Club Football Championship 2022

[TerraceTalk]

In fairness I was talking to a Durrow man recently who said they were unlucky with injuries in the build up to Clara game, and I think Adam Geoghegan opted out before being brought back in late. Might have well been in a quarter final. Fine margins in senior football though and not much room for excuses.
Any other senior teams looking for a new boss for 2023?

[Dunga]

Very true actually I must admit I forgot about the Clara game. Was told at the time there was some dodgy ham sandwiches given out a few nights before that game and a good few were out with food poisoning, not sure how true that was but luckily for them they stayed up and they can laugh about it now.

[Offalyblueboy]

Yeah sounds like a messy situation that could of been avoided or it would of cost them dearly. As for other clubs I’m not sure haven’t heard a lot on that front.

[jimbob17]

On Durrow front, heard they were short 7 or 8 for Clara game due to food poisoning. While they would have a bit of depth and good numbers, that is a big hit to absorb and no team bar Tullamore is capable of taking that hit in Offaly. They were very disappointing in other games though, particularly Edenderry game who were not hugely strong themselves this year. I'd imagine the Ballinamere hurling going so well in earlier group stages was a factor too for Durrow.

On another front, hard to see past Tullamore on Sunday. Rhode are very experienced but Tullamore are too at this stage. Tullamore appear to have a much better age profile and would appear to be a bit more mobile around the middle. I think that this game will be tight for a long period but I would expect that in the last 10-15 minutes, that Tullamore will have that physical fitness edge and stronger bench to make the difference. If they do, they need to be really looking at having a proper crack at Leinster.

Not discounting Rhode though and Niall Mc, if he hits form could be the match winner again for them. They have done it all before and know how to win. If they do, it will be a real kick in the stones for a talented Tullamore team that lots of people are talking about.

Heard it is going to be live on TG4? Looking forward to it.

[ah lethimoutwithit]

On TG4? That should cut the crowd by a third.
1) Our fair weather brigade will recline in the armchairs
2) Decent crowd in yesterday at the 3 matches and 4 clubs nursing hangovers for different reasons will see a lot of them watching again in the pub

Anyway, hard to look past Tullamore and it ultimately depends on what service Niall Mc gets and what Niall turns up.
Tullamore tog out today without John Furlong and Oisin Keenan Martin, with Cormac Egan just coming back to fitness.
Intermediate final is hard to call, Dylan Hyland could win it for Raheen but Ballycommon are a well balanced outfit and if can marshall Hyland, they have a great chance.

Bracknagh deserved winners yesterday. But there was something clearly wrong with Keith O'Neill and what is happening with our young players is wrong. As an individual I am sure he wants to play every minuute with club and county but its 3 games now including the Kildare game that I have watched him hobble off the field. A fit O'Neill would have meant a different Clonbullogue, but I would hazard a guess that he will play little football up until next Summer if he wants to get sorted out. The other Clonbullogue forwards struggled badly and on the other side, Chilly, Jason Dempsey, the 3 Cunninghams were very good, along with the Bracknagh keeper who made 2 brilliant saves.
Note Tom & Eoin Hyland were big losses for Bracknagh also.
Great win for Ballinagar and many of their players stood up and were counted despite being written off by many as they lined out without 2 U20 players. Morgan Tynan was a huge loss but the team gave a great second half performance and they will push on and make an impact on intermediate in the coming years.

I guess my point here is that clubs and county need to have a look at what is happening with our better players in terms of the work load and the training schedules.
The fact that there was such a tight window last year after the U20 success through club didn't help and there seems to be some spill over this year also in terms of the tight schedule to play club matches.

But flogging one of our brightest prospects in years and others is bad practice, and there are no innocent parties in this practice as far as I can see.

[Behindthegoal]

All the hype around tullamore will surely die down now all they have is one county title to show for it.. way too overhyped in the media and was seen today a lot of them young lads have a long way to go yet. Tullamore lack a star forward with cutting edge and composure in front of goal their shooting was terrible. Cormac Egan completely nullified and replaced.

Rhode are unbelievable the way they play the game on their terms and give themselves the best possible chance of winning with the group of players that they have. Ferbane will be feeling awful watching that they had enough chances to put Rhode away.

Overall the standard of the Offaly club championship is shocking realistically only 3 teams can actually win the thing.

