Tubber 1-14 Ferbane 2-6

[Lone Shark]

The Cunninghams of Farranree are by now one of the most well known families in Ireland. Their massive €16 million lotto win has been big national news, with countless people across Ireland wondering what such a big win would be like, and how they’d feel if they got the magic six numbers correct.

Supporters of Tubber are probably in as good a position as any to tell you what it feels like right now. The final whistle that confirmed their passage into the quarter finals of the senior football championship was greeted with the kind of unbridled joy that one would expect from a lotto winner, while the odds of it coming to pass early in the second half when Ferbane led by eight points were probably similar to those that faced the Cunninghams when they walked into that Centra in Cork. When Ronan Daly pointed the first score of the second half to put Ferbane 2-6 to 0-4 in the ascendancy, it seemed barely conceivable that Ferbane would be held scoreless for the rest of the game, never mind Tubber finding the twelve points they needed. The next 27 minutes or so will live long in the memory of anyone present in O’Connor Park, either in the form of mental scarring or pure pleasure, depending on whether you were watching the game with green or orange tinted glasses.

The new system in the Offaly championships this year whereby points difference would apply instead of a playoff was foremost in the minds of supporters, though most were thinking that Ferbane would be vying with Clara and Tubber with Rynagh’s, and as such it was suprising that the game in Doon threw in some fifteen minutes earlier than this. Certainly after the first quarter the mathematicians were preparing for an evening’s work as Ferbane had burst out of the blocks and it looked for all the world like Tubber might have been facing into a relegation struggle rather than the knockout stages. Ferbane started by playing some excellent crossfield diagonal balls into space, utilising the pace and accuracy of Ronan Daly and John Mollen. They moved the ball quickly and directly, and had two early points on the board before consolidating their advantage with a goal. Colin Egan had a shot blocked down but he had the presence of mind to keep moving, and when James Grennan scooped up the breaking ball and passed it through to him again he was clean through and finished very well. Two more points from play followed through Daly and Mollen, and all over the field Ferbane were looking very accomplished.

It took fifteen minutes for Tubber to get on the board, and when they did finally start to muster up some attacking play they still lacked a real cutting edge. They scored two frees, and in between got another score from Kevin McGuinness after Brian Kelly got away with some outrageous overcarrying. However having played their way back into the game, it looked like the played their way back out of it when a ball across the goalmouth was mishandled by James Guinan and Ronan Daly was in like a flash to score a second Ferbane goal. Traded points left the score at 2-5 to 0-4 at the break, and with Clara only winning by two at this point Tubber were in real danger.

Without trying to be harsh to Tubber, your reporter has examined the game long and hard trying to figure out what they did differently to turn things around, and ultimately has had to concede defeat in the quest. Needless to say they still have to take a lot of credit for the turnaround – their continued workrate, resilience and their ability to take the chances when they did come along was utterly vital, but if one was to pinpoint the switch that turned the game, it was actually a move by the Ferbane management that brought Tubber right back into it. Willie Farrell was taken off and Paddy Connolly moved to centre forward from midfield. Up to that point Connolly had been marking Ciarán McManus, and while neither man was completely on top, Connolly was playing a lot of ball and Tubber’s main weapon was busy doing a lot of defensive work. After Connolly was moved McManus really came into the game, and within five minutes of this switch he kicked two glorious points from play, each from around 40 metres out. Tubber were chipping away at the lead, but the game was still there for Ferbane if they could just have nicked a score to break the momentum – but it never came. They began to panic and deserted their game plan of playing early cross field ball, instead playing short passes and carrying the ball in towards goals. Ronan Daly also dropped very deep, meaning that their best forwards were not taking the shots, and wide after wide resulted.

With ten minutes to go Tubber were still three behind and they still looked like they weren’t going to be able to bridge the gap before suddenly they burst to life. Brian Kelly hit a good point on the run before a Kevin McGuinness shot from 25 metres just dipped under the crossbar putting his team in front for the first time. They won the subsequent kickout, secured a free and McManus hit it perfectly to double his side’s lead.

All of a sudden Ferbane were on the back foot and Tubber began to think of the four point win that they needed to advance to the next round. Another McManus free from more or less the same spot on the 45 pushed them to three ahead, and then right on 60 minutes they got the chance they needed. The free they were awarded was between the 45 and 65 on the right hand sideline – it wouldn’t have been considered a chance to many, but once again cometh the hour, cometh the man, and McManus hit a wonderful kick, splitting the posts with yards to spare. A final score from Noel Brown was simply the exclamation point on what was one of the more incredible comebacks ever seen in O’Connor Park, and the beginning of the utterly deserved celebrations.


Tubber – Alan Kinahan; James Guinan, Brian McManus, Lee Dunning; Brendan Heavin, Michael Grennan, Aaron Farrell; David Kavanagh, Ciarán McManus (0-5, 0-3 frees); Johnny Moran (0-1), Eddie Kavanagh (0-1), Michael Doolan; Brian Kelly (0-1), Noel Brown (0-2), Kevin McGuinness (1-4, 0-2 frees).
Subs: Joe Higgins for Brian McManus, Keith Rafferty for Michael Doolan, Basil Cronin for Johnny Moran

Ferbane – Declan Nugent; Saran Butler, Paul Rosney, Gerry Grehan; Gerry O’Malley, Diarmuid Carroll, Colm Gavin; James Grennan, Paddy Connolly; Paul Flynn, Willie Farrell, David Lowry (0-1); Ronan Daly (1-3, 0-1 free), Colin Egan (1-0), John Mollen (0-2, 0-1 free)
Subs: Tommy Rosney for Willie Farrell, Oisín Kenny for Paul Flynn

Referee: Carthage Buckley

[Superted]

Fantastic!

[Muck Savage]

Looks like Superted is just getting back from all the celebrations in Tubber!

[Superted]

Im only gettin over it now muck savage!