Walsh Island may hold better prospect of advancement

Recent seasons have been somewhat barren for Offaly county teams in terms of glamour days out, but whatever about the difficulties endured by Faithful County footballers and hurlers in high summer, the winter has been considerably more kind, yielding a much higher bounty. Should Clara win in Portlaoise on Sunday, this will be the third time in four years that the Leinster Club Football and Hurling finals will each have had the involvement of the Offaly county champions. Should Clara come away from O'Moore Park with a satisfactory result, this milestone will be even more momentous, seeing as the clubs that reached those previous finals - Rhode and Birr, for those who go into hibernation every September and missed any of the recent county finals - were widely seen as dominant within the county. It was often argued that their superiority was adversely affecting the county cause, a point that must surely be refuted if Clara's footballers can match the Tullamore hurlers and continue their season on into Advent. Of course, looking at Sunday's game objectively, Clara have it all to do to continue their impeccable championship record in 2009. Rhode's win over Portlaoise last November proves that the Laois champions are far from invulnerable, however it could only be an ardent Clara supporter who would argue that this Clara team are playing as well as Rhode were twelve months ago. Conversely, Portlaoise appear to have improved their shape considerably, despite the absence of some key individuals. The controversial and recognisable figure of Colm Parkinson is no longer a feature of this Portlaoise team, while one of the brightest young talents in Laois football, Zach Tuohy, departed for Australia after securing his county championship medal and assisting the club in their facile first round win over Mattock Rangers. Despite these two absentees, this is a very strong Portlaoise team, with the introduction of three under-21 players bringing youth and talent into the team. Corner forward Paul Cahillane has certainly caught the eye with a phenomenal seven goals in his last four championship starts, while midfielder Adrian Kelly is well capable of popping up for a score and wing back Kieran Lillis has added a potent touch of dynamism to an already capable half back line. These extra ingredients have propelled Portlaoise to their current position, where the bookmakers rate them as joint favourites for the All-Ireland club championship at this point, and it should be noted that they share favouritism with St. Galls of Antrim, who have one less hurdle to cross. If all teams were in the same position right now, Portlaoise would be well out on their own. When one also factors in how Clara must travel to O'Moore Park to try and unseat the supposed champions-in-waiting, it's easy to see why Portlaoise enjoy heavy favouritism this weekend. However dismissing Clara out of hand would be extremely disrespectful to the achievements of the Magpies thus far this year. They have done all that has been asked of them this season and much more, showing incredible resilience and maturity in difficult situations throughout each of their last three games. They have earned their place in this semi-final and their performances suggest that they are unlikely to go down easily. When Pat Flanagan lays out his tactics for this game, first and foremost on his agenda must be closing down the wonderfully fluid and stylish Portlaoise attack. The town attack is averaging an incredible 3-14 per game this season, a ridiculous scoring record for any club team. Against Seneschalstown, two proven defenders - intercounty player Aidan Fennelly and current Laois footballer of the year Brian Glynn - were redeployed to the half-forward line, and the team barely missed a step as the duo slotted in seamlessly alongside the effervescent Craig Rogers. Brian Glynn scored 1-2 as the half forward line's energy and creativity stood out all throughout the hour's football. The middle three lines of the Portlaoise team are all about craft and pace. The outstanding work rate and physical fitness that we've seen from Clara in recent weeks will be sorely tested as they try to unsettle this cohesive footballing unit. Personal responsibility will play a huge part, as this Portlaoise team is all about incisive passing and good use of space. They tend not to try and overpower teams, always circumnavigating, rarely bulldozing. Every Clara player, forward or back, will have to focus on always standing their ground when their man has the ball, and never leaving him out of arm's reach when he doesn't, or crucially, immediately after he releases it. Allowing Portlaoise to develop a pattern of one-two passing movements will be fatal as the scores will be shipped at a very fast rate. If Clara can go man on man with Portlaoise and curtail their fast passing game, they have the weapons to cause the Laois champions real problems in front of goal. Thomas Deehan's ten-point haul against Rathvilly will mark him out for attention, but the best mismatch from a Clara point of view could be John Reynolds taking on Kevin Fitzpatrick on the edge of the Portlaoise square. A steady flow of good ball into Reynolds, who should have a mobility advantage on Fitzpatrick, could be the key to forcing Portlaoise into some radical tactical adjustments and essentially putting them on the back foot. Midfield is also seen as a weak link in this Portlaoise team, though any advantage that Clara may have enjoyed there was wiped out in the time it took Ross Brady to be sent off last Sunday week in Tullamore. Instead, they will have to scrap fiercely for breaking ball, and work demonically to secure turnover possession when Portlaoise have the football. After their comfortable win down in Wexford to open their Leinster campaign, Walsh Island also play a Leinster semi-final this Sunday, and they have the benefit of home field advantage for their meeting with Tubberclair. It may seem lazy to single out Tubberclair's Fergal Wilson as the main impediment to Walsh Island's progress, but the simplicity of such analysis doesn't change the fact that the Westmeath intercounty player is by far the most dangerous attacker that Tubberclair possess. A haul of 1-6 from right corner forward was crucial to their three point win over Dunlavin in the previous round, and while Walsh Island should make their superiority around midfield pay, they can ill afford to allow the Westmeath representatives too many opportunities to bring Wilson into the game. As is often the case with clubs where one attacker bears a disproportionate scoring burden, the key is to starve Wilson of possession, thus forcing the Tubberclair management to pull him out the field in order to get him into the game. Such a switch is usually a sign that things are going downhill fast for such clubs as they end up effectively robbing Peter blind in order to throw Paul some loose change. Walsh Island have threatened to cast off of their intermediate shackles for some years now, and when they did break through the glass ceiling, they did so comprehensively, leaving no-one in any doubt as to their abilities. While their game is unlikely to receive anything like the same amount of national coverage as Clara's trip to the Laois capital, for those looking for a happy ending from an Offaly point of view, foregoing the big game and calling into Walsh Island represents the much safer option this Sunday.