Allianz Football League Division 4 – Offaly 2-10 Tipperary 1-8

Offaly defeated Tipperary by 2-10 to 1-8 in the Allianz Football League Division 4 Round 7 on Sunday in O’Connor Park Tullamore.

McNamee the Faithful hero

Report from the Irish Independent newspaper

OFFALY 2-10 TIPPERARY 1-8 – 08 APRIL 2013

OFFALY confounded the odds by securing promotion with a deserved win in Tullamore. The final scoreline was harsh on Tipperary as Offaly scored the closing four points, but the hosts were the better side. Tipp were 0-5 to 0-2 ahead after 30 minutes but Niall McNamee got in for an equalising goal just before half-time. Anton Sullivan’s brilliant free gave Offaly a 1-3 to 0-5 interval lead and suddenly the momentum had swung in their favour. McNamee’s second goal put Offaly 2-3 to 0-6 ahead but they were unable to push on as they played too defensively with the wind in their favour. Tipp got back to within a point in the 45th minute when Alan Mulhall goaled, but Offaly kept their noses in front before Tipp’s Robbie Costigan was sent off for a second yellow and they powered on to take the glory.

Man of the match: B Connor (Offaly)

SCORERS – Offaly: N McNamee 2-1, K Casey 0-3 (2fs), B Connor, A Sullivan (1f) 0-2 each, G Guilfoyle, B Darby 0-1 each. Tipperary: A Maloney 1-3, B Grogan (2fs), C Sweeney 0-2 each, R Costigan 0-1.

OFFALY – A Mulhall 6; P McConway 6, S Pender 7, S Sullivan 6; E Carroll 6, B Darby 9, M Brazil 8; A McNamee 7, R dalton 8; G Guilfoyle 7, B Connor 9, A Sullivan 6; N McNamee 7, N Darby 6, K Casey 6. Subs: R Allen 6 for S Sullivan (23), J Moloney 6 for Allen (50), R Brady 6 for A McNamee 7, B Allen 6 for Guilfoyle (71).

TIPPERARY – P Fitzgerald 6; J Coghlan 6, P Codd 7, C McDonald 6; B Fox 6, R Costigan 8, D Leahy 6; P Acheson 7, G Hannigan 8; C Sweeney 8, H Coghlan 6, A Matassa 6; M Quinlivan 6, B Grogan 6, A Maloney 8. Subs: R Kiely for H Coghlan (h-t), B Mulvihill for Matasa (44), B Jones for Acheson (55), D Lowry for Quinlivan (55).

Ref – M McNally (Monaghan)

Offaly 2-10 Tipperary 1-8

Round-up from the GAA.ie web site

Niall McNamee stole the show with two super goals as Offaly sealed promotion back to Division III of the Allianz Football League with victory over Tipperary in a tense winner-takes-all encounter at O’Connor Park, Tullamore. Offaly will now go on to play Limerick in the Division IV final on April 27, while Tipperary finished in third place in the table and with lots of regrets overall after they started their campaign with unexpected defeats to Carlow and Waterford.

Playing with the breeze, Tipperary moved 0-4 to 0-1 clear after 27 minutes, with Alan Maloney, Brian Fox and Conor Sweeney (2) kicking the visitors’ scores while McNamee registered Offaly’s opener. Emmett McDonnell’s side made the first real breakthrough of the game in the 34th minute when a clever Michael Brazil ball found McNamee, who finished neatly to the back of the Tipp net. An Anton Sullivan free left the hosts 1-3 to 0-5 ahead at the break.

Tipp equalised through Robbie Costigan after the restart, but Offaly soon had a second goal, McNamee hitting the back of the net again, with Ken Casey providing the assist on this occasion. Peter Creedon’s side hit back with a goal of their own in the 47th minute. Offaly ‘keeper Alan Mulhall dropped the ball over the line after a speculative Michael Quinlivan effort from way out. With Offaly 2-7 to 1-8 ahead, Tipp were reduced to 14 men when Costigan was sent off for a second yellow card in the 65th minute following an incident involving Richie Dalton. Offaly pushed on in the closing stages, kicking three late scores through Graham Guilfoyle, Casey and Brian Connor to seal a precious win.

Team News

The Offaly team to play Tipperary will be as follows –

1 Alan Mulhall (Walsh Island)

2 Paul McConway (Tullamore)

3 Sean Pender (Edenderry)

4 Shane Sullivan (Rhode)

5 Eoin Carroll (Cappincur)

6 Brian Darby (Rhode)

7 Michael Brazil (Tullamore)

8 Alan McNamee (Rhode)

9 Richie Dalton (Edenderry)

10 Graham Guilfoyle (Clara)

11 Brian Connor (Walsh Island)

12 Willie Mulhall (Walsh Island)

13 Niall Darby (Rhode)

14 Niall McNamee (captain) (Rhode)

15 Ken Casey (St Brigid’s)