Club football championship 2023

[jimbob17]

Tullamore win today by 1-5 to 0-6, in a poor game. The winners led 1-2 to 0-3 at the break. Cian Johnson scored 0-3 for Ferbane in the second half, but Tullamore got a late free to win by 2 points.

Ferbane lost that game on the sideline. To leave Cian Johnson sitting on the bench is astonishing to say the least, kicked 0-3 in the second half from scraps while the rest of the team kicked 0-3 combined.

Not so sure about that one. Johnson lost a couple of balls and got turned over at least twice. I doubt he was fully fit and if he had started, its unlikely he would have lasted a full game for fitness reasons. I'd imagine the intention was to have him there at the finish rather than not.

Ferbane were too slow in the way they attacked until maybe 5 or 6 minutes remaining I thought and it allowed Tullamore the time to retreat and get set in position with two covering sweepers most of the time. At times in the first half when playing with wind, Tullamore had no man inside the opposition 65. Football has changed for the worse and if it keeps going, both players and spectators will choose other sports. That was a hard watch and anyone Ive spoken to about it said the same thing.

[Behindthegoal]

He had 5 touches of the ball and turned it into 0-3 on a day like that when scores were at a premium that’s fairly impressive, was the only Ferbane player to score in the 2nd half and the top scorer on the field, he lost one ball where a harsh free was given for touching the ball on the ground, not sure what game you were watching surely he would have converted some of them missed chances in the first half. A long winter for Ferbane to think about that..

[timber]

Wont say much on it as dont want to be too negative. Conditions were poor but jaysus the standard of football was terrible.
Someone said that it was two savage fit teams. I dont think either were any fitter than club teams ive been watching the last 25 years. Gaelic football in general has become a hard watch and this was a perfect example.

Tullamore a hard team to beat in a final as always.

[first_touch]

My understanding is that Cian Johnson was carrying a hamstring injury so management decided not to risk him from the start. I think he did quite well in tight surroundings. If fully fit he would have been a significant asset to Ferbane.

That said, Tullamore were the better team on the day. They dominated the middle third and won the majority of 50:50 balls. I agree with previous posters about the quality of football on the day. If you could call it football! It was reflective of the current state of the game at senior level across the country. It's far too negative with the emphasis on containment and possession. Contrast this with the intermediate final which was a great game of football in trying conditions.

[Anonymous1]

Tullamore win today by 1-5 to 0-6, in a poor game. The winners led 1-2 to 0-3 at the break. Cian Johnson scored 0-3 for Ferbane in the second half, but Tullamore got a late free to win by 2 points.

Ferbane lost that game on the sideline. To leave Cian Johnson sitting on the bench is astonishing to say the least, kicked 0-3 in the second half from scraps while the rest of the team kicked 0-3 combined.

Not so sure about that one. Johnson lost a couple of balls and got turned over at least twice. I doubt he was fully fit and if he had started, its unlikely he would have lasted a full game for fitness reasons. I'd imagine the intention was to have him there at the finish rather than not.

Ferbane were too slow in the way they attacked until maybe 5 or 6 minutes remaining I thought and it allowed Tullamore the time to retreat and get set in position with two covering sweepers most of the time. At times in the first half when playing with wind, Tullamore had no man inside the opposition 65. Football has changed for the worse and if it keeps going, both players and spectators will choose other sports. That was a hard watch and anyone Ive spoken to about it said the same thing.

He had played 45 minutes two weeks previous against Rhode on a sweltering hot day so one can only presume he would’ve lasted at least 45 minutes again yesterday if not more. As was said above, he was blown up once for touching the ball on the ground but I can’t recall him being turned over so I think you’re being a bit disingenuous.

I agree Ferbane were too slow moving the ball inside. When out of possession Tullamore would drop 15 men behind the ball making it very difficult to find a way through but Ferbane would only drop 12 men behind the ball and leave 3 in the Tullamore half, this gave Tullamore a lot more space to attack Ferbane’s defence than Ferbane had to attack Tullamore’s yet Ferbane never used the 3 they left in Tullamore’s half to any effect because whenever they countered, they held the ball until Tullamore regrouped instead of kicking it in inside where they often had 1v1 or 2v2’s.

