Senior and Intermediate Football Championship down to semi-finals

THERE will be huge interest in the semi-finals of the Offaly Senior Football Championship next weekend where Tullamore and Ferbane will be aiming to qualify for their fourth successive final but face huge, very realistic sabotage raids by Rhode and Shamrocks.

The semi-finals of the Intermediate Football Championship are also on what is a packed weekend for the club championship scenes – there is a great senior “B” and junior football final double bill on the Saturday.

Senior Football Championship semi-finals

Ferbane v Shamrocks: Sunday, September 27 in O'Connor Park at 2.30pm

Ferbane have been the unluckiest side in Offaly in the past few years and if ever a side deserve to win a championship, they do.

They have been perennial contenders this decade and are now aiming for their fourth consecutive final. They are desperately unfortunate that such a talented generation have arrived at the exact same time as a golden era for Tullamore – Ferbane have been agonisingly close to winning their first title since 2019 in the past three years but Tullamore have found a way to break their hearts on each occasion.

There have been controversial refereeing decisions, missed chances and Ferbane have not had the rub of the green but at the same time, they have to look inside themselves and they have been unable to get across the line.

When news emerged that their star player, Cathal Flynn would be out for this season, we presumed that was Ferbane's goose cooked. Instead they have come back again, playing extremely well and are now within touching distance of another final. Their hunger levels and willingness to keep coming is remarkable and even though they lost to Rhode in the group stages, Ferbane have been arguably the best side in the championship too date.

They are favourites for the semi-final against Shamrocks but this is laced with danger for them. While Ferbane have lost three finals in a row, they have won three consecutive semi-finals and at some stage, that winning streak will come to an end. It could be when not expected and there is a very live possibility of an improving Shamrocks team taking them out.

Shamrocks have been a bit of an enigma this year. They have looked very good at times and are certainly championship contenders but there is more doubts about them than any of the other three teams left. They should have beaten Rhode when drawing the first round and they blew an out of sorts Edenderry out of the water in their next game. They were okay when losing to Tullamore without looking like winning and they presented their good and bad side against Ferbane.

They made an awful start and were shocking in the first half as they trailed by 1-14 to 0-4 at half time. They rallied very well in the second half, almost getting back into it before losing by 1-18 to 1-11.

In the quarter-final against Clara, Shamrocks selected their strongest available team with a handful of injured players returning as well as selecting player-manager Nigel Dunne for his first start of the season and went out and repeated the Ferbane dose. They were awful for a few minutes at the start, going six points to no score down and were fortunate that it wasn't 2-5 to no score. They were able to get away with it here as Clara had too many weak links and Shamrocks got on top with a degree of comfort but their start in those two games raises real questionss about them.

If they do the same again here, Ferbane will do what they did in the group game – even if they take their foot off the medal again, they will have enough players to get across the line.

Yet Shamrocks have a very decent chance here. They have suspect areas and limited capacity to improve in these but they have a very good team, a lot of strong players. Jack Bryant is struggling with a hamstring injury and they could do with him firing on all cylinders but Shamrocks won't be far away in this.

It certainly has the potential for an upset but Ferbane have less doubts about them, and there has been something very impressive about the way they have performed this year.

Verdict – Ferbane.

Tullamore v Rhode: Sunday, September 27 in O'Connor Park 4pm

The meeting of Offaly's two strongest football clubs in Tullamore and Rhode is the most intriguing this weekend.

Tullamore have got on top of Rhode in recent years and are aiming for four in a row but if you go purely on the form book, they are underdogs for this. We can't fully trust the form book but Rhode have played better this year and Tullamore have been off the boil.

They qualified easily out of their group but suffered losses to Rhode and Ferbane. The same hunger and work rate that was such a key factor in the last three years was not present in the group and only really came to the surface in the quarter-final win over Ballycommon – they looked good in the second half but it was against weak group opposition and we just won't know if Tullamore have truly turned a corner until this one.

