RHODE 1-9                       

TULLAMORE 0-11           

Rhode claimed their 12th Offaly senior title since 2004 and their 31st overall at the end of a tense and dramatic final in Tullamore this afternoon, with veteran Niall McNamee’s mark in the 59th minute proving to be the winning score.

The longstanding Offaly and Rhode star has won several man of the match awards in Offaly finals, but this time around the story of the game was Rhode’s defensive solidity throughout, and their ability to work around Tullamore’s superior mobility and pace.

Finding different ways to win has been a hallmark of ‘the Village’ over the past decade in particular, and from the start of this contest, they made it clear how they wanted to go about their work, packing the defence and ensuring that Tullamore didn’t establish a commanding lead with the aid of the breeze in O’Connor Park.

Their plan worked to a tee as three Niall McNamee frees put them 0-3 to 0-2 in front going into the 30th minute of the first half, with Tullamore’s errant shooting costing the Blues dearly.

Points from Johnny Moloney and Harry Plunkett (two frees) gave the town side something to defend going into the second half, though they would live to regret eight first half wides, many of them kicked under immense pressure from tireless Rhode defending.

Rhode’s game plan, installed by Declan Gorman but also informed by former Westmeath manager Jack Cooney, who came back into the setup recently, necessitated the use of a lot of short kickouts, which in turn meant lots of work to get the ball out of defence and into the hands of the scorers.

When the ball was worked forward, Anton Sullivan was the main threat, with just two scores from play coming from the rest of the forward line. One of those was vital however – a goal after 47 minutes.

It looked innocuous enough initially when a long ball from Alan McNamee into the edge of the square saw John Moloney field the ball, but he was pickpocketed by Rúairí McNamee on the way down. A quick sidestep later, and Rhode led by two 1-7 to 0-8.

Niall McNamee kicked the next from a free, but Tullamore had one more surge in them, and in a mirror image of the end of the first half, two Plunkett frees and a point from Moloney tied up the game.

With momentum on their side, Tullamore did generate the next chance, but Ciarán Egan pushed his effort wide. Rhode, in contrast, weren’t going to let their opportunity go. A powerful run out of defence from Sullivan ended with a perfect punt pass into Niall McNamee, who duly split the uprights with his mark.

When their run of dominance in Offaly started, no-one could even have imagined the existence of the attacking mark – but as is their way, Rhode have evolved, adapted, and thrived.

Scorers for Rhode: Niall McNamee 0-5 (0-4f, 0-1m), Ruari McNamee 1-0, Anton Sullivan 0-2, James McPadden 0-1, Aaron Kellaghan 0-1.

Scorers for Tullamore: Harry Plunkett 0-5 (0-4f), John Moloney 0-2, Nigel Bracken 0-1, Declan Hogan 0-1, Aaron Leavy 0-1, Luke Plunkett 0-1.

Rhode

1. Ken Garry

2. Brian Darby 3. Jake Kavanagh 4. James McPadden

5. Keith Murphy 6. Conor McNamee 7. Gareth McNamee

8. Dylan Kavanagh 9. Alan McNamee

10. Paraic Sullivan 11. Rúairí McNamee 12. Ciaran Heavey

13. Aaron Kellaghan 14. Anton Sullivan 15. Niall McNamee.

Subs: Paul McPadden for P Sullivan (half-time), Stephen Hannon for Heavey (40), Darren Garry for G McNamee (60+1).

Tullamore:

1. Corey White

2. Paul McConway 3. Nigel Bracken 4. Declan Hogan

5. Kevin O’Brien 6. Johnny Moloney 7. Daire McDaid

8. Michael Brazil 9. Aaron Leavy

10. Ciaran Egan. 11. Diarmuid Egan 12. Harry Plunkett

13. Cormac Egan 14. Luke Plunkett 15. Luke Egan

Subs: Ciaran Burns for C Egan (41), Dan Fox for McConway (49).

Ref: Fergal Smyth.