tullamore v ballyhale shamrocks leinster final

[leinsterman]

Well lad's what do yea think, alot of people are saying tullamore should not turn up for this one.
fair enough shamrocks are a great team and if they click on sunday tullamore will be in the s..t
but i think if tullamore a big if weather the first 20 mintues and don't let them in for a early goal
they can go toe to toe with them. we need a big game from shane dooley he was a bit out of it
again clonkill, killian bane will have to be alot tighter on sunday, the ballyhale are great from midfield up
but the backs are not that great their has being big scores got off them this year. but if we lose midfield forget it then,
their foward line is lethal. king henry, the reids, fennellys, are county men with kilkenny,
tullamore should drop a extra man back into the backs because if cha fitz and mick fennelly win the middle
the ball will be raining on top of the tullamore backs all day. can't see tullamore winning this but they have had
a great year and everthing is a bonus now. just hope tullamore hurl the best they can sunday and they can hold
their heads up hight after the game win lose draw. come on tullamore

[bracknaghboy]

There have been signs that Ballyhale are fully firing. They struggled against J.Stephans and against Oulart. OK they opened up against Ballyboden. Who would have thought a few months ago that this Tullamore team who were winless in the group (and until we knew the full extent of how dreadful Ballyskenagh were, had been mentioned by some as relegation possibilitites) would be playing Ballyhale Shamrocks in a Leinster final??
Now can they win it with a huge home support...................To be really honest its hard to make a case for them winning here. To win I think they would have to keep Ballyhale goal less or at worst concede 1 goal. If the goals start going in then its a lost cause. Tullamore are carrying no bagage into the game whereas Ballyhale will be expected to win this handy enough.
Ballyhale by 7 for me.

[red exile]

a home fixture and bad weather conditions , anything could happen,it wont be as one sided, as has been suggested .its history in the making for tullamore and i am sure they will acquit themselves well

[offalylegend]

Lads its going to be very tough for tullamore on sunday. This i would say is there toughtest opponents they have ever faced.
I would love to see them win but its hard to see with the names Balyhale shamrocks has on their team sheet such Shefflin and cha fitzpatrick need i say anymore..

If Tullamore can get good service into kevin martin and francie kerrigan then the town have av some hope. We need at least 2 or 3 goals if were to have any chance on winning, also Shane Dooley cannot afford to have an off day from any dead ball situations.

The engine room which is Shane kelly and James Keane needs to give 110%, their not the most skilfull hurlers, but they make up for it with..guts and determination. Against Clonkill Keane looked unfit and tired during that game for some reason!!

Hard to see anything other than a ballyhale win but you never know.. when the lickes of loneshark or should i say kevin egan writes us the town off every game even this one, then Tullamore just might pull off the shock of all shocks

[The Magpie]

This certainly looks like a David and Goliath encounter.

Ballyhale are amongst the two best teams in the Country (for me, they're second until they manage to topple the mighty Portumna). Tullamore, at the start of the Offaly Championship, wouldn't have been considered in the top 4 in the County. The pairing of these two teams in tomorrows Leinster Final tells us much about just how far one of these teams has come. Tullamore have made a mockery of probability and been really entertaining along the way.

But has the draw really been all that kind to Tullamore? The Offaly Champions were required to play just one game to qualify for a Leinster final - and that was against the Westmeath Champions. Meanwhile, on the other side of the draw, the best of Kilkenny, Wexford and Dublin were distilled. Some will argue that it's irrelevant and that Tullamore will get to play in a Leinster Final, whatever the outcome. I believe that Tullamore would have been far better off testing themselves against one of those teams before facing down a very strong Ballyhale team.

Though Tullamore expect a high standard of hurling from the opposition tomorrow, the real danger is that it's higher than they can imagine. I hope this is not the case. I hope Tullamore keep the magnificent seven goalless tomorrow and see where the day takes them after that. I hope that Alo and Christy and the boys can continue to write fairytales.

Now, deep breath required..... come on Tullamore