Tullamore ease to derby win in battle of understrength teams
Division 1 Football League semi-final
WITH both teams missing their county players, apart from Shamrocks goalkeeper Sean O'Toole, the Offaly Division 1 Football League semi-final between Tullamore and Shamrocks in Daingean on Friday evening only gave us a rough indication of what may emerge when they meet in the championship in a few weeks time – though the implications of this won't have encouraged the watching Shamrocks support.
Division 1 Football League semi-final
Tullamore 1-16
Shamrocks 1-10
The league has been very important for both sets of management as they gear towards the impending championship and as you would expect for neighbouring clubs, a keen game with a bite to it emerged here though a very impressive Tullamore were able to win with considerable comfort. Missing half of their likely championship team, Tullamore's young team were excellent at times and never gave Shamrocks a sniff of victory.
Shamrocks were also missing a few – Sean O'Toole was given special permission to play and that was the right thing to do as he is sub goalie on the Offaly senior football team and has seen little action in recent months. Shamrocks were down Shane O'Toole-Greene, who has really made his mark on the county scene this year and Jack Bryant while their chances were not helped when midfielder Andrew Delaney sustained a late injury in the warm up here.
Paddy Dunican was watching on from the sidelines as he continues his recovery from a cruciate injury and while Tullamore had a greater volume of missing players, they were able to cushion this much better than Shamrocks.
Tullamore's Cormac and Diarmuid Egan, Harry Plunkett, Aaron Leavy, Niall Furlong and Daire McDaid were all tied up with Offaly while John Furlong has been a long term injury absentee with doubts growing about the role he can play in even club scene this year. With Ben Heffernan and Cillian Martin heading off to America for a few weeks this week, having played in their last game, a win over Edenderry, Dan Fox, Luke Plunkett, Liam Dillane, Luke Bourke and others not playing, the Tullamore team was way different to the one that will defend the Dowling Cup in the coming months.
Just three of the Tullamore team that started in last year's county final win over Ferbane took to fhe field here – Declan Hogan, Michael Brazil and Mike Fox while the outstanding Nigel Bracken came on as a sub back in October.
While some of this Tullamore team may only play senior “B” championship this year, they have much greater depth in strength to cope with absences – some of the newcomers here could or should play senior in the coming months and they have welcomed back Luke Egan, who opted out of senior football last year.
Played in front of a nice crowd that would have been much bigger only for the borderline winter conditions – the temperature was okay but it was a cool evening with plenty of rainfall in the air -, Tullamore had their final berth booked when they led by 1-13 to 1-5 at half time.
The quality of their football commanded complete respect as they stormed into a 0-8 to 0-3 lead after 14 minutes. Four of those points came from Jay Sheerin two pointers and it is a symptom of the way Shamrocks were playing that he had the time and space to have a look at the arc and make sure he was outside it before arrowing over excellent shots.
The goal came from the unlikely figure of veteran full back Declan Hogan as he finished off a lightening quick move in the 15th minute for a 1-8 to 0-3 lead. It was 1-11 to 0-4 after 22 minutes with Nigel Bracken getting a two pointer.
Shamrocks did have a spell of pressure but five wides didn't help their cause. They did get a fortunate 26th minute goal when Tullamore fell asleep after Shamrocks were awarded a 14 metre free, didn't get their men on the line as Dylan Hensey called for injury attention and Alan Heffernan took the opportunity to blast to the net.
It was only a brief reprieve as the excellent Mike Fox and Nigel Bracken got late points for that eight point half time lead. In modern football, 8 points is no longer a done deal but it was impossible to envisage any way back for Shamrocks at the break.
Shamrocks to their credit played much better in the second half. They worked harder and were more diligent in the way they closed down opponents and tried to stop them racing forward with open ground in front of them – for the most part.
Sean Cantwell came back to take a goal-bound Tom Furlong shot off the line in the 32nd minute and Shamrocks matched their opponents in most ways from here to the finish. They almost got back into it but missed crucial chances at the three quarter way mark. First sub Scott Delaney had a goal chance when Aaron Hensey was caught up field, off his line. He should have taken a pop earlier and by the time he did go for it, Tullamore were able to scramble it clear.