Rhode have been a breath of fresh air to this championship and it has been great to see them re-emerge as genuine contenders. Offaly's dominant force for two decades, they headed into transition at the beginning of this decade and Tullamore moved clearly ahead of them in the past three years.

It looked like Rhode could take a few years before they would win another title but they have turned the corner really quickly and have an excellent chance this year. They have shown faith in fine young talent and they are blossoming as a result. They have shown terrific character and hunger to rescue a draw against Shamrocks and had great wins against Tullamore and Ferbane.

Under many of the criteria they have been the best side in the championship but the real business starts now. It remains to be seen if Rhode got up to a level that Ferbane and Tullamore didn't aspire to reach in the group but will match in the knockout stages.

It makes this match very attractive and an extra factor was the dismissal of midfielder Aaron Leavy in the second half of Tullamore's defeat by Rhode. Tullamore were not happy with that and the indications are that he would have got off on appeal if they had done the paper work right and some of their players may use this to inflame passions – not that they will need such stuff to get up for their great rivals.

Cillian Bourke is home from Australia after his first season trying to make it in the Australian Football League and we will have to wait and see if he features here – it is not clear if he will be allowed to but no one in Rhode will be surprised to see him making an appearance.

Rhode have had a month off after qualifying direct for the semi-finals and time will tell if this has a positive or negative impact. Tullamore have welcomed John Furlong back since and if he ties up Ruari McNamee, one of the outstanding performers in the championship to date, it will be interesting to see how Rhode go.

Now that we are in the business end of affairs, there is every chance that Tullamore will perform and turn it on but they have looked more vulnerable this year than any of the other years. You can make equally convincing cases for both sides and the impression that Tullamore will perform is a strong one.

At the moment, however, we will go on what we have seen with our own eyes, the possibility that Tullamore's hunger may have reduced by a couple of percentage points and the inevitability of a defeat for them at some stage.

Verdict – Rhode.

Intermediate Football Championship semi-finals

Ferbane v St Brigid's: Friday, September 25 in Tubber 7.30pm

The pre-champiionship favourites, St Brigid's will meet the best performing side in the campaign, Ferbane in what should be an outstanding semi-final in Tubber on Friday evening.

It was a clash that many expected in the final but a dreadful day at the office against Raheen propelled St Brigid's into the quarter-final where they easily beat Gracefield but were then drawn against Ferbane in the semi-finals.

St Brigid's had nightmares when former county player Cian Donohue was sent off late on but he got his red card rescinded and is available. Ferbane have looked very good in this grade to date but it looks like they will be down former county man, Shane Nally who got a knee injury recently in training.

It doesn't look like Ferbane will be holding anyone back from this team for senior and they have been the team to beat to date. St Brigid's have been knocking on the door at this grade for some time. They were taken out by Ballinagar in the 2024 semi-final and lost to Tullamore in the final last year. They are hungry for a win but this is as close to 50-50 as you will ever get in a game.

Verdict – St Brigid's.

Edenderry v Raheen: Sunday, September 27 in Daingean 12 noon

You would have got long odds on Edenderry making the final when Ferbane destroyed them in the first round and the chances of Raheen reaching it also looked bleak when Walsh Island beat them in the group.

Yet one of them will be in the final and it is hard to call. Raheen turned their season around with a super win over St Brigid's in their final group game. A defeat could have put them out but the scale of their win earned them a semi-final spot and they are marginal favourites.

Edenderry required extra time to beat Walsh Island in the quarter-final and their progress to this stage is a bonus for them.

Cian Farrell, a county standard forward, is eligible for this grade and is likely to be home from the USA for it. Raheen have one of the best forwards in Offaly in Dylan Hyland and it could well develop into a shootout between these two.

Raheen have been very heavily reliant on Hyland in the past but they are improving as a unit and have other players stepping up to the mark. Raheen's form has been a fraction better but you just would not know what way this will go.

Verdict – Raheen.