Philosophical Stack looks forward to second chance

TULLAMORE manager Niall Stack was in a philosophical mood when he spoke after Sunday's Senior Football Championship final draw with Rhode.

Tullamore were the better team on the day but saw victory snatched from their grasp with a stunning Niall McNamee goal at the end of four minutes of injury time. It was a bitter pill for Tullamore to swallow but they have the second chance of a replay in O'Connor Park on Sunday, November 14 and Stack admitted that they had themselves to blame for not winning.

“I’ve no complaints really, we were probably authors of our own downfall a bit by just giving the ball away at vital times towards the end but we’ll just have to dust ourselves down and go again the next day.

“We definitely didn’t do enough to win the game. We went into our shells a little towards the end, four minutes went up on the board and we seemed lose balls in the corners and not get back quick enough and Rhode worked the ball well through the hands.

They kind of got a couple of 50-50 decisions, I felt, towards the end, a couple of frees went their way and they got the chance and they took it.”

He was asked about the mood of the players.

“It’s all to play for the next day, we’re still in a county final, that’s the way it feels. I could see the Rhode lads celebrating and I suppose I don’t blame them, they got back into a game that they were out right until the end. We’re ready to go, we’ll dust ourselves down and go again the next day.”

Stack was asked if the draw felt like a defeat.

“We’d have taken anybody’s hand off to be in a final as it was and now we’re still in a final so it’ll be easy to get them back up for that.”

He admitted:

“We probably lacked a bit of cuteness, definitely two frees Anton Sullivan bought there towards the end. I could see what he was doing, he was running into people who were trying to get out of his way, Ruairi McNamee did the same. That’s three frees towards the end that they maybe took 1-2 off and that is cuteness. That’s not within the law, that’s just cuteness now in my opinion but anyway, fair play to them they got back into the game, we’ll just get ready for the next day.”

He spoke about the heavy schedule of games Tullamore have with an U-20 football semi-final on Tuesday night and a senior “B” hurling semi-final at the weekend.

“We’re all okay despite our objections to this U-20 football championship, we’ve a good few fellas playing Tuesday night, we’ve fellas playing a hurling semi-final next weekend. Us as a club, we’ll probably have two thirds of our group will have to go and play two games before the replay, Rhode won’t have to do that.”

Rhode manager Malachy McNulty paid tribute to Niall McNamee for his late rescue act.

“Isn’t that the amazing thing about players like Niall McNamee, players of that calibre, that they can be kept quiet and then when the need arises they can just put the ball away. What can you say, there was seconds in it. Our lads just kept going and going and going. The goal came and sometimes these things are written in the stars and we’ll go at it again for another day."

WATCH: Niall McNamee's last gasp goal to earn draw in Offaly county final

McNamee rescues Rhode as gutted Tullamore let golden chance slip