David and Johnny O'Toole-Greene missed chances in the next couple of minutes, with David fisting against the post and Johnny lofting one well wide. Their best forward Alan Heffernan did get a point to make it 1-15 to 1-8 after 50 minutes but an additional 1-1 or 1-2 would have really tightened it up.
As it was, Shamrocks never got close enough to cause the winners any anxiety. Tullamore didn't play very well in an attacking sense in the second half. They only managed three points, all from Nigel Bracken and only one from play, but they were very disciplined, efficient and well organised, defending particularly well. Shamrocks had to work so hard for everything and there were times when they just didn't work hard enough - there was one three minute spell late on when they sat back and allowed Tullamore to play keep ball in the middle third, not pushing up on them and forcing them to move forward.
Late points from Johnny O'Toole-Greene and Darragh Bryant ensured Shamrocks won the second half by 0-5 to 0-3, that at least provided some solace for them and will give them something to build on for their next meeting in a few weeks time but once again, Tullamore look good.
MATCH ANALYSIS
MAN OF THE MATCH
Mike Fox (Tullamore): A tough call between Mike Fox and Nigel Bracken. Bracken had a great game in the Tullamore attack, showing his vast experience and doing everything right. Mike Fox just edges it. He was brilliant in the first half, scoring four points from play and also playing text book football. He was a livewire and continued to show for the ball, get on it and link play in the second half.
Declan Hogan was superb in a very good Tullamore defence in which Jay Sheerin and Patrick Kenna also went very well. Jack Maher and Davin Keegan controlled midfield in an almost understated way while Tom Furlong got through a mountain of work up front.
Padraig Cantwell was Shamrocks' best player. He was physical and strong, powering up the field when he could. Sean Cantwell also caught the eye in their defence while Alan Heffernan was their best forward, working hard and Darragh Bryant showed good opportunism.
THE SCORERS
Tullamore: Nigel Bracken 0-6 (2f), Mike Fox and Jay Sheerin (2 x 2p) 0-4 each, Declan Hogan 1-0, Jack Maher and Tom Furlong 0-1 each.
Shamrocks: Alan Heffernan 1-4 (1-2, f), Darragh Bryant 0-3 (1 x 2p), Johnny O'Toole-Greene, Gary Hutchinson and Conor Egan 0-1 each.
THE TEAMS
TULLAMORE: Aaron Hensey; Jake Moore, Declan Hogan, Dylan Hensey; Patrick Fahey, Patrick Kenna, Jay Sheerin; Davin Keegan, Jack Maher; Nigel Bracken, Michael Brazil, Ciaran Burns; Mike Fox, Luke Egan, Tom Furlong. Subs – Shane Enright for Dylan Hensey, inj. (27m), Martin Keogh for Furlong (57m), Jack Daly for Brazil (58m), Shane Horkan for Fahey (58m).
SHAMROCKS: Sean O'Toole; Sean Mooney, Padraig Cantwell, Adam Keyes; Sean Cantwell, Dan Heffernan, Kieran Dolan; David O'Rourke, Johnny O'Toole-Greene; Alan Heffernan, Gary Hutchinson, Stephen Malone; Darragh Bryant, David O'Toole-Greene, Conor Egan. Subs – Scott Delaney for Malone (HT), Jack Watkins for Mooney (HT), Michael Lambe for Dan Heffernan (56m).
Referee – Adam Kinahan (Clodiagh Gaels).
REFEREE WATCH
Adam Kinahan has made his name as a hurling referee but is also a very good football one and he handled this as you would expect – well with no big issues cropping up.
MOMENT OF THE MATCH
Declan Hogan's 15th minute goal gave Tullamore a 1-8 to 0-3 lead and Shamrocks were never likely to take that gap back.
VENUE WATCH
Daingean have done a terrific job on their facilities in recent years and as usual, they had loads of stewards on hand to manage the fixture – the impending construction of a new stand will complete their development programme from a spectators point of view. They knew this derby would attract a decent crowd and made traffic management a priority, doing this efficiently.
WHAT'S NEXT
Tullamore go into the final against Rhode or Ferbane, who meet on Sunday evening.
STATISTICS
Wides: Tullamore - 3 (2 in first half); Shamrocks – 8 (5 in first half).
Yellow cards: Tullamore – 1 (Nigel Bracken); Shamrocks – 1 (David O'Toole-Greene)..
Black cards: 0
Red cards: 0