But that all goes back to my original point that they lost this game on the sideline, it was very difficult to know what they were trying to do tactically.

[DerekCarroll]

The Dowling Cup is back in Tullamore and that’s all that matters to the boys in blue. The better team won but there’ a number of Ferbane players in for a long winter as the game passed them by.

A lot of talk about the the lack of quality in the match. This is modern football. Kick passes are a thing of the past. You can’t kick a pass into a blob of opposition players camped in their own 45, especially in weather conditions like yesterday.

Rhode brought the counter attack to Offaly club football. It took Tullamore until 2020 to accept and adapt to modern tactics. Ferbane accepted and adopted modern tactics after Tullamore ran riot against them on the break two years ago. Edenderry accepted and adopted modern tactics this year and should have beaten Tullamore.

Watch Kilmacud and Kilcoo win their provinces this winter playing the same brand of ball. They have slightly better players but the premise is the same.

[jimbob17]

Ferbane lost that game on the sideline. To leave Cian Johnson sitting on the bench is astonishing to say the least, kicked 0-3 in the second half from scraps while the rest of the team kicked 0-3 combined.

Not so sure about that one. Johnson lost a couple of balls and got turned over at least twice. I doubt he was fully fit and if he had started, its unlikely he would have lasted a full game for fitness reasons. I'd imagine the intention was to have him there at the finish rather than not.

Ferbane were too slow in the way they attacked until maybe 5 or 6 minutes remaining I thought and it allowed Tullamore the time to retreat and get set in position with two covering sweepers most of the time. At times in the first half when playing with wind, Tullamore had no man inside the opposition 65. Football has changed for the worse and if it keeps going, both players and spectators will choose other sports. That was a hard watch and anyone Ive spoken to about it said the same thing.

He had played 45 minutes two weeks previous against Rhode on a sweltering hot day so one can only presume he would’ve lasted at least 45 minutes again yesterday if not more. As was said above, he was blown up once for touching the ball on the ground but I can’t recall him being turned over so I think you’re being a bit disingenuous.

I agree Ferbane were too slow moving the ball inside. When out of possession Tullamore would drop 15 men behind the ball making it very difficult to find a way through but Ferbane would only drop 12 men behind the ball and leave 3 in the Tullamore half, this gave Tullamore a lot more space to attack Ferbane’s defence than Ferbane had to attack Tullamore’s yet Ferbane never used the 3 they left in Tullamore’s half to any effect because whenever they countered, they held the ball until Tullamore regrouped instead of kicking it in inside where they often had 1v1 or 2v2’s.

But that all goes back to my original point that they lost this game on the sideline, it was very difficult to know what they were trying to do tactically.

Far from disingenuous. Watched 2nd half back there out of interest. Here are some facts.

He was dispossessed in 2nd minute of 2nd half. Dispossessed again later on when played ball on ground. That counts as two disposessions which concurs with what I said. He scored two from play. He also scored a free (if you want to count a 14m tap over) after the Clancy goal effort that probably should have been a free out when Furlong was pushed in back when contesting high ball. He probably only handled ball 5 or 6 times in total. I dont think he had a bad game at all but you couldnt say he was a huge threat in second half from what I saw. There were plenty of times when Ferbane needed an inside forward to run 20m to show for the ball and nobody did. Ferbane lost ball in half forward line a couple of times for this reason. I dont know the reason for this. Maybe that is why they were slow getting it in to forwards.