[jimbob17]

On Durrow front, heard they were short 7 or 8 for Clara game due to food poisoning. While they would have a bit of depth and good numbers, that is a big hit to absorb and no team bar Tullamore is capable of taking that hit in Offaly. They were very disappointing in other games though, particularly Edenderry game who were not hugely strong themselves this year. I'd imagine the Ballinamere hurling going so well in earlier group stages was a factor too for Durrow.

On another front, hard to see past Tullamore on Sunday. Rhode are very experienced but Tullamore are too at this stage. Tullamore appear to have a much better age profile and would appear to be a bit more mobile around the middle. I think that this game will be tight for a long period but I would expect that in the last 10-15 minutes, that Tullamore will have that physical fitness edge and stronger bench to make the difference. If they do, they need to be really looking at having a proper crack at Leinster.

Not discounting Rhode though and Niall Mc, if he hits form could be the match winner again for them. They have done it all before and know how to win. If they do, it will be a real kick in the stones for a talented Tullamore team that lots of people are talking about.

Heard it is going to be live on TG4? Looking forward to it.

A kick in the stones no doubt. The game was there for Tullamore and they had enough chances, but can't help thinking they were a little Conservative/ negative when they were on top with way too many behind the ball and too slow to commit to attack. One championship to show for all their talent won't sit well with them. The selection of so many young players in their forwards maybe was too much to ask and lack of experience got found out. That said, Harry Plunkett very good I thought.

When young lads get pumped up, it's hard for them to avoid getting big heads and cocky, and these are then the types of lessons that get handed out. You get nothing easy in championship, especially against Rhode.

Have to admire Rhode who got most out of themselves on the day. A major nod to Alan McNamee too. His record will never be beaten unless he beats it.

[Buttons]

As a neutral watching the game to see 20 minutes before getting a score playing with the wind is never going to win a county final. Rhode are rhode and with the forwards they have are always in with a chance no matter who they play.
I know anton got msn of the match but for me Ken Garry found his man every go, kicked long and through the middle of tullamore on occasions. If you add in his saves in semi final shoot out he would be an unsung hero.
Tullamore got too cocky, poor shooting and slow in approach, never tried a quick ball in but slow approach or a couple of long range attempts in the first half.
Says a lot about Offaly football but finals are always tense and winning is all that matters.

[Buttons]

As a neutral watching the game to see 20 minutes before getting a score playing with the wind is never going to win a county final. Rhode are rhode and with the forwards they have are always in with a chance no matter who they play.
I know anton got man of the match but for me Ken Garry found his man every go, kicked long and through the middle of tullamore on occasions. If you add in his saves in semi final shoot out he would be an unsung hero.
Tullamore got too cocky, poor shooting and slow in approach, never tried a quick ball in but slow approach or a couple of long range attempts in the first half.
Says a lot about Offaly football but finals are always tense and winning is all that matters.

[ryot]

I option felt that Tullamore were not cocky enough. With almost 70% possession they dominated but ----------

While they kicked a rake of wides especially in the second quarter a few of their forwards did not shoot when in great positions especially the number 10 who had loads of opportunities but laid off all except one close in when he kicked wide when a simple fist over was the easy option. Also why does Johnny M turn to his left and into traffic most times even when he has an easy outlet to his right. And Mickey B also carried into trouble trying to be the hero when he had plenty options....
Anton was very good as was Niall but the man who impressed me, with his positional sense, fielding and range of passing was the lad we wrote off 5 or 6 years back, Alan Mac was only brilliant

[The Magpie]

In pretty close to perfect weather conditions (Ok, it was a little bit windy), this was a County Final low on quality.

Tullamore entered the game as warm favorites, but after watching the first 15 minutes of the game, it became clear that it was going to be a difficult afternoon for them.

The Tullamore game plan hinged around the ability of Johnny Maloney to act as the primary ball carrier and breaker of the lines - something he did well - with a slow build-up into the forwards, who re-cycled the ball quite a lot. Perhaps the game plan is built with the knowledge that Tullamore do seem to lack a stand-out, blue-chip forward, so they all work a little bit differently together. Anyway, this game plan ultimately resulted in quite a few shots from distance, which (by modern standards) were probably just outside the scoring zone.

Something Tullamore did do well was to pressure the Rhode players coming out with the ball. This was where the Tullamore forwards worked well together. They forced quite a few turnovers, but they didn't really punish them all that well. And they never really managed to grow the repeated 2 point gap they held on Rhode, meaning that a goal was always going to hurt. I couldn't see the goal incident too clearly, but Johnny Maloney did seem to catch the ball and then spill it - I know Tullamore appealed for a free, but those are the breaks. Tullamore did recover really well late on when they went 3 points down, but you did sense that Rhode were good for another score.

