Tullamore snatch controversial late against the odds win to sicken title favourites Daingean

TULLAMORE snatched a dramatic, sensational and controversial win to evict Offaly Senior “B” Football Championship favourites, Daingean in a gripping semi-final shootout in O'Connor Park, Tullamore on Saturday.

Tullamore Court Hotel Senior “B” Football Championship semi-final

Tullamore 0-19

Daingean 1-15

In a dramatic finale, Peter Fox booted over an unreal two point winner over three and a half minutes into injury time. Three minutes had been announced and Daingean will be furious at the additional time that was allowed but they paid a dear price for turning down a tap in goal just seconds earlier. The goal was wide open in front of Charlie Burns when the outstanding Shane Tierney sent him in with over 62 minutes played. Goalkeeper Donnacha Keoghan drifted over to the right and an easy goal was there but young Burns opted to fist over the bar.

It was hard to blame him as the three minutes of injury time was almost up, though he also took points with two goal chances in the first half, but it came back to haunt Daingean spectacularly as referee Eamon O'Connor allowed one last attack and Fox somehow scored a winner into the wind from well out on the right – it was very much in kick and hope territory, a free shot for Fox but it floated over and a stunned Daingean had no time to rescue it.

They will not be happy with the time added on by O'Connor but also have to focus on themselves. Just two points down, 0-10 to 0-8, at half time, Daingean were in a very strong position after playing against a significant wind. It was set up for them to win but they didn't do enough in the second half, allowing Tullamore to dictate the game for the third quarter.

Another problem for Daingean was two pointers. Tullamore scored five, four in the first half while Daingean only managed one and didn't hunt them enough. Tullamore probably took too many shots but Daingean didn't take enough and it was a huge win for Tullamore who only fell into the semi-finals thanks to Ballinagar beating Cappincur but now find themselves only one game away from a great win in Offaly football's second tier.

In the wind up, Tullamore won the game in the first few minutes of the second half as the veteran Shane Dooley scored four points, two frees, for a 0-14 to 0-9 lead.

Tullamore were 0-14 to 0-10 up at the three quarter way mark and Daingean finally woke up. Shane Tierney got the goal they had to get, punching home Cian Bracken's centre in the 52nd minute and suddenly Daingean were 1-14 to 0-15 up.

With the wind on their back, they should have pushed on from here but instead Tullamore dug deep, even though they finished the game with 14 men after a 54th minute black card for sub Daire Foley. Former Offaly footballer Paul McConway, their senior manager, was a surprise introduction and his calmness got through to his team. Dan Fox and Shane Dooley levelled it up after 58 minutes and in a frantic finish, Tullamore paid the price for playing keep ball, were over turned and Burns fisted over that 62nd minute point before Peter Fox had the last say.

Daingean put themselves in a strong position when they went in trailing by 0-10 to 0-8 at half time after playing against the wind in the first half.

It gave them a very solid foundation as they kept the scoreboard ticking over, popping over points with most attacks and kicking only one wide. Charlioe Burns got three of their first four points, rejecting clear goal chances for two of them but they got Daingean going early as they led by 0-4 to 0-3 after 11 minutes.

Tullamore had a lot of possession but were wasteful. They had eight first half wides and were too dependant on two pointers. Eight of their first half points came from four two pointers, booted over by Peter Fox, Shane Dooley, Martin Keogh and Jay Sheerin but they also had four wides with other attempts. With the wind on their backs, there was an obvious temptation to go for two pointers but some of those shots were not on and Tullamore required more patience, recyling and working the ball in closer.

They were in a strong position when leading by 0-10 to 0-5 after 25 minutes but Daingean got three crucial late points from Cormac Whittle and two Shane Tierney frees and would have taken a two point half time deficit every day of the week.

MATCH ANALYSIS

MAN OF THE MATCH

Tom Furlong (Tullamore): Tom Furlong put in a serious shift for Tullamore. He was all over the field, displaying huge energy levels. He did carry the ball into traffic a couple of times late on and was over turned but in general he did the simple thing effectively and his efficiency on the ball was typical of Tullamore as a unit with Shane Dooley turning in a huge second half and Patrick Fahey and Ryan Sheerin excelling for them.

Charlie Burns was brilliant for Daingean in the first quarter while Shane Tierney was the most influential player on the field under a lot of criteria. He was a livewire, scored 1-6, 1-4 from play and was the main reason Daingean had one foot in the final.

THE SCORERS

Tullamore: Shane Dooley 0-6 (4f), Peter Fox 0-4 (2 x 2p), Jay Sheerin (2p), Shane Horkan (2p) and Martin Keogh (2p) 0-2 each, Tom Furlong, Dan Fox and Jack Daly 0-1 each.

Daingean: Shane Tierney 1-6 (2f), Charlie Burns 0-4, Ciaran McEvoy 0-2 (2p), Ryan Conway, Cormac Whittle, Shane Marsden 0-1 each.

THE TEAMS

DAINGEAN: Conan Curley; Cathal McKnight, Ryan Conway, Casey Evans; Finn McGuinness, Adam Bolger, Cormac Whittle; Sam Wright, Scott Milne; Charlie Burns, Aran Byrne, Cathal Ryan; Shane Tierney, Cian Bracken, Odhran Connolly. Subs – Ciaran McEvoy for McGuinness (38m), Shane Marsden for Byrne (42m), Jamie Hayes for Connolly (58m),

TULLAMORE: Donnacha Keoghan; Jake Moore, Dylan Hensey, Shane Enright; Jack Daly, Patrick Fahey, Kevin O'Brien; Ryan Sheerin, Shane Horkan; Jay Sheerin, Tom Furlong, Martin Keogh; Peter Fox, Shane Dooley, Ben Connolly. Subs -Daire Foley for Daly, inj. (30m), Sean Afobali Joseph for Keogh (49m), Dan Fox for Connolly (49m), Paul McConway for Moore (54m),

Referee – Eamon O'Connor, Ballycommon.

REFEREE WATCH

Eamon O'Connor had a very good game but the injury time at the end was a big talking point. Tullamore wouldn't have said a word if the whistle was blown and you would certainly wonder if it was justified as there didn't seem to be much hold up in the added time – having said that, the announced time always comes with the proviso “at least”, the referee has discretion and O'Connor was the man with the watch.

Daingean could have had a late first half penalty when Odhran Connolly was fouled – he was certainly fouled inside the penalty area but O'Connor ruled that the initial infraction occurred outside it. That was just one of those decisions that come and go and the only question mark was the added time at the end

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

Peter Fox's match winner was the big moment here.

VENUE WATCH

It was a busy weekend for O'Connor Park and this was the first of four big games. As you would expect, it was all in excellent shape.

WHAT'S NEXT

Tullamore go into the final.

STATISTICS

Wides: Daingean – 3 (1 in first half); Tullamore – 10 (8 in first half).

Yellow cards: Tullamore – 1 (Patrick Fahey); Daingean 0.

Black cards: Tullamore – 1 (Daire Foley); Daingean - 0

Red cards: 0