As another suggested, maybe management saw benefit in ensuring he was there at end rather than gone off after running out of steam - or injured if he has hamstring injury. He played 45 mins against Rhode which suggests extra time and maybe 20 mins of second half. We don't know the reasons he didnt start but maybe it was for team reasons - to honour other lads efforts who were training hard all year and deserved to start. We are always too quick to blame the sideline I think when we dont know the facts. We are also sometimes too quick in Offaly to put young players up on a pedestal -to such a degree that they struggle to handle it. Many have had this over the years and have gone off the boil for various reasons as a result. Like others, I'd only love to see Johnson back to his very best but he has a bit of work to do to get there. He is young still - maybe 23 or so and he still has time if he really wants it, and that is what it'll come down to. It's an amateur sport. There are more important things in life than GAA as much as we love it and supporters shouldnt be as fast to put good young players on a pedestal in a way that isnt helpful. He has had quite a bit to deal with with some of the adulation bestowed on him from a very young age which is both unfair and unhelpful, and probably before he was old enough to be able to handle it. Hopefully next season, we get to see him back at his best and contributing to Offaly at senior level.

In the whole though, Tullamore looked the better team in 2nd half and deservedly won, having controlled the ball in the middle third a bit more effectively than Ferbane. In fact, looking back at it and considering the weather, it didnt seem as bad to watch as it did when watching it live. It could easily be same two finalists next year.

[FerbaneInsider]

Not so sure about that one. Johnson lost a couple of balls and got turned over at least twice. I doubt he was fully fit and if he had started, its unlikely he would have lasted a full game for fitness reasons. I'd imagine the intention was to have him there at the finish rather than not.

Ferbane were too slow in the way they attacked until maybe 5 or 6 minutes remaining I thought and it allowed Tullamore the time to retreat and get set in position with two covering sweepers most of the time. At times in the first half when playing with wind, Tullamore had no man inside the opposition 65. Football has changed for the worse and if it keeps going, both players and spectators will choose other sports. That was a hard watch and anyone Ive spoken to about it said the same thing.

He had played 45 minutes two weeks previous against Rhode on a sweltering hot day so one can only presume he would’ve lasted at least 45 minutes again yesterday if not more. As was said above, he was blown up once for touching the ball on the ground but I can’t recall him being turned over so I think you’re being a bit disingenuous.

I agree Ferbane were too slow moving the ball inside. When out of possession Tullamore would drop 15 men behind the ball making it very difficult to find a way through but Ferbane would only drop 12 men behind the ball and leave 3 in the Tullamore half, this gave Tullamore a lot more space to attack Ferbane’s defence than Ferbane had to attack Tullamore’s yet Ferbane never used the 3 they left in Tullamore’s half to any effect because whenever they countered, they held the ball until Tullamore regrouped instead of kicking it in inside where they often had 1v1 or 2v2’s.

But that all goes back to my original point that they lost this game on the sideline, it was very difficult to know what they were trying to do tactically.

Far from disingenuous. Watched 2nd half back there out of interest. Here are some facts.

He was dispossessed in 2nd minute of 2nd half. Dispossessed again later on when played ball on ground. That counts as two disposessions which concurs with what I said. He scored two from play. He also scored a free (if you want to count a 14m tap over) after the Clancy goal effort that probably should have been a free out when Furlong was pushed in back when contesting high ball. He probably only handled ball 5 or 6 times in total. I dont think he had a bad game at all but you couldnt say he was a huge threat in second half from what I saw. There were plenty of times when Ferbane needed an inside forward to run 20m to show for the ball and nobody did. Ferbane lost ball in half forward line a couple of times for this reason. I dont know the reason for this. Maybe that is why they were slow getting it in to forwards.

