Flynn fires Ferbane to big win as another Tullamore showdown beckons

By Kevin Egan

There’s not a lot of novelty to Shinrone trying to turn over Kilcormac-Killoughey in Sunday's hurling final and there is even less to another football decider between Ferbane and Tullamore. But there could be no doubting the two best teams in the county after last Sunday’s double header in O’Connor Park, which sets up a third Offaly SFC final in a row between Tullamore and Ferbane.

The only holes that anyone could pick in Ferbane’s performance stem from the alarming manner in which Edenderry just crumbled in the second half as they fell to a crushing 3-19 to 0-11 defeat.

Cathal Flynn completely ran the show for Ferbane despite taking on an excellent opponent in Lee Pearson. Cian Johnson was sharp, David Nally also dictated the play brilliantly and Brian Carroll had perhaps the best performance of his short career so far, stepping up to help ensure that Ferbane controlled the middle, even in the absence of Kyle Higgins.

In a defence that had to be remade this year in the absence of Leon Fox, Mark Wren and Aaron McCabe have emerged, but Conor Dunican has been a revelation and his performance against Cian Farrell was another huge building block in Ferbane’s win. The law of averages would say that the west Offaly club are due a win, but history has proven that the enforcement of that particular law is haphazard at best.

Tullamore got a lucky break when Cillian Bourke got a yellow card rather than a red for his altercation with Ruairí McNamee and they didn’t catch fire up front, even for a team that scored 1-18. Though the question of whether or not that matters is actually quite open.

In total the Blues hit 12 scores from play – three from their starting forwards, two from a substitute (Diarmuid Egan), one from midfielder Aaron Leavy and six from their backs. There may be new rules, but the strength in this Tullamore team continues to reside in the single-digit jerseys, with Declan Hogan also weighing in with an excellent marking job against Aaron Kellaghan.

Ród Óg vs Ferbane/Belmont in minor final

Rhode’s seniors went down with all guns blazing and Ruairí McNamee’s stunning goal in stoppage time proved that the Village will always have footballers capable of doing something special. Nonetheless it’s likely that for one or two stalwarts of club and county, Sunday’s defeat to Tullamore was a last hurrah on the big stage.

There will be some huge boots to fill when the panel is gathering for an assault on the 2026 championship, but Ród Óg’s presence in the minor decider on Saturday (Tullamore, 3pm) will give no small amount of hope that there could be a new generation coming.

There will be plenty of clubs that will take a lot of heart from what was a competitive and open championship this summer. Tullamore have everyone beaten hands down for depth but Ród Óg will take a lot from their win over the Blues in the semi-final, regardless of how the final against Ferbane/Belmont goes. St Manchan’s and Edenderry were competitive as well and, obviously, hopes will be high in Ferbane of giving the club a shot in the arm in advance of Sunday week's senor final

For Clara, slipping into the 'B' knockouts was probably a bit of a disappointment, but they’ll relish the chance to pick up silverware in a derby match 'B' final against Shamrocks (1pm).

All that said, there can be little doubt that it’s around Rhode, Croghan and Clonmore where this championship has the potential to have the biggest knock on effect.