Fired up Tullamore exit with their heads held high as Cuala forced to dig deep for win

TULLAMORE'S Leinster Club Senior Football Championship ambitions ended at the first hurdle but unlike last year when the Dublin champions Ballyboden St Enda's put them to the sword, they exit with their heads held high and were not far away from a huge win. The Offaly champions gave a great account of themselves in Parnell Park and Dublin's Cuala had to dig deep before creeping over the line.

Leinster Club Senior Football Championship 1st round

Cuala 0-16

Tullamore 1-11

Level going into injury time, it could have swung either way but Dublin star Con O'Callaghan got the winner, kicking over a super two pointer, on advantage, as it just went into three minutes of injury time. Tullamore tried hard to force extra time but Diarmuid Egan's two point shot dropped into Darragh O'Dowd's arms – Egan was a bit far out and could perhaps have recycled the ball for a better opening but it mightn't have happened either and it could have been kicked by him. Either way, it gave Cuala back the ball and they were able to run the clock down with comfort from there.

Tullamore turned up on the day, played well enough and brought a high enough work rate to the table to win but it wasn't to be. They made Cuala look mediodre for most of the first half and into the second half but when push came to shove, their quality shone through and they found a way to win it.

1-7 to 0-6 ahead seven minutes into the second half and with whatever advantage the wind was giving favouring them, Tullamore were in a great position but were in difficulty from here on, living on scraps and working hard to get their hands on the ball.

1-4 to 0-6 up at half time, Harry Plunkett got a superb two pointer at the start of the second half and then converted a free to give them that four point lead – he could have went for a two pointer as Cuala were punished for a crazy three man breach, with just one defender back but opted to take the guaranteed point. It was the correct decision at that time, though he was well capable of kicking the two pointer but Cuala's response was brilliant.

They pushed up on Arron Hensey's kickouts and won a huge volume of ball. Hensey had played a big role in Tullamore leading at half time as he came out the field to contest Cuala kickouts – this generally forced Darragh O'Dowd to go down the right side of the field where Tullamore were able to turn them over but in the second half, Hensey had to take a lot of kickouts himself and Cuala won a significant percentage of these.

They got back on level terms with four points in a great spell of pressure from the 38th to 42nd minutes. Tullamore were sucking air and Harry Plunkett was short with a long 45 metre two point free in the 43rd minute. The excellent Niall O'Callaghan gave Cuala the lead in the 44th minute but Tullamore fought hard. Plunkett converted a free to level it up in the 48th minute but Cuala moved into a higher gear.

David O'Dowd, Con O'Callaghan (free) and Eoin Kennedy got points to put them three up with 53 minutes gone but Tullamore showed terrific character to get back into it. They were in quick for breaks, tackled tenaciously as Harry Plunkett brought them back into it with an excellent two pointer from the right of the arc – it was a free shot as he was on advantage but it was the score of the game. He levelled it up in the 58th minute with a free just inside the arc and Tullamore had a great chance of a famous win.

It was there for them but Mike Fox had a poor wide and Con O'Callaghan's two pointer won the day for Cuala.

Tullamore put in a great shift in the first half and it was clear from the throw in that they were tuned in and would compete. The teams were level on four occasions before Cuala edged two clear with a Con O'Callaghan free and Eoghan O'Callaghan point. Tullamore got a crucial 28th minute goal for that 1-4 to 0-6 half time lead – with the referee's hanbds up for advantage, John Furlong and Daire McDaid did the hard yards for Luke Plunkett to drive a low shot to the net.

Tullamore fully deserved that lead and played well enough to win. It was a very encouraging display at this level by the four in a row Offaly champions but ultimately their lack of fire power up front was the reason they lost – Harry Plunkett got all their second half scores and Tullamore needed other players weighing in to win it. They had a couple of poor wides while there were a few occasions when players turned down the shot.

Tullamore couldn't claim that Cuala robbed them but had they got the result, the Dublin side wouldn't have been shouting about a robbery either and it could have swung either wa.

MATCH ANALYSIS

MAN OF THE MATCH

Harry Plunkett (Tullamore): Harry Plunkett showed his value to the Tullamore team with an excellent display. He was so solid and composed on the ball and his ten point haul included two two pointers and a single point from play. Tullamore were too reliant on his up front and probably would have won if they had more scoring threat from other courses but Plunkett certainly did his best.

Plunkett got 0-10 of 1-11 with only Diarmuid Egan and Luke Plunkett adding scores while Cuala got points from seven players and that was the difference.

Overall it was a very good display by Tullamore with John Furlong back close to his best, Arron Hensey, Jack Maher, Daire McDaid, Cormac Egan and Aaron Leavy all impressing at different stages.

Charlie McMorrow, Peadar O'Cofaigh-Byrne, Niall O'Callaghan and Con O'Callaghan all did very well for the winners, though Tullamore did work very hard to limit Con O'Callaghan's influence to manageable levels.

THE SCORERS

Tullamore: Harry Plunkett 0-10 (2 x 2p, 4f and 1 '45'), Luke Plunkett 1-0, Diarmuid Egan 0-1.

Cuala: Con O'Callaghan 0-6 (1 x 2p, 4f), Niall O'Callaghan 0-3, Peadar O'Cofaigh-Byrne and David O'Dowd 0-2 each, Eoghan O'Callaghan, Charlie McMorrow and Eoin Kennedy 0-1 each.

THE TEAMS

TULLAMORE: Arron Hensey; Patrick Kenna, Declan Hogan, Jack Maher; Diarmuid Egan, John Furlong, Daire McDaid; Cormac Egan, Aaron Leavy; Davin Keegan, Niall Furlong, Luke Egan; Mike Fox, Luke Plunkett, Harry Plunkett. Subs – Michael Brazil for Keegan (52m) , Liam Dillane for Luke Plunkett (52m), Luke Bourke for Niall Furlong (53m),

CUALA: Darragh O'Dowd; Danny Conroy, Michael Fitzsimons, Eoghan O'Callaghan; Eoin Kennedy, Charlie McMorrow, David O'Dowd; Peadar O'Cofaigh-Byrne, Peter Duffy; Conor Groarke, Cal Doran, Dan O'Sullivan; Niall O'Callaghan, Con O'Callaghan, Conor O'Brien. Subs – Jamie Conroy for O'Sullivan (45m),

Referee – Patrick Coyle, Meath.

REFEREE WATCH

Patrick Coyle had a very good game and neither side should be complaining at his handling of it.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

Con O'Callaghan's two pointer at the end was the decisive moment and without it, Tullamore would have got an extra twenty minutes.

VENUE WATCH

It was a lovely day in Parnell Park and as always, the game was hosted perfectly. It was great to see a big Tullamore crowd there with a healthy number from the wider county. Niall O'Callaghan and Conor O'Brien wore the wrong numbers for Cuala and that shouldn't happen – O'Callaghan was listed as 13 but wore 15 and vice versa.

WHAT'S NEXT

Cuala are at home to the Kildare champions on November 14-15.

STATISTICS

Wides: Tullamore - 8 (4 in first half); Cuala – 3 (1 in first half).

Yellow cards: Cuala – 1 (Michael Fitzsimons); Tullamore – 1 (Liam Dillane).

Black cards: 0

Red cards: 0