As another suggested, maybe management saw benefit in ensuring he was there at end rather than gone off after running out of steam - or injured if he has hamstring injury. He played 45 mins against Rhode which suggests extra time and maybe 20 mins of second half. We don't know the reasons he didnt start but maybe it was for team reasons - to honour other lads efforts who were training hard all year and deserved to start. We are always too quick to blame the sideline I think when we dont know the facts. We are also sometimes too quick in Offaly to put young players up on a pedestal -to such a degree that they struggle to handle it. Many have had this over the years and have gone off the boil for various reasons as a result. Like others, I'd only love to see Johnson back to his very best but he has a bit of work to do to get there. He is young still - maybe 23 or so and he still has time if he really wants it, and that is what it'll come down to. It's an amateur sport. There are more important things in life than GAA as much as we love it and supporters shouldnt be as fast to put good young players on a pedestal in a way that isnt helpful. He has had quite a bit to deal with with some of the adulation bestowed on him from a very young age which is both unfair and unhelpful, and probably before he was old enough to be able to handle it. Hopefully next season, we get to see him back at his best and contributing to Offaly at senior level.

In the whole though, Tullamore looked the better team in 2nd half and deservedly won, having controlled the ball in the middle third a bit more effectively than Ferbane. In fact, looking back at it and considering the weather, it didnt seem as bad to watch as it did when watching it live. It could easily be same two finalists next year.

I'm loathe to micro analyse any one player but since you have I will too.

I don't see the dispossession in the 2nd minute of the 2nd half you speak of but if you're referring to the 1st minute where the ball is knocked from his hands but scooped out to Darragh Flynn who takes a shot then fair enough. Doesn't the opposing team have to win the ball back for it to be counted as a dispossession?

The second dispossession you refer to is where a suicidal handpass was lobbed in the air between him and Nigel Bracken and he ends up fouling it on the ground. Again, don't you have to possess a ball to be able to dispossess it?

The thing you failed to mention about the 14m free was that he also won the free and in the process of being fouled set up Clancy for the best goal chance they had all game.

I don't think you could argue any player on the pitch was a huge threat as the most scored by a player was his 0-3 or Plunkett's goal, the point I think Anonymous1 is making and he can correct me if I'm wrong is that without getting his hands on much ball, he still was the top scorer in the game and in the first half when the game was a bit more open and Ferbane kicked some poor wides, you'd have fancied him to kick the 0-2 they lost by.

As First Touch has said, Ger Rafferty had said in the Tribune that he was carrying a hamstring injury but he certainly didn't look injured to me. I take your point about wanting to have him there at the end but I'd always argue that you should start your best team. Arguing he may not have started because the manager wanted to honour other lads for training hard would be to suggest he doesn't train hard which would be wide of the mark as far as I know.

I agree with your point re putting young players on a pedestal in Offaly and I fear we may be doing the same with some others at present.

I'd also agree Tullamore were slightly the better team but the recriminations in Ferbane are that they didn't put their best team on the field and were tactically naive. The tactical side can potentially be explained by the fact this was Tullamore's 3rd year playing this system while Ferbane have only switched to it this year but there can be no excuse for selecting the wrong team. It's most likely to be these two again next year in the final as you say but Ferbane will need to make some big adjustments or they'll be facing the same fate again.

[timber]

The Dowling Cup is back in Tullamore and that’s all that matters to the boys in blue. The better team won but there’ a number of Ferbane players in for a long winter as the game passed them by.

A lot of talk about the the lack of quality in the match. This is modern football. Kick passes are a thing of the past. You can’t kick a pass into a blob of opposition players camped in their own 45, especially in weather conditions like yesterday.

Rhode brought the counter attack to Offaly club football. It took Tullamore until 2020 to accept and adapt to modern tactics. Ferbane accepted and adopted modern tactics after Tullamore ran riot against them on the break two years ago. Edenderry accepted and adopted modern tactics this year and should have beaten Tullamore.

Watch Kilmacud and Kilcoo win their provinces this winter playing the same brand of ball. They have slightly better players but the premise is the same.

Tullamore were the better team. no arguments with the result. As a neutral the standard troubled me. I suppose the thing is both team management clearly had very little confidence to win the game playing more "football".

Believe me, ive played senior football and witnessed first hand the transition from kicking the ball in training to actually not kicking a ball at all in training. Its horrible and its right across the country. it's bloody depressing to be honest.

