Allianz Football League Division Three round two
Offaly 1-9 Fermanagh 1-8
EVEN the most ardent Fermanagh supporter would struggle to argue that Kieran Donnelly’s side deserved to win a dour contest in Tullamore yesterday, yet it would be equally hard to argue that Offaly really deserved to win it either.
Such matters rarely hinge on what is deserved, however, and the Erne county ultimately coughed up the last two scores, including the winner which came from a stray pass, so any lingering traces of feelgood factor that might have hung around following their opening win over Longford were well and truly wiped away.
It’s impossible to overstate quite how dreadful the attacking play was in the first half.
Rúairí McNamee and Josh Largo Ellis traded goals at opposite ends of the 35 minutes, with Ryan Jones also on the mark, while Peter Cunningham found his range with a skyscraper kick.
Outside of that, the two teams shot 16 wides between them – 10 for the home side – while another goal from Largo Ellis (right) was ruled out for a foul on Offaly goalkeeper Ian Duffy.
The contest only caught fire when the two bright attacking lights of the afternoon – Offaly’s Bernard Allen and Garvan Jones of Fermanagh – were introduced.
Allen, who was one of several players who left the panel in the latter stages of John Maughan’s tenure, showed all of his experience to create space and give himself the room to swing his trusty left boot – while at the other end, Jones was a real all-round threat, scoring from a mark and from play, in what turned out to be a nip-and-tuck second half.
In the absence of quality, the two sides did all they could to give the crowd something by way of drama and tension in the closing stages.
Garvan Jones nudged Fermanagh a point ahead with five minutes left, before Offaly responded with another Allen point.
Four minutes of injury-time were announced and the scoring yips took over again. Seán Quigley dropped one effort short before Jack Bryant and Allen were both off target from very good chances.
Just as it seemed that the two sides were settling for a share of the spoils, Fermanagh lost possession in the middle of the field and Anton Sullivan was able to pick out substitute Cian Farrell, who duly kept his cool to deliver the winning score.
“I think it was a game that neither team deserved to win” said Donnelly afterwards.
“We made a lot of simple errors, and on the last play we probably should have controlled the ball a bit better, but we invited them on to us again and got punished.”
Offaly: I Duffy; C Donnelly, D Hogan, D Dempsey; R Egan, P Cunningham (0-1), L Pearson; J McEvoy, C McNamee; J Maher, R McNamee (1-0), B Carroll (0-1); N Dunne, A Sullivan (0-1), D Hyland
Subs B Allen (0-5) for Maher (42) C Farrell (0-1) for Dunne (55) J Bryant for R McNamee (62), L Egan for Carroll, (70+1)
Yellow cards Maher
Fermanagh: S McNally; L Flanagan, G Cavanagh, C McManus; R McCaffrey, J Cassidy, S McGullion; R Jones (0-2), D McGurn; B Horan, R Lyons (0-1), J Largo Ellis (1-0); S Cassidy, U Kelm (0-1), S Quigley (0-1 free)
Subs: T McCaffrey for S Cassidy (ht), G Jones (0-3, 0-1 mark) for McGurn (46), D McCusker for Cavanagh (52), C Corrigan for Kelm (62)
Yellow cards J Cassidy
Referee: T Murphy (Galway)
