Can Edenderry reach first senior football final in ten years?

Ferbane stand in Reds' way as Tullamore face Rhode

By Kevin Egan

Four familiar clubs will go to Glenisk O’Connor Park on Sunday afternoon for the senior football semi-finals, though each will bring their own unique combination of form, mindset and concerns to the Arden Road venue for these games.

Edenderry have looked scintillating at times, they’ve addressed the concerns about too much dependence on Cian Farrell up front, and a league final win over Tullamore will give them some confidence that they might be ready to step up and break through the semi-final ceiling for the first time in ten years.

But it’s been a long time since they’ve played a game with any bite to it, and momentum can be hard to maintain. It’s not exactly a large black cloud on the horizon, but it’s just something that Richie Dalton and his coaches will be watching out for all the same.

Ferbane have no such worries on the back of their ding-dong battle with Shamrocks, but they will have concerns about how Shamrocks exposed them defensively in a way that very rarely happened when Leon Fox was the general at the heart of that rearguard.

Their large dual-player contingent will have to shake off yet more semi-final heartbreak - following Belmont's defeat to Shinrone last Sunday - while the absence of Kyle Higgins from midfield last time out was magnified once Conor Grennan went off injured. They’ll need to find a way to at least break even in the battle for primary possession, or perhaps even more than that, to hold their own this weekend.

Like Edenderry, Tullamore will have slight concerns about being out of action for as long as they have. Without any real test during the group stages, it’s hard to assess where they stand. They have been quite active on the challenge match scene and while it seems highly likely that Cillian Bourke will concentrate his efforts on the AFL rather than with Offaly next year, he will be available for the Blues for the remainder of this championship so that’s not an issue for Paul McConway as he continues to prepare his native club for their title defence.

Harry Plunkett and Mike Fox are playing particularly well up front, alleviating longstanding concerns about Tullamore being an elite team in two thirds of the pitch but lacking that exceptional quality at the top of the field, so if they can shake off concerns about the relatively long layoff and their gentle passage through the group stages – something they’ve handled very well in recent years – they should be fine.

Conversations about Rhode tend to feature references to the club’s history and tradition, their attitude and self-belief, and all of this has been well-earned down through the generations. In any case, Paschal Kellaghan has taken a group that still relies heavily on players that have a lot of miles on the clock and moulded them into a competitive unit that bounced back well from their harrowing first round defeat to Edenderry.

Keeping pace with Tullamore in the middle third will be a big ask and they’ll need to be incredibly efficient in front of goal as well, but expect them to come with something different and to ask questions that the champions haven’t yet had to answer in 2025.

Tullamore and Edenderry remains the most likely final pairing, but there’s enough in both Ferbane and Rhode to make this a very attractive afternoon’s football.

St Brigid’s coming good at the right time

Like their senior counterparts, Tullamore’s intermediates have been comfortable all year long, albeit the Raheen team they beat in the semi-final was very different to what a full-strength, fully-fit Raheen side would look like.

On the one hand, it’s not the fault of Brian O’Reilly and his selectors that Tullamore were placed in the easier group of the two, or that Raheen were battle-weary and shorn of key players when they came calling, but it makes the case for St Brigid’s that much more compelling in Saturday's IFC final. There was real grit and guile on show as St Brigid’s comfortably overcame a capable Ferbane group last time out and it’s just easier to imagine the Croghan men finding a way in the latter stages of what should be a fascinating contest.

Since Clara have secured their place in the last four of the Senior B championship, it’s hard to tell how they’ll approach their game with Ballinagar in Durrow on Sunday. That in turn means that with Cappincur likely to account for Gracefield, who have nothing to play for, all eyes turn to Rhode and meeting of Tubber and Daingean.

Daingean have more points on the board but Tubber are attacking well, second only to Ballinagar in the scoring stakes. Donal Shirley is expected to feature after missing their narrow defeat to Clara last time out, so they look like they might have a slight edge in what should be an excellent contest.

In the Junior 'A' final, Rhode knocking over Erin Rovers was a slight surprise but Clodiagh Gaels’ form against Doon means they have to carry the weight of favouritism into the first game on the bill tomorrow afternoon (Saturday) in O’Connor Park. Of all the significant clashes taking place this weekend, this could be the most clear cut of all.