Golden opportunity for Tullamore to reach Leinster club hurling final

If Tullamore succeed in handling the burden of favouritism, a Leinster final place is there for the taking, says columnist Kevin Egan A seemingly kind draw, made even kinder on paper by Clonkill's surprise win over Clough-Ballacolla, means that Tullamore hurlers go into this Sunday's match up as odds-on favourites to reach a Leinster club hurling final in their first ever foray into the competition. Tullamore GAA club have already had five failed attempts at reaching a Leinster final as county football champions, but this season offers them a glorious opportunity to become only the fifth Offaly club to ever reach a Leinster senior hurling final, and possibly even the third Offaly club to ever win one. Indeed if the betting companies are anything to go by, this Sunday represents a very winnable fixture for the town team. Odds of as short as 1/3 have been chalked up by the various companies, which equate to Tullamore being assessed as 75% chances to win, or four point favourites on the handicap market. Based on the form that Tullamore have shown since half time in their quarter final meeting with St Rynagh's, this would be a fair enough assessment of where these two teams stand. Clonkill are a very steady group of hurlers with plenty of experience of provincial and indeed All Ireland hurling at club level, however they wouldn't possess the raw talent to beat a team like Birr. They've been the strongest team in Westmeath for the past few years and in Andrew Mitchell and Brendan Murtagh they possess two of the best individual hurlers that the county has ever produced, but outside of those two they wouldn't have the range of younger talent that Tullamore would have at their disposal. Nonetheless, this Sunday's game will be a very different type of challenge for the Blues. Tullamore have been underdogs for all bar two of their games so far this year, and haven't had to hurl with expectation on their shoulders. In Mullingar they will have to win without the motivation of proving the doubters wrong, which requires a very different mentality. This is a tendency that has been very lacking in Offaly hurling down the years, as evidenced by the fact that weaker counties would have traditionally looked on Offaly as a softer touch than any of the other more "traditional" hurling counties, and indeed have secured many more results against Offaly than they have achieved against counties like Wexford, Clare or Limerick. Tullamore must also overcome the fact that they haven't hurled in a month, while in that time Clonkill enjoyed an excellent win over the Laois champions, Clough-Ballacolla. Clough-Ballacolla were not unlike Tullamore in that they travelled to Mullingar with no experience of hurling competitively outside their own county, but with favouritism on their shoulders largely due to their county of origin. Clough-Ballacolla had been lucky in Laois in that Camross did the dirty work for them in taking out county favourites Rathdowney-Errill, whereas Tullamore needed no such favours, but they too would have been unprepared for the unique challenge that competitive winter hurling presents. That Clonkill won such a fixture has removed any danger of Tullamore underestimating the scale of the task facing them this weekend, but the nature of the win will also give Tullamore plenty to think about. Clonkill were the better team throughout the full hour's hurling last Sunday week, taking six scores against the wind in the first half before pulling clear in the closing stages. Their county final win over Lough Lene Gaels was of a similar vein, with Clonkill taking a two point lead into half time having faced the wind, before pulling away at the end despite the concession of a second goal. In fact if Tullamore are to come away from Mullingar with a win, getting in for goals against an unspectacular Clonkill full back line could play a big part in doing so. The quarter final match against Clough-Ballacolla was the third game in succession when Clonkill conceded more goals than they scored, a tendency which they have compensated for by hitting an average of nineteen scores per game themselves. Tullamore's defensive record, notwithstanding an excellent display in the county final, is such that it would be hard to be too confident of the town men's ability to keep the Clonkill scoring tally down. Despite this, Tullamore are definitely capable of getting in for something along the lines of 2-13 or 3-13 of their own, which could and should win this tie. Shane Dooley's reputation and his exploits so far could result in Clonkill deploying Eoin Price, their best man marker, on the county player, however a large part of Tullamore's success has been a result of the pace and ability of players like Shane Kelly, Francis Kerrigan and James Keane. It is to these hurlers that Tullamore supporters must look to create the openings that will be needed to secure the necessary scores on Sunday afternoon. The midfield pairing of Kelly and Keane has been very impressive this year and their contribution was recognised by Joe Dooley when he asked both men into the county training panel. Shane Kelly will almost certainly square off against Fergal Fagan, who has more traditionally featured as a defender for Clonkill down the years. Fagan will contest primary possession with Kelly vigorously and will look to spoil a lot of ball in the direction of Brendan Murtagh at centre forward, but if Kelly can secure the sliothar, he could cause Fagan a lot of problems with his attacking runs. Shane Power is the more attacking of the two Clonkill midfielders, though he hasn't scored as freely from this position as the Westmeath club would like. Not usually a scorer from range, Power often looks to come from deep positions to receive layoffs from the half forwards and do his damage from well inside the opposition half. James Keane did an excellent job of reading the play and dropping into well chosen deeper positions in the county final, and a repeat of this, provided he keeps a close eye on where Power is at all times, should yield results. Discipline will also play a huge part on Sunday, all over the field. Andrew Mitchell will threaten the posts with any dead ball opportunity inside eighty metres, while Murtagh is a very solid free taker from attacking positions. Again, this is an aspect of the game that Tullamore have excelled in so far this year and a very positive sign coming into Sunday's game. Overall, the fact that Clonkill are no longer "waiting in the long grass" should be sufficient warning for Tullamore that they have a huge test on their hands in Cusack Park. With that warning on board, they just need to deliver on their greater ability all over the field to guarantee an historic first ever Leinster final appearance. Odds of 1/3 appear to underestimate the strength of this Clonkill team and handicap backers would certainly be well advised to take the plus four points available about the home club, however there is a big difference between staying close and actually winning the game. The gut feeling here is that Clonkill will manage the former, but maybe not the latter.