Shannonbridge 0-10 Edenderry 0-10 - SFC Relegation playoff

[Hocker]

Masterful performances from Shannonbridge veterans John ryan & in particular Anthony Kelly(0-6) ensured they came away with a deserved share of the spoils last night, in a cracking game of end to end football played under lights at Walsh Island.
In a game which ebbed and flowed, Edenderry - Through no small part of Basil Malone led 7-2 after 15 minutes.
'Bridge rallied with 3 before the break to leave the score 7-5 at half time..
In a frantic final ten minutes Edenderry broke away 10 points to 7 in front before the excellent Paul Deeley & Anthony Kelly broke the red's reserve to record a share of the spoils.

This result still unfortunately leaves Shannonbridge staring relegation in the face as Edenderry now need to play Gracefield (Who are now safe and have nothing to play for) in the next game. This is a major error by the county board (Surprise surprise!! ) who should have fixed Edenderry v Gracefield as the second game after Gracefield defeated Shannonbridge 2 weeks ago.

I also found it disgracful that Shannonbridge had to travel so far for both matches - Play Gracefield in Killeigh and Edenderry in Walsh Island! The conspiracy theorists will be out in force but the simple fact of the matter is that once again the county board have failed to step-up to the plate...

[Hocker]

yup shannonbridge to killeigh 50minutes.....gracefield to killeigh 10 minutes
shannonbridge to walsh island 60 minutes.... edenderry to walsh island about 15 minutes

[Lone Shark]

This result still unfortunately leaves Shannonbridge staring relegation in the face as Edenderry now need to play Gracefield (Who are now safe and have nothing to play for) in the next game. This is a major error by the county board (Surprise surprise!! ) who should have fixed Edenderry v Gracefield as the second game after Gracefield defeated Shannonbridge 2 weeks ago.

I also found it disgracful that Shannonbridge had to travel so far for both matches - Play Gracefield in Killeigh and Edenderry in Walsh Island! The conspiracy theorists will be out in force but the simple fact of the matter is that once again the county board have failed to step-up to the plate...

Regarding the three way playoffs, there is simply no way of doing it fairly. As you argue, a draw makes a bollix of it, but equally if ye had won by a point, then a two point win for Edenderry in the last game would suited both teams. If they had fixed Gracefield vs Edenderry as the second game, then Gracefield would know that anything better than a five point defeat would have them safe, and would play accordingly. It would also mean that ye'd know exactly what ye needed in terms of scoring difference in the last match, which would have been unfair on Edenderry. The simple fact off it is that the teams playing in the last game have a huge advantage, but that's just the luck of the draw - there's just no way around that.

As for the venues, it wouldn't be the first time that there was such a bias towards north Offaly venues for north vs west/south Offaly clubs. Birr in particular have got a rough ride in recent years. However the Walsh Island thing is different, that's a floodlights issue. I'm not sure why Ballycumber or Tubber were not available, but I'm pretty sure they weren't available on Monday night either so it could simply be a case of WI being the only floodlit pitch on offer.

[Lone Shark]

In probably the most predictable result of the season, Edenderry just beat Gracefield 2-9 to 0-6, so Shannonbridge's relegation is confirmed.

[corneyback]

After seeing the Eden/Shannon and the Eden/Gracefield match,I have to say that Edenderry did deserve to stay up.Edenderry go through phases in matches where they decide that they want to play football (usually for one half).Against Gracefield they blew them out of the water in the first half and built up a substantial lead which they never lost...They came out in the second half and done little or nothing,pegged on a few points when needed to keep Gracefield out of the match....Saying that Gracefield only had the bare minimum,they'd nothing to play for which was unfortunate for Shannonbridge.Edenderry should never have been in this situation really,they could have and should have beaten Tullamore and Ferbane (sorry LS) but they just hadn't the will power to finish them off.

[Hocker]

Against Gracefield they blew them out of the water in the first half and built up a substantial lead which they never lost...They came out in the second half and done little or nothing,pegged on a few points when needed to keep Gracefield out of the match....Saying that Gracefield only had the bare minimum,they'd nothing to play for which was unfortunate for Shannonbridge..

An understatement to say the least - this ended up being a complete farce and whilst it was expected & probably deserved, we are gutted up in the Bridge to relegated back to intermediate after 17years playing top-flight football.
Back to the drawing board for 2010 but who's to say what will happen next year, maybe it's exactly what the club needs after struggling to survive in the SFC since 2005.