Minor final 2012. Tullamore vs ferbane

[1964]

What a great game of football. Very exciting stuff. Even better as tullamore won. Tullamore got off to great start going 9 points up scoring 3 goals. Ferbane were all at sea in there full back line. Ferbane then regained there composure and showed how good a team they are. Reeling off a goal and a few points and went in a point up at half time.

In the second half ferbane dropped back mikey butler in front of there full back line to try and contain tullamore which was strange seen as they had taken control of the game for the last 15 mins of the first half. It was tit for that as tullamore got to grips with joe Maher and tullamores full back line tightened up. Tullamore then went three points up after another goal with 5 mins left but ferbane showed great fight to get a goal of there own. But as a blue it was great to see the fight and will to win after that setback to get the last two points. Great performance from all the lads the exposure to junior football this year no doubt helped them. McCabe Shelley galvin and johnny kavanagh all had great games. And putting maloney inroads full forward and moving Shelley to midfield worked well. Young Hogan at full back is a serious talent and minor again next year.


Maybe ferbane underestimated tullamore as they were very strong favs. It meant a lot to these group of tullamore granted with a couple of lads from durrow who couldn't field a team so they played with tullamore which has happened a few times even when I played 15 yrs ago. Anyway great win lads onto bigger and better things it's only the start. Come on ye super blues.

[DAF]

I got in late and missed the first 2 goals and only half caught the third goal for Tullamore.It was a very enjoyable game.I thought Darragh Corbett at centre back for Ferbane and Joseph Maher were outstanding although Joseph Maher needs to work on his right foot if he is develope into a top quality intercounty forward which he certainly has the potential to.

[1964]

Corbett looks like a serious talent alright. Did Joe Maher live in tullamore till he was twelve or so. One of the lads in the stand said it to me in the stand yesterday don't know if it's true or not

[Lone Shark]

Needless to say this was hugely disappointing, but I certainly wouldn't say it was anything to do with Ferbane "underestimating" Tullamore. That's both an insult to the attitude of a very good group of Ferbane players and it belittles what was a very impressive Tullamore performance, as it implies there is some kind of excuse for why Ferbane lost. Tullamore won the game, and deservedly so. The simple fact of the matter is that Tullamore's forwards were extremely busy, they made great runs to try and get on the ball, they tackled hard, they chased lost causes and they got results as a consequence. Every one of their goals you could attribute to a forward putting pressure on, or going for a ball that they were second favourite to win, and coming up with the goods. You don't always get those rewards but you still do the right things every time because some day you will - and that's as much a part of modern football as kicking points from forty yards out. On the Ferbane side it's easy to say that there were mistakes made, and undoubtedly there were, but the difference between Tullamore and a lot of other teams is that the Blues didn't just sit back and try and hold out, they attacked the game and they got their rewards for that.

Neither is it a case that Tullamore just got a good start and that carried them over the line. Ferbane played some incredible football in the second quarter of this game and to go from eight points down after ten minutes to a point up at the break was a massive achievement. Consequently Tullamore had to win the game all over again and they did just that, just as they stepped up again in the last few minutes after Darragh Keenaghan's goal.

Just to single out one player in a Tullamore jersey who stood out for me, because he wasn't mentioned by 1964 - if I had to give a man of the match award, I'd have given strong consideration to giving it to Oisín Cusack. He had a huge job taking on Joe Maher, who has been in the form of his life in the past few weeks, and while Maher got plenty of scores, Cusack stuck to his task, he never gave in and even if he didn't dispossess Joe, he held him up or fouled him when he had to. It was a horrible assignment from Cusack's point of view but that for me made his performance all the more admirable.

