Shamrocks 2-13 Ballycumber 0-12

[Lone Shark]

When the draw was made for the 2005 Offaly senior football championship, Group 1 looked particularly strong, featuring Rhode, Tullamore, Shamrocks and Ferbane. The initial reading can often be deceptive, but in this case it turned out to be bang on the money, as three of those four teams are now the last three clubs standing in the race for the Dowling Cup. Certainly based on the championship so far as a whole, it’d be a tough case for anyone to argue that those three are anything other than the three strongest teams in the county.

Shamrocks have been developing as the championship has progressed, having started with a win in a dour game against Tullamore and a poor performance against Rhode, and with steady improvement being shown in every outing, they will be eagerly looking forward to the opportunity to end the long running championship drought in the parish, in this only their second county final since they appeared as St. Carthage's back in 1973. Coming into this game they’ll have been very wary of the threat posed by Ballycumber, because while the west Offaly side have been very hot and cold in some of their performances, when they play to their potential their movement and interplay among the forwards can be very difficult to counteract. After a slow start against St. Brigid’s in the quarter final, they settled into the game and put in one of the most assured and accomplished displays of the 2005 SFC to date, and observers left Tullamore that night aware that this side possessed all the weapons to really unsettle a more fancied team.

Certainly they looked to have maintained that form in the opening stages, and having won the toss and elected to play with the wind in the first half, they played some great early ball into the inside forwards, and with Ciarán Grennan, Rory Guinan and Adrian Kelly looking very sharp, they put some fine scores on the board. The first score came from a Colm Quinn catch and pass to the running Nigel Grennan who converted on the run. Quinn fielding again led to a great ball being played into Adrian Kelly, who laid off to Guinan for the second score. A Ciarán Grennan point meant that ten minutes in the score was 0-3 to 0-0, and Ballycumber had also hit three wides, further illustrating their dominance.

The strength of the breeze was not to be underestimated however, and for Ballycumber to be really comfortable going in at the break, they needed a sizeable advantage, ideally seven or eight points at least. While it looked at this point like that was not out of the question, the two Coughlans at midfield began to exert their influence a bit more at this point, and ensured Ballycumber never got too far out of sight. Neville delivered a great ball into Brian Monaghan for their opening score on ten minutes, reminding the Ballycumber backs that they couldn’t just sit back and admire the fine play of their front six. It was very easy to admire all the same. Adrian Kelly again showed his fine linking skills setting up Rory Guinan for his second score, and another typical Ciarán Grennan score from the right hand side put four between the teams.

On sixteen minutes we had the decisive score of the match, ensuring that Ballycumber never really felt in control of the match. Neville played another great ball into Brian Monaghan, and though Boland pulled off a great save denying the initial shot, the ball broke out towards Stephen Dunne, who shot off the ground to the net past the dive of Francis Bannon. This left only one point between the sides, scant reward for Ballycumber’s great start.

They manfully set about building a lead again, and it was Guinan and Grennan again who put over further points, but a five minute spell before half time left Shamrocks sitting pretty coming into the second half hour. Monaghan scored twice, the second a blasted shot that could just as easily have gone under the crossbar as over it, and a great run and finish from Neville Coughlan then levelled matters. The final act of the half was another Grennan free giving his team an 0-8 to 1-4 lead, but it was never going to be enough.

Ballycumber did start the second half well, with a Quinn free and a fine point while off balance by Fergal Daly giving their supporters hope. The next ten minutes extinguished that hope however, and really illustrated how effective Shamrocks’ running game can be. Leonard Mooney had being quiet up to then, but he hit a purple patch between 35 and 41 minutes, registering three consecutive points. Thomas Coughlan deservedly put his name on the scoresheet two minutes later, before the game was all but decided with a quarter of an hour remaining. A high ball in towards the Ballycumber full back line was misjudged by Francis Bannon, and it fell to Jonathan Dunican, who took it on before feeding substitute Derek Molloy, who finished very well past Boland for his first act of the game.

The four point cushion that now existed allowed Shamrocks the opportunity to bring numbers back and defend deeply - since the wind resistance meant scoring from range was not really feasible - and with their fast running game presenting Ballycumber with the threat of breakaway scores, Shamrocks had the game by the scruff of the neck. Ballycumber made several attempts to get through on goals, but with the Mooneys leading the defence by example very well, it never looked like it was going to happen.

With time elapsing, scuffles began to break out all over the pitch, and Shane Guinan and Colm Quinn can both thank referee John O’Reilly for his leniency after Guinan kicked out dangerously at Quinn, and the Ballycumber man retaliated. If both players had been red carded, it would have been eminently justifiable. This was particularly foolish on the part of Guinan, who would have missed the county final for an incident at a time when the winning of the game was beyond doubt. Another bout of fighting broke out among the Shamrocks forwards and Ballycumber backs, but once again all parties involved escaped censure.

Certainly based on this performance Shamrocks have every reason to be grateful, because they will need all hands on deck in the final. They have some fine performers, and their “diamond” of the Mooneys and Coughlans will be more than a match for any counterpart they’ll meet. Against that, they still lack a few key performers, and to lose any of their established players would be costly. The margin of defeat in their earlier game to Rhode this year will certainly concentrate the minds and ensure that there won’t be any complacency around Rahan or Mucklagh, but in order to win a county title, the first step is to reach the final and give yourself the opportunity. They’ve done that, and though they remain odds against to complete the job, if they can keep improving, they’ll put themselves in with every chance.



Teams:
Ballycumber: Francis Boland; Francis Bannon, Diarmuid Donoghue, Declan Daly; Sean Hackett, Karl Daly, Alan Flanagan; Colm Quinn (0-1, free), Diarmuid Daly; Rory Guinan (0-3), Brian Halligan, Fergal Daly (0-1); Nigel Grennan (0-1), Adrian Kelly, Ciaran Grennan(0-6, 0-4 frees).

Subs: Andrew Grennan for Diarmuid Daly, Stephen Quinn for Francis Bannon, Glen Halligan for Brian Halligan

Shamrocks: Padraig Kelly; Colin Dunne, Shane Guinan, Conor Mooney; Michael Stanbrook, Barry Mooney, Mark Yeates; Neville Coughlan (0-1), Thomas Coughlan (0-1); Jonathan Dunican, Ronan Mooney, Stephen Dunne (1-0); Brian Monaghan (0-6, 0-2 frees), Leonard Mooney (0-4), Anthony Condron.

Subs: Derek Molloy (1-1) for Anthony Condron, Conor Clavin for Thomas Coughlan, Trevor Darcy for Leonard Mooney.

Referee: John O’Reilly

[doobane man]

Perhaps Ferbane aren't all that far off the pace after all!

[Lone Shark]

Don't know about that.

I think that Ferbane have come on a long way in recent years, but if you look at the formlines this year - five point loss to Rhode, when Rhode were certainly not at their best, a three point loss to Tullamore when we took every chance bar one - the penalty was our only wide - and a pretty comprehensive loss to Shamrocks, we're still probably about 8 points off what's needed.

Against that, injuries etc. really took their toll this year, and you'd be hopeful that a fully fit panel would be a lot closer to the required level. A few glaring gaps in the team still remain though that it's hard to see being patched up. Even the underage teams seem to have a few handy backs, and not a lot by way of forwards.