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My God, welcome back ST.

I love your conclusion ( ) but that's a fantastic journey you took us on to get there!

A super post silken Thomas while I can’t share LS sentiments re the outcome whatever happens Sunday week you can be guaranteed both teams will turn up and perform and there will only be a kick of the ball in it. The 2 best teams of the 20s in my opinion and by the looks of things and looking at underage it looks like Tullamore and Ferbane will be fighting it out for many years to come.
Bring on the trilogy Sunday week.

Silken Thomas 2 wrote: ↑Wed Oct 15, 2025 9:59 pm They say a rising tide lifts all boats but the ripple effects of underage success are really starting to touch Tullamore GAA shores now. Its a tsunami of quality players. Their Intermediate footballers didn’t need to sound any foghorn either. Jack Maher, Jake Moore and Ciaran Burns shouldn’t be left in steerage for too long.

It’s arguable though that their organisation and increased population will help them chart a new course. The heady waters of a Leinster title has to be the aim. Not many clubs can field four adult football crews, not many with their rich history. The town can now see up to 70 boys show up for one age group for their first voyage, so unfortunately are there too many ending up overboard?

Rhode however it seems head for the doldrums, if at least making a semi in 2026, is such a place for them. Their older marquee swimmers only seem to tread water. Too many barnacles have attached. They have any amount of options for half back and half forward but none who supply the dash or guile of the stealthy John Furlong. If the rules were a new departure, why did Rhode deliberately concede so many kick outs? Zonal give aways worked best with the old rules and not with a team as comfortable on the ball as Tullamore are. I can’t see Liam Dillane for example being allowed such cheap possession in the final.

Ferbane seem to have a new adventurous streak. They have prepared for this jaunt since the middle of last October. They travel in a fleet and have fitness in abundance, this will stand to them if they start to flounder. Their forwards I believe can tie the neater knots, and the vast expanse of O’Connor Park also suits their play. They can carry willingly all day with multiple options but also seem to be kicking more than ever. Cian Johnson demands maximum attention on the bow, Nally on the stern but Cathal Flynn is the real captain of the ship.

Unfortunately for the reds they were swimming against the tide in the second half of their semi final when it was thought their stroke seemed so fluid this year. Battling and sea faring qualities were not to the fore. Once the second goal hit the net, they capsized all too easily. Richie Dalton could do well to avoid a mutiny. As they develop their sea legs they shall return to warmer waters. A true Columbus is needed though.

For Ferbane and Tullamore a titanic tussle awaits. Both rely on manic energy and disciplined defence. They have perfected the Bermuda Triangle of gang tackling. Rarely flailing the arms and getting penalised. In the end the opponent often drowns serenely.

From the crow’s nest of the stands, their kick outs also seem elite. For me it’s foolish to try and make it an esoteric art. It helps when both teams are broad in the beam. The middle third won’t have many men less than a fathom in view. However it’s a bit more nuanced than that. It’s precise cannon fire even though they can both scrap too.

Both benches will bring repetitive powerful waves of energy. Watch out for the elusive movements of McDaid, the feints of Darragh Flynn and the physicality of Oisin Kelly to name but a few.

For one proud club, Sunday evening’s celebration dock will be like the Mary Celeste. Incredible passion, spirit and determination will break and wash up on a strand of failure. Monday’s hangover will bring the realisation that their huge chance has sunk without trace and a year marooned without true treasure awaits…

Now to nail my colours to the mast.
Ferbane by 4-after a tempestuous second half.

A lot of sea faring metaphors in that post ST. The MarieCeleste was found abandoned at sea. Everything appeared normal, but not a sign of life.
Perhaps the Titanic reference could apply Sunday week.
Always a chance two warships will engage each other, in a battle with all guns blazing.

Welcome back, Silken Thomas. Wonderful, quality, piece, I really enjoyed reading it.

whos reffing lads?

Marius Stones is down for senior final

Fear Uibh wrote: ↑Thu Oct 23, 2025 10:12 am Marius Stones is down for senior final

A Clara referee. What Senior matches has he refereed.?

SearingDrive wrote: ↑Thu Oct 23, 2025 1:56 pm

Fear Uibh wrote: ↑Thu Oct 23, 2025 10:12 am Marius Stones is down for senior final

A Clara referee. What Senior matches has he refereed.?

Refereed 2 group games in senior and 1/4 final of Rhode v ballycommon

Is this a serious question. One of the most experienced refs in the county has reffed 2 county finals recently he has reffed a few group games this year. A very good ref. So what if he is from Clara they produce loads of refs and without them the county would be in serious bother

SearingDrive wrote: ↑Thu Oct 23, 2025 1:56 pm

Fear Uibh wrote: ↑Thu Oct 23, 2025 10:12 am Marius Stones is down for senior final

A Clara referee. What Senior matches has he refereed.?

You must be hugely invested in the senior football championship. I hope this is a joke. Regardless of where he is from he is absolutely deserving of the job. A very good ref and extremely fair. He gets very few things wrong. This year more than ever looks to be a mouthwatering affair which stones will added to with his huge experience.

I for one as a neutral would like to see Ferbane win. And i hope its their time after afew narrow losses. Along with the fact that their will be no bagpipes coming over Kilbeggan bridge Sunday night as an added bonus

Best of luck to Ferbane on Sunday. This team looks set to push Tullamore to the limit again. Tullamore have a lot of good players, but if Ferbane can be ruthless in their finishing and play a patient style to mirror what Tullamore will do they can prevail.
Senior B is also an interesting one this weekend, a huge game for Cappincur on Friday night v Clara in Daingean. Cappincur have a seasoned outfit and will be comfortable in the venue, albeit that the big pitch will test them. Cappincur have an aging team and they have a challenging few years coming down the tracks with a limited amount of players coming through the Vins set up. Clara will be under pressure and will be hell bent on getting back to senior. Clara have it all to lose and with the weather changing , these conditions will favour Cappincur who wont back down. Clara to shade it by 4.