It's heartbreaking because it is undoubtedly one that our lads will feel they left behind them and after the under-21 final earlier this year, it would have been an invaluable boost. That said football is full of good and bad days and sometimes the bad days are better at fueling the passion to push on to the next level. A few of these lads have an under-16 final to prepare for now and we definitely need to win this one after coughing up three underage finals already, and a minor hurling semi into the bargain. For more of them, they stand on the precipice of a few years that will define their careers - whether they will be real stars, or just lads with talent that never pushed on. Knowing a good few of them as I do, they certainly have the potential to go a long way and if being beaten by a good Tullamore team motivates them to get even better, then no harm was done.

[llkj]

A hugely enjoyable contest at OCP and great to see the minor and senior final played on the same billing, as I think that it gives younger players something to aspire to and really makes the minor game into a showpiece event. I think yesterday's game also proves that there is talent in Offaly and it is how we foster it after minor level that is important - both within the club and the county setups.

On the face of it, just looking at the result, any casual observers would have been shocked by the fact that Ferbane didn't win. In the U16 competition 2 years ago, Ferbane beat Tullamore by 25 odd points in the group stages and then by 20 points in the final, scoring 6 goals each time and were genuinely far superior. Add to that the fact that Ferbane also won the U16 and U18 last year, you would think that there was no chance of Tullamore being the team to bridge the gap to compete with them.

However, if you look at the results from this year, it would suggest that the final was not going to be a one sided affair, so I agree that Ferbane would not have had complacency as an excuse. they were both in the same group, in which Ferbane came 1st winning all games and Tullamore came second, losing only once. That was to Ferbane by only 4 points. Interestingly though, is that Tullamore scored 3 goals against the FB backline that day. Also, in the 1/4 and 1/2 finals, Ferbane won each of their games by a minimum of 10 points, while Tullamore came through 2 battles by around 3 points each. Such contests not only are great for team morale but they also give you practice at coping under pressure and grinding out a result. It is hard to do that when the first time you are asked to do it is in a county final.

I think that such a victory, strange as this might seem, will give other underage clubs a boost too. for a few years FB looked unbeatable at underage, which can elicit 2 reactions from competitors - either they give up and let one club dominate or they try to up their own standards. I am glad that yesterday's final didn't show any evidence of FB regressing.

Although FB have lost the U14, 18 and 21 this year, it is still a great year for the club (whether they win the U16 final or not). Every other club in the county would love to have such talent at all age groups and if you look at the FB underage of 10 years ago, this is in a different league to what went before.

Well done to Tullamore yesterday, a victory for perseverance as much as skill, which is to be commended.

[1964]

I said MAYBE lone shark I never said they did underestimate tullamore. No wonder I stay away from this website. U take one word and say I am insulting a ferbane team and belittling What tullamore is just not what I was trying to say and get across. But u choose to take it that way.

[Lone Shark]

I said MAYBE lone shark I never said they did underestimate tullamore. No wonder I stay away from this website. U take one word and say I am insulting a ferbane team and belittling What tullamore is just not what I was trying to say and get across. But u choose to take it that way.

Sorry if you took it that way - it wasn't what I was going for. You mentioned it was a possibility, I stated that I believed it wasn't - and you weren't the only one airing that view after the match, so it was something I wanted to get straight. Genuinely, apologies if it read as if I was cutting you down - that really wasn't the intention.

[1964]

I said MAYBE lone shark I never said they did underestimate tullamore. No wonder I stay away from this website. U take one word and say I am insulting a ferbane team and belittling What tullamore is just not what I was trying to say and get across. But u choose to take it that way.

Sorry if you took it that way - it wasn't what I was going for. You mentioned it was a possibility, I stated that I believed it wasn't - and you weren't the only one airing that view after the match, so it was something I wanted to get straight. Genuinely, apologies if it read as if I was cutting you down - that really wasn't the intention.

Fair enough. Hopefully in a few years those young lads will be contesting senior finals. Under 21 championship next year should be interesting. Ferbane Rhode and tullamore will be strong.

[corner back]

who was over Tullamore?

[1964]

John Keane john Dowling anyway and the other man's name ain't coming to me second name is conlan I think.