Knockout pairings decided in Offaly Football Leagues
Volume of walkovers causing concern in Offaly leagues
THE knockout pairings have been decided in Offaly GAA's two main football leagues.
In Division 1, Tullamore and Shamrocks will clash in a very attractive local derby while Rhode and Ferbane will meet in another very enticing tussle. Tullamore and Shamrocks has been fixed for Friday, June 5 in Daingean at 7.30pm. Rhode and Ferbane meet on Sunday, June 7 in Clara at 7.30pm.
The Division 1 league was played in two groups but with the teams playing the clubs in the opposing one. Rhode topped group 1 with 10 points with Tullamore on 8. Clara, Clonbullogue and Bracknagh bowed out with Clara and Clonbullogue on six points and Bracknagh on four.
While they didn't make it through, Clonbullogue will have been delighted with their form after a horrible first season in senior ranks in 2025. With former Offaly, Ballycumber and Clara footballer, Mark Daly – who lives in Clonbullogue – at the helm, they took six points and that will give them great confidence as they focus on the championship.
Shamrocks and Ferbane topped group 2 on six points each with Edenderry and Ballycmmon on two points. It has been a difficult league for Durrow, who have been affected more than most by the absence of their county players (Offaly senior hurlers in their case) and are pointless after losing all their games and conceding a walkover to Clonbullogue this weekend.
This year, the five strongest teams, Tullamore, Ferbane, Rhode, Edenderry and Shamrocks are all in the one group in the championship with the top two making the semi-finals and next two into two quarter-finals against the top two teams from group 2: Clara, Clonbullogue, Ballycommon, Bracknagh and Durrow.
As expected four of the strongest teams have made the league semi-finals with Edenderry losing out. Shamrocks deserve a lot of credit for opting to go into the strongest group. They could have forced Bracknagh into a toss for that privilege but let Bracknagh off the hook and that was both the right thing to do and a sign of ambition by Shamrocks. The strong group would have been a pure disaster for Bracknagh whereas Shamrocks are slowly emerging into a team with prospects and their target this year is to make the semi-finals.
They have shown good form in the league, winning three and drawing two games. They received a wake up call when their defence was at sixes and sevens in an opening round loss to Clonbullogue, when they shipped five goals, but they have recovered well to qualify. They played reasonably well in a hard earned 2-15 to 2-11 win over Clara on Friday evening. With Alan Heffernan orchestrating affairs from the half back line, they did just enough to win and will look forward to facing Tullamore in the semi-finals.
Division 2 was a dead rubber in many aspects. With Tullamore making the decision to withdraw from it for the second consecutive year, this league consisted of the remaining five senior B teams and the decision was made to allow all five to qualify for the knockout stages. Tullamore's non participation looks very bad for the county's biggest club but in fairness to them, they have been fielding a largely senior B side in a lot of their Division 1 fixtures and it does appear that numbers are an issue for these games.
Tullamore had a good 0-17 to 0-10 win over Edenderry in their final Division 1 group game on Friday evening. Both teams were understrength but Tullamore's depth in strength is shown by the fact that they had players playing well who are unlikely to see much action on their first team in the championship but would make most senior teams in the county.
Daingean topped division 2 on 7 points. Ballycumber have been the big winners in the league and will be delighted to be second on 6 points. They had to survive a relegation play off in the championship last year and have clearly worked hard to improve things. Cappincur are on five points with Ballinagar and Tubber on zero points.
Ballinagar and Tubber end up with a reward that they don't really deserve after poor campaigns. The two teams are pointless as they didn't play their final game on Saturday afternoon – the game had been switched from 6pm to 2pm because of Offaly's Tailteann Cup game with Down on Saturday evening and Tubber said they couldn't get a team – Ballinagar offered to play it during next week but with qualification assured and the teams meeting again, it was agreed to abandon this fixture and them to meet in a preliminary semi-final next weekend.
There was logic in that decision but the volume of walkovers across all leagues is causing real concern.
Ballycumber and Cappincur meet in a semi-final on Saturday, June 6 in Mucklagh at 7pm. Ballinagar and Tubber will meet in a preliminary quarter-final in Durrow that day at 7pm – Daingean play the winners in the semi-final.