In contrast to Tullamore, Rhode had a plan to be more direct - but perhaps you can afford to do that with the two best forwards in the county. Niall McNamee kept the scoreboard ticking over (and won the decisive 'mark' to win the match), while Anton Sullivan was at his absolute best, using his speed and power in the right parts of the pitch at the right time. For the first three quarters of the game he complemented his effort with some excellent scoring, while for the last quarter, he dropped deeper and carried the ball when needed. When he keeps his composure, he is almost impossible to contain. I think Alan McNamee also deserves credit for playing a sensible, low-energy game as an anchor, while still being in the right place at the right time to swerve a few critical, score-making passes into the Rhode forward line (including for the Rhode goal).

Tactically, I think Rhode won this battle. They survived on scraps in the first half (I think they had one wide off the left-boot of Anton) and then introduced Paul McPadden at half-time to be a little more offensive with the wind. Their directness ultimately brought them the decisive goal. James McPadden appeared to win his mental battle with everyone he marked, while Ken Garry held his nerve late on with some smart kick-outs.

The Rhode celebrations at the end were more emotional than I can remember seeing. I'm not sure if they've ever had a year where their semi-final and final were as tight as this year - there's no doubt that the gap has closed. Aside from Tullamore, Ferbane and Edenderry will certainly feel they are capable of beating Rhode. It's no secret that they have aging limbs and this year, more than any, they probably entered the county final knowing that Tullamore were and are the team to beat. But Rhode did it again and whatever arguments people will make in pubs in years to come, there's no denying that the Rhode teams of the 2004-2022 period are a credit to their village and amongst the finest club teams in the history of Offaly club football.

[Dunga]

I option felt that Tullamore were not cocky enough. With almost 70% possession they dominated but ----------

While they kicked a rake of wides especially in the second quarter a few of their forwards did not shoot when in great positions especially the number 10 who had loads of opportunities but laid off all except one close in when he kicked wide when a simple fist over was the easy option. Also why does Johnny M turn to his left and into traffic most times even when he has an easy outlet to his right. And Mickey B also carried into trouble trying to be the hero when he had plenty options....
Anton was very good as was Niall but the man who impressed me, with his positional sense, fielding and range of passing was the lad we wrote off 5 or 6 years back, Alan Mac was only brilliant

I have to agree about Alan McNamee, thought Super was a joy to watch, gave an exhibition on passing the football, made it look so simple.

[ah lethimoutwithit]

Congrats to Rhode, they all turned in really impressive performances, especially around unity of purpose.

Tullamore were way too conservative and lacked any ability to take on Rhode in the first half.
Tullamore were a lot better in the second half and would have won bar a poorly defended goal and a number of misses of easy chances, Harry P (who had a decent game), with a mark and Ciaran Egan near the end.

But to me the ferocious hunger that Rhode demonstrated in that final quarter was something that Tullamore struggled to match. And in fairness to Cormac Egan, he is not long back and not a lot of space to operate in. It also showed the impact that John Furlong had on the proceedings last year.

Hats off to Ken Garry and Alan Mc who along with Anton were outstanding. Savage achievement for Alan Mc, county medals in 4 decades, and a nice interview with him played on Morning Ireland sports news at 8.30 this morning. If he's to bow out he will be missed.

[ah lethimoutwithit]

Also, well done to Ballycommon, who completely dominated Raheen in the Intermediate final.
Tactical masterclass on the line in how they used David Dempsey and the impact he had on the game. Gareth Mann has shown glimpses in the past but unreal performance yesterday. Conor Dunne has come back towards the player he once was and all over the field they used the ball well, particularly Steven Conneely and Brian Todd. Chris Kenny was given the freedom of the park inside with no second defender within 40m of him in the second half which was surprising. Great team performance, and Aidan Bracken will surely be on the radar of the Offaly management.
Raheen will have to answer why they offered so little in terms of attacking play and changes they made had little impact.

[Offalyblueboy]

Congrats to Rhode and there management team of 28.
Joking aside to have the likes of Malachy mc nulty Peter tormey paschal Kellaghan and Jack cooney involved in the one year is substantial. Will they have a good stab at Leinster is the question. Tullamore tactically wrong on the day played a sweeper when rhode were against a wind and dropped a sweeper when rhode played with a wind. The match ups were all wrong and they lacked shape or conviction.