Senior Football Final Preview
Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2007 5:06 pm
(Apologies for jumping the gun with this on what should be a weekend for hurling to the fore, but I had to do it for the Indo, so here ye go....)
Shamrocks will win the Offaly senior football championship this Sunday.
No doubt if Mark Plunkett is reading this, minor conniptions will be the result as the last thing any manager wants these days is to see his charges being hyped up in advance of a big game. Equally, Tullamore management will be delighted to have the opinion of some two bit hack to “pin to the wall of the dressing room” in order to drive the boys in blue to prove the fecker wrong. Perhaps your writer is mistaken, and Tullamore (rightly) couldn’t care less about what any journalist in the county puts forth as their opinion in advance of Sunday’s clash, but the obligatory sideswipe at “the meedja that wrote us off” is so commonplace nowadays that it’s hard to escape the imagery of managers scouring every parish bulletin in the land looking to get some piece of dismissive commentary to use as motivation.
Except here’s the problem – whatever motivation Tullamore can muster, it will do extraordinarily well to compete with the longing that exists in Shamrocks GAA club to finally put their first ever county championship on the record books. County stars and great clubmen like Ronan Mooney, Padraig Kelly, Conor and Barry Mooney and many others have been playing their hearts out for the past decade looking to secure this accolade for the club, and it looks for all the world like all the pieces are falling into place.
It’s not that long ago since Tullamore achieved the last of their 25 county titles with their one goal victory over Gracefield in 2002, but survivors from that team are few and far between – most likely five of the starters from that day will line out next Sunday. The town have had a marvellous run of minor successes in recent years, and look the hottest of favourites to take this year’s under 21 title, but many of these players have yet to develop to their full potential. Stalwarts like Cathal Daly and John Kenny are as good leaders as any club could hope to have, but most of their team will be new to the county final experience.
In contrast, Shamrocks tick all the boxes. The core of their team is playing at their peak, with both youth and experience scattered throughout the side and they’ve gone through all the rites of passage. In 2005 they reached their second county title decider in 32 years and third ever, and although they were only edged out by a late Paschal Kelleghan goal, their slow start cost them dearly as they should have been well in front by then. The old saying that you have to lose one to win one still carries a lot of weight, with many observers feeling Shamrocks would come back even stronger in 2006. To a certain extent they did, but they were sucker punched in the semi final by Clara in a result that not many in the county saw coming. Whatever chance there was of Shamrocks suffering from complacency in the 2007 campaign was obliterated on that day. With the lessons of the last two years on board, Shamrocks mentally are in a much better place than Tullamore right now.
All that said, the game will still come down to football – who will kick the most scores, who will secure the most possession, and who will defend with the most intensity, discipline and craft. Once again, it’s hard to see past the men in red. Tullamore have ground out their way to this final, no small achievement, but at no time have they come close to the level of play that Shamrocks displayed in the semi final against Rhode. True, they had no answer to Niall McNamee, but one could ask the question, what club in Offaly does? Take away the incredible display from McNamee and Shamrocks comfortably dominated Rhode in every area of the field, a Rhode team that was going for four county titles in a row and was a drier pitch away from winning a Leinster club title last year. Shamrocks move the ball well, their midfield and half forwards work hard to slow the progression of opponents, and the addition of PJ Ward to their range of attackers that can score makes them very difficult to contain. In recent years Shamrocks big problem was always finding the last three names on the team sheet. All too often one or two weak links let the side down. This year Ward and minor stars Karl Mollen and Nigel Dunne have filled the gaps and with no injury concerns, it looks like Shamrocks finally have the balanced team that will push them over the line.
This Tullamore side that have plenty of county titles in them – but not this year. Pin it up on the wall all ye like lads, 2007 belongs to Shamrocks.
Shamrocks will win the Offaly senior football championship this Sunday.
No doubt if Mark Plunkett is reading this, minor conniptions will be the result as the last thing any manager wants these days is to see his charges being hyped up in advance of a big game. Equally, Tullamore management will be delighted to have the opinion of some two bit hack to “pin to the wall of the dressing room” in order to drive the boys in blue to prove the fecker wrong. Perhaps your writer is mistaken, and Tullamore (rightly) couldn’t care less about what any journalist in the county puts forth as their opinion in advance of Sunday’s clash, but the obligatory sideswipe at “the meedja that wrote us off” is so commonplace nowadays that it’s hard to escape the imagery of managers scouring every parish bulletin in the land looking to get some piece of dismissive commentary to use as motivation.
Except here’s the problem – whatever motivation Tullamore can muster, it will do extraordinarily well to compete with the longing that exists in Shamrocks GAA club to finally put their first ever county championship on the record books. County stars and great clubmen like Ronan Mooney, Padraig Kelly, Conor and Barry Mooney and many others have been playing their hearts out for the past decade looking to secure this accolade for the club, and it looks for all the world like all the pieces are falling into place.
It’s not that long ago since Tullamore achieved the last of their 25 county titles with their one goal victory over Gracefield in 2002, but survivors from that team are few and far between – most likely five of the starters from that day will line out next Sunday. The town have had a marvellous run of minor successes in recent years, and look the hottest of favourites to take this year’s under 21 title, but many of these players have yet to develop to their full potential. Stalwarts like Cathal Daly and John Kenny are as good leaders as any club could hope to have, but most of their team will be new to the county final experience.
In contrast, Shamrocks tick all the boxes. The core of their team is playing at their peak, with both youth and experience scattered throughout the side and they’ve gone through all the rites of passage. In 2005 they reached their second county title decider in 32 years and third ever, and although they were only edged out by a late Paschal Kelleghan goal, their slow start cost them dearly as they should have been well in front by then. The old saying that you have to lose one to win one still carries a lot of weight, with many observers feeling Shamrocks would come back even stronger in 2006. To a certain extent they did, but they were sucker punched in the semi final by Clara in a result that not many in the county saw coming. Whatever chance there was of Shamrocks suffering from complacency in the 2007 campaign was obliterated on that day. With the lessons of the last two years on board, Shamrocks mentally are in a much better place than Tullamore right now.
All that said, the game will still come down to football – who will kick the most scores, who will secure the most possession, and who will defend with the most intensity, discipline and craft. Once again, it’s hard to see past the men in red. Tullamore have ground out their way to this final, no small achievement, but at no time have they come close to the level of play that Shamrocks displayed in the semi final against Rhode. True, they had no answer to Niall McNamee, but one could ask the question, what club in Offaly does? Take away the incredible display from McNamee and Shamrocks comfortably dominated Rhode in every area of the field, a Rhode team that was going for four county titles in a row and was a drier pitch away from winning a Leinster club title last year. Shamrocks move the ball well, their midfield and half forwards work hard to slow the progression of opponents, and the addition of PJ Ward to their range of attackers that can score makes them very difficult to contain. In recent years Shamrocks big problem was always finding the last three names on the team sheet. All too often one or two weak links let the side down. This year Ward and minor stars Karl Mollen and Nigel Dunne have filled the gaps and with no injury concerns, it looks like Shamrocks finally have the balanced team that will push them over the line.
This Tullamore side that have plenty of county titles in them – but not this year. Pin it up on the wall all ye like lads, 2007 belongs to Shamrocks.
