Big guns of Offaly football set to serve up showpiece to savour
Only two days remain before the most eagerly awaited club football match in Offaly for several years. The 2009 county final, which Clara edged by a point, and the Magpies’ subsequent run in the Leinster club football championship proved that another club had finally come to match the high standards that Rhode have set within the county for the past five years.
There was a single point between Clara and Rhode twelve months ago, there was one score between them when they met in the league in April, and the fact that each club comes to this county final having won seven games on the spin, including one scare in the quarter-finals and one good win over decent opposition in the semi finals, suggests that Offaly football is set for a wonderful showpiece occasion on Sunday between two very evenly matched teams.
The parallels between the two clubs continue when the personnel are examined. Both clubs are captained by top quality inside forwards who are playing some of the best football of their lives, both clubs are packed with inter-county players and both clubs have a good spread of younger players who have known plenty of success with their clubs playing underage football.
To separate them, we must look beyond the star names and into the less heralded sections of each team. Club matches are not unlike county minor teams - the best five players are those of most interest to county selectors, but the last five names onto the team sheet often dictate how successful that particular team will be. Perhaps the biggest strength of the two clubs taking part in Sunday’s final is not their star attractions, but the strength in depth that both clubs possess.
Two years ago, Rhode won the county title at a canter against Tullamore, while their midfielder Alan McNamee was named as footballer of the year. This particular column felt that the accolade glossed over the fact that McNamee hadn’t performed to his own high standards that year and that other Rhode players were incorrectly overlooked, but in 2010 he has rediscovered his form and is playing some of his best football for years. Injury is likely to prevent McNamee from playing for the full hour in O’Connor Park, but substitute Mark Dunne filled in quite well for him against Shamrocks and the new recruit from Laois club 'The Rock’ is likely to have a big part to play on Sunday.
Rhode’s policy of playing Paraic Sullivan or Roy Malone as their second midfielder gives them plenty of mobility and presence under the breaking ball, but their lack of a second fielding option may be a concern against the Clara partnership of Scott and Ross Brady. More than any other club in Offaly, Rhode use the short kickout to great effect, taking full advantage of opponents’ respect for Niall McNamee and their tendency to drop an extra man back to cover the space in front of him. Clara will want to force a contest for the ball at the middle of the field, so it is crucial that they close down the short kickout opportunities and prevent players like Shane Sullivan and Brian Darby from carrying the ball out of defence and setting up attacks.
From general play, Rhode’s game is all about ball retention, and supporting the player in possession with hard runs off the shoulder. Their style forces opposition players to make every tackle count, as a single missed tackle or extra man usually results in a scoring chance being created, irrespective of where on the field the defence breaks down. Once opposition defenders have to adjust to players running in on goal, playmakers like Alan McNamee and particularly Paschal Kelleghan have the ability to pick out the gaps and create the openings for Anton Sullivan, Niall Darby and Niall McNamee.
Clara’s defensive strategy will as a result be largely based around stopping Rhode’s running game from clicking into gear. Niall McNamee is as good a long ball winner as there is in the county, but Joe Quinn performed really well against Shane Dooley in circumstances which every defender hates - long ball into loads of space, with a one on one battle from then on. If he can prevent Niall from winning every ball, Anton Sullivan and Niall Darby will then have to win primary possession as well, which doesn’t suit Rhode’s preferred strategy of the two speedy young players taking the secondary lay off.
Clara surprised many observers by moving Graham Guilfoyle to an inside forward line role against Tullamore, but the 2009 minor has been a revelation for club and county this year and his fearless style of play adds a crucial extra dimension to the Clara attack. Pat Flanagan’s men play a more traditional long ball style game, with a lot of defensive responsibility given to the wing-forwards who must sweep around and cover for the attacking runs of Matt Mitchell, Lorcan Hiney and Scott Brady.
Against Tullamore, Clara struggled to deal with the extra man and for long spells of that game, they failed to deal with that situation. Against Rhode they will have to come up with a strategy to work the ball into scoring positions and even more importantly, to ensure that the four scorers - Guilfoyle, Thomas Deehan, John Reynolds and John O’Hara - are the ones who end up shooting for goal, rather than playing with their back to goals laying the ball off to other players coming from deep positions.
Clara’s plan B of moving Ross Brady to full-forward played huge dividends in last year’s final, but the big-full forward ploy is something that Rhode have handled very well this year. The 2010 title may also go down to who comes up with the best Plan B.
By so many measures, these teams have very little between them. Last year, Clara adapted better to the match as it evolved and that made all the difference. This year, the presence of Joe Quinn in their full-back line gives them that little bit more reliability in that sector, which means that they could end up making substitutions to improve matters and push on, as opposed to shoring up problem areas. That may seem a flimsy enough excuse for picking one side over the other in such a crucial game, but in a tight match like this, it’s the best we can come up with.