Ballinagar v Daingean, another hard one to call, Ballinagar have come off the back of their best performance and Daingean similar. Ballinagar should be clear favourites with 4 Offaly senior pannelists. Daingean have potential and whilst consistency has been their issue they have shown resilience both this year and last year to scrap their way to results in games that appeared to be going against them. I think that Daingean may have the edge but it could go either way.

Should be bumper crowds over the weekend and get out ta hell and go to the games instead of Clubber or Sky! Be a long winter yet. Good luck to all involved.

Whos that lug earlier stirring about Marius Stones? Must know nothing about it, a good ref and any mistakes are genuine.

Fear Uibh wrote: ↑Thu Oct 23, 2025 2:37 pm

SearingDrive wrote: ↑Thu Oct 23, 2025 1:56 pm

Fear Uibh wrote: ↑Thu Oct 23, 2025 10:12 am Marius Stones is down for senior final

A Clara referee. What Senior matches has he refereed.?

Refereed 2 group games in senior and 1/4 final of Rhode v ballycommon

Thanks for the update.. Good luck to all involved on Sunday. Players and Officials. From a neutral aspect, I would like to see Ferbane win, the last two finals were close matches.
Since when does asking for information before a final become a crime?

Three key battles today as I see it;

1. Leavy/Bourke vs Whatever combo Ferbane have at midfield.

2. Furlong vs Flynn

3. Hogan vs Johnson

Whichever team shades these battles overall will win imo. I think that may just be Tullamore by the narrowest of margins.

In recent years, Offaly club football has been spoken about as being below the level of neighbouring counties, largely due to number of genuine contenders and Tullamore's recent dominance. Hopefully after today, people talk differently about it. Today's final was as good a final as I have seen in a very long time. It had everything. Great scores, major drama, goal chances, brilliant tackling, hard hits, major momentum swings and excellent officiating to match.

As a game, I felt Ferbane struggled early on when playing with breeze and Tullamore would have been very happy with 3 all after about 15 minutes. Tullamore had lots of posession and were boxing clever, using up clock against strong wind while taking scores. Ferbane got momentum then and Cian Johnson kicked a wonder free from under the stand for Ferbane to take 4 point lead - with Tullamore getting tap over free for Ferbane to lead by 3 on the turn. Ferbane had to be happy with that. Oisin Kelly appeared at Half Time and took while to get into the game as Leavy took over for Tullamore. Leavy looked to be heading for Man Of Match, closely followed by Mike Fox as they took a well deserved lead scoring 5 or 6 in a row. It seemed it was going to just play out with Tullamore winning comfortably.

All of a sudden however, with couple of great work-rate and tackling, Ferbane started to bound into the game, helped in no small way with intro of Kyle Higgins and Oisin Kelly coming alive to dominate the middle and ably helped by David Nally who was outstanding. The tackling and effort was off the scale at this point and they rattled off 3 points and had few goal chances to bring what seemed a brilliant challenge to Tullamore. That was the time when Tullamore needed to stand up, and up they stood with their midfield starting to take over in middle again with even more hits and higher intensity again. But Ferbane catch them on the break for Flynn to rattle a brilliant goal after missing an easy point chance with 4 minutes left to score what looked like the winning goal.

It was set up for the champions to stand up yet again, and they duly did. When the need was greatest, Harry Plunkett delivers two two pointers to send them over the line and win the 3 in a row for possibly their first time in history.

There were many MOM candidates and it changed over the game based on the momentum swings. Mike Fox early in 2nd half was a contender,Luke Plunkett too, as was Cian Johnson who posed major problems for Tullamore and needs to be brought back into Offaly set up. Flynn too was full of tricks and very lively and was a contender if it went Ferbane's way. Aaron Leavy dominated for spells, while McDaid Egan and John Furlong were constant threat also with their running into space in second half. On Ferbane side, I thought Nally was immense throughout and Offaly management need to be calling him as priority, as they do Harry Plunkett for what he did at the end. Cathal Flynn must be a nightmare to mark and he brought the game to Tullamore throughout and was also outstanding. In what was an absolute cracker of a game, and with so much quality play, credit to all players here in really tough conditions, contrasting massively with that horror show a couple of years ago. So massive well done to both teams for serving up such a ding dong battle.

For me, I'm going against all these and giving my Man Of Match to Marius Stones. There was an amount of close calls, heavy hits and borderline over-carries. There was a number of advantages given and pulled back correctly and solo and go's interfered with and correctly dealt with. in such a high octane game, he got almost everything spot on and he and officials should be commended as it contributed massively to brilliant game. It helps massively that he played the game at a good level and it is no surprise that the best referees in county are lads that have played game at good level - I am including Kevin Williamson in this. Referees get a hard time and it is thankless job and I think Stones deserves acknowledgement on this occasion for great job in very tricky conditions.

Ferbane will be gutted but they and their management should be hugely proud of their effort. They gave Tullamore as good a test as they could have done and were so so close to beating the favourites. On the other side, Tullamore will be delighted to pull this off given where they were with 4 minutes to play. I hope they really give Leinster a crack now and see how far they can go. It has been an unbelievable year for them with their Intermediates also winning and going up to Senior B - and they won't be too far off in that next year also. Their U16s won too and their U20s will be fancied to go 6 or 7 in a row. Bit of a nod to a young Shane Dooley too who picked up yet another county medal - must be up to 8 or 9 senior medals now between hurling and football.

All in all, on today's showing, Offaly club football is not in as bad a place as some folk might make out in my opinion.