half time lead – they also had a few poor first half wides, six in all.

The loss of Shane Kelly to injury at half time was a big blow to Tullamore as he was their best player in the first half. His replacement Kevin Williamson showed loads of his old guile but until the last few minutes, Tullamore were very poor and never looked like scoring – and they only reason they threatened to score then was because of Shamrocks issuing an open invitation to them to attack.

Shamrocks had to get early scores to have a chance and they got these with Jason Minnock getting three points, a free and excellent two pointer, and Ger Keating tapping it over to level it up at 0-8 each after 37 minutes.

Now it was Shamrocks to lose and once again, they seemed to be doing their best to do this. They had all the play but wasted good possession, kicking a couple of poor wides as well as ballooning the ball away. Their next score, a second two pointer from Jason Minnock, in the 46^th minute was a hugely important score as it gave Shamrocks a two point lead. Minnock's free put Shamrocks three up in the 52^nd minute and they should have pushed for home but it was very much junior “B” football from here on as they opted to batten down the hatches and hold on for dear life.

MATCH ANALYSIS

MAN OF THE MATCH

Jason Minnock (Shamrocks): Jason Minnock was pivotal to Shamrocks' win. He got eight points, four of them from two pointers but did a lot more work than this. He won hard ball and did the simple thing well. Alan Foster also did a lot of great work for Shamrocks once again and over the course of the two games, they were clearly the better side.

Mike Feeley was Tullamore's best player but their second half performance was nowhere near good enough and they would have been stealing it to have won.

THE SCORERS

Shamrocks; Jason Minnock 0-8 (2 x 2p, 4f), Jason Daly 0-2, Ger Keating 0-1.

Tullamore: Shane Kelly 0-4 (1 x 2p and 2f), Mike Feeley 0-3 (1 x 2p), Evan Fitzpatrick 0-1.

THE TEAMS

SHAMROCKS: Cillian Twomey; Jason Daly, Mark O'Rourke, Cian Crerand; Neil Minnock, Darragh Minnock, Mark Malone; Conor Kearney, James Coughlan; Matthew Mollloy,Brooke Healion, Garry Merriman; Ger Keating, Jason Minnock, Alan Foster. Subs – Sean Cantwell for Crerand (22m), Wayne Mooney for Kearney (45m),

TULLAMORE: Brendan Deering; Eoghan Geoghegan, Aaron Pierce, Eoghain Spain; Jack Carroll, Owen Power, Kevin Leavy; Dean Carroll, Cody Hensey; Mark Hayes, Evan Fitzpatrick, Mike Feeley; Mark Conlon, Shane Kelly, Patrick Cosgrove. Subs – Kevin Williamson for Kelly (HT), Robbie Hand for Jack Carroll (39m), Mark Bannon for Pierce (44m), Damien English for Spain (50m),

Referee – Chris Dwyer, Clara.

REFEREE WATCH

Chris Dwyer was in the wars when he refereed Shamrocks' defeat by Ferbane in the Senior Football Championship quarter-final and it was no harm from both a County Board and Shamrocks' point of view to give him a game involving them fairly quickly after it. Aware of the anger in Shamrocks at their senior loss, Dwyer was very tuned in but refereed it very fairly and efficiently though there was another 2 point issue. A Shane Kelly kick was awarded as a two pointer in the 11^th minute though Shamrocks goalie Cillian Twomey got his hand to it as it went over. Under the 2025 rules, that should be one point but Dwyer went to talk to his umpires and it is possible that Twomey's hand touched it when it was over the bar – a second viewing will be required to determine the rights and wrongs of that one.

He also overturned a Tullamore free in the second half when they took too long over it – he was right but it was a turning point as Shamrocks went straight down the field and Jason Minnock kicked a two pointer to put them in front.

He also brought in a Shamrocks free after comments from a Tullamore mentor, showing a yellow card, and he was absolutely correct to punish them for that.

One other point about this game: Shamrocks should not be let away with their goalkeeper's jersey - it has red on top, green underneath whereas the others have green on top, red on the bottom. They are just too similar, even if the goalie's green is a darker shade and it is easy to mix up with a quick glance – with three man breaches and new rules in play, they should have a more conventional goalkeeper's jersey.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

The two pointer that Jason Minnock kicked in the 46^th minute was a hue score. It came just after Tullamore had been penalised for not taking a free quick enough and a two point lead at that stage was a very big one.

VENUE WATCH

The County Board groundsmen did a great job on repairing the pitch after an extra time Senior “B” Football Championship semi-final on Saturday and it was looking immaculate. Unfortunately, there was a lot of rain and this meant that a certain amount of cutting up was inevitable ahead of the senior decider.

WHAT'S NEXT

This concludes the season for both teams.

STATISTICS

Wides: Shamrocks – 6 (1 in first half); Tullamore - 10 (6 in first half).

Yellow cards: 0

Black cards: 0

Red cards: 0