Cormac Egan is a key performer for Tullamore. Photo by Eóin Noonan/Sportsfile
Offaly SFC semi-finals
Tullamore 2-8 Edenderry 0-5
Ferbane 2-13 Shamrocks 2-7
Ferbane will get a chance to avenge their two-point defeat to Tullamore in last year's Offaly senior football final as the two clubs set up a rematch in the 2024 decider in a fortnight with comprehensive wins at Glenisk O'Connor Park this afternoon.
Last year, Edenderry came close to knocking over Tullamore at the semi-final hurdle but they were a beaten docket by the midway point in the first half of their clash with the county champions yesterday. Playing into a strong breeze, the Blues opened the scoring with a Cormac Egan goal, and when corner back Daire McDaid added a perfectly-placed penalty to his early point, they were six points to the good at a time when Edenderry needed something to defend.
Tullamore dropped very deep and suffocated the Edenderry attack, and after leading by 2-2 to 0-2 at half-time, added just two points to their tally in the first 20 minutes of the second half.
Alan Harte pushed a goal chance wide for Edenderry early in the second half while John Furlong made a vital block to deny Seán Doyle another potential green flag for the underdogs, and with space opening up for Tullamore in the final quarter, Egan and Harry Plunkett fired a couple of points each to see out their win.
Shamrocks picked up a shock one-point win over Ferbane in the group stages of this year’s championship, and when they exploded out of the blocks to lead by 1-3 to 0-1 after 12 minutes, another big day for the ‘Rocks looked to be on the cards.
Jack Bryant got an excellent early point and then showed good positional awareness to get a flick on Scott Delaney’s long delivery and with his back to goal, guide the ball past David Dunican in the Ferbane goal.
However with a strong wind at their backs, they needed to build on that, and instead added just one more point in the next half hour of football.
At 1-4 to 0-7 at half-time, Ferbane were in the driving seat at that stage, and they briefly led by seven when Darragh Flynn scrambled the ball over the line to make it 1-11 to 1-4 midway through the second half. Shamrocks replied well and Jack Bryant palmed the ball to the Ferbane net to undo that goal, and he brought his tally to 2-2 with a point soon after.
However, Ferbane always looked potent on the break and they clinched their win when at the end of a fast break, O’Toole did brilliantly to block another Flynn goal attempt, but the corner-forward still made it a personal haul of 2-5 on the day when he found the net with an improvised back-heel on the rebound.
