All to play for again as Ballycommon and Clonbullogue bid to avail of second chance
Clonbullogue's Jack McEvoy pressures Ballycommon keeper Paul Scally with defenders Aidan Bracken and Matthew Dempsey already grounded
REPLAYS can often be very different beasts and it is very hard to know what way last Sunday's Senior “B” Football Championship final draw will affect both Ballycommon and Clonbullogue.
On the surface, the odds may have swung slightly towards Clonbullogue who got out of jail while Ballycommon now have to deal with preparing for a replay in the knowledge that they should have collected the silverware at the first attempt.
Clonbullogue were very fortunate to get a second chance. Their equalising point came from a self inflicted free with injury time almost up when Karl Dunne lofted a Ballycommon free back towards his own goalkeeper. Lee Dempsey was able to intercept it, off loaded to Jack McEvoy, who was fouled by sub Donal Scally and Keith O'Neill showed fantastic composure to curl over the equaliser.
You had to feel sorry for Karl Dunne, who just took the wrong option at that time but had been outstanding as Ballycommon took control of the game in the second half. Maybe if he had kicked the ball forward, Clonbullogue would still have been able to manufacture an equalising chance but Ballycommon know that they contributed to their own problems.
It was just one of those things that can happen in the heat of battle and Ballycommon also know that the late free should not have mattered. Six points behind at half time, Ballycommon were superb for most of the second half and led by 1-14 to 1-9 with five minutes left. They had restricted Clonbullogue to just one second half point up to that point but conceded 1-3 with the winning post in sight and their failure to win was down to much more than just one wayward kick.
They won't, however, be over analysing any specific incidents and will instead be trying to learn collective lessons from it and maybe do things a bit differently. Clonbullogue will be doing the exact same and both sides have players who can play better and who may step up to the plate in next Saturday's replay.
Ballycommon had three players, Barry Bracken and brothers, Karl and Conor Dunne who played for Tullamore Rugby Club in the All-Ireland League Division 2C defeat by Galweigians on Friday evening, less than forty eight hours before the final. Bracken is the Tullamore captain and the Dunne's have been long time firsts team players for Tullamore and have an obvious passion for the oval ball game.
It could be even their first sporting love but they are also all very key players for Ballycommon and have given terrific service to the club. Conor and Karl Dunne were very good on Sunday while Bracken was solid in the heart of the defence but the All-Ireland League Division 2C is a decent level of rugby and a high intensity, full blooded rugby game so close to the final cannot have been ideal preparation for Ballycommon. A senior B final is one of the biggest football occasions in Offaly GAA, playing two such big games so close to each other really can't be done and it is very rare for this to happen in the modern era.
Any impact on Ballycommon and them not winning at the first attempt must be purely speculative and we just don't know but they certainly won't have this problem this Saturday. Tullamore are fixed to play Clogher Valley away in Tyrone at 2.30pm on Saturday and they have opted for football this week. It is a tough position on men who just want to play sport but those are the predicaments that crop up when you mix codes and hard choices have to be made some of the time.
Last Sunday's game provided outstanding entertainment and we can expect more of the same. It will be a different game with different heroes for both. While he got the equalising free, Keith O'Neill is capable of exerting a much greater influence on the game. For Ballycommon, Ryan Kenny had a great game in their attack but will now be a marked man. However, Conor Dunne could be man of the match. He was excellent last Sunday as he dictated the flow of the play in the midfield area but he was rarely in the scoring zone, where he can inflict such damage. Dunne is always capable of scoring 1-2, 1-3 in a more attacking role inside the 40 and the evidence from last Sunday suggests that the Clonbullogue full back line could struggle with him – he was used around the midfield area as they bid to compensate for the absence of Tom Mealiffe.
Clonbullogue do have the greater room for improvement, though they showed in the second quarter how good they can be. Anything could happen here and this is one of those finals where a comprehensive win for either side is possible. They are both capable of going on the rampage while you can't fully trust either to play to potential. More likely, it will be very tight again and there is a case to be made for going with Clonbullogue this time. Assuming they have all their available players and if they don't, then the momentum will be very much with Clonbullogue, the impression remains that Ballycommon may be just a small bit better at the moment. They are capable of closing it out on this occasion and winning back to back championships.