The issue however is Offaly teams cannot compete with other counties when both are adopting this approach. Its not a s&c issue either. Its because we dont have players over 6 foot who are athletic. We have a smaller pool and no doubt some lovely footballers but we have to lem them play football at club level surely to develop a wider range of skills and hopefully have an edge on other counties in that regard. If lads cant kick a ball a club level then they have no place trying to play intercounty football.

Tullamore deserving county champions. Huge conveyor bely of successful underage talent. Lets see how they compete in Leinster now. Hopefully they can go well. It's a competition that traditionally they never really tackle too seriously and the celebrations linger on.

[SearingDrive]

The Dowling Cup is back in Tullamore and that’s all that matters to the boys in blue. The better team won but there’ a number of Ferbane players in for a long winter as the game passed them by.

A lot of talk about the the lack of quality in the match. This is modern football. Kick passes are a thing of the past. You can’t kick a pass into a blob of opposition players camped in their own 45, especially in weather conditions like yesterday.

Rhode brought the counter attack to Offaly club football. It took Tullamore until 2020 to accept and adapt to modern tactics. Ferbane accepted and adopted modern tactics after Tullamore ran riot against them on the break two years ago. Edenderry accepted and adopted modern tactics this year and should have beaten Tullamore.

Watch Kilmacud and Kilcoo win their provinces this winter playing the same brand of ball. They have slightly better players but the premise is the same.

Tullamore were the better team. no arguments with the result. As a neutral the standard troubled me. I suppose the thing is both team management clearly had very little confidence to win the game playing more "football".

Believe me, ive played senior football and witnessed first hand the transition from kicking the ball in training to actually not kicking a ball at all in training. Its horrible and its right across the country. it's bloody depressing to be honest.

The issue however is Offaly teams cannot compete with other counties when both are adopting this approach. Its not a s&c issue either. Its because we dont have players over 6 foot who are athletic. We have a smaller pool and no doubt some lovely footballers but we have to lem them play football at club level surely to develop a wider range of skills and hopefully have an edge on other counties in that regard. If lads cant kick a ball a club level then they have no place trying to play intercounty football.

Tullamore deserving county champions. Huge conveyor bely of successful underage talent. Lets see how they compete in Leinster now. Hopefully they can go well. It's a competition that traditionally they never really tackle too seriously and the celebrations linger on.

Agree about the transition from a kicking to the modern version, with an emphasis on ball retention. Good point about the problems Offaly footballers face vs bigger inter county sides.
I will await to see how Tullamore compete in Leinster club competition.

[ah lethimoutwithit]

Any thoughts on the Senior B semis or Intermediate?

Senior B, Ballycommon very impressive and have put in a good year. They were surprisingly comfortable against neighbours Cappincur. Cappincur got to a semi final from an easier side of the draw it now appears and they looked very poor, unfit, and no structure. It would apear that the hunger is not there this year and that follows on from a strange managerial appointment. You would have to think that when Ballinagar ditched the manager after winning 2 championships, how would he meet cappincurs expectations?
Ballycommon are in a good position going into the final against Clonbullogue as they got a hiding from them so will know what they have to do from the earlier match. Conor Dunne and Karl Dunne are different players and with Gareth Mann back motoring they are in good shape along with the 2 Brackens, David Dempsey and Brian Todd was very good the last day.
Clonbullogue were relatively comfortable against gracefield when they got motoring in the second half and Gracefield struggled for fitness around the field. Jack Mc, Keith O'Neill were good.
Final should be a very good match, Clonbullogue slight favourites if they turn up but Ballycommon produced their best display in last years final and despite the loss of Tom Mealiffe, they are in a good position.

Intermediate final was won on the basis of Daingean having a better balanced team and using the ball well throughout. Tierney after a slow start was very good, and they had top perfomers throughout every line , right back to the keeper.
Croghan would have hoped that the wet windy conditions might slow things down and reduce ability to get good ball into Tierney but the early part of the day was the best, (as was evidenced after for the senior game).
Ben Kennedy scored 2 great goals and missed a great chance for a third which would have made it tighter, and croghan tried hard, but they were plugging gaps all over. How Daingean progress will be interesting as they will have work to do physically going up and despite a young team they still are dependent enough on a number of lads in their mid 30s and up.

Senior game, a lot of people are blaming the manager for Ferbane, I don't know , he put a system and plan in place not to get picked off by Tullamore. I think that when they cross the line, players have to take responsibility, and some point take a chance. Some of the decision making was shocking, and a lot of talk about Johnson. To me, he looked unfit, compared to where he should be, but made an impact. But Daragh Flynn, who's a good lad, missed a sitter in the first half and was blocked down twice in second half. Joe Maher never got into a position where he could pull the trigger and Cathal Flynn worked his socks and all off, but didn't have the punch. I think Ferbane have had a good year and will be better next year.
Tullamore are just horrible to watch and there is a stamp on that team that enables them to win, but there should be more to it withe the talent that they have at their disposal. John Furlong, the standout player, amazing block and kicked second last point (their only score from play in the second half???), he popped up in the right places and shoud have been picked out by team mates. A class footballer.

[biffinbanner]

while tullamore slightly deserved their win the late save from clancy could have swung it in ferbanes favour. the day was against ferbane. joe maher and cathal flynn prefer top of the ground to be effective. as for cian johnston what a talent. but plagued with injurys. 6 months off playing no ball might be the making of him. he reminds me a lot of that great galway player michael meehan. one injury after another. would be great to see him have a good 6 or 8 years injurys free. we can hope.

[llkj]

Getting into the lead was vital in that game and had a huge bearing on how the game was played thereafter as scores were always going to be really hard come by in the conditions.
It was tough and tense more so than anything. Regarding kicking the ball, it happened a few times with mixed results notably after Tullamore caught a great kick out and played a long ball to Fox who should have slipped in Furlong in for a goal chance. Also, ferbane’s shot on goal near the end. However, there were other instances where a long ball was tried and ended up in the opposition picking up a break and building - eg Furlong’s free in injury time.

Tough one against the Meath champions next and away to Kildare if successful.

[Anonymous1]

Getting into the lead was vital in that game and had a huge bearing on how the game was played thereafter as scores were always going to be really hard come by in the conditions.
It was tough and tense more so than anything. Regarding kicking the ball, it happened a few times with mixed results notably after Tullamore caught a great kick out and played a long ball to Fox who should have slipped in Furlong in for a goal chance. Also, ferbane’s shot on goal near the end. However, there were other instances where a long ball was tried and ended up in the opposition picking up a break and building - eg Furlong’s free in injury time.

Tough one against the Meath champions next and away to Kildare if successful.

Ferbane kicked long ball in three times in the second half and it led to their last two scores, on a day like that in particular, route one would’ve been just as effective as any other strategy.

I agree re getting into the lead though, Tullamore led 1-2 to 0-1 after 15 minutes so for the next 45 minutes Ferbane kicked 0-5 to Tullamore’s 0-3 but they were always chasing the game and could never get level.

Had they converted any of the chances earlier in the game such as Flynn’s previously mentioned wide in the first half or his free that hit the crossbar, Taaffe’s hand pass that just went wide or Jack Clancy’s chance in the first half where he shot for goal instead of taking his score then Chris Dwyer would’ve been able to blow the full time whistle for a replay instead of allowing that final play where Tullamore went 2 points ahead.

On a side note, the kick out that led to Tullamore’s goal should’ve been thrown up as Corey White had taken an excessive amount of time to kick the ball out and then chipped the ball up into his hands but Dwyer gave him a second chance to kick it out.

[ah lethimoutwithit]

Senior B final at the weekend.

Very interesting contest in store.
I would have thought Clonbullogue but think Ballycommon are in with a shout.

2 well organised teams and great to see the progress that both clubs have made and is a sign that working hard at the underage can pay dividends.
Hopefully the weather holds up and could be a fairly decent game.